Joseph Aloysius Sullivan ( February 17 , 1917 &ndash; August 2 , 2002 ) was a Major Case Inspector for the Federal Bureau of Investigation . Born in Montreal , Wisconsin , he grew up in Hurley , Wisconsin . Died in Manhattan , New York City . He was involved in a number of highly publicized cases in the sixties and seventies including the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. , the murder of United Mine Workers reformer Joseph " Jock " Yablonski , the Sterling Hall bombing at the University of Wisconsin – Madison , and the Kent State shootings . Despite his involvement in such high-profile cases , Sullivan is best known for his relentless search to track down the killers of three civil rights workers , who were brutally slain in Mississippi in 1964 . The character played by Willem Dafoe in the movie '' Mississippi Burning '' is loosely based on Sullivan . According to '' The FBI - A Comprehensive Reference Guide '' ( 1998 ) , edited by Athan G. Theoharis , Sullivan was also the model for Inspector Lew Erskine , the lead character played by Efrem Zimbalist , Jr. , on the TV series '' The FBI '' . Upon Sullivan 's death in 2002 , author Tom Clancy is quoted as referring to him as " the greatest lawman America ever produced . "
three civil rights workers
Murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner
Joseph Sullivan (FBI agent)