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PEARL, Miss. (AP) — Authorities in Mississippi say a white supremacist lawyer found dead in his house had been stabbed, beaten and his body set afire.

A neighbor has been charged with murder in the case.

Rankin County Sheriff Ronnie Pennington says Richard Barrett's body was found just after 8 a.m. Thursday after residents reported smoke coming from his house in a rural area outside Jackson, Miss.

Pennington says 22-year-old Vincent McGee has been charged with murder. He says additional charges could be forthcoming, including arson.

Pennington said Friday that a preliminary autopsy showed Barrett had been stabbed multiple times in the neck and had blunt force trauma to the head. The sheriff said 35 percent of Barrett's body had been burned.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.