Date of Death: May 29, 1969 in the performance of law enforcement duty.
Cause of Death: Special Agent (SA) Klein was killed in a one-car automobile accident on May 29, 1969, outside of Statesboro, GA. Tragically, he had lost his father, Nelson B. Klein Sr., who was also a Special Agent of the FBI, when he was only nine years old. Klein Sr. was assigned to the Cincinnati office when he was killed in a 1935 shootout with car thief George Barrett in Indiana. Klein Jr. was born on September 23, 1926, in Atlantic City, NJ. At the time of his father’s murder in 1935, the family lived in Southgate, KY. The family eventually moved to Ohio where Klein Jr. attended high school. He served at the Great Lakes Naval Station with the U.S. Navy during World War II in 1945 through 1946. He then attended college at Ohio State University, graduating in 1950 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminology. He worked as a federal probation officer before entering on duty with the FBI as a Special Agent in 1955. Special Agent Klein served in the Baltimore and Savannah Divisions before being assigned to the Statesboro, GA, Resident Agency (RA). He was serving as the Senior Resident Agent (SRA) in the Statesboro RA when he died in 1969. As SRA, Klein Jr. was required to meet periodically with law enforcement officials in the Headquarters city of Savannah. On May 28, 1969, he visited Savannah and attended the Coastal Empire Peace Officers Association meeting. He declined to stay the night in Savannah after the event citing the need to be back in Statesboro due to work requirements the following morning. He left Savannah in his assigned Bureau vehicle in the early morning hours of May 29th for the 50-mile trip back to his residence. It was the consensus of those FBI Agents who attended the meeting that SRA Klein did not consume alcohol at the gathering. Per official FBI reports contained in his personnel file, SRA Klein was killed at approximately 1 a.m. when his Bureau car left the highway approximately 2.6 miles south of Statesboro. The car overturned and burst into flames causing his death. SA Kenneth C. Whitaker indicated that Klein’s death was not caused by official misconduct, nor as a result of intention of the employee to bring injury or death to another, nor as a result of intoxication. He also determined that SRA Klein was on official business at the time of his death. The coroner, who attended the body, indicated that SRA Klein’s body was burned beyond recognition. SRA Klein left a widow and three children. There are other similar vehicular deaths involving Special Agents where the Agents are deemed to have died during the performance of a law enforcement duty. SA Klein’s children have been denied a father and a grandfather, both having died serving the FBI.