Author weaves memoir with fictional account of MLK's killer on the lam. [22], On April 4, 1968, Ray killed civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. with a single shot fired from his Remington rifle, while King was standing on the second-floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. [39][40][41] William Pepper, a friend of King during the last year of his life, represented Ray in a mock trial televised by HBO in an attempt to grant him the trial he never received. After getting laid off in 1945, Ray enlisted in the Army, eventually getting stationed in West Germany. An international manhunt led to his capture in June 1968 at Heathrow Airport in London, where he was caught carrying two fake Canadian passports. Carter, who has rarely used his full name-James Earl Carter, Jr.-was born October 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia. Had he been found guilty by jury trial, he would have been eligible for the death penalty. Ray, was found by bloodhounds about eightmiles away from the prison shortly after the escape attempt. He escaped from the Missouri State Penitentiary on April 23, 1967; and in Memphis, Tennessee, nearly a year later, on April 4, 1968, from a window of a neighbouring rooming house, he shot King, who was standing on the balcony of a motel room. Joseph Louw/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images. List price: $28.95. His claim was that the assassination was the result of a conspiracy of the otherwise unidentified man named "Raul who was a blond Cuban. ), where he secured a second Canadian passport (May 16), and back to London (May 17?). There is abundant evidence of a major high-level conspiracy in the assassination of my husband, said Coretta Scott King, Kings widow, in 1999. Not long before Ray's death, Dexter King, Dr. King's son, visited the man presumed to be his father's killer. He enlisted in the U.S. Army but was discharged for ineptness and lack of adaptability to military service in 1948. Ray told Huie that he purposefully left the rifle with his fingerprints on it in plain sight at the crime scene because he wanted to become a famous criminal. That doesnt mean there are no questions left. But after HBO conducted a televised mock trial about the assassination in 1993in which Ray gave his first public testimony and was found not guiltyJowers declared that hed been part of a conspiracy to kill King, and that Ray had been set up to take to fall. Ray Kroc was an American entrepreneur best known for expanding McDonalds from a local chain to the worlds most profitable restaurant franchise operation. They might not have been involved in the murder, McMillian observes of the FBI, but I wish people knew the really shameful things that they did.. His home life was no better. The magazine reported that the test results showed "Ray did, in fact, kill Martin Luther King Jr. and that he did so alone." And after passing through Canada, Alabama, Mexico, and Los Angeles, he eventually made his way to Memphis, Tennessee in April 1968. "I think I have figured out the tea party," the actor recently said on the "Smiley and West" radio show. He said that a Memphis police officer was the one who had actually killed King and that Jowers had stashed the gun. James Earl Ray is the disturbed man who assassinated Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968. He shot dead the minister as he was standing on a motel balcony. The verdict in King vs. Jowers found a government conspiracy involving city, state, and federal agents complicit in the murder. [49], Before his death, Ray was transferred to the Lois M. DeBerry Special Needs Facility in Nashville, a maximum-security prison with hospital facilities. Ray's first conviction for criminal activity, a burglary in California, came in 1949. Free shipping for many products! With rates currently down to half that in 2018 (18%), these theories seem unlikely to go away any time soon. The two married in 1978 and divorced in 1992. His brother said that Ray admired Hitler and that Ray had said that he would make the U.S. an all-white country, no Jews or Negroes. Ray was also known to have been a supporter of George Wallace, the segregationist governor of Alabama running for president, according to the Los Angeles Times. And he asserted that he did not "personally shoot Dr. King," but may have been "partially responsible without knowing it," hinting at a conspiracy. But among legal and historical scholars, there is a broad consensus that James Earl Ray, though he may not have acted alone, is the gunman who shot Martin Luther King. Some people had trouble, for example, believing Ray had arranged his international escape all by himself, since he had a track record of getting caught for more minor crimes. James Earl Ray made several trips to Montreal, Canada in the 1960's where he was hypnotically programmed by MK-ULTRA Dr. Ewen Cameron, who worked at Allen Memorial Hospital out of McGill University. Ray was born in Alton, IL,in 1928, the son of working class Scots-Irish parents. His sister Marjorie died in a fire as a young child in 1933. Dr. King was killed while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel, and police determined that James Earl Ray had shot him with a rifle from the window of a rented room across the street. A staff writer for All That's Interesting, Kaleena Fraga has also had her work featured in The Washington Post and Gastro Obscura, and she published a book on the Seattle food scene for the Eat Like A Local series. More answers below Ray was convicted in 1969 after entering a guilty pleathus forgoing a jury trial and the possibility of a death sentenceand was sentenced to . In King vs. Loyd Jowers and conspirators unknown, there were 70 witnesses called; twelve jurors found in favor of the King family, which held a press conference after the verdict. Kershaw claimed the prison escape was additional proof that Ray had been involved in a conspiracy that had provided him with the outside assistance he would have needed to break out of prison. Even a 1978 special congressional committee said there was the "likelihood" that Ray did not act alone. But officials dont believe Jowerss story. A package was abandoned close to the site that included a rifle and binoculars, both found with Ray's fingerprints. A guilty. Louis. "I had nothing to do with killing your father," Ray said. Newer Post Older Post Home. At one point, the owner of the bar beneath the boarding house where Ray stayed, Loyd Jowers, claimed that he had participated in a conspiracy to assassinate King. Born on March 10, 1928, in Alton, Illinois, was the eldest of George and Lucille Ray's nine children. They said he lacked credibility and seemed largely motivated by financial gain. Three days after pleading guilty he recanted his confession, and for the next 28 years maintained his innocence, but by then it was too late. But Ray offered no motive himself. But not everyone was convinced that the story stopped there in part because Rays guilty plea stopped a trial from proceeding. Hes either the man who brutally assassinated Martin Luther King Jr. or a patsy who took the fall for a larger conspiracy sheathed in the shadows. Entire books have been written about the role James Earl Ray played in the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King Jr in Memphis, Tennessee in 1968. On June 8 he was apprehended by London police at Heathrow Airport as he was about to embark for Brussels; the FBI had established him as the prime suspect almost immediately after the assassination. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-Earl-Ray, James Earl Ray - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.: The assassin: James Earl Ray. In 1955, he was convicted of mail fraud after stealing money orders in Hannibal, Missouri. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. In 2011, the only irony greater than the left blaming right wing rhetoric for the violence perpetrated by an individual having no affiliation with the right, might be that the rhetoric of some very powerful people on the left may have had a direct role in the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. That is, of course, if one applies the logic of the left. JAMES EARL RAY WANTED POSTER Rare original wanted poster, 10 1/4" x 16", issued by the FBI on April 19, 1968, seeking information leading to the arrest of JAMES EARL RAY (1928-1998), the assassin of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. on charges of "Civil Rights - Conspiracy - Interstate Flight - Robbery". By signing up you are agreeing to our, What Happened to Martin Luther King Jr.'s Last Campaigns, How Black Filmmakers Are Reclaiming Their History Onscreen. It didnt take long for investigators to determine a suspect. After his assassination, he was memorialized by Martin Luther King Jr. Day. No comments: Post a Comment. 191 Ben Barrack 18 Jan 2011 0 In 1999, James Earl Ray was found innocent of killing Martin Luther King Jr. in the same way O.J. He filmed local prostitutes during their work hours in pursuit of his cinematographic dream, but he eventually left Puerto Vallarta after being jilted by his girlfriend who, coincidentally, was also one of the prostitutes he filmed. The King family started to publicly voice the opinion in 1997. That year, Kings son Dexter Scott King visited Ray in prison to draw attention to the familys push to appeal his case. I think there was a major conspiracy to remove Dr. King from the American scene, Lewis said. Simpson was found guilty of killing his wife Nicole and Ron Goldman - in a civil trial. En route to Americas northern border, he would soon escape to Canada on April 6th. That claim prompted the family to push unsuccessfully for a new trial. 2. Whatever the exact details were that led him to Memphis in April 1968, Ray rented a room at a rooming house under the name Eric Starvo Galt, near the Lorraine Motel, where King was staying. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Doubleday. Martin Luther's goal, at least initially, was to repeal Jim Crow segregation laws where they existed. "I believe you," Dexter responded and shook his hand. What Political Party was James Earl Ray part of? The King familys belief in Rays innocence was partly influenced by the strange case of Loyd Jowers, whod owned the restaurant below Rays rented room in Memphis. They sued Jowers for participation in a conspiracy to murder King. In the mock trial, the prosecutor was Hickman Ewing. Using mail-ordered equipment, he filmed and photographed local prostitutes. Most of the public . A former theater and television producer, Edward remains active in charity. Later, in the early 1990s, he suggested a conspiracy involving the government had been behind the assassination. King and his associates came to town on April 3 and checked into the Lorraine Motel. In June of 2008, Harding spoke at Stanford University and said the following: Many people within the movement said, Martin, you cannot raise your voice against Johnsons war because Johnson is our man and if you raise your voice against Johnsons war, Johnson being Johnson, is not going to like it.'. YouTube James Earl Ray in 1977. Second Edition, Tennessee Waltz - the Making of a Political Prisoner. He maintained that he was innocent of killing MLK until his own death in 1998. On March 28th, riots took place in Memphis and King was present; on March 29th, Democrat Senator Byrd threw down the gauntlet with Democrat president Lyndon Baines Johnson by delivering a fiery speech on the Senate Floor intended to get the president to stop Kings march; Johnson announced on March 31st that he would not seek reelection; a bullet would take the life of King days later on April 4th, one year to the day after delivering what many viewed as an incendiary speech at the time. A confirmed racist and small-time criminal, James Earl Ray began plotting the assassination of revered civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in early 1968. The rifle with Rays fingerprints didnt create tell-tale grooves on bullets, which ballistic tests usually use to match a gun to a bullet. When Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, the United States erupted into chaos and countless activists demanded to know who had killed the iconic civil rights leader. Kennedy's political opponents are believed to have received support from wealthy tycoons and the CIA agents in executing his assassination (Hald-Mortensen 75). His first prison break happened in 1967, when he escaped the Missouri State Penitentiary on a bread truck before fleeing to Canada. Rays lawyer J.B. Stoner was a known white supremacist, and Ray who also made clear his admiration for Hitler had done volunteer work for the 1968 presidential campaign of Alabamas former segregationist Governor George Wallace, who had gone head-to-head with King in Birmingham, Selma and Montgomery. If I ever get to the streets, I am going to kill him.. [6] Ray left school at the age of 12. After this, Ray was on the run and was captured in the UK. INTERVIEW OF JAMES EARL RAY BY JOHN AUBLE, KST-TV ST LOUIS - National Archives and Records Administration 1977-11-03 - ARC 43297, LI 233-MLK-150170 - DVD Cop. For the first 25 years after Kings death, Jowers did not claim any involvement in the murder. James Earl Ray died, in prison, on April 23, 1998. Martin Luther King Jr. was a scholar and minister who led the civil rights movement. James Earl Ray Biography. Simpson was found guilty of killing his wife Nicole and Ron Goldman in a civil trial. The jury awarded the money to the estate, deciding that Kings assassination had likely beenthe result of a conspiracy that involved Jowers, not Ray, as well as ''others, including governmental agencies.''. Using their logic, the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. should be attributed to a Democratic U.S. The paper reported King's planned return trip to Memphis, Tennessee, which was scheduled for April 1, 1968. He died on April 23, 1998, Nashville, TN. As Sides points out, it isnt surprising that members of Kings family and his fellow civil-rights leaders would have suspected that some larger government conspiracy to kill the minister must been at play. I dont know what happened, but the truth of what happened to Dr. King should be made available for historys sake.. For 72 hours after his guilty plea, James Earl Ray stayed quiet. Later, though, he claimed he left the prints to gain international notoriety. Two years later, his young sister Marjorie, died in a fire after playing with matches and accidentally catching herself on fire. For now, James Earl Rays legacy depends on who you believe. The most serious of those came in 1959, when Ray, on parole for an earlier theft, robbed two St. Louis grocery stores, as well as another in Alton. He had entered a guilty plea on the advice of his attorney, Percy Foreman, in an effort to avoid the sentence of death by electrocution, which would have been a possible outcome of a jury trial. Born on March 10, 1928, in Alton, Illinois, James Earl Ray came from a long line of criminals. He was of Irish, Scots, and Welsh ancestry. But despite having a suspect in mind, it took investigators much longer to actually track him down. Those prints were already among the FBIs records for wanted individuals. Ray was convicted in 1969 after entering a guilty pleathus forgoing a jury trial and the possibility of a death sentenceand was sentenced to 99 years of imprisonment. Bettmann/Getty ImagesJames Earl Ray on July 19, 1968, shortly after he was arrested for killing MLK. What would it have taken for the Goldmans and the Browns to have believed Orenthals story that he was innocent? Inside The Curious Question Of The Great Emancipator's Race, Meet Shoji Morimoto, The Japanese 'Do-Nothing Guy' Who People Can Rent Out Just For Company, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. Ex-wife of MLK assassin James Earl Ray charged with animal cruelty in Tennessee June 23, 2021 11:30am Updated Madison County Jail More On: The ex-wife of assassin James Earl Ray, who. But Ray backed away from his confession just days later and insisted on his innocence in the decades that followed. This organization would later morph into the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei better known as the NAZI party. If this self-seeking rabble-rouser is allowed to go through with his plans here, Washington may well be treated to the same kind of violence, destruction, looting, and bloodshed.1. He confessed to the crime on March 10, 1969, his 41st birthday,[34] and after pleading guilty he was sentenced to 99 years in prison.[35]. But then, he filed a motion to withdraw his plea. The parents of James Earl Ray are James Gerald Ray,Lucille Ray. On July 19, he returned to U.S. and the following March he pleaded guilty to murdering King. Its not clear when Coretta Scott King, widow of King, began to believe in Rays innocence. Speech of Senator Robert C. Byrd, Senate Journal, Appendix Two, March 29, 1968. King vs. Loyd Jowers and conspirators unknown. Magazines, Or create a free account to access more articles. Ray hired Jack Kershaw as his new attorney, and Kershaw publicly argued and promoted Ray's claim that he was not responsible for the assassination of King. He briefly escaped from prison in 1977 and survived a murder attempt in 1981. He paid for a nose job in cash. Did James Earl Ray Really Assassinate Martin Luther King Jr. Or Was He Set Up? Description. He carried a picture of Hitler, his idol. He left school when he was 15 and later joined the US Army towards the end of World War II but he struggled to adapt to . 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. Updates? And teachers at his school where Ray often showed up barefoot and in ragged clothes noted that he violated all regulations. Evidence does suggest that Ray had little stomach for the integration policies that were sweeping the country. Whats more, Ray claimed that he only pled guilty to the assassination because his lawyer and the FBI had pressed him to do so. James Earl Ray was a racist and quickly drawn to Wallace's segregationist platform. At the age of 16, Ray left his parents and returned to Alton, where he moved in with his grandmother and landed work in the dye room of the International Shoe Tannery. Ray was convicted in 1969 after entering a guilty pleathus forgoing a jury trial and the possibility of a death sentenceand was sentenced to . He said his lawyers were incompetent, and that proved false. James Earl Ray tilstod drabet under den efterflgende retssag. CAPTION: Ray was apprehended (harnessed and handcuffed) for the murder of Martin Luther King Jr., in 1968 . James Earl Ray was the assassin of American Baptist minister and civil rights activist, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr . For some 50 years,. You can unsubscribe at any time. And, indeed, despite Rays persistent denials of his guilt, his conviction has withstood multiple inquiries. [42], In 1998, and continuing into 1999, Pepper represented the King family in a wrongful death civil suit against Memphis restaurant owner Loyd Jowers, whose restaurant was near the Lorraine Motel. They laid out the evidence before he entered his plea, and he said, OK,' explained G. Robert Blakey, a law professor who previously served as the chief counsel for the House Assassinations Committee. Art Hanes Jr. thinks about the James Earl Ray case every day. I went to Memphis to deliver a rifle to this man called Raoul, Ray explained to a journalist from The Tennessean. James Earl Ray (fdt 10. marts 1928, dd 23. april 1998) var en amerikansk morder, der blev dmt for at have drbt Martin Luther King jr. den 4. april 1968, fem r efter Kings verdenskendte "I Have a Dream" tale i 1963.. James Earl Ray blev idmt 99 rs fngsel for mordet p King. There are records of Ray receiving plastic surgery in Los Angeles about a month before Kings murder in Memphis. He's also known for films like 'The Great White Hope,' 'The Hunt for Red October' and 'Field of Dreams' as well as an array of TV shows. Top of Page In June 1977 Ray escaped from Brushy Mountain (Tennessee) Prison and remained at large for 54 hours before being recaptured in a massive manhunt. James Earl Ray killed Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. James Earl Ray was a racist, but there was circumstantial evidence that a businessman in St. Louis had established a $50,000 bounty for King's death." . There, James Earl Ray would cross paths with Martin Luther King Jr. By April 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. had become the face of the civil rights movement. Neither party made his goals part of their platform. James Earl is known for Fired Up! The story may seem outlandish and no one has ever definitively found Raoul but Kings family and some of his most ardent supporters have come to see Rays story as the truth. In one instance, the FBI sent him a tape that allegedly contained audio of him having an affair. In 1959, he was caught stealing $120 in an armed robbery of a Kroger store in St. There, on March 30, 1968, he bought a Remington Model 760 Gamemaster .30-06-caliber rifle and a box of 20 cartridges from the Aeromarine Supply Company. Ray Charles was a pioneer of soul music, integrating R&B, gospel, pop and country to create hits like "Unchain My Heart," "Hit the Road Jack" and "Georgia on My Mind.". In fact, Kings family was as convinced of Rays innocence as the families of Nicole and Ron were convinced of Simpsons guilt. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! I found gaps in his movements that are mysterious and you just dont know who hes meeting with. The source of his money is the single biggest question.. He even upheld his claims to the King family. James Earl Ray has 7 siblings in His family: John Larry Ray, Suzan Ray, Melba Ray, Marjorie Ray, Franklin Ray, Jerry Ray . [43] [44], Coretta Scott King said, "The jury was clearly convinced by the extensive evidence that was presented during the trial that, in addition to Mr. Jowers, the conspiracy of the Mafia, local, state and federal government agencies, were deeply involved in the assassination of my husband. 2023 TIME USA, LLC. Whether he was guilty or innocent, James Earl Ray led an eventful life from behind bars. Take a look below for 27 more strange and bizarre facts about James Earl Ray. James Earl Ray on July 19, 1968, shortly after he was arrested for killing MLK. James Earl Ray was born on March 10, 1928, in Alton, IL. While there, Ray attended a local bartending school and took dance lessons. YouTubeJames Earl Ray in 1977. Then, the House Assassinations Committee spent two years and $2.5 million investigating the case., James Earl Ray did it, case closed! Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., Inc. v. CBS, Inc. Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Statue of Martin Luther King Jr. (Pueblo, Colorado), Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, San Francisco. In the hours and days after the Tucson shootings, the left wing media in America attempted to blame the Tea Party and right wing rhetoric for the deaths of six and the injuries of thirteen. So, despite 50 years of evidence fingering James Earl Ray and a consensus about his role among most scholars who study King, some people remain unconvinced. [10], While in Mexico, Ray, using the alias Eric Starvo Galt, attempted to establish himself as a pornographic film director. 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