the result of a conspiracy that involved Jowers, not Ray, as well as ''others, including governmental agencies. Since then, many members of Kings family and some of his closest supporters have come to believe Rays story and that a larger conspiracy had actually killed King. In October 1974, James Earl Ray attempted to recant his confession for the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr., in Memphis, Tennessee. It is descended into a woke, neo-socialist, radically green party. In the following years, I heard about inconsistencies in the state's case and rumors of a conspiracy in which James Earl Ray was framed for Dr. King's murder. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Tennessee Waltz : The Making of a Political Prisoner by James E. Ray (Hardcover) at the best online prices at eBay! If I ever get to the streets, I am going to kill him.. [23][24][25], Ray fled to Atlanta in his white Ford Mustang, driving eleven hours. Then, discover the true story behind the FBIs infamous Martin Luther King Jr. tapes. . On April 4, 1968, Ray stood in the bathtub of the bathroom, balanced his rifle on a window ledge and shot King as the civil rights leader was standing on a balcony outside of his motel room. There is abundant evidence of a major high-level conspiracy in the assassination of my husband, said Coretta Scott King, Kings widow, in 1999. Ray pleaded guilty to the murder, something he'd spend the rest of his life trying to reverse, and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. All Rights Reserved. Ray was a known criminal, on the lam after escaping a Missouri state prison when he committed the assassination, and had more than two dozen known aliases for himself before he was put behind bars again. MEMPHIS, March 10 In space of two and a half hours, James Earl Ray pleaded guilty today of the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and was sentenced to serve 99 years in the state . Ray was born to a poor family on March 10, 1928, in Alton, Illinois, the son of Lucille and George Ellis Ray. 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. 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. Neither party made his goals part of their platform. Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Top 250 TV Shows Most Popular TV Shows Most Popular Video Games Most Popular Music Videos Most Popular Podcasts. But even if Ray had help, the evidence strongly pointed to him pulling the trigger. Shortly after the shot was fired, witnesses saw Ray fleeing from a rooming house across the street from the motel where he had been renting a room. ''. James Earl. What We Know About Why James Earl Ray Killed Martin Luther King Jr. King vs. Loyd Jowers and conspirators unknown. [28] He stayed briefly in Lisbon, Portugal, and returned to London. Huie investigated this story and discovered that Ray lied about some details. Carter, who has rarely used his full name-James Earl Carter, Jr.-was born October 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia. According to the New York Times, his uncle went to prison on the day Ray was born, his father was a known convict, and his great-grandfather was likely Ned Ray, a gambler and Wild West outlaw. 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. "[45][46][47][48], Prompted by the King family's acceptance of some of the claims of conspiracy, United States Attorney General Janet Reno ordered a new investigation on August 26, 1998. While some speculate this was an attempt to hide his identity before killing King, others point to Ray's lack of care about disguising himself in other elements of the assassination plot. While on the lam in the 1950s, Ray lived in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico under the pseudonym Eric Stalvo Galt. While there, Eric Galt ordered video equipment through the mail to start up a business as a small-time pornographer. Ray had been treated for liver disease over the years and according to the Tennessee Department of Correction, he died from that and kidney failure. Finally, on July 19, 1968, the FBI caught up with Ray in London and extradited him to the United States. The other people involved in this conspiracy, Jowers said, included Memphis police officers, a Mafia member and the infamous Raoul. Since fleeing Memphis, hed gone to Canada, then London, then Portugal, before returning to the U.K. Joseph Louw/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesKings horrified associates point to the direction where they think the bullet came from as King lay dying at their feet. 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. Labels: James Earl Ray, MAGA, Martin Luther King Jr., Racism, Republican Party, Republicans. I had met with him twice while in Memphis at Jims Grill, which was near the boarding house. Updates? James Earl Ray being led to his cell by Shelby County Sheriff William Morris on July 19, 1968. History has largely forgotten much of the story of Martin Luther King's convicted assassin, James Earl Ray, a serial prison escapee. He had Irish, Scottish and Welsh ancestry and had a Catholic upbringing. His prints were found all over the hotel room in Memphis where the shots that killed King were thought to have come from, and they covered the murder weapon -a Remington hunting rifle he purchased in Birmingham, AL. Even after Ray died in 1998 from complications caused by hepatitis C, the family continued to assert there was, as Coretta King said in 1999, overwhelming evidence that identified someone else, not James Earl Ray, as the shooter, and that Mr. Ray was set up to take the blame.. James Earl is known for Fired Up! I dont know what happened, but the truth of what happened to Dr. King should be made available for historys sake.. (2009), Gridiron Gang (2006) and The Lazarus Effect (2015). 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.. 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.". He even upheld his claims to the King family. The authorities didnt catch up to Ray until June 1968, when they found him in London trying to board a plane to Belgium. In 1959, he was sentenced to 20 years for holding up a grocery store in St. Louis. The Committee Believes, on the Basis of the Circumstantial Evidence Available to it, that there is a Likelihood that James Earl Ray Assassinated Dr. Martin Luther King, JR., as a Result of a Conspiracy The FBI Investigation The committee's investigation Transactional analysis Ray's associates examined Examination of Ray's motive Newer Post Older Post Home. "Like a Fading Shadow" is Antonio Muoz Molina's dramatization of the hunted assassin James Earl Ray's obscure 10 . 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. Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting. Four decades later, Sides, an editor-at-large for Outside magazine and the author of the historical books Ghost Soldiers and . [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. After this, Ray was on the run and was captured in the UK. Write to Olivia B. Waxman at olivia.waxman@time.com. [38], In 1997, King's son, Dexter, met with Ray at the prison and asked him, "I just want to ask you, for the record, did you kill my father?" [15], On March 5, 1968, Ray underwent a rhinoplasty, performed by physician Russell Hadley. Ray was born into a poor family on March 10, 1928, in Alton, Illinois. Bettmann/Getty ImagesJames Earl Ray on July 19, 1968, shortly after he was arrested for killing MLK. Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? Rays unreliability has meant the only way to find out what might have motivated him is to study the people he associated with and admired. FBI agents later found this map when they searched the room in which he was staying. James Earl Ray (March 10, 1928 - April 23, 1998) was an American fugitive convicted for assassinating Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968.After this, Ray was on the run and was captured in the UK. Ray was a racist and was quickly drawn to Wallace's segregationist platform. According to Wikipedia: James Earl Ray's chief interest was the George Wallace Democratic presidential campaign. Political party politics did not play a direct role in his activities. The Nazi party Is the president part of the political party? [7], Ray committed a variety of crimes prior to the murder of King. During the four-week trial in Memphis, a 12-person jury heard testimony from over 70 witnesses; but not Jowers, who didnt testify because there were no criminal charges at stake. The drifter left after a 45-minute session and never came back. A man named Vincent Harding is credited with writing most of it. Both were aliases used by James Earl Ray. Ray was born on March 10, 1928, in Alton, Illinois, the son of Lucille Ray (ne Maher) and George Ellis Ray. In 1952, he served two years for the armed robbery of a taxi driver in Illinois. He spent much of his time in Los Angeles volunteering at the Wallace campaign headquarters in North Hollywood. But until the day he died of liver disease and kidney failure on April 23, 1998, he never again admitted to killing Martin Luther King Jr. When Kings son, Dexter, visited Ray in prison, Dexter asked Ray point-blank: Did you kill my father?. Contents 1 Background 2 Murder of King, Incarceration, and Death 3 Motive 4 Conspiracy Theories 4.1 Ray's claims 4.2 Loyd Jowers 4.3 Other claims 5 Modus Operandi 6 Known Victims 7 On Criminal Minds 8 Sources Background A guilty. 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. Despite a stint in prison, Ray continued on this path into the 1950s. [2] James Earl Ray was the oldest of nine children,[3] including John Larry Ray,[4] Franklin Ray, Jerry William Ray,[5] Melba Ray, Carol Ray Pepper, Suzan Ray, and Marjorie Ray. A former theater and television producer, Edward remains active in charity. Had he been found guilty by jury trial, he would have been eligible for the death penalty. And after passing through Canada, Alabama, Mexico, and Los Angeles, he eventually made his way to Memphis, Tennessee in April 1968. Then, Raoul threw it in the Mississippi River. In Truth at Last, we read how "James met CIA asset Jules Ron 'Ricco' Kimble. "I think I have figured out the tea party," the actor recently said on the "Smiley and West" radio show. Later in life his pleas for a trial were encouraged by some civil-rights leaders, notably the King family. He made the FBI Most Wanted List before his recapture. The two married in 1978 and divorced in 1992. The facts are these. I found gaps in his movements that are mysterious and you just dont know who hes meeting with. James Earl Ray Martin Luther King Assassin--- === April 4, 1968 Martin Luther King was killed by a single rifle bullet on , while standing on the second-floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.Shortly after the shot was fired, witnesses saw a man believed to be James Earl Ray fleeing from a rooming house across the street from the Lorraine Motel. Representative John Lewis, a civil rights activist who later became a U.S. congressman and served 17 terms before his death in 2020, agreed. On June 11, 1977, while housed at the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Petros, TN, Ray and five other inmates escaped. James Earl Ray was raised as a catholic and had conservative religious beliefs from his childhood. James Earl Ray in 1966, two years before the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. James Earl Rays mugshot from 1955. All three bore the fingerprints of an escaped convict named James Earl Ray. He was of Irish, Scots, and Welsh ancestry. Who Was James Earl Ray? What Political Party was James Earl Ray part of? James. 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. Read an Excerpt. Along with his film debut in Dr. Strangelove , he scored a supporting role in the 1967 political drama The. An hour later, he was declared dead. (Credit: State of Tennessee, Earl Warren/AP Photo), Coretta Kings specific belief in Rays innocence is a little tougher to explain. Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom . He was charged with drunkenness and breaking arrest, before getting discharged for ineptness and lack of adaptability in 1948. 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]. He claimed that, as a fugitive, he had met a blond Cuban named Raoul or Raul. Ray said he worked for Raoul in a gun-running enterprise, and he bought a .30-06 hunting rifle for him in Birmingham, Alabama. The 12-person jury verdict unanimous exonerated the "patsy" James Earl Ray for any role in the assassination of MLK. James Earl Ray has 7 siblings in His family: John Larry Ray, Suzan Ray, Melba Ray, Marjorie Ray, Franklin Ray, Jerry Ray . YouTubeJames Earl Ray in 1977. Ray was born in Alton, IL,in 1928, the son of working class Scots-Irish parents. Authorities say that when King stood on the balcony of the Lorraine around 6 p.m., Ray spotted him from a window at his boarding house, aimed a Remington .30-06 hunting rifle toward King, and fired a shot. 1. James Earl Ray On the left is the death chart of Karl Harrer founder of the DAP or Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, the German Worker's Party. The day after the trial ended, Coretta King held a press conference in Atlanta to praise the decision. [38] The tests ultimately proved inconclusive. Whether he was guilty or innocent, James Earl Ray led an eventful life from behind bars. Maybe you would like to learn more about one of these? 10 Disturbing and Unexplained Facts About James Earl Ray, MLK's Assassin. Indeed, the House Select Committee on Assassinations later speculated that Ray had killed King in order to collect a $50,000 bounty offered by Wallace supporters in St. Louis who wanted the civil rights leader dead. 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. [10], While in Mexico, Ray, using the alias Eric Starvo Galt, attempted to establish himself as a pornographic film director. In fact, King's family was as convinced of Ray's innocence as the families of Nicole and Ron were convinced of Simpson's guilt. James Earl Ray (March 10, 1928 - April 23, 1998) was an American fugitive and felon convicted of assassinating Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. Less than a year after the assassination, Ray pleaded guilty to the crime. Housed at the Missouri State Penitentiary, Ray managed to escape the facility in 1967. One of Kings sons Dexter had expressed his adamant belief that Ray was not his fathers assassin. Kershaw convinced Ray to submit to a polygraph test as part of an interview with Playboy. Simpson was found guilty of killing his wife Nicole and Ron Goldman - in a civil trial. Share Background Report Background Report Overview of James Earl Ray Lives in: Northville, Michigan Phone: View phone number Gender: Male Later, in the early 1990s, he suggested a conspiracy involving the government had been behind the assassination. A Democratic Senator from West Virginia delivered an extremely incendiary speech on the Senate Floor that was directed specifically at President Lyndon Johnson, also a Democrat. Ray replied, "No. This doesnt mean that Ray couldnt have received assistance. But he found it difficult to adapt to the military's strict codes of conduct. For some 50 years,. 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. He was 70. Its not clear when Coretta Scott King, widow of King, began to believe in Rays innocence. Art Hanes Jr. thinks about the James Earl Ray case every day. He spent many hours volunteering at the campaign headquarters in North Hollywood. [31] At check-in, the ticket agent noticed the name on his passport, Sneyd, was on a Royal Canadian Mounted Police watchlist. The next day, Ray checked into a room in a boarding house just across the street from where King was staying, according to the Washington Post. James Earl Ray was a Democrat. Most famously, in 1997 a dying Ray told Dexter King, his victims son, that he didnt do it. Among the evidence was a recording of Jowers in which he suggested he was interested in fabricating his story for financial gain. [49] On June 9, 2000, the United States Department of Justice released a 150-page report rejecting allegations that there was a conspiracy to assassinate King, including the determination of the Memphis civil court jury. Description. Ray himself countered that he was not the only one involved in the crime. James Earl Ray on July 19, 1968, shortly after he was arrested for killing MLK. The source of his money is the single biggest question.. First, a little background on James Earl Ray's upbringing to set up his path to St. Louis. James Earl Ray tilstod drabet under den efterflgende retssag. Soon, they seemed to have their answer. 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.. Ray, a white supporter of segregationist George Wallace, was a career criminal whod been convicted at least four separate times for robbing a cafe, a taxi, a post office and a grocery store. 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