James Earl Ray
Encyclopedia
James Earl Ray was an American criminal convicted of the assassination of civil rights
and anti-war
activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Ray was convicted on March 10, 1969, after entering a guilty plea to forgo a jury trial. Had he been found guilty by jury trial
, he would have been eligible for the death penalty. He was sentenced to ninety-nine years in prison. He later recanted his confession and tried unsuccessfully to gain a new trial. He died in prison of hepatitis C
.
, Illinois, and left school at age fifteen. He joined the US Army at the close of World War II
and served in Germany
. He was convicted of his first crime, a burglary in California
, in 1949.
In 1952 he served two years for armed robbery of a taxi driver in Illinois
. In 1955, he was convicted of mail fraud after stealing money orders in Hannibal
, Missouri and then forging them to take a trip to Florida. He served three years at Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary. In 1959 he was caught stealing $120 in an armed robbery of a St. Louis Krogers. Ray was sentenced to twenty years in prison for repeated offenses. He escaped from the Missouri State Penitentiary
in 1967 by hiding in a truck transporting bread from the prison bakery.
Following his escape, Ray stayed on the move, going first to St. Louis and then on to Chicago
, Toronto
, Montreal
, and Birmingham
. When he got to Alabama
, Ray stayed long enough to buy a 1966 Ford Mustang
and get an Alabama driver’s license. He then drove to Mexico
, stopping in Acapulco
before settling down in Puerto Vallarta
on October 19, 1967. While in Mexico, Ray, using the alias Eric Starvo Galt, attempted to establish himself as a porn director. Using mail-ordered equipment, he filmed and photographed local prostitutes.
Frustrated with his results and jilted by the prostitute he had formed a relationship with, Ray left Mexico around November 16, 1967.
Ray arrived in Los Angeles
on November 19. While in L.A., Ray attended a local bartending school and took dance lessons. His chief interest, however, would be the George Wallace
presidential campaign
. Ray harbored a strong prejudice towards African Americans and was quickly drawn to Wallace’s segregationist
platform. He would spend much of his time in Los Angeles volunteering at the Wallace campaign headquarters in North Hollywood. He also developed an interest in Rhodesia
, where Ian Smith’s
white supremacist
regime was in power. He even wrote to the American-Southern Africa Council on December 28, 1967. In this letter, Ray stated, “My reason for writing is that I am considering immigrating to Rhodesia.” The idea of living in Rhodesia stayed with Ray, and it would be his intended destination when he went on the run after Martin Luther King Jr.’s
assassination. One of his last acts in Los Angeles would be on March 5, 1968, when he had a rhinoplasty
performed by Dr. Russell Hadley. On March 18, 1968 Ray began a cross-country drive to Atlanta, Georgia
.
Arriving in Atlanta on March 24, Ray checked into a rooming house. He eventually bought a map of the city. FBI agents would later find this map when they searched the room in which he was staying in Atlanta. On the map, the locations of the church and residence of Martin Luther King Jr. were circled. Ray was soon on the road again and drove his Mustang to Birmingham, Alabama. There, on March 30, 1968, he bought a Remington
Gamemaster 760 .30-06-caliber rifle and a box of 20 cartridges from the Aeromarine Supply Company. He also bought a Redfield 2x7 scope, which he had mounted to the rifle. He told the store clerks that he was going on a hunting trip with his brother. Ray had continued using the Galt alias after Mexico, but when he made this purchase, he gave his name as Harvey Lowmeyer.
After buying the rifle and accessories, Ray drove back to Atlanta. An avid newspaper reader, Ray passed his time reading the Atlanta Constitution. The paper reported King’s planned return trip to Memphis, Tennessee
, which was scheduled for April 1, 1968. On April 2, 1968, Ray packed a bag and drove to Memphis.
Martin Luther King was shot and killed by a sniper on April 4, 1968, while standing on the second-floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis
, Tennessee
.
's Heathrow Airport while trying to leave the United Kingdom
on a false Canadian passport
. At check-in the ticket agent noticed the name on his passport was on a Royal Canadian Mounted Police watchlist. He was using the name of Ramon George Sneyd. At the airport, officials noticed that Ray carried another passport under a second name. The UK quickly extradited
Ray to Tennessee
, where he was charged with King's murder
. He confessed to the crime on March 10, 1969, although he recanted this confession three days later. After pleading guilty he was sentenced to ninety-nine years in prison. Ray entered a guilty plea on the advice of his attorney, Percy Foreman
, in order to avoid a potential trial conviction, which could have led to a sentence of death. The method of execution in Tennessee at the time would have been electrocution
.
Ray fired Foreman as his attorney and derisively called him "Percy Fourflusher," thereafter. Ray began claiming that a man he had met in Montreal
, who used the alias "Raul", had been deeply involved. Instead he asserted that he did not "personally shoot Dr. King," but may have been, "partially responsible without knowing it," hinting at a conspiracy
. This version of King's assassination and his fleeing Ray sold to William Bradford Huie
. Huie investigated this story and discovered Ray sometimes lied. Ray told Huie he purposely left the rifle with his fingerprints on it behind in plain sight because he wanted to become a famous criminal. Ray was convinced he was so smart that he would not be caught. He believed Governor of Alabama, George Wallace
, would soon be elected President and Ray would only be confined for a short time. He spent the remainder of his life attempting unsuccessfully to withdraw his guilty plea and secure a trial.
in Petros
, Tennessee, on June 10, 1977. They were recaptured on June 13, three days later, and returned to prison. A year was added to Ray's previous sentence, to total 100 years.
Ray had hired Jack Kershaw
as his attorney, who promoted Ray's claim that he was not responsible for the shooting, which was said to have been the result of a conspiracy of the otherwise unidentified man named "Raul". Kershaw and his client met with representatives of the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations
and convinced the committee to run ballistics tests — which ultimately proved inconclusive — that would show that Ray had not fired the fatal shot. Kershaw claimed that the 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 jail. Kershaw convinced Ray to take a polygraph
test as part of an interview with Playboy
. The magazine said that the test results showed "that Ray did, in fact, kill Martin Luther King Jr. and that he did so alone". Ray fired Kershaw after discovering that the attorney had been paid $11,000 by the magazine in exchange for the interview and hired conspiracy theorist Mark Lane
to provide him with legal representation.
, a restaurant owner in Memphis, was brought to civil court and sued as being part of a conspiracy
to murder Martin Luther King. Jowers was found legally liable
, and the King family accepted $100 in restitution, an amount chosen to show that they were not pursuing the case for financial gain.
Dr. William Pepper
, a friend of King in the last year of his life, represented Ray in a televised mock trial in an attempt to get him the trial he never had. Pepper later represented the King family in a wrongful death
civil trial against Loyd Jowers. The King family has since concluded that Ray did not have anything to do with the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr.
caused by hepatitis C
. He probably contracted the disease through a blood transfusion
given after he sustained a stabbing
while at Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary
. Ray was survived by seven siblings. His brother Jerry Ray told CNN
that his brother did not want to be buried or have his final resting place in the United States because of "the way the government has treated him." Ray was cremated and his ashes were flown to Ireland
, the home of his family's ancestors.
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
and anti-war
Anti-war
An anti-war movement is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conflicts. Many...
activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
Ray was convicted on March 10, 1969, after entering a guilty plea to forgo a jury trial. Had he been found guilty by jury trial
Jury trial
A jury trial is a legal proceeding in which a jury either makes a decision or makes findings of fact which are then applied by a judge...
, he would have been eligible for the death penalty. He was sentenced to ninety-nine years in prison. He later recanted his confession and tried unsuccessfully to gain a new trial. He died in prison of hepatitis C
Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C is an infectious disease primarily affecting the liver, caused by the hepatitis C virus . The infection is often asymptomatic, but chronic infection can lead to scarring of the liver and ultimately to cirrhosis, which is generally apparent after many years...
.
Early life
James Earl Ray came from a poor family in AltonAlton, Illinois
Alton is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 27,865 at the 2010 census. It is a part of the Metro-East region of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area in Southern Illinois...
, Illinois, and left school at age fifteen. He joined the US Army at the close of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and served in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. He was convicted of his first crime, a burglary in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, in 1949.
In 1952 he served two years for armed robbery of a taxi driver in Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. In 1955, he was convicted of mail fraud after stealing money orders in Hannibal
Hannibal, Missouri
Hannibal is a city in Marion and Ralls counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. Hannibal is located at the intersection of Interstate 72 and U.S. Routes 24, 36 and 61, approximately northwest of St. Louis. According to the 2010 U.S. Census the population was 17,606...
, Missouri and then forging them to take a trip to Florida. He served three years at Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary. In 1959 he was caught stealing $120 in an armed robbery of a St. Louis Krogers. Ray was sentenced to twenty years in prison for repeated offenses. He escaped from the Missouri State Penitentiary
Missouri State Penitentiary
The Missouri State Penitentiary, also known as "The Walls", was a prison in Jefferson City, Missouri that operated from 1836-2004. It was a prison of the Missouri Department of Corrections. Before its closure it was named the Jefferson City Correctional Center . Before its closure it was the oldest...
in 1967 by hiding in a truck transporting bread from the prison bakery.
Following his escape, Ray stayed on the move, going first to St. Louis and then on to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, and Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
. When he got to Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, Ray stayed long enough to buy a 1966 Ford Mustang
Ford Mustang
The Ford Mustang is an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. It was initially based on the second generation North American Ford Falcon, a compact car. Introduced early on April 17, 1964, as a "1964½" model, the 1965 Mustang was the automaker's most successful launch since the Model A...
and get an Alabama driver’s license. He then drove to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, stopping in Acapulco
Acapulco
Acapulco is a city, municipality and major sea port in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific coast of Mexico, southwest from Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semi-circular bay and has been a port since the early colonial period of Mexico’s history...
before settling down in Puerto Vallarta
Puerto Vallarta
Puerto Vallarta is a Mexican balneario resort city situated on the Pacific Ocean's Bahía de Banderas.The 2010 census reported Puerto Vallarta's population as 255,725 making it the sixth-largest city in the state of Jalisco...
on October 19, 1967. While in Mexico, Ray, using the alias Eric Starvo Galt, attempted to establish himself as a porn director. Using mail-ordered equipment, he filmed and photographed local prostitutes.
Frustrated with his results and jilted by the prostitute he had formed a relationship with, Ray left Mexico around November 16, 1967.
Ray arrived in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
on November 19. While in L.A., Ray attended a local bartending school and took dance lessons. His chief interest, however, would be the George Wallace
George Wallace
George Corley Wallace, Jr. was the 45th Governor of Alabama, serving four terms: 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. "The most influential loser" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T. Carter and Stephan Lesher, he ran for U.S...
presidential campaign
George Wallace presidential campaign, 1968
Former Governor of Alabama George Wallace ran in the 1968 United States presidential election as the candidate of the American Independent Party.Wallace's pro-segregation policies had been rejected by the mainstream of the Democratic Party. The impact of the Wallace campaign was substantial,...
. Ray harbored a strong prejudice towards African Americans and was quickly drawn to Wallace’s segregationist
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
platform. He would spend much of his time in Los Angeles volunteering at the Wallace campaign headquarters in North Hollywood. He also developed an interest in Rhodesia
Rhodesia
Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
, where Ian Smith’s
Ian Smith
Ian Douglas Smith GCLM ID was a politician active in the government of Southern Rhodesia, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Rhodesia, Zimbabwe Rhodesia and Zimbabwe from 1948 to 1987, most notably serving as Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 13 April 1964 to 1 June 1979...
white supremacist
White supremacy
White supremacy is the belief, and promotion of the belief, that white people are superior to people of other racial backgrounds. The term is sometimes used specifically to describe a political ideology that advocates the social and political dominance by whites.White supremacy, as with racial...
regime was in power. He even wrote to the American-Southern Africa Council on December 28, 1967. In this letter, Ray stated, “My reason for writing is that I am considering immigrating to Rhodesia.” The idea of living in Rhodesia stayed with Ray, and it would be his intended destination when he went on the run after Martin Luther King Jr.’s
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
assassination. One of his last acts in Los Angeles would be on March 5, 1968, when he had a rhinoplasty
Rhinoplasty
Rhinoplasty , also nose job, is a plastic surgery procedure for correcting and reconstructing the form, restoring the functions, and aesthetically enhancing the nose, by resolving nasal trauma , congenital defect, respiratory impediment, and a failed primary rhinoplasty...
performed by Dr. Russell Hadley. On March 18, 1968 Ray began a cross-country drive to Atlanta, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
.
Arriving in Atlanta on March 24, Ray checked into a rooming house. He eventually bought a map of the city. FBI agents would later find this map when they searched the room in which he was staying in Atlanta. On the map, the locations of the church and residence of Martin Luther King Jr. were circled. Ray was soon on the road again and drove his Mustang to Birmingham, Alabama. There, on March 30, 1968, he bought a Remington
Remington Arms
Remington Arms Company, Inc. was founded in 1816 by Eliphalet Remington in Ilion, New York, as E. Remington and Sons. It is the oldest company in the United States which still makes its original product, and is the oldest continuously operating manufacturer in North America. It is the only U.S....
Gamemaster 760 .30-06-caliber rifle and a box of 20 cartridges from the Aeromarine Supply Company. He also bought a Redfield 2x7 scope, which he had mounted to the rifle. He told the store clerks that he was going on a hunting trip with his brother. Ray had continued using the Galt alias after Mexico, but when he made this purchase, he gave his name as Harvey Lowmeyer.
After buying the rifle and accessories, Ray drove back to Atlanta. An avid newspaper reader, Ray passed his time reading the Atlanta Constitution. The paper reported King’s planned return trip to Memphis, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, which was scheduled for April 1, 1968. On April 2, 1968, Ray packed a bag and drove to Memphis.
Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
.
Capture and trial
On June 8, 1968, a little more than two months after King's death, Ray was captured at LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's Heathrow Airport while trying to leave the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on a false Canadian passport
Canadian passport
A Canadian passport is a passport issued to citizens of Canada for the purpose of international travel; allowing the bearer to travel in foreign countries in accordance with visa requirements; facilitating the process of securing assistance from Canadian consular officials abroad, if necessary; and...
. At check-in the ticket agent noticed the name on his passport was on a Royal Canadian Mounted Police watchlist. He was using the name of Ramon George Sneyd. At the airport, officials noticed that Ray carried another passport under a second name. The UK quickly extradited
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
Ray to Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, where he was charged with King's murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
. He confessed to the crime on March 10, 1969, although he recanted this confession three days later. After pleading guilty he was sentenced to ninety-nine years in prison. Ray entered a guilty plea on the advice of his attorney, Percy Foreman
Percy Foreman
Percy Eugene Foreman was a criminal defense attorney from Houston, Texas. Foreman was born near Bold Springs, Texas, and moved to Livingston, Texas when he was six years old. He was the son of William P. Foreman, a former sheriff of Polk County, Texas...
, in order to avoid a potential trial conviction, which could have led to a sentence of death. The method of execution in Tennessee at the time would have been electrocution
Electric chair
Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...
.
Ray fired Foreman as his attorney and derisively called him "Percy Fourflusher," thereafter. Ray began claiming that a man he had met in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, who used the alias "Raul", had been deeply involved. Instead he asserted that he did not "personally shoot Dr. King," but may have been, "partially responsible without knowing it," hinting at a conspiracy
Conspiracy (crime)
In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...
. This version of King's assassination and his fleeing Ray sold to William Bradford Huie
William Bradford Huie
William Bradford "Bill" Huie was an American journalist, editor, publisher, television interviewer, screenwriter, lecturer, and novelist.-Biography:...
. Huie investigated this story and discovered Ray sometimes lied. Ray told Huie he purposely left the rifle with his fingerprints on it behind in plain sight because he wanted to become a famous criminal. Ray was convinced he was so smart that he would not be caught. He believed Governor of Alabama, George Wallace
George Wallace
George Corley Wallace, Jr. was the 45th Governor of Alabama, serving four terms: 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. "The most influential loser" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T. Carter and Stephan Lesher, he ran for U.S...
, would soon be elected President and Ray would only be confined for a short time. He spent the remainder of his life attempting unsuccessfully to withdraw his guilty plea and secure a trial.
1977 escape
On June 11, 1977, Ray made his second appearance on the FBI Most Wanted Fugitives list, this time as the 351st entry. He and six other convicts had escaped from Brushy Mountain State PenitentiaryBrushy Mountain State Penitentiary
Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary last named Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex was a large maximum-security prison near the town of Petros in Morgan County, Tennessee, operated by the Tennessee Department of Correction...
in Petros
Petros, Tennessee
Petros, is an unincorporated town in Morgan County, Tennessee, United States, located on State Route 116.Petros is historically a coal mining town and is also the home of Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary. Some of the town and coal mine scenes for the movie October Sky were filmed...
, Tennessee, on June 10, 1977. They were recaptured on June 13, three days later, and returned to prison. A year was added to Ray's previous sentence, to total 100 years.
Ray had hired Jack Kershaw
Jack Kershaw
Jack Kershaw was an English soccer center forward who began his career in England and ended it in the United States. He was born in Lancashire, England...
as his attorney, who promoted Ray's claim that he was not responsible for the shooting, which was said to have been the result of a conspiracy of the otherwise unidentified man named "Raul". Kershaw and his client met with representatives of the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations
United States House Select Committee on Assassinations
The United States House of Representatives Select Committee on Assassinations ' was established in 1976 to investigate the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. and the shooting of Governor George Wallace. The Committee investigated until 1978, and in 1979 issued its final...
and convinced the committee to run ballistics tests — which ultimately proved inconclusive — that would show that Ray had not fired the fatal shot. Kershaw claimed that the 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 jail. Kershaw convinced Ray to take a polygraph
Polygraph
A polygraph measures and records several physiological indices such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while the subject is asked and answers a series of questions...
test as part of an interview with Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
. The magazine said that the test results showed "that Ray did, in fact, kill Martin Luther King Jr. and that he did so alone". Ray fired Kershaw after discovering that the attorney had been paid $11,000 by the magazine in exchange for the interview and hired conspiracy theorist Mark Lane
Mark Lane (author)
Mark Lane is an American lawyer who has written many books, including Rush to Judgment, one of two major books published in the immediate wake of the John F. Kennedy assassination that questioned the conclusions of the Warren Commission. Another book, Plausible Denial, published in 1991, continued...
to provide him with legal representation.
Later developments
In 1997, King's son Dexter met with Ray, and publicly supported his efforts to obtain a retrial. Loyd JowersLoyd Jowers
Loyd Jowers was the owner of a restaurant near the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968. In December 1993, Jowers appeared on ABC's Prime Time Live and related the details of an alleged conspiracy involving the Mafia and the U.S. government to kill...
, a restaurant owner in Memphis, was brought to civil court and sued as being part of a conspiracy
Conspiracy (crime)
In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...
to murder Martin Luther King. Jowers was found legally liable
Legal liability
Legal liability is the legal bound obligation to pay debts.* In law a person is said to be legally liable when they are financially and legally responsible for something. Legal liability concerns both civil law and criminal law. See Strict liability. Under English law, with the passing of the Theft...
, and the King family accepted $100 in restitution, an amount chosen to show that they were not pursuing the case for financial gain.
Dr. William Pepper
William F. Pepper
William Francis Pepper is an attorney based in New York City who is most noted for his efforts to prove the innocence of James Earl Ray in the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Sirhan Sirhan in the Assassination of Robert F...
, a friend of King in the last year of his life, represented Ray in a televised mock trial in an attempt to get him the trial he never had. Pepper later represented the King family in a wrongful death
Wrongful death claim
Wrongful death is a claim in common law jurisdictions against a person who can be held liable for a death. The claim is brought in a civil action, usually by close relatives, as enumerated by statute...
civil trial against Loyd Jowers. The King family has since concluded that Ray did not have anything to do with the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Death
Ray died in prison on April 23, 1998, at seventy years of age, from complications related to kidney disease and liver failureLiver failure
Acute liver failure is the appearance of severe complications rapidly after the first signs of liver disease , and indicates that the liver has sustained severe damage . The complications are hepatic encephalopathy and impaired protein synthesis...
caused by hepatitis C
Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C is an infectious disease primarily affecting the liver, caused by the hepatitis C virus . The infection is often asymptomatic, but chronic infection can lead to scarring of the liver and ultimately to cirrhosis, which is generally apparent after many years...
. He probably contracted the disease through a blood transfusion
Blood transfusion
Blood transfusion is the process of receiving blood products into one's circulation intravenously. Transfusions are used in a variety of medical conditions to replace lost components of the blood...
given after he sustained a stabbing
Stabbing
A stabbing is penetration with a sharp or pointed object at close range. Stab connotes purposeful action, as by an assassin or murderer, but it is also possible to accidentally stab oneself or others.Stabbing differs from slashing or cutting in that the motion of the object used in a stabbing...
while at Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary
Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary
Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary last named Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex was a large maximum-security prison near the town of Petros in Morgan County, Tennessee, operated by the Tennessee Department of Correction...
. Ray was survived by seven siblings. His brother Jerry Ray told CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
that his brother did not want to be buried or have his final resting place in the United States because of "the way the government has treated him." Ray was cremated and his ashes were flown to Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, the home of his family's ancestors.
Further reading
- Ray, James Earl, Who Killed Martin Luther King?: The True Story by the Alleged Assassin, Washington D.C.: National Press Books, 1992, ISBN 0-915765-93-4
- Pepper, William, An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther King
- Posner, Gerald, Killing the Dream: James Earl Ray and the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Ray, James Earl with Saussy, Tupper, Tennessee Waltz: The Making of a Political Prisoner
- McMillan, George, The Making of an Assassin
- Heathrow, John, Why Did He Do It?
- Melanson, Dr. Phillip H., The Martin Luther King Assassination: New Revelations on the Conspiracy and Cover-Up, 1968-1991
- Green, Jim, Blood and Dishonor on a Badge of Honor