James Earl Ray being led to his cell by Shelby County Sheriff William Morris on July 19, 1968. [8] He was sentenced to twenty years in prison for repeated offenses. Ray said he wasnt in the room when King was shot, but he was unable to consistently explain where he had been, or keep other important details in his story straight. 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. He made the FBI Most Wanted List before his recapture. The incident was incredibly damaging to the cause of King and his Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Ray himself countered that he was not the only one involved in the crime. James Earl Ray, a career criminal who had briefly served in the U.S. Army, shot the advocate of non-violent resistance. Ray's first conviction for criminal activity, a burglary in California, came in 1949. First pu For 72 hours after his guilty plea, James Earl Ray stayed quiet. A plaque made for a 2002 Martin Luther King Day celebration mistakenly thanked James Earl Ray, King's assassin, instead of actor James Earl Jones. James Earl Ray, a career criminal who had briefly served in the U.S. Army, shot the advocate of non-violent resistance. 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. Riots erupted in Memphis; one person was killed and sixty were injured. James Earl Ray was a racist.. 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. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). He drifted around the Midwest, committing more crimes. And from years of hopes, hopes that were shattered and crumbled with the steps of that Negro Baptist Church." Three days later, Ray recanted his confession. 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. 2023 Biography and the Biography logo are registered trademarks of A&E Television Networks, LLC. James Earl Ray is the disturbed man who assassinated Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968. Ray then fired Kershaw after discovering the attorney had been paid $11,000 by the magazine in exchange for the interview and instead hired attorney Mark Lane to provide him with legal representation. [7], Ray committed a variety of crimes prior to the murder of King. Ray confessed to the crime on March 10, 1969 and received a 99-year prison sentence, which increased to a 100-year sentence after he briefly escaped in 1977. Ray Kroc was an American entrepreneur best known for expanding McDonalds from a local chain to the worlds most profitable restaurant franchise operation. 4777. The authorities didnt catch up to Ray until June 1968, when they found him in London trying to board a plane to Belgium. Even a 1978 special congressional committee said there was the "likelihood" that Ray did not act alone. James Earl Ray in 1966, two years before the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. James Earl Rays mugshot from 1955. In the 1950s, Ray became notorious as a petty criminal, and by the end of the decade he was a failed pornographer who had served some jail time and successfully completed a prison escape. 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. Findings by federal authorities and the House Select Committee on Assassinations are confident about some things. After returning to Alton and moving back in with his grandmother, he blazed through a number of odd jobs. An international manhunt led to his capture in June 1968 at Heathrow Airport in London, where he was caught carrying two fake Canadian passports. Huie investigated this story and discovered that Ray lied about some details. James Earl White (born July 16, 1964) is a former member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 19, which encompassed Polk, Hardin, Jasper, Newton, and Tyler counties. He was sentenced to 90 days in prison, but the lockup did little to reform him. James Earl Jones is the American actor who voiced Darth Vader in the 'Star Wars' franchise. He is a former Shelby County, Tennessee Criminal Court judge and a former arbiter of the arbitration-based reality court show Judge Joe Brown . But officials dont believe Jowerss story. James Earl Ray is infamous for assassinating civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. Four decades later, Sides, an editor-at-large for Outside magazine and the author of the historical books Ghost Soldiers and . Yet given the way the bureau had treated her and her family, her suspicion of the FBI and its conclusions about her husbands killer came from a very reasonable place, says John McMillian, a history professor at Georgia State University. 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. The Nazi party Is the president part of the political party? For the first 25 years after Kings death, Jowers did not claim any involvement in the murder. To believe that the King family was motivated exclusively by publicity, one must believe that all of its members were involved in selling out the truth of their loved ones assassination for three figures. Edward, Earl of Wessex is the youngest child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. Wednesday marks 50 years since Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on the second-floor balcony near his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, where he had been supporting black sanitation workers on strike for better pay and working conditions. Hardcover, 480 pages. He spent many hours volunteering at the campaign headquarters in North Hollywood. Political party politics did not play a direct role in his activities. 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. 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. First, a little background on James Earl Ray's upbringing to set up his path to St. Louis. 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 . He was 70. 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. They were recaptured on June 13. [23][24][25], Ray fled to Atlanta in his white Ford Mustang, driving eleven hours. The House Assassinations Committee examining evidence in the killing of Martin Luther King, Jr. (Credit: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images). [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?" He paid for a nose job in cash. [36] However, Ray spent the remainder of his life unsuccessfully attempting to withdraw his guilty plea and secure a jury trial. In March 1960 Ray started a 20-year sentence for the crimes. All Rights Reserved. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. It didnt take long for investigators to determine a suspect. On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Less than a year after the assassination, Ray pleaded guilty to the crime. [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. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Ray struggled to adapt to military life and was eventually discharged for ineptitude and lack of adaptability in 1948. He broke out of prisons so many times that he earned the nickname the Mole.. That year, Kings son Dexter Scott King visited Ray in prison to draw attention to the familys push to appeal his case. (biography.com) He admitted that he killed Martin Luther King, so he . Labels: James Earl Ray, MAGA, Martin Luther King Jr., Racism, Republican Party, Republicans. 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. Those prints were already among the FBIs records for wanted individuals. Fifty years later, some questions linger about why exactly the civil rights leader was targeted and whether the shooter acted alone. In 1959, he was sentenced to 20 years for holding up a grocery store in St. Louis. Barely 48 hours later, on March 31st, Johnson would publicly announce that he would not seek reelection. 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. Whether anybody helped him indirectly has yet to be determined. [50], Ray died on April 23, 1998, at the age of 70, at the Columbia Nashville Memorial Hospital from complications related to kidney disease and liver failure caused by hepatitis C.[51] His brother, Jerry, 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 had framed him for murder. 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 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.'. FBI agents later found this map when they searched the room in which he was staying. His home life was no better. 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 born in Alton, IL,in 1928, the son of working class Scots-Irish parents. He maintained that he was innocent of killing MLK until his own death in 1998. Experts have also studied Rays movements leading up to the assassination, including a mysterious trip to New Orleans that March and a move to Atlanta, the funding and logistics of which raise questions. Corrections? King vs. Loyd Jowers and conspirators unknown. Peanut farming, talk of politics, and devotion to the Baptist faith were . Doubleday. [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. Bettmann/Getty ImagesJames Earl Ray on July 19, 1968, shortly after he was arrested for killing MLK. But almost immediately after her husbands assassination, she suspected that the FBI, which had investigated the murder, was involved in it. Months later, he recanted his confession, without effect. Three months later to the day, the man in Von Koss' office whose actual name was James Earl Ray fatally shot King on the . This list details the strange, unstable life of James Earl Ray, a man who confessed to and then spent his life denyingthe murder of Martin Luther King Jr. 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. A year before, hed escaped from Missouri State Penitentiary while serving a 20-year sentence, and was on the lam at the time King was shot. American fantasy and horror author Ray Bradbury is best known for his novels 'Fahrenheit 451,' 'The Illustrated Man' and 'The Martian Chronicles.'. In June 1977 Ray escaped from Brushy Mountain (Tennessee) Prison and remained at large for 54 hours before being recaptured in a massive manhunt. Until his last day, James Earl Ray denied the crime, saying that it was part of a larger conspiracy involving contacts from Canada and even insinuating that the U.S. government had a role in it as well. Digital [18] He bought a map of the city. But within Martin Luther Kings family, there remains a persistent belief that Ray is innocent, and was set up to take the fall. [21], After purchasing the rifle and accessories, Ray drove back to Atlanta. finds no conspiracy in King assassination", "Third Inquiry Affirms Others: Ray Alone Was King's Killer", "Autopsy confirms Ray died of liver failure". On April 4, 1967 a year to the day prior to Kings assassination King delivered his Beyond Vietnam speech at Riverside Baptist Church in New York City. 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.". Joseph Louw/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images. He was a democrat. https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/james-earl-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. 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. The family accepted $100 in restitution to demonstrate they were not pursuing the case for financial gain, and they publicly stated that Ray, in their opinion, had nothing to do with the assassination. Such a conclusion must be drawn from a premise that the King family was willing to publicly, wrongfully, and unjustifiably vindicate Ray in order to accuse others simply to gain notoriety. Take a look below for 27 more strange and bizarre facts about James Earl Ray. Dexter told Ray that he, along with the rest of the King family, believed Ray, and the family also urged publicly that Ray be granted a new trial. He was believed to have been en route to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), which was at the time a haven for white supremacists. Among the evidence was a recording of Jowers in which he suggested he was interested in fabricating his story for financial gain. CAPTION: Ray was apprehended (harnessed and handcuffed) for the murder of Martin Luther King Jr., in 1968 . (Credit: State of Tennessee, Earl Warren/AP Photo), Coretta Kings specific belief in Rays innocence is a little tougher to explain. Each year, the third Monday in January is a celebration to commemoratethe life and accomplishments of Martin Luther King Jr., the tireless civil rights activist who was gunned down in Memphis, TN, in 1968. The pastor-turned-activist had orchestrated boycotts, led historic marches, and spoken to hundreds of thousands of people in Washington, D.C. about his dream of a more equal country. The 12-person jury verdict unanimous exonerated the "patsy" James Earl Ray for any role in the assassination of MLK. Then, the House Assassinations Committee spent two years and $2.5 million investigating the case., James Earl Ray did it, case closed! Actor: Fired Up!. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. James. James Earl Ray walked through the gates of Brushy Mountain for the first time March 21, 1970, one year into a 99-year sentence and not quite two years since the death of King, gunned down by a . Martin Luther King Jr. giving his last speech, Ive Been To The Mountaintop, on April 3, 1968. 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. Evidence does suggest that Ray had little stomach for the integration policies that were sweeping the country. For some 50 years,. Ray's life outside the Army proved even less stable. I found gaps in his movements that are mysterious and you just dont know who hes meeting with. He at first fled to Canada but, unable to get on a ship and flee overseas, he returned to the U.S. and made his way to first Alabama, then Mexico, and later Los Angeles. Bettmann/Getty ImagesJames Earl Ray in 1966, two years before the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. And after passing through Canada, Alabama, Mexico, and Los Angeles, he eventually made his way to Memphis, Tennessee in April 1968. 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.''. [12] His chief interest, however, was the George Wallace presidential campaign. font size decrease font size increase font size; . In addition to his segregationist beliefs, he also saw a big payday, some historians have said, in killing Black leaders like H. Rap Brown, Stokely Carmichael and, of course, King. Updates? Martin Luther's goal, at least initially, was to repeal Jim Crow segregation laws where they existed. Omissions? And, indeed, despite Rays persistent denials of his guilt, his conviction has withstood multiple inquiries. YouTubeJames Earl Ray in 1977. 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. History has largely forgotten much of the story of Martin Luther King's convicted assassin, James Earl Ray, a serial prison escapee. In no uncertain terms, Byrd was calling on Johnson to stop Kings march on D.C. [6] Ray left school at the age of 12. Simpson was found guilty of killing his wife Nicole and Ron Goldman in a civil trial. That investigation declassified scores of memos detailing the bureaus abusive behavior, but did not reveal any evidence that the FBI had formally plotted his death. [31] At check-in, the ticket agent noticed the name on his passport, Sneyd, was on a Royal Canadian Mounted Police watchlist. Just a few days later, however, James Earl Ray changed his story. Over the decades, the story twisted and turned. . Ray had seven siblings. James Earl Ray was an American criminal with a Danish background, 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. 'S first conviction for criminal activity, a career criminal who had briefly in. Let us know if you see something that does n't look right, click here to us. 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