James Earl Ray

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James Earl Ray Born March 10, 1928(1928-03-10)
Alton, IllinoisDied April 23, 1998
Petros, TennesseeConviction(s) Murder, prison escape,
armed robbery, forgeryPenalty Life sentenceStatus deceased Spouse Anna Sandhu (divorced) Parents James Gerald Ray

James Earl Ray (March 10, 1928 – April 23, 1998) was convicted of the assassination of American civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., which occurred on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. Ray had been placed on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list twice.

1 Early life
2 Capture and trial
3 Escape
4 Retrial
5 Death
6 References
7 Further reading
8 External links

Early life

James Earl Ray came from a poor family in the Midwest and left school at 15. He joined the army and served in Germany. In 1949 he was convicted of burglary in California and in 1952 he served two years for armed robbery of a taxi driver in Illinois. In 1955 he was convicted of mail fraud. After an armed robbery in Missouri in 1959, Ray was sentenced to 20 years as a habitual offender. In 1967 he escaped by hiding in a truck transporting bread from the prison bakery.[1]

Capture and trial

Main article: Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination

On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King was staying at a motel in Memphis. He was shot and killed while standing on the motel's second floor balcony.

A little more than two months after King's death, on June 8, 1968, Ray was captured at London's Heathrow Airport while trying to leave the United Kingdom on a false Canadian passport in the name of Ramon George Sneyd. Ray was quickly extradited to Tennessee and charged with King's murder, confessing to the assassination on March 10, 1969, (though he recanted this confession three days later) and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. On the advice of his attorney Percy Foreman, Ray took a guilty plea to avoid a trial conviction and therefore the possibility of receiving the death penalty.

Ray later fired Foreman as his attorney (from then on derisively calling him "Percy Fourflusher") claiming that a man he met in Montreal, Canada, using the alias "Raoul" had been deeply involved, as was his brother Johnny, but not himself, further asserting that although he didn't "personally shoot Dr. King," he may have been "partially responsible without knowing it," hinting at a conspiracy. He spent the remainder of his life attempting (unsuccessfully) to withdraw his guilty plea and secure the trial he never had.

Escape

On June 11, 1977 Ray made his second appearance, this time as the 351st entry, on the FBI Most Wanted Fugitives list. He and six other convicts had just escaped from Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Petros, Tennessee on June 10, 1977. They were recaptured on June 13, three days later, and returned to prison.[1] One more year was added to his previous sentence to total 100 years. Shortly after, Ray testified that he did not shoot King to the House Select Committee on Assassinations.

Retrial

In 1997 Martin Luther King's son Dexter King met with Ray, and publicly supported Ray's efforts to obtain a retrial. Loyd Jowers, 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 liable, and the King family was awarded $100 in restitution 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 James Earl Ray in a televised mock trial in an attempt to get Ray the trial that he never had. Pepper then represented the King family in a wrongful death civil trial against Loyd Jowers. The King family does not believe Ray had anything to do with the murder of Martin Luther King.[2]

Death

Ray died in prison on April 23, 1998, at the age of 70 from complications related to kidney disease, caused by hepatitis C probably contracted as a result of a blood transfusion given after a stabbing while at Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary. It was also confirmed in the autopsy that he died of liver failure.