When, without warning, Ray was allowed to plead guilty and was sentenced to 99 years, without a public trial, millions of people suspected a cover-up. ), where he secured a second Canadian passport (May 16), and back to London (May 17?). The first time I saw James Earl Ray, he had just arrived at the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City. He employed such Communists as Bayard Rustin and Hunter Pitts ODell; and he worked closely with Carl Braden and James Dumbrowski. After the assassination, King's family did not trust the findings of the FBI, which had harassed the civil rights leader while he was alive. Some of the books written about the assassination describe him as a major drug dealer in Jefferson City, which is ludicrous. Raised in the Crenshaw District of Los Angeles, Brown graduated as valedictorian[full citation needed] from Dorsey High School. Undercover Agent, was an undercover agent for the FBI in the Cleveland area. 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. King said he liked the idea. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Ray was convicted in 1969 after entering a guilty pleathus forgoing a jury trial and the possibility of a death sentenceand was sentenced to . Rays fingerprints were the only ones found on the gun, and there were no witnesses who had seen him with Raoul during the nine months they supposedly knew each other (Rays description of Raoul also changed a few times). King family never believed that Ray was the actual murderer. For some 50 years, the federal government has maintained that James Earl Ray was the gunman who assassinated King that day. 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. Although Ray had two attempted escapes on his record, he did not have nearly as much heat on him as Westberg. The Rays would have had many opportunities to meet racists. Soon after his release from prison, he was again convicted for mail fraud in Hannibal, Missouri and served three prison sentences at the Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary. For years convicts had dreamed of escaping in the bread box, but everyone assumed it was searched in the truck tunnel (that they would poke steel rods through the garbage, for example). There were no cellblock TVs in Jefferson City in 1963 and 1964. Back in Memphis, Ray pleaded guilty, forfeiting a trial, and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. More:Manhunt in the mountains: James Earl Ray and the Brushy Mountain Prison breakout of 1977. In 1977, New Times magazine suggested that Jerry Ray and "Raoul" were one and the same. 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.''. Stoner is one of the most investigated people in America. Ostensibly only a New York City attorney and businessman, Levison is, in fact, a shrewd, dedicated communist. On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. The explanation is much simpler. Almost everyone felt sure the government would want to avoid a never-ending search for conspirators in the King case, and would accomplish that by presenting its evidence at Ray's trial. January 30, 1961. 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. Months later, he recanted his confession, without effect. Shortly before his seventh birthday, in 1935, his father passed a bad check and the Rays fled to Ewing, Missouri, where they changed their name to Raynes to avoid . Between 1998 and 2000, the Department of Justice investigated Jowers claims and the evidence in the civil trial, and concluded that Jowerss claims werent credible. 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. The verdict in King vs. Jowers found a government conspiracy involving city, state, and federal agents complicit in the murder. James Earl Ray had traveled to Montreal while on the run, and claimed that he'd met a man named "Raoul" in Montreal, and that Raoul had furnished him with money, and eventually masterminded the King assassination-using Ray as the fall-guy. The new trial was never granted. Charley McCracken, a friend from the St. Louis City Jail, pointed him out to me in H-Hall, where the newly arriving convicts at the maximum-security penitentiary were oriented. King was visiting Memphis to settle a strike by garbage workers. Then Benny was transferred to L-Hall, an honor unit just outside the walls of the main penitentiary. "Somebody's gotta get him," Ray would say, his face drawn with tension, his fists clenched. In order to hang onto your drugs, people had to know that you would kill them without hesitation. In 1997, King told Ray personally that both he and his family believed him. [3] Brown has spoken about how his upbringing shaped his philosophy. Over the years, as book after book has been published on the King case, numerous conspiracy theories have been advanced: that the FBI was involved; that the CIA feared King would come out in opposition to the Vietnam War; that rival black leaders felt King's non-violent approach was a hindrance to black progress; that white supremacists wanted him out of the way for obvious reasons. [3] He would later open his own law practice before being elected as a judge on the State Criminal Court of Shelby County, Tennessee in 1990. Judge Brown's lawyer filed an appeal, but the appeal was refused. Just once, he was caught with three packs of cigarettes, a pound of coffee and a ballpoint pen. The paper quotes Kings statement explaining his strategy: To dislocate the function of a city without destroying it can be more effective than a riot, because it can be longer lasting, costly to society, and not wantonly destructive., Kings admission that the strategy he planned for Washington, D.C, would be costly to society is startling in view of a fact noted in The Urban Institute report, Our Changing City, which observed: 1950 also marked the start of the white exodus to the suburbs. James Earl Ray, an escaped American convict, is arrested in London, England, and charged with the assassination of African American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. On April 4,. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). (Credit: State of Tennessee, Earl Warren/AP Photo), Coretta Kings specific belief in Rays innocence is a little tougher to explain. Ray, although not personally motivated by racism, comes from a rural background where blacks are not highly regarded. One week prior to Kings assassination on April 4, 1968 he had gone to Memphis to show support for local sanitation workers. 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. What Political Party was James Earl Ray part of? That year, Kings son Dexter Scott King visited Ray in prison to draw attention to the familys push to appeal his case. And by the way, what is that, Magistrate, sir, with due respect. . While taking dancing classes, he was attracted to the presidential campaign of George Wallace. In 1999, James Earl Ray was found innocent of killing Martin Luther King Jr. in the same way O.J. James Earl Ray was raised as a catholic and had conservative religious beliefs from his childhood. 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. Lee Harvey Oswald James Earl Ray Sirhan Sirhan . So, are there are still remaining questions about how everything happened the day of Kings assassination? The date was November 9, 1963. Senator in Robert Byrd. (153) ''. When The John Birch Society first made Kings communist connections known almost 50 years ago, most people were skeptical. In the year 1977, Ray escaped from the prison for the second time along with six other convicts from the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary located in Petros, Tennessee. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. James Earl Ray From the viewpoint of a man who served time with Ray in prison, then went on to become a journalist, . My review took issue with many assumptions in the book, such as those centering on Ray's involvement with drugs in prison, and how he escaped from Jefferson City. Brown has spoken about how his upbringing shaped his philosophy. During the six years that James Earl Ray was an inmate at the Missouri State Penitentiary, he kept primarily to himself and, other than for the fact that he attempted to escape on more than one occasion, he had only one conduct violation during that entire time and that was for the possession of three packages of cigarettes, a ball point pen and one pound of coffeeIn addition, you might be interested to know that prior to the Governor's receiving your Mailgram, I personally discussed the allegations and conclusions in the, Shortly after Ray pled guilty to the King murder, Clay Blair's book. Unfortunately, the scene described by McMillan could not have happened. McMillan is the primary source for the widespread belief that Ray was a major drug dealer in Jeff City; that he smuggled large sums of money out of prison; that he used that money to finance his travels after his escape. [13], Brown is twice divorced and has two sons from his first marriage.[14]. The scandal was so bad it led to the downfall of Warden Nash, who then shot himself.). In my interviews with him, I've found him to be eerily unflappable. 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. It is known that, after escaping from Jeff City, James Earl Ray went to Chicago, where Jerry Ray was living. Ray died on April 23, 1998 at the Columbia Nashville Memorial Hospital due to Hepatitis C at the age of 70. Therefore, I challenge your authority to hear it. In March 2014, Brown was arrested in Memphis, Tennessee, and charged with five counts of contempt of court and getting "verbally abusive" during a child support case overseen by Magistrate Harold Horne. As the paper notes: Through Levisons influence, other subversives were attracted to SCLC [The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which King helped found]. He was a founder and the long-time chairman of the National States' Rights Party as well as the publisher of its newsletter, The Thunderbolt. Don told me later he was stunned; but he knew if he hesitated too long, a guard would catch Ray. After several days, the prison officials concluded that Ray had actually escaped, and they put out an alarm. Wait Who? Los Angeles was the site of Ray's first arrest, for burglary, in 1949, and he ended up serving 90 days in jail. "Somebody's gotta get him.". 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. In renouncing his guilt, Ray raised the spectre of a conspiracy behind Kings murder but offered scant evidence to support his claim. He simply hounded you (not that Ray was a coward, or afraid to fight, but he wasn't the type to start the fight). It's a seductive thought. Jerry Ray told me in the 1970s he had taken pictures of the countryside around the prison and had sent them into James Earl Ray. In any event, the prison officials never placed him in the same category as Davis, Laster and Westberg, who would unhesitatingly use weapons while escaping. FBI investigators at the time traced the shot to a rooming house across the street, and witnesses directed them to a large bundle dropped on the sidewalk after the shooting. While attending law school, Brown worked as a substitute teacher. In the meantime James Earl Ray had also heard about the bread box, probably through Westberg. It was a clear case of arson, and five people from Marlborough were duly convicted of the crime. 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. Because of the 1959 incident, Jerry had so much heat on him that if the guards lost sight of him for even a few minutes, they panicked. Absence of witnesses to corroborate Raoul's existence, Rental of room 5-B at Bessie Brewer's roominghouse, Irreconcilable conflicts of interest of Foreman and Hanes, Foreman's failure to investigate the case, Coercion by Foreman and the Federal Government, Ray's belief a guilty plea would not preclude a new trial, How to File a FOIA Request for Archival Records. None. These claims led Kings estate to sue Jowers in 1999 for a symbolic $100 in a wrongful death civil action. Later, though, he claimed he left the prints to gain international notoriety. Senator) that an investigation be conducted into the allegations. In 1967, he returned to the United States (Los Angeles) from Mexico and took dancing classes in a bartending school. I've always had trouble accepting Ray as an assassin. After this, Ray was on the run and was captured in the UK. In an article in The New American back in 1999, John F. McManus, former publisher of this magazine and president emeritus of The John Birch Society, provided further detail about ODell association with King: In 1960, King hired one Hunter Pitts ODell to his staff. Then, the (U.S.) House Assassinations Committee spent two years and $2.5 million investigating the case. Thorpe Menn, then book editor of The Star, sent it to me to review. He was about five years older than me. Ray was never that type. I served my six months, got out and was put right back in for using amphetamine. I wholeheartedly applaud the verdict of the jury and I feel that justice has been well served in their deliberations, she said. After reading about the news in newspapers, he immediately drove to Memphis. King vs. Loyd Jowers and conspirators unknown. They were not going to have me, or any other convict, expounding on the subject of Ray. He was a fervent supporter of George Wallace, the Alabama governor who notoriously gave the 1963 "Segregation Now, Segregation Forever," and he was passionate about emigrating to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) to be a part of the white minority in power there at the time. Top of Page In 1964 the prison started a computer programming class (so inmates could write programs for state computers). Different convicts had different hustles to make money. While he was still in Los Angeles, Ray had the desire to immigrate to Rhodesia (now called Zimbabwe) where a white minority regime declared independence from England in the year 1965. people lost faith in the political system. UN Pushing New Age Spirituality on Schoolchildren, Arizona Poised to Make Pledge of Allegiance Mandatory in Schools. 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. The crisis at the Democratic National Convention marked a . He also founded his own white supremacist party. 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. The shot that killed Dr. King was fired from the bathroom window at the At the Tag Plant I met Jerry Ward Davis, an Oklahoman who'd been shot in 1959 after kidnapping several guards (along with Rollie Laster and Ronnie Westberg) during an attempted escape that involved the use of zip-guns. But it turned out that rather than discharging this key Red, he had transferred and promoted ODell to a higher post within Kings Southern Christian Leadership Conference. An hour later, he was declared dead. The Ray brothers, however, are too unsophisticated to have pulled off the assassination of King, and Ray's subsequent escape to England. According to Harding, King had already severely angered Johnson by delivering that speech, which could have made Johnson quite receptive to Byrds sentiment. Ray, who was on escape from a Missouri prison in 1968 claimed, however, that he had gone to a service station to get a tire repaired when the shot was fired. 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. After buying the rifle, he came back to Atlanta where he came to know that King was planning a return trip to Memphis, Tennessee. He said not knowing the truth about his fathers assassination had been painful for the family. Joseph Blakeney Brown Jr. (born July 5, 1947), known as Judge Joe Brown, is a former American lawyer and television personality. King was one of the worst enemies my people ever had. Her reference to my people was to her race, since she was black. Based on the results of a civil trial in 1999, Byrds speech would have almost necessarily have played an even more direct role if the verdict is to be accepted. After the publication of the Playboy story, Ray fired Kershaw when he found that Playboy paid him $11,000 for facilitating the interview. Ray was also Stoner's bodyguard and chauffeur. Who Was James Earl Ray? 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 ballistics tests proved to be inconclusive and Ray remained in prison. Brown later worked for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting. The damage to Dr. King's clothing, when tested microscopically Early Ray had a criminal history starting from the time he left the American Army. 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