In the meantime James Earl Ray had also heard about the bread box, probably through Westberg. James Earl Ray (born 1965) is listed at 42036 Queen Anne Ct Northville, Mi 48167 and has no known political party affiliation. people lost faith in the political system. When authorities caught him in London, hed been planning to travel to Rhodesia, a former African state ruled by a white minority in present-day Zimbabwe. In the year 1959, he was caught stealing $120 from a Kroger Store in St. Louis. In order to hang onto your drugs, people had to know that you would kill them without hesitation. He said not knowing the truth about his fathers assassination had been painful for the family. He was deemed not fit for military service due to the lack of discipline. Julia Brown, author of I Testify: My Years as an F.B.I. Brown was sentenced to five days in jail,[7][15] but was later released on his own recognizance. In one instance, the FBI sent him a tape that allegedly contained audio of him having an affair. He was sentenced to twenty years in prison. [12], Brown is an Independent candidate for the 2023 Memphis mayoral election. There was one week in 1968 when much happened. . FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. But a restaurant owner from Memphis was brought to the civil court in the year 1999 for being a part of the murder conspiracy. Ray left school when he was just fifteen due to his familys financial condition. On the night of the shooting, I had left the rifle with Raoul.. Starting with his contribution to the presidential campaign of Wallace, Ray developed a strong animosity towards Martin Luther King Jr. He might have eked out enough money to meet his basic needs (he didn't smoke), but not much more than that. Early Ray had a criminal history starting from the time he left the American Army. Anyone who remembers the looks on their faces, their resolve and their anger would have to concede that it would have required nothing short of cold hard facts. 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 Time magazine article with the author himself, Mr. George McMillan. On June 11, 1977, while housed at the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Petros, TN, Ray and five other inmates escaped. Although it is possible to live in the same prison with someone for 10 years and never speak to him, it is still an intimate atmosphere. Under the sub-head Communist Exposed, the paper went on to reveal more about ODell: King was forced to get rid of Hunter Pitts ODell in October, 1962, when several newspaper articles exposed ODells connection with SCLC and his communist affiliations. The incident was incredibly damaging to the cause of King and his Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). (Benny had taken two years of civil engineering in college.). "Excuse me, on what authority do you sit by the way? He was right, but he would never be that man. 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. And by the way, what is that, Magistrate, sir, with due respect. 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. Ray died on April 23, 1998 at the Columbia Nashville Memorial Hospital due to Hepatitis C at the age of 70. But even if Ray had help, the evidence strongly pointed to him pulling the trigger. But a check by United Press International found him still employed by Kings organization. bullet and also revealed the absence of nitrites (the presence of Although Ray had two attempted escapes on his record, he did not have nearly as much heat on him as Westberg. 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. Judge Horne did have the authority to hold him in contempt. Benny was eventually placed on the FBI's 10-Most-Wanted list and was captured in Canada, where he was posing as an engineer and had married a school teacher. James Earl Ray, a 40-year-old convicted armed robber who had escaped from the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City, Mo., on April 23, 1967, pleaded guilty on March 10, 1969, in Shelby County (Tenn.) Criminal Court to the first degree murder of Dr. King. 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. 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. Stokely Carmichael of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), an extremist Black Nationalist organization, has conferred with King. In my interviews with him, I've found him to be eerily unflappable. He paid for a nose job in cash. Who assassinated Robert F. Kennedy on June 5, 1968? I spent virtually all of 1962 in solitary. There were always convict clerks assigned to the reception area, and the fingerprints could have been switched--either because Ray had paid someone to do it, or, just as likely, because some convict wanted to help Ray beat the system. That is why he could never have been a major drug dealer. In prison I knew men who would stab you to death over a carton of cigarettes, or for even a slight insult. 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. James Earl Ray, (born March 10, 1928, Alton, Illinois, U.S.died April 23, 1998, Nashville, Tennessee), American assassin of the African American civil-rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. Ray had been a small-time crook, a robber of gas stations and stores, who had served time in prison, once in Illinois and twice in Missouri, and received a suspended sentence in Los Angeles. Manhunt in the mountains: James Earl Ray and the Brushy Mountain Prison breakout of 1977, How The Tennessean covered Martin Luther King Jr.'s death in its pages, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. It got so that the very sight of King would galvanize Ray. An international manhunt led to his capture in June 1968 at Heathrow Airport in London, where he was caught carrying two fake Canadian passports. 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. I know they interviewed some inmates, but they did not interview the people most likely to know something (and also the most likely to tell them to go to hell). Brown apparently raised his voice and interrupted a magistrate judge while representing a woman seeking child support in Shelby County Juvenile Court. King vs. Loyd Jowers and conspirators unknown. For the television series, see, "I left the Demo Pty Plantation long ago I'm an Independent", "Voters verdict: Weirich over TV's Joe Brown", "TV's Judge Joe Brown Arrested In Tennessee", "Former TV Judge Joe Brown Stumbles In Bid To Become Tennessee District Attorney", Judge Joe Brown uncorks a shocker taunting Weirich about her sexuality Memphis Flyer Jackson Baker July 2, 2014, "District Attorney Weirich sails to victory over challenger Joe Brown", "Judge Joe Brown in Jail for Contempt of Court", "Former TV judge Joe Brown can't practice law in Tennessee", "MSCS Chairwoman Michelle McKissack considers mayoral run", "Judge Joe Brown: The rant, the mugshot, the jokes", "TV's Judge Joe Brown jailed by real judge after courtroom argument, court says", "TV judge Joe Brown begins 5-day jail term", "Judge Joe Brown: Hear What He Said That Got Him Arrested", "Judge Joe Brown Begins Jail Sentence for Contempt of Court After 2014 Courtroom Outburst", "Joe Brown loses appeal over juvenile court outburst", "After the Campaign - Memphis Daily News", "Was Judge Joe Brown's Arrest A Publicty Stunt? 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. [16] Brown surrendered to the Shelby County Sheriff on August 27, 2015, to serve his five-day sentence at the Shelby County Corrections Facility in Memphis. Because Ray had previously tried to escape by hiding out inside the prison, the officials assumed this was another bungled attempt, and they began a meticulous search of the prison, which covered 47 acres. The Q64 bullet was a .30-06 caliber bullet of Remington-Peters manufacture. Early life [ edit] 1-86-NARA-NARA or 1-866-272-6272, The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection, John McAdams (The John F. Kennedy Assassination Information Center), Dr. King was killed by one shot fired from in front of him. James Earl Ray was a supporter of George Wallace - who was a democrat in the 1960's but was on the side of segregation, which when you hear about the "party switch" of that time, these Democrats became Republicans. They were not going to have me, or any other convict, expounding on the subject of Ray. For some 50 years, the federal government has maintained that James Earl Ray was the gunman who assassinated King that day. Spouse/Ex-: Anna Sandhu Ray (m. 19781993), siblings: Carol Pepper, Franklin Ray, Jerry Ray, John Larry Ray, Marjorie Ray, Melba Ray, Suzan Ray, place of death: Nashville, Tennessee, United States, See the events in life of James Earl Ray in Chronological Order, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/25196041/james-earl-ray, http://yourblackworld.net/2012/06/23/james-earl-rays-map-used-get-out-prison-being-sold-history-teacher/, https://www.ebay.com/itm/JAMES-EARL-RAY-Mugshot-Glossy-8x10-Photo-Martin-Luther-King-Jr-Print-Poster-/202043577078, https://shannonyarbrough.com/tag/james-earl-ray/, http://www.debate.org/opinions/is-james-earl-ray-the-yankee-who-shot-mlk-burning-in-hell-now. As noted, the committee concluded that James Earl Ray was the assassin of Dr. King. 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. Meanwhile, William Bradford Huie, gathering information for his book, They Slew The Dreamer, had taken an interest in George Ben Edmondson. Law enforcement agencies believe that he started indulging in criminal activities as he could not support himself financially. "[11], Responding to a bar discipline complaint filed regarding the contempt incident, Brown declared himself unable to adequately defend himself as a result of health issues including type II diabetes, hypertension, and stress. You tend to know a great deal about people you've never met. This claim got some support from the 1978 special congressional committee which opined that Ray might not have acted alone in the assassination as it required meticulous planning. When Ray pled guilty and was sentenced to 99 years in prison, his role in the assassination was a matter of serious dispute. In September 1961, I tried to escape and pulled six months in E-Hall, a 100-year-old building whose third floor was for solitary confinement. He admitted to staying at the rooming house from where authorities said the bullet that struck Rev. Ray replied that he did not commit the crime. After his escape, Early Ray was continuously on the move and travelled across USA, Canada, and Mexico. "just to throw the public off. 10 Disturbing and Unexplained Facts About James Earl Ray, MLK's Assassin. Ray, a hardened thief, robber and a sometimes-moody liar, assassinated the Rev. USA.gov, The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration He shot. 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. Indeed, a former agent from the FBIs field office in Atlanta said the bureaus tracking of King was second only to the way they went after Jimmy Hoffa. In 1975, a group of former FBI agents called on Congress to investigate this harrassment. Benny and I studied programming together, and in 1966 we worked in the programming office together. ", The Miami police were sufficiently impressed with Milteer's seriousness that the Secret Service was alerted, and an imminent presidential motorcade into the city was canceled. Brown, who retains his law license, was reviewing a child support matter as a favor to an acquaintance. Their goal was to cover all aspects of true crime: Read More, Contents Copyright 1998-2020 by Crime Magazine | J. Patrick O'Connor Editor | E-mail CrimeMagazine.com, Designed by Orman. A staunch segregationist, Earl Ray could not stomach the integration policies of King. 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. His perceived inability to deal successfully with those problems led to an overwhelming defeat in his bid for reelection. He was first convicted for a burglary in California in the year 1949. One week prior to Kings assassination on April 4, 1968 he had gone to Memphis to show support for local sanitation workers. Somehow, Ray managed to escape from prison on two different occasions. Barely 48 hours later, on March 31st, Johnson would publicly announce that he would not seek reelection. The restaurant owner named Memphis Police . pleaded guilty to the first degree murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He volunteered for Wallaces campaign and was very disappointed when Wallace could not win the campaign. Its important to note that this verdict was not a criminal conviction, as is sometimes erroneously implied when this case surfaces online. King still tried to hide ODell in his organization until July, 1963, when he accepted ODells resignation. As King put it, ODells release was not because of connections between ODell and the CPUSA but because of the emotional public response. No vehicle traffic would have been allowed in or out until he was found. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.[3]. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. One of Kings principal advisors is Stanley David Levison. In order to hang onto your drugs, people had to know that you would kill them without hesitation. No one else I knew did either. Kings convicted killer, James Earl Ray, pled guilty to his murder, received a life sentence, and died in prison of natural causes 29 years later. On the night of November 29, 1988, near the impoverished Marlborough neighborhood in south Kansas City, an explosion at a construction site killed six of the citys firefighters. He began to call him Martin "Lucifer" King and Martin Luther "Coon." I grew up in one of the toughest neighborhoods in South Central Los Angeles. Whether anybody helped him indirectly has yet to be determined. 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