When ODells position as a member of the National Committee of the Communist Party was revealed in 1961, King supposedly fired him. They laid out the evidence before he entered his plea, and he said, OK. He said his lawyers were incompetent, and that proved false. His first prison break happened in 1967, when he escaped the Missouri State Penitentiary on a bread truck before fleeing to Canada. 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. "Somebody's gotta get him.". [3] Brown has spoken about how his upbringing shaped his philosophy. After this, Ray was on the run and was captured in the UK. Long before Ray was captured-before anyone could have known the details of what had happened in Memphis--the U.S. government had committed itself to the lone assassin theory; to such an extent, I was told later by white extremists in the South, that they were surprised by the government's failure to question even such notable racists as J.B. Stoner or leading figures in the Ku Klux Klan. For some 50 years, the federal government has maintained that James Earl Ray was the gunman who assassinated King that day. But among legal and historical scholars, there is a broad consensus that James Earl Ray, though he may not have acted alone, is the gunman who shot Martin Luther King. Ray believed in white supremacy and had strong prejudice against the black people. Although Ray had two attempted escapes on his record, he did not have nearly as much heat on him as Westberg. One thing never mentioned about Ray's time in Jefferson City is the fact he had a nearly exemplary conduct record, with the exception of the two escape attempts. These claims led Kings estate to sue Jowers in 1999 for a symbolic $100 in a wrongful death civil action. The day after a stabbing, for example, virtually everyone in the prison who is considered "solid" would know who had done the stabbing. This doesnt mean that Ray couldnt have received assistance. After his escape, Early Ray was continuously on the move and travelled across USA, Canada, and Mexico. After Ray was arrested for the assassination of Martin Luther King, it was widely believed that those erroneous prints were proof that the King conspiracy began in Jefferson City, and that someone employed at the prison was involved. The explanation is much simpler. Jerry Ray had moved in with Stoner, and shot an intruder who broke into Stoner's office which was in the same building as the living quarters. Kershaw and Ray approached the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations and got approval for the conduct of ballistics tests. An egregious example of shoddy workmanship is the book The Making of an Assassin by George McMillan. The introduction to the paper observed that since 1956, King had occupied a prominent role in the drive for equal rights for Negroes in the Untied States. It continued by noting, The course King chooses to follow at this critical time could have momentous impact on the future of race relations in the United States, and for that reason this paper has been prepared to give some insight into the nature of the man himself as well as the nature of his views, goals, objective, tactics, and the reason therefore., The papers summary of Kings planned Washington Spring project is contrary to the image of King painted by most historians as a man who employed only the most peaceful means. According to Harding, King had already severely angered Johnson by delivering that speech, which could have made Johnson quite receptive to Byrds sentiment. We miss you, James. It endangers the premise of the place. A staunch segregationist, Earl Ray could not stomach the integration policies of King. 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. 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. After his capture, his sentence was extended by one more year to 100 years. With the release of this FBI document, however, it seems that the FBI and the JBS were on the same page regarding King. "[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. At the same time I was getting more involved in art, and my thoughts were turning away from escape and toward trying to make parole. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. January 30, 1961. [4] While on the bench he was known for his sometimes unusual sentences, such as, sentencing a child molester to confess to his church congregation and ordering a drug trafficker to apologize in a newspaper letter.[5]. 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.'. 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. Stoner's hatred of blacks would not have been offensive to him Ray; he might have viewed it as a little extreme, but he would have admired Stoner for being a rebel and for having a network of trusted associates. He made the FBI Most Wanted List before his recapture. Its important to note that this verdict was not a criminal conviction, as is sometimes erroneously implied when this case surfaces online. It was even rumored that on the second attempt he'd gotten tired of hiding out, and had deliberately set off an alarm so he could get caught and get something to eat. When I tried to mail my review to The Star, the prison officials refused to allow it to leave the prison. 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. He escaped from the prison hiding in a truck that was transporting bread from the prison bakery. 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. There is an important flaw in that logic as well; the defendant was only sued for $100, which he was ordered to pay. Jerry was returned to solitary in 1963 for making zip-guns, and a few days later I was put in B-Basement on suspicion of stabbing an inmate who'd volunteered to help the guards search the Tag Plant for the rest of the zip-guns, which were never found. One of the most intriguing aspects of the New Times article on James Earl Ray/Jerry Ray/J.B. While attending law school, Brown worked as a substitute teacher. As a loner, it would be impossible for Ray to deal large quantities of drugs, because one of the cliques would simply rob him, and there wouldn't be much he could do, alone, against a clique with a dozen members. UN Pushing New Age Spirituality on Schoolchildren, Arizona Poised to Make Pledge of Allegiance Mandatory in Schools. I first met Benny Edmondson at the Algoa Reformatory in 1956, where he was teaching typing at the school. When prominent people die violently, they become martyrs in some peoples eyes, and there is a reluctance on their part even to consider anything that blemishes the heroic image they have formed of the individual. King is aware of the possibility of violence because one of his aides proclaimed recently to the press, Jail will be the safest place in Washington this spring.. According to press accounts, Brown became combative and irate after Horne refused to discuss details of the case that were not on the schedule. A man named Vincent Harding is credited with writing most of it. 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. 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. On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Omissions? He said that another person he met in Canada by the name Raoul was the actual person who plotted the murder and ultimately pulled the trigger. it near 424 South Main Street, It is highly probable that James Earl Ray stalked Dr. King for a But what do you know about James Earl Ray, the man who assassinated Martin Luther King? [6] It was during this time that Brown caught the attention of the producers of Judge Judy. Somehow, Ray managed to escape from prison on two different occasions. Also, after he moved to St. Louis he lived in south St. Louis, an area known for its racism. 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. Corrections? He knew we viewed Ray as a not-too-bright hillbilly. The coffee was contraband. When ODell was again exposed, King went through the same routine of announcing his dismissal. Just before Ray escaped from prison in Tennessee he was visited by his brother. Who Was James Earl Ray? The next section of the FBI paper was subheaded Strong Communist Influence. It pulled no punches in stating: Another complicating factor in the picture is the degree of communist influence on King. He is a male registered to vote in Wayne County, Michigan. The prosecutors have enough efficient evidence in establishing guilt against James Earl Ray concerning the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. First, James Earl Ray was in close enough vicinity of the Lorraine Hotel to successfully fire a clear shot to kill Dr. King from only a block away. They would rather ignore the facts than become disillusioned. Brown was sentenced to five days in jail,[7][15] but was later released on his own recognizance. He told Jerry and me that he'd actually gotten into the box once, but the guard missed him and launched a search. He earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles and a Juris Doctor from UCLA School of Law. Ray was one of a group of five inmates who escaped from Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in June 1977, which Kershaw claimed 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. Unfortunately, the scene described by McMillan could not have happened. J.B. Stoner, however, would certainly have had the know-how for both, plus the white-supremacist background to explain why he would do it. The US will celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr on Monday, January 18, 2021, remembering all of the tremendous strides the activist-led in promoting civil liberties for all Americans. I occasionally rented magazines from Ray, but other inmates usually had a larger selection, and better quality magazines. 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