Ray, James Earl

born March 10, 1928, Alton, Ill., U.S.

died April 23, 1998, Nashville, Tenn.

Assassin of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Ray was a petty criminal who had been sentenced several times to prison; he escaped from the Missouri state prison in 1967. In Memphis, Tenn., on April 4, 1968, he shot King from the window of a rooming house as King emerged from his motel room across the street. Ray fled to Toronto, London, Lisbon, and back to London, where he was arrested on June 8. In Memphis he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. Months later, he recanted his confession, without effect. Later in life, his unsuccessful pleas to have his case reopened were supported by some civil rights leaders, notably the King family.

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▪ 1999

      American criminal who pleaded guilty to the 1968 assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., was sentenced to 99 years in prison, and spent the rest of his life demanding a trial, claiming that his confession had been coerced and that he had been a pawn in a larger conspiracy (b. March 10, 1928, Alton, Ill.—d. April 23, 1998, Nashville, Tenn.).

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▪ American assassin

born March 10, 1928, Alton, Ill., U.S.

died April 23, 1998, Nashville, Tenn.

 American assassin of the black civil-rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. (King, Martin Luther, 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. He escaped from the Missouri State Penitentiary on April 23, 1967; and in Memphis, Tenn., 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.

      Ray fled to Toronto, secured a Canadian passport through a travel agency, flew to London (May 5), then to Lisbon (May 7?), where he secured a second Canadian passport (May 16), and back to London (May 17?). On June 8 he was apprehended by London police at Heathrow Airport as he was about to embark for Brussels; the FBI had established him as the prime suspect almost immediately after the assassination. Back in Memphis, Ray pleaded guilty, forfeiting a trial, and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. Months later, he recanted his confession, without effect.

      In June 1977 Ray escaped from Brushy Mountain (Tenn.) Prison and remained at large for 54 hours before being recaptured in a massive manhunt.

      In renouncing his guilt, Ray raised the spectre of a conspiracy behind King's murder but offered scant evidence to support his claim. Later in life his pleas for a trial were encouraged by some civil-rights leaders, notably the King family.

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