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Item 01 MLK
Item 01 MLK
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The Alleged ALI( Murder Rifle
is Tennessee Afraid to let Jerry Ray
Take Possession of Property Legally His?
By Mike Vinson
James Earl Ray, the convicted yet disputed fall guy. Ray claimed Raoul came up later and had
assassin of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., passed But what about Ray's fingerprints on the him go buy a pair of binoculars. After Ray
away from cirrhosis of the liver at Memorial alleged murder rifle? A short review of Ray's fetched the binoculars, Raoul told Ray to leave
Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. on April 23, movements during the days leading up to King's for a while because he (Raoul) was going to
1998. Prior to his death, James Earl, in his will, assassination: meet with an unnamed third party, and the third
named his younger brother Jerry executor of his As you may well know, Ray claimed he was party might be uncomfortable with someone
estate, making Jerry the legal recipient ofJames financed by and followed the instructions of a unfamiliar (Ray).
Earl's property. Among this property is a Rem- man named "Raoul," a smuggler he met in At approximately 6 p.m., as he stood in front
ington .30-06 760 Gamemaster hunting rifle, Canada in late July-early August 1967, just a of room N 306 of the Lorraine Hotel and Motel,
the weapon the prosecution contends Ray used few months after he escaped from the Missouri Dr. Martin Luther King was struck between the
to gun down King on April 4, 1968, in Mem- State Penitentiary on April 23, 1967. right temple and jaw with a single .30-06 slug.
phis, Tennessee. The last part of March 1968. Ray and Raoul. He fell on the balcony, mortally wounded. (Dr.
having covered a lot of territory in-between, King was pronounced dead later on that
Brief Background rented a room in Atlanta. Around March 30, evening.)
Minutes after Dr. King was shot, a bundle 1968, Ray, using the alias Harvey Lowrneyer, Just minutes after Dr. King was shot, the
containing the alleged murder rifle, along with purchased the Remington .30-06 rifle at mentioned bundle, containing the alleged .30-
several other items, including a pair of binocu- Aeromarine Supply in Birmingham, Alabama. 06 murder rifle, was found in the doorway of
lars, was found in the doorway of Canipe's Ray had a 2X7 Redfield Scope mounted on the Canipe's Amusement.
Amusement, next door to the staircase leading Remington .30-06. Don Wood, an Aeromarine When Ray returned to the vicinity of Bessie
up to Bessie Brewer's flophouse, from whence Supply clerk, identified Ray as the man who Brewer's flophouse and the Lorraine Hotel and
the prosecution claims James Earl shot Dr. King. purchased the alleged murder rifle. Motel, he observed that the area was flooded
The Remington .30-06 in question, mounted Ray claimed that on April 3, 1968, per with police. Since he was already a fugitive from
with a 2X7 Redfield Scope, did have Ray's fin- Raoul's instructions, he rendezvoused with the law, he took flight. When he turned on the
gerprints on it. Now, we get down to two basic Raoul at the New Rebel Hotel in Memphis. In radio, he learned that Dr. King had been shot,
theories. Each warrants consideration: my interview with Ray (March 25, 1998). he and there was an all-points-bulletin for a white
1.The prosecution's: Ray, after he shot King told me that he handed the .30-06 Remington male in a white (actually, pale yellow). 1966
from the bathroom of Bessie Brewer's flop- rifle over to Raoul that day, April 3. 1968, and Mustang. Ray, recognizing himself from the
house, quickly wrapped the .30-06 and other never saw it again. radio's description, high-tailed it for Atlanta.
items in a green bedspread (the bundle); rushed On the afternoon of April 4, 1968, still fol- where he and Raoul had rented a room.
down the hallway of the flophouse; emerged lowing Raoul's instructions, Ray met Raoul at Once in Atlanta. Ray ditched his 1966 Mus-
from the bottom step of the staircase into the Jim's Grill, located below Bessie Brewer's flop- tang at the Capitol Homes Housing Project,
daylight of South Main Street; had a distance house on South Main Street in Memphis. At gathered up some items, and made his way into
to walk to get to his 1966 Mustang; realized this point, Raoul instructed James Earl to rent Canada. He holed up in Canada for about a
there was mass hysteria over King getting shot; a room there. Using the alias "John Willard," month, obtained a passport in the name of
saw a squad car, siren blaring; felt he would be Ray rented room 5B. located in the north wing Ramon George Sneyd (misspelled "Sneya," a
seen carrying the bundle, identified, and ap- of the of the flophouse. Charles Stephens and mistake that would prove instrumental in his
prehended; panicked and threw down the his common-in-law wife Grace Walden arrest), and made his way into London, England
bundle in the doorway of Canipe's Amusement. Stephens occupied the room next door, room the first part of May 1968. While in England,
(This theory is passionately embraced by au- 6B. Ray made a couple trips into Portugal, seeking
thor Gerald Posner.) Dr. Martin Luther King was staying at the (as he told me in our interview) passage into
2. Ray's defense: Martin Luther King was Lorraine Hotel and Motel. 'As the bullet trav- an English-speaking. African country, where he
sniped by a gunman other than Ray, using a els," this was approximately 200 feet from the could start a new life. (Remember: Ray was 40-
different .30-06, fired from far away. The alleged bathroom of Bessie Brewer's flophouse. (The years-old, and had only served 7 years of a 20
murder rifle, with Ray's fingerprints, was a bathroom was commonly shared by all the ten- year sentence—had 13 to go—when he escaped
throw-down rifle, intended to set up Ray as the ants on the north wing.) from the Missouri State Penitentiary on April
Fro3E September-October, 1999
23, 1967. His future in America didn't loom Just as aggressively, the state fought against ing a difference with me?
bright.) • such re-testing. "I'll tell you why!" Jerry bellowed. "The state
On June 8, 1968, at London's Heathrow [Tennessee] doesn't want me to have the rifle
Airport, as he attempted to board a flight bound Facts about the Rifle because they damn well know I'll have it re-
for Brussels, Belgium, James Earl Ray was ar- Before James Earl Ray died, a state congress- tested until a conclusion is reached. Either the
rested by Scotland Yard for the murder of Dr. man got a bill passed through Tennessee Legis- bullet that killed King was fired from the rifle
Martin Luther King Jr. lature that stated that because the rifle was used with James' fingerprints on it, or it wasn't. If
He was extradited back to Memphis on July in the commission of a crime against a civil it's ballistically proven that the fatal bullet was
19. 1968, to face charges in the murder of Dr. rights figure, it would go the National Civil not fired from that rifle, somebody's got some
King. The extradition of Ray from London to Rights Museum, the old Lorraine Hotel and answering to do."
Memphis rested heavily on the word of a so- Motel, site of Dr. King's assassination. State and Of course Jerry Ray is going CO make such
called eyewitness, a known drunk, Charles federal lawmakers alike question the constitu- statements; he is James Earl's brother. Let's cast
Quitman Stephens. (Refer to 1998 January-Feb- tionality of such a law as it not only deprives aside the tit-for-tat arguments and look at some
ruary issue of Probe: "Grace Stephens: a Sacrifi- Jerry Ray of property legally his, but applies only tangible, concrete, can't-be-denied facts:
cial Lamb?") to fames Earl Ray. • As has been mentioned above, three bal-
On March 10, 1969, James Earl Ray, with Recently, however, the state has backed away listics tests have been conducted on the alleged
the famous Percy Foreman as his lead defense from the civil rights law—no doubt, realizing murder rifle over the years. All three proved
counsel, signed a guilty plea in the assassina- how weak it is. Now they're using an "aban- inconclusive. Keep your mind on the original
tion of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He received a donment law" to deny Jerry the rifle and the one, which was conducted shortly after King's
99-year sentence. But consider the conditions other items. However, there exists a legal glitch assassination. It proved inconclusive. Don't
under which Raywas jailed from July 1968 until with that as well. For the abandonment law to wander from that finding.
March 1969: bright lights on him 24 hours a apply to James Earl Ray (if he even shot King • Concerning the bundle found in the door-
day (sleep deprivation); cameras on him 24 and threw down the bundle containing the way of Canipe's Amusement, containing the
hours a day; threat of receiving the electric chair rifle), it must be proven that he abandoned the alleged murder rifle, did anyone (qualified per-
if he took his case to trial; threats of putting his rifle without any intention of corning back to sonnel) even conduct any test to see whether or
father George—himself, a fugitive—back in retrieve it. If a person abandons evidence dur- not the rifle had even been fired the day of King's
prison; threats of arresting his brother Jerry and ing the commission of a crime to avoid being assassination? (Key question.)
imprisoning him for the July 1967 Alton bank caught with incriminating evidence, the aban- • Then Memphis Detective Barry Linville,
robbery (even though Jerry was never a sus- donment law, as such, doesn't apply. How so? present at Dr. King's autopsy, testified that
pect). It can be logically argued that the culprit threw when Shelby County (Memphis) coroner Dr.
Until his death on April 23, 1998, James down the evidence under a state of duress and, Jerry Francisco removed the .30-06 slug from
Earl Ray fought unsuccessfully for a trial, a trial had the opportunity existed, would have re- Dr. King, they (Linville and other law person-
that Tennessee law guaranteed was his. The law, turned and recovered it. Such could be argued nel present) felt they'd found "a piece of gold"
Tennessee Code Annotated 17-1-305, in es- in the case of James Earl Ray. as the land and groove markings were so dis-
sence, said: The judge who presides over the Attorney Steven Wells, with the Nashville- tinguishable there would be no problem match-
case has control for 30 days afterwards. If the based law firm of Lionel Barrett, currently rep- ing the slug to a weapon. On a scale of "1-10,"
convictee petitions for a trial and the reviewing resenting Jerry Ray on this matter, has stated, Linville rated the slug extracted from king's
judge—the judge who presided over the case— "Concerning James Earl Ray allegedly abandon- corpse a "9." (Reference: 1993 HBO Mock trial
dies or is removed from office because of "in- ing the rifle, the burden of proof rests with the of the Ray-King case.)
sanity," the petitioner is automatically granted a state. They will have to prove he had no inten- • When the death slug came back from the
new trial. Judge Preston Battle presided over tion of coming back for the rifle. And there FBI lab, it was in 3 fragmented pieces! In his book,
the Ray-King case; thus he had control of it for doesn't appear to be sufficient evidence to sub- Killing the Dream (footnote, page 272), Gerald
30 days afterwards. After signing the guilty plea, stantiate that." Posner says he talked with the FBI agent in
March 10, 1969, James Earl Ray, on March 13, I recently spoke with Jerry Ray about this charge of testing King's death slug. Posner says
1969, submitted a petition to Judge Battle re- matter. "What you have to remember is that the FBI agent told Posner it was typical for a
questing a trial. Judge Battle, while sitting at James 'abandoned' his 1966 Mustang because bullet, such as the one removed from King, to
his desk. died from a heart attack on March 31. there was an all-points-bulletin for a white male "fragment" under certain testing. To date, I've
1969—within the 30 day period—before he in a white, 1966 Mustang," Jerry explained. "In spoken with 12 ballistics experts—government
could make a ruling on James Earl Ray's peti- the late 1980s, the state gave the Mustang back and civilian, big game hunters, one a world-
tion. Eerily enough. Judge Battle's head was to James. If they're going to use the abandon- class competitor in pistol-target-shooting—and
resting on Ray's petition papers when he was ment law to keep me from taking possession of there exists a common denominator amongst
found dead. the rifle—and the rest of his property—why did their responses to Posner's FBI agent's claim
Over the years, three ballistics tests have they give the Mustang back to James? of it being common for such a bullet to "frag-
been conducted on the alleged murder rifle. All "And to show you just how wishy-washy the ment": "BULLSHIT!"
three have proved inconclusive, meaning, it state is on this, take what recently happened • Judge Joe Brown (Memphis), who pre-
can't be said beyond a doubt that the death slug with the King family. Originally, the state was sided over the Ray-King case for several years,
pulled from Dr. King's corpse came from the going to give King's belongings—the suit he was removed from the case in early 1998. Judge
alleged murder rifle, the Remington .30-06 with was wearing and other stuff he had with him in Brown, a weapons expert, was cognizant of the
James Earl's fingerprints on it. Memphis on the day of the assassination—to inconsistencies concerning the ballistics find-
Up until his death, James Earl Ray and his the National Civil Rights Museum. But the King ings, enough so that he was prepared to order
defense fought aggressively to have the alleged more tests on the alleged murder rifle, until a
family threatened to sue, and now the state has
murder rifle re-tested, until a conclusion was agreed to turn over [already done so, I think] conclusion could be reached. The prosecution,
reached, continued on page 29
those items to the family. Why is the state mak-
September-October, 1999 MOM
Page 29