RAY GETS 99 YEARS FOR MURDER OF DR. KING
Memphis, Tennessee (JFK+50) On March 10, 1969, James Earl Ray* was sentenced to 99 years in prison for the murder of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Ray plead guilty to avoid a jury trial which could have landed him the death penalty. The conviction, accompanied by a sentence of 99 years in prison, came on James Earl Ray's 41st birthday.
Dr. King, who was in Memphis to support striking sanitation workers protesting low wages and poor working conditions, had been shot as he stood on the balcony outside his room at the Lorraine Motel** here in Memphis.
One bullet struck the civil rights leader at 6:01 local time. After being rushed to hospital, Martin Luther King, Jr. was pronounced dead. Several of Dr. King's associates heard the gunshot and believed it came from the back of Bessie Brewer's boardinghouse across the street from the motel.
*James Earl Ray (1928-1998) was born in Alton, Illinois. He served in the US Army in Germany at the end of WWII. JER died in Nashville, TN from hepatitis C possibly contracted through a tainted blood transfusion.
**The Lorraine Motel, located at 450 Mulberry Street, opened in 1945 and its guests over the years included Stak Records recording artists Ray Charles, Lionel Hampton, Aretha Franklin, Ethel Waters & Otis Redding.
SOURCES
"Hellhound On His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King Jr. and the International Hunt For His Assassin," by Hampton Sides, Doubleday, New York, 2010.
James Earl Ray Mugshot
View of Lorraine Motel
Memphis, Tennessee (JFK+50) On March 10, 1969, James Earl Ray* was sentenced to 99 years in prison for the murder of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Ray plead guilty to avoid a jury trial which could have landed him the death penalty. The conviction, accompanied by a sentence of 99 years in prison, came on James Earl Ray's 41st birthday.
Dr. King, who was in Memphis to support striking sanitation workers protesting low wages and poor working conditions, had been shot as he stood on the balcony outside his room at the Lorraine Motel** here in Memphis.
One bullet struck the civil rights leader at 6:01 local time. After being rushed to hospital, Martin Luther King, Jr. was pronounced dead. Several of Dr. King's associates heard the gunshot and believed it came from the back of Bessie Brewer's boardinghouse across the street from the motel.
After the shooting, police found a 30-06 Remington hunting rifle on the sidewalk about a block from the motel. The rifle was traced to James Earl Ray who was captured about two months later in London, U.K.
While serving his time at Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Petros, Tennessee, Ray escaped on two different occasions but was recaptured. After his last escape, James Earl Ray said...
"It's disappointing being caught. I wasn't happy being run down. I'd rather be...out there."
*James Earl Ray (1928-1998) was born in Alton, Illinois. He served in the US Army in Germany at the end of WWII. JER died in Nashville, TN from hepatitis C possibly contracted through a tainted blood transfusion.
**The Lorraine Motel, located at 450 Mulberry Street, opened in 1945 and its guests over the years included Stak Records recording artists Ray Charles, Lionel Hampton, Aretha Franklin, Ethel Waters & Otis Redding.
SOURCES
"Hellhound On His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King Jr. and the International Hunt For His Assassin," by Hampton Sides, Doubleday, New York, 2010.
"True Crime: Assassination," Time Life Books, Alexandria, Virginia, 1994.
James Earl Ray Mugshot
July 9, 1955
Federal Bureau of Prisons
View of Lorraine Motel
Memphis, Tennessee
Photo by John White (2008)