James Earl Ray | |
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![]() Mug shot of Ray taken on July 8, 1955 | |
Born | Alton, Illinois, U.S. | March 10, 1928
Died | April 23, 1998 Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. | (aged 70)
Known for | Being convicted for the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. |
Conviction(s) | First degree murder Armed robbery Mail fraud Burglary Escape |
Criminal penalty | 100 years imprisonment[a] |
Escaped | June 10–13, 1977 |
Details | |
Victims | Martin Luther King Jr., 39 |
Date | April 4, 1968 |
James Earl Ray (March 10, 1928 – April 23, 1998) was an American fugitive who was convicted of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. After the assassination, Ray fled to London, England and was captured in the United Kingdom. Ray was convicted in 1969 after entering a guilty plea—thus forgoing a jury trial and the possibility of a death sentence—and was sentenced to 99 years of imprisonment.
In 1993, Loyd Jowers, the owner of a restaurant, publicly began claiming that he had been part of a conspiracy to assassinate King and that Ray was a scapegoat. In a Memphis civil trial in 1999, a jury unanimously concluded that Jowers was liable for the assassination, that King was the victim of a conspiracy, and that various United States governmental agencies had conspired to murder King and frame Ray for the assassination. The King family has consistently said that they believe Ray was innocent, though this conclusion was disputed by the United States Department of Justice in 2000.[1][2] The King family has stated that they believe the true murderer was a Memphis Police Department officer, Lieutenant Earl Clark, [3] despite physical evidence, including fingerprints on the rifle which fired the shot that killed King, would link Ray to the assassination.[4]
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