Developments in Martin Luther King Case


Editor's note: This article was written by myself in 1997. Since then, ballistics tests did NOT result in a match between bullets fired from the alleged assassin's rifle and slugs that were supposedly removed from MLK's body in 1968. Authorities in Tennessee have since been able to remove judge Joe Brown from the case (most likely because he had an open mind about a possible conspiracy). Also, the alleged assassin, James Earl Ray has recently died, ending all possibility for a trial. A civil suit was brought by the King and Ray families that returned a decision that there WAS a conspiracy in the murder of MLK. The Attorney General Janet Reno has initiated an investigation into new conspiratorial claims concerning the assassination, but as of the time of writing this update, no results of this investigation have been announced.
- David Starks

The alleged assassin of Dr. King, James Earl Ray, is seriously ill in prison. There was a hearing on Thursday, February 20, 1997 in Tennessee to begin the process that will hopefully result in the trial for Ray that was never allowed to happen. The purpose of the hearing that took place under the Shelby County court system was to determine if there is new scientific evidence that may be able to exclude the alleged murder weapon as the gun used to kill Dr. King.

The legal basis for this hearing is a 1995 Tennessee law that allows for setting aside convictions based on new scientific tests (that were unavailable when the original court proceedings took place) that could now prove the innocence of the defendant.

The attorney for Ray, Dr. William Pepper, has been seeking permission to test Ray's Remington Model 760 30.06 Gamemaster rifle in an effort to prove that the death bullet was not fired from it.

The judge for this hearing, Joe Brown, originally ruled in 1994 that the rifle could be tested but the District Attorney of Memphis, John Pierotti, (whose mentor, Phil Canale prosecuted Ray in the late 60s) was able to obtain a stay by the Court of Criminal Appeals that prevented this testing from taking place. The stay was granted because of the preposterous claim that this testing would "irretrievably damage evidence."

Attorney Pepper called three expert witnesses to the stand. They testified that there was a new technology involving a scanning electron microscope, or SEM, that provided a level of magnification that could show definitively whether or not the ballistics markings on the bullet matched the markings produced on bullets test-fired from the alleged assassin's rifle.

Dexter King, Martin Luther King's youngest son, took the stand and delivered an eloquent and impassioned plea that this testing be carried out. Looking and sounding much like his father, Dexter at one time during his testimony made the powerful statement that "truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth will set us free."

Coretta Scott King, the wife of the slain civil rights leader, also took the stand to plead for an opportunity for justice and talked of the need for "closure" in this case that has long troubled the King family.

The prosecutor, represented by a Shelby County Assistant District Attorney named John Campbell, brought on an FBI expert, Mr. James G. Cadigan of the Firearms and Tool Mark unit of the FBI crime lab. Agent Cadigan had no experience with and little knowledge about the new SEM testing methods. He stated the FBI did not use this for ballistics examinations because it was not useful in adding information to what can be determined by other methods such as the typical optical microscopy procedure.

Judge Joe Brown had questions for this witness even though he did not question any of the others. He asked Special Agent Cadigan some general questions about hunting rifles and, more specifically, about other brands and models other than Remington models that might leave similar ballistic markings on bullets. Cadigan seemed unprepared for this line of questioning and knew little or nothing about the information that the judge aksed him about.

The Honorable Judge Joseph Brown ruled that there is new scientific methodology that could potentially establish the innocence of James Earl Ray. Thus it might appear that Judge Brown has granted the opportunity to Ray's attorney to test the rifle but it is not that simple. The prosecution can still appeal this decision. If it is not overturned upon apppeal then Dr. Pepper will take Judge Brown's recommendation to allow testing back to the Court of Criminal Appeals to ask them to remove the stay previously imposed on the testing of the rifle.

If the stay is removed, then they will be able to test the rifle and the death slug using SEM and other methods to see if it can be determined conclusively to not have been fired from the rifle. They then can petition the court to set aside the original verdict (and providing that Ray hasn't yet died) provide a trial for Ray.

Let's say, for the sake of argument, that Ray's gun (that he admits to have purchased), is proven to not be the actual murder weapon. This doesn't conclusively establish the innocence of James Earl Ray given the possibility that he might have conceivably used another rifle. But it does shatter the prosecution's original case that depended on connecting Ray to the rifle that is in evidence. So this puts the burden of proof on the prosecution to come up with other convincing evidence of his guilt.

There is another disturbing problem that could arise from this testing. This is the possibility that the original bullet extracted from King was at some time switched to a bullet that was fired from the rifle in evidence. This may sound like an unlikely conspiracy theory but let's examine some information relating to the possible bullet switch.

The bullet that struck King entered through the side of his jaw (as he was leaning forward on a balcony talking to persons at street level) and came to rest just under the skin of King's upper left shoulder. A Memphis Police Department Lieutenant Thomas Smith felt this object under the skin and says that he could feel an intact and well preserved slug that would be of good evidentiary value.

The bullet now in evidence is in three pieces with the largest fragment in an extremely deformed and flattened condition. The House Select Committee on Assassinations (that reached a finding of probable conspiracy in the assassination) published a picture of the bullet removed by the Shelby County medical examiner, Dr. Jerry Francisco, that shows the slug in one piece. Copies of this photo have, according to Ray's attorney Dr. William Pepper, "mysteriously disappeared" from the Attorney General's files in Tennessee. Memphis Police Department homicide detective Barry Linville and his partner J. D. Hamby were also present at the removal of this bullet from King. Linville states with a great deal of certainty that the bullet in evidence is "not the bullet I saw taken from the body."

The intact bullet was tagged and turned over to the FBI laboratory in Washington, D.C. If the bullet was switched, why was it switched? Assuming it was switched, was it replaced by a bullet that was fired from Ray's rifle? If this is the case and it is postively identified as having come from Ray's gun then the search for truth could come to a grinding halt. If a switched bullet was matched to Ray's rifle, there might be some chance that it could be shown to not be the original bullet removed from King.

In the state of Tennessee, it is virtually impossible to overturn a guilty plea. The 1995 law referring to new scientific evidence, may yield an opportunity to re-open the case. Ray's attorneys had been turned down seven times previously in their efforts to obtain a new trial for Ray.

There is a huge wealth of new evidence that indicates an obvious conspiracy in the assassination of MLK. The prosecution considers it more important to prevent the overturning of the conviction of Ray (perhaps to prevent setting a precedent) than it is to give a possibly innocent man a fair trial that might even point to the identity of the actual perpetrators of the crime.

The small step forward that Judge Brown's ruling represents resulted from the unlikely alliance of Ray's defense attorney and King's family and former associates. Questions about the gun will hopefully lead to truth and justice in the case.

Why did Ray originally plead guilty? Why was it essential in 1968 from the government's standpoint to find a quick and simple solution to the case? Is Ray's claim of being the patsy who was set up to take the blame plausible? These are complex questions.

Ray originally entered a guilty plea and waived a trial because he was convinced by his attorney, Percy Foreman, to do so. Foreman told Ray that the prosecution had enough evidence to convict. Ray was told that to plead guilty was the only way he could avoid the electric chair. Foreman also informed Ray that he was ill and could not give him the defense he required. He offered Ray $500 to get another lawyer, overturn the conviction and obtain a new trial. Ray was duped by his own lawyer who had been plea-bargaining with the prosecution for two months without Ray's knowledge.

J. Edgar Hoover was the chief law enforcement officer in America in 1968 as head of the FBI. He hated MLK. He considered him a potential "black messiah" who had to be "neutralized." Hoover and his counterparts in other intelligence agencies such as the CIA and Army Intelligence felt King was a threat to national security and were watching him, trying to discredit him and were carrying out covert activities directed at smearing him. The FBI even went to the extent of writing Dr. King a letter suggesting he commit suicide because of the possible disgrace involved in the revelation of his womanizing. The FBI would leak "derogatory" information such as tapes of his wild parties to receptive "media assets."

The media has, until recently, downplayed conspiracy in this case (as in the JFK and RFK cases). The FBI and other agencies have always pushed lone-assassin theories in all three cases. In 1968 there was great turmoil in America. Race riots were commonplace and occured immediately after the assassination of King. A quick and benign solution would have been thought to be essential to J. Edgar Hoover. It was essential to preserve order and to assure everyone it was just a random act by a nut. To insure faith in government officials and institutions and to show the world that everything was under control in the United States of America, we were provided with lone assasin scenarios.

After almost thirty years since the assassination it is time for people in this country and around the world to know that everything was not "under control" in 1968 in the U.S.A. Or perhaps it could be stated that everything was under too much control. Powerful forces could change history, cover up horrendous crimes and prevent meaningful change in the status quo in 1968. The intelligence agencies were quite able to manipulate the news media and may still be able to do the same today in certain instances. If there is no "closure" and there is no "truth" in this case then there is the possibility or even the likelihood that assassination will be used again. Potential assassins might assume that they would " get away with it," just like in 1968.

Martin Luther King was coming out against the Vietnam war in 1968. He practically was the civil rights movement of the 60s. He wanted to end poverty and was even considering running for President of the United States. His murder was a blow to peace, justice the struggle for equality and may have indeed prevented the rise of a black messiah. We can't change the fact that he was killed and the civil rights movement was all but "neutralized" along with him. But we can, with a trial of James Earl Ray, go a long way to correct a false history that has been imposed on us by Orwellian figures such as J. Edgar Hoover.

There have been few easily available sources of reliable information about the murder of Martin Luther King over the years. There have been several books published by small publishers that give insight into possible conspiracy in the case. The Murkin Conspiracy by Dr. Philip Melanson is one such work. This book was later re-issued in paperback as The Assassination of Martin Luther King. Harold Weisberg published Frame-Up. This book was also re-issued in paperback and was re-titled Martin Luther King: The Assassination.

The third book I want to highly recommend was published in 1995 by Ray's current attorney, Dr. William F. Pepper. It is entitled Orders to Kill and may still be available for purchase. This is a book that the author feels was effectively suppressed.

Dr. Pepper explains that he had a major publisher that originally agreed to publish the work under certain disturbing conditions. The publisher said the book would be a great success and he would be in a position to become, in effect, rich and famous if he would remove his chapter on the military. Pepper refused. He has not revealed which publisher this was that offered this arrangement. The book was published by a very small company that, to their credit, has recently published several assassination-related titles (some worth reading and some virtually worthless).

The book was, in the author's opinion, a sales flop for several reasons. The promotional capabilities of a small publishing house are very limlited. There were virtually no reviews of the book in any major media outlet. For whatever reason, it was ignored by those who review books. A book that is ignored is one that consequently dies because no one knows to buy it.

According to Dr. Pepper, he was told in so many words by a person who was at one time a high-ranking military officer that it doesn't matter what your book says, - no one will read it. He was told not to fear for his life because your book was supressed and you are no longer a danger to us in terms of potential revelations about the conspiracy.

This astounding information related to Chapter 30 in his book. This chapter detailed the existance of Army Intelligence hit-squads that were deployed during rioting in the late 60s The mission of these units was to eliminate leaders who were responsible for public unrest who were considered to be a threat to the security of the United States. They were persons who honestly felt that it was for the greater good that they remove these people (by killing them) to preserve the America they loved. It may seem twisted in hindsight but this was the justification in their minds for assassinations of people who were perceived by secret-police agencies to be anarchists and criminals.

As the story goes, (from surviving members of these squads), there was an Army intelligence team that had Dr. King in the crosshairs of their sights on April 4, 1968. They also were instructed to take out King's associate Andrew Young. As they were waiting for their "orders to kill" they heard a shot from the bushes across from the Lorraine Motel where King was leaning over a balcony. They were obviously surprised by this shooting. They also had surveillance set up at this time on Dr. King and were able to point the camera at the assailant and take his photograph. It is stated that the person in the photo was definitely not James Earl Ray.

Due to the history of deception by U.S. intelligence agencies, it is healthy to be aware of the possibility that this story may have been concocted to serve as a false trail. Could it be possible that the Army did shoot King and this story is part of an ongoing disinformation operation? It is possible that that was their man (or someone from another of the many U.S. intelligence agencies) in the bushes. More than likely there would have been a cut-out who could not easily be tracked back to any agency. Mobsters or right-wing radicals would be likely possibilities to execute the shooting. They also could be in a position to take the blame as a fall-back story.

Dr. Pepper's information is presented very convincingly and he may have the closest thing to a solution to the case that has surfaced since 1968. It is imperative that Ray be given a trial so that this type of information can be made available to a larger general public. Pepper does have many interesting witnesses that can be presented. One important issue is relating to this mysterious character Raul that Ray claims moved him around and set him up to take the blame. Attorney Pepper has found a person that he has identified as Raul.

Dexter King stated that the King family supports Dr. Pepper's efforts and they feel that Ray is a patsy.

To end this article it is appropriate to present a series of quotes from the testimony on February 20, 1997 of Martin Luther King's son, Dexter.

"If this case is such an open and shut case, why are we still being asked the question: Do you believe Mr. Ray killed your father?"

"I have never understood, my family has never understood why the state will not allow the rifle in question to be tested."

"There is no statute of limitations on murder."

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."


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