Who Really Killed Dr. King?

Excerpt from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s final speech on April 3, 1968...

"Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."

You know, "conventional wisdom" (and, I'm really being sarcastic when I say that) tells us that one James Earl Ray, escaped from a Missouri Prison, robbed a couple of banks to fund his activities, followed Dr. King to Los Angeles, then to Atlanta, finally to Memphis, and then killed him. At the time, Ray was a 40 year old drifter and escaped convict who, up to that point, wasn't even a successful criminal because he was serving his third felony sentence when he escaped from prison. "Conventional wisdom " also wants us to believe that he also had enough money to go to London after doing the deed.

So, Ray was smart enough to shadow his man, kill him, and make the smooth getaway... yet, so stupid that he dropped the rifle (the alleged murder weapon that never cleared an extensive FBI test) with his fingerprints on it. He was also smart enough to use an alias, "Eric Starvo Gualt", when he bought the rifle. Doesn't that sound like something you would've see on TV? And, who would give their child the middle name of Starvo? Yet, as I said, he was stupid enough to drop the weapon after killing a national figure and leaving it where it could be found with his fingerprints on it that formerly identified him as James Earl Ray! Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Well, it should.

Excerpt from Wikipedia...

Two months after King's death, escaped convict James Earl Ray was captured at London Heathrow Airport while trying to leave the United Kingdom on a false Canadian passport in the name of "Ramon George Sneyd". (Again, with these crazy names!) He was quickly extradited to Tennessee and charged with King's murder. He confessed to the assassination on March 10, 1969, though he recanted this confession three days later. On the advice of his attorney Percy Foreman, Ray took a guilty plea to avoid a trial conviction and thus the possibility of receiving the death penalty. He was sentenced to a 99-year prison term. Ray falso fired Foreman as his attorney and from then on, derisively called him "Percy Fourflusher."

Ray claimed that a man he met in Montreal, Canada with the alias "Raoul" was involved, as was his brother Johnny, but not he himself. Further, he asserted that although he did not "personally shoot King", he may have been "partially responsible without knowing it", hinting at a conspiracy. He spent the remainder of his life unsuccessfully attempting to withdraw his guilty plea and secure the trial he never had.

On June 10, 1977, shortly after Ray had testified to the House Select Committee on assassinations that he did not shoot King, he and six other convicts escaped from Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Petros, Tennessee. They were recaptured on June 13 and returned to prison.

Does all of this sound just a little damn suspect? Let's look at another story that has long been told but, kept very quiet up until now. There was a Memphis businessman named Lloyd Jowers, who it is said put up $100,000.00 for anyone who would kill King. He was a known racist who did not want King "stirring up trouble in Memphis." King had been there in 67 and was coming back to support striking garbage workers, most of whom were Black. Could Jowers have hired the mysterious "Raoul" to find a patsy, someone to buy a rifle in Canada, and mail it to Memphis? Let's say that they found a knucklehead (Ray), made him think that he was involved in something big... gun running... had him buy the gun, mail it to Memphis, and wait there until contacted.

Lloyd Jowers admitted as much (all except the "Raoul" link) in 1993 on ABC-TV. He said that James Earl Ray was the scapegoat... the guy it was going to be blamed on and that the real shooter was a rogue Memphis policeman named Earl Clark, who ironically used the alias "Ed King". Jowers was sued for wrongful death by the King Family. The courts ruled in their favor and said that in fact, King's death was "probably a conspiracy and that Jowers and others were part of it."

Lloyd Jowers died in 2000. Earl Clark, aka "Ed King", is also deceased. And, what of Raoul? No record or trace of the man exists. James Earl Ray is also dead. We may never know the truth, but the truth of "conventional wisdom" isn't what we were told.