Criminals & Outlaws Codexery

James Earl Ray

Convicted assassin of Martin Luther King Jr.

Last updated

James Earl Ray

via Wikipedia: James Earl Ray · see source

He died on April 23, 1998, at age 70 from kidney disease and liver failure caused by hepatitis C.[1] Ray entered a guilty plea in 1969 and was given a 99-year prison term.[2]

Key facts and history

Ray was born on March 10, 1928, in Alton, Illinois, the oldest of nine children.[3][4] After his escape, he used the alias Eric Starvo Galt and obtained an Alabama driver's license under that name.[5] He pleaded guilty on March 10, 1969, and was sentenced to 99 years.[6] Ray ended his formal education at age twelve and enlisted in the U.S. Army near the end of World War II, serving in Germany.[7]

In 1948, the military discharged Ray due to his ineptitude and inability to adapt.[7] On April 23, 1967, Ray fled the Missouri State Penitentiary by concealing himself inside a bread-delivery truck.[8] He was using a false Canadian passport and intended to travel to Angola, Rhodesia, or South Africa.[9]

What the cited sources add

The Biography account describes Ray as a confirmed racist who began plotting King's assassination in early 1968.[10] The National Archives report states that the shot that killed King was fired from the bathroom window of a rooming house at 422 1/2 South Main Street in Memphis.[11] The same report concludes that Ray's story of "Raoul" and other exculpatory evidence are not worthy of belief.[11] The same article notes that Ray traveled only 8 miles in a little over two days during his escape.[12]

A 1969 news report noted that some observers viewed the trial verdict as a way to conceal a politically driven conspiracy.[13]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "James Earl Ray" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Van Gelder, "James Earl Ray, 70, Killer of Dr. King, Dies in Nashville", The New York Times, April 24, 1998 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "James Earl Ray" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Pepper 2003 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "James Earl Ray" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ray, "Who Killed Martin Luther King?: The True Story by the Alleged Assassin", National Press Books, 1993, p. 17 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "James Earl Ray" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Van Gelder, "James Earl Ray, 70, Killer of Dr. King, Dies in Nashville", The New York Times, April 24, 1998; Stelzer, "The assassin's brother: John Larry Ray marks time in Quincy, still trying to set the record straight", Illinois Times, November 28, 2007; "Jerry William Ray 1936 – 2016 Obituary", High Funeral Home (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "James Earl Ray" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "REPORT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE TASK FORCE TO REVIEW THE FBI MARITN LUTHER KING, JR., SECURITY AND ASSASSINATION INVESTGATIONS", United States Department of Justice, p. 78–79; Sides 2010, p. 7 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "James Earl Ray" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Waters, "Log Cabin Democrat: King assassin Ray dies after lifelong legal fight 4/24/98", April 24, 1998; "1969: Martin Luther King's killer gets life", On This Day 1950–2005: March 10, March 10, 1969 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "James Earl Ray" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "James Earl Ray", Biography, January 10, 2024 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "James Earl Ray" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "James Earl Ray: The Man Who Killed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.", Crime Library (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "James Earl Ray" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Clarke, "Defining Danger: American Assassins and the New Domestic Terrorists", Transaction Publishers, 2007, p. 296; Borrell, "Ramon Sneyd denies that he killed Dr King", The Times, June 28, 1968, p. 2; Borrell, "Ramon Sneyd denies that he killed Dr King", The Times, June 28, 1968, p. 2; Eyerman, "The Cultural Sociology of Political Assassination: From MLK and RFK to Fortuyn and van Gogh", Palgrave Macmillan, 2011, p. 62; Nicol, "Canadian connection in the Martin Luther King assassination", CBC News, April 28, 2008 (original not read by en.wikipedia.org
  10. "James Earl Ray", Biography, January 10, 2024. facts only, no text reused. biography.com
  11. "Findings on MLK Assassination", National Archives and Records Administration, August 15, 2016. facts only, no text reused. archives.gov
  12. Allan, "Murderer's prison escape inspired a near-impossible ultramarathon", CNN, May 26, 2018. facts only, no text reused. cnn.com
  13. "1969: Martin Luther King's killer gets life", On This Day 1950–2005: March 10, March 10, 1969. facts only, no text reused. news.bbc.co.uk

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article James Earl Ray (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

Also in the Codexery

James Earl Ray · Notorious Criminals & Outlaws

More in Criminals & Outlaws

Ilse KochIvan MilatJack SheppardJacques MesrineJeffrey EpsteinJihadi JohnJoaquin MurrietaJoe MasseriaJohn DillingerJohn Wayne GacyJordan BelfortJoseph Bonanno

Test yourself

Three questions drawn from this entry’s sources. Pick an answer to check it.

1. In what year was James Earl Ray born?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1928.

From the source: “Ray was born on March 10, 1928, in Alton, Illinois, to George Ellis Ray and Lucille Ray (née Maher).”

2. In which place was James Earl Ray born?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Alton, Illinois, U.S..

3. In what year did James Earl Ray die?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1998.

From the source: “Ray died on April 23, 1998, at the age of 70, at the Nashville Memorial Hospital in Madison, Tennessee, from complications related to kidney disease and liver failure caused by hepatitis C, having served twenty-nine years in prison.”

Answers checked against the source article

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

Spotted an error? Know more?

Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced

Comments

Loading…
Open in the interactive codex →