The Man Who Killed Martin Luther King: The Life and Crimes of James Earl Ray [Hardcover]

Explores many of the myths that have developed around James Earl Ray and his actions in 1968.Doubts about James Earl Ray, Dr. Martin Luther Kings lone assassin, arose almost immediately after the civil rights leader was fatally shot on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis on 4 April 1968. From the start, his aides voiced suspicions that a conspiracy was responsible for their leaders death. Over time many Americans became convinced the government investigations covered up the truth about the alleged assassin. Exactly what led Ray to kill King continues to be a source of debate, as does his role in the murder.However, Mel Ayton believe the answers to the many intriguing questions about Ray and how conspiracy ideas flourished can now be fully understood. Missing from the wild speculations over the past fifty-two years has been a thorough investigation of the character of Kings assassin. Additionally, the author examines exactly how the conspiracy notions came about and the falsehoods that led to their promulgation.The Man Who Killed Martin Luther King is the first full account of the life of James Earl Ray based on scores of interviews provided to government and non-government investigators and from the FBIs and Scotland Yards files plus the recently released Tennessee Department of Corrections prison record on Ray.Most importantly, the testimony of Anna Sandhu has often been ignored by writers but her story is crucial in gaining an understanding of Rays deceptive ways. A courtroom artist, who, after listening to Rays story, later married him. Also missing from accounts of the alleged conspiracy is the story told to this author by Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary Deputy Warden Rolland H. Cisson, which decisively renders Rays claims of innocence to be bogus.In the short-lived freedom he acquired after escaping from the Missouri State Penitentiary in 1967, following being sentenced to twenty years in prison for repeated offenses, he traveled to Los AnlÚ