James Earl Ray takes troth to grave

en n. James Earl Ray, the ex-convict who cDnfessed to assassinating the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and then insisted he was framed, died Thurs- day, frustrating civil rights leaders who fear they may never learn the truth. He was 70. Ray died at a hospital of kidney failure and complications from liver disease while serving a 99-year prison sentence for the 1968 slaying. "America will never have the b6nefit of Mr. Ray's trial, which would have produced new revela- tions about the assassination," said King's widow, Coretta. Mrs. King and her son Dexter have said they believe Ray was innocent. Some other civil rights leaders, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson, have not gone that far, instead saying that they believe Ray took part in the assassination but that he did not act alone. JAMES EARL RAY The Rev. Hosea Williams, a far- ther King lieutenant, called Ray's house nearby. He was captured in death "the epitome of an American London two months later. crucifixion." By pleading guilty in March 1969, .:"Anyone with an ounce of brains he avoided the possibility of a death Who has done any studying or sentence. But Ray recanted three research on this case knows James days later and argued for years that Earl Ray was used by the federal he was coerced into making the government," he said. plea. The King family is pressing He claimed he was set up by a Attorney General Janet Reno to shadowy gun dealer he met in Mon- create a federal investigative corn- treal and knew only as Raoul, and inission with the power to subpoena said he was off changing a tire when Witnesses, grant immunity and file the shooting occurred. charges against suspected conspir- Investigators have never estab- ators. lished any connection between But as far as Ray and the courts Raoul and the slaying, and numer- are concerned, it's over. Prosecu- ous courts agreed with prosecutors tors in Memphis, where King was that there was no evidence anyone shot on a motel balcony, said Ray's else was involved. No one else was 3biyear battle to take back his guilty ever charged. Over the years, the plea died with him. courts repeatedly upheld the guilty - • "About the only thing I can say is plea. I believe the history books will accu- Ray's efforts resulted in an rately record that James Earl Ray unlikely coalition between his fami- Was the killer of Dr. King," said ly and King's. William Gibbons, the lead state "I am convinced that Ray was prosecutor in Memphis. involved in the assassination of Dr. It was 30 years ago this month King, but he did not act alone," said when King was killed by a sniper at the Rev. Jackson, who was with the Lorraine Motel. He was in town King when he was shot. "Conspira- to support striking sanitation work- tors are still on the loose." ers. The April 4, 1968, assassination In 1978, the U.S. House Select touched off race riots in more than Committee on Assassinations con- 100 cities and set off one of the cluded that Ray was the killer but a biggest manhunts in U.S. history group of racial bigots in St. Louis •Ray, a fugitive ft-pm a Missouri who reportedly had put a $50,000 prison where he was serving time bounty on King's head might have for robbery, was staying in a flop- been involved, too. Weisberg says death deepppisKinc g mystery By B refused to confess," said Mr. Weis- News Post Staffi berg. The prosecution could not place When James Earl Ray died Ray in Memphis, Tenn., at the time Thursday, the chance of proving his of the murder, or match the bullet to innocence in the murder of Dr. Mar- his rifle, according to Mr. Weisberg. tin Luther King Jr. were seriously But the judge ruled Ray was not harmed, according to local author entitled to a trial because of the Harold Weisberg. plea. He did not consider guilt or "Ray didn't kill King and they innocence, Mr. Weisberg said. knew it," he said. "I think it's a The King family, including Coret- tragedy they didn't let him get a ta Scott King, Dr. King's wife, liyer so our system of justice could requested a trial and have said they work." The legal system "is not believe Ray is innocent. Last year, a lArorking and that's a danger to the Memphis judge ruled that the fatal country. It's a grave danger." bullet didn't match Ray's alleged : Mr. Weisberg, 85, published weapon. But Ray was never allowed "Frame Up: The Martin Luther a trial. Ding-James Earl Ray Case" in 1971. Instead, he languished in prison. 16 1992, he published "Who Killed He developed cirrhosis of the liver Martin Luther King?" He is also the and was hospitalized repeatedly. author of several books on the John "This is a man who has been asking F Kennedy assassination. for a trial for 30 years," said Mr. He worked for Ray's defense Weisberg. team in 1974 and has long main- If the government had granted tained Ray's innocence. During a Ray a trial, It would have shut him two-week evidentiary hearing, the up for ever," he said. But "they don't defense team proved the alleged have a case against him. That's the assassin could not have fired the only reason he didn't get a trial." sfmt that killed Dr. King in 1968, he said. Ray never admitted to the crime. He pleaded guilty in March 1969, avoiding conviction and the possibil- itf of a death sentence. But he later said that he made the plea under duress. "He did not confess. He