By WILLIAM BRADFORD HUM

JAMES EARL RAY REALLY BELIEVED THAT KILLING MARTIN LUTHER KING WOULD MAKE HIM A NATIONAL HERO. THE DAMN FOOL DID IT, AND HE DID IT ALONE. o those of us assistance, worked on his who know that story until March 10,1969, lames Earl Ray, when he pleaded guilty and alone, killed Dr. was sentenced to 99 years in Martin Luther the Tennessee state peniten- TKing, Jr., in Memphis, Ten- tiary. Clark, Foreman and I nessee, on April 4, 1968, the are Southerners who sup- current congressional "in- ported King and the move- vestigation" of this nine- ment for racial change in the year-old murder case is a South. Our credentials for shameful waste of public finding truth in racial money and a contemptible murder cases are far superi- concession to the conspiracy or to those of any of the con- racket. gressmen or any of the 170 When I say "those of us bureaucrats who are to who know:* t speak of be profitably"investigating" Ramsey Clark, who was at- this case for two years. If torney general of the United Clark. Foreman and I canIt States when Ray killed King: be believed in the Ray case, and of Percy Foreman, who then no one can. was one of Ray's attorneys; An "investigating" con- and of myself. I bought Ray's gressman tells us on televi- story and the right to portray sion, "We must remember him in films. and, with Ray's that Ray quickly rescinded

William Bradford Huie is the author of a number of books, including The Klansman, The Execution of Private Slovik, The Americanization of Emily. and He Slew the Dreamer: My Search for the Truth about James Earl Ray and the Murder of Martin Luther King.

ILLUSTRATiON BY JOHN YOU5SI his guilty plea!" abroad, published two installments of worthless:' I told him. "Eight months You think that's significant, do you, my "pre-trial" Ray story. What I ago, on Meet the Press, Attorney Gen- Congressman? You think Ray's re- wrote pleased Ray for I presented his eral Ramsey Clark said there was no scinding his plea justifies an expen- account of how he escaped from the evidence that anyone other than 00; sive new investigation? Nonsense. Missouri state prison on April 23, James Earl Ray was involved in the When he was preparing to kill Mar- 1967, and of how he lived, got money, murder of Dr. King. Mr. Hanes. Mr. tin Luther King, Ray believed that the altered his appearance with plastic Foreman and I, with your help, have murder would make him a hero to surgery, and traveled as a fugitive un- tried to find evidence that someone most Americans; that farnousiawyers til March 31, 1968. else was involved, All we have done would volunteer to defend him at I had agreed that only after Flay had is corroborate Mr. Clark's statement." their own expense; that a jury proba- been tried and sentenced would I The most ironic experience of my bly would not convict him; that if a publish my account of how and why writing career was my effort to make jury did pronounce him guilty he'd King had been murdered. Before the Ray and his brothers understand that soon be freed by President George trial I would publish only what Ray my book about him could not be sold, Wallace; and that his "story" in a wanted published. After his trial and and that therefore no film about Ray book and a film would be worth sentencing I would publish only the was ever likely to be made, because "millions:' truth as I saw it. Ray, in return for my Ray alone had murdered King! After the murder Ray was jolted by advancing money for his defense, had My publishers, in the United States a series of disappointments. contracted to furnish me, directly and and in Europe, wanted me to deliver a When he was arrested in London on through his lawyers, the entire truth. book titled They Slew the Dreamer June 8, 1968, he expected the famous (from the Biblical story of Joseph: lawyers to begin volunteering to de- "And they said one to another, Be- fend him. But only one lawyer volun- When he was preparing hold, this dreamer cometh. Come teered, and he wasn't famous. He was to kill Martin Luther King, now therefore, and let us slay him ... J.B. Stoner, of Savannah, Georgia, Ray believed that the and we shall see what will become of long associated with the Ku Klux his dreams"). Now I had informed my Klan. And not even Stoner wanted to murder would make him publishers that my title could only be defend Ray for the honor and the pub- a hero to most He Slew the Dreamer. We knew, fur- licity in it. Stoner wanted to defend Americans... thermore, that though I could write him while raising a "national defense the book effectively, and they could fund:' publish it handsomely, it wouldn't Ray then asked his court-appointed Ray was pleased with his contract sell. Nor would anyone want the film British lawyer to call F. Lee Bailey in with me. What continued to distress rights. Ray was so naive as to think Boston and convey to him the good him as his trial approached was that that the story of how he slew the news that Ray wanted Bailey to de- he didn't have a famous lawyer. He dreamer was bound to be a big hook fend him. When Bailey told Ray, in was angrier still when, after Sirhan and film. He couldn't understand that effect, to go to hell, Ray was flab- Sirhan killed Robert Kennedy, fa- what book readers and film viewers bergasted. In desperation he was re- mous lawyers volunteered to defend want is conspiracy... how a cabal of duced to calling a capable lawyer but Sirhan. Wasn't Ray more important rich, cruel racists conspired to not a famous one, Arthur Hanes, of than Sirhan? Ray wrote to me that he murder a famous man they hated ... Birmingham, who had defended the deserved to be defended by "a battery or even better, how the FBI or the CIA Klansmen who murdered Viola of famous lawyers." At Ray's insis- conspired to end the dreams of Mar- Liuzza on the last day of the Selma tence his brothers kept trying to em- tin Luther King. march. Hanes went to London, agreed ploy Foreman, and in November "A trial can be helpful only if you to defend Ray, but not until Ray had 1968, Ray eagerly dismissed Hanes tell the truth," I said to Ray. "The sold his story and film rights to me and employed Foreman by transfer- state's case against you has already for an advance to Hanes of $30,000. ring from one man to the other further been published. None of it can be re- (The cash went to Hanes because Ray prospective monies from his book futed. A plea of guilty by you will as- couldn't keep money or have money and film deal with me. Ray assured sure the commercial failure of our owed to him. Any money coming to Percy Foreman that his portion of the book. But it can sell only a few thou- him had to be "protected" by a law- earnings from the book and film sand copies anyway. I hope you'll yer's lien. Otherwise it could be would be "a minimum of $400,000:' stand up in court and tell the truth. seized in a civil action by King's At Ray's insistence I advanced to You won't be widely believed. But widow. Ray didn't need to be told Foreman $10,000 against Ray's antici- you will have told the truth:' In tell- this. Like Caryl Chessman he had pated earnings. ing the court how he alone murdered spent years studying law in prison li- Dr. King, Ray did tell the truth. Only Dui braries.) Only by dealing with me did Red Cents and Wooden Nickels once did he lie. At the end of his Ray escape the ignominy of his hav- By the middle of February 1969, statement he blurted out, "... but ing to be defended in Memphis by the Ray's trial had been scheduled to there was a conspiracy!" public defender. begin on March 10. Foreman couldn't I felt sorry for him when he said During the fall of 1968, Hanes, after get it postponed again. I had com- that. He had learned from me that the pleading Ray not guilty at the ar- pleted my investigation. so it was only way he could keep anybody in- raignment, was preparing for trial. time for me to jolt Ray with another terested in him from that point on Look magazine, and other magazines disappointment. "Your story is was to use that "selling" word, con- 26 sice?tk spiracy, To keep himself from being made a political investment in King, waited in darkness outside his house forgotten he would now have to deny ordered the FBI to "bug" him and see with a shotgun, and I could have that he had ever been a hero whose that his sexual and ideological con- killed him and had an excellent story was worth millions and who de- duct didn't embarrass them: and chance of never being identified. For served to be defended by F. Lee therefore the FBI may have murdered a thousand dollars I could have hired Bailey, Percy Foreman and a battery King or have been less than zealous in an experienced killer to do it. of other famous lawyers. He would seeking to identify his "real'' King was hated far more virulently have to insist that in the killing of the murderers. in 1955, or 1961 or 1965, than he was "Big Nigger" he didn't ire the Now congressmen and bureaucrats in 1968 when he was past his prime shot...he didn't know what was going want to spend perhaps $13 million to and rapidly losing influence in the on...he was only a dunce who had learn what "really" happened. Mean- civil rights movement. If any wealthy been set up as a patsy or a fall guy by while, here are facts from which any man or men or J. Edgar Hoover him- clever professional killers wbo were thoughtful citizen can see for himself self had wanted King killed, wouldn't paid $250,000 by H.L. Hunt or J. what "really" happened: they have killed him sooner? By 1968 Edgar Hoover. When King was killed, how could he was a loser. The garbage workers Both Foreman and I knew that Ray's any rational American have con- in Memphis had lost their struggle for plea of guilty would be rescinded cluded that the killer was a hireling? union recognition and higher pay be- when Foreman ceased to be his at- James Earl Ray left at the scene of the cause King was trying to help them. torney and Stoner became Ray's at- murder a recently purchased rifle, The garbage workers won only after torney of record. Neither Hanes nor scope and binoculars, all bearing his and because King was killed. It was Foreman would allow Stoner to asso- James Earl Ray who enabled the gar- ciate with them in Ray's defense. But bage workers to win. the trial judge had allowed Stoner un- I had completed my As for J. Edgar Hoover, the Ken- limited access to Ray during all the investigation, so it was nedys, King and sex, King's sexual months when Hanes and Foreman time for me to jolt track record matched that of John F. were Ray's attorneys of record. Kennedy. They both exercised often Except by having Ray rescind his Ray with another with assorted maids, wives and wid- plea of guilty, how could Stoner use disappointment. "Your ows. I once mentioned to King that Ray to seek publicity for himself? story is worthless," such conduct by a candidate for saint- Stoner began seeking publicity by I told him. hood might be used against him by charging Hanes, Foreman and me his detractors. He indicated that it with conspiring to violate Ray's civil was a risk he was willing to accept. rights. This suit, dismissed with prej- fingerprints, and a transistor radio he I suppose it's possible that Hoover, udice by the US District Court, nev- had bought in the Missouri state pris- who may have been a homosexual, re- ertheless went to the US Supreme on at Jefferson City and into which sented King's wide-ranging hetero- Court, all at no cost to Stoner because his prison indentification number sexuality. I know continent black Ray was a pauper. But it cost me was engraved. people who wish they had never $15,000 to have the Supreme Court Mr. Foreman asked Ray, "Boy, why heard of the saint's incontinency. I rule that I had violated none of Ray's in the hell did you leave that transis- would never have been the first to tell rights, and that I own his story and tor radio that had your prison number them. But I can't believe that even the film rights. cut in it?" most unfaltering bureaucratic inves- So how's that again, Congressman? Ray replied triumphantly, "I want- tigator, or the most vicious conspir- We're not to forget that Ray rescinded ed the boys at Jeff City to know I did acy racketeer, is capable of believing his plea of guilty? it that in 1968 J. Edgar Hoover con- I'm not likely to forget it, since Ray, While they are wasting those mil- spired with James Earl Ray, or used the pauper, sues me every year for vi- lions on their "new investigation" Ray as a patsy, in the murder of King. olating some claimed right of his. It the congressmen and bureaucrats costs me about a thousand dollars a should have Ray's honest reply to Too Many Cooks? year to get his suits dismissed. I ex- Foreman enlarged, framed and dis- Certainly these well-heeled new in- pect to be paying that thousand dol- played on Capitol Hill. vestigators will have muchlo say lars a year for the rest of my life. For Consider the time of day, the place, about how wily, ruthless old. Percy how else can Ray compel attention the weapon and the year of King's Foreman "overrode" an innocent Ray to be paid to him? How else can he murder. It was daylight: in a place or "used" Ray and "forced" him to busy himself as a "jailhouse lawyer"? where King was being guarded. The plead guilty. Whenever the investiga- How else can he keep his case under weapon was a rifle, which usually tors do this, they will only be investigation by publicity-seeking leaves ballistic evidence, not a shot- mouthing Stoner's old charges, and congressmen, bureaucrats, and gun. which leaves none; and the year they will be far from the truth. conspiracy racketeers? was 14 years after King became a After becoming Ray's attorney of world-famous leader of the civil record, Foreman's first action in Ray's Revelations rights movement! behalf could have resulted in an enor- The excuse for this "new investiga- During those 14 years King would mous advantage for Ray in a trial In tion" we are told, is the revelation have been easy to kill. He went in and which he pleaded not guilty. that J. Edgar Hoover despised King: out of his home unguarded. In either Whenever a famous defense lawyer that John and Robert Kennedy, having Montgomery or Atlanta I could have (continued on page 56) 27 BY DAVID SANFORD BELIN VS

CAN A NEW OFFICIAL INVESTIGATION TURN UP ANYTHING WE DIDN'T ALREADY KNOW ABOUT THE KILLERS OF PRESIDENT KENNEDY AND DR. KING? TWO EXPERIENCED INVESTIGATORS TALK SHOP.

ore than 13 that conclusion has been years have chipped at over the years by gone by since critics. Furthermore, sub- President Ken- stantial allegations have 14nedy was killed in Dallas been made that the CIA and and nearly nine since Dr. the FBI withheld relevant Martin Luther King, Jr. was information from the shot dead in Memphis. Yet Commission. after all this time a fresh in- David Belin, who partici- vestigation of the two mur- pates with Sprague in the ders was begun last Skeptic conversation, September 17 by the US worked for the Warren House of Representatives. Commission and believed it On October 4, the House Se- was the last word until he lect Committee on Assassi- learned that the CIA had nations appointed Richard kept from the Warren Com- A. Sprague as its chief mission the fact that it had counsel and director of the plotted to murder Fidel investigation. Sprague Castro in the early 1960's. brought to the job a reputa- Had the Warren Commis- tion as a tough prosecutor. sion known about that, it He had worked for the might have taken Oswald's elected district attorney in Cuban connections more Philadelphia for 18 years. seriously. He'd prosecuted dozens of In the House two men, first-degree murder cases. Thomas N. Downing (D-Vir- As special prosecutor for ginia) and Henry B. Washington County, Penn- Gonzalez (D-Texas), have sylvania he was responsible for successfully bringing first-degree murder charges against former United Mine Workers president W.A . "Tony" Boyle in the 1969 killing of the union insur- gent Joseph A. Yablonski. Sprague was not only tough. he was successful— just the sort of man to re- solve doubts about the Ken- nedy assassination. Or so it seemed. The Warren Commission had sought to satisfy the public that Lee Harvey Os- wald. acting alone, killed JFK. But the credibility of

,: '177 .W.,,74T,Pg''F6`,.'1.1,'N:7.F;',..v.Vmk;'r',... .4;sg-ir.,";,::`,T,,T,'.7F.VW.7,:`,.',7 a real inquiry is: We probably will investigation becomes irrelevant. The Foreman went back to Memphis never know the truth because too question is, how much do we value and informed Ray of his great good many years have passed. The argu- justice and what price will we pay for fortune. And Foreman and I were ment is generally employed by per- the truth? startled beyond belief when Ray flew sons who opposed a serious investi- Some people are still not satisfied into a rage and shouted, "John Hook- gation from the outset, and having that Abraham Lincoln was assas- er'll never defend me!" succeeded in that holding action for sinated by one man; such people Now remember, this was a lifelong some years, they have now moved on can't ever be satisfied. The evidence criminal who yearned to be defended to a new stage of their ever-evolving suggests that there was a conspiracy by "a battery of famous lawyers," and opposition. Here at least we feel that to kill President Lincoln and, there- he was rejecting the most famous law- Huie is with us. For in his final words fore, there is good reason not to be yer in Tennessee. Why? In the elec- in Look he asked: "Is there a chance satisfied with the history-book expla- tion of November 1968, Hooker's son. that other questions may yet be an- nation of the event. The argument re- John Jay Hooker. the Democratic nom- swered?" and then replied. "Yes, I duces itself to the assertion that inee for governor of Tennessee, was think so. Remember that there are because the truth is unclear in one defeated. And here is James Earl Ray's still many fundamental unanswered matter it probably can never be ascer- shouted reason for refusing to be de- questions." The recent burning of the tained in another matter. fended by the father of John Jay Memphis police domestic intel- Last September. the House of Rep- Hooker: ligence files generated new ques- resentatives voted overwhelmingly to "John Hooker'll never defend me! tions; what motive might one ascribe investigate the murders of President His son running for governor got the to that oddly timed conflagration? I Kennedy and Dr. King. The Congress vote of ever' damn nigger in believe we can find the truth if we said, that day, that the government Tennessee!" look for it. By examining the local was at last back in the business of Those words, too, should be en- and federal police conspiracy to finding and prosecuting assassins. larged and displayed in the Wash- cover up the facts, we may find the As we hear the arguments mar- ington offices of the congressmen and puzzle pieces that lead directly to the shaled against this desperately bureaucrats who are wasting those conspirators who killed King. needed search for essential truths millions on a new investigation. Investigating this case will not about our society, we remember who The following day Ray further in- bring King back anyway. That's ob- we are and the problems that still structed Foreman in the conduct of vious. Solving the crime will not confront us. A poet wrote: his defense. "You don't need no asso- breathe life into the victim. But that's Truth forever on the scaffold, ciates. In the recent election 40 per- not generally a barrier to the inves- Wrong forever on the throne. cent of the voters in Shelby County tigation of homicide cases. A varia- But Martin Luther King, jr., always (Memphis) voted for Nixon. Thirty- tion on this theme is "let the dead rest sang back: five percent voted for Wallace. No- in peace." Do souls rest only if mur- But truth, though crushed body but niggers voted for derers roam free? to earth will rise again.KI Humphrey. Now don't tell me that a Who really cares anyway? The white man or woman who voted for most recent polls conducted by news THE ONE AND ONLY Nixon or Wallace is ever gonna vote organizations (Philadelphia Daily (continued from page 27) to convict James Earl Ray!" (About News, CBS, Detroit News) show that enters a case in a state where he is not that same time Ray's two brothers between two-thirds and 96 percent of a member of the bar, his first action told me, ''That Jimmy! All his the American people care about this should be to try to associate with a life...ever' time he thinks about a nig- nine-year-old crime and that it is still respected member of the local bar. ger he goes wild—wild...wildl Think- part of our national consciousness. Then, in the conduct of the trial, the ing about niggers drives him crazy!") The probe will cost too much. A famous "outside" lawyer should try Foreman then reached some well thorough investigation will cost mil- to share the publicity and the court- justified conclusions. Ray was an un- lions of dollars. An independent staff room activity with his associate. stable racist who could not be con- must be hired to eliminate reliance on Otherwise the famous lawyer may trolled in a trial in which he pleaded the existing, discredited police orga- arouse hostility in the jury and not guilty. He was a "jailhouse law- nizations. One can discuss this ques- damage his client's chances. yer" who wanted to conduct his own tion in terms of the cost of other Foreman went to Nashville and defense, as he had done in the most investigations. The FBI spent $2.6 persuaded Tennessee's most famous disastrous (for him) of his previous million in a three-month search for criminal lawyer, the late John Hooker, trials. In a trial pleading not guilty to Patricia Hearst, and I cannot recall to associate with him in defending the murder of King, Ray would be his hearing a peep of protest about that. Ray. Hooker had successfully pros- own number-one lawyer; Stoner in When the news media put the heat on ecuted Jimmy Hoff a for jury-tamper- absentia would be Ray's number-two the FBI to locate, not the murderer of ing at Chattanooga. John Hooker's lawyer, and Foreman would proceed the three civil rights workers in Mis- associating with Percy Foreman in at their direction. What honest lawyer sissippi, but the bodies of the victims, defense of James Earl Ray would have with a choice, pleading Ray not the government organized a massive given Ray an incalculable advantage; guilty of the murder of King, and act- search with hundreds of searchers at and it was to give him this advantage, ing in Ray's best interest, would call a cost, I am told by an FBI source, of and to bring Hooker into the case, Ray as a witness in his own defense? $250,000 per day. The search went on that I advanced the $10,000 to And without Ray as a witness, how for months. Ultimately the cost of an Foreman. could he be pleaded not guilty? 56 sic9t1c • The lack of ballistics tests taken of had help preceding King's murder. (At- woman Yvonne Burke, chairperson of the supposed murder weapon. torney Foreman, of course, believed that the Black Caucus, helped push through • The absence of eyewitnesses to the Ray acted alone.) Scores of groups a compromise bill in the House of Rep- shooting. called for reopening the investigation, resentatives in September 1976 that ap- • Medical evidence allegedly point- and Ray hired attorneys to file appeals propriated $100,000 to hire a small, ing to the possibility of two separate for a new trial. His appeals all have been independent (of the executive branch) wounds in King's face and neck. denied. In 1975 pressure to reopen the staff to conduct an investigation into the • Why any fleeing assassin would investigation heated up, prompted by deaths of President Kennedy and Martin deliberately leave his weapon behind in Senate Select Committee on Intelli- Luther King. Burke thought that the plain view. gence revelations that the FBI had ha- 12-person House Select Committee on • The absence of Ray's fingerprints rassed and attempted to discredit Mar- Assassinations would eventually be in or on the Mustang getaway car. tin Luther King. It seems that between able to reveal that others besides James • Why Judge Battle (who died soon 1963 and 1968, the FBI recorded some Earl Ray were involved in the King after Ray pleaded guilty] didn't follow 5.000 King conversations by using 16 killing. up on Ray's comment that there was a separate wiretaps. The FBI sent anony- Proponents of the view that the cul- conspiracy. Battle told AP reporter Ber- mous notes and tapes to King and to his prit has been caught claim that the nard Gavzer that he believed the full wife suggesting marital infidelity. A current investigation is politically truth still was not known about James letter to King himself suggested he motivated and will not uncover any- Earl Ray and the assassination. commit suicide; or so King thought thing of substance. Richard A. Sprague, when he read it. the man the House hired to direct No Doubt Former Attorney General Edward its investigation, planned an investiga- While the doubters are numerous, Levi assigned Justice Department offi- tion independent of the FBI and CIA others held to the official version: Ray cials to review the FBI investigation of that could take the next two years to acted alone. Such was the conclusion of King's death. The Senate Intelligence complete. U at least four authors: Clay Blair (The Committee called for a special prose- Strange Case of James Earl Ray), Wil- cutor to investigate possible crimes KILLER AT LARGE liam Bradford Huie (He Slew the committed by the FBI and CIA. Al- (continued from page 23) Dreamer). Gerold Frank (An American though the Justice Department reported Death), and George McMillan (The that it found no evidence that the FBI This 318-page book devotes seven Making of an Assassin: The Life of had acted in any "tangible conspiracy" pages to the events of April 4, 1968 in James Earl Ray). or in complicity in King's murder, As- Memphis. That brief section contains Those who contend Ray did it alone sistant Attorney General J. Stanley Pot- numerous errors, perhaps the worst make the points that: tinger recommended a new inquiry. of which is the assertion that "with- • Ray was capable of getting a Cana- The Black Caucus in Congress started out telling King, Memphis police had dian passport since all one has to do is a political drive for a new investigation. put a security guard around the Lor- swear he is a citizen. And Ramsey Clark, who as attorney raine. Cops had been stationed at a • He could have supported his general had said there was only one man firehouse only a few steps away from travels with the fruits of his crimes. involved. called for reopening the case. the rooming house door:' In fact the • Ray was obviously proud. and Encouraged by Coretta King, Congress- police had been stationed there at the often said that he was "involved" in specific request of King's associates, the King murder; he enjoyed being on Rev. Billy Kyles among them. What the FBI's "ten most wanted" list. King and his associates did not know • Ray was a racist. is that the police, without telling • Ray knew it would be easy to kill them, had removed the guard just King because King was not guarded. before King was shot. There are other • Ray was motivated to kill King. errors too, but facts have little to do • If others were involved they would with the McMillan argument that Ray have silenced Ray long ago, killed him is a very bad man who had committed in prison. crimes, who harbored a burning Questions clearly remain to be an- hatred of King and a compulsion to swered, controversies resolved. Many !It'll Sp, do him harm. From this profile, persons and organizations called for an McMillan leaps to the conclusion that independent investigation of the slay- I Ray killed King, and that he acted ing. Charles Morgan Jr. of the American alone. While McMillan's profile may Civil Liberties Union challenged the fit Ray, albeit inexactly, it would Injustice anywhere Is a FBI's objectivity in investigating the clothe J. Edgar Hoover better still. threat to justice everywhere. murder since J. Edgar Hoover hated Ray may have hated King, but he King. King's widow Coretta, Ralph didn't ever send a letter to King en- Abernathy and the NAACP were joined couraging him to kill himself. Hoover did. in their doubts by Mississippi's Senator Martin Luther King, Jr. lames Eastland who said he was skepti- Letter from Birmingham Jail, cal that it had been the work of one man. 1963 Questions In a Holding Pattern One of Ray's lawyers, a Memphis •:::;:.:;:::;;S:.;;;Ri Another reason sometimes prof- public defender, said he believed Ray StWananner fered by those who speak out against 55 ti It was at this point that Foreman in- his criminal career has he been on the have the Bishop of Boston come for- formed Ray that he would go to trial scene during the commission of a ward, knowing what went on. You with him only on a plea of guilty, crime when he didn't know what was have to take the time to look into with a written script. But this doesn't happening. So here and now I'm of- these things. It may be exasperating mean that Foreman "overrode" Ray. fering him my financial help, and my and time-consuming, but that is the Foreman had been overridden by Ray. file in this case, in a suit against you essence of an investigation. Now I Foreman had the same rightsto with- for slander:' must get back to something you said draw from the case as Ray had to dis- The lawyer expected Ray to de- earlier, just so that the record here charge him. And another lawyer was nounce me. But Ray felt so grateful to doesn't indicate that silence is assent. standing by who, if Ray insisted on me for defending him against his new You said that I said, give us 170 men pleading not guilty and testifying in defense lawyer that he said nothing. and $6.5 million and we'll do the joh. his own defense, had no choice but to Reflecting on Ray almost nine years I haven't said that we will do the job, defend Ray under Ray's direction. after he murdered King. I'll have to all I have said is that we will do our When Ray discharged Hanes and say that even though, to date. I've lost best. That is the most I can say. engaged Foreman only a week before altogether about $40,000 in this case, BELIN: One question I would want the first date set for his trial, the trial I have more respect for him than I to ask. You mentioned the polygraph, judge was compelled to postpone the have for the conspiracy racketeers and I assume that you've had substan- proceedings in order to give Foreman who have tried to use him to their tial experience with the polygraph. time to prepare a defense. What was own advantage. It's my understanding that a poly- to prevent Ray from repeating this Forced to choose between a mur- graph can be used successfully in the lawyer-changing act and thereby de- derer and a panderer. I'll support the hands of an experienced operator. laying the trial again? murderer every time.IN The degree of accuracy in large part In granting the postponement for depends upon the competency of the Foreman, the trial judge ordered the BELIN VS SPRAGUE operator. Isn't that true? public defender to associate with (continued from page 32) SPRAGUE: Yes. I think that the Foreman, to prepare a defense, and to polygraph as an instrument is be ready to go to trial if Ray should them. You can't just summarily throw not of any real significance. discharge Foreman. This was done. anything out. BELIN: It's not foolproof certainly. So when Foreman advised Ray to SPRAGUE: In many instances peo- SPRAGUE: The real importance is plead guilty and avoid a probable ple come from out of the woodwork the ability of the operator. I would death sentence, Ray was not without with information that is of some never take a polygraph as being deter- a choice. He could still have gone to value. I have seen some murder cases minative of anything, but it's a help- trial, pleaded not guilty, taken the where one of the stock defenses by ful tool, with weaknesses and stand in his own defense and said defense lawyers is to attack the cred- strengths. But, you know, you have to whatever he chose to say, on his own ibility of witnesses because they are keep in mind that a good polygraph and under the guidance of the public out of the woodwork, they are cut- operator can determine with appro- defender. (It has been done before; throats, they are pimps, you name it. priate questions what a person Chessman, among others, did it.) It's not likely that you are going to knows, what he is holding back. The subject's answers are meaningless. A Used and Abused good polygraph operator can get his My last contact with Ray was about results even though the person is two years ago. I appeared on a TV mute, not even giving answers. On program in Nashville to argue with that machine it is the psychological one of several lawyers who followed response upon hearing the question Stoner in trying to publicize them- that matters. In the Yablonski case we selves with concoctions about how put a person under the polygraph Ray was "the patsy" in Martin Luther and, with good questioning by an ex- King's murder. The warden at the pert, were able to find out, even Tennessee state penitentiary allowed though the person wasn't telling us, Ray to watch the argument between where he had been meeting certain the lawyer and me, and to join the ar- participants in the conspiracy, how much money was involved, what gument by telephone. Viewers could Prevent the rise of a hear but not see him. motels were used for meetings—all "messiah" who could unify, that, just from the psychological The lawyer described how "they" and electrify, the militant decided to murder Dr. King; how black nationalist movement. response. "they" hired professional killers for BELIN: Have you had any personal $250,000; and how these clever pro- experience with the so-called psycho- logical stress evaluator? fessionals used a stupid Ray, who J. Edgar Hoover didn't know what was happening, as SPRAGUE: in a more limited fash- enunciating goal number ion than the polygraph. But I have the patsy. two for the FBI's counter- Ray mumbled that this was true. intelligence program been impressed with its results. It has "You're slandering Ray:' I said to March 4, 1968 a couple of weaknesses that the poly- the lawyer. "He's an enemy of human graph does not. The stress evaluator society but he isn't stupid. Never in *.,.f.ATMEMEMINgffir depends on what the person is say- 57

717R!,:.11.V.rir7,1,70X71.77,";;TrYF.T.Mnkr7VAVT'C/2711779T,"P-M.7.17.- ing. You cannot use it, as you can the support Mr. Sprague in what he SPRAGUE: Sure, and it would at polygraph, to learn what is unsaid. It wants to do, although I think many least have the appearance at this has one big advantage over the poly- people will question whether it's point of including the murder of the graph. People who might not agree to appropriate. two people, I don't know the names, a polygraph test can nonetheless be SKEPTIC: If you get the money that the mobsters who were identified as tested on a stress evaluator merely by you want and the personnel, how are having been involved in CIA assassi- recording what they say- in,answer to you going to proceed with this nation attempts against Castro. one's question. investigation? BELIN: That's Giancana and BELIN: Well I have seen studies SPRAGUE: Our obligation is to Roselli. that support the psychological stress start with each of the two murders. SPRAGUE: Right.. evaluator; I've seen studies that say You must establish death. You must SKEPTIC: When you were describ- it's very unreliable. establish the identity. I understand ing the work that lies ahead. I wanted SPRAGUE: The results I have seen it's been suggested President Ken- to ask facetiously how many years have all been favorable to its use. nedy is not even dead. Upon estab- this is going to take. You don't want These are instruments that give you lishing—assuming we do that—the to set any time limits, but practically clues. To give you an example where death and the identity, we move to speaking, how long? very it worked well: once we were inves- what evidence exists as to who par- SPRAGUE: Well, I have been tigating a series of thefts at a com- ticipated. It is very important that we explicit that you cannot put a time pany. The foreman was suspected of do take one step at a time. In that pro- limitation on it if you want to do a stealing. One day we merely called cess, we hope to establish who did thorough job. That becomes a basis him on the telephone, but recorded the killing and who else, if anyone, for sloppy work. Secondly, those who the conversation, to ask him whether participated either directly or indi- are subjects of an investigation use he had any knowledge of thefts and if rectly on a conspiratorial basis. That that time frame as a wall behind there was anyone he suspected. He gets into whether individuals or which they can hide or delay things. answered, no, he had no knowledge agencies of government have here- Now that does not mean I don't have a and he did not know whom to sus- tofore or even now are trying to im- general idea. I have said I hope we pect. You then run the tape through pede answering those questions; it could do it in the two years of this the stress evaluator which, on the would be relevant to know why. Now Congress. But I say that in the same basis of the expert's reading of the the why may still be independent of vein as when I try a murder trial and I stress in the vocal cords, indicates responsibility for what occurred. But lock up a jury, The jury wants to whether the response was a lie. The it is obviously an area that has to be know how long they are going to be reading here was that the man was looked into. As we get to certain locked up. I'll say. well, I estimate lying when he said he had no knowl- plateaus we will keep the public in- about three months, but when three edge of the thefts. With that clue we formed so that there is that educa- months have gone by don't jump up concentrated on working on him to tional process as we go along. in that jury box and say, but Mr. see whether we could then get proof. SKEPTIC: Why are you investigat- Sprague, you promised us the trial Finally, he was caught in the act and ing the Kennedy and the King assassi- would be over today. It's only meant ended up confessing. nations and no others? as an estimate. BELIN: I wanted the Warren Com- SPRAGUE: I guess, to put it simply, SKEPTIC: Mr. Belin, you probably mission to have Lee Harvey Oswald's two is enough. If, after they see what dispute that you have a vested inter- wife. Marina, undertake a polygraph the requirements are for those two, est in the work and conclusions of the examination. There were large por- they want to go broader and they Warren Commission, but let me ac- tions of her testimony that were not want to appropriate funds and cuse you of that and ask you to com- subject to the ordinary tests of cred- provide additional staff, well, we'll ment on what Earl Warren said at the ibility, since they concerned events kick it around. But for the bare-bones beginning of his inquiry into the Ken- that occurred outside of the United staff required for these two, I'm not nedy assassination. Kennedy was States. Also, she had changed her sto- going to dilute the effort. killed at the end of 1963, and 1964 ry between the initial interviews with SKEPTIC: Are you saying it was an was an election year. Earl Warren said the FBI and the time she testified be- arbitrary decision to do those two and in the proceedings of the commis- fore the Warren Commission. There no others, or was it a political sion, "I think if this should go along was a fight within the staff. The ra- decision? too far and get into the middle of a tionale for not using the polygraph SPRAGUE: The resolution specifi- campaign year it would be very bad was that you can't use it in a court of cally said Martin Luther King and for the country." law and therefore you shouldn't use it President Kennedy. Now it has in BELIN: There were a number of here. The commission eventually there the words "or any other death comments and actions by Earl Warren turned me down. As an outgrowth of the committee wants to investigate." with which I disagreed vehemently. that, I also wanted to have jack Ruby But I take those words to mean acts of There is no doubt that Earl Warren undertake a polygraph exam. I knew violence connected to these two as- wanted to get this investigation out of the commission wouldn't let me do it, sassinations that would be relevant to the way by June 1. It was not done by so I had to go through the back door investigating them. June 1 and the reason it wasn't was and have him, in a sense, demand it, BELIN: That would have included, primarily that the staff of the Warren which I eventually was able to do. in the case of the Kennedy assassina- Commission wanted to do a thorough The fact that this is an investigation tion, the murder of Officer Tippit and investigation whether it took five rather than a trial I assume would the murder of Oswald by Ruby. months or nine months. The Warren 58 sk9tic

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