Page 37 - All About History - Issue 29-15

Death Of A King

After the assassination,
demonstrators gather
outside the White House

Asoldierstandsguardin
Washington DC after a building
is destroyed by rioters

TRIAL AND AFTERMATH

:LWKWKHFRXQWU\LQDVWDWHRIVKRFNDQGQDWLRQDO Ray adamantly denied he killed King (a stand
he kept until his death in 1998). However, despite
PRXUQLQJ WKHDWWHQWLRQRIWKHZRUOGWXUQHGWRWKHPDQ the purely circumstantial evidence – including
ZKRWRRNWKHIDWDOVKRW witnesses who identified Ray fleeing the scene – he
wasconvictedofKing’smurderandsentencedto
Within moments of unleashing the bullet that Ray initially confessed to everything to avoid a 99 years in prison.
wouldtakeMartinLutherKingJr’slife,JamesEarl deathsentence,butthreedayslaterhewithdrew SowhywasRayconvictedonsuchaslimcaseof
Raypackedhisrifleandothereffectsintoabox, hisguiltyplea.AccordingtoRay,amysteriousman evidence? Conspiracy theories continue to run rife
wrappeditinanoldclothandfledtheboarding called ‘Raoul’ (whom Ray had met in Canada) had as to the inner machinations of the prosecution’s
house he’d been using to stalk the outspoken orchestrated the entire operation, directing Ray to case, but one fact was clear: someone had to be
minister.Dumpingthebundledboxoutsidea purchasearifleandreserveaspecificroomatthe made accountable. Five years earlier, the president
nearby amusement arcade, Ray had run to his BettyBrewsterboardinghouse.Evidenceofsuch himself had been gunned down in a similar
whiteMustangandspedoutofMemphisasKing afigure,beyondRay’sowntestimony,wasnever fashion. Captured on film and immortalised in the
laydyingonthefirstflooroftheLorraineHotel. found,andwithRay’stroubledhistorywiththelaw, mindsofall,itleftthenationshockedatthesimple
Inthedaysthatfollowed,Rayacquireda theprosecutionwasassuredofitsconfidencein yet barbaric act of assassination. Much like King,
CanadianpassportunderthefalsenameofRamon Rayasthekiller. JFKwasapopularandcharismaticfigureandhis
George Sneyd and took shelter in the city of Butwhathadledhimintothisposition?Ever very public execution galvanised the US into a
Ontario.TheFBIissuedawarrantforhisarrest, since his teenage years, Ray had been a habitual common desire for justice.
adding him to their notorious Most Wanted list criminal. Bold but predominantly unsuccessful in JFK’sdeathwasashockingtwistonaColdWar
whilealsoputtinganAPBoutonallofhisknown hiscareer,hisrapsheetwasapockmarkedroad backdrop; King’s assassination, however shocking,
aliases.Twomonthslater,on8June,whilehe of armed robberies and thefts. He’d escaped from united the nation in collective mourning. It didn’t
wasattemptingtoleavetheUnitedKingdom, prisonanumberoftimes,includinganexcursion quell the violence perpetuated by the movement’s
check-in staff realised the name Sneyd was on the from Missouri State Prison the year before King moreradicalelements,butitdidacceleratetheroad
RoyalCanadianMountedPolicewatchlist.Airport wasgunneddown.Unafraidofwieldingaweapon, towards equality. Three months after his death,
officialsalsodiscoveredasecondpassportonRay Raywasdescribedasfearless–buthiscrimes the Civil Rights Act was signed into law, finally
under another assumed alias. had never gone as far as murder. A petty thief, ensuringtheconstitutionalrightsofeverycitizen
Ray was immediately arrested, and extradited undoubtedly, but a killer? against unlawful persecution and segregation.
totheUnitedStatesafewdayslater.Inthetwo
monthssincehisflight,theFBIhadbegunwhat
would,atthetime,becomethemostexpensive Conspiracy theories
investigation in the Bureau’s history. The manhunt 0DQ\ UHPDLQ FRQYLQFHG WKHUHnV PRUH WR WKH VWRU\
to find Ray had spread across five countries,
bolsteredbyaninternationaloutcryatthe The mysterious /OR\G -RZHUV ,W ZDV D
senselessdeathofapro-nonviolencecampaigner. m5DRXOn RUGHUHG WKH KLW government hit
Now, with Ray finally in custody, the judicial
process could begin. Ray remained One theory doesn’t According to Ray’s
adamant he had even include Ray last lawyer, William
SowhatwasthecaseagainstRay?Didthe beenhiredbyaman astheshooter.It Pepper, the US
authoritieshaveirrefutableevidenceofhis named Raoul. He centres on Lloyd government was
involvement? In fact, what the prosecution had was had apparently met Jowers, who ran behind it. In his book,
himinCanadaand the Jim’s Grill bar The Truth Behind The
purely circumstantial evidence, but all of it placed
travelledwithhim acrosstheroadfrom Murder Of Martin
Rayatthesceneofthemurder.Therifleusedto toMemphistooverseethehit.The the Lorraine Motel where King was Luther King,Pepperclaimsamafia © Alamy, Adrian Mann, Corbis; Getty Images
gundownKingboreRay’sfingerprints,asdid FBI dismissed this claim, but in 1998 staying.Jowers,in1993,claimed hitmanwashired,withtheCIA,the
a retired FBI agent revealed he had Memphis produce dealer Frank FBI and army intelligence all involved
the binoculars he’d bought earlier that day and a
foundpiecesofpaperinRay’scar Liberto paid him $100,000 to hire a intheplottohaltKing’sinfluence
newspaper he’d read to gain information on King’s referring to such a suspect. hitman – and it wasn’t Ray. andframetheunwittingRay.
whereabouts.
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