Description:

King Martin

Martin Luther King Assassin, James Earl Ray, Fears the FBI is Trying to Murder him only Days after his Escape and Recapture from Prison!

 

Two page autographed letter signed by James Earl Ray, "James E. Ray," 8" x 9.5" on lined paper. Dated "June 14, 1977," Ray penned on the recto of both pages leaving versos blank, however a note in another hand was penned on verso of one page of "Gave Ray + 6 others 30 days in ad. Segregation for (illegible) 3 yrs of good time." Fine condition.

 

A revealing letter written by Ray to his newly appointed attorney, Jack Kershaw, penned only one day after his capture from his prison escape. Although considering the handwritten note on the verso, it remains unclear if Jack Kershaw ever received this letter as "ad. Segregation" is just a nice term for solitary confinement, a comment which no doubt was written after Ray wrote his letter.  Solitary or "put in the hole" is mostly used when prisoners violate rules, start fights, make threats, disregard officers, or disobey direct orders.

In ad seg or solitary confinement a person is usually placed in a very tiny cell by themselves, often without a bed or any other comforts. Sometimes a mattress or blanket is provided. There are no windows–only a slot in the door where food trays are placed. The prisoners stay in the cell and are not allowed to see other human beings while they are in solitary.

However Rays letter uses a jocular tone to describe his prison break "I thought I would write to you after my brief vacation. Yesterday a prison official said you had called and asked that I return the call; in as much as the officials were trying to play the matter for its P.R. effects I suspect they deliberately declined to let me make a phone call being concerned at what you would say to the press."

Additionally, James Earl Ray expresses fears about what may be an upcoming prison transfer to a federal prison. He laments grave concerns for his safety. We know from other letters by Ray that he was convinced that the federal prison system has a history of permitting certain prisoners to be maimed and murdered by the F.B.I. informants. His letter continues along this thought "In another matter Gov. Blarton said he wanted to turn me over to the federal government as was (illegible) tried in December 1973 (see Encl) If you should comment to the press or anyone I would be strongly opposed to this type of transfer they have all types of programs to harrass you in the Fed prisons and being they have a F.B.I. Inform in or about the prison there would be no problem for them to assault you or have on of their informers to kill you. In addition they can transfer you from prison to prison and thereby make it difficult for an attorney or family member to see you. Also I believe there is a section in volume 6 or 7 (Fed Law) which precludes a transfer while litigation is pending … they may try a fast transfer, if they do this I will attempt to resist it physically. I was also (illegible) if you file 17-117 … it would stop a transfer."

However we ultimately know how this story ends-

Jack Kershaw promoted Ray's claim that he was not responsible for the shooting, which was said to have been the result of a conspiracy of the otherwise unidentified man named "Rau.l" Kershaw and his client met with representatives of the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations and convinced the committee to conduct ballistics tests—which ultimately proved inconclusive—that they felt would show that Ray had not fired the fatal shot. Kershaw further claimed the escape was additional proof that Ray had been involved in a conspiracy that had provided him with the outside assistance he would have needed to break out of jail. Kershaw convinced Ray to take a polygraph test as part of an interview with Playboy. The magazine said that the test results showed "that Ray did, in fact, kill Martin Luther King Jr. and that he did so alone." (This leaves our head's scratching … why the test, and then why publicize it?) Ray fired Kershaw after discovering the attorney had been paid $11,000 by the magazine in exchange for the interview and hired conspiracy theorist Mark Lane, an American attorney who investigated and championed the CIA and FBI conspiracy theories revolving around the death of JFK, to provide him with legal representation.

 

The odd and perplexing ending to this saga occurred in 1997,  a year before James Earl Ray's death, when King's son Dexter had a meeting with Ray and asked him, "I just want to ask you, for the record, did you kill my father?" Ray replied, "No. No I didn't," and King told Ray that he, along with the King family, believed him; the King family also urged that Ray be granted a new trial. Dr. William Pepper, a friend of King in the last year of his life, represented Ray in a televised mock trial in an attempt to grant him the trial he never received. In November 1999 Pepper represented the King family in a wrongful death civil trial against Loyd Jowers, a restaurant owner in Memphis who was brought to civil court in December 1999 and sued for being part of a conspiracy to murder Martin Luther King Jr. He was found legally liable, and the King family accepted $100 in restitution, an amount chosen to show that they were not pursuing the case for financial gain. The jury, concluding on December 8, 1999, found that Loyd Jowers as well as others, including governmental agencies had been part of a conspiracy. The King family has since concluded that Ray did not have anything to do with the murder of Martin Luther King Jr.

 

James Earl Ray died in 1998, along with his secrets.


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