Brown claimed that the sentence was excessive, and that he should have only been fined; Dan Michael, the Shelby County Juvenile Court chief magistrate that found Brown in contempt, responded that "This is not Hollywood. It's a seductive thought. The massive publicity surrounding Benny's capture caused Gold Medal Books to contact him and ask him to write 20,000 words of autobiographical data, so they could bring out an "instant" paperback book about him. When ODell was again exposed, King went through the same routine of announcing his dismissal. The bread box would have to pass through the truck tunnel, where all incoming and outgoing vehicles were searched. Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting. For some 50 years, the federal. King is aware of the possibility of violence because one of his aides proclaimed recently to the press, Jail will be the safest place in Washington this spring.. By that time I was classified as incorrigible. "[21], Brown was warned that he would be held in contempt before these comments. Brown, who retains his law license, was reviewing a child support matter as a favor to an acquaintance. There it was once again: A belief from the Rev. That year, Kings son Dexter Scott King visited Ray in prison to draw attention to the familys push to appeal his case. None. A two month long manhunt spanning five countries was launched by the law enforcement agencies to nab him. Warren writes from Texas and can be reached at wmass@thenewamerican.com. They might not have been involved in the murder, McMillian observes of the FBI, but I wish people knew the really shameful things that they did.. pleaded guilty to the first degree murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. James Earl Ray was the assassin of American Baptist minister and civil rights activist, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Ray was born in on March 10, 1928 in a poor Irish-American family of Alton, Illinois, and was raised a Catholic. Declassified FBI Paper Reveals Martin Luther Kings Sexual Aberrations, Martin Luther King Day Based on MLKs Image, Not Reality, Martin Luther King: The Celebration of a Myth. Kershaw made Ray to take a polygraph test as part of an interview with Playboy. I spent virtually all of 1962 in solitary. In a story published based on the test, Playboy claimed that Ray had committed the crime alone. He was immediately extradited to USA. No one else I knew did either. For years after Ray's capture there was a close association between Stoner and Jerry Ray, James Earl Ray's brother. (In the period 1963-64, there were 550 serious assaults inside Jefferson City, including hundreds of stabbings, which is why, An egregious example of shoddy workmanship is the book. The damage to Dr. King's clothing, when tested microscopically Indeed, a former agent from the FBIs field office in Atlanta said the bureaus tracking of King was second only to the way they went after Jimmy Hoffa. In 1975, a group of former FBI agents called on Congress to investigate this harrassment. Over the years, parties other than Ray have filed additional lawsuits related to the assassination. James Earl Ray, a 40-year-old convicted armed robber who had escaped from the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City, Mo., on April 23, 1967, pleaded guilty on March 10, 1969, in Shelby County (Tenn.) Criminal Court to the first degree murder of Dr. King. McMillans false scenarios portray Ray as a rabid racist in prison. He is the one who sits in leadership and is the most powerful person of a country. It contained a pair of binoculars, a newspaper with a story about King staying at the Lorraine Motel, and a .30-06 Remington Gamemaster that had fired one shot. Ten years after his death, Rays brother John Larry Ray wrote a book along with writer Lyndon Barsten called Truth At Last: The Untold Story Behind James Earl Ray and the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). But, having tried to escape from the maximum-security prison, we both had joined a small list of convicts who would be watched at all times by the guards. Meanwhile, William Bradford Huie, gathering information for his book, One of the most intriguing aspects of the, John Wayne Gacy Confessed to Killing Dozens (December 22, 1978). "Excuse me, on what authority do you sit by the way? Barely 48 hours later, on March 31st, Johnson would publicly announce that he would not seek reelection. During the four-week trial in Memphis, a 12-person jury heard testimony from over 70 witnesses; but not Jowers, who didnt testify because there were no criminal charges at stake. ), where he secured a second Canadian passport (May 16), and back to London (May 17?). After this Ray was on the run and was captured in the UK. It is known that, after escaping from Jeff City, James Earl Ray went to Chicago, where Jerry Ray was living. Almost everyone felt sure the government would want to avoid a never-ending search for conspirators in the King case, and would accomplish that by presenting its evidence at Ray's trial. Godspeed." Likewise, this statement is attributed (without sourcing) to Limbaugh in 101 People Who Are Really Screwing America. The cells that I was associated with in Cleveland were continually being asked to raise funds for Martin Luther Kings activities. She also said, Mr. In 2011, the only irony greater than the left blaming right wing rhetoric for the violence perpetrated by an individual having no affiliation with the right, might be that the rhetoric of some very powerful people on the left may have had a direct role in the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. That is, of course, if one applies the logic of the left. Their goal was to cover all aspects of true crime: Read More, Contents Copyright 1998-2020 by Crime Magazine | J. Patrick O'Connor Editor | E-mail CrimeMagazine.com, Designed by Orman. My review took issue with many assumptions in the book, such as those centering on Ray's involvement with drugs in prison, and how he escaped from Jefferson City. Using their logic, the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. should be attributed to a Democratic U.S. They were not going to have me, or any other convict, expounding on the subject of Ray. Weirich responded: "Its a sad day that someone that out of touch with reality considers himself a viable candidate for one of the important positions in Shelby County. Dexter and his family too believed that he did not commit the crime and urged the government to grant a new trial to Ray. Law enforcement agencies believe that he started indulging in criminal activities as he could not support himself financially. In the 1950s, Ray became notorious as a petty criminal, and by the end of the decade he was a failed pornographer who had served some jail time and successfully completed a prison escape. The FBI paper then named another communist whose name is very familiar to those who have read articles about Kings communist connections in The New American, its predecessor magazine, American Opinion, and the monthly bulletins of The John Birch Society, the parent organization of both publications. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Jerry Ray told me in the 1970s he had taken pictures of the countryside around the prison and had sent them into James Earl Ray. USA.gov, The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration He was of Irish, Scots, and Welsh ancestry. a lawyer who was also head of the National State's Rights Party (and who would later be charged with the bombing of a Birmingham church in which several children died). If it hadn't been for the two escape attempts, Ray would almost certainly have been paroled by the time he actually did escape. Ray, a white supporter of segregationist George Wallace, was a career criminal whod been convicted at least four separate times for robbing a cafe, a taxi, a post office and a grocery store. In the five decades since Martin Luther King Jr.was shot dead by an assassin at age 39, his children have worked tirelessly to preserve his legacy, sometimes with sharply different views on how best to do that, an article in the March 30 Washington Post said. Thorpe Menn, then book editor of The Star, sent it to me to review. Just once, he was caught with three packs of cigarettes, a pound of coffee and a ballpoint pen. In the year 1952, he served a two year prison sentence for the armed robbery of a cab driver. An hour later, he was declared dead. For the television series, see, "I left the Demo Pty Plantation long ago I'm an Independent", "Voters verdict: Weirich over TV's Joe Brown", "TV's Judge Joe Brown Arrested In Tennessee", "Former TV Judge Joe Brown Stumbles In Bid To Become Tennessee District Attorney", Judge Joe Brown uncorks a shocker taunting Weirich about her sexuality Memphis Flyer Jackson Baker July 2, 2014, "District Attorney Weirich sails to victory over challenger Joe Brown", "Judge Joe Brown in Jail for Contempt of Court", "Former TV judge Joe Brown can't practice law in Tennessee", "MSCS Chairwoman Michelle McKissack considers mayoral run", "Judge Joe Brown: The rant, the mugshot, the jokes", "TV's Judge Joe Brown jailed by real judge after courtroom argument, court says", "TV judge Joe Brown begins 5-day jail term", "Judge Joe Brown: Hear What He Said That Got Him Arrested", "Judge Joe Brown Begins Jail Sentence for Contempt of Court After 2014 Courtroom Outburst", "Joe Brown loses appeal over juvenile court outburst", "After the Campaign - Memphis Daily News", "Was Judge Joe Brown's Arrest A Publicty Stunt? On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. During the six years that James Earl Ray was an inmate at the Missouri State Penitentiary, he kept primarily to himself and, other than for the fact that he attempted to escape on more than one occasion, he had only one conduct violation during that entire time and that was for the possession of three packages of cigarettes, a ball point pen and one pound of coffeeIn addition, you might be interested to know that prior to the Governor's receiving your Mailgram, I personally discussed the allegations and conclusions in the Time magazine article with the author himself, Mr. George McMillan. An egregious example of shoddy workmanship is the book The Making of an Assassin by George McMillan. He decided to assassinate him to stop blacks from getting equal status to the whites. King was shot by Earl Ray when the former was standing in the balcony of his motel room. It was even rumored that on the second attempt he'd gotten tired of hiding out, and had deliberately set off an alarm so he could get caught and get something to eat. He told the clerks at the Aeromarine Supply Company in Brimingham, Alabama (from where he brought the rifle) that he was going on a hunting trip with his brother. Some even said Ray was a racist, but he claimed to me that he was never hostile toward anyone. Shortly after Ray pled guilty to the King murder, Clay Blair's book The Strange Case of James Earl Ray was published. Judge Horne did have the authority to hold him in contempt. Sometime before 4:00 p.m. on April 4, 1968, James Earl Ray parked his white Mustang on South Main Street and, under an assumed name, rented a room in the second floor rooming house directly above the grill. "Somebody's gotta get him," Ray would say, his face drawn with tension, his fists clenched. 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