Essence

WHO KILLED KING?
by ASHLEY CHANEY

Forty years after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., questions about how it happened continue to swirl. A new CNN documentary examines King's final hours

The accepted version of events, backed by official investigations, is straightforward: Career criminal James Earl Ray shot Martin Luther King, Jr., on April 4, 1968, as King stood on a balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. But some believe there's more to the story, alleging that Ray could not have acted alone-or didn't do it at all. CNN's Black in America-Unclassified: The MLK Assassination,* which airs the first week of April, invites viewers to reach their own conclusion. "I just want to give the solid evidence that overwhelmingly points to James Earl Ray as the gunman," says James Polk, senior producer of the documentary. Here's a look at some of the details unearthed by CNN.

1. Many have wondered how Ray, an escaped convict, could have financed his travels-including possibly stalking King from Los Angeles to Atlanta and ultimately to Memphis-by himself. About three months after Ray escaped from Missouri State Penitentiary, a bank was robbed in his hometown of Alton, Illinois. Nearly $30,000, mostly in $20 bills, was taken, and the town's chief of detectives believed Ray was a suspect. His subsequent pattern of buying things with $20 bills, including his Mustang, suggests he was behind the crime.

2. Physical evidence related to the King assassination points squarely to Ray. After the shooting, a bundle containing his personal belongings, along with a rifle with one shot fired and binoculars-all covered with his fingerprints-were discovered in a recessed doorway of a store near the Lorraine Motel.

3. Despite the persistent belief that Ray may not have acted alone, CNN found no proof of coconspirators. Ray recanted his guilty plea and claimed to have given the rifle to a person he identified only as "Raoul." He indicated that Raoul, whose physical description he repeatedly changed, was the mastermind behind the assassination. But authorities have found no evidence that such a person exists.

More Fast Facts
Although the conspiracy theories don't exactly hold up, some strange facts do surround the King assassination. Here are three bits of information you might not know:

1. Had it not been for the chance appearance of one police officer, Ray might never have been caught, according to CNN. A detective testified that Ray told him that after seeing a policeman, he panicked and dropped the bundle carrying incriminating evidence. When CNN found the officer 40 years later, he was unaware that Ray could have seen him.

2. The dropped bundle was the most critical piece of evidence tying Ray to the assassination, says Polk. Although he admitted to checking into a rooming house across from the Lorraine Motel hours before King was shot, Ray used an alias and left no fingerprints behind. A man who fled the rooming house after the shooting covered his face, preventing witnesses from accurately identifying him.

3. Memphis police kept secret surveillance on the Lorraine Motel during King's stay, watching from a peephole in the firehouse across the street. When a firefighter asked if he could take a look, King was shot at the exact moment he peeked through. The firefighter is the only living witness to the shooting that CNN could find.

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