Martin Luther King Jr. Special Edition
tChe JJovtlanb (Phsvruer
January 19, 2000
"A
CALL
TO
A C T IO N
n
CI4
THE CONSPIRACY KILLING OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING
B y J ohn C oleman
— —
We may never know who actu
ally fired the shot that killed the
Black Civil Rights leader as he stood
on the balcony o f the Lorraine Mo
tel at 6:01 p.m. on April 5, 1968.
The American people were given
what is known as a "prepared per
ception" o f the shooting. That is
o n e p e rso n w as a rre ste d and
charged with the crime amid a fan
fare ofhighly prejudicial publicity.
But in analyzing the tragedy that
shocked the nation on that fateful
April day in 1968,1 found it riddled
with anomalies in much the same
way as the Sirhan Sirhan and Lee
Harvey Oswald cases are riddled
with as yet unexplained anomalies
and unexplained circum stances,
which make it highly unlikely that
Ray, Sirhan Sirhan and Lee Harvey
Oswald were “ lone assassins."
I have always held that the as
sassination o f Dr. King is worthy
o f further examination, which is
why I gave an account o f it in my
book, Diplomacy By Deception first
published in 1995. All three cases
reek to high heaven o f covert activ
ity being involved. The American
nation believes that the "lone as
sassin” prepared perception is the
correct one and the vast majority o f
Americans still believe that Oswald,
Sirhan Sirhan and Ray were guilty
o f murder.
The trouble with the lone assas
sin theory in the case o f James Earl
Ray, is that no one has yet been able
to place Ray at the bathroom w in
dow o f the seedy rooming house on
South Main opposite the Lorraine
Motel, from which the shot that
killed Dr. King was alleged (but
never proven) to have been fired.
Having examined the reports and
articles covering this case, 1 con
cluded that this most vital link was
n ev er proved and rem ains u n
proven.
Ray m aintained his innocence
from the very first, having been set
up, he said, by a mysterious Cu
ban-A m erican, who he had gone to
M emphis to meet. Ray said he first
m et “ Raoul” in Montreal, Canada,
after escaping from the Missouri
State Penitentiary. How did Ray
manage to escape from this secure
facility, and how did a penniless
escapee, presum ably with no l.D.
su c c e ssfu lly m ake his w ay to
Canada? T his aspect has never
been thoroughly investigated to the
best o f my knowledge and belief.
Ray did not explain how he was
able to travel to Canada without
documents and money and how it
came to pass that he met “ Raoul.”
Ray says he met the mystery man
while looking to buy false identity
papers, in itself something lack
ing in credibility. How does a pen
niless fugitive buy false identity
papers in a foreign country which
would not have come cheap? Why
did Ray choose to go to Montreal
and be given the necessary con
nections and money, and if so, by
whom? Was this in preparation for
setting him up as the fall guy, in
much the same way as Lee Harvey
was set up?
Former New Orleans attorney
Jim Garrison, who came very close
to ripping the cover-up lid o ff the
Kennedy assassination, once said
that he believed there was a con
nection betw een the King and
Kennedy murders. In any event,
Ray said he worked a number of
“jo b s” for the mystery man, in
cluding several cross-border trips
- one o f which was to Mexico -
and was then enticed back to Mem
phis by promises o f big money.
Ray said he expressed grave reser
vations but was persuaded by
"Raoul" to return to Memphis on
the guarantee o f steady employ
ment.
Forensic evidence does not fit
the "prepared perception" o f Ray
being the lone assassin. The entry
o f the gunshot wound was consis
tent with a shot fired from a clump
was ready to throw in the towel in
the face o f compelling evidence
that demanded his client be heard?
Legal experts say that Foreman
had not coerced (some say brow
beaten Ray) into giving up his right
to a trial, such a trial would have
shown Ray was not guilty by reason
of a total lack o f evidence. By co
ercing his client to plead guilty.
Foreman committed a cardinal sin
among lawyers - he got Ray to
forfeit his right to appeal for a
motion for a new trial. Such con
duct is considered as unpardonable
by trial lawyers, and even the most
gauche and inexperienced junior
lawyer would never blunder so badly
nor done such a great wrong to his
client.
(Left) On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King was standing on the balcony o f his motel in Memphis talking
with aides and friends when a shot was fired 207.17 feet away killing Dr. King at 6:01 p.m. Many
question whether James Earl Ray acted alone or was part of a larger conspiracy.
(Above)After Ray fled the scene o f the assassination, police entered his room and discovered that the
dresser and mirror had been moved away from the open window and replaced by a chair. Someone
leaning slightly out the window could observe Dr. King's room at the nearby motel.
(Below) What most of the eyewitnesses immediately pointed to was the rear o f two buildings, about
eighty feet up a low slope across the street from the motel where King was staying. The buildings
comprised separate wings of the flophouse where James Earl Ray, using an alias, had rented a room only
three hours before the assassination. The window circled on the right is the bathroom from which the shot
was fired.
o f bushes on the ground opposite
the Lorraine Motel balcony. Two
witnesses said they had seen a man
lurking there just before Dr. King
was shot. The wound is inconsis
tent with a shot fired from the bath
room o f the lodging house where
Ray had a room, as alleged by the
authorities.
The rifle allegedly used would
have had to be jam m ed into the
bathroom wall which was not wide
enough to accommodate it, if fired
from the window as alleged. A me
chanic whom Ray asked to fix the
tire o f his Mustang said he talked
with Ray a few minutes before Dr,
King was shot. The gas station
where this occurred is four blocks
away from the rooming house on
South Memphis, where Ray stayed.
How could Ray have been at two
different locations at the same
time?
Ray’s trial was a complete farce
and a mockery of justice. His attor
ney, Percy Foreman should have
been disbarred from practicing law.
In my opinion. Foreman turned Ju
das and got his client to plead guilty,
in the face of literally scores o f
glaring inconsistencies and gaping
holes in the prosecution’s case.
Foreman had defended 1500 people
charged with capital crimes and he
won most of them. How did it come
about that this famous trial lawyer
That a high profile, astonishingly
successful lawyer like Foreman
would do such an unimaginable dis
service to his client is without pre
cedent in the history o f jurispru
dence in America. By getting Ray
to plead guilty. Foreman accom
plished the unthinkable - he got
Ray to forfeit his right to a motion
for a new trial; an appeal to the
Tennessee Supreme Court, and, fi
nally, a review o f the case by the
U.S. Supreme Court. Since it is
patently obvious that Foreman was
acting directly against the best in
terests o f his client, James Earl
Ray, the question that cries out for
an answer is this: For whom was
Percy Foreman acting?
Was Ray set up to take the blame
for the heinous m urder o f Dr.
King ? Everything I examined about
this case points to a conspiracy
and a cover up and my personal
opinion is that while Ray may have
been involved in the preparation
for the murder, he was not the man
who shot Martin Luther King.
Dr. John Coleman is the author
o f "Diplomacy by Deception ", a
book by Bridger House Publish
ers, Inc. that reveals covert actions
by the British and American gov
ernments which throws new light
on the murder o f Martin Luther
King.
I
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