James Earl Ray



James Earl Ray’s childhood, being shaped by the tragedies that had happened, could have been what had led him to commit many crimes and start living his life as a criminal. However, even though his upbringing may not have been, specifically, what led him to kill Dr. Martin Luther King, it is up to much debate what led James to kill Dr. King. Even after the majority of the public has accepted the fact that James Earl Ray had killed Dr. King, a controversy still surrounding the issue exists with some people arguing that James never actually killed Dr. King, or at least didn’t do it without any help.

Childhood
James Earl Ray was born on March 10, 1928 in Alton, Illinois to George and Lucille Ray. James was the oldest of the eight children in his family and, possibly because of this, his mother and father had trouble making ends meet financially. In 1935, James and his family had to relocate their home after James’s father had committed forgery and was wanted by the police. Two years after his family had relocated, James’s younger sister Mary had died when she was playing with matches and caught herself on fire. These changes in James’s life could have been traumatic. James left his family at the age of 16 and moved in with his grandmother and got a job at the International Shoe Tannery. After being laid off, James enlisted in the Army and was stationed in West Germany. While in the Army, James found it hard to adapt to their strict rules and was discharged for lack of adaptability. After leaving the Army, James moved back in with his grandmother and went through a number of odd jobs. However, in 1949 he left to Los Angeles and was soon caught of robbing a cafe. He was sent to prison for 90 days but prison did little to reform him. Over the next years, James Earl Ray embarked on more small theft crimes and eventually was locked up because of these. In 1959, James was caught of robbing two grocery stores and was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his crimes.

What led James to kill Martin Luther King Jr.
There is much debate as to why James Earl Ray would want to kill Martin Luther King Jr., however, no one knows for sure what prompted him to. Nonetheless, there is much conclusive evidence that James Earl Ray had stalked Dr. Martin for some time before killing him in Memphis. Evidence suggests that James had strong segregationist beliefs and some historians note that James possibly saw that killing famous black figures such as Martin Luther King and Stokely Carmichael would make him famous and honored.

Controversy Surrounding the Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
After the shooting of Dr. Martin Luther King, James fled the country and it took many months before the FBI caught up to him and arrested him. However, after being arrested there was not conclusive evidence to arrest Ray and the only evidence that the jury and the courts had was the plea bargain, or Ray’s guilty plea, in which he told the courts that he was indeed guilty and that he killed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Even after Ray pleaded guilty he went through several appeal cases through the courts and was eventually represented by Dr. William Pepper in front of Judge Joe Brown. Judge Joe Brown pushed to get the rifle tested that was allegedly used to kill Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to determine whether James actually killed Dr. King. However, after repeated failed attempts to get the rifle tested, eventually the issue just became a controversy and no one knows for sure who killed Dr. King. Some of the issues surrounding the controversy suggest that the government had plotted to kill Dr. Martin. Rev. Jesse Jackson is one of these people that believe that it was the government: “I have always believed that the government was part of a conspiracy, either directly or indirectly, to assassinate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr” (http://www.crimelibrary.com/terrorists_spies/assassins/ray/1.html). Among other figures that believed it was the government was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s son Dexter King and former U.S Ambassador of the United Nations Andrew Young, as well as, Judge Joe Brown who held the case of James. Although many figures believe that James didn't shoot Dr. King, many historians and the population as a whole don’t know for sure whether James Earl Ray shot Dr. Martin Luther King, so the only evidence people have to base it off of is his testimony in court to escape the death penalty.