King’s Family Presses for Investigation of Slaying

The family of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. called Thursday for a national commission to investigate the civil rights leader’s assassination, saying too many questions remain unanswered 30 years after his death.

King’s family has been pushing for a trial for James Earl Ray, who is serving a 99-year prison term for the slaying. They say they are not convinced that he acted alone, as several investigations have concluded, or that he committed the crime at all.

Prosecutors have fought their efforts, saying no evidence exists to suggest that anyone other than Ray was involved.

“I can live with the verdict of 12 people who have heard all the evidence,” King’s younger son, Dexter, said at a news conference. “The state of Tennessee is trying not to get the truth.”

Ray, 70, who is dying of liver disease, confessed shortly after the April 4, 1968, assassination but immediately recanted and has maintained his innocence ever since.

“It is morally wrong to make Mr. Ray the scapegoat when he has never had a trial and there is mounting evidence that others were involved,” said King’s widow, Coretta Scott King.

“I have asked President Clinton to meet with my family and me so we can discuss new evidence and recent developments in this case,” she said. “I will appeal to the president to initiate a full investigation of this evidence.”

She called for establishing a national commission, similar to South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, that would provide immunity to anyone with information about the murder.

“I believe that such a commission could make a major contribution to interracial healing and reconciliation in America,” she said.

The family plans a private ceremony at King’s tomb Saturday, the 30th anniversary of his slaying in Memphis, Tenn.

Also attending the news conference were King’s children: Martin Luther King III, 10 years old at the time of his father’s death; Dexter King, then 7; and the Rev. Bernice King, then 5.

Former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young, who was with King that night, said at the news conference that a restaurant owner’s claim that he has firsthand knowledge of a plot merits serious investigation.

The man, Loyd Jowers, has said meetings to discuss the assassination were held at his restaurant, Jim’s Grill, in the days before King was killed.