U.S. Rejects Allegations That Ray Was Aided in MLK Slaying
After 18 months, a Justice Department investigation rejected allegations that conspirators aided or framed James Earl Ray in the 1968 assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. It recommended against further investigation.
The new investigation found no credible evidence to support allegations in recent years from former Memphis bar owner Loyd Jowers and former FBI agent Donald Wilson, and earlier from Ray himself, that a mysterious Raoul or others, including federal agents, police or black ministers, participated in a plot to kill King.
As in four earlier investigations, the Justice investigators “found no reliable evidence that Dr. King was killed by conspirators who framed James Earl Ray,” according to their 150-page report released Friday. “We found nothing to disturb the 1969 judicial determination that James Earl Ray murdered Dr. King.
“We found no credible evidence to support allegations of any conspiracy to kill Dr. King involving Jowers, Raoul, the Mafia, Memphis police officers, figures involved in the Kennedy assassination, federal agents, U.S. military personnel or African American ministers close to Dr. King,” said Barry Kowalski, head of the investigation and one of the department’s leading civil rights prosecutors.
“We are convinced of our conclusions beyond a reasonable doubt.”
The King family isn’t convinced, however. “We are disappointed,” said Martin Luther King III.
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