James Earl Ray will always be remembered
as the man who assassinated one of the
greatest civil rights activists in
history Martin Luther King Jr but who
was James Earl Ray what led him to
commit such a heinous act we will
explore the life of James Earl Ray and
try to understand what drove him to
murder a national hero James Earl Ray
was born on March 10 1928 in Alton
Illinois he was the eldest of nine
children born to Lucille and George Ray
his parents were poor sharecroppers and
the family lived in the one-room cabin
without electricity or running water
James earliere's childhood was marked by
poverty racism and a dysfunctional
family life as a child James Earl Ray
was shy and introverted he struggled in
school and dropped out in the eighth
grade he joined the army at the age of
17 and was stationed in Germany Rey was
discharged from the Army in 1948 after
serving two years after leaving the Army
James Earl Ray drifted from job to job
and became involved in criminal
activities he was arrested numerous
times for burglary armed robbery and
other crimes he spent several years in
prison where he became a prolific reader
especially of books on white supremacy
and racism on April 4th 1968 Martin
Luther King Jr was assassinated while
standing on the balcony of the Lorraine
Motel in Memphis Tennessee James earlier
was arrested two months later at
London's Heathrow Airport while trying
to leave the country he was charged with
King's murder and eventually pleaded
guilty in March 1969 after his guilty
plea James earlier claimed that he was a
pawn in a larger conspiracy and that he
did not act alone he alleged that he was
set up by a shadowy figure known only as
Raul however despite several
investigations no evidence was ever
found to support Rey's claims James Earl
Ray spent the rest of his life in prison
he was initially sentenced to 99 years
but he later recanted his confession and
claimed that he was innocent Rey made
several attempts to escape from prison
but was always caught in the Years
following the assassination there were
several conspiracy theories about King's
murder some people believed that the
government was involved While others
thought that it was a plot by white
supremacists however no evidence has
ever been found to support these
theories James Earl Ray died on April 23
1998 at the age of 70. he was suffering
from liver disease and kidney failure at
the time of his death James Earl Ray
will always be remembered as the man who
assassinated Martin Luther King Jr his
life was marked by poverty racism and
criminal activity the assassination of
Martin Luther King Jr was a tragedy that
shook the nation and the world although
James earlier claimed that he was not
acting alone has guilt in the murder of
Martin Luther King Jr remains Undisputed