Story of MLK's Killer
Hi!
Here is your weekly dose of “Everything Strange,” literally a list of everything strange happening around us. So let’s start with
Today's Strange History (March 10, 2021)
Patent: Exactly 172 years ago today in 1849 Abraham Lincoln applied for a patent (only US President to do so) for a device to lift a boat over shoals and obstructions.
Phone: In 1876, the first telephone call was made by Alexander Graham Bell. He said "Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you" to his assistant Thomas Watson.
Edison: Today in 1902, a United States court of appeals ruled that Thomas Edison did not invent the movie camera.
Firebombing: In 1945, Tokyo was on fire after night time B-29 bombings. More than 100,000 people died, mostly civilians. This is regarded as the single deadliest air raid of World War II.
MLK: 52 years ago today in 1969, James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. Coincidentally today is the same day Ray was born (1928)
What is Today?
Today i.e. 10th March is
👗 Skirt Day
🕹️ Mario Day
🥡 Pack Your Lunch Day
✨ Day Of Awesomeness
👩🦰 International Wig Day
😋 Blueberry Popover Day
🏥 Registered Dietitian Day
🎼 International Bagpipe Day
Strange Case of the day: Story of James Earl Ray
James Earl Ray was an American fugitive and felon convicted of assassinating Martin Luther King Jr. So what was his part of the story? Let's look at it in less than 8 mins
Early Life
Ray was born on March 10, 1928 in Illinois.
He had Irish, Scottish and Welsh ancestry and had a Catholic upbringing.
Ray's father, known by the nickname Speedy, passed a bad check in Illinois, and then moved to Missouri.
The family changed their name to Raynes to avoid law enforcement.
Ray was the firstborn of nine children.
His sister Marjorie died in a fire as a young child.
Ray left school at the age of 12.
He later joined the U.S. Army at the close of World War II and served in Germany.
Ray struggled to adapt to military life and was eventually discharged for ineptitude and lack of adaptability in 1948.
Early Crimes
In 1949, Ray's first conviction for criminal activity, was a burglary in California.
Then in 1952, he served 2 years for the armed robbery of a taxi driver in Illinois.
In 1955, Ray was convicted of mail fraud after stealing money orders in Missouri.
He served 4 years.
In 1959, Ray he was again caught stealing $120 in an armed robbery of a St. Louis Kroger store.
Ray was sentenced to 20 years in prison for repeated offenses.
He escaped from the Missouri State Penitentiary in 1967 by hiding in a truck transporting bread from the prison bakery.
On the Run
After escape, he moved throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico.
While in Mexico, Ray, using the alias Eric Starvo Galt, attempted to establish himself as a pornographic film director.
He filmed and photographed local prostitutes.
Frustrated with his results and after being deceived by the prostitute with whom he had formed a relationship, Ray left Mexico.
He returned to Los Angeles, USA.
He attended a local bartending school and took dance lessons.
But Ray's main interest was the George Wallace presidential campaign.
He spent much of his time volunteering at the Wallace campaign headquarters in North Hollywood.
A year later he underwent a facial reconstruction.
In 1968, he arrived in Atlanta.
He bought a map of the city.
FBI agents later found this map with the locations of the church and residence of Martin Luther King Jr. were circled.
While buying his guns he told the shopkeepers that he was going on a hunting trip with his brother.
Ray continued using the alias - Galt.
But when he made this purchase, he gave his name Harvey Lowmeyer.
He even considered emigrating to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where a predominantly white minority regime had unilaterally assumed independence from the UK.
It was also his intended destination after King's assassination.
The Rhodesian government disapproved.
Assassination
He was an avid newspaper reader.
Ray passed his time reading The Atlanta Constitution.
The paper reported King's planned return trip to Memphis, Tennessee, which was scheduled for April 1, 1968.
On April 2, 1968, Ray packed a bag and drove to Memphis.
On April 4, 1968, Ray killed King with a single shot while King was standing on the second-floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.
Shortly after the shot was fired, witnesses saw Ray fleeing from a house across the street.
A package was abandoned close to the site that included a rifle and binocular, both found with Ray's fingerprints.
He was again on the run.
He stayed briefly in Canada, Lisbon, Portugal, and then returned to London.
Ray was arrested at London Heathrow Airport attempting to leave the United Kingdom.
Aftermath
He confessed to the crime on March 10, 1969, (today) on his 41st birthday.
After pleading guilty he was sentenced to 99 years in prison.
3 days later, he retracted his confession.
Ray entered a guilty plea on the advice of his attorney, in an effort to avoid the death sentence.
Unknown to him, a death sentence was unconstitutional during that time.
Ray fired his attorney.
In 1977, Ray and 6 other convicts escaped from prison.
They were recaptured 3 days later.
A year was added to Ray's previous sentence, increasing it to 100 years.
King's son Dexter had a meeting with Ray and asked him, "I just want to ask you, for the record, did you kill my father?"
Ray replied, "No. No I didn't"
King told Ray that he, along with the King family, believed him.
They also urged that Ray be granted a new trial.
King's wife said, "Mafia, local, state and federal government agencies, were deeply involved in the assassination of my husband."
US Govt released a 150-page report rejecting allegations that there was a conspiracy to assassinate King.
Death
Ray died at age 70.
His brother, Jerry, told that Ray did not want to be buried or have his final resting place in the United States because of the way the government had treated him.
The body was cremated and his ashes were flown to Ireland, the home of his maternal family's ancestors.
So will end today’s strangeness here. As always, please give me feedback. What do you want more or less of? Other suggestions? Let me know! Just tweet me at @StrangeButTrue_
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Much love and Stay Strange,
Stranger