Lane, Mark and Gregory, Dick. Murder in Memphis: The FBI and the Assassination of Martin Luther King. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 1993. 310 pages.
This book is an updated and expanded edition of "Code Name Zorro," published in 1977 by Prentice-Hall. The eight chapters by Dick Gregory concern the life and times of Martin Luther King, and the remaining 21 chapters by Mark Lane present evidence that King's assassination was the work of a conspiracy involving federal and local officials.Some of the territory covered by Lane includes: 1) the FBI's many efforts to discredit King; 2) the pressures placed on James Earl Ray by his attorney, Percy Foreman, to plead guilty; 3) the lack of physical evidence connecting Ray to the assassination (the rifle has not been positively matched to the bullet, for example); 4) the story of eyewitness Grace Stephens, who said Ray wasn't the person she saw and was immediately taken by police to a mental institution; 5) the suspicious events which caused King to transfer to the Lorraine Motel; 6) the removal of police protection on the day of the assassination, including the transfer of two black firemen from the station across from the Lorraine; and 7) the curious experience of detective Ed Redditt, who was pulled off the protection detail two hours before the assassination under circumstances which suggested the involvement of several federal intelligence agencies.
Melanson, Philip H. The Murkin Conspiracy: An Investigation into the Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1989. 203 pages. (An expanded and updated edition was published in 1991 under the title "The Martin Luther King Assassination" by Shapolsky Publishers.)
Although Philip Melanson is better known for his work on the Robert Kennedy assassination, he is also acquainted with the MLK assassination. Other MLK researchers include Harold Weisberg, Mark Lane, and William Pepper.In 1978 a House committee concluded that King was assassinated by a conspiracy, but that it didn't involve the FBI. Their circumstantial evidence pointed to right-wing individuals based in St. Louis. But Melanson points out that in Toronto, James Earl Ray used as aliases the names of four men who lived there. Even though he had never been to Toronto before 1968, the names used by Ray looked like him, and two had left a paper trail with officials in the same southern U.S. states where Ray had traveled. Melanson doubts that the unsophisticated Ray could have chosen these aliases by himself.
(At the end of 1993 a Memphis businessman, Loyd Jowers, confessed to involvement in the MLK conspiracy, and implicated organized crime and the FBI. Jowers said Ray was a patsy. As of this writing in January 1994, the Memphis district attorney has opened a new investigation, but has refused to grant immunity to Jowers as a condition for further information.)
Pepper, William F. Orders to Kill: The Truth Behind the Murder of Martin Luther King. New York: Carroll & Graf, 1995. 537 pages.
Normally we avoid books on the 1960s assassinations that contain the word "Truth" in the title. This one, however, does not exaggerate. Pepper was an associate of Martin Luther King in 1967-68. After the assassination he abandoned politics until 1977, when Ralph Abernathy asked him to see James Earl Ray. Over the last 18 years, Pepper and his investigators have located and interviewed witnesses long forgotten or long ignored, tracked down numerous leads, and reconstructed the conspiracy. One or two of these witnesses have confessed to complicity, while others have mentioned their involvement to other witnesses. To put it bluntly, Pepper is close enough to the truth that it will never make the cover of Newsweek, and his client James Earl Ray will never get out of prison.The culprits in this horror story are organized crime, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, U.S. military intelligence, and some spineless or corrupted petty officials in Tennessee, from the Memphis police to the court system. They all worked together. Ray was merely hired to be at a particular place at a particular time, without knowing why. Although the triggerman was contracted by organized crime, the U.S. military had a team of snipers in place as back-up. It's frightening how close we were to fascism in 1968 -- and may be still.
Here are the names most frequently mentioned in the above books:
ABELS KEN ABERNATHY RALPH DAVID ABRAMS CREIGHTON W (GEN) ADAMS JAMES B ADDISON LAVADA WHITLOCK AKINS WILLIE ALLILUYEVA SVETLANA AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL ANDERSON JACK (COLUMNIST) ANSCHUTZ WILLIAM ARKIN ELI H ATKINSON ED AUBLE JOHN AUSTEIN WILLIAM BACILE JOE BAILEY LORRAINE BAILEY WALTER BAIRD CLIFTON BAKER WILLIAM (LOUISVILLE KY) BALDWIN ARTHUR WAYNE BALTENSPRAGER JOHN BANNING P.E.J. BARKSDALE GENE BARNETT GERALD BATTLE PRESTON JR BEASLEY JAMES BEIFUSS JOAN BELAFONTE HARRY BERENS HOWARD BEVEL JAMES BILLEN ANDREW BILLET MYRON THOMAS BILLINGS JOHN (MEMPHIS) BILLINGSLEY ORZELL BLACK KAY BLACKBURN S O BLAIR ARLIE BLAKEFIELD WILLIAM H (GEN) BLAKEY G ROBERT BLANTON RAY BRADSHAW RUFUS BRAY COL. BREWER BESSIE BRIDGEMAN PAUL EDWARD BROWN BAILEY BROWN BERNARD BROWN H.RAP BROWN JOE B JR (JUDGE) BUCHANAN C.D. (BUCK) BUCHANAN JOE (BUCK) BUFORD WALTER BUTLER PAUL BUTLER THOMAS (SCOTLAND YARD) BYERS RUSSELL BYRD ROBERT C (D-WV) CABBAGE CHARLES CALDWELL EARL CAMP GEORGE M CAMPBELL ERNESTINE CANALE PHIL M JR CANIPE GUY WARREN CARMICHAEL STOKELY CARROLL CARROLL CARTER HAROLD (MEMPHIS) CARTHEW SIDNEY CHASTAIN WAYNE CHIMENTO JOE (ZIP) CHURCH COMMITTEE CITIZENS COMMISSION INQUIRY CLARK RAMSEY COFFIN WILLIAM SLOANE COHEN JEFF COHEN LEON COLOMA DINA COLTON JOHN P JR CONRAD WALTER COOKS STONEY COPPOLA JOE CRAWFORD GENE PEARSON CRAWFORD WILLIE (MEMPHIS TN) CRUMBY WILLIAM O CRUZ BOB CURINGTON JOHN WESLEY CURTIS RAYMOND DABNEY ROSIE LEE DATES CLIFF DAVIS J.C. (MEMPHIS POLICE) DAVIS MORRIS DE LOACH CARTHA D (DEKE) DOLLAHITE VERNON DOUGHERTY DALE DOUGLASS EMMETT DUNCAN WILLIAM (FBI) DWYER ROBERT (BUZZY) EASTLAND JAMES O EDWARDS DON (D-CA) EIDSON WILLIAM R (CAPT) ELLSBERG DANIEL ESKRIDGE CHAUNCEY ESQUIVEL RAUL SR EVANS SAM (MEMPHIS POLICE) EWING W HICKMAN FAQUIN ARTHUR J FAUNTROY WALTER E FENSTERWALD BERNARD JR (BUD) FERGUSON APRIL FORD GERALD R FOREMAN PERCY FRANCISCO JERRY THOMAS FRANK GEROLD (AUTHOR) FREED DONALD GALT ERIC S GAMBINO CARLO GARRISON LEWIS GARROW DAVID J GHORMLEY JUDSON E (BUD) GIANCANA SAM GONZALEZ HENRY B (D-TX) GOODMAN DUTCH GRANBERRY FREDDIE GREEN WILLIE (MEMPHIS) GREGORY DICK (ACTIVIST) HACK AL HAGERTY ROBERT HAMBY J D HANES ARTHUR J SR HARRINGTON CHARLES (IZZY) HARRISON JAMES A HAYES OLIVIA HAYS RENFRO HELMS RICHARD MCGARRAH HENDRIX RAY ALVIS HERMAN KENNETH HESTER JOE HEYMANN PHILIP B HILL JOHN D (SGT) HODGES JOE B HOFFA JIMMY (JAMES RIDDLE) HOLLOMAN FRANK C HOLT FRANK HOOKER JOHN J SR HOOKER JOHN JAY JR HOOVER J EDGAR HUCKABY HASEL HUIE WILLIAM BRADFORD HUNT HAROLDSON LAFAYETTE HUNT MARY HUNT NELSON BUNKER HUNT WILLIAM HERBERT HURLEY CHARLES HURLEY PEGGY INGRAM WILLIAM B INVADERS (MEMPHIS) JACKSON JESSE L (REV) JENSEN ROBERT G JOESTEN JOACHIM JOHNICAN MINERVA JOHNSON HAROLD K (GEN) JOHNSON JIM (INVESTIGATOR) JOHNSON LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON PRISCILLA JONES SOLOMON JOWERS LOYD KALLAHER FRANK KAUFFMANN JOHN KELLUM JIM KENNEDY FLORYNCE KENNEDY JAY RICHARD KENNEDY ROBERT FRANCIS KENT OSCAR KERSHAW JACK KIMBLE JULES RICCO KING ALFRED D KING CORETTA SCOTT KING GLYNN KING MARTIN LUTHER JR KING WILLIAM B KIRK W TIM KYLES SAMUEL (BILLY) LANDERS TORRENCE LANE MARK LATCH JAMES LATIMER JAMES M LAWRENCE WILLIAM (FBI) LAWSON JAMES LEE BERNARD (MLK ASSOCIATE) LEHNER ROBERT LEONNEKE GEORGE W LESAR JAMES H LEVISON STANLEY DAVID LEWIS ANTHONY (NYT) LIBERTO FRANK CAMILLE LIBERTO SALVATORE J LIGHT JOHN LINVILLE BARRY NEAL LOCKE HARVEY (ACE) LOEB HENRY LOENNEKE GEORGE LOO YEE SUN LOUW JOSEPH LOVE COY LOVINGOOD CLYDE LYONS ROBERT PATRICK MACDONALD J.C. (MEMPHIS POLICE) MANN ABBY MANUEL PHILIP R MAORI RAUL MARCELLO CARLOS MARRO ANTHONY J MARSHALL BURKE MARTIN MARIE (SULTAN CLUB) MAXEY HUGH MCAFEE JOHN W (BILL) MCBRIDE ROBERT (COL) MCCOY ROBERT MCCRAW JAMES M MCCULLOUGH MARRELL MCFERREN JOHN MCGILL RALPH MCKAY LOUIS MCMILLAN GEORGE E MCNAMARA ROBERT STRANGE MCRAE EARL MCVICKAR JOHN ANTHONY MCWERTER NED MOORE GEORGE C (FBI) MORRIS BILL (SHERIFF) MORTON CHUCK (BALLISTICS EXPERT) MURTAGH ARTHUR NEWSOM FLOYD NEWSUM FLOYD E NICHOLS JIM (MEMPHIS POLICE) NICHOLS MARION NIX RED OBRAY JEAN HAZEL OLEARY JEREMIAH ORANGE JAMES OSTER JOSEPH OSWALD MARINA PAPIA JAMES PARTIN EDWARD GRADY PATTERSON OLIVER PAYNE LES PEARSON DREW PENNINGTON LEE R PEPPER WILLIAM F PEREZ LEANDER PETERS ROBERT (FBI) PIEROTTI JOHN POTTINGER J STANLEY PROSCH GUS PUTNAM PATRICK D RABBITO BARBARA RAOUL (JAMES EARL RAY ASSOCIATE) RAPPE J C RAY ANNA RAY JAMES EARL RAY JERRY RAY JEWELL G RAY JOHN (BROTHER OF JAMES EARL RAY) REDDITT EDWARD REED WILLIAM ZENIE REID JIM (MEMPHIS) RICHMOND WILLIE B ROSE JAMES (FBI) ROSENSON RANDY ROSS WILLIAM L ROSSELLI JOHN ROTHERMEL PAUL M RUSTIN BAYARD RYAN RICHARD J SALISBURY HARRISON E SALTMAN JACK SALWYN ANDY SARTOR WILLIAM SCHAAP WILLIAM H SCHWARZ FREDERICK A.O. JR SENTINELLA AL SHAHEEN MICHAEL E JR SHUTTLESWORTH FRED SIMMONDS BERNARD SITTON CLAUDE SMITH BOBBI (WAITRESS) SMITH COBY VERNON SMITH DON (MEMPHIS POLICE) SMITH EZELL SMITH JIM (MEMPHIS POLICE) SMITH JOHN B SMITH TOMMY (MEMPHIS POLICE) SNEYD RAMON GEORGE SPATES ALDA SPATES BETTY SPELLMAN FRANCIS CARDINAL SPICA JOHN PAUL SPOCK BENJAMIN SPRAGUE RICHARD A STANLEY GENE STANTON HUGH W SR STEIN CHARLES (JAMES EARL RAY ASSOCIATE) STEPHENS CHARLES QUITMAN STEPHENS GRACE WALDEN STEWART JIM BO STILES MAYNARD STOKES LOUIS (D-OH) STONE CHARLES (MEMPHIS FIRE DEPT) SULLIVAN WILLIAM C SUTHERLAND JOHN TATUM ROOSEVELT TAYLOR ALEXANDER TAYLOR CALVIN THOMPSON FRANCES THOMPSON HERMAN THOMPSON KENNETH (SCOTLAND YARD) THOMPSON RUSSELL X THROCKMORTON JOHN L TIMKO GEORGE TINES GRAYDON P TOLER MARGARET TOLSON CLYDE ANDERSON TOMPKINS STEPHEN G TRUMAN HARRY S TUCKER WILLIAM (MEMPHIS POLICE) TYSON BRADY VALLONE ROSS VAN TASSELL FREDERICK E (COL) WADSWORTH SUSAN WALDEN GRACE WALDRON MARTIN WALLACE NORVELL E WEAVER MACON L WEEDEN CARTHEL WEISBERG HAROLD WHEELER EARLE G (BUZZ) WILKINS ROY A WILLARD JOHN WILLIAMS HOSEA WILLIAMS JERRY (MEMPHIS POLICE) WOOD DONALD (BIRMINGHAM AL) WRIGHT GLENN WRIGHT JAMES ALEXANDER YARBOROUGH WILLIAM P (GEN) YOUNG ANDREW YOUNGBLOOD JACK (WALTER ALFRED) ZACHARY N E
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