This book involved much more extensive research than I originally envisioned, and since it was completed under a short deadline, I often put great demands on many people in procuring information. Most took time from their own hectic schedules to assist me, and this book would not have been possible without many of their efforts.
Professor David Garrow originally encouraged me to tackle this subject, and his unwavering commitment to an accurate historical record—evidenced so well in his prodigious work on Martin Luther King, Jr., and the civil rights movement—served as a model for this project.
In obtaining documents, I am indebted to Dr. Ed Frank and his excellent staff at the University of Memphis’s Special Collection, with its superb Sanitation Strike Archives; Maritta Aspen and Tom Moutes of the Los Angeles Police Department, Records and Identification Division, for their diligent search to locate James Earl Ray’s arrest records; Frank McEwen, supervisor at the St. Louis Police Records Department, who obtained a copy of Ray’s files in record time; John White and Steven Niven, reference archivists at the Southern Historical Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, for their assistance in working through the George McMillan papers; N’Jeri Yasin and Kimberly MacKall were outstanding in their support at the FBI reading room, and made an otherwise onerous task—combing more than 50,000 pages related to the assassination—quite manageable; Tim Kniest, the public information officer at the Missouri Department of Corrections, was always willing to track down arcane information about the prison in which James Earl Ray served nearly seven years; Jim Baggett of the Birmingham Library’s historical collection found relevant files on short notice; Linda Hanson, archivist at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library, was, as on previous book projects, helpful in quickly procuring relevant oral histories; Elizabeth Lockwood, of the Access and Freedom of Information staff at the National Archives, College Park, Maryland, facilitated the task of reviewing several thousand pages of Justice Department documents on the case; Rick Ewig, director, and Carol Bowers, archival specialist, of the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming, were always eager to follow up on my many requests relating to the Clay Blair, Jr., papers; Elvis Brathwaite, of Wide World Photos, as always, was instrumental in locating interesting pictures; and Jeffrey Smith, curator and director of rare books and manuscripts at the Special Collections at Ohio State University, was ultimately able to provide little from the William Bradford Huie papers, but it was not for lack of trying.
In obtaining information in other countries, I am grateful to Julie Kirsh, the manager of the News Research division at the Toronto Sun; Alexandra Erskine, archivist at London’s Daily Telegraph; the Mexican ambassador to the United States, the Honorable Jesús Silva-Herzog; and Peter Brighton of London’s Searchlight magazine.
The district attorney general’s office in Memphis at times seemed like a second office. District Attorney General Bill Gibbons encouraged his staff to help my wife, Trisha, and me, providing files and giving us unlimited entrée to those we needed to interview. It is hard to overestimate the assistance they provided, including access to the four-drawer cabinet consisting of the original case file prepared by the prosecution for the 1968 murder trial that never took place. Particularly stellar was Assistant District Attorney General John Campbell. As the lead prosecutor for the past four years, he knows the case better than anyone in the office, and he saved me from heading down many fruitless paths of inquiry. He patiently provided a clear understanding of the case’s complexities. Criminal investigator Mark Glankler shared the inside story of his own extensive work, and without his cooperation it would have been impossible to resolve many of the recent issues raised by the Ray defense team. George King, the chief of the Criminal Investigative Division, allowed Glankler and other investigators to provide their information on the record.
Those who know how the district attorney general’s office operates know it would not run very efficiently without Betty Krupicka, the executive assistant to Bill Gibbons. She consistently went out of her way to ensure that we had easy and constant access to the office and its information.
Even some who were retired from the office, such as former district attorney general John Pierotti, and Judges James Beasley and Robert Dwyer, were generous in taking time to reconstruct the behind-the-scenes details of the original investigation.
Early on, when searching for the papers of several authors who had written about the case, I stumbled across relatives or spouses who often turned into friends. Priscilla Johnson McMillan and Cecily McMillan, the first and second wives of the late George McMillan, not only were willing to search their houses and attics for documents, but always offered encouragement when needed; Dr. John Frank, the son of author Gerold Frank, agreeably answered my repeated requests to pick through his father’s papers; and my greatest fortune was in finding Martha Huie, the wife of the late author William Bradford Huie. While she did not have any of her husband’s papers, she turned into my most consistent pen pal in Memphis, regularly sending me clippings of every local article remotely related to the case. On our trips to Memphis, she and her family graciously received my wife and me, always providing us names of people to interview and introductions to others who were useful in procuring information. Her enthusiasm will always be fondly remembered.
Among journalists, Marc Perrusquia of The Commercial Appeal has led the coverage since 1993 with his insightful and solid reporting, and he was generous in providing me information and leads. Arthur Brice of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also had a fine perception of the case’s nuances, and our occasional conversations were helpful in providing clues to the latest twists and turns.
There are dozens of people who have taken the time to speak with me, but a few deserve special mention, including Judge Joe Brown and Judge John P. Colton, Jr., who have both overseen parts of Ray’s recent legal maneuvering; N. E. Zachary, the former homicide chief of the Memphis police department; Lewis Garrison and Marvin Ballin, Memphis attorneys who represent individuals who figure in some of the latest controversies in the case; the Reverend Billy Kyles, one of Memphis’s most prominent preachers, whose recollection of his work with Dr. King, and the days around the assassination, was of particular assistance; Dr. Jerry Francisco, the Memphis medical examiner, who carefully answered any questions I had regarding King’s autopsy; Gene Stanley, a Knoxville attorney whose representation of a former client brought him into the periphery of the case, who was willing to spend the time necessary to resolve any outstanding questions; G. Robert Blakey, a Notre Dame professor and former chief counsel of the House Select Committee on Assassinations, who was generous in sharing his insights, and Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, was kind enough to answer for the record some outrageous—and patently false—charges that had been made against him as part of the widening conspiracy theory spun by Ray’s supporters.
Janet Mattick is a New York attorney at the Manhattan law firm of Reboul, MacMurray, Hewitt, Maynard & Kristol. She represents a man, referred to in this book as Raul Mirabal, who has been accused by James Earl Ray and his attorney and investigators as being the mastermind of the King assassination. After talking to me and reviewing some of my earlier work, Ms. Mattick felt comfortable enough to recommend to her client that he speak with me. Eventually he did—his first-ever interview on the record—and Ms. Mattick provided documentation supporting what he recounted. That interview was critical in resolving the truth or falsity of James Earl Ray’s long-standing alibi in the murder.
Wayne Chastain, a former journalist turned lawyer, represented Ray for several years. Although he expected that he would disagree with my conclusions about his client’s guilt, he nevertheless was generous with his time and extensive knowledge of the case. The same is true of two of Ray’s investigators, Kenny Herman and John Billings, both of whom sincerely believe their client is innocent and are doing their best to free him. Herman repeatedly went out of his way to assist my research when in Memphis (and later by e-mail).
On the issue of whether the military was involved in a plot to kill King, I am grateful to the incredible help of retired major Rudi Gresham. Gresham was a one-person research team, and through his intervention I obtained the necessary military documents to resolve open issues. Several people agreed to be interviewed who were key to the story; special thanks are due to Deputy Colonel John Smith, information officer for the U.S. Army; Daniel Ellsberg; and a number of retired military officers: General William P. Yarborough; General Henry Cobb; Colonel Ian D.W. Sutherland; Colonel Harry Summers, Jr.; Colonel Lee Mize; Captain Billy Eidson; Jimmy Dean, the administrator of the Special Forces Association; and General Ray Davis.
Several people in Memphis went out of their way to assist me. Among those was William R. Key, the Criminal Court clerk for the Thirtieth Judicial District in Shelby County, Tennessee. He is responsible for storing and maintaining the case’s physical evidence, and pursuant to an order from Judge John P. Colton, Jr., provided my wife and me access to all of the case’s evidence, including the murder weapon. Nick Owens, in the clerk’s office, was careful about balancing his duty to preserve the integrity of the evidence with allowing us the fullest possible review.
Ellis H. Chappell and Adam Feibelman reside in separate buildings that used to comprise the rooming house from which Ray fired the fatal shot. They did not slam their doors when my wife and I unexpectedly appeared one day, and they were gracious in letting us have unrestricted access to their homes on several occasions, for everything from taking photos and measurements to even observing the hotel from the sniper’s nest with a replica of the rifle scope used by Ray.
Mohamad A. Hakimian and Rick Roberts helped convert a room at Memphis’s wonderful Peabody Hotel into a virtual office, and the staff accommodated my many requests, from photocopying documents in the middle of the night to repeatedly securing a quiet corner of the bustling lobby for an interview.
Some private companies aided my research. I am especially thankful to Nancy Childs of Polaroid and Ken Johnson of Redfield Scopes. Herbert Koogle, of Koogle & Pouls Engineering in Albuquerque, New Mexico, provided background information regarding the survey of the murder scene his firm had undertaken in 1978 for the House Select Committee on Assassinations; Mark Christofferson of Guns & Things in Alberta, Canada, was incredibly patient in answering my many ballistics questions, and he is responsible for finding me a replica of Ray’s rifle, even down to the same mounting brackets for the telescopic sight.
Steve Goldberg, Esq., Los Angeles, was always available with sagacious legal advice. Victor Kovner, Esq., was meticulous as usual in his vetting of the manuscript. Former FBI analyst Farris Rookstool and insurance investigator David Perry, both of Dallas, gladly handled offbeat requests I sent their way. Gus Russo was kind in sharing his extensive contacts. David Scott Weisblatt, fresh from college graduation, obtained public documents between his summer jobs. Former FBI special agent Buck Revell willingly located retired agents. Former agent Robert Fitzpatrick was instrumental in my understanding of the FBI’s local surveillance of Martin Luther King in Memphis prior to the assassination. And Jerry Ray, James Earl Ray’s brother, grudgingly provided a number of audiotapes that were part monologue about the case, part venomous insults against writers with whom he disagreed, and part showcase for Jerry’s singing.
David Lifton, author of Best Evidence, about the JFK assassination, may seem an unlikely person to assist me, as we have diametrically different conclusions about that murder. However, after I called him to obtain an article he had coauthored in 1977 (“A Man He Calls Raoul,” New Times), we struck up a relationship largely through e-mail. Eventually, he provided copies of much of his own voluminous research for that article. The fact that he had to retrieve it from a distant storage locker and copy it himself overnight while under his own deadline for a book about Lee Harvey Oswald, is especially appreciated. His material was useful, and I believe that while we will never concur about who killed JFK, we will surprise both our boosters and antagonists by our very near agreement on the King case.
I am lucky to count Fredric Dannen as my closest friend. He always finds time in the middle of his own journalism deadlines to read the first draft of my manuscripts. His critique is unsparing but inevitably right, making for a better book.
My new agent, Andrew Wylie, has shown me great attention and spent much time both negotiating the right contract for this book and in nurturing the project at all stages. At least for me, he lived up to his reputation as a consummate dealmaker.
As for my publishers, Random House, I am very pleased to have another book with them. Each project is like returning to visit a group of dear friends, and I greatly appreciate the unusual extent to which they allow me to participate in all stages of the publishing process. Harry Evans, the former publisher, had the foresight to sign this when no one else was thinking about a book on the King assassination. I could not ask for anyone better than Ann Godoff, publisher and editor in chief, to watch over its publication. And the support team within Random House is superb. Art director Andy Carpenter makes designing imaginative jackets seem effortless. Lesley Oelsner, Esq., made the legal review as painless as possible, ensuring the integrity of the manuscript. Editorial associate Barbé Hammer never tires of my many questions and requests. Fact checker Marina Harss did a thorough review of the manuscript. John McGhee was careful and comprehensive in his copy-editing. Amy Edelman managed the very tight schedule, pushing me gently along to complete the manuscript, without ever adding to the project’s pressure. Beth Pearson, who has overseen the editorial production now on three of my books, has become a friend and trusted critic. The long hours she spends painstakingly reviewing the manuscript and her penchant for probing questions always result in a better book.
As on each book, I am greatly indebted to my good friend and editor, Robert Loomis. Bob is usually juggling a dozen books at any moment but still manages to spoil me with extraordinary time and care. He always maintains an unflappable demeanor, punctuated with his dry but often biting sense of humor, and his great interest in the subject, fine editing of the manuscript, and the constant debate in which he engages me are indispensable contributions. This book would not exist without his early enthusiasm and constant guidance.
Finally, I come to my family. My dear mother, Gloria, is my strongest booster, always giving me encouragement at some moment when I am low. Her support has paid dividends for decades.
And most of all, I pay tribute to my wife, my soul mate, Trisha. Once again, I have incurred a debt to her that I can never repay. Describing her role as researcher, interviewer, webmaster, photocopier, and unofficial editor only partly explains what she does. Trisha also provides unselfish love and nurturing, and her uncanny intuition and commitment to the truth guide me daily. I cannot imagine tackling these projects, all-consuming as they are, without her at my side. Since my name is on the book jacket, I get the credit, but this is very much a team effort, and Killing the Dream is as much hers as mine. I am blessed to have her as my partner.