Books
Instances in which a second edition is listed refer to the paperback used by the author for research.
Abernathy, Ralph David. And the Walls Came Tumbling Down. New York: Harper & Row, 1989.
Beifuss, Joan Turner. At the River I Stand: Memphis, the 1968 Strike, and Martin Luther King. Memphis: B & W Books, 1985.
Bishop, Jim. The Days of Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1971.
Blair, Clay, Jr. The Strange Case of James Earl Ray: The Man Who Murdered Martin Luther King. New York: Bantam Books, 1969.
Clarke, James W. American Assassins: The Darker Side of Politics. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1982.
Dorman, Michael. King of the Courtroom: Percy Foreman for the Defense. New York: Delacorte Press, 1969.
Frank, Gerold. An American Death: The True Story of the Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Greatest Manhunt of Our Time. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Co., 1972.
Friedly, Michael, and David Gallen. Martin Luther King, Jr.: The FBI File. New York: Carroll & Graf, 1993.
Garrow, David J. The FBI and Martin Luther King, Jr.: From “Solo” to Memphis. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1981.
Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. New York: William Morrow and Co., 1986.
Goode, Stephen. Assassination! Kennedy, King, Kennedy. New York: Franklin Watts, 1979.
Greene, Melissa Fay. The Temple Bombing. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley Publishing, 1996.
Gugas, Chris. The Silent Witness: A Polygraphist’s Casebook. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1979.
Huie, William Bradford. He Slew the Dreamer: My Search, with James Earl Ray, for the Truth About the Murder of Martin Luther King. New York: Delacorte Press, 1970.
King, Coretta Scott. My Life with Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1969.
Lane, Mark, and Dick Gregory. Code Name “Zorro”: The Murder of Martin Luther King, Jr. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1977.
Leek, Sybil, and Bert R. Sugar. The Assassination Chain. New York: Corwin Books, 1976.
Linedecker, Clifford L. Prison Groupies. New York: Windsor Publishing Corp., 1993.
Lomax, Louis E. To Kill a Black Man. Los Angeles: Holloway House, 1968.
McMillan, George. The Making of an Assassin: The Life of James Earl Ray. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1976.
Melanson, Philip H. The Murkin Conspiracy: An Investigation into the Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Praeger, 1989.
O’Reilly, Kenneth. “Racial Matters”: The FBI’s Secret File on Black America, 1960–1972. New York: The Free Press, 1989.
Pepper, William F. Orders to Kill: The Truth Behind the Murder of Martin Luther King. New York: Carroll & Graf, 1995.
Peterson, John J. Into the Cauldron. Clinton, Md.: Clavier House Publishing, 1973.
Ray, James Earl. Tennessee Waltz: The Making of a Political Prisoner. St. Andrews, Tenn.: Saint Andrew’s Press, 1987.
Who Killed Martin Luther King? The True Story by the Alleged Assassin. Washington, D.C.: National Press Books, 1992.
Rowan, Carl T. Breaking the Barriers: A Memoir. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1991.
Seigenthaler, John (with contributors James Squires, John Hemphill, and Frank Ritter). A Search for Justice. Nashville, Tenn.: Aurora Publishers, 1971.
Select Committee on Assassinations, U.S. House of Representatives. The Final Assassinations Report. New York: Bantam, 1979.
Sparrow, Gerald. The Great Assassins. New York: Arco Publishing Co., 1969.
Staff Report to the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence (prepared by James F. Kirkham, Sheldon Levy, and William J. Crotty). Assassination and Political Violence. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1970.
Weisberg, Harold. Martin Luther King: The Assassination. New York: Carroll & Graf, 1993 (reprint of Weisberg’s 1969 Frame-Up).
Young, Andrew. A Way out of No Way: The Spiritual Memoirs of Andrew Young. Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1994.
Selected Articles and Periodicals
Auchmutey, Jim. “William Pepper: Lawyer Convinced King Family of Ray’s Innocence.” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, July 11, 1997.
Billen, Andrew. “I Hired Martin Luther King’s Killer, Says Memphis Businessman.” The Observer (London), December 12, 1993.
Baker, Jackson. “‘Nearer to the Heart’s Desire’: Aided by an Unconventional Judge, the MLK Conspiracy Theorists Make Legal Headway.” The Memphis Flyer, July 17–23, 1997.
Berg, Marsha Vande. “Ray: ‘I’m Innocent, But …’” The Tennessean, May 29, 1977.
Black, Kay Pittman. “Attorneys to Bring Varied Backgrounds to Ray Hearing.” The Memphis Press-Scimitar, June 20, 1974.
, with Tom Jones. “Doctor Says Ray Told Him ‘Others’ Involved.” The Memphis Press- Scimitar, October 23, 1974.
Branston, John. “Double Exposure: How a Reporter’s ‘Scoop’ in the King Assassination Turned into a Prime-time Embarrassment.” The Memphis Flyer, July 17–23, 1997.
Brice, Arthur. “James Earl Ray: Putting the King Case to Rest: Side Issues Complicate Search for Truth.” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 14. 1997.
“James Earl Ray Supporters Are Pinning Their Hopes on Loyd Jowers, an Elderly Fugitive Who Says He Hired the Assassin Who Killed Martin Luther King, Jr., but Finding Him May Be … A Shot in the Dark.” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 26, 1997.
Canellos, Peter S. “United by Doubt; King, Ray Camps Share Belief in Assassination Conspiracy.” The Boston Globe, January 12, 1977.
Chappell, Kevin. “The Question That Won’t Go Away: Who Killed King?” Ebony, May 1997.
“Chronicle of Ray’s Whereabouts, from the Time He Fled.” The New York Times, November 18, 1968.
Cohen, Jeff. “Who Killed Martin Luther King? The Framing of James Earl Ray.” The Fifth Estate, vol. 9, no. 23, October 31–November 6, 1974.
“King Conspiracy Cover-Up Begins to Crack.” The Fifth Estate, vol. 9, November 1974.
“The Secret Team Behind a Decade of Assassinations.” The Fifth Estate, vol. 9, no. 26, November 21–27, 1974.
, with David Lifton. “A Man He Calls Raoul.” New Times, April 1, 1977.
Edginton, John, and John Sergeant. “The Murder of Martin Luther King, Jr.” Covert Action, Summer 1990.
Gavzer, Bernard. “The Strange Case of James Earl Ray.” AP Newsfeatures, January 19, 1969.
Hammer, Richard. “Clues to Man of Mystery.” The New York Times, June 16, 1968.
Harrison, Eric. “The Killing of Dr. King Revisited.” Los Angeles Times, September 24, 1994.
“Ray’s Ill Health Gives Urgency to King Assassination Doubts for the Record.” Los Angeles Times, January 5, 1997.
Howitt, Frank. “Killer or Decoy? This Crook Who Gave Up Too Easily.” Daily Telegraph (London), July 31, 1968.
Huie, William Bradford. “The Story of James Earl Ray and the Plot to Assassinate Martin Luther King: ‘I Had Been in Trouble All My Life, in Jail Most of It.’” Look, November 22, 1968.
“I Got Involved Gradually, and I Didn’t Know Anybody Was to Be Murdered.” Look, November 26, 1968.
“Why James Earl Ray Murdered Dr. King.” Look, April 1969.
King, Coretta Scott. “Tragedy in Memphis.” Life, September 19, 1969.
Lewis, Dwight, and Sheila Wissner. “Ray Smart Enough to Mastermind; Convicted Killer’s File Shows a Fairly High IQ and Long List of Escape Attempts.” The Tennessean, February 23, c1997.
Lollar, Michael. “Ray’s ‘Boxed-In’ Feeling Forced Plea of Guilty, Brother Recalls in Trial.” The Commercial Appeal, October 25, 1974.
McKinley, James. “Interview with James Earl Ray.” Playboy, September 1977.
McKnight, Gerald D. “The 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike and the FBI: A Case Study in Urban Surveillance.” South Atlantic Quarterly 83, Spring 1984.
McWhirter, William A. “The Story of the Accused Killer of Dr. King: A Character Shaped by a Mean Life.” Life, May 3, 1968.
O’Neil, Paul. “Ray, Sirhan—What Possessed Them?” Life, June 21, 1968.
Perrusquia, Marc. “Jowers Link Rejected, King Records Show.” The Commercial Appeal, December 24, 1993.
“Conspiracy Theories Pile Up as Hearing on Ray Trial Nears.” The Commercial Appeal, April 4, 1994.
“Who Killed King? ‘I’m Innocent,’ Insists Ray’s Raoul.” The Commercial Appeal, January 26, 1997.
“King Bullet Controversy Is a Misfire.” The Commercial Appeal, February 16, 1997.
“Frail Ray Clings to King Story; Picks Photo of ‘Raoul’ Who He Says Framed Him.” The Commercial Appeal, March 25, 1997.
“Whether for Truth or Profit, Ray’s Lawyer Is a Driven Man.” The Commercial Appeal, May 4, 1997.
“Emotions Mount as Ray Case Plods On: Is Bickering or Law the Focus?” The Commercial Appeal, August 17, 1997.
“King Security a Myth, Say Agents Here in ’68; Army Intelligence Was Worried About Riots, They Recall.” The Commercial Appeal, November 30, 1997.
Rosenbaum, Ron. “James Earl Ray and the Return of the Assassination Buff.” The Village Voice, November 14, 1974.
Saunders, Julian. “Re-Examining the King Files.” The Ethnic News Watch, January 31, 1994.
Shaw, Bynum. “Are You Sure Who Killed Martin Luther King?” Esquire, March 1972.
Smith, Warren, and Renfro T. Hays, “Sensational Evidence that James Earl Ray Did Not Kill Rev. Martin Luther King!” Saga, October 1969.
Sullivan, Christopher. “Martin Luther King’s Murder Shrouded in Conspiracy Theories, Mystery.” Los Angeles Times, January 21, 1996.
Timms, Ed. “Searching for Answers; Questions About King Assassination Persist as Ray Seeks Trial.” The Dallas Morning News, March 2, 1997.
Tompkins, Stephen G. “Army Feared King, Secretly Watched Him; Spying on Blacks Started 75 Years Ago.” The Commercial Appeal, March 21, 1993.
Waldron, Martin. “Ray Admits Guilt in Dr. King Death, Suggests a Plot.” The New York Times, March 11, 1968.
“Ray’s Arrest Ends Hunt That Began with His Escape from Missouri Prison in April of ’67.” The New York Times, June 9, 1968.
Walz, Jay. “3 Whose Names Ray Used Resemble Him.” The New York Times, June 12, 1968.
Yellin, Emily. “Two Detectives Raising Fresh Doubts over Dr. King’s Murder.” The New York Times, November 23, 1997.
Selected Television Transcripts
“American Assassins.” CBS Reports with Dan Rather, Part III, April 1976.
“Judge Joe Brown.” Nightline, ABC News, April 3, 1997.
“The Death of Martin Luther King.” CBS, 1968.
“Should James Earl Ray Have a New Trial?” Nightline, ABC News, February 20, 1997.
“Who Killed Martin Luther King?” BBC, John Edginton, producer, Otmoor Productions, 1993.
“Who Shot Martin Luther King, Jr.?” Turning Point, ABC News, June 19, 1997.
Papers and Archival Collections
Birmingham Police Department Surveillance files, Department of Archives and Manuscripts, Birmingham Public Library, Birmingham, Alabama.
Clay Blair, Jr., Papers, Collection 8259, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
George McMillan Papers, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Judge Robert M. McRae Papers, James Earl Ray Trial Records, Special Collections Department, McWhether Library, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee.
Memphis Multi-Media Archival Project, the 1968 Sanitation Workers’ Strike, J. W. Brister Library, Monograph Series, maintained at the Special Collections, McWhether Library, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee.
Oral Histories relating to Martin Luther King, Jr., Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library, Austin, Texas.
William Bradford Huie Papers, University Library, Ohio State University.
Government Collections and Documents
District Attorney General, active case file on the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., Memphis, Tennessee.
FBI documents on the Bureau’s investigation of the murder of Martin Luther King, MURKIN file, start at file number 44-1987-D; documents on Martin Luther King, Jr., start at file number 100-106670; documents on the Memphis Sanitation Strike start at file number 157-9146; all maintained at the FBI Reading Room, Washington, D.C.
Los Angeles Police Department, James Earl Ray file number 647–422, Records and Identification Bureau, Los Angeles, California.
Metropolitan Police Department, City of St. Louis, Police Reports on James Earl Ray, numbers 222014, 221989, 146048, 169866, 222015, 6094849, 223556, and 276643, Records Section, St. Louis, Missouri.
U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility Task Force Review of the FBI’s Security and Assassination Investigations of Martin Luther King, maintained at the National Archives, College Park, Maryland.
Government Publications
Compilation of the Statements of James Earl Ray, Staff Report of the Select Committee on Assassinations, U.S. House of Representatives, Ninety-fifth Congress, Second Session, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., August 18, 1978.
Report of the Department of Justice, Task Force to Review the FBI Martin Luther King, Jr., Security and Assassination Investigations, January 11, 1977.
Report of the House Select Committee on Assassinations, U.S. House of Representatives, Ninety-fifth Congress, Second Session, “Investigation into the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.,” plus Evidentiary Volumes I through XIII, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C, 1979.
Selected Trial Transcripts and Proceedings
Extradition Proceedings, United States of America v. James Earl Ray, Justice Department file of 192 pages.
James Earl Ray v. J. H. Rose, Warden, Civil Action 74–166, U.S. District Court, Western District of Tennessee, 1974.
James Earl Ray v. Michael Dutton, Warden, in the Criminal Court of Shelby County, Tennessee, Habeas Corpus Petition, 1994.
James Earl Ray v. Percy Foreman, U.S. District Court, Western District of Tennessee, 1969.
James Earl Ray v. State of Tennessee, P-12454, in the Criminal Courts of Tennessee for the 30th Judicial District, Division IX, 1997.
James Earl Ray v. Time Inc., et al., Civil Action No. C-76-274, U.S. District Court, Western District of Tennessee, 1976.
State of Tennessee v. James Earl Ray, in the Criminal Court of Shelby County, Division III, Tennessee, 1969.
Interviews conducted by the author and unpublished government and private documents reviewed for the book are cited as they appear in Notes, starting at page 343.