James Earl Ray

March 10, 1969, James Earl Ray was convicted for the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Ray pleaded guilty to the assassination in order to avoid a trial and be sentenced to death by execution. Since he pleaded guilty, he was sentenced to 99 years.

A couple of days after his confession, Ray attempted to retract his guilt. Instead, he attempted to make it appear as if he had been a part of a conspiracy to shoot King. Evidence though, was against him and Ray remained in jail.

After he shot MLK, Ray escaped to Canada where he hid for a month and obtained a fake passport. He was caught in the London Heathrow Airport because of his fake passport and was extradited to Tennessee. His assassination of MLK was not his first crime. Ray died on April 23, 1998 while imprisoned.

Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated about five years after President JFK.