Killing the Dream: James Earl Ray and the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

by Gerald Posner

A deep dive into James Earl Ray’s role in the national “Superb . . . a model of investigation . . . as gripping as a first-class detective story” (The New York Times).   On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was killed in Memphis, Tennessee, by a single assassin’s bullet. A career criminal named James Earl Ray was seen fleeing from a rooming house that overlooked the hotel balcony from where King was cut down. An international manhunt ended two months later with Ray’s capture. Though Ray initially pled guilty, he quickly recanted and for the rest of his life insisted he was an unwitting pawn in a grand conspiracy. In Killing the Dream, expert investigative reporter Gerald Posner reexamines Ray and the evidence, even tracking down the mystery man Ray claimed was the conspiracy’s mastermind.   Beginning with an authoritative biography of Ray’s life, and continuing with a gripping account of the assassination and its aftermath, Posner cuts through phony witnesses, false claims, and a web of misinformation surrounding that tragic spring day in 1968. He puts Ray’s conspiracy theory to rest and ultimately manages to disclose what really happened the day King was murdered.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, True Crime, Biography, Crime, Politics

702 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 31, 1998

About the author

Gerald Posner is an award winning journalist, bestselling author and attorney. The Los Angeles Times dubs him "a classic-style investigative journalist." "His work is painstakingly honest journalism" concluded The Washington Post. The New York Times lauded his "exhaustive research techniques" and The Boston Globe talked of Posner's "thorough and hard-edge investigation." "A meticulous and serious researcher," said the New York Daily News.

Posner's first book, Mengele, a 1986 biography of the Nazi "Angel of Death” Josef Mengele, was the result of a pro-bono lawsuit Posner brought on behalf of surviving twins from Auschwitz. Since then he has written ten other books from the Pulitzer Prize-finalist Case Closed, to bestsellers on political assassinations, organized crime, national politics, and 9/11 and terrorism. His upcoming God’s Bankers has spanned nine years of research and received early critical praise.

ohn Martin of ABC News says "Gerald Posner is one of the most resourceful investigators I have encountered in thirty years of journalism." Garry Wills calls Posner "a superb investigative reporter. "Posner, a former Wall Street lawyer, demolishes myths through a meticulous re-examination of the facts," reported the Chicago Tribune. "Meticulous research," Newsday.

Anthony Lewis in The New York Times: "With 'Killing the Dream, he has written a superb book: a model of investigation, meticulous in its discovery and presentation of evidence, unbiased in its exploration of every claim. And it is a wonderfully readable book, as gripping as a first-class detective story."

"What we need is a work of painstakingly honest journalism, a la Case Closed, Gerald Posner's landmark re-examination of the assassination of John F. Kennedy," concluded Joe Sharkey in The New York Times.

Gene Lyons, in Entertainment Weekly: "As thorough and incisive a job of reporting and critical thinking as you will ever read, Case Closed does more than buttress the much beleaguered Warren Commission's conclusion ….More than that, Posner's book is written in a penetrating, lucid style that makes it a joy to read. Even the footnotes, often briskly debunking one or another fanciful or imaginary scenario put forth by the conspiracy theorists, rarely fail to enthrall...Case Closed is a work of genuine patriotism and a monument to the astringent power of reason. 'A'"

Jeffrey Toobin in the Chicago Tribune: "Unlike many of the 2,000 other books that have been written about the Kennedy assassination, Posner's Case Closed is a resolutely sane piece of work. More importantly, 'Case Closed' is utterly convincing in its thesis, which seems, in light of all that has transpired over the past 30 years, almost revolutionary....I started Case Closed as a skeptic - and slightly put off by the presumptuous title. To my mind historical truth is always a slippery thing. The chances of knowing for sure what happened in any event - much less one as murky as the Kennedy assassination - seem remote. But this fascinating and important book won me over. Case closed, indeed."

Based in the mixed realms of politics, history, and true crime, his articles - from The New York Times to The New Yorker to Newsweek, Time and The Daily Beast - have prompted Argentina to open its hidden Nazi files to researchers; raised disturbing questions about clues the FBI missed in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing; sparked a reinvestigation of the Boston Strangler; and exposed Pete Rose's gambling addiction, which led to his ban from baseball.

Posner was one of the youngest attorneys (23) ever hired by Cravath, Swaine & Moore. A Political Science major, Posner was a Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude graduate of the University of California at Berkeley (1975), where he was also a national debating champion, winner of the Meiklejohn Award. At Hastings Law School (1978), he was an Honors Graduate and served as the Associate Executive Editor for the Law Review. Of Counsel to Posner & Ferrar

Reviews

[David Corleto-Bales · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gerald Posner previously wrote a book debunking the Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories and this one completely shatters any the myth of any conspiracy surrounding the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968. In retrospect it's hard to understand how anyone could have ever harbored any doubts about James Earl Ray's solo complicity in the murder but the poison of the era doubtlessly contributed to cynicism over the "official view." Posner does an excellent job reporting the nuts and bolts of April, 1968 in Memphis and the actual assassination and then does a very thorough biography of Ray and his extended family, a troubled, poverty-stricken clan of habitual criminals from near St. Louis. Ray was a drifter, pathological liar and story teller, career-crook, drug smuggler and petty con--with a deep hatred of African-Americans. Sadly, some of the lunatic fringe has been able to convince the King family of Ray's innocence; hopefully this book will set some people straight. Posner spends the last few chapters debunking one by one each basic conspiracy theory.

[Howard Olsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

As far as I know, this is the most comprehensive and rational history of the MLK assassination available. I would argue that Americans have learned more than enough about the death of JFK (much of it wrong), while remaining truly ignorant about the death of MLK, which was an equally incalcuable loss. Why that may be is beyond the scope of this little post, but anyone who cares about american history, politics, civil rights, race relations, or sociology will find plenty of fascinating information in this book.

As in Posner's own (definitive) book about JFK in Dallas, this book is divided in three parts. The first sets out the days leading up to the assassination, as we follow both King and James Earl Ray's movements. The second part is a lengthy biography of Ray, surely the cleverest and most calculating of all of the assassains in american history. Posner traces Ray's long, and often comical career as a petty criminal who spent significant periods of his life behind bars (he was an escaped felon at the time of the assassination). Ray wasn't particularly bright, but he had two talents that served him well: he was a master of obfuscation, with an almost cumpulsive need to live as if he were creating an alibi; he was also an escape artist who could calmly get out of a jam under intense stress. Despite a world-wide dragnet, Ray eluded capture for two months after the assaassination. I'll bet not one American in 10,000 knows that Ray was eventually captured in London, where he was preparing to travel to Rhodesia, but that is what happened. Of secondary interest in the Ray section of the book is its depiction of Ray's mileiu-that of the pre-Miranda criminal underworld.

The third section of the book discusses (and debunks) the various conspiracy theories that arose in the wake of the assassination. Many of these were created by Ray himself, who claimed that a guy named "Raul" recruited him to kill King on behalf of wealthy White Supremists. Ray spent his decades in jail elaborating his stories enough to create interest (including that of the King family), but his stories always collapsed when it came time for him to testify on the record. Ray's lawyers also did their part to create various alternate theories of the assassination in an effort to get Ray out of prison. Many of these rely on the sort of selective reading of the facts that will be familiar to Michael Moore fans. One persistent theory held that King was actually killed by a US Army sniper team. Its plausability depended on an interpretation of Army paperwork that only someone unfamilar with the Army could believe. Nonetheless, the Ray attorney pushing this theory managed to interest ABC News enough to produce an investigative report, the highlight of which came when the theorist was confronted by the members of the sniper team (all of whom had alibis, and were not pleased to be a part of Ray's psychodrama).

This section of the book offers some insight into how seemingly nutty conspiracy theories gain credibility. The most baroque involved a conspiracy between Jack Valenti and some pornographers, who supposedly killed MLK to protect their underground porn racket. OK. The source of this story was a troubled woman, who people seemed to take seriously because she was pretty, and yet a congressional committee investigated it. The sad fact is that everybody connected to the conspiracy theories were more concerned about their own interests-money, fame, and in Ray's case freedom-than any search for truth. It certainly didn't help that there was never a trial (ray pleaded guilty almost immediately), nor was there ever a "Warren Commission" style report. And, sadly, the King family always lent their ear to anyone who came to them with a theory of "what really happened."

The takeaway: there's no doubt that Ray killed King, and that he didn't like black people. Nonetheless, there are still a lot of loose ends. At some point, he had to have had some help. Whether that help was limited to his brothers (also racists, also criminals), or a wider ranging conspiracy is unclear. When Ray was in prison, he was in a position to learn about a $50,000 bounty on King's head, but there is no indication that Ray was ever paid, or that the bounty was anything more than a prison rumor. Needless to say, Ray did not agree to an interview with Posner. A fascinating story that has largely been left untold.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

AN EXCELLENT STATEMENT OF THE CASE AGAINST JAMES EARL RAY

Investigative journalist Gerald Leo Posner wrote in this 1998 book, “On April 4 [1968], Memphis Police Tactical (TACT) Units, which had been formed after the March 28 violence, were pulled back five blocks from the immediate vicinity around the Lorraine [Hotel]. Some charge that was a lessening of security that made King an easier target. However, the TACT squads were not there to protect King, but instead to ensure there was no repeat of the recent rioting, firebombing, and looting. They were an obvious reminder to King that the Memphis police did not intend to tolerate any further civil disturbance. So it is not surprising to learn that when the House Select Committee on Assassinations investigated the issue of the TACT squad removal, it discovered that the request to move the units away from the motel actually came from an unidentified member of King’s party.” (Pg. 24-25)

During the hunt for the killer, “By mid-April, the FBI had learned a good deal more from interviewing people who knew [‘Eric S. Galt’] at his Los Angeles apartments: He had visited New Orleans the previous December, might have had a racial altercation at a local bar, and was a supporter of Alabama governor George Wallace for president.” (Pg. 39)

After Ray had been located in London, “During the extradition proceedings, Ray made weekly trips to court from his prison… On each of these trips… Ray was accompanied by the same policeman. Alexander Eist… slowly the two developed a rapport, rare for Ray with anyone… The conversations Eist remembered best were those nearer the end of their time together, when they got around to discussing blacks. Ray called them ‘n___s’ and ‘he told me that he tried to get into Africa at some stage---he said to kill some more of them...’ Eist had the feeling that Ray considered himself a hero of sorts [after] the King murder… Finally, King’s murder came slowly into their talks. Ray was convinced that he could make real money from the notoriety of the case, and he was not worried since he believed that all he could be charged with was conspiracy… ‘he said there was no way that they would actually be able to pin the murder on him except that he had thrown the gun away: that was the mistake he had made.’ … Eist also remembered that Ray ‘had never shown any regret.’” (Pg. 51-52)

A famous Houston lawyer, Percy Foreman, was selected as Ray’s lawyer. “Foreman told [author William Bradford] Huie he was convinced Ray had murdered King. Whether there was a conspiracy or not did not matter to him---he only had to worry about this client… The Select Committee understandably concluded that ‘Foreman did not conduct a thorough and independent investigation into the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., on behalf of Ray.’ … Foreman visited Ray and for the first time raised the possibility that Ray should plead guilty… Foreman told Ray that the jury would be stacked with blacks and business leaders ready to send him to death. He dismissed Ray’s contention that the evidence was circumstantial and that at most he would be convicted of ‘some sort of aiding and abetting.’ … Ray says he naively thought that if he pleaded guilty he could get rid of Foreman, and ‘later on I would try to engage other counsel and open the case up on exculpatory evidence.’” (Pg. 63-67)

He notes, “the specter of ‘Raoul' hung heavily over the proceedings. Reporters and prosecutors were constantly debating whether there was such a person, and if so, what role he had played in killing King… Ray had presented a detailed story to back up his claim---one that was hard to dispute… James Bevel, one of Dr. King’s former aides, had already announced that he thought Ray was innocent, and even tried unsuccessfully to join the defense team (the judge barred him since he was not a lawyer).” (Pg. 68)

Posner acknowledges, “Thirty years after the assassination, the question of who killed Martin Luther King remains unsettled for many people. Finding the answers seemed impossible when prosecutors accepted a 1969 guilty plea rather than demand a trial… the guilty plea seemed the ultimate cover-up… Much of the information that would have surfaced in a trial… is examined in the coming pages. Ray clearly knows precisely what happened in Memphis in April 1968, but he has persistently failed to reveal the truth. But by investigating… it is possible to discover what most likely happened in the assassination, even though Ray refuses to disclose it.” (Pg. 73)

During World War II, “James had a relationship with an ‘individual who had pro-Nazi leanings and became anti-Negro and anti-Jewish as [a] result.’ ‘What appealed to [Ray] in the first place about Hitler… was that he would make the U.S. an all-white country, no Jews or Negroes… [Ray] didn’t think Hitler would kill Jews and blacks, just put them in their own country someplace.’” (Pg. 91-92)

Reaching adulthood, Ray’s criminal career began, first for burglary (pg. 98), then armed robbery (pg. 105), stealing money orders (pg. 115), first-degree robbery with a deadly weapon (pg. 125), and he spent much time in prison.

A friend of Ray’s recalled, “Ray had developed an ‘immense’ dislike for blacks…. ‘[He] was unreasonable in his hatred… He hated to see them breathe… He hated them! I never did know why.’” (Pg. 111) He comments, “There was only one incident that blemished Ray’s prison record… Ray had refused [a transfer] ‘due to the fact that he did not feel he could live in an Honor Farm Dormitory because they are integrated.’ ... Ray, then twenty-nine years old, had never lived or worked near a black person. He was not about to start.” (Pg. 117)

In prison, “Harry Sero actually put the idea of killing King for money to Ray---he once speculated in front of Ray and other inmates, that if King attempted economic boycotts, it would be worth a lot for businessmen to have him killed. Others recalled that Ray himself sometimes talked about the possibility of killing King for money.” (Pg. 135) He continues, “Another … inmate … worked with Ray in the commissary… Ray told him that some friends in St. Louis had arranged for him to collect $50,000 for killing King… if [the inmate] wanted, he could join the plot and also pocket $50,000. Ray assured him … even if they did [get caught], a good lawyer would get them off since ‘who in the South likes n____s?’ [The inmate] told that to the FBI only five months after King’s murder… Ray may have plugged into the pipeline offering a bounty on Martin Luther King.” (Pg. 139)

In 1967, Ray escaped from prison, and made his way to Canada. “Ray says he met a man he calls Raoul, who over a series of meetings supposedly offered him the possibility of ‘travel documents’ if Ray helped ‘take some packages across the border.’” (Pg. 162) “Raoul then made Ray a new offer. ‘If I would go along with him he would not only get me traveling documents but also 10 or 12 thousand dollars.’ … Raoul told Ray to … ‘go to Mobile, Alabama.’ … Raoul … promised to pay Ray’s living expenses in Birmingham, as well as buy him a new car… While there may be doubts about the key details of Ray’s Raoul story, it is possible that Ray might actually have latched on to a small group of smugglers…” (Pg. 167)

However, “Ray’s stories of his association with Raoul are not independently corroborated.” (Pg. 222) But “Raoul is central to Ray’s explanation as to how and why he bought the rifle… As before, Ray has constantly changed the details.” (Pg. 223) Ray also had plastic surgery, to change his appearance (and throw off police/FBI). (Pg. 213) And Ray’s “appearance in Selma raises the suspicion that Ray was finally stalking his target.” (Pg. 219) He adds, “There are no witnesses to support Ray’s ever-changing story of being at a service station at the time of the assassination. Rather… there is no evidence he left before King was murdered.” (Pg. 236)

After the assassination, Ray was careful to wipe off his fingerprints from his car, and his rooming house. (Pg. 238-239) He even robbed a bank, while in England, and he was arrested there. (Pg. 249-250) While in captivity, he twice failed a polygraph test about whether he had shot Dr. King: “Ray had lied about not shooting Dr. King, but had told the truth when he said there was no conspiracy.” (Pg. 261, 263) The rifle he used, however, “is a model that does not leave distinctive ballistic markings on each cartridge fired,” so ballistics tests can’t be done on it. (Pg. 321)

About his leaving the gun, “Ray had to make an instantaneous decision… Were there police already on the street and he hadn’t yet seen them? If caught with the gun, he was finished. He dropped it, almost instinctively, against a storefront… The windows of the store … were dark. It seemed closed… Maybe no one would find it for a while.” (Pg. 331)

This book will be “must reading” for anyone studying Dr. King’s assassination---including those favoring conspiracy theories.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this exhaustive and thorough examination of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jnr, Gerald Posner concludes without a shadow of a doubt that James Earl Ray was the assassin. Posner tracks Ray's movements both before and after the assassination and persuasively debunks the various conspiracy theories that gained traction in the decades following King's murder.

Posner's reconstruction of Ray's early life is compelling reading. It would be an understatement to describe the Ray family as dysfunctional - given the environment Ray grew up in, it is little wonder he became a career criminal. Posner also shows how Ray developed his racist views in the context of the racism of older family members.

I was not aware of many of the conspiracy theories Posner examines. I knew that Ray had fingered a mysterious (and non-existent) man named Raoul, but beyond that, much of this was new to me. There is a lot of information in this book regarding the ever-changing and often contradictory stories of people who claimed to have inside knowledge of King's murder, and careful reading is required in order to avoid getting lost in the labyrinth of some of these people's overactive imaginations.

Like Case Closed, Posner's earlier book on Lee Harvey Oswald and the assassination of JFK, Killing the Dream is well-written and well-researched. This is an excellent book, as essential as Hampton Sides' Hellhound on his Trail.

[Umar Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read and as a St. Louisan, I appreciated the local connections to the MLK assassination and Ray family being discussed. Would be a five if not for Posner feeling the need to detail and debunk ridiculous conspiracy theories.

[Shane Clews · Rating 5 out of 5]

More truth telling from Posner. He uses facts; which only causes confusion for conspiracy theorists.

[Barry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly well-researched, Killing the Dream seems conclusive in its conclusions. Not only does Mr. Posner explain the history of James Earl Ray and the assassination of Martin Luther King, but he effectively dismantles the leading conspiracy theories. Engaging, informative, and thorough, this book is an all-around winner and well-worth reading.

[Jane Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

True Crime Story

Posner has done a good job of denying that James Earl Ray was involved in a conspiracy rehab he killed Martin Luther King. I had heard that it was impossible that he could have robbed a bank in England, but the.author shows he left a fingerprint there. Convincing

[Joey Torrieri · Rating 4 out of 5]

more academic than hellhound by Hampton sides. Great insight into James Earl Rays life, the assassination, and all the wacky and crazy conspiracy theories that surrounds the case. honestly upsetting that kings family believes in Ray's innocence

[Logan · Rating 4 out of 5]

RIP to a real one

[Chad Montabon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable and fast read. It debunks many conspiracy surrounding the MLK assassination, but leaves some questions tantilizingly unanswered.

[Marc · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s hard to believe that Dr. King was killed by a single individual who wasn’t particularly bright. The author ties things up pretty neatly as he did with “Case Closed” about the JFK assassination.

[John Gurney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent research and cogent writing about a fascinating topic make Killing The Dream hard to put down. Author Gerald Posner conducts his own research to help dispel various conspiracy theories. He takes us through James Earl Ray's history, exposing the man's overt racism, loner nature, and severe criminal past. Ray was an constant liar in all facets of his life, meaning the assassin's words are of little value. Gerald Posner relies on physical evidence and others' statements to understand what really happened. Ray was ex-military (dishonorable discharge), which gave him shooting experience. He was imprisoned four times, having committed countless crimes in lieu of a real job, in his adult life. Several of these hold-ups involved guns. These pages portray Ray as a very troubled, evil man.

The book concludes there may or may not have been others in on the plot to assassinate Martin Luther King, Jr. "Raoul" probably did not exist. But, there is no doubt that James Earl Ray planned the assassination, purchased the rifle that killed King, and that Ray stalked King outside Memphis's Lorraine Hotel Room 306 on April 4, 1968, gunning down the Dreamer. Ray had motive and his guilt is clear.

[Isiah]

The book I choose is killing the dream by the author Gerald Posner. This story takes place in Memphis where Dr. king was killed. I have chosen this book because it's a big topic we are going over in my English class and we have to read Dr. king famous " I have a dream speech." Also I choose this book because it was sitting at home on the shelve for stowaway a year before I even picked it up so why not read about something that can help me write about a great leader like Dr. King. Also I wanted to learn about Dr.king before I wrote about him. My favorite part of this book is chapter 27 on the run cause they show Dr. King exhibit and I want to see that one day that's why I found it important to me . I enjoy this book because it help me in writing my speech and I enjoy learning about what really happen to one of my role model. I would recommend it to one of my friends in class because it could help them write a better speech and they can deepen thier knowledge and accutally get what happen. Overall it's a good book

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Posner is the definitive author on assassinations and their related conspiracy theories. Posner’s other book on the topic Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK was even better than this one. While not quite as good or as extensive, this book still contains a wealth of detail on what happened during Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination, what came before (from James Earl Ray’s biography to how he prepared for the assassination), and what came after (how Ray eluded capture for two months and the clusterfuck that was his legal representation).

Posner looks into the conspiracy theories that Ray had help or was just a patsy (Ray’s own assertion and sadly that of some of King’s family). As in Case Closed Posner goes through the details of the events and the life of the killer to show that the official verdict that Ray assassinated King without a large conspiracy or on behalf of other racists holds up.

[Sharyn Simcox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having.read.The print edition of this outstanding book, I was glad too get the audible version.Posner does a great job of detailing the terrible events of that time as well as debunking the outrages conspiracys. No doubt Ray was a pathological liar who changed his story when each is proven a lie. It's unbelievable to me how willing some people were willing to lie for attention ,or a fast buck. My heart goes.out to the King family. After all they were put through by the FBI, it's understandable they would believe the government was involved in Kings death. Just like with JFKs assassination, it's hard to accept a sociopathic nobody was responsible

[Matthew Kresal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gerald Posner manages to do for the MLK assassination what he failed to do for the JFK assassination: disprove conspiracy. Posner disproves every conspiracy theory by showing Ray’s lies, the flaws in the “Raoul” story, and the flaws in the many theories. While he leaves the door opened for Ray to have done it for a $50,000 bounty, he proves that Ray and Ray alone killed MLK. This book should be the final word on the MLK assassination.

[RYD · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice piece of journalistic detective work on the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., this book seeks to refute conspiracy theories that suggest it wasn't James Earl Ray. The author's case is very convincing, though it is an controversy that I, frankly, hadn't been aware of until I read this.

[Mac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Investigative journalism at its best. A great read.

[Rich · Rating 5 out of 5]

James Earl Ray was a smart cookie for a lifetime loser! Gerald Posner did a lot better job with MLK's murder than his JFK's Case Closed.

[Walt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very thorough examination of MLK's assassination. I found the footnotes (on every page) to be distracting, but maybe it's just my habit of insisting on reading everything on the page.

[alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Huey freeman is reading this while shaking his head to let you know he doesn’t agree