The murder of Dr. Martin Luther King
Part I
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in April 4th in 1968 at the age of thirty nine years. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a clergyman, a prominent leader and an activist based in the United States; he mainly concentrated on the rights of the African American communities among other minority groups. Martin Luther King, Jr. headed African American Civil Rights Movement, through which he carried out peaceful civil disobedience (King, 2000). Martin Luther King, Jr. was a holder of Nobel Peace Prize, he shot in Tennessee at the Memphis’ Lorraine Motel, and he was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital and died in the evening. A fugitive by the name James Earl Ray from Missouri State Penitentiary was apprehended for the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. Ray was caught in United Kingdom at the Heathrow Airport based in London on June 8th 1968, where he was extradited to America and charged with murdering Martin Luther King, Jr. (King, 2000).
Surveys have indicated that Ray in March 10th 1969, went ahead and entered a guilty plea, in which he was sentenced to ninety nine years in prison at the Tennessee State Penitentiary. Ray tried unsuccessfully to withdraw his guilty plea, Ray passed away at the age of seventy years on April 23rd 1998 (King, 2000). There are strong believes that the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr. was done in conspiracy of the United States government; similar assertions were made by Loyd Jowers back in 1993, and that Ray was used as a scapegoat in the murder cases.
It was noted that civil trial in 1999 sought one hundred dollars from Jowers, although the civil trial did not include the government of the United States as defendant. The Jowers and the family of Martin Luther King, Jr. cooperated in the civil trial. It was noted that the jury ruled out that the family of Martin Luther King, Jr., Jowers, unnamed government agencies and other people conspired in ending the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. (King, 2000).
Surveys indicated that Martin Luther King, Jr. constantly received threats of death basing on the fact that he was prominent with the civil rights movement. Martin Luther King, Jr. was not afraid of death and he faced the threat as a leader (King, 2000). He had a general believe that death could in no way end the struggle for equal rights among the Americans. Martin Luther King, Jr. once confirmed to his wife Coretta that some people were out there to assassinate him after JFK was assassinated in 1963.
At the time of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s death, he had gone to Memphis, Tennessee to support sanitation workers who were striking; the workers were mainly of African American origin. A walkout was staged for February 11th 1968 in protest of poor working conditions and also unequal wages carried out by Henry Loeb. African Americans were paid less as compared to the whites. African Americans were not paid if they stayed at home after a bad weather and they were forced to work in snow storms and also in rain storms. The last speech of Martin Luther King, Jr. was ‘I have been to the Mountaintop’ (King, 2000).
Part II
The assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. happened in Lorraine Motel based in Memphis, room 306 was common with Martin Luther King, Jr. that it had been named as the King Abernathy Suite. House Select Committee on Assassinations indicated that Martin Luther King, Jr. shared a room with Reverend Ralph David Abernathy (King, 2000). It is believed that James Earl Ray fired the bullet that killed Martin Luther King, Jr. witnesses indicated that they saw Ray fleeing from the hotel shortly after the incident. Ray had also rented a room in the motel, further investigations found Ray’s fingerprints on the rifle that killed Martin Luther King, Jr. it was also confirmed that Ray was the purchaser of the rifle, Ray was arrested in London in United Kingdom (King, 2000).
Part III
Investigations indicated that the rifle that killed Martin Luther King, Jr. was purchased by Ray just six days just before the episode happened. It was also confirmed that Ray and Martin Luther King, Jr. had rented rooms in Lorraine Motel. It is also noted that after Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot at, Ray was seen fleeing from the site, and later fingerprints of Ray were found on the rifle (King, 2000). There is no doubt that Ray committed the heinous offence in assassinating Martin Luther King, Jr. Events surrounding the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Ray is an indication that Ray had been trailing Martin Luther King, Jr. over a period of time, and that Ray was connected with the death threats directed at Martin Luther King, Jr. (King, 2000).
Part IV
If I was a prosecutor, I would have enough grounds of sending Ray to the jails. The circumstances that contributed to the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. prove that Ray had a firsthand part in supporting a trial. The first evidence on the purchase of the rifle just six days before the heinous act; second, is that Ray was in the same motel with Martin Luther King, Jr. at the time of the assassination; third, Ray’s fingerprints were found on the rifle although there were other people or agencies involved in the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., Ray is the person who took the law into his hands and fired the shot that ended the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. Criminology has been essential in studying criminal behaviors and crimes and attributes of law enforcement (Saferstein, 2011).
References
King, M. L. (2000). Why We Can’t Wait. New York: Signet Classics.
Saferstein, R. (2011). Criminalistics, An Introduction to Forensic Science. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
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