MLK: Death of a King 40 years later
Who assassinated the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968?
A CNN special report. Eyewitness to Murder: The King Assassination by special correspondent Soledad O'Brien, airing tonight at 9, delves into all the conspiracy theories as to who killed King.
All the evidence pointed to James Earl Ray, who with his own confession, was jailed for pulling the trigger. But the special asks: Was he the right man?
O'Brien lays out the case -- tracking the civil-rights movement and the last year of King's life with that of Ray's activities after his escape from a Missouri prison.
Her report is drawn from FBI files and other law enforcement tapes, court records and Ray's journal.
Ray, who died at 70 in 1998, recanted his confession and instead told authorities that he was framed by his associate, a man that only he knew as "Raoul.''
Conspiracy theorists believe the government could have had a hand in King's death since his every move was under the watchful eyes and ears of FBI officials who wiretapped his phones and were present at many civil-rights events.
Surprisingly, a Memphis restaurant owner is also implicated in the special as a possible suspect. The business was behind the apartment building from which King was shot dead through a window in a communal bathroom.
The documentary references significant dates in the civil-rights movement, including the March on Washington, protests in Selma, Ala., Chicago and Memphis, and King's stirring "Mountain Top" sermon at a Memphis church the day before his death.
In this hourlong feature, O'Brien interviews law enforcement, Ray's brother, several authors on the subject, Ray's attorneys and the men in King's inner circle, including Andrew Young and Rep. John Lewis, both of Atlanta, and Rev. Billy Kyles of Memphis.
Eyewitness is the first of a four-part CNN special report called Black in America, which examines the plight of African-Americans since the civil-rights movement. The other installments are on black men, black women and the black family. All will air at special times through June.
For a list of events and television shows commemorating the death of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., go to www.baltimoresun.com/unisun.
