The key facts and critical issues in Dr. Martin Luther King’s Jr. Murder is as followed: before Dr. King’s assassination in 1968 by the escaped criminal James Earl Ray from a Missouri State Penitentiary in 1967; there was an attempt on Dr. King’s life by a mentally ill African-American woman from Harlem named Izola Curr. The forty-two-year-old woman believed Dr. King was conspiring against her communists. (Pressman, 2012) James Earl Ray had a troubling past for petty thefts and robberies. Ray was on the FBI’s most wanted list before he assassinated Dr. King. While Dr. King was leading the African-American Civil Rights movement, there were many intakes on how whites and blacks disapproved at the beginning of the march to Washington. James Earl Ray saw a big ticket payday, so he embraced the Ku Klux Klan racist beliefs. (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 1998).
“Though a garden-variety racist, rumors of a
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King’s assassination started a civil war, which began major outbreaks of looting, arson, and violence, resulting in death and significant property damage in more than a hundred American cities. (Carter, 2017) After authorities looked for Ray for months; nevertheless, they were able to capture Ray on June 8, 1968, at London's Heathrow Airport and he was extradition back to the United States. Ray pleaded guilty and was sentenced to ninety-nine years in prison. However, no testimony was heard at Ray’s trial. Later, Ray recanted his confession, claiming he was the victim of a conspiracy. Nevertheless, Ray’s fingerprints were identified on the Mustang, rifle, binoculars, and on a can of beer. "Fingerprints are a reproduction of friction skin ridges found on the palm side of the fingers and thumbs" (Saferstein, 2015, p. 129). Latent fingerprints are created from the oils of the fingertips being pressed on a surface, leaving ridges and whorls on your skin. (Hawk, 2014) Ray stated that he did not act alone; however, Ray’s fingerprints is what led to his