Page 9 - Rang Out News Today

Is true or not, because james earl ray said it, i would say its a pure toss-up. >> when a police team stopped for a rest break at this firehouse, patrolman gene douglas was left in a car outside to monitor the radio. >> i heard a noise, like a shot, well, it was more like a rifle. thats when everybody inside the firehouse started running out saying "kings been shot, kings been shot." >> douglas reached for his radio mic. >> we have information king has been shot at the lorraine. >> captain ray r...

A police squad taking a break at the firehouse ran down the slope toward the hotel. fireman george loneky reached the fallen king. >> the whole side of his right jaw was gone. >> i took a crushed cigarette out of his hand. he didnt want kids to see him smoke. and i took the package out of his pocket. i have them in my possession somewhere now. i have a handkerchief where i wiped much blood off -- off my hand. >> i couldnt feel a pulse beating. i knew that he was done gone. >> so he probably neve...

Claims he saw something in the bushes. but when he was interrogated, that story just didnt hold up. >> no one in kings inner circle saw anyone over there. thats what they told police the first night, and we got the same answers 40 years later. did you see anyone? >> no. >> not a soul? >> i did not. >> medical examiner dr. jerry francisco performed the autopsy that night. >> dr. king was killed by a gunshot wound to the head and neck. >> standing where martin luther king fell, he explained. >> th...

Dislike for martin luther king jr. >> personally? >> it was a personal dislike. >> lewis believes hoovers hatred blinded him to dr. kings dream. >> i think j. edgar hoover was convinced that martin luther king jr. was a threat to the order of the american society. >> yet, king was unmoved by the fbis truly dirty tricks. >> he saw this as part of his life, just the way he would have to live for the rest of his life. still ahead, military spies on the rooftop. >> they said they wanted to take pi...

It was the bundle left at this doorway that would send james earl ray to prison for the rest of his life. for many people, its been a mystery. why was it dropped and by whom? for an answer, lets start again with that night 40 years ago. upstairs in the boarding house that evening, charles stevens was in his room next to the bathroom. >> i heard what i thought was a shot. there was a loud explosion. >> he saw a man walking quickly away down the hall. >> he had a package underneath his arm. the pa...

If he hadnt seen somebody, why didnt he just throw it in the car and take off? >> a good question, one i asked his brother jerry ray. >> that was later to lead to him. thats my opinion, thats his opinion. >> in london, after james earl ray was caught, scotland yard detective alec east was assigned to guard him. east told the house hearing this in 1978. >> i recall he said to me that he had seen a policeman or a police vehicle and panicked and had thrown the gun away, and that his fingerprints wo...

>> douglas called in that first alert. then he got out of the patrol car. >> i came out here and started running down this way. >> okay. so you start running down this way. why this way? >> when i heard the shot, i couldnt tell exactly, you know, where it was coming from. i didnt see any other place that it could have come from. >> see the older green mustang parked by the lamp post on this day just as were walking by? thats where james earl rays mustang was parked that evening. did you see anyt...

>> i heard somebody holler, oh, lord! >> i thought there was a firecracker, and i didnt see him. my first reaction was that he is clowning again. see? hes fainted like hes been shot. then i saw his shoes sticking out from under the railing. >> i turned. i could see him lying on the balcony. one of his feet was sticking through the railing. there was a huge hole in his face. >> the bullet hit the tip of his chin and tore half of his neck off. >> the police were coming. and i hollered to them, "ca...

His brother, jerry ray. >> he dont deny that he didnt rent the room. he dont deny he didnt buy the gun. the only thing he denies is that he was in that room. >> the only thing he denies is that he shot dr. king. >> thats the only thing he didnt do. >> jerry ray says before the shot was fired, his brother drove the mustang away to try to get a spare tire fixed. no witnesses have said yes, he came in to get the spare tire fixed. yes, i saw that man. we were too busy, we couldnt take him, but he wa...

>> its not a long distance at all. >> a couple hundred feet. maybe. thats it. >> next door at the police peephole, the only black left in the firehouse. patrolman willie richmond. >> i didnt like it. >> fireman george lonake asked to take a look. and became the only living witness we found who saw king at the very moment he was shot. a sudden clap like two boards slammed together. >> i looked through the peepholes, and i was looking at him. by the time it sounded like one before, two of them, ju...