Hellhound on His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the International Hunt for His Assassin (77 page)

⁴²²
"Justice has just advised":
This memo is at the Johnson Presidential Library.

⁴²³
"A jumble of anxious thoughts":
Johnson, quoted in Risen,
Nation on Fire
, p. 42.

⁴²⁴
"Everything we've gained":
Dallek,
Flawed Giant
, p. 533.

⁴²⁵
"America is shocked":
"Statement by the President on the Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.," Johnson Presidential Library.

⁴²⁶
"Don't send your skinny little rookies":
Busby,
Thirty-first of March
, p. 236.

⁴²⁷
"They're holed up like generals":
Ibid.

⁴²⁸
"The D. C. Civil Defense"
:
Situation Room memorandums from the night of April 4, 1968, Johnson Library.

⁴²⁹
"King was the last prince of nonviolence":
Floyd McKissick, quoted in the
Washington Post
, April 5, 1968, p. 1.

⁴³⁰
"The next Negro to advocate nonviolence":
Risen,
A Nation on Fire
, p. 56.

⁴³¹
"When white America killed Dr. King":
Stokely Carmichael, quoted in Gilbert et al.,
Ten Blocks from the White House
, pp. 60-61.

⁴³²
"The nation is steeped in violence":
Church, quoted in a UPI report on the White House ticker tape on the night of April 4, 1968, Johnson Presidential Library.

⁴³³
"It was one of those frozen moments":
Mrs. Johnson, quoted in Dallek,
Flawed Giant
, p. 533, and Risen,
Nation on Fire
, p. 54.

⁴³⁴
"I and all the citizens of Memphis":
Memphis Commercial Appeal
, April 5, 1968, p. 1.

⁴³⁵
"We feel that the assassin crouched":
Memphis Press-Scimitar
, April 5, 1968, p. 1.

⁴³⁶
"damned to hell":
Blanchard, quoted in Honey,
Going Down Jericho Road
, p. 440.

⁴³⁷
"I'm so sorry":
Beifuss,
At the River I Stand
, p. 300.

⁴³⁸
"Our neighborhood was like a tomb":
Honey,
Going Down Jericho Road
, p. 444.

⁴³⁹
"This is the darkest day I've ever seen":
Beifuss,
At the River I Stand
, p. 283.

⁴⁴⁰
"that nigger King":
Honey,
Going Down Jericho Road
, p. 441.

⁴⁴¹
"The Lord has deserted us":
Beifuss,
At the River I Stand
, p. 303.

⁴⁴²
"Just respect the man":
Ibid.

⁴⁴³
"rioting and looting is now rampant":
Fire and Police Director Frank Holloman, quoted in the
Memphis Commercial Appeal
, April 5, 1968, p. 1.

⁴⁴⁴
"That's what I thought":
Honey,
Going Down Jericho Road
, p. 447.

⁴⁴⁵
"Stay calm":
Beifuss,
At the River I Stand
, p. 301.

⁴⁴⁶
"I went numb":
Honey,
Going Down Jericho Road
, p. 437.

⁴⁴⁷
"I thought I was going to get away":
Ray, quoted in Ayton,
Racial Crime
, p. 143. See also Frank,
American Death
, p. 390.

⁴⁴⁸
"I had to drive slow":
James Earl Ray, "20,000 Words," quoted in Huie,
Making of an Assassin
, p. 145.

⁴⁴⁹
"I knew that the car could be hot":
Ray,
Who Killed Martin Luther King?
p. 97.

⁴⁵⁰
"I just wanted to get rid":
Ray,
Tennessee Waltz
, p. 80.

CHAPTER 29
POWER IN THE BLOOD

⁴⁵¹
"King wouldn't make a decision without him":
Hosea Williams, quoted in McKnight,
The Last Crusade
, p. 108.

⁴⁵²
"flashbulbs still blinked":
Wills, "Martin Luther King Is Still on the Case," reprinted in
The New Journalism
, ed. Tom Wolfe, p. 393.

⁴⁵³
"sleepwalk through the night":
Young,
Easy Burden
, p. 467.

⁴⁵⁴
"had received, through letter or telephone":
Abernathy's testimony in House Select Committee on Assassination,
Appendix Reports
, vol. 1, p. 19.

⁴⁵⁵
"We can't let Martin down":
Bevel, quoted in Young,
Easy Burden
, p. 468.

⁴⁵⁶
"They got him":
Ibid.

⁴⁵⁷
"I touched the pillow":
Georgia Davis Powers,
I Shared the Dream
, p. 233.

⁴⁵⁸
"This is Martin's precious blood":
Frady,
Jesse
, p. 232.

⁴⁵⁹
Withers took several shots:
Frank,
American Death
, p. 109.

⁴⁶⁰
wiped them down the front of his shirt:
Young, quoted in Frady,
Jesse
, p. 232.

⁴⁶¹
"There's nothing that unusual":
Ibid.

⁴⁶²
"composed but dazed":
Atlanta Constitution
, April 5, 1968, p. 1.

⁴⁶³
King had not written a will:
Kathryn Johnson, "Dr. King Leaves Little--He Gave It All Away,"
Atlanta Constitution
, May 13, 1968, p. 1.

⁴⁶⁴
"If something happens":
Honey,
Going Down Jericho Road
, p. 452.

⁴⁶⁵
"but there was something a little different":
Memphis Commercial Appeal
, April 2, 1978.

⁴⁶⁶
"just to do any little menial thing":
Belafonte, quoted in Coretta Scott King,
My Life with Martin Luther King Jr.
, p. 322.

⁴⁶⁷
"Mommy, when is Daddy coming home?":
Ibid., p. 321.

⁴⁶⁸
"No, darling":
Ibid.

⁴⁶⁹
Dr. Jerry Francisco:
Biographical details and physical descriptions of Francisco are adapted from
Memphis Commercial Appeal
clippings and my interview with Francisco, Jan. 20, 2009.

⁴⁷⁰
"somehow looked more dead":
Abernathy,
And the Walls Came Tumbling Down
, p. 445.

⁴⁷¹
"This is the body":
Ibid.

⁴⁷²
"It might tell us something":
Ibid.

⁴⁷³
"giving the appearance":
Memphis Police Department document, "Martin Luther King Homicide No. 3367, Supplement #5, Re: Consent for Autopsy and Autopsy," p. 2, Hughes Collection.

⁴⁷⁴
"More than any case":
Author interview with Francisco.

⁴⁷⁵
"I felt very safe":
Ibid.

⁴⁷⁶
"This is a well developed":
Francisco's autopsy report, Hughes Collection.

⁴⁷⁷
"Every light in every store":
Wills, "Martin Luther King Is Still on the Case," reprinted in
New Journalism
, p. 390.

⁴⁷⁸
"tens of thousands of Americans":
Graham's reaction to King's murder, and the other reactions reproduced in this passage from various international figures, are taken from White House newswires, Situation Room memorandums, and State Department telexes received on April 4 and 5, 1968, Johnson Presidential Library.

CHAPTER 30
A SUMMONS TO MEMPHIS

⁴⁷⁹
Lockheed Jetstar taxied:
My account of the initial trip to Memphis made by Clark and DeLoach on April 5 derives from multiple sources. I especially relied on DeLoach,
Hoover's FBI
, pp. 228-30, as well as my own interview with Clark, Oct. 9, 2008, New York City. I also gained valuable insights from Wilkins,
A Man's Life
, pp. 211-12, and Risen,
Nation on Fire
, pp. 95-97. See also DeLoach's testimony in House Select Committee on Assassinations (hereafter HSCA),
Appendix Reports
, vol. 7, pp. 18-117, as well as Clark's testimony, HSCA,
Appendix Reports
, vol. 7, pp. 120-63.

⁴⁸⁰
fugitive named John Willard:
DeLoach,
Hoover's FBI
, p. 228.

⁴⁸¹
Now he opened his briefcase:
Wilkins,
A Man's Life
, p. 212. See also Risen,
Nation on Fire
, p. 95.

⁴⁸²
"At daybreak I stopped for gas":
Ray,
Tennessee Waltz
, p. 80.

⁴⁸³
location he had scoped out:
FBI agents later discovered that the map Ray left behind in his Atlanta rooming house bore a circle on it, presumably made by Ray, at the location of the Capitol Homes project--which seemed to indicate that he had investigated the location prior to abandoning his car there.

⁴⁸⁴
Mary Bridges:
My depiction of Galt's abandoning his Mustang at the Capitol Homes project on the morning of April 5 is adapted from varied sources. I especially relied on a thirty-four-page FBI report titled "Eric Starvo Galt, Bureau File #44-38861" prepared by Special Agent Alan G. Sentinella of the Atlanta field office, filed on April 18, 1968, Hughes Collection. This report contains a detailed description of the Mustang's location and condition (with accompanying photographs) as well as interviews with the various Capitol Homes tenants (including Mary Bridges) who saw the Mustang and its driver. I also made use of "Capitol Homes Stirred Up by That Mustang,"
Atlanta Constitution
, April 22, 1968.

⁴⁸⁵
United Cab Company driver:
FBI interview with Stephens conducted on April 12, 1968, by Special Agent Thomas J. Barrett, Hughes Collection.

⁴⁸⁶
"This is one of the darkest days":
Abernathy's comments at the morning press conference at the Lorraine Motel were reprinted in the
Atlanta Constitution
, April 6, 1968.

⁴⁸⁷
had hired a public relations agent:
Kenneth R. Timmerman,
Shakedown: Exposing the Real Jesse Jackson
(Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 2002), pp. 9-10.

⁴⁸⁸
"To prostitute and lie":
Bevel, quoted in Frady,
Jesse
, p. 230.

⁴⁸⁹
"was somehow in shock":
Abernathy,
And the Walls Came Tumbling Down
, p. 449.

⁴⁹⁰
Shanahan walked through the door:
FBI interview with Wood, conducted on April 5, 1968, by Shanahan out of the Birmingham field office. Shanahan's FD-302 report of the interview, along with a copy of the receipt showing the rifle's purchase, is in the Hughes Collection.

⁴⁹¹
"He wasn't drunk":
FBI interview with DeShazo, conducted on April 7, 1968, by Special Agents Robert Barrett and William Saucier out of the Birmingham field office, Hughes Collection.

CHAPTER 31
LOOPS AND WHORLS, LANDS AND GROOVES

⁴⁹²
At the FBI Crime Lab:
My passages here concerning the FBI lab's initial examination of the bundle from Memphis are primarily drawn from "Report of the FBI Laboratory, FBI, April 17, 1968, Evidence Recovered in Front of 424 So. Main St. April 4th, 1968," Hughes Collection. I also relied on "Scientific Report on the Subject of Analysis of Fingerprint Evidence Related to the Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by the Fingerprint Panel," House Select Committee on Assassinations (hereafter HSCA),
Appendix Reports
, vol. 8, pp. 109-21.

⁴⁹³
esoteric profession:
For a good overview of the history, lore, science, and shortcomings of fingerprint analysis, see Michael Specter, "Do Fingerprints Lie?"
New Yorker
, May 27, 2002.

⁴⁹⁴
Frazier spent the morning:
"Testimony of the Firearms Panel," HSCA,
Appendix Reports
, vol. 4, pp. 78-111.

⁴⁹⁵
Annie Estelle Peters:
This passage on Galt's picking up his laundry in Atlanta on the morning of April 5 is primarily drawn from the FBI's initial interview with Peters, conducted on April 16, 1968, by Special Agents Charles Paul Rose and Robert Kane working out of the bureau's Atlanta field office. The FD-302 report of this interview is in the Hughes Collection. I also relied on Peters's testimony in HSCA,
Appendix Reports
, vol. 3, pp. 302-514.

⁴⁹⁶
"satisfied there was no unusual activity":
Ray,
Tennessee Waltz
, p. 80.

⁴⁹⁷
wad of bills:
Ray, in his book
Who Killed Martin Luther King?
says, on p. 100, that upon his arrival in Toronto the following day, he was "down to $1,200 or so."