Hellhound on His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the International Hunt for His Assassin (79 page)

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Authors: Hampton Sides

Tags: #History: American, #20th Century, #Assassination, #Criminals & Outlaws, #United States - 20th Century, #Social History, #Murder - General, #Social Science, #Murder, #King; Martin Luther;, #True Crime, #Cultural Heritage, #1929-1968, #History - General History, #Jr.;, #60s, #United States, #Biography & Autobiography, #Ray; James Earl;, #History, #1928-1998, #General, #History - U.S., #U.S. History - 1960s, #Ethnic Studies, #Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - Histor

BOOK: Hellhound on His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the International Hunt for His Assassin
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572
Neil Shanahan and William Saucier:
This passage is drawn from the FD-302 report of the April 8, 1968, interview that Shanahan and Saucier conducted with the rooming house proprietor, Peter Cherpes, Hughes Collection.

CHAPTER 36
THE MAN FURTHEST DOWN

573
For three and a half miles:
My depiction of King's funeral in Atlanta is drawn primarily from newspaper coverage in the
Atlanta Constitution
and the
New York Times
that appeared on April 10, 1968. I also relied on photographs and other displays at the King Center in Atlanta. Finally, I consulted memoirs of participants, including Young,
Easy Burden
, pp. 477-78; Abernathy,
And the Walls Came Tumbling Down
, pp. 460-65; Coretta Scott King,
My Life with Martin Luther King Jr.
, pp. 329-36; Martin Luther King Sr.,
Daddy King
, pp. 190-91; and Wofford,
Of Kennedys and Kings
, p. 203. I benefited from Risen's vivid account in
Nation on Fire
, pp. 205-13.

574
had suggested that King arranged:
See Risen,
Nation on Fire
, p. 208.

575
"leaning toward each other":
Newsweek
, April 22, 1968.

576
"There was a powerful mood":
Ibid.

577
"I believed in your father":
A letter I viewed in January 2009 from a collection of correspondence on exhibit at the King National Historic Site in Atlanta.

578
"if they catch the guy":
Ibid.

579
"There were many fingers":
Time
, March 21, 1969.

580
Galt was in his room on Ossington Avenue:
My account of what Galt did in his room on April 9 is primarily drawn from newspaper and magazine interviews with the landlady, Mrs. Feliksa Szpakowski. See especially O'Neil, "Ray, Sirhan--What Possessed Them?"

581
nightclub called the Silver Dollar:
Ibid.

582
"time to play detective":
Ray,
Who Killed Martin Luther King?
p. 99.

583
"Yes, hello":
My account of the telephone conversation between Ray and Bridgman is derived both from Ray's own recollection in his memoirs and from Toronto police interviews with Bridgman in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Files, Hughes Collection.

584
Paisley's place of work:
This passage is drawn primarily from the FD-302 report of the interview that Shanahan and Barrett conducted with Paisley on April 9, 1968.

585
"If you are going to do something illegal":
James Earl Ray statement to investigators, House Select Committee on Assassinations,
Appendix Reports
, vol. 9, p. 430.

586
"I make bold to assert":
King eulogy by Benjamin Mays, quoted in the
Atlanta Constitution
, April 10, 1968, p. 1.

CHAPTER 37
THE MURKIN FILES

587
"It was a huge operation":
Author interview with Clark, Oct. 8, 2009, New York City.

588
"We are continuing":
Memo signed by J. Edgar Hoover, MURKIN Files, sec. 2, which the author viewed on microfilm at Stanford University.

589
"A racist":
DeLoach,
Hoover's FBI
, p. 233.

590
"Tips" arrived from all points of the compass:
All these various leads are taken from the opening weeks of the manhunt and are in the MURKIN Files, sec. 2.

591
"Shoot the son-of-a-bitch":
See Frank,
American Death
, p. 143.

592
woman in Memphis called Holloman's office:
From a Memphis police report investigating the footage taken by WMC-TV Channel 5, the NBC affiliate in Memphis, dated April 10, 1968, box 5, Posner Papers, Gotlieb Center.

593
call came from the Mexican consulate:
Memphis Press-Scimitar
, April 19, 1968.

594
white male American tourist:
Frank,
American Death
, p. 188.

595
Mrs. John Riley had been thinking:
This passage is drawn largely from "Capitol Homes Stirred Up by That Mustang,"
Atlanta Constitution
, April 22, 1968.

596
president was signing into law:
See Kotz,
Judgment Days
, p. 421, and Dallek,
Flawed Giant
, p. 534.

597
Brown's Theatrical Supply Company:
See Huie,
He Slew the Dreamer
, p. 154.

598
Arcade Photo Studio:
Ibid., p. 152.

599
convoy of bureau sedans:
Here I relied on a compilation document of FBI interviews with tenants at the housing project titled, "Capitol Homes Interviews," Hughes Collection.

600
"There must have been a billion of 'em":
"Capitol Homes Stirred Up by That Mustang."

601
Every inch of the impounded car:
This passage is largely drawn from the FBI analysis of the Mustang, in "Report of the FBI Laboratory, April 19, #44-38861," Hughes Collection.

602
Theodore A'Hearn:
FD-302 report of A'Hearn's April 11, 1968, interviews at Cort Fox Ford in the compendium document "Los Angeles Investigations," Hughes Collection.

603
Thomas Mansfield:
FD-302 report of Agent Mansfield's April 12, 1968, interviews at the St. Francis Hotel, in "Los Angeles Investigations," Hughes Collection.

604
Lloyd Johnson and Francis Kahl:
FD-302 report from the interview conducted by Johnson and Kahl with Pinela at Home Service Laundry, in "Los Angeles Investigations," Hughes Collection.

605
George Aiken:
FD-302 report from interviews conducted at the National Dance Studio by Aiken, in "Los Angeles Investigations," Hughes Collection.

606
"Yes, Eric Galt was a student here":
FD-302 report from interviews conducted at the International School of Bartending by A'Hearn and Raysa, in "Los Angeles Investigations," Hughes Collection.

607
Donald Jacobs:
Ibid.

CHAPTER 38
CANADA BELIEVES YOU

608
disguised themselves as hippies:
Frank,
American Death
, p. 172.

609
"Take the door off its hinges":
Ibid.

610
a few telltale artifacts:
FD-302 report filed on April 17, 1968, by the FBI agents Harry Lee, John Sullivan, Roger Kaas, and John Ogden, which enumerates and describes all the items found inside Galt's room.

611
William John Slicks and Richard Ross:
This passage is drawn from the FBI's FD-302 report of the April 13, 1968, interview conducted with Stein by Slicks and Ross, in "Los Angeles Investigations," Hughes Collection.

612
Tomaso had sharp recollections:
FD-302 report of the April 13, 1968, interview conducted with Tomaso (a.k.a. Marie Martin) by Slicks and Ross, in "Los Angeles Investigations," Hughes Collection.

613
handwritten sign:
McMillan,
Making of an Assassin
, p. 285.

614
John Ogden and Roger Kaas:
FD-302 report of April 14 and 15, 1968, interviews conducted with Garner by Ogden and Kaas, Hughes Collection.

615
"we were numb":
Beifuss,
At the River I Stand
, p. 348.

616
Abe Plough:
See Honey,
Going Down Jericho Road
, p. 489.

617
"After Dr. King was killed":
Beifuss,
At the River I Stand
, p. 345.

618
"'I am a man'--they meant it":
Reynolds, quoted in Beifuss,
At the River I Stand
, pp. 346-47.

619
"We have been aggrieved":
Memphis Press-Scimitar
, April 17, 1968, p. 1.

620
"We won":
Newsweek
, April 29, 1968, p. 22.

621
Sun Fung Loo:
The FBI's summary of Ray's activities while in Canada, in the MURKIN Files, 4442-4500, sec. 57, p. 61.

622
wrote to the registrar of births:
A copy of Galt's request for Ramon Sneyd's birth certificate is in the House Select Committee on Assassinations,
Appendix Reports
, vol. 5, p. 15.

623
Lillian Spencer:
This passage concerning Spencer at the Kennedy Travel Bureau is drawn from "King Murder Suspect Held--He Hid 1 Month in Metro,"
Toronto Daily Star
, June 8, 1968, p. 1. I also relied on RCMP interviews with Spencer in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Files, Hughes Collection.

624
"I thought it was an odd name":
Huie,
He Slew the Dreamer
, p. 155.

CHAPTER 39
ARMED AND DANGEROUS

625
found the laundry service:
FBI interview with Estelle Peters conducted on April 16, 1968, by Special Agents Charles Rose and Robert Kane, FD-302 report, Hughes Collection.

626
fingerprint raised from a map:
"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,
Appendix Reports
, vol. 13, pp. 109-21.

627
"Our net was beginning to close":
DeLoach,
Hoover's FBI
, pp. 242, 247.

628
"All I can say":
See Frank,
American Death
, p. 124.

629
FBI announced that it was issuing a warrant:
A copy of the warrant, with accompanying shots of Galt/Ray adapted from his bartending school photo, is in the Hughes Collection.

630
jaywalked across a busy street:
Ray discusses the jaywalking incident in both of his books,
Tennessee Waltz
, p. 84, and
Who Killed Martin Luther King?
p. 99. See also Huie,
He Slew the Dreamer
, p. 158.

631
shredded his driver's license:
Ray,
Tennessee Waltz
, p. 84.

CHAPTER 40
THE PHANTOM FUGITIVE

632
"the man without a past":
These characterizations are taken from a variety of media sources immediately after Galt was identified--including the
Memphis Commercial Appeal
the
Washington Post
, the
Atlanta Constitution, Newsweek
, and
Time
.

633
"No, that's not him":
"Eric Galt, Alleged Brother Conspired to Assassinate Dr. King, FBI Declares,"
Atlanta Constitution
, April 18, 1968, pp. 1, 29.

634
"I just don't know":
Ibid.

635
"was a two-dimensional cutout":
Newsweek
, April 29, 1968.

636
"Fiction wouldn't touch it":
Memphis Commercial Appeal
, June 16, 1968.

637
"destroyed the production plants":
"Who Is Phantom Fugitive? Reporters Put Together Facts," a special "Task Force Report" in the
Atlanta Constitution
, April 22, 1968, p. 8.

638
"He is the man who killed":
Mrs. Szpakowski's conversation with her husband concerning Galt is recounted in Frank,
American Death
, p. 316.

639
"All the signs were there":
DeLoach,
Hoover's FBI
, pp. 241-42.

640
"Les, we have pretty good evidence":
The conversation between DeLoach and Les Trotter is recalled in DeLoach,
Hoover's FBI
, p. 245.

641
"we're under tremendous pressure":
Ibid., p. 246.

642
"We're getting there":
Ibid.

CHAPTER 41
THE TOP TEN

643
"He came with a suit on":
Loo, quoted in the
Memphis Commercial Appeal
, June 10, 1968.

644
Sneyd sat at the crowded bar:
Posner,
Killing the Dream
, pp. 244-45; Huie,
He Slew the Dreamer
, p. 160.

645
"He was a dirty little neck":
Peterson, quoted in
Life
, May 3, 1968.

646
thumbnail sketch:
This information concerning Ray's prison history is primarily drawn from FD-302 reports of the FBI's interviews with Ray's former prison inmates at Jefferson City, in the voluminous compendium document St. Louis Files, Hughes Collection.

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