Legacy of Secrecy (108 page)

with a promise of $50,000 “if he succeeded.” Supposedly, the contract

“came directly from New Orleans and Carlos Marcello.”3

However, using someone like James Earl Ray had several advantages

for Marcello and Milteer. Ray had no long-term ties to Marcello’s orga-

nization and none at all to Milteer’s white supremacist groups. In fact,

someone would have the previously nonpolitical Ray suddenly become

very active in supporting George Wallace’s American Party, almost as if

Ray needed to buttress the fact that he was clearly a racist. Unless he was

acting under orders, it makes little sense for a fugitive like Ray to have

called attention to himself in such a manner. On the other hand, Ray’s

seeming political involvement would help to convince the press and

public that he had murdered Dr. King on his own, for racial reasons. The

House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) found that “while

unsympathetic to the civil rights movement, he [Ray] did not manifest

the type of virulent racism that might have motivated the assassination

in the absence of other factors.” Instead, “the Committee . . . concluded

that the expectation of financial gain was Ray’s primary motivation

[because] historically, Ray was a financially motivated criminal.”4

While “the Committee concluded that there was a likelihood of con-

spiracy in the assassination of Dr. King,” and that “James Earl Ray assas-

sinated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as a result of a conspiracy,” it didn’t

have access to the information we have today, which shows Marcello’s

and Milteer’s involvement.5 James Earl Ray’s connections to organized

crime dated back to the 1950s, according to an inmate who served

time with him at Leavenworth and the Missouri State Penitentiary. As

recorded in FBI files, prior to being sentenced to Leavenworth in 1955,

“Ray had another close friend . . . of Italian descent, apparently a ‘big

man’ in the syndicate. This Italian had apparently operated with Ray

in the past, and both he and Ray had engaged in handling stolen Postal

money orders and travelers checks.” Ray said he had “operated” in Illi-

nois in the 1950s, engaging “in burglary and payroll jobs.” The inmate

said that “Ray mentioned underworld and hoodlum connections . . . in

Chicago, Detroit, Tampa, and the Tijuana, Mexico area.”6

The inmate “stated that Ray had a friend in New Orleans, Louisi-

ana [whose name is censored in the FBI report], who was apparently a

‘fence.’” This fact appears to confirm Ray’s brother’s account that Ray

knew an experienced “Fence” in New Orleans. The inmate said “this

man was well connected with the hoodlum element,” but by 1968 he

would have been in his late sixties. Still, the inmate felt that “this indi-

vidual would definitely harbor Ray,” even as a fugitive. After Dr. King’s

death, the inmate said “he would not be surprised if James Earl Ray was

the murderer of Martin Luther King, however, he does not believe Ray

would have killed King without being paid for it.” (When the inmate

told that to the FBI just three weeks after King’s assassination, he “said

he would not testify . . . because if he did . . . he would fear for his life.”

He spoke to the press and Congressional investigators, but not about

Ray’s ties to the Mafia.)7

James Earl Ray had been drawn into Marcello’s heroin network the

same way as other experienced, low-level criminals who had the right

contacts. Starting in Montreal and continuing in Mexico, Ray had proved

538

LEGACY OF SECRECY

he could handle the travel, the secrecy, the drugs, and large sums of

money without drawing attention to himself. Ray’s long-standing habit

of being tight-fisted with money was an asset in that regard—which was

another reason why his spending spree in Los Angeles was so unusual

for him. While Ray had been successful on recent smuggling runs, he

wasn’t an essential part of Marcello’s organization and was the type of

disposable felon who wouldn’t be missed after Dr. King’s murder.

For the hit on Martin Luther King, an outstanding shooter wasn’t

needed. Unlike with JFK, Dr. King had no mass of trained and armed

security usually surrounding him, and there was no need to shoot King

in a motorcade. The assassin could wait until King was a stationary tar-

get, so what was needed was someone who could patiently stalk him.

Since Ray had first been used in the Detroit–Toronto–Montreal heroin

network under the control of Carmine Galante—the man whom Hoffa

had told about his contract on Bobby Kennedy—it’s tempting to specu-

late that Ray might have been considered for that operation. However,

that contract would have been activated only if Bobby decided to run,

and Bobby was adamant in his public statements in the fall of 1967 that

he would not do so.

Because that heroin network specialized in providing aliases and

cover identities, Marcello’s associates could offer Ray something more

than just money for participating in the hit on Dr. King. “Galt,” as well

as the other Toronto aliases Ray would soon use, were helpful in the US

and were probably provided by Galante’s Toronto associates. But the

Mafia could also promise Ray secure travel documents (passport, visa,

etc.) as part of a cover identity that he could use to establish himself

in another country. Apparently, Ray envisioned himself running a bar

in such a place with his stake from killing King, so he would enroll in

bartending school.8

Some writers have speculated that Ray knew about the contract on

King from hearing about it in prison, so it’s possible that Ray may have

been the one to initially approach associates of Marcello about it at some

point. An FBI report claims that Ray told a fellow inmate at Missouri

State Penitentiary that someone in St. Louis was offering $50,000 to kill

Dr. King. Ray told the inmate he could also get $50,000 just for helping,

and even if they got caught, as long as they killed King in the South,

they would have no problems with a jury.9 Ray could have heard about

Sutherland’s offer to Russell Byers, the brother-in-law of Ray’s prison

buddy John Spica. Also, Ray’s brother later indicated in an interview

that James Earl Ray knew that the King contract was somehow related to

Leander Perez, the Louisiana political boss close to Carlos Marcello—but

Ray didn’t know how to approach someone like Perez or his associ-

ates. Once Ray became part of Marcello’s heroin network, however, that

wasn’t a problem.10

Because of the usually sympathetic nature of juries in the South,

Ray apparently told one of his brothers that “it had to be a southern

State where he killed MLK,” and the “main thing was Alabama—but

if not there, Memphis.” Notably absent were Marcello’s Louisiana and

Milteer’s Georgia. Mississippi at the time was the focus of too much

FBI and Justice Department undercover activity to be considered safe

for a secure hit.11 Ray said at one point that after King was murdered,

“he figured [there] wouldn’t be [an] all-out manhunt because Hoover

hated King [and] didn’t want him [to] come [to] Washington,” for a Poor

People’s March in the spring of 1968. That sounds like something Ray

might have heard from someone who was aware of the FBI’s massive

effort against Dr. King.12

On December 15, 1967, James Earl Ray abruptly left Los Angeles for a

cross-country drive to New Orleans. The HSCA felt that “Ray’s trip to

New Orleans . . . was significant. The abrupt nature of his departure from

Los Angeles, the risks he took on the road, his receipt of money during

the visit, and the speedy termination of his mission all indicated Ray’s

involvement with others in an important meeting with a preplanned

purpose.”13

Within three months of interviewing Ray following his capture,

author William Bradford Huie told Ray’s second attorney, Percy Fore-

man, that he “believed that the decision to kill Dr. King was made in New

Orleans by someone other than Ray,” and that after spending time in

New Orleans, Ray “was directed to do the killing.” Huie also “believed

the FBI would make an arrest in New Orleans. In addition, when [Ray’s

first attorney] showed Ray the witness list, Ray was interested only in

certain witnesses from Louisiana. None of the other witnesses interested

him, but he looked carefully at every name from Louisiana.”14

Ray would be worried about people from New Orleans during his

trial for killing Dr. King because, as he told his brother, “it is dangerous

down there in New Orleans. They get pretty mean down there.” Ray’s

December 1967 trip to New Orleans was also a drug run, and his brother

said that Ray knew “for sure about [the] dope business . . . from New

Orleans to LA.” But as the HSCA noted, Ray’s actions before, during,

and after his New Orleans trip were also probably connected to his

involvement in the conspiracy to kill Dr. King.15

According to information from the Justice Department memo cited

540

LEGACY OF SECRECY

earlier that was apparently withheld from the HSCA, “‘Charlie Stein, a

petty racketeer connected with organized crime, contacted James Earl

Ray in Los Angeles and told him that there were people in New Orleans

whom he ought to talk to.’ Sartor states . . . that ‘Ray was told that the

people he ought to talk to would help him with money and his fugitive

status.’”16

Charles Stein would accompany Ray on his long drive to New

Orleans. The Fifth Circuit US Court of Appeals describes Stein as “a

former resident of that city [who] in the mid-1950s [had] worked at

several bars in the French Quarter . . . where he managed and ran dice

tables. In the early 1960s, he ran a prostitution ring that included his

wife. During the same period, he was also reputedly involved in selling

narcotics—a favorite Mafia activity in New Orleans, along with gam-

bling and prostitution. Later, in 1974, Stein was convicted of selling

heroin in California.”17

When the FBI interviewed Stein soon after King’s murder, Stein

claimed “the first time he ever saw [Ray] was on the night of December

14, 1967,” just before the drive with Ray to New Orleans. However,

FBI agents were suspicious about Ray’s white Mustang being seen at

Stein’s place of employment. When the FBI told Stein it “had informa-

tion which indicated that he was possibly engaged in the sale of some

type of drugs, Stein admitted to having been arrested in the past for

narcotics violations.”18

After Dr. King’s murder, Stein went to ridiculous lengths to deny that

he was still involved in drugs in 1967, even when FBI agents told him

they knew “there was an unusually heavy amount of traffic into” his

home, including “young men seen lying in a stupor in his backyard.”

The FBI confronted Stein with the accusation that “the trip he made

with [Ray] to New Orleans [was] made by the two of them to procure

drugs.” Stein denied that, but admitted Ray could have been using

amphetamines. That explains why Stein and Ray claimed they were

able to drive straight through to New Orleans and back again, without

stopping at a motel.19

Ray’s cover story for the trip was that he needed to bring back two

children from New Orleans for a woman he’d met at a bar in Los Ange-

les. However, Ray told Stein that wasn’t his real purpose for the trip

and that “he was not doing anyone a favor, because he had business to

conduct in New Orleans.” Of course, having children in the car on the

way back would have made Ray and Stein appear far less suspicious if

they were stopped.20

When the FBI first interviewed Stein after Dr. King’s death, Ray had

not yet been captured, and the FBI clearly knew enough about Stein’s

drug dealing to make life very difficult for him. Stein told the FBI that

Ray “mentioned the name and address of the person he was going to

see” in New Orleans, which Stein claimed not to recall. However, Stein

said “the name was an Italian-sounding name, was a well-known name

in New Orleans.”21

Stein appears to have been hinting that Ray’s contact was in the Mafia,

as a way to get the FBI to back off, either by offering the Bureau a lead

if it went easy on him or because he’d heard about the FBI’s reluctance

to pursue Marcello’s organization. In either case, his gambit appears to

have been effective. There is no indication that the FBI seriously inves-

tigated either Ray’s mob-connected New Orleans friend, “the Fence,”

or the area of New Orleans that Stein said Ray intended to visit, “the

Chalmette–Industrial Canal area of New Orleans.”22

One of Ray’s brothers said that in addition to “the Fence,” James Earl

Ray “had [another] contact in New Orleans . . . Eddie was his dope con-

tact in New Orleans.” Apparently, Ray was afraid of Eddie and his boss.

After Ray’s guilty plea for King’s murder, Ray would ask his brother to

call Eddie in New Orleans to “tell him everything was okay from James