F.B.I. Thinks Ray Acted Alone

Press, Issue 32333, 26 June 1970, Page 13

F.B.I. Thinks Ray Acted Alone

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) WASHINGTON, June 24. The Federal Bureau of Investigation said today that it had abandoned a theory that James Earl Ray, killer of -the Negro civil rights leader, Dr Martin Luther King, took part in a conspiracy.

An F. 8.1. spokesman said that hundreds of leads had been checked but none supported the idea, that other people had been involved with him in the murder plot. Ray, now serving a 99-year gaol term, stood trial in March last year. He has said repeatedly that

he did not act alone. When he entered a plea of guilty at his trial, he said that it should not be interpreted as a finding that there was no conspiracy. Today’s F. 8.1. statement was made in response to reporters’ questions after the Justice Department had earlier made public evidence sent to British authorities to obtain Ray’s extradition from London. •

Documents released in Washington confirmed that Ray’s clearly - identifiable fingerprints were found on a rifle abandoned by Dr King’s assassin.

The full extent of evidence against Ray had never been disclosed because Ray prevented a full hearing of the case by switching his plea to guilty after testimony at his trial had barely begun.

Lennon’s Lithographs

Fourteen lithographs by John Lennon, including eight that have been declared indecent by the British police, have grossed a total of £160,000, the “Guardian” reports. The lithographs were drawn during a day in Canada last December. The eight seized by police in a raid on a London art gallery last April show various aspects of the sex life of Lennon and his Japanese wife, Yoko Ono. —London, June 25.