Killing the Dream: James Earl Ray and the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

By: Gerald Posner

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Synopsis: A deep dive into James Earl Ray&’s role in the national tragedy: &“Superb . . . a model of investigation . . . as gripping as a first-class detective story&” (The New York Times). On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was killed in Memphis, Tennessee, by a single assassin&’s bullet. A career criminal named James Earl Ray was seen fleeing from a rooming house that overlooked the hotel balcony from where King was cut down. An international manhunt ended two months later with Ray&’s capture. Though Ray initially pled guilty, he quickly recanted and for the rest of his life insisted he was an unwitting pawn in a grand conspiracy. In Killing the Dream, expert investigative reporter Gerald Posner reexamines Ray and the evidence, even tracking down the mystery man Ray claimed was the conspiracy&’s mastermind. Beginning with an authoritative biography of Ray&’s life, and continuing with a gripping account of the assassination and its aftermath, Posner cuts through phony witnesses, false claims, and a web of misinformation surrounding that tragic spring day in 1968. He puts Ray&’s conspiracy theory to rest and ultimately manages to disclose what really happened the day King was murdered.