The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the great civil rights leader, humanitarian, American hero and recipient of the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize, was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., April 4, 1968. On that infamous Thursday, Dr. King and his party were staying at the Lorraine Motel. While standing on an open balcony in front of Room 306, his room on the second floor, Dr. King was shot once at 6:01 p.m. The single rifle bullet, fired from Dr. King's front and right, struck Dr. King on the right chin and neck, inflicting fearful injuries, including a severing of the spinal cord. Although he did not die immediately, Dr. King could not have survived his wounds. Rushed to nearby St. Joseph Hospital, Dr. King was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m.
The fatal shot was allegedly fired from a second floor bathroom window at the rear of a rooming house located near the Lorraine Motel. The alleged murder weapon, a high-power .30-06 cal. Remington Gamemaster pump action rifle, equipped with a scope, was found within minutes near the scene of the crime.
Dr. King's alleged assassin, James Earl Ray, was indicted for the murder by a Tennessee grand jury on May 7, 1968. Ray was alleged by FBI and local police investigators to be the sole assassin. After a worldwide manhunt, Ray was arrested on June 8, 1968, at an airport in London, England, while trying to fly to Brussels using a false passport.
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