Who Killed Martin L King

Still serving his 99-year sentence for the slaying of Martin Luther King in Memphis in 1968, Ray offers compelling arguments for reopening the case in this dramatic, spirited chronicle. An escaped con, self-described as a ``two-bit career criminal'' having no strongly held racial views, Ray tells of smuggling ``contraband'' between Canada, Mexico and the U.S. for a man known to him only as Raoul, who directed him to Memphis a few days before the shooting. While Raoul's activities are as vague as his identity, serious questions are raised by the apparently frantic desire of the authorities to have Ray, who was captured and charged in England three months later, plead guilty and forgo a trial. If Ray's story is accurate, his lawyer, Percy Foreman, obsessed with money, eagerly orchestrated the guilty pleas. Ray also suggests that the FBI's role in the case bears examination, given J. Edgar Hoover's hatred and persecution of King. Whether readers will be convinced that an injustice has been done or not, many may support Ray's call for vigorous reinvestigation. Photos not seen by PW. (Nov.)