'Posner's research is p.odigious and often ex-kernefy cou.ageous." - ThE l,lew Yotk Tinr6

-His work is painstakingly honest journalism.' -flr \|Aihir'rglon hn

'Mon than 250 books ha\€ been written on thelile and death of Ma.tin tuther King '|r.... Ihe bestof all ot th€m is Xiflirg t E D.carn, written by Ger-ald Posner, a law),er and prize-winning author. ltis a remaakable work in which the author conductsan in-depth investigative analysis...." - Johns€igenthaler, Tcnn€sraon (newspapeo ChairmanEmefitus. former publisher of tll, lZdoy, formeraide to U.5. Attomey Gene(al Robert Kennedy

Fot someone seeking success and recognitionin the literary world, the above quotes are,without doubt, praises ftom the loftiest ofsourees-the kind that ma&e careers! Havingwriaen several artides on theJames Ead Ray-Manin Luttrer King case, I decided to readKi ing tht Drcart After finishing Kilting ti€Duor, which focuses on the Ray-King case, Idecided to do some cross-checking concem-ing claims Fosner makes in his book My con-clusion after cross<hecking: I take a degreeofopposition to the above, and to the numer-ous odrer accolades bestowed upon Killr'ng tluDrcant. Why? Because the boolc though clw-erly crafted, has an alarming number of mis-takes. In the following paragraphs, in additionto subEtantiating my claims, I will share someofrny findings with you.

ln Two Places at OnccIn May 1952, James Earl Ray was appre-

hended after attempting to hold up a Chicagocab driver. In June 1952, he was sentenced tothe notorious Joliet prison in Chicago, wherehe remained until March 1954. In his bookFosner states: "Jerry Ray [younger brother ofJames Earl Rayl, who was then on parole andworking at a riding stable in suburban Chi-cagp, read about the crime in the newspaper....Jerry sent a clipping to his mother." (KilL'rg

tht Dreatn, page 105.) Impossible. How so?In March f 950 Jerry W. Ray was commit-

ted to dre Illinois State Thaining School forBoys at St. Charles. He was released on pa-role in Mardr 1951. After only three weeks offreedom, Jerry violated his parole and landedback at St. Charles. Once back, Jerry took panin a riot, received an l8-month sentence andwas transferred to an even tougher facility inSheridon, Illinois, where he remained untilJanuary 1953. It's obviousJer4r wasn't out onparole working at a riding stable in 1952, be-cause ftom spring 1951 until winter 1953 hewas incarcerated. This is a matter of oublicrecord. It's disturbing to think Mr. Fosner, alawyer-Wall Street lawyer at that!-wouldunwittingly err on facts so accessible to a manofhis connections. It's wen more disturbingto consider the possibility that he knowinglydid so.

$ing, but Gluotable Trashln Killing the Dreon, Posner paints the Ray

brothers, James Earl Ray, Jerry, and John, asbeing nothing more than lying, white trashthugs. He paraphrases Jerry Ray as saying thefollowiag: "his brotherJerry is almost certainlyright when he said that Ray [James Earl Ray]beliwed killing King could be done only inthe South."(Killiry the Drean, pages 217-218)"

Concerning brotherJohn Ray, Fosner says:"Throughout late L947 arfr early 1948, Rayflames Earl Rayl had begun drinking. Accord-ing to brother John, this was also when hestafted e.\perimenting with drugs, most likelyamphetamines-he had 'not seemed rightsince,'John later said." (Ki[ing the Drcon, pege94) Hold on, here, there must be some kindof mistake. How can Posner use the Rays as areference for the truth when, coundess tirnesftroughout the book, he makes them out tobe notorious liars? Such audacity! Is dris nota direct insult to the intelligence of the read-ing public?

Posner plays James Earl Ray's alleged drugabuse to the hilc "Ray evidendy broke the car-dinal rule ofdrug dealing-he began using thedrugs he sold.... Inmates Walter Nolan andHarry Sero also knew Ray was an amphet-amine abuser. and Fraak Guinan said he wasaddicted to bennies ." (KitlingtheDrca'r',pages133-134) However, there's a flaw in Posner'sclaim: he uses convicted criminals as a sourcefor the truth. Since when did one convictedcriminal become more credible than another?James Earl Ray said he didn't deal or use drugs;various fellow inmates said he did. From aperspective of basic logic, why not believeJames Earl Ray as opposed to Nolaa, Sero, andGuinan? (For one thin& the condemnation ofJames Ead Ray carries a much higher marqueevalue; it sells books.) Again, Mr. Posner ex-hibits a degree ofliterary inconsistency: whenconvenient, he damns a criminal; when con-venient, he quotes a criminal as telling thetruth.

Jerry Ray claims that not only did JamesEarl Ray tend to abstain fiom alcohol anddrugs, but also that he was health conscious,worked out, watched his weight and what heate. "He used to stay on my back all the timeabout me drinking and smoking," Jerry toldme. Dr. Cyril Wecht, considered the leadingpathologist in the United States, oversaw theautopsy on James Earl Ray's corpse. At age70, James Earl Ray succumbed to the effectsofcirrhosis ofthe liver on April 23, 1998. Dr.Wecht told Jerry dnt "a young man would'vebeen proud o haveJames's body." Wecht saidall major drive-trains, hean, kidneys, etc., werein excellent condition. the diseased liver andthe damage caused by the liver the only problems- He went on to say that had James EarlRay received a liver transplant when the issuefirst came up, he would've had a good chanceof surviving the transplant, and probablywould have lived for sweral more years, dueto the healthyiness of the rest of his major

Uercb-lDdl, f999

organs. Such postmortem revelations arehardly consistent with a 7O-year-old humanphysiology ravaged by excessive drug and al-cohol abuse.

lfJames Earl Ray had lived longer, a newtrial would have been a sure deal, and he verywell could have been exonerated, just as hewas in the 1993 HBO mock trial. But, the livertransplant was blocked by authorities whoknew death was iust around the comer, andthat if they waired it out, as they did, JamesEarl Ray would die, and rhe embarrassins re-suhs likely from a real trial would be buiiedwith him.

In 1981, while an inmate at Brushy Moun-tain State Prison in East Tennessee, James EarlRay was stabbed and slashed repeatedly bythree inmates. 77 stitches were required toclose the resulting wounds. During the courseof the surgery, due to loss of blood from thewounds, James Earl Ray received blood bytransfusion. Over the years, there has beenspecularion thatJames Earl Ray, bywayofthetransfusion, conracred hepatitis C, whichcould have developed into cirrhosis of the liver.This theory is at least as plausible as alcohol-related liver damage in a man not known todrink.

Racist Ray?WasJames Earl Ray a racist? According to

his book, Gerald Posner thinks so: , 'gur famealone does not explain why Ray killed King.Another reason was likely his demeaning anddismissive view ofblacks.... His racism alonewould have made it easier for him to murderMdtin Luther King, Jr." (Kill;ng the Dreom,pages 333-334) What does posner offer asproof that James Earl Ray was a racist. Thefollowing: 'James Brown, a fellow inmate whoknew Ray for years, recalled that after JohnKennedy was shot, Ray said, ,That is oneniggerloving S.O.B. that gor shor.'... InmateHarry Sero said Ray had a great dislike forblacks.... Thoinas Britton knew Ray from hiscell block.... Ray once told him,there are moreways of making money than robbing banks.,When Bdtton asked what he meanr, Ray saidthere was a'businessman's association, thatwas offering up to $100,000 for King to bekilled. 'King is five years past due.',, (Killingthe Dream, pages 735-L36)

Uh-oh! Here we go again with that con-vict/criminal credibiliry thing. What if inmateBdtton claimed he'd never broken the law,was, in facr, the angel Gabriel in disguise, andhad never ever rold a lie? Should we betievehim? Why not? Gerald Posner exDecrs us tobelieve him when he has somerhi;g incrimi-nating to say aboutJames Earl Ray, somethingthat bolsters the desired effect bf his book.I'm surprised that some ofthe convicts didn,t

secretly record James Earl Ray making a ra-cial slur or tlreat on tape. Now, that would beimpressive! Tangible, physical evidence thatcan't be denied. On rhe other hand, Jarnes EarlRay quite possibly was recorded; only he wasnever captured making racial slurs or threats.Maybe, James Earl Ray was not a racist, andtherefore never made such statements.

The Velcro VictimLet's see how easily a particular profile, if

needed, can be created. It's going to have tostick, likevelcro; rhe public has to buy it. Okay,

the subtect: James Earl Ray: a two-bit, pettycrook; a four-rime Ioser; a fugirive on rhe run,needing some fast cash! A rabid racist! IfRavsays he's not a racist how do we convince rhepublic thar he is? Simple. All we have to do isinterview a few convicts who did time withJames Earl Ray. We tell them that if they can(please!) remember hearing James Eari Raymaking derogatory and threatening srate-ments againsr blacks-against Manin-LurherKing, in panicular-rhey'l l ger rheir names ina famous book. But, are convicts credible(yeah, that again)? Ifnecessary they are. Justimagine a convicr, stawing for attention, rcar_ing through the pages ofa famous book to qetto that one page rhar bears his name. Oh, wiata rhrilll Case closed! And how dare anvone.even ifhe or she holds elements ofrhe rruth,try to reopen it?

The book hits the bookstores. Now. allthat's left are book signings and rhe cocktailparties. The gown-and-tux type of cocktail

parq', where waiters are wandering aroundwith a full tray of champagne stems, and ev-eryone is batting eyes, smiling ear-to-ear, andnodding 'yes' as rhe toast of the pany pro-claims that "Shit smells sood-"

Melodramatic? Or frilhteningly real?

Sins of OmissionIn 1976, the House Select Commitree on

Assassinations (HSCA) was formed to rein-vestigate the Martin Luther King and Joho F.Kennedy assassinations, Nashville ArtorneyJack Kershaw was James Earl Ray,s lead de-fense counsel. Jerry Ray says that around rhistime, Kershaw was invited to attend a meet-ing in Nashville with noted author WilliamBradford Huie and two other unidenrifiedmales.

At the meeting, Huie persuaded Kershawto take an offer to his client, James Earl Ray.The offer consisted of the following: a cashpayment in excess of $200,000.00, i pardonfrom the govemor of Tennessee, a wiiver ofthe ourstanding warrant on him from the Mis-souri Department of Corrections, and a newidentity, in exchange for his "unequivocal ad-mission ofguilt" in the assassination of Mar-tin Lurher King. WhenJames Earl Ray escapedfrom the Missouri Srare Prison in April I967,he was serving a twenty-year sentence for rob_bing a Kroger's store. At the time of his es-cape, he had served only seven ofthe rwenryyears; he had rhineen ro go, rhus rhe waiver, Isuppose. Attomey Kershaw took the offer roJames Earl Ray. James Earl Ray tumed ir down.Here's some food for thoughtr ifjames EarlRay was Dr King's murderer, why did he tumdown such an offer?Just think, not only wouldhe have gorren away wirh killing someone hewanted dead, but he would have been amolvrewarded for his crime. Maybe, it was a mir-ter ofprinciple?

Sometime later, after Attomey Mark Lanetook over as James Earl Ray,s lead defensecounsel, Huie again made rhe offer, only thistime toJerry Ray, via two telephone conversa-tions tharJerry recorded. Huie, in making sucha brazen offer, no doubt had the hiehest ech-elon of govemment backing. Who -else couldhave approved such? Reme-mber, there weretwo unidentified men present at the meetingwith Huie and Kershaw. Mark Lane and Will-iam Peppet who replaced Lane as James EarlRay's lead defense counsel, ended up withtranscripts of rhe tape. Whoops! posnir failsto mention this in his book. Reckon why?Rather obvious, isn't it? Since when does theSystem cut a deal with a killer whom it hasthe goods on? Possibly, the System felt it didn,thave adequate goods on James Earl Ray andneeded a l itt le back-up.

conhnued on page 6March-April,leee FfOi=

BI

Posnercortinued from page 5

Oliver Patterson was an undercover ooerativefor the HSCA. The HSCA assigned drtersonthe task of befiiending Jerry Ray and getdngas much dirt on him as possible, such as col-lecting a hair sample and prowling throughJerry's belongings. In a swom affidavit, datedAugust 1978, Patterson disclosed his under-cover role and how the HSCA had pushed himto give a private interview to New Yorh Timesreponer Anthony J. Marro. Patterson was totell Marro that Mark Lane was homosexual;that Lane had told him, Patterson, that he,Lane, knew there was no person named"Raoul," the shadowy figure James Earl Rayclaimed was responsible for bringing him toMemphis that fateful April 4, 1968 day; andthat Patterson's undercover work left no doubtthatJames Earl Ray killed Martin Luther King.

Enter Susan Wadswonh, an acquaintanceof Patterson. She tipped off Lane concemingPattelson's intentions and HSCA undercoverrole. Lane braced Patterson down, and Patter-son not only admitted his covert role butagreed to cooperate with Lane. On the day thatPatterson was supposed to give Marro the in-tewiew (a few days before Patterson signedthe affidavit), in a designated St. Louis hotel,Marro arrived as scheduled. only to be wel-comed by a room full of news reporters, cam-eramen-and Attomey Mark Lane! Capturedlive on film, Marro immediately took flight,with Lane in hot pursuit, asking Marro if hesought the truth. (If Marro was on the up-and-up and had the truth as his reinforcement,why did he run?) Funny thing, going back overKilling thc Drcqm I failed to find any mention _of the above incident.

William Sartor, a writer who had some big timemagazine and newspaper connections, becameinterested in the Ray-King case. Sartor wasconvinced that Dr. King's murder was con-nected to organized crime, and thatJames EarlRay was a'patsy groomed to take the heat.Sartor pursued his theory with diligence.

In 1971, William Sartor died unexpectedlyin Waco, Texas, from-rumor had it-a drugoverdose, even though he had no known his-tory of drug use. Coincidentally, Sartor wasset to interview an important witness, peni-nent to the Ray-King case, the next day. Noone, even Sartor's mother, was able to get apostmortem repon. The death cenificate wasevasive, stating that the cause of death wasundetermined. Raised eyebrows trailedSartor's death and the way it was handled.

Twenty-one years later, the hospital post-monem report of William Sanor's death was

finally released. It stated that Sartor had diedfrom an overdose of methaqualone, Since, asstated, Sartor had no known history of druguse, the Waco district attomey saw fit to Iookinto the case, eventually ruling Sanor's deatha homicide.

ln Killing thc Dreatn, Posner mentions Wil-liam Sartor one time, in a foomote at the bot-tom of page 285: "ln an unpublishedmanuscript, often referred to by conspiracybuffs, Sanor offered one of the wildest mob-relatedtheories about the case; the only thingmissing was the evidence." Strange tharPosner fails to mention tle nature of and factssurrounding William Sartor's demise. Here,again, the problem is not so much what Posnersays; it's what he doesn't say.

Cruella D'Evil?In 1977James Earl Ray met Anna Sandhu,

a courtroom artist then in her early thinies,and married her in 1978. Of Anna Sandhu.Posner says the following:

.. . attractave, blond couftroom adist. . . Sandhu,though,Iiled for divorce in November t990, citing"inappropriate marital behavior. Tie divorce wasfinal ized in 1993.5andhu went on anothernauonalpress tour. includingappearances on qeroldo! andThe Phil Donahue Show in which she now claimedthat Ray was an expert manipulator and she nolonger bel ieved him innocent. In 1997. she toldthe Ndtiondlfnquife. that the real reason she di-vorced Raywas that during a phone argument shetold him, "l've never believed you could have killedMartin Luther King, and Ray yelled yeah, I did it.Sowhat? (Killingth?Dredm,footnotes.pages260-26tl

Somewhat impressive, the above descdp-tion, right? It's what Mr Posner fails ro tell us

that sheds new light on the image ofone AnnaSandhu,/Ray.

Jerry Ray claims that his ex-sister-inlawSandhu lived in Nashville in the early 90s.When she vacated her Nashville home, neigh-bors kept hearing the constant barking ofdogscoming from inside the house. Not seeingSandhu for days, the neighbors eventuallycalled the authorities. What the authodtiesfound was mind-boggling: better than 30 catsand dogs left abandoned inside the house.After relocating back in l(noxville, Tennessee,Sandhu was involved in a domestic dispure.When the police arrived, they found the situ-ation with the upkeep and hygiene ofAnna'spersonal quaners had worsened: she had morethan 40 felines and canines living inside herKnoxville home----only this time some of theanimals were dead!

Challenges Jerry Ray: "Both incidents arerecorded. Hell, up in Knoxville she was ar-rested for cruelty to animals! Ifyou don't be-lieve me, just check the Knoxvil le andNashville papers." Something about a humanbeing living with 30 plus mongrels in twoseparate establishments, dead carcasses in-volved in one situation, tamishes the modi-fier "atftactive" and places a big question markat the end ofAnna's claim thatJames Earl Rayover a prison telephone admitted to her hekilled Martin Luther King. Jerry says thatSandhu also expressed an interest in writinga book on the Ray-King case. Uh-huh($$$$$$). By the way, Gerald Posner was alsoa gluest on Geraldo , actually on one of the lastairings. Both Geraldo and Posner failed tomention Anna's fondness for cats and dogs.Well, well, every picture, indeed, tells a srory.Moving right along...

Phantom Tape, PhantomRobbery

The weekend ofApril4, 1998, the 30-yearanniversary of Dr. King's assassination, GeraldPosner was in Memphis (site ofthe assassina-tion) promoting his book, Killing the Dreqtu.Jerry Ray was also thele. Jerry confrontedPosner about the errors in his book, andPosner dodged Jerry's direct questions like amaa dodging bullets. This is on video, folks.

Recently, I spoke with Jerry Ray. I askedJerry ifhe'd ever challenged Mr Posner to anopen-forum debate.

Jerry Ray: "Posie-Wosie did conracrJamesby letter and asked to talk to him.James wroteback and said he had no intentions oftalkinsto him [Posner]. James knew Posie was a roibot writer and would misrepresent what he[James Earl Ray] said, you know, whicheverbutton the govemment pushed, that's the wayhe'd wlite. He even claimed James made aconfession tape before he died."

Ifarab-April, 1999

What ahut a nnfusion tap?Jerry Rayi "I got a calL ftom TheToday Show

a few days after James's death. The lady whocalted said she'd received information thatJames made a confession tape right before hedied. I asked her the source of her informa-tion. She replied, 'Gerald Posner.' I said, 'That'sPosner, alright.'To this day, the tape has neversurfaced. [Posner also claimed to have a tapeofone of dre autopsists in the lGnnedy assas-sination reversing a long-held stance on theposition ofJFKs head wound. To date, thattape has nwer sufaced either, despite repeatedrequests by the ARRB and others. - Eds.l Iu/onder ifPosie is holding on to the tape andplans to cash it in for big bucks one day?[Laughs] If Posie can produce the tape, I'llconfess to being Raoul. Some of the prosecu-tion, as well as some writers who side withthe prosecution, claim I was-am-Raoul."

You got M! proof thqt you'rc not?Jerry Ray: "Yeah."Let's hove it.Jerry Ray: "In 1981 I appeared on a show

caJled, Lie Detector, broadcast nationwide andhosted by prominent attomey F. l€e Bailey.Ed Galb, a highly regarded specialist in thefield of lie detector tests, administered twoIie detector tests to me. Baileysaid ttre resultsof the first test proved I wasn't Raoul, nor didI have anything to do with or know anythingabout the King assassination. Bailey said re-sults of the second test proved I didn't robthe bank in Alton, Illinois [about 25 milesfrom St. loiusl, nor had I ever robbed anybank-period! As bad as the govemmenrwanted to connect the Rays to the Alton bankrobbery they, if they'd had a smidgen of evi-dence, would've arrested me in a split second."

Again, Posner chooses the "small print" tosuperficially mention the situarion with JerryRay ald the lie detector tests. In a footnote atthe bottom ofpage 263, Posner states: "JerryRay repeatedly bragged to the author aboutpassing two polygraph examinations. He saysthey indicated that he was telling the truthwhen he denied having ary pan in the Altonbank robbery or the King assassination." WhatPosner conveniently chooses to omit are thefollowing-stout and crucial-facts: the poly-grapMie detector tests were administered bya highly respected professional, Ed Galb; thetests were given ot Lie Detector, a highly re-spected show broadcast nationwide; ald theresults were verified and announced by oneof the legal geniuses of rhe century AttomeyE Lee Bailey!

The HSCA aied desperately to connect allthree Ray brothers, James Earl Ray, Jerry, andJohn, to the July 1967 Alton bank robbery. Thebank robbery netted $27,000.00. Had theHSCA been able to irrefutably connect the Raybrothers, it could have explained how James

Earl Ray financed his movements, for the mostpan, anyway, from the time he es€eped fromthe Missouri Stete Prison in April 1967 untilhe was arrested, for Dr. King's murder, atLondon's Heathrow Airport in June 1968.Thus, the o<istence of Raoul, whoJames EarlRay claimed financed and guided his move-ment during that time ftame, could have beendispelled. No Raoul, no Raoul-related con-spiracy. No Raoul-related conspiracy and it'seasier to sell to the public the dleory that amonetarily-motivated, racist James Earl Raykilled Martin Luther King.

Prior to December 1978, Mark Lane, reP'resenting James Earl Ray before the HSCA,called Jerry and informed him of the HSCAs

claim that he and his brothers were the oer-petators of the Alton barrk robbery. The nextday, Jerry hooked up with respected reporterJohn Auble, and the two of them drove to theAlton Folice Station. Widr reporterAuble filrn-ing, Jerry tumed himself in, told the lieuten-ant in charge he would take a lie detector test,waive his stanrte of limitations (it had beenmore thal 7 years), and stand trial. Ifthe po-lice had any evidence, Jerry wanted them toproduce it.

The police lieutenant toldJerry he was notand never had been a suspect in robbing theBank of Alton. Later that night, the wholescene with Jerry at rhe Alton Police Stationwas aired on KSD Telsyision in St. Louis.

As though lost in a fantasy world, theHSCA spent much of its time trying to con-nect the Rays boys to the Alton bank robbery.The HSCA never came close to connectine thebrothers to the robbery. To this day, as of'this

writin& anyway, no one has been charged withthe Alton bank robbery. So much for theHSCA S had-headed contention that the Raybrothers robbed the Bank of Alton. (And somuch for how the American taxpayers' dol-lars are spent.)

Frank or Fictive?" Early on, when search ing for the papers of severalauthors who had written about the case, Istumbled across relatives or spouses who oftentlrned into friends.... 0r lohn Frant, the son ofauthor Cerold frank, agreeably answered my re-peated requests to pick through his father's pa-per'..."- C€fald Posner (Acknowledgrnent fromKlling the Drcom, page 339 )Celebrity author Gerold Frank wrote An

Amtricw DeatL ptlblished in 1972. For years,An American Death was hailed as the officialword on the King assassination. Like GerddPosner, Gerold Frank portrays James Earl Rayas being Dr. King's assassin. Still, drough,there remains a missing fador in the equa-tion possessing author Gerold Frank and hiswriting on dre Ray-King case, and thar miss-ing factor is necessary ifthe equation is to yieldthe truth.

In his book, Ordsn to Kill, William F. Fep-per, James Earl Ray's lead defense counsel forseveral years, up to Ray's death, reveals aMarch 1969 memo ftom then Assisant FBIDirector Cartha Deloach to Clyde lblson, sec-ond in command to then FBI DirectorJ. EdgarHoover. The memo states:

Nowthat Ray has been convicted and is seMng a99-year sentence,lwould liketo suggest that theDirector atlow us to choose a friendly, capable au-thor ... and proceed with a book based on thiscase... lfthe Director apprcves. we have in mindconsidering cooperating in the preparation of abook with either Reader's Digest or author GeroldF ank... Frank is a well known author.... trank isalready working on a book on the Ray case anohas asked the Bureau s cooperation.... We havenothing derogatofy on him in ou. files, ano ourrelationship with him has been excellent. (orderjto Kil l, pages 5l-52.)Any author writing on an assassinadon as

historically significant as the assassination ofDr. Martin Luther KingJr. should maintain anobjective perspective-considering getting tothe truth is the writer's main drive. As hewtote An Americal Death, how could authorFrank possibly have maintained an objectiveperspective? Do you believe, with the FBIopening its doors and alms to him, he evenremotely dared porffaying James Earl Ray asbeing innocent in the dearh of Dr. King? Thepicture is beginning to take shape and, hope-fully, the followini will proiect it with clearrocus.

contirued onpage 28

-

Mercb-April, 1999

upon his examinarion ofphotographs... Irhen]re-evaluatect hls earlier opinion when shownd.tu4l photographs in the National Atchives.,,(Emphasis added.) This use ofthe word,.ac_tual" is misleading in the extreme.It suggesrsgreat _differences between the duplicati pho_tographs and the a.ctual, that is, ihe originalphotographs. But even bad Xeroxes of dirpli-cates show the back of the head intact, andfhdt was the problem. The contrasr was notbetween two sets of photographs; it was be_tween the photographs - and the cctual backof the head.5/12/7 8: Large wound in back of head

Riebe recalled seeing... one very large wound ro-cated around the rear o[ the head near the top.tp2l

5/7 /97 | Large wound in back of headThe r ight side of the back was gone.._.Jusr a orggaprngholewith fiagments of scalp and bone hang,ing in j t .

When you said that, you put your hand on theback of the head.

fte occipital. [pp44 45]

5/7/97: Revises rnemory of ttre woundbased on suspect photographs

[4r. Riebe. previously you described a wound jnthe occipital region ol the head whe.eas in thesephotographs it appears that there is no woundthere. What would be your explanation for thal just didn t remember i t properly. [p7l]

i t was chaos in that room that nighr, and I justmrsjudged where the wounds were. IpZZI

- | l - - rLOWaTd I. Keed, Jr.

In 1963, Edward Reed was a student in the x_ray deparmrent at Bethesda who operated theponable x-ray machine on the night of theauropsy. During his deposition before theARRB, Reed seemed unusually receptive roseveral superimposed images.4/2178t l-arge head wound .bccipital,,

According to e summary o[ his interview Dy tneHsCA, he said the large head wound was located"in the r ight hemisphere in the occtpttal region.[5ummary ol HSCA rnterv]ewl

1O/2.1/97 : Large head, wound .,anteriorly for_ward"

Could you describe where those wounds were?Jt was in the temporalparieialregion. r ight side.

-. And ante or. Sl ightly anterior Sl ightly forward,.ls we say In the medical freld, anteriorJy forward... Did you see any wounds on the back of hishead?

No. Ipp27-28)

Authenficates trilmsWithout being asked, Reed authenticates

the x-rays:And this rs the nghr side of rhe patient here... andthese ere the metallic fragments I saw originally.These are the real original films. [ppS]_841

--W_hen DrJohn Ebersole, the radiologiston

call that night, was presented with thi skullx-rays, he was puzzled.

)bu know my recollectjon ts more of a gaping oc-crpttat wound than this.. I would have put thegaping wound here rather than morc forward... []/I l /78 HSCA InteNiew pp62-6j l

Reed also seems to be the only one rc re_cal l the 6.5mm diameter metai fragmentshowing in che fronral x-ray. This x-rayimageLhat magical ly appeared in 1967 when rheClark Panel first described it, was not de_scribed by any ofrhe parhologisrs or the radi_ologisr on call - even though rhey describedtwo smaller ones-

... There is a semi-circular white dot there. Do yousee that?

Yes. I do.

Do you recall seeing thai on the night of the au-ropsy.

Yes, ldid. Ip85l

, ltrntoq'nqthe 5poflishtJr u I L)

Excerpts from RT Image 1992; 5(ll):Over the y€ars, when I meet people in radiology, Ialways tell them that they can say that they;vemet the person who x-rayed president Kennedy.They usually ask me a lot ofquestions.then, when l l i f ted him up... l found a large I Zuinch wound that looked l ike an exit wound...When.t.saw Kennedy .. he had a large. g.pingwound abouJ the size olmy ftst In his right carotidaltempte and ttontalareas. . Because hrs head wentback, a lot of people think he was shot from thefronl. But that wound could have been from theback because it could have been what we ca animplosion.

- l | -r loqd DonnqSecrit Service Affnt Floyd Boring reversed histestimony as to which car contained a skullbone fragment.9,/18,/96: Bone fou nd in follow-up car

...1n about the middle ol the interyiew Mr. Boringremembe,ed that he and [_4r. paternt had InsDprrerlthe Prestdent s Iimousine and tfr" S.,retie,ri ifollow-up car.. Mr. Boring said that he (Boring)had drscovered a prece ol skull bone with brain at-tached in the rear ol the follow-up car.. In [nefootwell just In ftont ol rhe back sat bench Hesaid... the dimensions... were approximately t .x2 . He said he never picked it up or touched rr nrm,

sel l , but that he simply pointed i t out to Mr.Paterni... He said he did not wite a reDon aDoutthis and hedid not knowwhether Mr. iaternrhadwlrren a report or not. He said he did not knowwhat the dispositjon was of this debrivmedicalevtdenc€. [y'r. Boring made very clea, during theInterviewthat this Iregment was rn the rear ofthefollow-up car, not in the rear seat ofthe preside0-t ial l imousine. lni t ial l , ARRB staff membersZimmerman and Horne had misundeastood Mr.Soring to mean that the bone_brain fragment wasIn the rear seat of the president,s limousine, andMr. Boring took speeific pains to correct our mis_understandingduringfo'low-up discussions on mtsmatter.

9/19/96l. Bone was in JFK car; ..Stroke,,may explain "error,,

ML Boringcal led me lDouglas Hornelat about 9:30A.M. this date. and said he wished to make a cor-reclton o[ and retract, somethtng he sad yesrer-day during his In(ervrew. He said that upon lu(herconstderation, i t could simply , ,not be, that theskul l bone-and,brajn fragment he told us aDourhad come hom the back ofthe lol low-up car. andthat therefore it must have been seen in the bactseat otthe president s limousine, and not the fol-low.up car. He sard that hrs stroke may perhapshave had sofiething to do with his error

Kenneth VrtacniLKenneth Vrtacnik, a medical photogapher atrhe Armed Forces Insritute oi path;ogy, toldDouglas Home (reluctantly?) thar he h;d seenKennedy's brain in a locked room at the AFIp,sNational Museum of Health and Medicine,immersed in liquid in a steel ttayinside a glasscase. Most people were forbidden access ro lt.Highlights of the lI/13/96 interview,Number of Bullet paths? Unsure

He described it as "one long section. tan in color..wtth wooden pegs (or arows) showing bu llet tra_Jecto es running through it. Asked if there wasone peg, or more than one peg, he sajd he wasunsure, but later In the Intervtew again used theword pegs.

Size? UnsureAsked what percentageo[the brain itwas, hesaidhe could not be sure and declined to give an estt-matton. He would not even say whether it wasless than one-hall or more than one_hall said he''could not be sure.'I have seen brains displayed in nearly dupli-

care c_rrcumsrances, and visibility is not a prob_lem. I find it hard ro believe that becauie hewas unsure he could not express a range ofpossibilities wirh all appropriite caveas, espe-clalty after some 30 years in medical photogra_phy. His descriprion of ,bne long pieci', soundsvery much like less than half a brain. Few woulddescribe an inracr brain as ,bne piece." (TheDrarn tooks somerhing like a walnur, with two

continued on page 24

E

Msrctr-Aprll, 1999

Wilsoncont wed. from page 27

ment in the reopened case by the FBI, whoseeffolt to get King to commit suicide throughtheir use ofsurveillance tapes has long beenpublic knowledge. Janer Reno agreed to theKing placement ofthe FBI as out of bounds.However, how realistic was it to exDect thecovert action arm of a guilty gova--tnent tobe tied up by irs Atromey Genelal?

Is there anything in the papers seized fiomWilson bytheJustice Department that couldbe indeed "cdtical"; not ro a bogus invesd-gation of the death of a martyr but to the le-gitimacy of the government conducting it?There are two separate papers, according toWilson. One is what he calls the "telephonedocument". This is a page from a 1963 Dal-las telephone book ftom the 'H' section. Thepage included Hunr Oil Company. Wilsonsays he was astounded to learn from Pepperthat a phone number written at the top ofthe page, preceded by the lener 'J, and-fol-lowed by the name "Raul" and the Dallas areacode, was listed in 1963 as belonging toJackRuby's Vegas Club in Dallas. Vy'ilson calls thesecond paper fromJames Earl Ray's Mus|.angthe "pay-off schedule documenr." It has iwdtten lisr of itemized expenses, what ap-pear to be dollar amounts for names andplaces that add up to a total of $45O,OOO.OO.The items include "hospital", "M. callina,,,and "Sonesta". At the bottom of the DaDer isa message: "before 4- l5 H. man aftei liaul,',followed by an exrension number. Opposire"Canada", the final irem in the list, is rhe fig-ure $75,000.00. Canada was Ray,s desdna-tion after Atlanra. But the handwiitins on thepapers does nor match Ray's.

When Wilson looked in Ray's car, he sawthat its ashuay was overflowing with ciga-rette butts. Ray did not smoke. Wilson alsonoticed that the dght front door was slightlyajar: "Like when you lock a door sometimes,you slam it but it just doesn't quite catch allthe way." It was when he opened this doorthat "a small white envelope the size ofa kid,svalentine fell in front ofhis shoes. The enve-lope contained the Raul papers. Also in theenvelope, Wilson says, were a business cardfrom a gun shop in Dallas, Texas, and a busi-ness card for a Baton Rouge, Louisiana tow-ln8 comPany.

On the King holiday ofJanuary 18, 1999,it was reported by both CNN and the AtlcntaJownsl CotLttitution, that Donald Wilson hadbeen at least parrially vindicated in his claims.Justice Depanment sources conceded thatscientific examinadonof the documents haveshown they are not likely forgeries. What they

do actually represent is something else await-ing to be shown by a real investigation. Nev-enheless, I asked Wilson if he thoueht thatthe papers may have been planted ai a falsetrail for someone like him to find. He an-swered, "There are several possibilities. Num-ber one, someone simply dropped them inrheir hasre ro leave that car. Secondly, theywere planted there to create a false trail. Orthird, they were planted there to creare actu-ally a legitimate trail, for whatever reason.,,

Whatever the correct explanation is forthe papers, Donald Wilson seems to be push-ing the Justice Depanment in directions irfinds uncomfonable. The govemment knowsit has an experienced opponent in its formerFBI agent. As a membet of the deDartmenrtold Wilson privately, "You're the FBI,s worst

One government move Wilsondoes not anticipate is a seriousexamination of his evid.ence. Heexpects the Justice Department todismiss it as "irrelevant, bogus,or something the! can hang theirhat on to say, 'There's no needto go any further."' Wilson feelsthat there is no real intent io doan unbiased, objective probe.

-nightmare. You were trained by them. youthink like them. So they're trying to antici-pate your nexr move, but you,re anticipatingtheirs."

One govemment move Wilson does notanticipate is a serious examinarion ofhis evi-dence. He expects theJustice Department todismiss it as "irrelevant, bogus, oi somethingthey can hang their hat on to say, .There,s noneed to go any further."' Wilson feels thatthere is no real intent to do an unbiased. ob-jective probe.

In 1999 at age 56, Donald Wilson rs ateacher in a special tutoring program for highschool students with behavioral problems. Aetakes a special pride in the achievements ofhis students, whose respect for their teacherhas perhaps been deepened by rheir recogni-tion of him on television as a dissident FBIagent in the King case. In one our phone con-versations he said quietly, ,,This takes a lotof faith. It's so disheartening what thesepeople of power do." $

Posner /KWcontinued from page 7

' 'The district attorney general s office in Mem-phis at t imes seemed like a second office.DistrictAttorney General Bil l Gibbons encouraged hisstaff to help my wife, Trisha. and me.... par-ticularly stellar was Assistant District Attor-ney CeneralJohn Campbell. As lead prosecutorfor the past four years, he knows the case bet-ter than anyone in the office. and he saved mefrom heading down many fr! it less paths of in-quiry.... - Cerald Posner (Acknowledgmentfrom his book Kil l ing the Dreon, pageljS.)

Several months ago, I wrote to AssisrantAttorney General John Campbell, explainedwho I was and what my intentions were,that I was writing on the Ray-King case andI wanred to talk to him. In my letter, I alsoincluded my area code and telephone num-ber (have an answering machini), my mail-ing address, and an S.A.S.E. If necessarv, Iwas even willing to ddve to Memphis at Mr.Campbell's convenience. To this day, I havenot received a single response from Assis-tant Attolney General Campbell.

At first, I thought, maybe, he doesn't likeme, but I quickly deleted that as a possibil-ity, because Mr. Campbell and I have nevermet in the flesh. Therefore, he can,t Dassjudgment on my personality. So, whar is ir?My stance on the Ray-King case? Surelynot,for Mr. Campbell is an intelligent, highlyeducated human being, holding the posi-tion of assistant attotney general. In hold-ing the posi t ion of assistant at torneygeneral he is sworn to uphold the law, andin order to uphold the law he must remainunbiased. Here's the kicker: I 've never saidthat beyond any doubt James Earl Ray didnot kill Martin Luthe! King. That was mywhole reason for wanting ro talk to Assis-tant District Atrorney General Campbell. Ifthe prosecurion had/has evidence provingbeyond a reasonable doubt thatJames EarlRay killed Martin Lurher King, so be it. Stillwaiting. Get the picture?

Whot qbout you, Jerry? Haw you evo challengedfusner?

Jerry Ray: "Posie was scheduled to appearon CNBCT Equal Tirne, a show hosted by BayBuchanan, sisrer of former presidentiai can-didate Pat Buchanan. When he found out Iwas gonna be on the show, he cancelled. Itdoesn't take an Einstein to figure out why: Iwould have proved him to be the liar he is. Idon't have much education, and he,s a WallStreet lawyer and big-time writer, but l,ve gorthe truth on my side, and that's whar counrs.l'll meet him, or any of the othels. for tharmatter, G. Robert Blakey, David carrow, who-

Uarch-Aprif, 1999

eve!, head on in a debate, on a platform oftheir choice, television, radio, whatever. Thatway, it's a matter ofpublic record, and I can'tbe misquoted. But you know what?"

what?Jerry Ray: "Posie will never meet me in a

debate like that. He'll iust keep on workinghis jaw behind my bacl without ever meet-ing me face-to-face. Ofcourse, I can,t say thatI blame him. I wouldn't want to meer some-one in a debate, eithet ifI knew I was gonnaget my ass nailed to tlre cross."

What you've just read is merely the tip of theiceberg. I could go on and on, but that wouldbe another book in itself. In closing, I wouldlike to challenge you with the following: justbecause someone of high rank says ,.some-thing is so" doesn't necessarily mean ,.it's so.,,The cunent status of ou! nadon's Executiveand Legislative bodies is living proof. Don,tlet the silver-tongued spin doctors, be theyfor the prosecution or for the defense, disre-spect you by allowing rhem to condition youto believe what they want you to believe. Askyourself: what do they stand to loose by tell-ing the truth as opposed to what they standto gain by lying? Promotions-demotions?Riches-rags? Longevity-death?

And don't be fooled by the oh-so-old d!versionary tactic: when someone makes a validpoint, and the opposirion, sensing defeat, at-tacks that individual from another angle, to-tally irrelevant to the subject at hand, sti[misleading and damaging, none-the-less.Read, stick to the subject and closely relatedfacts, evaluate, and decide for vourself. Insho*, troLil 'en to the qoss. 4

w.Q.Pearl Gladstone

r 938- r 998By Steve Jones

Citizens for Truth about the KennedvAssassinadon suffered a tenible loss withthe sudden death oflongtime supporter andactivist Fearl Gladstone on December l9th.The firct time I saw Pearl, she was standingat dre microphone during rhe e&A sessionat the Assassination Symposium onjohn F.Kenaedy in Dallas in 1993. She was vehe-mently speaking her mind about the absur-dity of a Mafia or low-level govemmentconspiracy to assassinate presidentKennedy. She argued that the weight of theevidence and the nature of the cover-upruled out anything but a crime carried ouiby the highest levels of tlte national secu-rity state. I ODught ro myself, .,This womanis surely not afraid to speak the mrth."

But it was not until later that I leamedhow courageous Pearl really was. ln 1996,Pearl and I helped organize t\.vo speakingengagemenrs for Jim DiEugenio in thePhiladelphia area. Pearl was not the kindofperson to be content with knowing her-self that the CIA killed President Kennedv.She felt that for our democracy to functionproperly all citizens must be made awareof the true nature of the assassination. Tbdrum up interest in Jim's talks, Rarl oaidfor advenising in local papers and stood atthe door of the student center at TemDleUniversity handing out leaflets. She drovethrcugh the city of Philadelphia with hugesigns on her car announcing',Suppon Citi-zens for Truth About rhe Kennedy Assassi-nacion" and "Srop the Lies".

Pearl clearly understood the mainsmam

media-s continuing role in suppressing anhonest and open dialogue about.dre as-sassination. She often did batde with theeditors of the Plula&lplria lryuiv,h)t theyrefused to print her letters to the editor.She found the smaller 8l.tcLs Cotsttt Cou-nier more amenable and was a ft&uenrcontributor to its letters section.

But dle cause nearest and deatesr roher heart was educating young peopleabout the assassination. For the last 17years of her life Pearl taught science andsocial studies at the Benjamin RushMiddle School in Bensalem, a suburb ofPhiladelphia. Students who had Mrs.Gladstone for science were treated to arigorous oramination ofhow the scientificmethod obliterates rhe govemment,s lieof the single bullet theory. Herlegarywilllive on rhrough the coundess studentswho leamed how to think for themselvesand to be more skeptical about govem-ment aad media propaganda.

Pearl's family asked in her obituarynotice rhat donations in honor of hermemory be made to CTI(A. Jim DiEuge-nio once told me that if he had one hun-dred Fearl Gladstones he could close downthe CIA. Ofthat I have no doubt. Thosehigh class murderers and drug dealerswould have had no chance against thatarmy She was special and unique, belong-ing to that rare class ofpeople who dedi-cate their lives to making the world abetter place for us all. She will be sorelymissed. Rest in peace, dear ftiend. $

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