Martin Luther King Jr. — Credit: New York World-Telegram & Sun / Wikimedia Commons · Public domain (PD (US, no known restrictions))
On the evening of April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr., an American civil rights leader, was fatally shot while standing on the second-floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was staying in support of striking Black sanitation workers. At 6:01 p.m. CST, King was struck in the right cheek by a single .30-06 rifle bullet fired from a Remington Model 760, which broke his jaw before lodging in his shoulder. He was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital and pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m. at age 39. An autopsy conducted by Dr. Jerry Francisco determined the cause of death was hemodynamic collapse from hemorrhagic shock, resulting from a gunshot wound that severed his lower cervical and upper thoracic spinal cord.
King had traveled to Memphis to support a sanitation workers' strike prompted by unequal pay and unsafe conditions, including the deaths of two workers in a garbage-compacting truck earlier that year. The night before his death, he delivered his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech at the Mason Temple, referencing earlier threats on his life.
The FBI led the investigation and matched fingerprints on an abandoned rifle and binoculars to James Earl Ray, an escaped convict from the Missouri State Penitentiary who had been stalking King under false identities in the weeks before the shooting. Ray fled the country and was arrested at London's Heathrow Airport on June 8, 1968, using a false Canadian passport. He was extradited to the United States and, on March 10, 1969, pleaded guilty to King's murder, receiving a 99-year sentence in the Tennessee State Penitentiary. He recanted the plea three days later and spent the rest of his life attempting, unsuccessfully, to withdraw it and obtain a jury trial. Ray died in prison on April 23, 1998.
The assassination triggered a wave of riots in more than 100 U.S. cities, though Senator Robert F. Kennedy's remarks in Indianapolis are credited with helping prevent violence there. President Lyndon B. Johnson declared April 7, 1968, a national day of mourning. King's funeral in Atlanta drew an estimated 300,000 mourners.
The King family and others have long maintained that Ray was a scapegoat and that the assassination resulted from a broader conspiracy. In 1993, Loyd Jowers publicly claimed involvement of the mafia, Memphis police, and the federal government, alleging Ray was not the shooter. In 1999, the King family brought a wrongful-death civil suit against Jowers; a Shelby County jury found Jowers and unnamed co-conspirators civilly liable for King's death, awarding the family a symbolic $100. No government agencies were named as defendants in that suit and therefore could not present a defense. In 2000, the U.S. Department of Justice completed its own review of Jowers' allegations and concluded there was insufficient credible evidence to support the conspiracy claims, recommending no further investigation absent new facts. Many FBI investigative files remain classified.
Named defendant in the 1999 civil wrongful-death suit brought by the King family; a Shelby County jury found him civilly liable, along with unnamed co-conspirators, for a conspiracy to kill King. The U.S. Department of Justice later disputed the credibility of his allegations.
James Earl Ray
CONVICTED
Pleaded guilty on March 10, 1969 to the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. and was sentenced to 99 years; later recanted his plea and repeatedly sought a trial before his death in 1998.
Martin Luther King Jr.
VICTIM
Civil rights leader fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis on April 4, 1968.
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
Archival records
portrait victim
Martin Luther King Jr.
Credit: New York World-Telegram & Sun / Wikimedia Commons · Public domain (PD (US, no known restrictions)) · Source
archival location
Demonstrators with signs, one reading Let not his death be in vain
Credit: / Library of Congress · Public domain · Source
other document
Fragments of the Bullet That Killed King
Credit: Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domain · Source
other document
Martin Luther King's Necktie After it was Severed During his Assassination
Credit: Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domain · Source
Credit: Federal Bureau of Prisons · Public domain · Source
other document
Second Floor Plan of Bessie Brewer's Rooming House
Credit: Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domain · Source
archival location
Spot on Balcony of Lorraine Motel Where Martin Luther King Was Assassinated - With Commemorative Wreath - National Civil Rights Museum - Downtown Memphis - Tennessee - USA
On April 4, 1968, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was fatally shot on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. James Earl Ray, an escaped convict, pleaded guilty to the murder in 1969 and was sentenced to 99 years, though he later recanted. A 1999 civil jury found Loyd Jowers and unnamed others civilly liable for a conspiracy, a finding the U.S. Department of Justice disputed in 2000 for lack of evidence.
Where did the crime happen?
Lorraine Motel, Memphis, Tennessee.
Who was convicted?
James Earl Ray (Pleaded guilty on March 10, 1969 to the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. and was sentenced to 99 years; later recanted his plea and repeatedly sought a trial before his death in 1998.).
