James Earl Ray

Assassanation
James Earl Ray assassanated civil rights activist Martin Luther King jr. on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. MLK had made a speech a day earlier in Memphis, Tennessee. After the speech, he and his associates stayed at a motel. The next day while standing on the 2nd floor balcony, James Earl Ray shot MLK in the neck. MLK was rushed to the hospital. He died one hour later. Ray was sentenced to 99 years in prison,

Motive
James Earl Ray mentioned that the assassanation of MLK was part of a larger conspiracy with some orginazation. We don't know if he was telling the truth or not. Most likely he was just a white supremacist.