Duquesne University | Pittsburgh, PA



*THE RAY/KING RIFLE ?:Joe Brown(5/2/18)*RESPONSE: MLK Questions:10/6/2013(Note: Officer Ed Reddick)The following is restricted with permission to use granted 2018 to the intended recipients only for purposes of 'Academic Research'. ALL Intellectual Property Rights and Copyrights otherwise reserved and retained by Judge Joe Brown (Joseph B. Brown, Jr.).In brief:The FBI claimed they couldn’t match the ballistics of the death bullet with Ray’s rifle.On execution of my orders to test Ray’s rifle, it turned out that it wasn’t even close to being the murder weapon.The death bullet reflected very peculiar ballistic characteristics. There was a very uncommon weapon with a special barrel that did. The XM21 matched those characteristics precisely. The Army Marksmanship Unit had made 60-63. The FBI received 5 on Invoice, late Dec 1967. The Military wanted them back and demanded that they be returned. Accordingly, a late April ‘68 Inventory conducted by the FBI concluded that only 4 were still to be found in their custody. The whereabouts of the missing rifle was claimed to be a mystery.The fatal shot was fired by a two-man team from the dormitory of the Fire Station across from the Lorraine Motel. There was an (were) inside collaborator(s). The shot was NOT fired from either ‘the’ flop-house nor from the ‘bushes’.Memphis Police Detectives concluded that Ray wasn’t the shooter; wasn’t in town.In re info request on MLK assassination :1) Though i have read it at great length, I do NOT have current access to any so-called 'FBI firearms report': such as purports to have this status should be in the state's record of the case in the Criminal Clerk's Office, 30th Judicial Circuit of TN at Memphis, Shelby Co., 201 Poplar Ave, 38103. Access would most probably require a court order. It should be noted that the initial 'Trial' Judge, the late, Honorable Preston Battle,* considered the report to be entirely unsatisfactory and issued an order requiring that 'the rifle' be retested. It was never complied with. The State's written opposition to my ordering this retest included the following language: "The State objects to the rifle being retested on the grounds that it may become damaged and PREVENT IT FROM BEING RETESTED IN THE FUTURE." As part of the context of the events, it should be noted that F.B.I. Director Hoover ordered ALL auditory and visual surveillance of MLK to be curtailed completely—for the first time since he'd initiated it—a little shy of 48 hours before his killing.A) THE report itself appears to be fraudulent and is contrived: there was NO effort to get a 'match ID' of fatal projectile removed from MLK’s body/sample projectile fired from 'Ray's rifle'. The samples were fired into 'target' media that consisted of cut-up note/legal pads (cardboard, note paper and staples, all) that would effectively remove/destroy fine striations that would enable a 'positive' and conclusive ID. All they obtained was a 'generic' type ID (i.e. showing that death projectile and test samples were consistent with having been fired from a weapon with generically 'similar' rather than 'identical' characteristics).B) The projectile removed from the body of MLK was cut into six (6) pieces [3 jacket and 3 of the 'lead' core] by the F.B.I. and was declared by them to be incapable of 'ballistic' analysis. On the other hand, a metallurgical analysis of the 'core' was done independently with the result that it was determined to be inconsistent with the remainder of the recovered material (i.e. the metallurgical characteristics of the four (4) recovered, unfired cartridges allegedly found w/the Remington 760 Game Master [i.e. 4 'live rounds' in the rifle magazine] and a supposedly 'fired', empty cartridge case in the chamber thereof. This 'metallurgical' analysis seems to have been done by a field office of the F.B.I. and apparently generated a great deal of ire in the D.C. Office [based on F.B.I. memoranda recovered under the Freedom of Information Act and as submitted (perhaps inadvertently) in the case]. These memoranda should be in the case file in the Clerk's Office.C) Neither do I have a copy of the HSCA report. A large part of this is public record record published in the 'Congressional Record' series and is available upon tender of request and fee. It is NOT of much value in my opinion as a consequence of its primary reliance upon flawed/fraudulent information furnished by the F.B.I.2) My personal theory is that MLK was murdered by a two (2) man team of capable operatives. Perhaps they were professionals operating 'off the record' but with official though 'off the record' sanction. F.B.I. memoranda available through the U.S. Center for Assassination/Assassination Attempt Records Review and Repository Washington D.C. suggest this as well as the motivation** ^ ***3) The most obvious origin for the shot is the firehouse (dormitory):A) It should be noted that several hours elapsed from the point when MLK was initially to have left the Loraine Motel and traveled to the home of Rev. Billy Kyles for dinner. The departure was continuously delayed over those intervening hours for several different reasons that can be discerned****B) Due to the time and interminable delays, a would-be 'shooter' would have been required to have kept himself and his weapon concealed from view for quite a period of time:i) The open nature of the 'bushes' and the surrounding area certainly tend to preclude this location from consideration:ii) Likewise, an open lavatory in a public 'flop-house' doesn't commend itself.iii) An examination of the toilet in question reveals that as a 'shooting' point it puts a prospective gunman in such an unstable and precarious position as to be precluded from being the origin of the fatal shot.iv) At the time the fatal shot was fired, shooting MLK from the window in question was an impossibility.*****C) Amongst all the possibilities, the fire station offers a controlled environment and concealment from which to take a carefully set-up shot. It also offered the actual shooting team an opportunity to simply leave their equipment in situ and make a leisurely exit. Collaborators, most likely with the appearance of 'officials', would then retrieve the equipment later.D) It should be noted that the fire station Chief at the time offered the recent statement that two days prior to the shooting, two government officials/employees climbed (w/him) to the top of the fire station tower and took a long look around. Strangely, he offers that "they did not come back up here again" which does not preclude them being elsewhere in or about the station when the tragic events unfolded the day after.E) The firehouse dormitory/cafeteria offered a stable seat and secure rifle rest/observation position from which to take the fatal shot. The shooter/observer team would have been located well inside the large upper window area and would have been invisible to passers-by if there were no bright interior lighting turned on. Likewise, they would've been able to use heavy tables to support sand bags and seats that would've made a very stable shooting position. Various methods of external radio and ground-line communication would have commended themselves to the activity. Especially in light of the special characteristics of the weapon that appears to have been used, the enclosed nature of the place would have provided excellent sound attenuation and 'venting' of the pressure wave from firing; there were a connected series of apertures/doors that gave witnesses the false impression that the shot 'came from the bushes' etc., where the shock wave vented. The effects of echo should not be discounted.4) Irrespective of the contemporaneous layout of the station house, the shot would've originated on an upper (2nd flr) level where there is an expanse of clear glazing (i.e. windows) on the side of the station facing the Loraine Hotel. At the time if the shooting, one or another of the windows would have been open sufficiently [just partially] to have provided the narrow gap needed for the shot to have cleared. The shot would've been taken from well inside the interior to the extent of several yards or feet and NOT with the barrel etc of the weapon extending outside as per typical Hollywood portrayals of such things. The 'Sionics' suppressor would've made a sufficient reduction in the decibel level of the shot to have obviated the need for hearing protection for any involved personnel.5) The shooter would NOT "…have stood" nor his 'spotter'.°* Both would've been seated and the rifle itself—along with his accomplice's 'spotting scope'—would've been secured on a steady rest: most likely something like sand bags, bipod or benchrest set up for the rifle and a tripod for the spotting scope. Both would have been rather finely laid in the direction of the target's anticipated position and left there until the quarry's appearance was known to be imminent. The process is much the same as shooting African Leopard from a 'blind'. The composition of the firehouse staff/personnel at the time was likely to have been simpatico with the project as a matter of perceived patriotism and attitude toward race; appeal to such seems to have secured the necessary silence. The time period contemporaneous with these events is replete with organizational ‘silences’ associated with homicidal notoriety.6) The distance discrepancies between the firehouse, bushes and the flop-house would normally be of small consequence; well within the typical 'pointblank' range of a .30 cal. Center fire rifle of .308 Winchester/7.62x51 mm NATO or older .30-'06 caliber [also firing what is technically a .308in/7.62 mm bullet]. Ordinarily, this would be of small consequence. By 'pointblank' it is inferred that the shooter has only to aim directly at his target and his shot will strike—during the course of its trajectory—from an inch or so low relative to his point of aim, starting from about twenty-five yards away to around two or three high between a hundred and two-hundred yards and then drop down to perhaps three to five inches low way out to about three hundred to three hundred fifty yards. This would depend on the particulars of the individual rifle/load combination, e.g. barrel length, weight of the bullet, the propellant charge, ballistic coefficient of the bullet, idiosyncrasies of the individual rifle, etc.. With a soft point expanding bullet such as that removed from MLK's body, the shooter would simply hold for the middle of the upper chest and he would administer a non-survivable wound, even if his target were standing next to a state of the art trauma center. Note that a shot from ‘the bushes’ as recounted by witnesses would have presented an upward trajectory angle for the shot to have struck MLK. His actual wound characteristics makes this unlikely.7) now we get to the crux of the matter: the deformed bullet (judging from an evidence photo of the intact bullet) that was purportedly removed from MLK's body did not expand to the degree one might expect from any of the ranges involved (i.e. flop-house, fire-station etc.). That is a personal opinion based on my observations as a hunter. What was actually demonstrated is consistent with bullet performance from a rifle/load similar in nature to what we have here—on first but mistaken impression—when the target is a 150-250 lb soft skinned mammal some three hundred yards or so from the shooter. This is a distance rather in excess to any of the alternative distances involved in the MLK assassination. The 'why' of it is consistent with the shot that was actually taken. i.e. Instead of a torso shot, why the almost flubbed head shot that was actually taken? MLK was struck at a downward angle in the right upper cheek; the bullet continued at a downward angle, shattering upper and lower molars; passed through the tongue, then exited between the lower jaws. It re-entered MLK's body as it struck the clavicle, traveling under the skin over the right shoulder; down at angle across the rear of the right shoulder between the skin and the right scapula; across the back and lodged on the left side between the skin of the back and the left scapula. The bullet never entered the interior of the torso/thorax. It is not an unusual quirk for a bullet to do this. Had his carotid artery not been nicked, it is probable that MLK would have survived the ordeal. Why then the marginal head shot in lieu of a solid, non-survivable torso shot? The head is on a flexible neck and moves around a lot in contrast to the balance of a target's body.Albert Einstein to the rescue. Energy = Mass x Velocity Squared. At 2500—2750 ft/sec. muzzle velocity, a 147—180 gr. .30 cal (7.62 mm) bullet will have something in excess of a ton of muzzle energy at one hundred yards and slightly less that that ton at two-hundred. On the other hand, a .30 cal. bullet (of the above weights) moving just at the speed of sound is going to be behaving essentially like a small caliber pistol round such as a 7.63 Torkarev or perhaps the larger 9x19mm NATO favored the world over. The set up of the rifle that my opinion suggests was used to kill MLK produces sub-sonic velocities (1125+ fps) that minimize 'sound signature'. This is an entirely different proposition and a torso hit at the alternative ranges involved becomes survivable.8) For a number of reasons, it is my opinion that MLK was shot with an XM21, an M14 with a significant amount of hand work and fitting and re-barreled with a special stainless steel item produced by the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (the AMU, initiated by President Eisenhower). The rifling twist for this special barrel was 1x11.25 or one complete revolution of the bullet every 11.25 inches of barrel length. The Remington 760 Game Master had the factory standard 1x10 twist for .30-'06 [the standard was 1x12 for .308 Winchester (7.62x51 mm NATO)]; all typical of the era.??The AMU had reportedly made somewhere around 60-63 barrels with such characteristics circa 1967 for converting M14's to XM21's. the standard sight was a variable Redfield scope of 3X—9X converted to facilitate distance ranging by the Leatherwood Co. (or a special night vision scope as an alternative). There was also a sound (signature) suppressor affixed to the weapon that was manufactured by a company known as 'Sionics'. The particulars are as follows:A) 7.62 NATO cal., M14 (XM21) rifle with Sionics suppressor/Starlight night vision scope [or Leatherwood ARTS (auto ranging telescopic sight)(Redfield 3x9)] SCIONICS suppressor for M14 = M14SS-1 (XM21)].B) SCIONICS suppressor:Tube: 12.75" long, 1.665" outside dia.: bore = .375":C) M14 front sight and flash-hider removed (scope = primary sight).D) Outer tube (i.e. of suppressor unit) = .090"dia.; made of 6061 T6 aluminum alloy; anodized flat black: internal parts and rear retainer collar = phosphated 4130 steel, sealed and aligned with a Teflon washer. Earliest (i.e. prototypes) had a spring loaded back pressure relief valve at the rear of the can chamber (i.e. suppressor). At this stage steel baffles were used, then superseded by Inconel (to better resist heat degradation). Ultimately, the valve was succeeded by a pressure relief port (there were incidental problems with longevity when operating weapons equipped with these particular devices in a full auto mode; this typically occurred when mounted on weapons systems other than the XM21 since that weapon was only issued in semi-auto mode). Most suppressor units were rated for semi-auto use only.E) In re Production and Distribution of Suppressor Units and M14/XM21 rifles:Almost all production was delivered to U.S. Army (Ft. Bennington GA; Rock Island Arsenal); some to USN (San Diego CA); some to Aberdeen Proving Center MD. A few 'Scionics' units (records suggest only 5) went to the F.B.I. along with a like number of M14SS-1/XM21's; delivered late December 1967. At the time there was some concern expressed about the F.B.I. acquiring these weapons systems and questions raised as to what they would be used for as the bureau had no applicable mission requirements at the time (e.g. no Hostage Rescue Unit).F) DATA, illustrative:Speed of sound at sea level @ 68F° = 1,127 fps (average) and slower as it gets colder. It might be noted that this is the apparent velocity of the bullet that was removed from MLK. e.g. As a comparison, a typical 9x19mm NATO pistol/submachine gun round has an avg muzzle velocity of circa 1250fps for a 115 gr bullet.Sub-sonic 5.56 NATO and 7.62 NATO rounds were costly in those days (i.e. circa 1967-70) @ approximately 32?/round: cases were partially filled w/epoxy to take up space; early examples had Cream of Wheat (the cereal), cotton, nitrated paper mixed w/cotton. These early fillers performed badly and the overall ballistic performance (i.e. accuracy) was deemed poor until an epoxy filler was adopted.??The 7.62 NATO was packed in 20 round boxes boxes marked "subsonic". Sales were limited. This is most likely the ammunition used to slay MLK. This is another circumstance that illustrates the problems inherent in a situation where a head shot is an imperative.G) This factor would also tend to favor the shorter range from the firehouse site.H) The Sionics company was founded by a Mitch WerBell, joined later by Gordon Ingram and the name changed from "Scionics" to "Environmental Industries". Subsequently, a contemporary employee of Scionics, one Don Thomas, allowed the firm to use the name of his Class III (i.e. full auto) business, "Military Armament". The business started operating as such 12/21/1970, Powder Springs GA 30073.I) The best known Scionics product was the two stage suppressor fitted to the Ingram SMG (Submachine Gun): the Mac 10 so beloved of Hollywood for action genre movies a few years ago.For additional details, see Small Arms Review-Vol. No 15, No. 2- November, 2011<<9) James Earl Ray was most likely one of several alternative scapegoats and was likely peripherally guilty as a co-conspirator though HE WAS NOT the actual killer. In Memphis TN in 1968, the mix of class, caste, culture, change and un-rest brought on by the pressure of anti-war/ethnic/gender dissatisfaction created a mix that was ripe/conducive for this sort of thing so it was most likely that the city was an ideal local for the events in issue. You've NOT asked me for anything but my opinions on the "ballistic" questions you posed, but the sum total of many other factors is actually more compelling in debunking the theory that Ray was the murderer.10) I would caution the reader to keep in mind a very serious distortion that has crept into the public consciousness about the MLK assassination; it usually shows itself with a line such as this: "Ray, the self-confessed killer of Dr. M.L. King, continually tried to get his conviction overturned in a series of ... ." The actuality is that Ray NEVER CONFESSED to killing MLK at any point in the proceedings and continuously asserted that he did not. For a long time, American criminal law has allowed a defendant whom is actually "innocent" to plead guilty to a crime he did not commit.11) The rule was established by a U.S. Supreme Court case styled Alford v. North Carolina. To wit:"A defendant who is actually innocent of a crime may enter a plea of guilty if he believes that doing so is in his best interests and he is doing so freely, voluntarily, understandingly, knowingly, advisedly and intelligently and so long as the prosecution has a reasonable factual basis upon which to otherwise proceed."12) The Post Conviction Relief Petition that I heard on Ray's behalf raised the claim that newly developed scientific methodology would show that the rifle was NOT the murder weapon and would destroy the State's "... reasonable factual basis upon which to otherwise proceed."13) You ask me what I think is the most compelling evidence that the fatal bullet might not have come from the ... 760." This reflects another popular misconception. To begin with THERE IS NO EVIDENCE that shows the 760 IS the murder weapon. The F.B.I. essentially faked the ballistics test. They showed NO ID connection between the bullet that killed MLK and the Game Master.A) They said the fatal bullet was too badly distorted to make a comparison; in fact, it was not but they made NO effort to even attempt a comparison.B) The F.B.I. did NOT even show that MLK was killed by a .30 cal. (i.e. .308" or 7.62 mm dia) bullet.??Essentially, having made NO attempt to analyze the fatal bullet, they contended—rather speciously—that since the 760 was a .30 cal. weapon, then the fatal bullet was .30 cal. bullet.C) As aforesaid, the F.B.I. fired some sample bullets out of the Remington 760 into a medium that contained cut up paper, cardboard and metal staples (i.e. cut up note pads) that effectively removed all usable striations/markings from the sample bullets rendering them INCAPABLE of being analyzed for ID purposes with the fatal bullet.D) There was no effort made to analyze the rate of rifling twist of the 760; I suppose it was assumed that it matched the markings on the barrel but this was never subjected to an analysis and no effort was made to make a determination. What we have are UNPROVEN conclusions that would have us accept the following inferences:i) As the 760 in question is a .30—'06 cal. weapon, then the bullet taken out of MLK is a .30 cal. Bullet;ii) Therefore, MLK was killed with a .30 cal. bullet.iii) Because the death bullet wasn't tested [it could have been] and because (i) & (ii) taken together DO NOT prove anything, the F.B.I. relied on it's fame and reputation with the assurance that whatever it stated would be accepted as fact by most of the American public (and the later Congressional Commissions).iv) As a fact, in 1968, the .30—'06 was overwhelmingly America's most common rifle caliber and—it might be said—had surpassed the old .30–30 Winchester in popularity. The so-called evidence proves NOTHING that establishes the 760 as the murder weapon because there IS NO EVIDENCE.E) On the other hand, the following is established by the evidence:i) The components of the four (4) unfired cartridges found with the 760 Game Master are all metallurgically consistent with regard to the cases, propellant, primers, bullet jackets and bullet cores; the 'fired' cartridge case purportedly found in the chamber of the 760 is metallurgically consistent with the unfired cases. The fatal bullet IS NOT metallurgically consistent with the unfired bullets in any respect. Translation: ammunition companies make their products in so-called lots that are generally recorded as to 'lot' number on the box of ammo; to promote consistency and thereby accuracy, the components are always assembled to have common 'lots' of bullets, cases, primers,and propellant. This is INCONSISTENT with with actual ID efforts:ii) The barrel of the Remington 760 in evidence has a serious manufacturing defect/flaw: there is a gouge that that runs part of the length of the bore down the middle of what is known as a 'land' and is reflected on most of the sample bullets fired through this 760 when it was retested:iii) The Rem 760 in evidence does in fact have a 1x10" rate of rifling twist;iv) Scanning electron microscopy of the bullet said to have killed MLK positively excludes Ray's 760 as being the rifle that fired it:a) Contrary to the F.B.I. report, the three jacket pieces were quite amenable to analysis:b) The F.B.I. stripped the jacket into three pieces while it was in their custody and this's absolutely an anathema when it comes to ballistic evidence. There is/was a photo in evidence of the intact bullet which may or may not still be in evidence:°°*c) The rifling twist reflected in the scanning electron microscopy of the pieces of the purportedly fatal bullet as revealed by a trigonometric analysis of the results reveals that it DOES NOT have a 1x10" rate of rifling twist as does the Game Master, but rather a 1x11.25" rate of twist consistent with the AMU barrels installed in M14/M14SS-1/XM21 rifles.d) The signature of the flaw in the 760's barrel DOES NOT show up on the jacket pieces of the death bullet:e) The clearly evident striations on the death bullet DO NOT otherwise match the striations on the sample bullets fired through the the Ray Remington 760; in point of fact, to me, the appearance of the striations on the death bullet suggest a finely made and conditioned custom grade barrel fired it. Ray's rifle, on the other hand, has all the characteristics of a second-grade barrel, reflective of the factory machining that was often inferior to the hand work that dominated the American firearms industry before the '60's.* The day after giving an unprecedented press conference following a jury's acceptance of James Ray's GP and expressing his personal opinion that Ray was definitely guilty but most certainly did not act alone, the good judge was found to be dead in his chambers, after initially turning up missing. The Medical Examiner, a certain Dr. Jerry Francisco, pronounced him dead of a heart attack. It might be noted that this was the same Dr. Francisco that pronounced Elvis Presley dead of a naturally occurring heart attack (though he did not perform the autopsy) in the face of overwhelming laboratory evidence of death caused by drug overdose. In fact, the prescribing doctor was subject to a series of trials that were a foretaste of the furor in M. Jackson's demise. The good doctor has had a long career of 'questionable' diagnosis/findings of cause of death; several of which I've been personally involved in. e.g. In the immediate matter, I had to issue an order restraining him from attempting to remove the bullet fragments in question from 201 Poplar Ave where they should've been retained. It is notable that Dr. Francisco had been allowed over the years to frequently remove the bullet fragments from the evidence room to show them to persons in no way associated with the case. The integrity of these fragments as evidence is thus highly suspect.**The Repository was authorized by Act of Congress and enabled by Executive Order initially issued by President George H. W. Bush and subsequently by President William Clinton. Attested copies of the memoranda that I've perused reveal that there'd been internal discussion in the F.B.I.—at the highest levels—relative to the fatal elimination of Dr. MLK on account of the perception held strongly by Director J. Edgar Hover that he was a grave threat to national security and domestic tranquility on account of his potential to "revitalize labor" and "galvanize the anti-war movement". The exchanges centered on whether MLK would be more dangerous as a "live agitator" or "dead martyr".*** This is not dissimilar to the position taken by the current O'Bama administration claiming an Executive Authority to issue orders outside the Constitution to assassinate U.S. citizens who've committed no indictable nor cognizant criminal acts if in the President's sole discretion the individual is deemed a 'threat to U.S. security. The current government position goes further in that such killing may be done domestically with no recourse through the American Justice System. In fact, in the very recent matter that brought this to light, the involved Federal Court had it's injunction violated when the U.S. Government, acting apparently on presidential orders, used drone aircraft to kill the man in question as well as his minor son when the two were abroad and separated by more than 400 miles at the time of the assassinations which seemed to be several hours apart.****Ostensibly, the reason given was that Mrs. Kyles had not finished cooking. On the other hand, the timeline reveals the following events:a) The one African-American fireman at the firehouse called to advise that he was returning to work as, contrary to the report that had excused him for the remainder of the day, his son had not been seriously injured in an accident and was, in fact, safely in his class-room at school. It apparently took some time to re-contact him and secure his agreement to take the rest of the day off:b) The first delay in the visit is contemporaneous with this situation:c) There was a squad of Memphis Police Officers with Sergeant or Detective status who were volunteering to act as MLK's personal security; even though off-duty, they were ordered to leave him and travel to police HQ on account of purported 'threats' against them. They initially refused. Subsequently they reluctantly relented when superiors threatened draconian consequences.d) MLK was then supposed to travel to Rev. Kyles' home until authorities learned that one of the African-American Sergeants had refused to leave MLK. The stay was reimposed and held until several squad cars and ten (10) MPD officers in particular traveled to the Lorraine Motel and ultimately overpowered the sergeant; then resorted to double cuffing him and literally 'hog-tying' his legs before manhandling him into the back seat of one of the squad cars and removing him from the scene.e) At this point, it appears that MLK was finally to travel to Rev. Kyles' home.f) Two things are of note at this point:i) The first is that most of the proceeding difficulties were not conveyed to MLK who, according to witnesses, was, as were they, under the impression that 'dinner' was still being prepared by Mrs. Kyles and her not being finished was the cause of the delays. Before her death, and long after she and the Reverend were divorced, she affirmed that she had not only finished the meal preparation, but was rather disturbed that she'd had to keep it warming in the oven for so long.ii) The second thing is that MLK's ride was waiting for him on the other side of the motel; as he was proceeding down the hall way in the direction thereof, he was stopped and advised that many of his 'fans' had been waiting to see him on the other side of the hotel where he went, ultimately to be slain.*****The late Captain Tommy Smith, retired Chief of the Homicide Bureau MPD gave a video recorded statement while I was personally present that:i) He was the first Detective to arrive on the scene, arriving just minutes after the shot:ii) He was directed to the 'flop-house' by radio dispatch:iii) To the day he was videoed, he was unable to ascertain the origin of the call:iv) On arrival, he went, as directed, to the lavatory:v) He immediately ruled it out as the point of origin for the fatal shot. [on account of there being] "… a thick limb growing diagonally through the lavatory window that totally obscured any view of the Loraine balcony from that point."a) There was nothing that offered a sufficiently stable location to take a shot in any event:b) He discovered that there had been a 'cut-down' order put out for that limb that should've been carried out early that morning:c) When he returned with 'Crime-Scene' personnel about an hour later, he discovered that the tree and limb had been freshly cut down:d) Capt Smith noted that the 'cut-down' order had gone out to the City Sanitation Dept, who's employees were AFSME members and on strike; it not being likely that any of them would break-strike to carry out the order:e) He totally discounted the State's contention that a gouge in the window-sill of the lavatory was the result of a rifle barrel being rested on it, a crucial aspect of their theory:f) Likewise, Capt. Smith totally dismisses the supposed report from two (2) alleged witness that they saw Ray in the flop-house lavatory, relying on his own observations and those of a taxi driver who'd been to the flop-house to pick them up approximately 15-20 mins prior to the shooting. The two were passed-out and so inebriated that they could not be revived and (at least one) laying in a large pool of urine. He called an ambulance and they were rushed to an emergency room with what would have been a twice fatal level of alcohol consumption had they not been long-term alcoholics:g) It should be note that Capt. Smith's official report concludes that James Ray IS NOT the shooter.°* A 'Spotter' typically has a telescope known as a 'spotting' scope that is significantly more powerful than the telescopic sight on the shooter's rifle. The spotter and shooter are a team and they may swap roles. The spotter secures an overview of the scene and conveys advantageous or crucial details to the shooter to enable him to be focused on taking the shot. The spotter typically makes the call on when and if the shot is to be taken, e.g. advising the shooter that the the target is in—or is about to come into—view: perhaps advising the shooter that the shot was a miss or marginal and giving range and windage corrections: basically an 'I've got your back' thing. The shooter stays on the rifle looking through his sight while the spotter 'talks' him into and through the shot. Quite conspicuous on recordation's is a certain off-duty black cop who checks MLK's body to verify results. This person has an interesting future career with the U.S. Intelligence community.°°* I have personally experienced incidents where evidence has been removed from the evidence record or, in at least one case, where, two weeks before a murder trial started, the entire police homicide file was destroyed as well as the records in the micro-film repository in Central Records and those of the property room. FYI this resulted in an investigation that focused on an Assistant A.G. (Atty Gen'l). There has been no resolution of this matter and it is still open. In the Ray case, it has been unfortunate that items of evidence seem to have disappeared over the years. Then too, the donation of the Ray Remington 760 Game Master to the Civil Rights Museum was arguably improper because TN law requires that all evidence in a homicide be retained for 99 years. As it is, the chain of custody has been destroyed and the Ray rifle is no longer usable evidence as a result.__________________________________________________________________Sent via email to Ben Wecht 1/31/18This is some general information that might prove of interest to the group.??I would like to attend the proceedings. The essence of the following was sent to someone to assist their research and – as an expediency – I would grant a similar limited usage for research purposes to the group. I would expect some acknowledgement/notification from whomever might put it to use as I do intend to use the material in something I intend to publish.?THE RIFLE ?:11/2/17 retrieved f/Justin Ervin4/7/16 2nd retrieval: Initially Retrieved from Note Archive: 9/1/15*RESPONSE: MLK Questions:10/6/2013(Note: Officer Ed Reddick)[The following is Confidential and restricted with permission to use granted 2013 to the intended recipient only for purposes of a 'Documentary Production'. ALL Intellectual Property Rights and Copyrights otherwise reserved and retained by Judge Joe Brown (Joseph B. Brown, Jr.)]In re info request on MLK assassination :1) Though i have read it at great length, I do NOT have the 'FBI firearms report': such as purports to have this status should be in the state's record of the case in the Criminal Clerk's Office, 30th Judicial Circuit of TN at Memphis, Shelby Co., 201 Poplar Ave, 38103. Access would most probably require a court order. It should be noted that the initial 'Trial' Judge, the late, Honorable Preston Battle,* considered the report to be entirely unsatisfactory and issued an order requiring that 'the rifle' be retested. It was never complied with. The State's written opposition to my ordering this retest included the following language: "The State objects to the rifle being retested on the grounds that it may become damaged and PREVENT IT FROM BEING RETESTED IN THE FUTURE." As part of the context of the events, it should be noted that F.B.I. Director Hoover ordered ALL auditory and visual surveillance of MLK to be curtailed completely—for the first time since he'd initiated it—a little shy of 48 hours before his killing.A) THE report itself appears to be fraudulent and is contrived: there was NO effort to get a 'match ID' of fatal projectile/sample projectile fired from 'Ray's rifle'. The samples were fired into 'target' media that consisted of cut-up note pads (cardboard, note paper and staples) that would effectively remove/destroy fine striations that would enable a 'positive' and conclusive ID. All they obtained was a 'generic' type ID (i.e. showing that death projectile and test samples were consistent with having been fired fro 'similar' rather than 'identical' weapons).B) The projectile removed from the body of MLK was cut into six (6) pieces [3 jacket and 3 of the 'lead' core] by the F.B.I. and was declared by them to be incapable of 'ballistic' analysis. On the other hand, a metallurgical analysis of the 'core' was done independently with the result that it was determined to be inconsistent with the remainder of the recovered material (i.e. the metallurgical characteristics of the four (4) recovered, unfired cartridges allegedly found w/the Remington 760 Game Master [i.e. 4 'live rounds' in the rifle magazine] and a supposedly 'fired', empty cartridge case in the chamber thereof. This 'metallurgical' analysis seems to have been done by a field office of the F.B.I. and apparently generated a great deal of ire in the D.C. Office [based on F.B.I. memoranda recovered under the Freedom of Information Act and as submitted (perhaps inadvertently) in the case]. These memoranda should be in the case file in the Clerk's Office.C) Neither do I have a copy of the HSCA report. A large part of this is public record record published in the 'Congressional Record' series and is available upon tender of request and fee. It is NOT of much value in my opinion as a consequence of its primary reliance upon flawed/fraudulent information furnished by the F.B.I.2) My personal theory is that MLK was murdered by a two (2) man team of capable operatives. Perhaps they were professionals operating 'off the record' but with official though 'off the record' sanction. F.B.I. memoranda available through the U.S. Assassination/Assassination Attempt Records Review and Repository Washington D.C. suggest this as well as the motivation** ^ ***3) The most obvious origin for the shot is the firehouse:A) It should be noted that several hours elapsed from the point when MLK was initially to have left the Loraine Motel and traveled to the home of Rev. Billy Kyles for dinner. The departure was continuously delayed over those intervening hours for several different reasons that can be discerned****B) Due to the time and interminable delays, a would-be 'shooter' would have been required to have kept himself and his weapon concealed from view for quite a period of time:i) The open nature of the 'bushes' and the surrounding area certainly tend to preclude this location from consideration:ii) Likewise, an open lavatory in a public 'flop-house' doesn't commend itself.iii) An examination of the toilet in question reveals that as a 'shooting' point it puts a prospective gunman in such an unstable and precarious position as to be precluded from being the origin of the fatal shot.iv) At the time the fatal shot was fired, shooting MLK from the window in question was an impossibility.*****C) Amongst all the possibilities, the fire station offers a controlled environment and concealment from which to take a carefully set-up shot. It also offered the actual shooting team an opportunity to simply leave their equipment in situ and make a leisurely exit. Collaborators, most likely with the appearance of 'officials', would then retrieve the equipment later.D) It should be noted that the fire station Chief at the time offered the recent statement that two days prior to the shooting, two government officials/employees climbed (w/him) to the top of the fire station tower and took a long look around. Strangely, he offers that "they did not come back up here again" which does not preclude them being elsewhere in or about the station when the tragic events unfolded the day after.E) The firehouse dormitory/cafeteria offered a stable seat and secure rifle rest/observation position from which to take the fatal shot. The shooter/observer team would have been located well inside the large upper window area and would have been invisible to passers-by if there were no bright interior lighting turned on. Likewise, they would've been able to use heavy tables to support sand bags and seats that would've made a very stable shooting position. Various methods of external radio and ground-line communication would have commended themselves to the activity. Especially in light of the special characteristics of the weapon that appears to have been used, the enclosed nature of the place would have provided excellent sound attenuation and 'venting' of the pressure wave from firing; there were a connected series of apertures/doors that gave witnesses the false impression that the shot 'came from the bushes' etc., where the shock wave vented. The effects of echo should not be discounted.4) Irrespective of the contemporaneous layout of the station house, the shot would've originated on an upper (2nd flr) level where there is an expanse of clear glazing (i.e. windows) on the side of the station facing the Loraine Hotel. At the time if the shooting, one or another of the windows would have been open sufficiently [just partially] to have provided the narrow gap needed for the shot to have cleared. The shot would've been taken from well inside the interior to the extent of several yards or feet and NOT with the barrel etc of the weapon extending outside as per typical Hollywood portrayals of such things. The 'Sionics' suppressor would've made a sufficient reduction in the decibel level of the shot to have obviated the need for hearing protection for any involved personnel.5) The shooter would NOT "…have stood" nor his 'spotter'.°* Both would've been seated and the rifle itself—along with his accomplice's 'spotting scope'—would've been secured on a steady rest: most likely something like sand bags, bipod or benchrest set up for the rifle and a tripod for the spotting scope. Both would have been rather finely laid in the direction of the target's anticipated position and left there until the quarry's appearance was known to be imminent. The process is much the same as shooting African Leopard from a 'blind'. The composition of the firehouse staff/personnel at the time was likely to have been simpatico with the project as a matter of perceived patriotism and attitude toward race; appeal to such seems to have secured the necessary silence. The time period contemporaneous with these events is replete with organizational ‘silences’ associated with homicidal notoriety.6) The distance discrepancies between the firehouse, bushes and the flop-house would normally be of small consequence; well within the typical 'pointblank' range of a .30 cal. Center fire rifle of .308 Winchester/7.62x51 mm NATO or older .30-'06 caliber [also firing what is technically a .308in/7.62 mm bullet]. Ordinarily, this would be of small consequence. By 'pointblank' it is inferred that the shooter has only to aim directly at his target and his shot will strike—during the course of its trajectory—from an inch or so low relative to his point of aim, starting from about twenty-five yards away to around two or three high between a hundred and two-hundred yards and then drop down to perhaps three to five inches low way out to about three hundred to three hundred fifty yards. This would depend on the particulars of the individual rifle/load combination, e.g. barrel length, weight of the bullet, the propellant charge, ballistic coefficient of the bullet, idiosyncrasies of the individual rifle, etc.. With a soft point expanding bullet such as that removed from MLK's body, the shooter would simply hold for the middle of the upper chest and he would administer a non-survivable wound, even if his target were standing next to a state of the art trauma center. Note that a shot from ‘the bushes’ as recounted by witnesses would have presented an upward trajectory angle for the shot to have struck MLK. His actual wound characteristics makes this unlikely.7) now we get to the crux of the matter: the deformed bullet (judging from an evidence photo of the intact bullet) that was purportedly removed from MLK's body did not expand to the degree one might expect from any of the ranges involved (i.e. flop-house, fire-station etc.). That is a personal opinion based on my observations as a hunter. What was actually demonstrated is consistent with bullet performance from a rifle/load similar in nature to what we have here—on first but mistaken impression—when the target is a 150-250 lb soft skinned mammal some three hundred yards or so from the shooter. This is a distance rather in excess to any of the alternative distances involved in the MLK assassination. The 'why' of it is consistent with the shot that was actually taken. i.e. Instead of a torso shot, why the almost flubbed head shot that was actually taken? MLK was struck at a downward angle in the right upper cheek; the bullet continued at a downward angle, shattering upper and lower molars; passed through the tongue, then exited between the lower jaws. It re-entered MLK's body as it struck the clavicle, traveling under the skin over the right shoulder; down at angle across the rear of the right shoulder between the skin and the right scapula; across the back and lodged on the left side between the skin of the back and the left scapula. The bullet never entered the interior of the torso/thorax. It is not an unusual quirk for a bullet to do this. Had his carotid artery not been nicked, it is probable that MLK would have survived the ordeal. Why then the marginal head shot in lieu of a solid, non-survivable torso shot? The head is on a flexible neck and moves around a lot in contrast to the balance of a target's body.Albert Einstein to the rescue. Energy = Mass x Velocity Squared. At 2500—2750 ft/sec. muzzle velocity, a 147—180 gr. .30 cal (7.62 mm) bullet will have something in excess of a ton of muzzle energy at one hundred yards and slightly less that that ton at two-hundred. On the other hand, a .30 cal. bullet (of the above weights) moving just at the speed of sound is going to be behaving essentially like a small caliber pistol round such as a 7.63 Torkarev or perhaps the larger 9x19mm NATO favored the world over. The set up of the rifle that my opinion suggests was used to kill MLK produces sub-sonic velocities (1125+ fps) that minimize 'sound signature'. This is an entirely different proposition and a torso hit at the alternative ranges involved becomes survivable.8) For a number of reasons, it is my opinion that MLK was shot with an XM21, an M14 with a significant amount of hand work and fitting and re-barreled with a special stainless steel item produced by the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (the AMU, initiated by President Eisenhower). The rifling twist for this special barrel was 1x11.25 or one complete revolution of the bullet every 11.25 inches of barrel length. The Remington 760 Game Master had the factory standard 1x10 twist for .30-'06 [the standard was 1x12 for .308 Winchester (7.62x51 mm NATO)]; all typical of the era. The AMU had reportedly made somewhere around 60-63 barrels with such characteristics circa 1967 for converting M14's to XM21's. the standard sight was a variable Redfield scope of 3X—9X converted to facilitate distance ranging by the Leatherwood Co. (or a special night vision scope as an alternative). There was also a sound (signature) suppressor affixed to the weapon that was manufactured by a company known as 'Sionics'. The particulars are as follows:A) 7.63 NATO cal., M14 (XM21) rifle with Sionics suppressor/Starlight night vision scope [or Leatherwood ARTS (auto ranging telescopic sight)(Redfield 3x9)] SCIONICS suppressor for M14 = M14SS-1 (XM21)].B) SCIONICS suppressor:Tube: 12.75" long, 1.665" outside dia.: bore = .375":C) M14 front sight and flash-hider removed (scope = primary sight).D) Outer tube (i.e. of suppressor unit) = .090"dia.; made of 6061 T6 aluminum alloy; anodized flat black: internal parts and rear retainer collar = phosphated 4130 steel, sealed and aligned with a Teflon washer. Earliest (i.e. prototypes) had a spring loaded back pressure relief valve at the rear of the can chamber (i.e. suppressor). At this stage steel baffles were used, then superseded by Inconel (to better resist heat degradation). Ultimately, the valve was succeeded by a pressure relief port (there were incidental problems with longevity when operating weapons equipped with these devices in a full auto mode; these were generally weapons systems other than the XM21 since they only were issued in semi-auto mode). Most suppressor units were rated for semi-auto use only.E) In re Production and Distribution of Suppressor Units and M14/XM21 rifles:Almost all production was delivered to U.S. Army (Ft. Bennington GA; Rock Island Arsenal); some to USN (San Diego CA); some to Aberdeen Proving Center MD. A few 'Scionics' units (records suggest only 5) went to the F.B.I. along with a like number of M14SS-1/XM21's; delivered late December 1967. At the time there was some concern expressed about the F.B.I. acquiring these weapons systems and questions raised as to what they would be used for as the bureau had no applicable mission requirements at the time (e.g. no Hostage Rescue Unit).F) DATA, illustrative:Speed of sound at sea level @ 68F° = 1,127 fps (average) and slower as it gets colder. It might be noted that this is the apparent velocity of the bullet that was removed from MLK. e.g. As a comparison, a typical 9x19mm NATO pistol/submachine gun round has an avg muzzle velocity of circa 1250fps for a 115 gr bullet.Sub-sonic 5.56 NATO and 7.62 NATO rounds were costly in those days (i.e. circa 1967-70) @ approximately 32?/round: cases were partially filled w/epoxy to take up space; early examples had Cream of Wheat (the cereal), cotton, nitrated paper mixed w/cotton. These early fillers performed badly and the overall ballistic performance (i.e. accuracy) was deemed poor until an epoxy filler was adopted. The 7.62 NATO was packed in 20 round boxes boxes marked "subsonic". Sales were limited. This is most likely the ammunition used to slay MLK. This is another circumstance that illustrates the problems inherent in a situation where a head shot is an imperative.G) This factor would also tend to favor the shorter range from the firehouse site.H) The Sionics company was founded by a Mitch WerBell, joined later by Gordon Ingram and the name changed from "Scionics" to "Environmental Industries". Subsequently, a contemporary employee of Scionics, one Don Thomas, allowed the firm to use the name of his Class III (i.e. full auto) business, "Military Armament". The business started operating as such 12/21/1970, Powder Springs GA 30073.I) The best known Scionics product was the two stage suppressor fitted to the Ingram SMG (Submachine Gun): the Mac 10 so beloved of Hollywood for action genre movies a few years ago.For additional details, see Small Arms Review-Vol. No 15, No. 2- November, 2011<<9) James Earl Ray was most likely one of several alternative scapegoats and was likely peripherally guilty as a co-conspirator though HE WAS NOT the actual killer. In Memphis TN in 1968, the mix of class, caste, culture, change and un-rest brought on by the pressure of anti-war/ethnic/gender dissatisfaction created a mix that was ripe/conducive for this sort of thing so it was most likely that the city was an ideal local for the events in issue. You've NOT asked me for anything but my opinions on the "ballistic" questions you posed, but the sum total of many other factors is actually more compelling in debunking the theory that Ray was the murderer.10) I would caution the reader to keep in mind a very serious distortion that has crept into the public consciousness about the MLK assassination; it usually shows itself with a line such as this: "Ray, the self-confessed killer of Dr. M.L. King, continually tried to get his conviction overturned in a series of ... ." The actuality is that Ray NEVER CONFESSED to killing MLK at any point in the proceedings and continuously asserted that he did not. For a long time, American criminal law has allowed a defendant whom is actually "innocent" to plead guilty to a crime he did not commit.11) The rule was established by a U.S. Supreme Court case styled Alford v. North Carolina. To wit:"A defendant who is actually innocent of a crime may enter a plea of guilty if he believes that doing so is in his best interests and he is doing so freely, voluntarily, understandingly, knowingly, advisedly and intelligently and so long as the prosecution has a reasonable factual basis upon which to otherwise proceed."12) The Post Conviction Relief Petition that I heard on Ray's behalf raised the claim that newly developed scientific methodology would show that the rifle was NOT the murder weapon and would destroy the State's "... reasonable factual basis upon which to otherwise proceed."13) You ask me what I think is the most compelling evidence that the fatal bullet might not have come from the ... 760." This reflects another popular misconception. To begin with THERE IS NO EVIDENCE that shows the 760 IS the murder weapon. The F.B.I. essentially faked the ballistics test. They showed NO ID connection between the bullet that killed MLK and the Game Master.A) They said the fatal bullet was too badly distorted to make a comparison; in fact, it was not but they made NO effort to even attempt a comparison.B) The F.B.I. did NOT even show that MLK was killed by a .30 cal. (i.e. .308" or 7.62 mm dia) bullet. Essentially, having made NO attempt to analyze the fatal bullet, they contended—rather speciously—that since the 760 was a .30 cal. weapon, then the fatal bullet was .30 cal. bullet.C) As aforesaid, the F.B.I. fired some sample bullets out of the Remington 760 into a medium that contained cut up paper, cardboard and metal staples (i.e. cut up note pads) that effectively removed all usable striations/markings from the sample bullets rendering them INCAPABLE of being analyzed for ID purposes with the fatal bullet.D) There was no effort made to analyze the rate of rifling twist of the 760; I suppose it was assumed that it matched the markings on the barrel but this was never subjected to an analysis and no effort was made to make a determination. What we have are UNPROVEN conclusions that would have us accept the following inferences:i) As the 760 in question is a .30—'06 cal. weapon, then the bullet taken out of MLK is a .30 cal. Bullet;ii) Therefore, MLK was killed with a .30 cal. bullet.iii) Because the death bullet wasn't tested [it could have been] and because (i) & (ii) taken together DO NOT prove anything, the F.B.I. relied on it's fame and reputation with the assurance that whatever it stated would be accepted as fact by most of the American public (and the later Congressional Commissions).iv) As a fact, in 1968, the .30—'06 was overwhelmingly America's most common rifle caliber and—it might be said—had surpassed the old .30–30 Winchester in popularity. The so-called evidence proves NOTHING that establishes the 760 as the murder weapon because there IS NO EVIDENCE.E) On the other hand, the following is established by the evidence:i) The components of the four (4) unfired cartridges found with the 760 Game Master are all metallurgically consistent with regard to the cases, propellant, primers, bullet jackets and bullet cores; the 'fired' cartridge case purportedly found in the chamber of the 760 is metallurgically consistent with the unfired cases. The fatal bullet IS NOT metallurgically consistent with the unfired bullets in any respect. Translation: ammunition companies make their products in so-called lots that are generally recorded as to 'lot' number on the box of ammo; to promote consistency and thereby accuracy, the components are always assembled to have common 'lots' of bullets, cases, primers,and propellant. This is INCONSISTENT with with actual ID efforts:ii) The barrel of the Remington 760 in evidence has a serious manufacturing defect/flaw: there is a gouge that that runs part of the length of the bore down the middle of what is known as a 'land' and is reflected on most of the sample bullets fired through this 760 when it was retested:iii) The Rem 760 in evidence does in fact have a 1x10" rate of rifling twist;iv) Scanning electron microscopy of the bullet said to have killed MLK positively excludes Ray's 760 as being the rifle that fired it:a) Contrary to the F.B.I. report, the three jacket pieces were quite amenable to analysis:b) The F.B.I. stripped the jacket into three pieces while it was in their custody and this's absolutely an anathema when it comes to ballistic evidence. There is/was a photo in evidence of the intact bullet which may or may not still be in evidence:°°*c) The rifling twist reflected in the scanning electron microscopy of the pieces of the purportedly fatal bullet as revealed by a trigonometric analysis of the results reveals that it DOES NOT have a 1x10" rate of rifling twist as does the Game Master, but rather a 1x11.25" rate of twist consistent with the AMU barrels installed in M14/M14SS-1/XM21 rifles.d) The signature of the flaw in the 760's barrel DOES NOT show up on the jacket pieces of the death bullet:e) The clearly evident striations on the death bullet DO NOT otherwise match the striations on the sample bullets fired through the the Ray Remington 760; in point of fact, to me, the appearance of the striations on the death bullet suggest a finely made and conditioned custom grade barrel fired it. Ray's rifle, on the other hand, has all the characteristics of a second-grade barrel, reflective of the factory machining that was often inferior to the hand work that dominated the American firearms industry before the '60's.* The day after giving an unprecedented press conference following a jury's acceptance of James Ray's GP and expressing his personal opinion that Ray was definitely guilty but most certainly did not act alone, the good judge was found to be dead in his chambers, after initially turning up missing. The Medical Examiner, a certain Dr. Jerry Francisco, pronounced him dead of a heart attack. It might be noted that this was the same Dr. Francisco that pronounced Elvis Presley dead of a naturally occurring heart attack (though he did not perform the autopsy) in the face of overwhelming laboratory evidence of death caused by drug overdose. In fact, the prescribing doctor was subject to a series of trials that were a foretaste of the furor in M. Jackson's demise. The good doctor has had a long career of 'questionable' diagnosis/findings of cause of death; several of which I've been personally involved in. e.g. In the immediate matter, I had to issue an order restraining him from attempting to remove the bullet fragments in question from 201 Poplar Ave where they should've been retained. It is notable that Dr. Francisco had been allowed over the years to frequently remove the bullet fragments from the evidence room to show them to persons in no way associated with the case. The integrity of these fragments as evidence is thus highly suspect.**The Repository was authorized by Act of Congress and enabled by Executive Order initially issued by President George H. W. Bush and subsequently by President William Clinton. Attested copies of the memoranda that I've perused reveal that there'd been internal discussion in the F.B.I.—at the highest levels—relative to the fatal elimination of Dr. MLK on account of the perception held strongly by Director J. Edgar Hover that he was a grave threat to national security and domestic tranquility on account of his potential to "revitalize labor" and "galvanize the anti-war movement". The exchanges centered on whether MLK would be more dangerous as a "live agitator" or "dead martyr".*** This is not dissimilar to the position taken by the current O'Bama administration claiming an Executive Authority to issue orders outside the Constitution to assassinate U.S. citizens who've committed no indictable nor cognizant criminal acts if in the President's sole discretion the individual is deemed a 'threat to U.S. security. The current government position goes further in that such killing may be done domestically with no recourse through the American Justice System. In fact, in the very recent matter that brought this to light, the involved Federal Court had it's injunction violated when the U.S. Government, acting apparently on presidential orders, used drone aircraft to kill the man in question as well as his minor son when the two were abroad and separated by more than 400 miles at the time of the assassinations which seemed to be several hours apart.****Ostensibly, the reason given was that Mrs. Kyles had not finished cooking. On the other hand, the timeline reveals the following events:a) The one African-American fireman at the firehouse called to advise that he was returning to work as, contrary to the report that had excused him for the remainder of the day, his son had not been seriously injured in an accident and was, in fact, safely in his class-room at school. It apparently took some time to re-contact him and secure his agreement to take the rest of the day off:b) The first delay in the visit is contemporaneous with this situation:c) There was a squad of Memphis Police Officers with Sergeant or Detective status who were volunteering to act as MLK's personal security; even though off-duty, they were ordered to leave him and travel to police HQ on account of purported 'threats' against them. They initially refused. Subsequently they reluctantly relented when superiors threatened draconian consequences.d) MLK was then supposed to travel to Rev. Kyles' home until authorities learned that one of the African-American Sergeants had refused to leave MLK. The stay was reimposed and held until several squad cars and ten (10) MPD officers in particular traveled to the Lorraine Motel and ultimately overpowered the sergeant; then resorted to double cuffing him and literally 'hog-tying' his legs before manhandling him into the back seat of one of the squad cars and removing him from the scene.e) At this point, it appears that MLK was finally to travel to Rev. Kyles' home.f) Two things are of note at this point:i) The first is that most of the proceeding difficulties were not conveyed to MLK who, according to witnesses, was, as were they, under the impression that 'dinner' was still being prepared by Mrs. Kyles and her not being finished was the cause of the delays. Before her death, and long after she and the Reverend were divorced, she affirmed that she had not only finished the meal preparation, but was rather disturbed that she'd had to keep it warming in the oven for so long.ii) The second thing is that MLK's ride was waiting for him on the other side of the motel; as he was proceeding down the hall way in the direction thereof, he was stopped and advised that many of his 'fans' had been waiting to see him on the other side of the hotel where he went, ultimately to be slain.*****The late Captain Tommy Smith, retired Chief of the Homicide Bureau MPD gave a video recorded statement while I was personally present that:i) He was the first Detective to arrive on the scene, arriving just minutes after the shot:ii) He was directed to the 'flop-house' by radio dispatch:iii) To the day he was videoed, he was unable to ascertain the origin of the call:iv) On arrival, he went, as directed, to the lavatory:v) He immediately ruled it out as the point of origin for the fatal shot. [on account of there being] "… a thick limb growing diagonally through the lavatory window that totally obscured any view of the Loraine balcony from that point."a) There was nothing that offered a sufficiently stable location to take a shot in any event:b) He discovered that there had been a 'cut-down' order put out for that limb that should've been carried out early that morning:c) When he returned with 'Crime-Scene' personnel about an hour later, he discovered that the tree and limb had been freshly cut down:d) Capt Smith noted that the 'cut-down' order had gone out to the City Sanitation Dept, who's employees were AFSME members and on strike; it not being likely that any of them would break-strike to carry out the order:e) He totally discounted the State's contention that a gouge in the window-sill of the lavatory was the result of a rifle barrel being rested on it, a crucial aspect of their theory:f) Likewise, Capt. Smith totally dismisses the supposed report from two (2) alleged witness that they saw Ray in the flop-house lavatory, relying on his own observations and those of a taxi driver who'd been to the flop-house to pick them up approximately 15-20 mins prior to the shooting. The two were passed-out and so inebriated that they could not be revived and (at least one) laying in a large pool of urine. He called an ambulance and they were rushed to an emergency room with what would have been a twice fatal level of alcohol consumption had they not been long-term alcoholics:g) It should be note that Capt. Smith's official report concludes that James Ray IS NOT the shooter.°* A 'Spotter' typically has a telescope known as a 'spotting' scope that is significantly more powerful than the telescopic sight on the shooter's rifle. The spotter and shooter are a team and they may swap roles. The spotter secures an overview of the scene and conveys advantageous or crucial details to the shooter to enable him to be focused on taking the shot. The spotter typically makes the call on when and if the shot is to be taken, e.g. advising the shooter that the target is in—or is about to come into—view: perhaps advising the shooter that the shot was a miss or marginal and giving range and windage corrections: basically an 'I've got your back' thing. The shooter stays on the rifle looking through his sight while the spotter 'talks' him into and through the shot. Quite conspicuous on film recordations is a certain off-duty black cop who checks MLK's body to verify results. This person has an interesting future career with the U.S. Intelligence community.°°* I have personally experienced incidents where evidence has been removed from the evidence record or, in at least one case in this jurisdiction, where, two weeks before a murder trial started in my Courtroom, an entire police homicide file was destroyed as well as the records in the micro-film repository in the local Sheriff’s Dept Central Records and those of the associated property room. FYI this resulted in an investigation that focused on an Assistant A.G. (Atty Gen'l). There has been no resolution of this matter and it is still open. In the Ray case, it has been unfortunate that items of evidence seem to have disappeared over the years – even while the matters alluded yo were pending before me. Then too, the donation of the Ray Remington 760 Game Master to the Civil Rights Museum by the local DA’s Office was arguably improper because TN law requires that all evidence in a homicide be retained for 99 years. As it is, the chain of custody has been destroyed and the Ray rifle is no longer usable evidence as a result.1/31/18JoeBThis is some general information that might prove of interest to the group.??I would like to attend the proceedings. The essence of the following was sent to someone to assist their research and – as an expediency – I would grant a similar limited usage for research purposes to the group. I would expect some acknowledgement/notification from whomever might put it to use as I do intend to use the material in something I intend to publish.?THE RIFLE ?:11/2/17 retrieved f/Justin Ervin4/7/16 2nd retrieval: Initially Retrieved from Note Archive: 9/1/15*RESPONSE: MLK Questions:10/6/2013(Note: Officer Ed Reddick)[The following is Confidential and restricted with permission to use granted 2013 to the intended recipient only for purposes of a 'Documentary Production'. ALL Intellectual Property Rights and Copyrights otherwise reserved and retained by Judge Joe Brown (Joseph B. Brown, Jr.)]In re info request on MLK assassination :1) Though i have read it at great length, I do NOT have the 'FBI firearms report': such as purports to have this status should be in the state's record of the case in the Criminal Clerk's Office, 30th Judicial Circuit of TN at Memphis, Shelby Co., 201 Poplar Ave, 38103. Access would most probably require a court order. It should be noted that the initial 'Trial' Judge, the late, Honorable Preston Battle,* considered the report to be entirely unsatisfactory and issued an order requiring that 'the rifle' be retested. It was never complied with. The State's written opposition to my ordering this retest included the following language: "The State objects to the rifle being retested on the grounds that it may become damaged and PREVENT IT FROM BEING RETESTED IN THE FUTURE." As part of the context of the events, it should be noted that F.B.I. Director Hoover ordered ALL auditory and visual surveillance of MLK to be curtailed completely—for the first time since he'd initiated it—a little shy of 48 hours before his killing.A) THE report itself appears to be fraudulent and is contrived: there was NO effort to get a 'match ID' of fatal projectile/sample projectile fired from 'Ray's rifle'. The samples were fired into 'target' media that consisted of cut-up note pads (cardboard, note paper and staples) that would effectively remove/destroy fine striations that would enable a 'positive' and conclusive ID. All they obtained was a 'generic' type ID (i.e. showing that death projectile and test samples were consistent with having been fired fro 'similar' rather than 'identical' weapons).B) The projectile removed from the body of MLK was cut into six (6) pieces [3 jacket and 3 of the 'lead' core] by the F.B.I. and was declared by them to be incapable of 'ballistic' analysis. On the other hand, a metallurgical analysis of the 'core' was done independently with the result that it was determined to be inconsistent with the remainder of the recovered material (i.e. the metallurgical characteristics of the four (4) recovered, unfired cartridges allegedly found w/the Remington 760 Game Master [i.e. 4 'live rounds' in the rifle magazine] and a supposedly 'fired', empty cartridge case in the chamber thereof. This 'metallurgical' analysis seems to have been done by a field office of the F.B.I. and apparently generated a great deal of ire in the D.C. Office [based on F.B.I. memoranda recovered under the Freedom of Information Act and as submitted (perhaps inadvertently) in the case]. These memoranda should be in the case file in the Clerk's Office.C) Neither do I have a copy of the HSCA report. A large part of this is public record record published in the 'Congressional Record' series and is available upon tender of request and fee. It is NOT of much value in my opinion as a consequence of its primary reliance upon flawed/fraudulent information furnished by the F.B.I.2) My personal theory is that MLK was murdered by a two (2) man team of capable operatives. Perhaps they were professionals operating 'off the record' but with official though 'off the record' sanction. F.B.I. memoranda available through the U.S. Assassination/Assassination Attempt Records Review and Repository Washington D.C. suggest this as well as the motivation** ^ ***3) The most obvious origin for the shot is the firehouse:A) It should be noted that several hours elapsed from the point when MLK was initially to have left the Loraine Motel and traveled to the home of Rev. Billy Kyles for dinner. The departure was continuously delayed over those intervening hours for several different reasons that can be discerned****B) Due to the time and interminable delays, a would-be 'shooter' would have been required to have kept himself and his weapon concealed from view for quite a period of time:i) The open nature of the 'bushes' and the surrounding area certainly tend to preclude this location from consideration:ii) Likewise, an open lavatory in a public 'flop-house' doesn't commend itself.iii) An examination of the toilet in question reveals that as a 'shooting' point it puts a prospective gunman in such an unstable and precarious position as to be precluded from being the origin of the fatal shot.iv) At the time the fatal shot was fired, shooting MLK from the window in question was an impossibility.*****C) Amongst all the possibilities, the fire station offers a controlled environment and concealment from which to take a carefully set-up shot. It also offered the actual shooting team an opportunity to simply leave their equipment in situ and make a leisurely exit. Collaborators, most likely with the appearance of 'officials', would then retrieve the equipment later.D) It should be noted that the fire station Chief at the time offered the recent statement that two days prior to the shooting, two government officials/employees climbed (w/him) to the top of the fire station tower and took a long look around. Strangely, he offers that "they did not come back up here again" which does not preclude them being elsewhere in or about the station when the tragic events unfolded the day after.E) The firehouse dormitory/cafeteria offered a stable seat and secure rifle rest/observation position from which to take the fatal shot. The shooter/observer team would have been located well inside the large upper window area and would have been invisible to passers-by if there were no bright interior lighting turned on. Likewise, they would've been able to use heavy tables to support sand bags and seats that would've made a very stable shooting position. Various methods of external radio and ground-line communication would have commended themselves to the activity. Especially in light of the special characteristics of the weapon that appears to have been used, the enclosed nature of the place would have provided excellent sound attenuation and 'venting' of the pressure wave from firing; there were a connected series of apertures/doors that gave witnesses the false impression that the shot 'came from the bushes' etc., where the shock wave vented. The effects of echo should not be discounted.4) Irrespective of the contemporaneous layout of the station house, the shot would've originated on an upper (2nd flr) level where there is an expanse of clear glazing (i.e. windows) on the side of the station facing the Loraine Hotel. At the time if the shooting, one or another of the windows would have been open sufficiently [just partially] to have provided the narrow gap needed for the shot to have cleared. The shot would've been taken from well inside the interior to the extent of several yards or feet and NOT with the barrel etc of the weapon extending outside as per typical Hollywood portrayals of such things. The 'Sionics' suppressor would've made a sufficient reduction in the decibel level of the shot to have obviated the need for hearing protection for any involved personnel.5) The shooter would NOT "…have stood" nor his 'spotter'.°* Both would've been seated and the rifle itself—along with his accomplice's 'spotting scope'—would've been secured on a steady rest: most likely something like sand bags, bipod or benchrest set up for the rifle and a tripod for the spotting scope. Both would have been rather finely laid in the direction of the target's anticipated position and left there until the quarry's appearance was known to be imminent. The process is much the same as shooting African Leopard from a 'blind'. The composition of the firehouse staff/personnel at the time was likely to have been simpatico with the project as a matter of perceived patriotism and attitude toward race; appeal to such seems to have secured the necessary silence. The time period contemporaneous with these events is replete with organizational ‘silences’ associated with homicidal notoriety.6) The distance discrepancies between the firehouse, bushes and the flop-house would normally be of small consequence; well within the typical 'pointblank' range of a .30 cal. Center fire rifle of .308 Winchester/7.62x51 mm NATO or older .30-'06 caliber [also firing what is technically a .308in/7.62 mm bullet]. Ordinarily, this would be of small consequence. By 'pointblank' it is inferred that the shooter has only to aim directly at his target and his shot will strike—during the course of its trajectory—from an inch or so low relative to his point of aim, starting from about twenty-five yards away to around two or three high between a hundred and two-hundred yards and then drop down to perhaps three to five inches low way out to about three hundred to three hundred fifty yards. This would depend on the particulars of the individual rifle/load combination, e.g. barrel length, weight of the bullet, the propellant charge, ballistic coefficient of the bullet, idiosyncrasies of the individual rifle, etc.. With a soft point expanding bullet such as that removed from MLK's body, the shooter would simply hold for the middle of the upper chest and he would administer a non-survivable wound, even if his target were standing next to a state of the art trauma center. Note that a shot from ‘the bushes’ as recounted by witnesses would have presented an upward trajectory angle for the shot to have struck MLK. His actual wound characteristics makes this unlikely.7) now we get to the crux of the matter: the deformed bullet (judging from an evidence photo of the intact bullet) that was purportedly removed from MLK's body did not expand to the degree one might expect from any of the ranges involved (i.e. flop-house, fire-station etc.). That is a personal opinion based on my observations as a hunter. What was actually demonstrated is consistent with bullet performance from a rifle/load similar in nature to what we have here—on first but mistaken impression—when the target is a 150-250 lb soft skinned mammal some three hundred yards or so from the shooter. This is a distance rather in excess to any of the alternative distances involved in the MLK assassination. The 'why' of it is consistent with the shot that was actually taken. i.e. Instead of a torso shot, why the almost flubbed head shot that was actually taken? MLK was struck at a downward angle in the right upper cheek; the bullet continued at a downward angle, shattering upper and lower molars; passed through the tongue, then exited between the lower jaws. It re-entered MLK's body as it struck the clavicle, traveling under the skin over the right shoulder; down at angle across the rear of the right shoulder between the skin and the right scapula; across the back and lodged on the left side between the skin of the back and the left scapula. The bullet never entered the interior of the torso/thorax. It is not an unusual quirk for a bullet to do this. Had his carotid artery not been nicked, it is probable that MLK would have survived the ordeal. Why then the marginal head shot in lieu of a solid, non-survivable torso shot? The head is on a flexible neck and moves around a lot in contrast to the balance of a target's body.Albert Einstein to the rescue. Energy = Mass x Velocity Squared. At 2500—2750 ft/sec. muzzle velocity, a 147—180 gr. .30 cal (7.62 mm) bullet will have something in excess of a ton of muzzle energy at one hundred yards and slightly less that that ton at two-hundred. On the other hand, a .30 cal. bullet (of the above weights) moving just at the speed of sound is going to be behaving essentially like a small caliber pistol round such as a 7.63 Torkarev or perhaps the larger 9x19mm NATO favored the world over. The set up of the rifle that my opinion suggests was used to kill MLK produces sub-sonic velocities (1125+ fps) that minimize 'sound signature'. This is an entirely different proposition and a torso hit at the alternative ranges involved becomes survivable.8) For a number of reasons, it is my opinion that MLK was shot with an XM21, an M14 with a significant amount of hand work and fitting and re-barreled with a special stainless steel item produced by the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (the AMU, initiated by President Eisenhower). The rifling twist for this special barrel was 1x11.25 or one complete revolution of the bullet every 11.25 inches of barrel length. The Remington 760 Game Master had the factory standard 1x10 twist for .30-'06 [the standard was 1x12 for .308 Winchester (7.62x51 mm NATO)]; all typical of the era. The AMU had reportedly made somewhere around 60-63 barrels with such characteristics circa 1967 for converting M14's to XM21's. the standard sight was a variable Redfield scope of 3X—9X converted to facilitate distance ranging by the Leatherwood Co. (or a special night vision scope as an alternative). There was also a sound (signature) suppressor affixed to the weapon that was manufactured by a company known as 'Sionics'. The particulars are as follows:A) 7.63 NATO cal., M14 (XM21) rifle with Sionics suppressor/Starlight night vision scope [or Leatherwood ARTS (auto ranging telescopic sight)(Redfield 3x9)] SCIONICS suppressor for M14 = M14SS-1 (XM21)].B) SCIONICS suppressor:Tube: 12.75" long, 1.665" outside dia.: bore = .375":C) M14 front sight and flash-hider removed (scope = primary sight).D) Outer tube (i.e. of suppressor unit) = .090"dia.; made of 6061 T6 aluminum alloy; anodized flat black: internal parts and rear retainer collar = phosphated 4130 steel, sealed and aligned with a Teflon washer. Earliest (i.e. prototypes) had a spring loaded back pressure relief valve at the rear of the can chamber (i.e. suppressor). At this stage steel baffles were used, then superseded by Inconel (to better resist heat degradation). Ultimately, the valve was succeeded by a pressure relief port (there were incidental problems with longevity when operating weapons equipped with these devices in a full auto mode; these were generally weapons systems other than the XM21 since they only were issued in semi-auto mode). Most suppressor units were rated for semi-auto use only.E) In re Production and Distribution of Suppressor Units and M14/XM21 rifles:Almost all production was delivered to U.S. Army (Ft. Bennington GA; Rock Island Arsenal); some to USN (San Diego CA); some to Aberdeen Proving Center MD. A few 'Scionics' units (records suggest only 5) went to the F.B.I. along with a like number of M14SS-1/XM21's; delivered late December 1967. At the time there was some concern expressed about the F.B.I. acquiring these weapons systems and questions raised as to what they would be used for as the bureau had no applicable mission requirements at the time (e.g. no Hostage Rescue Unit).F) DATA, illustrative:Speed of sound at sea level @ 68F° = 1,127 fps (average) and slower as it gets colder. It might be noted that this is the apparent velocity of the bullet that was removed from MLK. e.g. As a comparison, a typical 9x19mm NATO pistol/submachine gun round has an avg muzzle velocity of circa 1250fps for a 115 gr bullet.Sub-sonic 5.56 NATO and 7.62 NATO rounds were costly in those days (i.e. circa 1967-70) @ approximately 32?/round: cases were partially filled w/epoxy to take up space; early examples had Cream of Wheat (the cereal), cotton, nitrated paper mixed w/cotton. These early fillers performed badly and the overall ballistic performance (i.e. accuracy) was deemed poor until an epoxy filler was adopted. The 7.62 NATO was packed in 20 round boxes boxes marked "subsonic". Sales were limited. This is most likely the ammunition used to slay MLK. This is another circumstance that illustrates the problems inherent in a situation where a head shot is an imperative.G) This factor would also tend to favor the shorter range from the firehouse site.H) The Sionics company was founded by a Mitch WerBell, joined later by Gordon Ingram and the name changed from "Scionics" to "Environmental Industries". Subsequently, a contemporary employee of Scionics, one Don Thomas, allowed the firm to use the name of his Class III (i.e. full auto) business, "Military Armament". The business started operating as such 12/21/1970, Powder Springs GA 30073.I) The best known Scionics product was the two stage suppressor fitted to the Ingram SMG (Submachine Gun): the Mac 10 so beloved of Hollywood for action genre movies a few years ago.For additional details, see Small Arms Review-Vol. No 15, No. 2- November, 2011<<9) James Earl Ray was most likely one of several alternative scapegoats and was likely peripherally guilty as a co-conspirator though HE WAS NOT the actual killer. In Memphis TN in 1968, the mix of class, caste, culture, change and un-rest brought on by the pressure of anti-war/ethnic/gender dissatisfaction created a mix that was ripe/conducive for this sort of thing so it was most likely that the city was an ideal local for the events in issue. You've NOT asked me for anything but my opinions on the "ballistic" questions you posed, but the sum total of many other factors is actually more compelling in debunking the theory that Ray was the murderer.10) I would caution the reader to keep in mind a very serious distortion that has crept into the public consciousness about the MLK assassination; it usually shows itself with a line such as this: "Ray, the self-confessed killer of Dr. M.L. King, continually tried to get his conviction overturned in a series of ... ." The actuality is that Ray NEVER CONFESSED to killing MLK at any point in the proceedings and continuously asserted that he did not. For a long time, American criminal law has allowed a defendant whom is actually "innocent" to plead guilty to a crime he did not commit.11) The rule was established by a U.S. Supreme Court case styled Alford v. North Carolina. To wit:"A defendant who is actually innocent of a crime may enter a plea of guilty if he believes that doing so is in his best interests and he is doing so freely, voluntarily, understandingly, knowingly, advisedly and intelligently and so long as the prosecution has a reasonable factual basis upon which to otherwise proceed."12) The Post Conviction Relief Petition that I heard on Ray's behalf raised the claim that newly developed scientific methodology would show that the rifle was NOT the murder weapon and would destroy the State's "... reasonable factual basis upon which to otherwise proceed."13) You ask me what I think is the most compelling evidence that the fatal bullet might not have come from the ... 760." This reflects another popular misconception. To begin with THERE IS NO EVIDENCE that shows the 760 IS the murder weapon. The F.B.I. essentially faked the ballistics test. They showed NO ID connection between the bullet that killed MLK and the Game Master.A) They said the fatal bullet was too badly distorted to make a comparison; in fact, it was not but they made NO effort to even attempt a comparison.B) The F.B.I. did NOT even show that MLK was killed by a .30 cal. (i.e. .308" or 7.62 mm dia) bullet. Essentially, having made NO attempt to analyze the fatal bullet, they contended—rather speciously—that since the 760 was a .30 cal. weapon, then the fatal bullet was .30 cal. bullet.C) As aforesaid, the F.B.I. fired some sample bullets out of the Remington 760 into a medium that contained cut up paper, cardboard and metal staples (i.e. cut up note pads) that effectively removed all usable striations/markings from the sample bullets rendering them INCAPABLE of being analyzed for ID purposes with the fatal bullet.D) There was no effort made to analyze the rate of rifling twist of the 760; I suppose it was assumed that it matched the markings on the barrel but this was never subjected to an analysis and no effort was made to make a determination. What we have are UNPROVEN conclusions that would have us accept the following inferences:i) As the 760 in question is a .30—'06 cal. weapon, then the bullet taken out of MLK is a .30 cal. Bullet;ii) Therefore, MLK was killed with a .30 cal. bullet.iii) Because the death bullet wasn't tested [it could have been] and because (i) & (ii) taken together DO NOT prove anything, the F.B.I. relied on it's fame and reputation with the assurance that whatever it stated would be accepted as fact by most of the American public (and the later Congressional Commissions).iv) As a fact, in 1968, the .30—'06 was overwhelmingly America's most common rifle caliber and—it might be said—had surpassed the old .30–30 Winchester in popularity. The so-called evidence proves NOTHING that establishes the 760 as the murder weapon because there IS NO EVIDENCE.E) On the other hand, the following is established by the evidence:i) The components of the four (4) unfired cartridges found with the 760 Game Master are all metallurgically consistent with regard to the cases, propellant, primers, bullet jackets and bullet cores; the 'fired' cartridge case purportedly found in the chamber of the 760 is metallurgically consistent with the unfired cases. The fatal bullet IS NOT metallurgically consistent with the unfired bullets in any respect. Translation: ammunition companies make their products in so-called lots that are generally recorded as to 'lot' number on the box of ammo; to promote consistency and thereby accuracy, the components are always assembled to have common 'lots' of bullets, cases, primers,and propellant. This is INCONSISTENT with with actual ID efforts:ii) The barrel of the Remington 760 in evidence has a serious manufacturing defect/flaw: there is a gouge that that runs part of the length of the bore down the middle of what is known as a 'land' and is reflected on most of the sample bullets fired through this 760 when it was retested:iii) The Rem 760 in evidence does in fact have a 1x10" rate of rifling twist;iv) Scanning electron microscopy of the bullet said to have killed MLK positively excludes Ray's 760 as being the rifle that fired it:a) Contrary to the F.B.I. report, the three jacket pieces were quite amenable to analysis:b) The F.B.I. stripped the jacket into three pieces while it was in their custody and this's absolutely an anathema when it comes to ballistic evidence. There is/was a photo in evidence of the intact bullet which may or may not still be in evidence:°°*c) The rifling twist reflected in the scanning electron microscopy of the pieces of the purportedly fatal bullet as revealed by a trigonometric analysis of the results reveals that it DOES NOT have a 1x10" rate of rifling twist as does the Game Master, but rather a 1x11.25" rate of twist consistent with the AMU barrels installed in M14/M14SS-1/XM21 rifles.d) The signature of the flaw in the 760's barrel DOES NOT show up on the jacket pieces of the death bullet:e) The clearly evident striations on the death bullet DO NOT otherwise match the striations on the sample bullets fired through the the Ray Remington 760; in point of fact, to me, the appearance of the striations on the death bullet suggest a finely made and conditioned custom grade barrel fired it. Ray's rifle, on the other hand, has all the characteristics of a second-grade barrel, reflective of the factory machining that was often inferior to the hand work that dominated the American firearms industry before the '60's.* The day after giving an unprecedented press conference following a jury's acceptance of James Ray's GP and expressing his personal opinion that Ray was definitely guilty but most certainly did not act alone, the good judge was found to be dead in his chambers, after initially turning up missing. The Medical Examiner, a certain Dr. Jerry Francisco, pronounced him dead of a heart attack. It might be noted that this was the same Dr. Francisco that pronounced Elvis Presley dead of a naturally occurring heart attack (though he did not perform the autopsy) in the face of overwhelming laboratory evidence of death caused by drug overdose. In fact, the prescribing doctor was subject to a series of trials that were a foretaste of the furor in M. Jackson's demise. The good doctor has had a long career of 'questionable' diagnosis/findings of cause of death; several of which I've been personally involved in. e.g. In the immediate matter, I had to issue an order restraining him from attempting to remove the bullet fragments in question from 201 Poplar Ave where they should've been retained. It is notable that Dr. Francisco had been allowed over the years to frequently remove the bullet fragments from the evidence room to show them to persons in no way associated with the case. The integrity of these fragments as evidence is thus highly suspect.**The Repository was authorized by Act of Congress and enabled by Executive Order initially issued by President George H. W. Bush and subsequently by President William Clinton. Attested copies of the memoranda that I've perused reveal that there'd been internal discussion in the F.B.I.—at the highest levels—relative to the fatal elimination of Dr. MLK on account of the perception held strongly by Director J. Edgar Hover that he was a grave threat to national security and domestic tranquility on account of his potential to "revitalize labor" and "galvanize the anti-war movement". The exchanges centered on whether MLK would be more dangerous as a "live agitator" or "dead martyr".*** This is not dissimilar to the position taken by the current O'Bama administration claiming an Executive Authority to issue orders outside the Constitution to assassinate U.S. citizens who've committed no indictable nor cognizant criminal acts if in the President's sole discretion the individual is deemed a 'threat to U.S. security. The current government position goes further in that such killing may be done domestically with no recourse through the American Justice System. In fact, in the very recent matter that brought this to light, the involved Federal Court had it's injunction violated when the U.S. Government, acting apparently on presidential orders, used drone aircraft to kill the man in question as well as his minor son when the two were abroad and separated by more than 400 miles at the time of the assassinations which seemed to be several hours apart.****Ostensibly, the reason given was that Mrs. Kyles had not finished cooking. On the other hand, the timeline reveals the following events:a) The one African-American fireman at the firehouse called to advise that he was returning to work as, contrary to the report that had excused him for the remainder of the day, his son had not been seriously injured in an accident and was, in fact, safely in his class-room at school. It apparently took some time to re-contact him and secure his agreement to take the rest of the day off:b) The first delay in the visit is contemporaneous with this situation:c) There was a squad of Memphis Police Officers with Sergeant or Detective status who were volunteering to act as MLK's personal security; even though off-duty, they were ordered to leave him and travel to police HQ on account of purported 'threats' against them. They initially refused. Subsequently they reluctantly relented when superiors threatened draconian consequences.d) MLK was then supposed to travel to Rev. Kyles' home until authorities learned that one of the African-American Sergeants had refused to leave MLK. The stay was reimposed and held until several squad cars and ten (10) MPD officers in particular traveled to the Lorraine Motel and ultimately overpowered the sergeant; then resorted to double cuffing him and literally 'hog-tying' his legs before manhandling him into the back seat of one of the squad cars and removing him from the scene.e) At this point, it appears that MLK was finally to travel to Rev. Kyles' home.f) Two things are of note at this point:i) The first is that most of the proceeding difficulties were not conveyed to MLK who, according to witnesses, was, as were they, under the impression that 'dinner' was still being prepared by Mrs. Kyles and her not being finished was the cause of the delays. Before her death, and long after she and the Reverend were divorced, she affirmed that she had not only finished the meal preparation, but was rather disturbed that she'd had to keep it warming in the oven for so long.ii) The second thing is that MLK's ride was waiting for him on the other side of the motel; as he was proceeding down the hall way in the direction thereof, he was stopped and advised that many of his 'fans' had been waiting to see him on the other side of the hotel where he went, ultimately to be slain.*****The late Captain Tommy Smith, retired Chief of the Homicide Bureau MPD gave a video recorded statement while I was personally present that:i) He was the first Detective to arrive on the scene, arriving just minutes after the shot:ii) He was directed to the 'flop-house' by radio dispatch:iii) To the day he was videoed, he was unable to ascertain the origin of the call:iv) On arrival, he went, as directed, to the lavatory:v) He immediately ruled it out as the point of origin for the fatal shot. [on account of there being] "… a thick limb growing diagonally through the lavatory window that totally obscured any view of the Loraine balcony from that point."a) There was nothing that offered a sufficiently stable location to take a shot in any event:b) He discovered that there had been a 'cut-down' order put out for that limb that should've been carried out early that morning:c) When he returned with 'Crime-Scene' personnel about an hour later, he discovered that the tree and limb had been freshly cut down:d) Capt Smith noted that the 'cut-down' order had gone out to the City Sanitation Dept, who's employees were AFSME members and on strike; it not being likely that any of them would break-strike to carry out the order:e) He totally discounted the State's contention that a gouge in the window-sill of the lavatory was the result of a rifle barrel being rested on it, a crucial aspect of their theory:f) Likewise, Capt. Smith totally dismisses the supposed report from two (2) alleged witness that they saw Ray in the flop-house lavatory, relying on his own observations and those of a taxi driver who'd been to the flop-house to pick them up approximately 15-20 mins prior to the shooting. The two were passed-out and so inebriated that they could not be revived and (at least one) laying in a large pool of urine. He called an ambulance and they were rushed to an emergency room with what would have been a twice fatal level of alcohol consumption had they not been long-term alcoholics:g) It should be note that Capt. Smith's official report concludes that James Ray IS NOT the shooter.°* A 'Spotter' typically has a telescope known as a 'spotting' scope that is significantly more powerful than the telescopic sight on the shooter's rifle. The spotter and shooter are a team and they may swap roles. The spotter secures an overview of the scene and conveys advantageous or crucial details to the shooter to enable him to be focused on taking the shot. The spotter typically makes the call on when and if the shot is to be taken, e.g. advising the shooter that the target is in—or is about to come into—view: perhaps advising the shooter that the shot was a miss or marginal and giving range and windage corrections: basically an 'I've got your back' thing. The shooter stays on the rifle looking through his sight while the spotter 'talks' him into and through the shot. Quite conspicuous on film recordations is a certain off-duty black cop who checks MLK's body to verify results. This person has an interesting future career with the U.S. Intelligence community.°°* I have personally experienced incidents where evidence has been removed from the evidence record or, in at least one case in this jurisdiction, where, two weeks before a murder trial started in my Courtroom, an entire police homicide file was destroyed as well as the records in the micro-film repository in the local Sheriff’s Dept Central Records and those of the associated property room. FYI this resulted in an investigation that focused on an Assistant A.G. (Atty Gen'l). There has been no resolution of this matter and it is still open. In the Ray case, it has been unfortunate that items of evidence seem to have disappeared over the years – even while the matters alluded yo were pending before me. Then too, the donation of the Ray Remington 760 Game Master to the Civil Rights Museum by the local DA’s Office was arguably improper because TN law requires that all evidence in a homicide be retained for 99 years. As it is, the chain of custody has been destroyed and the Ray rifle is no longer usable evidence as a result. ................
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