DATE=1/14/2000
TYPE=ENGLISH PROGRAMS FEATURE
TITLE=KING ASSASSINATION CONSPIRACY (CORRECTED AGAIN)
NUMBER=7-33295
BYLINE=JOSHUA LEVS
DATELINE=ATLANTA, GEORGIA
EDITOR=FAITH LAPIDUS
TELEPHONE=619-0720 (EDITOR)
CONTENT=
_
EDITORS: Updated text; CORRECTION IN CUT FOUR; 
actualities will be available in Audio Services on 
12/14
INTRO:	On the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s 
birth (1/15, observed 1/17 this year), 
Americans remember the civil rights leader who 
was assassinated while trying to achieve 
equality for African-Americans.  For members 
of Dr. King's family, this year's celebration 
is different from any other, because for the 
first time they feel the truth about his 
murder has been exposed.  From the King 
family's hometown of Atlanta, Joshua Levs 
reports. 

TEXT:	In December, a jury in Memphis, Tennessee 
ruled that Martin Luther King, Jr.'s death was 
the result of a conspiracy. The original 
investigation in 1969 had determined that Dr. 
King was assassinated by a racist named James 
Earl Ray, who had acted on his own.  Ray pled 
guilty as part of a plea bargain, and was 
sentenced to life in prison.  But he soon 
claimed he was actually innocent and had been 
forced into his plea - a position he 
maintained until his death two years ago.  
Although Ray never had a trial, the King 
family believed him, and felt the real killers 
had not been brought to justice. Then, after 
Ray's death, the Kings launched a civil 
lawsuit against a man named Lloyd Jowers, who 
once told a television news crew that he was 
part of a plot to kill Dr. King.  The Memphis 
jury ruled that a conspiracy involving Jowers 
and others, including some U-S government 
officials, led to the assassination. At a news 
conference, Dr. King's widow, Coretta Scott 
King, called it the moment she had waited for.  

TAPE:	CUT 1 - KING
"This verdict is not only a great victory for 
my family, but also a great victory for 
America and a great victory for truth itself."  

TEXT:	Mrs. King said the verdict validated what her 
family has long believed.

TAPE:	CUT 2 - KING
"The Jury was clearly convinced by the 
extensive evidence that, in addition to Mr. 
Jowers, a conspiracy of the mafia, local, 
state and federal government agencies was 
deeply involved in the assassination of my 
husband." 

TEXT:	The family's attorney, William Pepper, spoke 
about some of that evidence -- photographs of 
the shooting that he says the government 
concealed, witnesses who said the fatal shots 
were fired from the bushes rather than from a 
motel room across the street, and people who 
identified a man that they believe framed 
James Earl Ray. Witnesses also testified that 
many groups, including U-S government 
agencies, were threatened by Dr. King's 
attempts to change the status quo.  The FBI 
has admitted that it harassed him and his 
family, and federal agents allegedly 
threatened his life. 
Attorney William Pepper insists a complex web 
of conspiracy led to the assassination and 
authorities could have found out about all of 
it in their original investigation.

TAPE:	CUT 3 - PEPPER
"All this evidence was there.  They could have 
solved it in 7 days if they had wanted to. And 
it's taken 32 years."

TEXT:	However, not everyone is convinced that there 
was such a broad conspiracy.  Many historians 
believe James Earl Ray was the assassin, and 
that if he had help, it came from a small 
group of private citizens, not from the FBI or 
other law enforcement agencies.  Congress said 
as much when it looked into the assassination 
in the 1970's. The Memphis District Attorney's 
office insists there's plenty of evidence 
suggesting that the King family's conspiracy 
theory is wrong.  Assistant D.A. John Campbell 
says the ideas William Pepper laid out in 
civil court will not lead to any criminal 
trials.

TAPE:	CUT 4 - CAMPBELL     
"There is just nothing credible there to base 
a prosecution on. And quite frankly it appears 
from our investigation that he's making the 
whole thing up.  We're not going to prosecute 
someone if HE CLAIMS they're involved - and in 
fact we believe they're not.  So that's in a 
nutshell why we don't intend to go forward 
with a prosecution on it."

TEXT:	Mr. Campbell says the Memphis decision will 
not change the historical record. But for the 
King family, it changes everything.  Dexter 
Scott King says now that everything the family 
believes about his father's murder is on an 
official government record and 12 jurors have 
deemed it truthful, the family's long struggle 
has reached a bittersweet conclusion.

TAPE:	CUT 5 - KING
"Sweet because finally we know what happened.  
Sweet because this family has been vindicated.  
Sweet because we can say that we are truly 
free at last."

TEXT:	Dexter King said his family will no longer ask 
the government to open a full-scale 
investigation into the assassination.  
Instead, they will begin the long-awaited 
process of putting the events of 1968 behind 
them and focus on healing.  For VOA News Now, 
I'm Joshua Levs in Atlanta. 
NEB/JL/FIL







14-Jan-2000 15:33 PM EDT (14-Jan-2000 2033 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.