Only seconds after a rifle round mortally fell Dr. Martin Luther King, a man exited the second-floor bathroom of Bessie Brewer’s boarding house. The bathroom faced Mulberry Street, opposite of the Lorraine Motel. The man then walked down the hall, descended the stairs, and exited the building onto South Main Street.
Figure 1. South Main St. entrance to Brewer’s boarding house and Canipe’s Amusement Company (Jim’s Bar & Grill in the background)
Guy Canipe owned the shop next door to the boarding house. His business mainly consisted of repairing and selling old pinball machines and jukeboxes. At the time of Dr. King’s assassination, he was assisting two customers: Bernell Finley and Julius Graham. None of them heard the shot. But they did hear a dull thud outside the door about a minute afterward. Looking out toward the entrance they saw a large, rather bulky bundle. Canipe caught a glimpse of a man just as he disappeared from view. He, Graham and Finley went outside to see who this guy was. As Hampton Sides described it in his 2011 book Hellhound on his Trail: The Electrifying Account of the Largest Manhunt in History:
Finley, Graham and Canipe then watched the man as he got into a white Ford Mustang, and peeled off.* The car moved too fast for them to make out a license plate number.
Canipe called the cops, who by now had their hands full with the King shooting. Lt. Judson Ghormley of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department responded. Police would later discover that this package contained a pair of binoculars, a box of Remington Peters 30-06 cartridges, shaving stuff, a pair of pliers, a small hammer, a transistor radio, a few cans of beer, a section of the 4 April 1968 edition of the Memphis Commercial Appeal, a tee-shirt and a pair of drawers, all bundled up in a bedspread. But something else captured Ghormley’s immediate attention, namely a cardboard box sticking out at the top. The box bore the brand name Browning, a prominent arms manufacturer. But the rifle inside was a Remington 760 Gamemaster.
Lt. Ghormley immediately got on his walkie-talkie, telling headquarters “I have the weapon in front of 424 Main.” He also related Canipe, Finley and Graham’s description of the man and the vehicle. He then went next door to Bessie Brewer’s establishment, climbed the stairs, and looked for witnesses. It was then that he briefly interviewed Charles Stephens, the resident closest to the bathroom.
Memphis sits in the southwestern corner of Tennessee, and thus has suburbs in neighboring Arkansas and Mississippi. Looking at a map, one sees the typical metropolitan labyrinth of roads heading in all possible directions.** Whoever left S. Main St. in that white Ford Mustang could therefore have just about gone any route, any bearing, and within minutes could have been in any one of three states.*** In order to find this guy, they’d have to cover a lot of area.
But they didn’t. Police were diverted to the north side of town after receiving a tip, dispatched to them over citizens’ band radio. At 6:25 someone reported over the CB that a white Mustang had been going at “a high rate of speed” toward US 51. Police intercepted the car two minutes later, and quickly determined that it had no connection to the assassination. Ten minutes later, someone broadcast the news that Car 421 of the Memphis police was in pursuit of the white Mustang on Danny Thomas Boulevard. Car 421 pulled over this Mustang before reporting, “Checks okay,” at 6:36pm.
Both of these locations indicate that the Mustang drove deeper into Tennessee, instead of crossing state lines into Mississippi and Arkansas.
Police had monitored the CB bursts through Car 160, who had received them from the radio of an unidentified steamfitter. Lt. R.W. Bradshaw, the driver of car 160, began to report updates to headquarters. At 6:35pm, police dispatched the following message:
Over the next ten minutes, the police dispatches would spin a sensational tale worthy of 21st Century action blockbusters as a new character (in this case an automobile) makes its entrance. Between 6:36 and 6:40pm, dispatch reported:
At 6:41, the dispatcher radioed, "The subject’s on the way to Raleigh, north on Jackson, north on Jackson toward Raleigh."
Car 36 reported a sighting of a blue Pontiac convertible near the area. At 6:44pm, dispatch broadcast,
“Blue Pontiac hardtop seen northbound at Jackson and Stage, approximately 100 miles an hour.”
Three minutes later, things got really interesting. At 6:47, dispatch aired:
As you’ve probably already surmised, the frenzied manhunt yielded nothing. Police never found that firefight between the Mustang and the Pontiac (traveling at 100 mph, no less), and figured out soon enough that the original CB broadcast, which directed them throughout the chase, was fraudulent.
Through Stephens, Lt. Ghormley connected the man exiting the bathroom to the same man Canipe, Finley and Graham saw taking off in the White Mustang. He had registered at the boarding house just hours before as John Willard. Supervising Special Agent Robert Jensen of the FBI Memphis field office subsequently ordered a thorough canvas of local motels in the tri-state area to see if anyone else fitting Willard’s description had checked into one of them before checking into Brewer’s place. A Mississippi inn, the Rebel Motel, indeed have someone who fit Willard’s description. He even drove a white Mustang. But the name on the registration card wasn't John Willard, but rather Eric S. Gault.
Fingerprint analysis of the Remington 760 found a match. The prints belonged to a career petty criminal who had escaped from the Missouri State Penitentiary the previous year. Additional information soon came to light that identified this escaped prisoner as the man fleeing the boarding house and dropping the incriminating bundle at the door of Guy Canipe. An unidentified newspaper clipping located in the Harold Weisberg archives dated 18 March 1969 reported:
The above is thus the basic mechanics of the first official explanation of Martin Luther King’s assassination.
______________________
*Up to this point, we’ve been dealing with an uncontested chronology of events. This is the first issue under dispute. Most sources say that Canipe, Graham and Finley watched the man get into the car and haul ass. Sides even quotes Finley saying that the tires actually made a “screeching sound.”
There are those who questioned this series of events early on. While everyone stipulates that these three men discovered the bundle, there is some dispute as to whether or not they saw him drop it (most likely they didn’t really see the drop itself, and they never said that they did), or take off in the Mustang.
**Major highways available to Memphis residents in 1968 would have included US routes 51, 61, 78, and I-55.
***Harold Weisberg, who researched both the JFK and Martin Luther King assassinations, tested this route during what would have been late rush-hour traffic. Leaving 424 Main at 6:02pm, one would arrive in Arkansas somewhere between 6:10-6:15pm. Likewise, one would arrive in Mississippi between 6:20-6:30pm.
****Weisberg notes that this was five miles east of where the last Mustang were spotted, and thus farther from both the Mississippi and Arkansas state lines.
Figure 1. South Main St. entrance to Brewer’s boarding house and Canipe’s Amusement Company (Jim’s Bar & Grill in the background)
Guy Canipe owned the shop next door to the boarding house. His business mainly consisted of repairing and selling old pinball machines and jukeboxes. At the time of Dr. King’s assassination, he was assisting two customers: Bernell Finley and Julius Graham. None of them heard the shot. But they did hear a dull thud outside the door about a minute afterward. Looking out toward the entrance they saw a large, rather bulky bundle. Canipe caught a glimpse of a man just as he disappeared from view. He, Graham and Finley went outside to see who this guy was. As Hampton Sides described it in his 2011 book Hellhound on his Trail: The Electrifying Account of the Largest Manhunt in History:
Canipe looked up and spied a man heading south down Main Street. The stranger walked swiftly but did not break into a full run. Canipe could only see his back, but could tell he was a white man of medium build, neat in appearance, bareheaded, around thirty years old, and wearing a dark suit. He was, like Canipe put it, ‘not like the kind of people you see down here.’ By this time, the two black customers in Canipe’s store, Julius Graham and Bernell Finley, had come forward, and they too got a look at the mysterious man.
Finley, Graham and Canipe then watched the man as he got into a white Ford Mustang, and peeled off.* The car moved too fast for them to make out a license plate number.
Canipe called the cops, who by now had their hands full with the King shooting. Lt. Judson Ghormley of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department responded. Police would later discover that this package contained a pair of binoculars, a box of Remington Peters 30-06 cartridges, shaving stuff, a pair of pliers, a small hammer, a transistor radio, a few cans of beer, a section of the 4 April 1968 edition of the Memphis Commercial Appeal, a tee-shirt and a pair of drawers, all bundled up in a bedspread. But something else captured Ghormley’s immediate attention, namely a cardboard box sticking out at the top. The box bore the brand name Browning, a prominent arms manufacturer. But the rifle inside was a Remington 760 Gamemaster.
Lt. Ghormley immediately got on his walkie-talkie, telling headquarters “I have the weapon in front of 424 Main.” He also related Canipe, Finley and Graham’s description of the man and the vehicle. He then went next door to Bessie Brewer’s establishment, climbed the stairs, and looked for witnesses. It was then that he briefly interviewed Charles Stephens, the resident closest to the bathroom.
Memphis sits in the southwestern corner of Tennessee, and thus has suburbs in neighboring Arkansas and Mississippi. Looking at a map, one sees the typical metropolitan labyrinth of roads heading in all possible directions.** Whoever left S. Main St. in that white Ford Mustang could therefore have just about gone any route, any bearing, and within minutes could have been in any one of three states.*** In order to find this guy, they’d have to cover a lot of area.
But they didn’t. Police were diverted to the north side of town after receiving a tip, dispatched to them over citizens’ band radio. At 6:25 someone reported over the CB that a white Mustang had been going at “a high rate of speed” toward US 51. Police intercepted the car two minutes later, and quickly determined that it had no connection to the assassination. Ten minutes later, someone broadcast the news that Car 421 of the Memphis police was in pursuit of the white Mustang on Danny Thomas Boulevard. Car 421 pulled over this Mustang before reporting, “Checks okay,” at 6:36pm.
Both of these locations indicate that the Mustang drove deeper into Tennessee, instead of crossing state lines into Mississippi and Arkansas.
Police had monitored the CB bursts through Car 160, who had received them from the radio of an unidentified steamfitter. Lt. R.W. Bradshaw, the driver of car 160, began to report updates to headquarters. At 6:35pm, police dispatched the following message:
White male, east on Summer from Highland, in a white Mustang, responsible for this shooting. Cars 36 and 42 pull down. Subject is exceeding the speed limit west on Summer from Highland.****
Over the next ten minutes, the police dispatches would spin a sensational tale worthy of 21st Century action blockbusters as a new character (in this case an automobile) makes its entrance. Between 6:36 and 6:40pm, dispatch reported:
A blue Pontiac north of Mendenhall from Summer, 160 advises this car is speeding over 75 miles an hour north on Mendenhall from Summber. There are three white males in this car, a blue Pontiac.
At 6:41, the dispatcher radioed, "The subject’s on the way to Raleigh, north on Jackson, north on Jackson toward Raleigh."
Car 36 reported a sighting of a blue Pontiac convertible near the area. At 6:44pm, dispatch broadcast,
“Blue Pontiac hardtop seen northbound at Jackson and Stage, approximately 100 miles an hour.”
Three minutes later, things got really interesting. At 6:47, dispatch aired:
160 advising the blue Pontiac is shooting at the white Mustang following, the white Mustang has a citizens’ band, following the blue Pontiac going out on Austin Peay. The subject firing at the white Mustang...160 advising that they’re approaching the Millington Road that goes into the Naval base ... blue Pontiac is firing upon the white Mustang....160 advising the white Mustang is firing at the blue Pontiac.
As you’ve probably already surmised, the frenzied manhunt yielded nothing. Police never found that firefight between the Mustang and the Pontiac (traveling at 100 mph, no less), and figured out soon enough that the original CB broadcast, which directed them throughout the chase, was fraudulent.
Through Stephens, Lt. Ghormley connected the man exiting the bathroom to the same man Canipe, Finley and Graham saw taking off in the White Mustang. He had registered at the boarding house just hours before as John Willard. Supervising Special Agent Robert Jensen of the FBI Memphis field office subsequently ordered a thorough canvas of local motels in the tri-state area to see if anyone else fitting Willard’s description had checked into one of them before checking into Brewer’s place. A Mississippi inn, the Rebel Motel, indeed have someone who fit Willard’s description. He even drove a white Mustang. But the name on the registration card wasn't John Willard, but rather Eric S. Gault.
Fingerprint analysis of the Remington 760 found a match. The prints belonged to a career petty criminal who had escaped from the Missouri State Penitentiary the previous year. Additional information soon came to light that identified this escaped prisoner as the man fleeing the boarding house and dropping the incriminating bundle at the door of Guy Canipe. An unidentified newspaper clipping located in the Harold Weisberg archives dated 18 March 1969 reported:
The clue was on a transistor pocket radio which was hand etched with the half-inch high numerals 00416.
00416 was the identification number of James Earl Ray in the Missouri State Penitentiary at Jefferson City, Mo. He was serving a 20-year sentence when he escaped April 23, 1967.
The above is thus the basic mechanics of the first official explanation of Martin Luther King’s assassination.
(1) Ray shot Dr. King from the bathroom of Bessie Brewer’s boarding house, the gun heard next door by Charles Stephens.
(2) Ray then exited the bathroom, carrying his bundle. He went downstairs and exited onto Main Street, where he dropped the bundle, which included a gun (with his prints) registered to another alias (Harvey Lowmeyer). Also included in this bundle was a transistor radio with his prison ID number etched onto it.
(3) Three witnesses saw Ray moments after he dropped the bundle, They watched him flee the scene in a white Mustang. Police then went on the lookout for the white Mustang, and began tracking it towards the northern and eastern outskirts of Memphis.
This is critical, for police (and for that matter the rest of us) will find out that Ray immediately went south, into Mississippi. From there, he went through Alabama and then on to Atlanta, GA, before making his way to Montreal, Quebec.
So in other words, the official story says that Ray escaped the dragnet because police followed a bad tip that led them miles and hours away from James’ true position.
(4) Police connected the alias John Willard, Harvey Lowmeyer, and Eric S. Galt to the identity of an escaped con named James Ray.
______________________
*Up to this point, we’ve been dealing with an uncontested chronology of events. This is the first issue under dispute. Most sources say that Canipe, Graham and Finley watched the man get into the car and haul ass. Sides even quotes Finley saying that the tires actually made a “screeching sound.”
There are those who questioned this series of events early on. While everyone stipulates that these three men discovered the bundle, there is some dispute as to whether or not they saw him drop it (most likely they didn’t really see the drop itself, and they never said that they did), or take off in the Mustang.
**Major highways available to Memphis residents in 1968 would have included US routes 51, 61, 78, and I-55.
***Harold Weisberg, who researched both the JFK and Martin Luther King assassinations, tested this route during what would have been late rush-hour traffic. Leaving 424 Main at 6:02pm, one would arrive in Arkansas somewhere between 6:10-6:15pm. Likewise, one would arrive in Mississippi between 6:20-6:30pm.
****Weisberg notes that this was five miles east of where the last Mustang were spotted, and thus farther from both the Mississippi and Arkansas state lines.
