April 23, 1998 James Earl Ray dies in prison from kidney and liver disease at age 70.
James was always vague about the details of his return trip to Canada and the contacts he made there prior to his flight to Europe - often appearing to be protecting others.
A Memoir of Injustice: Facebook Page.
Ray will maintain his innocence for the rest of his life and will come up with various conspiracy theories explaining King's assassination.
His goal is to fly to Rhodesia now Zimbabwe , a segregated country he sees as a place of refuge where he will be protected and celebrated for his deed.
Quite the opposite: slavery built the South.
On July 19, he returned to U.
Two days later, in an interview for Look magazine, Ray alleges that a fellow con man named Raoul was the perpetrator and actual assassin of Dr.