James Earl Ray's passport photos 1968
At 11 o’clock in the morning on Saturday, June 8th 1968 an immigration officer at Heathrow Airport took a look at a passenger’s Canadian passport and said;
“Would you please step into our office for some routine questions, Mr Sneyd”.
The man he called Mr Sneyd entered the office but when he saw a policeman standing there, all he could say was “Oh God, I feel so trapped” and allowed himself to be arrested.
The bespectacled Mr Sneyd was found to have a .38 caliber revolver in his back pocket and he also, rather suspiciously, had another passport on him under another name.
Scotland Yard’s Detective Chief Superintendent Tommy Butler, a man not particularly shy of publicity, soon arrived at Heathrow to make the arrest. Butler had become well known to the British public after the arrest of the Great Train Robbers four years earlier. The observant immigration official’s initial suspicions were confirmed by the senior policeman and fingerprints proved that Sneyd was, in reality, Illinois-born 40 year old James Earl Ray – the escaped convict accused of assassinating Martin Luther King on April 4 in Memphis Tennessee.
Martin Luther King with Lyndon Johnson in the background
Heathrow in 1968
Air Traffic Control at Heathrow in 1968
The bloody balcony in Memphis where Martin Luther King was assassinated
Four days after he had left his fingerprints on the Remington rifle that had killed Dr King, Ray drove across the Canadian border and rented a room in Toronto. It was well-known amongst American prisoners (Ray had been an habitual but unsuccessful criminal pretty well all his adult life), that it was ludicrously easy to get a Canadian passport.
Essentially all you really had to do was swear that you were Canadian and ask for one. Ray asked for a passport under the name of Ramon George Sneyd – a Toronto policeman whose name was probably picked at random from a city directory. On May 6 he flew on a BOAC plane to London, and the next day he flew on to Portugal.
The fake passport used by James Earl Ray
Ray's flight details from Toronto to London
The FBI, meanwhile, launched their biggest manhunt in its history but there seemed to be almost no leads at all. However, on June 1, there came a big break. At the FBI’s request (they were also aware of Canada’s lax passport rules), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police had been checking hundreds of thousands of passport photos and eventually they came across a picture that closely resembled the escaped convict and the only real suspect for Martin Luther King’s murder – James Earl Ray
While all this was going on, Ray was in Lisbon working out his next move. He apparently attempted to change his fake passport, but only got as far as changing the ‘d’ in Sneyd to an ‘a’. He told the Canadian consul: “My name has been misspelled,” and he was issued with a new passport on May 16.
Earls Court in 1968. Photographer Bill Holmes
The next day Ray flew back to London and anonymously stayed in one of the hundreds of back-street seedy hostels around the Victoria, Pimilico and Earls Court areas of London. On May 28 he checked into the New Earl’s Court Hotel situated at 35-37 Penywern Road – a pretty seedy and run-down street in those days. Jane Nassau the receptionist at the hotel apparently helped Ray with the confusing 5p and 10p coins that had been introduced a month or so before. She later stated that: “I recognised his southern drawl and wondered why he had a Canadian passport.”
jane Nassau, the receptionist at the New Earls Court Hotel
Room 54 at the New Earls Court Hotel
The New Earls Court Hotel in 1968
The very door key for room fifty-four used by Ray at the New Earls Court Hotel
On June 5 Ray moved again, this time staying at the Pax Hotel at 126 Warwick Way (equally seedy in the late sixties) which was run by Swedish-born Mrs. Anna Thomas. She later stated that for the next three days, Ray never left his room for more than 20 minutes, even refusing to to emerge for four telephone calls, two of them from an airline. When she brought breakfast to Ray’s door:
“He was always fully dressed. I had the idea that he never got undressed for bed.”
Mrs Thomas, the proprietress of the Pax Hotel in Pimlico
Ray's room at the Pax Hotel
The Pax Hotel, 126 Warwick Way in 1968
Although it isn’t really known how he got the number, on June 6 Ray, while he was staying at the Pax Hotel, mysteriously telephoned Ian Colvin, a senior journalist at the Daily Telegraph and asked him for a contact who could help him to become a mercenary. Colvin offered an address in Brussels and it was to there Ray was heading when he was arrested at Heathrow two days later.
FBI Wanted Poster
The police van bringing James Earl Ray to court
There must have been a rugby scrum of reporters around these phone boxes outside Bow Street Magistrates Court, June 14 1968
He was initially charged at Cannon Row police station with possessing a forged passport and having a firearm without a certificate but on June 14th James Earl Ray entered the witness box at Bow Street Magistrates Court for his extradition hearing. He flatly denied that he had killed Martin Luther King. Roger Frisby, his British lawyer asked him these questions:
“Are you the man who was arrested at London Airport?
“Yes”
“Did you know Dr. Martin Luther King?
“No Sir”
“Had you ever met him personally in your life?”
“No Sir”
“Have you ever had any grudge of any kind against him?”
“No Sir”
“Did you kill Dr. Martin Luther King?”
“No, Sir”
However, Ray almost certainly did kill him and he was quickly extradited to the States and charged with King’s murder. He confessed to the assassination on March 10, 1969, (though three days later he wrote a letter to the court asking that his plea be set aside – the judge refused the request) and was sentenced to 99 years in prison.
James Earl Ray back in America
He died in 1998 at age 70 from complications related to kidney disease, caused by hepatitis C probably contracted as a result of a blood transfusion given after a stabbing while at Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary.
35-37 Penywern Road today, the former site of the New Earls Court Hotel
Bakers Hotel (formerly the Pax Hotel) at 126 Warwick Way today
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Dion and the Belmonts – Abraham, Martin and John
Tags: assassination, hotel, Martin Luther King, murder, sixties
Well you learn something new every day. Well you don’t really but today I did. I had no idea James Earl Ray fled to London and stayed in Earl’s Court of all places. I’ll never think of those back streets there the same way again.
Always, my fave-rave blog.
1968 = Beggar’s Banquet, Vincebus Eruptum and a couple of assassinations.
‘Twas a time.
Wow! That is fascinating. I also had no idea King’s assassin fled to London.
fascinating
it is such a treat to read your blogs
infact the only blog i read
Not the only blog I read, but the most fascinating.
great piece of history, fantastic .. thanks for sharing this .. I always wait in anticipation for your updates.
Fascinating insight into James Earl Ray’s connection with the coolest city in the world.
it makes me sick to my stomach to read this rip matin luther king jr.
Thanks for publishing about this. There’s a mass of important tech info on the internet. You’ve got a lot of that info here on your web site. I’m impressed – I try to keep a couple blogs somewhat up-to-date, but it’s a struggle sometimes. You’ve done a big job with this one. How do you do it?
I believe the immigration officer was Ken Human who retired several years ago as a chief immigration at Terminal 1, Heathrow. I wonder if there are any papers in the National Archives.
Jane Nassau the receptionist at the Earls Cout hotel could not possibly have ‘helped Ray with the new 5p and 10p pieces’ as these were not introduced until 1971. Great feature otherwise.
Hi Gee, The 5p and 10p coins were introduced earlier in April 1968 presumably to get the population used to them. They were originally the same size and weight as the one and two shilling coins that were in circulation at the time. I can remember thinking exactly the same as you when I read the original Life magazine article, so I went away and checked. Thought I’d correct you! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4wr93OpmbU
A good friend of mine’s mother was the nurse who stitched Ray up after that stabbing. She currently works as a missionary in Panama. Great article!
I visited James Earl Ray in Bend of the River Prison outside of Nashville
Tenn. On Monday morning following Thanksgiving ion November 29, 1993.
As an attorney I was interested in following up a lead that I had received in the mail earlier that year that indicated Ray was not the assassin of King. My interview established that he was indeed a patsy.
Unfortunately, his court appointed attorney advised confession was used to defeat any and all attempts to have a trial to establish his innocence.
Dr. William Pepper held a mock trial and a jury found Ray innocent of the charge.
It is my opinion that based on the information I received in early 1993,
actually as an intended deterrent/confession from the real culprit(s), that Ray will yet be exonerated for that crime.
I visited James Earl Ray in Bend of the River Prison outside of Nashville
Tenn. On Monday morning following Thanksgiving November 29, 1993.
As an attorney I was interested in following up a lead that I had received in the mail earlier that year that indicated Ray was not the assassin of King. My interview established that he was indeed a patsy.
Unfortunately, his court appointed attorney advised confession was used to defeat any and all attempts to have a trial to establish his innocence.
Dr. William Pepper held a mock trial and a jury found Ray innocent of the charge.
It is my opinion that based on the information I received in early 1993,
actually as an intended deterrent/confession from the real culprit(s), that Ray will yet be exonerated for that crime.
To Mr. Wallace, dear sir there are many conspiracy theories out there on who “really killed King”. I know it’s difficult to fathom that a 4 time loser like Ray could stalk & kill King. But sir I just have to disagree. The evidence is overwhelming. Bottom line, Ray killed King. Did he have help? Of course he did. He indeed took many secrets to his grave
There is no forensic evidence that any shot was fired from that bathroom.
Further, there is no credible evidence Ray was even in Memphis after 4 p.m. (Bourbon Charlie Stephens didn’t see Ray or anyone else.)
The rifle was dropped in front of the Canipe Amusement Company doorway BEFORE the fatal shot struck King.
And that rifle was never tested for firing by the FBI. I wonder why. Their agents testified under oath that they always test weapons in crimes for firing. Harold Weisberg had two agents deposed on this. Further, Weisberg searched government files at their request to find the record of this barrel swab. There is none.
They did test the first rifle that Ray purchased—the one that couldn’t be fired. They tested that one; there is a record of that.
its unlikely he was the main killer or even hit king with a bullet
Before I comment let me please point out that James Earl Ray did NOT die of a kidney related disease. He needed a liver transplant and would most likely be alive today except the commissioner of the Tennessee penal system refused to allow him to have one, using private funds – no tax payer money was to be used.
I know its difficult for a person with a closed mind to see the facts when they parrot the rumors and the lies they have been spoon fed by the media, as they pass on misconception as truth but James Earl Ray did NOT kill Dr. King and he was not even aware that a plot existed.
The government refused to allow him to test the alleged murder weapon for close to 27 years. Use your common sense people -its simple, if he was guilty, he would have had his lawyers fight to prevent the state from testing the rifle and not the other way around. What did they want to hide? I’ll tell you. They did test it and Judge Brown ruled that it was NOT the murder weapon.
A jury in a civil suit by Coretta Scott King against Loyd Jowers, found in her favor and by default stated that James Earl Ray was innocent. Jowers said that Ray was a patsy, chosen to take the blame and that he had nothing to do with it. The government offered Ray his freedom if he would admit his guilt and he refused even though it meant he would die in prison. James Earl Ray said that he would not admit to doing something that he did not do.
The facts are available. Read ” An Act of State – The Execution of Martin Luther King by William Pepper or A Memoir of Injustice by Jerry Ray and Tamara Carter
i’m so sorry for martin
This is quickly becoming my new favorite blog, such well researched articles and beautiful photos…