Hampton Sides - Hellhound on His Trail - The Stalking of Martin Luther King, Jr. And the International Hunt for His Assassin

CHAPTER 27

A FEW MINUTES AND A FEW MILES

407 "entirely a hoax":My passages concerning the Memphis Police Department's postmortem analysis of the CB car chase hoax are primarily drawn from the sixteen-page report "Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Homicide #3367, Supplement #85, Re: C.B. Incident," Hughes Collection. The Memphis Police Department investigated the probable culprit behind the hoax, a teenage CB enthusiast named in the report. Also see House Select Committee on Assassinations (hereafter HSCA), Final Assassinations Report , pp. 383-85.

408 he headed southeast:Ray's exact route out of Memphis is not absolutely known, but he consistently stated that he drove southeast toward Birmingham; Highway 78 would have been the fastest, most direct, and (having stayed in a motel on that same road the previous night) most familiar route for his exit. See Ray, Tennessee Waltz , p. 80, as well as Ray's testimony in HSCA, Appendix Reports , vol. 3, p. 240.

409 broadcasters now broke in:In all his accounts, Ray consistently stated that he heard the news about King's death over his car radio. However, the FBI investigation of the abandoned Mustang later determined that the radio was not in good working order at the time of inspection.

410 Coretta King hurried down:My depiction of the scene at the Atlanta airport is adapted from the Atlanta Constitution , April 5, 1968, p. 1, and from Coretta Scott King, My Life with Martin Luther King Jr. , pp. 319-20.

411 "a tragic setback":Author interview with Clark, Oct. 9, 2008, New York City.

412 "I think the bureau":This conversation between Clark and DeLoach is recalled in DeLoach's, Hoover's FBI , p. 224.

413 "a crime of immense importance":DeLoach's testimony, HSCA, Appendix Reports , vol. 7, p. 22.

414 "Hoover remained at war":DeLoach, Hoover's FBI , p. 222.

415 "He was as anxious":Ibid., p. 226.

416 "The FBI's reputation":Author interview with Clark.

417 "the guy with a thousand opportunities":DeLoach, Hoover's FBI , p. 225.

418 Born in Denmark:These biographical details concerning Jensen derive primarily from his obituary in the Memphis Commercial Appeal , March 22, 1992, as well as from Jensen's testimony in HSCA, Appendix Reports , vol. 6, pp. 586-87.

419 "As you well know":DeLoach, Hoover's FBI , p. 225.

420 Now Jensen removed:This passage concerning Jensen's analysis of the evidence is primarily drawn from the FBI FD-302 report filed on April 4 and 5, 1968, by Special Agent in Charge Jensen and Special Agent Robert Fitzpatrick, enumerating and describing all items in the abandoned bundle, Hughes Collection.

CHAPTER 28

THEY'VE TORN IT NOW

421 Johnson sat at his mahogany desk:My account of Johnson's reaction to the King assassination is drawn from a number of sources, including Kotz, Judgment Days , p. 415; Dallek, Flawed Giant , p. 533; Risen, Nation on Fire , pp. 40-42, 53-54; and Califano, Triumph and Tragedy of Lyndon Johnson , pp. 273-75. Especially helpful to me was "The President's Appointment File, 4/3/68 to 4/11/68," box 95, Lyndon Baines Johnson Papers, Johnson Presidential Library.

422 "Justice has just advised":This memo is at the Johnson Presidential Library.

423 "A jumble of anxious thoughts":Johnson, quoted in Risen, Nation on Fire , p. 42.

424 "Everything we've gained":Dallek, Flawed Giant , p. 533.

425 "America is shocked":"Statement by the President on the Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.," Johnson Presidential Library.

426 "Don't send your skinny little rookies":Busby, Thirty-first of March , p. 236.

427 "They're holed up like generals":Ibid.

428 "The D. C. Civil Defense" :Situation Room memorandums from the night of April 4, 1968, Johnson Library.

429 "King was the last prince of nonviolence":Floyd McKissick, quoted in the Washington Post , April 5, 1968, p. 1.

430 "The next Negro to advocate nonviolence":Risen, A Nation on Fire , p. 56.

431 "When white America killed Dr. King":Stokely Carmichael, quoted in Gilbert et al., Ten Blocks from the White House , pp. 60-61.

432 "The nation is steeped in violence":Church, quoted in a UPI report on the White House ticker tape on the night of April 4, 1968, Johnson Presidential Library.

433 "It was one of those frozen moments":Mrs. Johnson, quoted in Dallek, Flawed Giant , p. 533, and Risen, Nation on Fire , p. 54.

434 "I and all the citizens of Memphis": Memphis Commercial Appeal , April 5, 1968, p. 1.

435 "We feel that the assassin crouched": Memphis Press-Scimitar , April 5, 1968, p. 1.

436 "damned to hell":Blanchard, quoted in Honey, Going Down Jericho Road , p. 440.

437 "I'm so sorry":Beifuss, At the River I Stand , p. 300.

438 "Our neighborhood was like a tomb":Honey, Going Down Jericho Road , p. 444.

439 "This is the darkest day I've ever seen":Beifuss, At the River I Stand , p. 283.

440 "that nigger King":Honey, Going Down Jericho Road , p. 441.

441 "The Lord has deserted us":Beifuss, At the River I Stand , p. 303.

442 "Just respect the man":Ibid.

443 "rioting and looting is now rampant":Fire and Police Director Frank Holloman, quoted in the Memphis Commercial Appeal , April 5, 1968, p. 1.

444 "That's what I thought":Honey, Going Down Jericho Road , p. 447.

445 "Stay calm":Beifuss, At the River I Stand , p. 301.

446 "I went numb":Honey, Going Down Jericho Road , p. 437.

447 "I thought I was going to get away":Ray, quoted in Ayton, Racial Crime , p. 143. See also Frank, American Death , p. 390.

448 "I had to drive slow":James Earl Ray, "20,000 Words," quoted in Huie, Making of an Assassin , p. 145.

449 "I knew that the car could be hot":Ray, Who Killed Martin Luther King? p. 97.

450 "I just wanted to get rid":Ray, Tennessee Waltz , p. 80.

CHAPTER 29

POWER IN THE BLOOD

451 "King wouldn't make a decision without him":Hosea Williams, quoted in McKnight, The Last Crusade , p. 108.

452 "flashbulbs still blinked":Wills, "Martin Luther King Is Still on the Case," reprinted in The New Journalism , ed. Tom Wolfe, p. 393.

453 "sleepwalk through the night":Young, Easy Burden , p. 467.

454 "had received, through letter or telephone":Abernathy's testimony in House Select Committee on Assassination, Appendix Reports , vol. 1, p. 19.

455 "We can't let Martin down":Bevel, quoted in Young, Easy Burden , p. 468.

456 "They got him":Ibid.

457 "I touched the pillow":Georgia Davis Powers, I Shared the Dream , p. 233.