The Murkin Conspiracy: An Investigation into the Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

(Hardback)

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An examination of the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr and the events surrounding it and an analysis of the official investigation, the evidence, the performance of law enforcement officials, the role of James Earl Ray and the question of conspiracy. The author offers a revisionist interpretation of the King case, demonstrating that it remains unsolved. The text argues that both the FBI's conclusion that Ray acted alone and the later 1978 House Select Committee on Assassinations decision that Ray was backed by a conspiracy of St Louis-based white supremacists are not supported by the evidence. It concludes that Ray did not, in fact, act alone, he contends that the official investigations were so flawed that the conspirators behind him are still unidentified.

Reviews

"It is unfortunate that we live in a society where a man like Martin Luther King, Jr. can be murdered without a thorough investigation of all the facts. Melanson skillfully pursues the paper trail and the people trail to uncover an unsolved crime."-Dan E. Moldea Investigative Journalist and Author
"Professor Melanson's carefully researched and written book, The Murkin Conspiracy, brings a much-needed blend of patient research, methodological expertise, disinterestedness, and insightful common sense to the ill-understood tragedy of the Martin Luther King assassination...Melanson's analysis indicates how, with a change in official attitudes, this important case might still be solved."-Peter Dale Scott Author and Professor, University of California
"The Murkin Conspiracy is a significant volume that effectively demolishes the prevailing view of the assassination of Dr. King....Melanson has finally provided the public with a clear picture of the assassination....His analyses of critical documents are solid; his analytical abilities provide a model of historical detection....The Murkin Conspiracy ought to force the re-opening of the investigation into Dr. King's assassination."-David R. Wrone Professor of History, University of Wisconsin
Melanson . . . has done an exhaustively thorough job on the still-mysterious King assassination. After following Melanson's meticulous pursuit of seemingly every lead in the case--including interviews with the men whose names were used as aliases for alleged killer James Earl Ray--there can be little doubt in the reader's mind that neither of the two official versions of what happened could have been the whole truth. The first was the ever-popular notion of the lone killer: Ray. The second, propounded by a clearly inept congressional investigation a decade after the 1969 shooting, was that an ill-defined racist conspiracy was behind the assassination. What seems unarguable is that Ray, a petty criminal, could not have killed King unaided. There are too many improbabilities--the source of his carefully chosen Canadian aliases, the identity of the "fat man" who brought him a "letter" in Toronto during his escape, the odd setup at the rooming house from which the shot was fired. It is Melanson's thesis that there was high-level intelligence involvement, probably by the CIA, which was violently alarmed by King's anti-Vietnam stance.-Publishers Weekly
Melanson provides startling evidence that seems to implicate elements of the American intelligence community in the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Arguing persuasively that James Earl Ray could not have acted alone and that he did not act in concert with a group of white supremacists, the author amasses data indicating that Ray was the pawn of a sophisticated network of conspirators who condemned King as a dangerous radical and a Communist threat to national security. What also emerges is a painstakingly documented indictment of the original FBI investigation and the 1978 report of the House Select Committee on Assassinations. Another credible assassination theory sure to arouse widespread interest.-Reference Books Bulletin
The assassination in April 1968 of Martin Luther King Jr. by James Earl Ray, a recent escapee from prison with limited financial resources and competence and no apparent political or racial convictions, inevitably raised questions of a conspiracy. Melanson disputes both the FBI's conclusion of a lone assassin and the findings of the Special House Committee on Assassinations that a right-wing St. Louis-based conspiracy might have supported Ray. Instead, Melanson, who has written extensively on political assassinations, suggests a much more sophisticated conspiracy executed by persons possessing the kind of expertise generally found within intelligence circles.' The author, however, provides no evidence to document either the direct or indirect involvement of intelligence officials. His thorough research into relevant, accessible primary sources, supplemented by interviews with many of the principals, at best raises questions about the contrasting conclusions cited above. Melanson's thoughtful criticisms and speculations, nonetheless, will be of interest to students of the King assassination and of political assassinations in general. Community college, undergraduate, and political libraries.-Choice
This book is very intriguing, for we know that this is not all to the case. Melanson's writing shows the great amount of research and time put in, making this work another addition to the history of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. S.W.S.-The West Coast Review of Books
"Melanson . . . has done an exhaustively thorough job on the still-mysterious King assassination. After following Melanson's meticulous pursuit of seemingly every lead in the case--including interviews with the men whose names were used as aliases for alleged killer James Earl Ray--there can be little doubt in the reader's mind that neither of the two official versions of what happened could have been the whole truth. The first was the ever-popular notion of the lone killer: Ray. The second, propounded by a clearly inept congressional investigation a decade after the 1969 shooting, was that an ill-defined racist conspiracy was behind the assassination. What seems unarguable is that Ray, a petty criminal, could not have killed King unaided. There are too many improbabilities--the source of his carefully chosen Canadian aliases, the identity of the "fat man" who brought him a "letter" in Toronto during his escape, the odd setup at the rooming house from which the shot was fired. It is Melanson's thesis that there was high-level intelligence involvement, probably by the CIA, which was violently alarmed by King's anti-Vietnam stance."-Publishers Weekly
"Melanson provides startling evidence that seems to implicate elements of the American intelligence community in the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Arguing persuasively that James Earl Ray could not have acted alone and that he did not act in concert with a group of white supremacists, the author amasses data indicating that Ray was the pawn of a sophisticated network of conspirators who condemned King as a dangerous radical and a Communist threat to national security. What also emerges is a painstakingly documented indictment of the original FBI investigation and the 1978 report of the House Select Committee on Assassinations. Another credible assassination theory sure to arouse widespread interest."-Reference Books Bulletin
"This book is very intriguing, for we know that this is not all to the case. Melanson's writing shows the great amount of research and time put in, making this work another addition to the history of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. S.W.S."-The West Coast Review of Books
"The assassination in April 1968 of Martin Luther King Jr. by James Earl Ray, a recent escapee from prison with limited financial resources and competence and no apparent political or racial convictions, inevitably raised questions of a conspiracy. Melanson disputes both the FBI's conclusion of a lone assassin and the findings of the Special House Committee on Assassinations that a right-wing St. Louis-based conspiracy might have supported Ray. Instead, Melanson, who has written extensively on political assassinations, suggests a much more sophisticated conspiracy executed by persons possessing the kind of expertise generally found within intelligence circles.' The author, however, provides no evidence to document either the direct or indirect involvement of intelligence officials. His thorough research into relevant, accessible primary sources, supplemented by interviews with many of the principals, at best raises questions about the contrasting conclusions cited above. Melanson's thoughtful criticisms and speculations, nonetheless, will be of interest to students of the King assassination and of political assassinations in general. Community college, undergraduate, and political libraries."-Choice

Author Bio

PHILIP H. MELANSON organized and serves as Chairman of the RFK Assassination Archives at Southeastern Massachusetts University, the nation's leading archive on the topic. An acknowledged expert on the study of American political assassinations, he has published articles, served as expert witness in federal court cases, and acted as consultant to numerous authors and television productions on the subject of assassinations. He is the author of The Politics of Protection (Praeger, 1984).