The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, remains one of the most infamous unsolved crimes in American history. James Earl Ray, a white supremacist, was convicted of the murder and sentenced to 99 years in prison, where he died in 1998. However, conspiracy theories have persisted, suggesting that Ray was a patsy and that others were involved in the assassination. Critics of the official narrative point to alleged inconsistencies in the investigation, evidence of a larger plot, and the involvement of government agencies like the FBI and CIA. Despite a review of the case by a House Select Committee in 1978, which concluded that Ray acted alone, doubts linger about the true identity of King's killer, leaving the question of who really pulled the trigger an enduring enigma.
