Murder in Memphis
Code Name “Zorro” Later published as: Murder in Memphis by Mark Lane and Dick Gregory
Was James Earl Ray the solitary assassin, or a “Jackal”-like hired killer? Or was he an unwitting pawn in a far-reaching conspiracy?
In Murder in Memphis, Mark Lane and Dick Gregory supply you – perhaps the only jury that will ever consider the evidence – with the same explosive information that prompted Congressional leaders to form a special committee to undertake the controversial and infinitely painful task of reopening an investigation not only of the King murder but also of the Kennedy assassination.
Here are a few of the questions Lane and Gregory examine:
- Why was Dr. King’s police protection removed on the day of the assassination? –and by whom?
- Why was the same FBI squad which was originally assigned to “destroy” King (whom they code-named “Zorro”) also directed to investigate his murder?
- What did the ballistics tests reveal – or fail to reveal – about the alleged murder weapon?
- In what strange way has the most reliable witness been prevented, perhaps forever, from testifying in court?
- To what documented lengths did certain FBI men go to threaten King and suggest that he commit suicide rather than accept the Nobel Peace Prize?
- What of the mysterious “Raoul” who Ray claims masterminded and financed his movements before the murder?
From an extraordinary assemblage of evidence (much of which has heretofore been revealed only to certain members of Congress) – exclusive documents and taped interviews with former FBI agents, the men charged with King’s security on the day of the murder, eyewitnesses, and James Earl Ray himself – the authors of Murder in Memphis move inexorably towards a singular and grim conclusion about one of the most appalling events in recent American history.
Publication History
First published in 1977 as Code Name “Zorro” by Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Subsequently published in 1993 as Murder in Memphis by Thunder’s Mouth Press, New York.
Reviews and Comments:
Mark Lane drafted proposed legislation to establish a Select Committee of the House of Representatives to investigate the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King and President Kennedy. When Code Name "Zorro" was published various members of congress and others stated their support for such an inquiry:
Mrs. Coretta King, The New York Times, January 13, 1977
There has never been an investigation into Martin’s death. I think the investigations are very important because of the questions in the minds of Americans and those abroad about these assassinations.
Congressman Christopher Dodd, Connecticut, Second District, The Congressional Record, February 2, 1977
I will not dwell on the many reasons for this new inquiry, other than to say significant unanswered questions exist about the deaths and about the past investigations into those assassinations…I can assure my colleagues that these questions are compelling.
Attorney General Griffin Bell, Department of Justice, CBS Television, February 13, 1977
If you read the Report, you could still wonder if there were a conspiracy.
Congressman Mario Biaggi, New York, Tenth District Former Squad Commander of the New York Detectives of the NYPD The Congressional Record, February 2, 1977
Speaking from experience, I can say that if it was not Martin Luther King who died in Memphis, but plain John Doe killed in New York, our police force would not close this case. There are too many questions that remain unanswered. We would carry this case as open.
Congressman Richardson Preyer, North Carolina, Sixth District The Congressional Record, February 2, 1977
We wish that we could put all the evils of the past behind us, but nothing is settled finally until it is settled right, and this matter just has not been settled finally.
Andrew Young, US Ambassador to the United Nations speaking as a member of the Rules Committee of the House of Representatives.
I strongly support those who press for a full scale investigation into the death of Martin King. There remain so many unanswered questions that we cannot say we know who killed him and we have the right to know. I commend the courage of those who insist on such investigations.