James Earl Ray ( March 10 , 1928 – April 23 , 1998 ) was an American fugitive and felon convicted of assassinating Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis , Tennessee . Ray was convicted on his 41st birthday after entering a guilty plea to forgo a jury trial . Had he been found guilty by jury trial , he would have been eligible for the death penalty
assassinating
Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
James Earl Ray