~~i~~~4. ._ .... .,.. -

MURDER a. .,..._.w.. .a. .,. _ _ °.

44372f6~ aReforen To Detective Chief _

'~ B . . . .

margirmlly quoted, mh1ch deals-with th e

Ramon George SNM, C .R.O. 366 44317 O~wn

to be games Earl RAY, alias 3r1*4jLtU

wanted 'for the murder of Doctor 0, Luther MG .

tMr. John M ~CB~D Legal A ~Yas f the

'Pd

Square, London, WA, hat quest, on t',a

instructions of th eau of Investigaticum> ,

O'eWashington, D.C., be Ished with a

,comprehensive report lag all aspects of the

Investigati elatAve to the arrest of

an the 1968, at Hemphis, '2erz--is

XXNC" Civil Rights Leader, with a

2ar- tallow g of supporters (mainly coloured) was

no by a gunman .

a the result of their enquiries, the

B of -Investigation, Was Baa s DaG e ,

identified the asiassin as James Earl 1W, :s.

nvicted criminal 'and fugitive from kinsouz"i StaL ---< . . . - w

was f r :a sentence a- f rears imprisonment

for

Rag Les carried-out o ara)

Bnresu of Investigation by the Cana,"' c-,

a ' -

i

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on -to be made for a Birth Certificate

the 8th Auguata 1'932 4

Having obtained thisa ° e presented It to a

Iie application, ~~~ ~ -0) Passport at the

Bureau or .Passpo -Otta on the 24th Apri

It mast be NZ ki that in consequenc e

clerical ~~~~~~ a ',aaaadi Pa$s ports No 3312 a 4

In the name of SHEYA, and not O ad e

On the 6th xg 996 9 us th pa art, RAY

travelled In the name of SNM ronto to

London by British Overseas Ai a rporation . He

arrived on the 7th MaY, 19 ater went --' zz g

to the ~~~ ~ ~~~ the 4kD,", t i situated in Regent

Street, Londosbn W. gle ticket to Lisbon,

of Ini sfl `Ono

t (Central Branch)

ZS%V.,,%nd

d TRZON, deputed to take up the investigation

uiries confirmed the flight to London from

~ton Canada, on the 6th/7th May, 1 969 , a~ -Le

late flight to Lisbon on the 7th May, 1968, 'by

rit3 °ogea Airways, using the BX.A.G . ticket .

his Is,, of course, normal procedure, for the two

a A tea' I w a unable to establish

V although it war. later

eazi is i 1 returned D London'on the 17th May,

99680

are

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."-

sea teimentate, a

44

Asthere was od of 1 one or

e

was. airculat ed an the 2 Tune, 1968, including,

t

hwanted for aerious-offences In contravent-

-AllanB Orden' no mentim being made of

interrogation would be carried out '

On Saturday, the 6th June ative

Sergeant Philly BIRCH, of SpeqjW was on

duty at Terminal 2 9 London A! rt RAY

himse at the ion Desk, having

previously Pur sad a cket to Brussels

.at the West 0 r 1, Oloucester Road ,

' produced two than Passports, one in the

name of ,,ao flu and the other In the r-s of 91 Efd

-4ae other ha dre ZNA31,3_ Po*rta Warcanj and

be i8flue the J6-.Ib May, .1968, in Lisbon .

~~ ~~ ing the positiong Detective

geant BIRCH ~ ~~ the ~ to accompany him to an

.re he -later a e -L : I, "SNWD" and discovered in

r.,- ght ham ket a .38 revolver, loaded

_h f'lve rounds or iunition,

The ravolver was loade d

positiae ~ t ac hommer s~~~ ~~~~ely

PC. e apty al One mere r pun the

tPIA, V the M -,umber In presented and the

'bullet dis -hMPS

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StatementsPages

i2

. .~

v

- - -- ------- - - ----- --------- - ------------------------------fortunate for Detective Sergeant!odd

BIRCH wer -as ad 'the firearm. 'It may well

be, of couesz, that RAY believed It was merely a

passport enquiry and he --could -explain the posse

of-two passports satisfactorily.-

This belief Is strengthened when it -is I d

that he could not know of the Iaaforma-ti red

by the Royal Mounted Police, which we t

possession of only-a few select Of sera

Detective Sergeant BIRCH, in a e with the

directions set'cut in the All-P in rning,,

Immediately informed New Be d, C .O . 0 .1 .

The prisoner was 3.40t r e gated by

Detective Chief. Sups d BUTLER and myself

shortly after j p on th, tea jaxaa en 1968 .

He asserted tha t we was "MV' and he

was a Caned" citizen. This facet was deliberately

dealt Tith In ly bTief fashion, for obvious

~ ~~so~~~ th g centred upon the

,posse~ f ~~~~~~ er and ammunition .

8NMO2 Itted the weapm~ was his property

s travelling toBrussels . When pressed

the necessity of carrying a firearm In the

B an capital, he added that'he was considerin g

--Ug On to Rhodesia and that "things are not too

there just now" .

Readmitted he had no firearms certificate for

the -weagonand ammunition, 'and was then taken to

Cannon Row Police Station end detained whils t

~~~~ were ~ ~ln~e &

At 4.45 p .m. the same day, --jer it had bee

established by Detectjv~6 chi -tor "thur -z-,MPS

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. f

}

44

Yingerprint Deportment,, New Scotland Yardq that

"SNEYD" was Identical-Vith Rff, the prisoner was

again interviewed by Detactive Chief Superintenden

BUTLER and myself In -a aell0

The prisoner was tcld there was every rafts 0

"believe he was not a Canadian citizen, 'but one

American origin.. Be repliedp 'Ohv we 1 9

He was then Informed that 'there was Pea elieve

his name was not 11SNEYD" but RAY,

In the United S° ~ ~~ ~ for ~~~iouft

wanted

a

Including the course11

h a firearm

was useda

The accused had been p, but Whenhe

heard this, be suddenl the bench in the

call, put his bead an d said, "Oh, god" .

He added after a ant or o, "I feel so trapped" .

He was again cautions then said,,"Well, yes,

~rJ, a2a t°a Iaj 0 in some

d we left cell, agr x ;d

L-'- ds.

-.AY wa rged in the name of "SNEM" at

20 cannon Row Police Stati taaa 9 with the

0 wing offences, but-made no reply .-

1m That you did on the 8th Jtanes 1968, atLondon A3rgort s without lawful authorityuse for the pr-nose^ of the A?i ene sOrder, 1953, a forged passport .

Qontr '__' '5[37 af thClyd e~a9

2. That you, not being a .person exemptrafrom the requirements of the Firearms

'A'Pom Ba H 1-7 A $ did, D. -'Le 8th 4! e y 1968 ,at La )n Airpe Ive in your possessiona -1 : 131 38 '7 -~erty Chief 'Ile and 5 P ., ' mmunition,tc wg Part I or IM ~ said Act appliesam 01A not hol vearms certificate

me.

L~k

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44 ~~k

The accused appeared at 50W UTreel XagaslraLes

Court on Monday, -the -10th June, -1968, -".d was

remanded, In austoop- until the i8th June, 1968 .

-Lega2 Aid va's granted -to the prisoner by -"Mr . Fr

WILTON, the Presiding Magistrate ... On the 18th June,-1968, the prisoner agai

appeared before the Court, being remanded dy

until the 27th JaneQ 9 9684 without any v ° e

.being given. The prisoner was lega ented

by Mr . EUGENE, of Michael Dres Go Solicitors,

of 330 ~aviatock Streets London

Accoa°d.iaaglyo on the 27th uaae, 968$ the

prisoner again appeared be rank MILTON,

D6aga.stsate a ~~ the Bo*S M asta°atesa Co t D

and was defended b BY, of Counsel ,

t rsacted by th efendi sali citors a

Mr. Nigel Wffl9 ~ and Maw and Co a A

801:, Ators, f ford House, Norfolk Street, W .C .2,

i, a American Embassy, had ,

suce a cation. for a provisional warrant for

th xtradl on of RAY to the United States of

1 . James Earl Ray, hereinafter called thedePex~dante suspected and accused of thecommission of° ptta,e crime of murder t owit, on Apri

l ty, State of Ta%121ese68 did unlawfully ,Counfeloniously, wilfully, deliberately,premeditatedly and of his maliceafore th 't, kil2 and murder MartinLuthe- ~-ng, Junior, within theJaari€sdaa ;.rasa of the United States o

2 . Unlawful flight to avoid c;onfinement in

Of robbery in violation of title 189Section 1073 of United States cade o

The hearing Of the twO British Offea a was notMPS

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' .- . q

44

----------------------commenced t was not compx M ze s~ on ~Gne

1968, a- ~isoner was-Turther remanded, l

ncustody, i a -the 2nd July, 1968. -when the

Magistrate recommended -extradition ion both obs,

Since that time RAY has remained In custody and

appeared on the 9th Julyn 1968/1 6th July,, 1968,

Bow Street Magistrates' Court, being rem

custody pending any appeal against the

extraditi o

The appeal period terminat on a h July,

1968a when "~ decided to abazad than

pa°~~~~digags o

RAY's American- Attorne a Mrm Arthur

S g of 6170 Frank N AS 11 ngs, Birmingham,

Alabama, who trav I country on two Occasions

but never intervi d . the ison<% The legal

procedure in this .c ebarred him from taking

~ active p t An the Court proceedings . He has ,

H" Visit RAY under these conditions on four

Z. the 5th, 6th, 17th and 18th July ,

`aa Thursday, the 1 8t%2 July, 1 968Q the hea r ings

In relation to the two British offences . namely, of

ssessing a forg ed passport and of being found In

seession of a firearm and ammunition without a

certificate, were beard at Bow Street Magistrates'

Court before Mr . X-T~G~ BAP-RACLOUGH, Magistrate .

The prisoner did not appear personally, but he

was represented by Mr . LnW, Solicitor~ and

Mr. HO-7.4, - 1",, Di ; of ftblic Prosecutions Dept~,

at '

-491.RMeRM".. zo) /The

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~tatemaat

-possessing a forged passport be withdrawn bY

'leave of the Court, and no evidence was offered 1A

--relation 'to the offence -of possessing -8 -xirearm

ammunition .4t being L_ d by virtue or

-Section 7 of the Magist ~a`es' Courts Act, 1952-

I will now deal with the enquiries I

to and subsequent to the arrest of the p

,SXitils .l d1A.eJ I'll "+.`4fiF1ISVVla'a

It has already been mentioned a report

that "SNM" travelled from To to,. :ahla

moaa fl the 6th may, '9 9689 v this country

-an the 7th mays 1968, *.B, aC. light No. BA 600 .

His further whereabo a stage were then

unknown .

vere deputed interview the crew bf the

aircraft Wh "SNM--'v travelled to this country,

and f, a enquiries at the numerous airlines

Whil opera at Heathrow Airport .

~ view of the eleven members of the .crew

f ght BA 600 (Document 1) revealed that only

ember remembered 9Ak3dY EM' travelling as a

pass germ This is Ewa a

awarda o

f

mad, -i'ng

conversation with either crew or fenow passengers .

The passengers, totalling '73, have now been

Interviewed by Follce, but none was able to

identify "SNM". as a passenger f"ocument 2) .MPS

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tTM aementPage 15 .

I

'

.

'It%*4

3aaaro~~rje6 vra~~~ continued at Bea eau a-Por

-at the var.10.-, _Siplines, to trace the movements of

~)ut -SuecesB . It was mot on il

thls,psrtlou~_ line of,anquirY was extended

booking offices of airlines :-that Atyroved

a reservation a he

affi~~~er~~ that SNMp -whose photo Ph was

shown, called at the above ment ce on the

7th Mayfl 196 0 Be surrenders Orre ticket from

London to Toronto for a sin c to Lisbon,

being,credited the dij;W7 c value by virtue of

-a miscellaneous charges e r 14 dollars, 60 cents .

Subsequent a rch A.C . orecords revealed

"W "M" travelle C BE Flight No- BE 074 on

the 7tb May, 1968, to on~ The records, however,

'i not 7 is stage his return to Fmgland~is

'anderstand.6ble because of the'Th l's 1 d

'Yast flow q a eager traffic at this time of the

Yo , the rl .neW records being In arrears in

re ~ ~~ e~atation by at -least two months .

ted States Embassy In London, of the enquiries

to to D end r. ,.t suggestion enquiries in Lisbon

gent. I had preVje)'tS]

A-11 Ports" w,, )Ang to be circulated 6th may,

1968, relative to showing he Was wanted

for serious emigration of'fences and the". in the

event or his being detained, any interrogation

In the circulation .

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Statements

- - - - ----------------- - -,tea

wSX- in fact, returned toEngland

Airlin e, on t) 17th May, 1968 .

on the 8th june,--1968, after purchasing a-

sa le ticket from London to Brussels on a B ry~~

flight-9 at the West London Air Tea°~inalv M

his Way to,London Aini6it, where he was by

Detective Sergeant BIRCH, of Specialg

was aware of the "An Ports" w 9 is e to

"SNEn" . Immediately after " N1 rest-on the

8th Juaaeg 1 9b6 8 It was reallse that is suitcase

and contents had already be y the aircraft

on which he would nor .A avelled, to

Its ret °a24 and a s, tak possession of by

Detective Sergea=nt amnd Detective Constable

tai? A of fSNjw._Bs^ acho

Examinat, 'e contents of the suitcase by

these two ic at Cannon Row Police Station

prov ~xt ning , as evidence indicating'ina

H croX4 9 M CP tis ~ . bi 2~a7 was fo sda aaongs an the¢ddg

jacket 'bearing the name "Brie GAL ~ 9 e° 9s

2aaof the many aliases used by RAY in the Unite d

44

X embers of the crew and, where possiblep

passengers as set out on the Aircraft X-anifest

(Documents 4 and 5) have been Interviewed, but no

one remembers "SNUD" or having any conversation with

him. This -x of enquiry was, of,course, Conducted

as I t war at one ~~~~e P__ was in the

/company

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~

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company of another -man . Viis Proved negative and

-I have no reason-to believe tbat'he was accompanied

by any

"___.. .. .,m..e. .~_.s we .ems . ....m. . e ..v a.. ... . . ..- .... . .. , o. .. . as . ... ..«w:e.s 8 s..r-mro e` er.

91SXM~1,,when -he,first arrived in

Toronto,, Canada, on the 7th May, 1968 ,

the same day- to Lisbon, and therefor e

stay In this country amounted to onl TOtz~~.

T2aea~~ ~s no aowledae ag w2a ere ~a~~~ tiffi e on

t~ s Particular occa s ion8 e ac c ep f s e a that

he obtained his ticket to Lisbo t a BoO3AaCm

office In Regent Street, Lo o~M.1 .

The movements of

now been checked

attached Schedule

This information

Ithis country have

are shown on the

obtained after a

protracted e Involving the personal visit of

P"'Ce officer- over a thousand hotels and

the West London area, by local

Offi 5 a era of this Branch.

ese ries established beyond any doubt

'~ `e stayed at the ~ieathfie ~. d House Hotels

~ e Croffiw e11 Road , L aao don 9 SmWa S D from the 17th. ~

68, until the 28th May, 1 968 . He is

Identified conclusively-by

=e=berss o MWstaff~ and where

possib2ag residents who stayed at this hotel during

the material times, have been most carefa y

Interviewed, but there Is no InformatJ :)n a

shows that "SNEn" had any visitors, mail i indeed,

telep] In - calls, Be may well have made a

to: 111 on WE; last day at the hotal, but

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7a$es ia,- 19 .

StatementPages 20 m 22 o

44

re ference -is made to the statement

wv, -there Is --some doubt wIxether lie i is

-e pc !a or not i

4 I'M 'IT I DU stayed at .New,_'Barls - Court Rotel .-

&qjPenywern Road, Earls Court, S .W.59 from th e

se's 1-9 68a until V^° 5t2zJ ° s 1968a d

:Identified by

receptionist, as being a resident .

who Is a mo s as tep bon g paid

particular attention to 74~111 is stay and

assisted him generally, men ra he made two

telephone calls to the Dai ~' p Ya aa eti~s p age x ,,

as lis texaed t~o-ar t telephone

conversations to at von raexiaa

says he did not ~ eive mail, visits or

telephone calls .

From the 5th June, 1968, until the 8th June,

1968 (the vll~arrest) "SNAM" stayed at the

Pax Hot4%jLj eL a qua dki v, Loaadons S .W.,, and is

Iden the

he statement,

en as t "SZtiT" irafos^ffi~~ he had booked

a °~ht to Germany . Enquiries, however, have

ealed thst,tfi:s did not, in fact, occur . Abe .

also mentions "Sa b " received two telephone i'lls

nf these two-'w sons has b,-~a UI'a-ntified by Police,

and, on present facts, Id entification is not likely ~

Bnquirlei have been made at every hire car

firm in the loc, 'ity Of fbz,~mentioi -. ht

, ~ t

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44

l - - ~- .

-that II&NEYD" might wen -have utilised this servlce~

were found writtea-m--correspandence -found In

possession .- '-,:Responsible :persons of the three

coaar ex°aa eda Damely Charffiaae Car Hire Lim

Guildford Avenue, Feltham, Middlese or

Mini Cab Limited,' 65,_-Lisson Street and

Xezaway Court Cars limited, 9, oa

have been .~nterviewed 9 but the' ds do not

show that " SIe °B wa s a oaasto r . quiries have

also been made at taxi cab the same

locality, but withoutt 0

LEFT LUGGAGE LOCK .~ M1

Members of assp t Squad have personally

searched Left Luggage ers and left and Lost

propertyO t the places shown on the attached

2ist ('Docume as It was thought 'that

who was -a 01 age believe& to have been in

pos a ~Nf green7holdall, may have deposited

It one these places. This enquiry proved

ed

7w

i t~a some doubt, but cannot be ignored

co te1,y m

.SA'E 'E DEPOSITS

. A special enquiry (Document 8) was als o

Instituted, at -all safe deposits . in the london area

to establish whether or not "SNEYD" had deposited

any large sums of money, but without trace .

PLMS a

re made at the Overseas Visitors'

-id the Zambesi Clubp RarlsMPS

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..~ 4 _ . ~

S ' a$eat,','ages 23 - 28.

44

Court, at both are in the 'g of the hoteis

where -Stayed, and thes are Places

aihel'e kmericans of dcrtfbtfu~ t "Aaracter and ex

mere -is from Africa are sometimes knotir-

k Lte~ - Searcb of the Clubs' record

that a had not visited -there . -

During the course of encuiries, I e aad

Yr. Ian COLVLK, Cbief 7oreign Lead Write

Daily Telegraph- deaaspa-Der o B9Stic acted

6 8s had aIr. COLVIN on the 4#.h June, 1 9

,-te3.ephane conversation with hz,~ cl set out in

deta il in b~~°a COLgi.~'s sta-temexa 1~ -ill be seen

,that mention Is ma de of 11SK ~$ teTe se in °

mercanaa°y volunteers, and a rs obvious h e had

? .r2 $ join -t.h 1 was also made of a

The latter was int wed , but declined to make

any statemen deed, disclose AM address, but

associated cenary activities in the Belgian

C o%Lg a d d, .

f

f necessary, put any would-be

vol per in uch with parties interested in

canaries . so was able to tell me that

k ~ s a Biafran Yissicn in Lisbon which, at one

~#a 3. t well have enlisted mercenaries in the

conflict which is taking place in that country at th e

7th

. aa~t tiffien ~'s da i no conversation

"S NM" concerning-- this mtat° r~,

is an information centre, known as Liebor of Corps~

'a lid be able to fu,, aish particulars of'any

)e t first visited

/Lisban

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StatementPage 10 0

44

i5

lisbon and then later booked a passage t o-- - -- - -

Brussels .

I

z5rie ' . ~~~ arranges for~ _ .. _ . .

volunteers asi ; ~st African countries against

internal aggression, -but "'assured me

never applied to him as a volunteer .

The firearm, a Japanese .38 Lib

revolver, was forwarded to the r 0 it Poli c e

Forensic Science Laboratory, wh as examined

by Mr. John ~~~nERTYYg Senior -per -ental Officer .

A t the reru e st of the Amer* Attache, test

bullets were fired fxo# e and were later

handed to Mr. MI I 'tion~ of caurse~

comparison of tea ullets we 3a eea: made with any

spent bullets found a scenes of major c rime s

coming to t otice of Police in this country ~

The 01c) 0 ld in the suitcase belonging

to " N, S n examined by ultra viollet ray

and a~ a found thereon. Enquiries were

mad ~~ ~l~ rs in the Victoria area, and it v~as

a~ rat e~~WIMM" had iaken a aa~~~ to

Lo as Cleaners, 95, Wilton Road, Victoria, &fia a 9 ,

p to the 6th June, 9 968o Be had also made

purchases i n 1ocal shops for toilet requisites . No

eful information was obtained from these sources

ich would help.lkn furtherance of the enquiry,

Examination of the shoes that "Mt~,'1'D" was

wearIn&.,.at the time of his arrest revealed that

they were an English make bearing certain

manufacturer's numberso As the result of encuiries

that, oes were a make,

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44

'16D

they were exclusively produced for sale In Came a

and America,-, and would not, therefore, be sold in qjthis co=try. Ws Is supported by the fact that

the shoes were badly--viorn and th

e course, Is that they were -obtained by sail ~.n

Canada or America prior to coming to this M

Enquiries have been made of the Por

Airlines to establish the identity o:1 rson

who remembers e'S11t4 as a passe~~~~ ate

this his p roved negative, - altho quia zv

-itself has not been completed 9 an difficulty has

been experienced in tracing passengers and

crew, who are now in evidea fed locatioaasa .

During the p

separate* off ences

London., two

tea in different

1oca2.ataes a for . which be a°esp9rasablem _He

tl,has bee

n out, of course ice the com,uassimn of any cr~~in~l

offence~ r. have not been completed, so

detai a t tlined in this reoort. At the

cone ion e eraoat~. x°ies9 anything of a helpful

ore e ~ep or ted a

t will b e seen f rom the facts already disclosed

the 'ETD's" vi s it to London and Lisbon and intended

isit to Brussels was to make enquiries regarding

possibility of joining a Mercenary Unit i n

ca. If successful he would have had little fear

of -his true identity being discovered or, if

discovered, little or nothing would have been done

about it .

It is also worthy of mention that on a Scuth

African Airline timetable found amongst h:

PO s8essions, a pencil mark has been _= e ~r 2-

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newspaper t: cheap flights to

South Africa v&E

The officers most ~~~ly engaged on the f~~

reaching enquiries made are satisfied that "SINRYD

has no firm associates in this country, and

certainly received no financi al assistanc e

here . 'This latter aspect Is very firml ed

by 'the- inescapable fact that he d

bargain with the three hotel -aza~

in his anxiety to secure a cheaps ate or the

rooms he rented .

M

As is to b e expe~ °~ edt tiga~,i o~ In

which there has been blic .-ty, Meml.-5-rs

of the public genui belie they have seen

aaS '8 and have a c c ord~ aa foz°mea Pelicea All

suca i -ormati as been properly Investigated, 'out'b e

wathou any, us~a ~ ati~a~a Iaeab~g obm aa Aee~"3a~

~2~ T~at~ ~ ~ ~ z J~ ~u r n J968, the home

this F ce to d RAY to the United States

Aga ri

4 was taken to the United States Air ?orce

Base elzen3aeHth, 'Suffolk, and , with his property,

Wwas transferr~d into the custody of the official

t. He left this country by air at 12-38 a .m.

!a ta.mea on pea s the 19th July, 1 9 68a

Submitted for Information and directions as to

whether copies of report and relevEnt papers may

be handed to the L-egal Attache, American Embassy,

GTvenor Square, Iff .j, for transfer to the a-ppropriateMPS

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CA f~

~~~trao Offker °SSpmcsae Rm-e J

SUBJECT bequests

from t7,.. .6. .. . . .. . .. . .- . .. . . house. .o.. . . .. . . . . . ..

Representatives.. . . .. . . .. . . .. .. .. .. . . .. . .. . . .. . .. ..

Committee&~~~erencaa to Papers

ca2 01l771288. .. . . . .. . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. .. . .

M .P ; >-~09713 M K14" (2)

Now sea

_15t3?day saf . .. . . .De c ~tnhQY' . . .. . .. ... -B

Commander

Two letters dated 6 .1Oo1478 d 6 4197 have been

received from Home Office under their e ferencesXTN/78o10j64J1 and QPE/75,1j39/40 and co attached to

this report. They refer to James E.as° equests received

about his activities in London9 from U.S o se of Representatives

Committee .

In their letter ov 1 K e Office seek informationon a number of matters as Po7,rs ~

A

~ez1 tt tuu, arm duty Chief

`-^9+ector< On 28o7a1976o he was arrested

of this force and charged wit h

ence of Conspiracy to corruptly accepta ft in respect of a criminal rose he hada slings with in Play !968 . He wa s

t r charged with two offences of Conspiring

to ervert the Course of Justice s

ommitted for trial on

ev y was arraigned for trial at

The Middlesex Crown Court an

was ~ witted in respect of all three chargeson

Re ference is made in the Home Office lett erst o two le tters re ce ived from James Earl RAY(copies attached) . In his letter of 15a9o I 4 7 8 .RAT asks Police and Hom e Office for certaininformation whi ch he lists in the for s ofel even questions set out in his letter .The following information is releaant o

(1) RAY was detained at Cannon Raw PoliceStation following upon h is arrest at tendonHeathrow airport on 8 .6 .1968. and unti lh is first appearance at Bow Street Magistratescourt o n l aa6o1968.M

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Whilst he was detained at Cannon Row Po~zce

Station s 'way kept under surveillance at

All times by Detectiv e officers o f Ce4eC a $ o

aneh of the Metropolitan Police. One ofthe officers engaged upon those duties

w

now Detective Superintendent Thomas StZC

who was recently interviewed in London

representatives of the U.S . House of pie tiresCornmi tteea A record of that intervi f ardedto Rome Office together with my p nu rtof 16,8 a 1978a During the course terviewSuperintendent SMITH -revealed t

fog ad been engage n i1 ance

duties upon RAY at Cannon a t

.

tion

on the morning of gmbo 68 >

I ha s since established. as so and

tha as accompa on occasion by -

7~tse ire constable

Cisto r BAXTER who

is still a serving Me oli n Police Officer .A copy of a wrtt w tamq by BAXTER is

attached to this p d it will be seen

his reool.le*1an e ants of that day are

rather vague he w unable to remember

details 9 ve ions ~uhie~ztoak place between

EIST an.rR~ha tea

Never as m~ clear conversation did hake

place an aye he was left in^Roubt RAYhad indeed esponsib?a for the border of

Doctor A t~..n then KZIYGe

his account by BAXTER I then put

xn passages set out in the ',Bola

m

.r-f8

aied 28-7-1978 . which was submittedto ce tugether ;=rich my previous report

It will be seen TEI? claims h eh~ a ection of any such conversation

etwse and FAY ,

have also taken a written statement fromDe~e&ive Chief Inspector Bernard HOI OETTS9

I a serving Metropolitan Police Officere whoas a Detective Ser axit in 1968 was regularlyemployed with His statement is self-explanatory and he has no recollection hatsoeverof any zaerbal admissions made by RA :Y toin his presence . Nevertheless I feel that this

evident M and HODCET TS does tend to

sugges id have conversAtions with RAYduring vine and July 1968 and whatever thoseconversations m have been it is clear that"

was telling ol.sce colleagues at that t ;.-that RAY had indeed murdered Doctor martin LuthiKTNCo

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CA/8

I have also spoken to &- Detective ChiefInspector THOP§PSON, who was also interviewedrecently by the U .S . Committee representsand who9 together with E . Detective ~h~,Superintendent BUTLER (now deceased) wasin charge of the London Police enquiry.

1968a His recollection is that two offi

together were always employed upon a

surveillance duties upon RAY. He

that surveillance was carried o 0throughout the 2 day period thedetained at Cannon Row Police St on d on

every occasion thereafter t

transported and escorted t d the

courts and the reenandlseis o

Similar suz°veillance '11F&was kept whilsthe was actually in t c or mid he was alsoeventually as rted C.O. 8a officers when

hewas taken - d 9.san on 18o7a195$oto Go2ders Gee, ions lodged there

for a few ux°s r the same nightdrivenauffo7

. to e Base at kenheatPa

kqand ad into the custody of

the Uo i he extradited to America.

THOMP is h erQ arable to recollect .

the cific oc sor~upon which was actually

enga an t a duties. He does r~;~uember hose ve~°y

that e of several. officers o fwho were so loved at that time .

R„ r4(E)

so spoken to Detective Chief Inspectoro as a Detect~.rre Sergeant was concerned

a case in i968 end who was also recentlyi ~rie~re~ by the Corrv~aitte RPpresenta+ ores inn o

He

has a recollection that" wan one

0 eve~al police Officers who togethex- with

escorted RAY from London to Lakenheath

on 18m7m1968 m

It appears thez°efores was one of several

Police officers who escorted RAY to Lakenheath

on 18o7a19 68= but no Police records now exist

whereby this can be confirmed or whereby details

of the other officers of that escort can be

ascertainedo Similarly, in the absence of police

records it is not now possible to say on wh t

other occasions in June and July 1968 that

might have been concerned in surevei~_aaace

duties upon RAY4 that is other than on 9 . 6>1968e

Such information will not °ng unless

direct enquiry is made of ~ r and this

course of action has been Uec-a against as a

matter of policy.

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(2) Records are no longer available whereby

this information can be provided

(3) There is no record of any such repobeing lodged by any Metropolitan Polic

Officer in 196 8

(4) In the absence of Police records i s

ssble to provide informat' e g

It is known howeverm &~Y p at

ow Street Magistrates Court on J 9

18th June s 26th June 4 2nd J v

and 16th July, 1968 0

(5) As at (4) aboveo v s unlikelythat one police officer wo d have bee nso eavployeda Mr o llect ion is that

two officers were al s em yed together upon

these duties .

(6) it is not s' o say from existing

Police recdlk w r not this could have

happened,

(7) at ov

(8) icon ations provide that whilstdetained icon prisoners must agreed tobe so inter ed before any interview w ith Policecan take place .

} records ar e not available whereby thisat a on can be prov adedr. However, Mir THOMPSON

t me RAY was not interviewed by Police a t'me whilst he was lodged in any of Her

Qty ' s ps'isons e

( 1 0) See (9) above.

( 11 ) See attached copy statements which were

submitted by the Police officers concerned at the

t imes I have been unable to trace any other

relevant written statement made or submitted by

any Police officer in relation to RAY .

Returning now to the Home office letter of 6 a1 2 m7 8 oE-igiaaa..s :~ has been made at both Brixton and WandsworthP; , ., s and the prison Service is able to provideonly very limited information a s to RA :Y°s movementsin and out of those prisons in 3,96$ e It isestablished howe v es° 2 12ti1P° s prison number was060480 and that he was first admitted to BrixtonPrison a s a r emand prisoner from Bow Street MagistrateiCourt on 10a 6 a I96$ a I have also been able t o

t(E )

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ascertain from Police records that RA .1' wasvisited in prison on 5the 6thq, 17th and 18t

July, 1968 by his American Attos°ney at

a Mr Arthur IiA , of 6'179 Frank Nelso

BuiAdangsg Birmanghamg Alabama.

BAZes extradition was ordered by a isat Bow Street gists°ate°s Court a a1gHe was then remanded incaastody pst:atz~toyy appeal period under t e ion

its which expired on 17o7s196 d in

fact lodge Notice of Appeal b _a andoned

it. on 18-7-1968. he was Policeescort from Wandsworth Fri n to lder sGreen Police Station e ~a odged for a

few hoirP°s9 an doubt a m e Payed to

evade the attentions r egorters.v then lateri7 that day escorted by olic t Lakenheath. He

was then handed ove o an erican Police escort

and left this co y' a Air Transpor t

a' craft at 120 9e7„196$m

Meanwhile ~ W, 0 oxza1 charges brought

against b ropo],ftan Police when he

was f' ne t London Heathrow Airport

on 8 968. disposed of at Bow StreetMagi tea Cou , in RAY's absence, on 1&7a1968 .Charge 1'oe pion of a forged passport was

withdrawn ave of the couz°t . Charge(2)

Possession o a fireas°mm No evidence offere dd dismissed by the court under the provisions

7 Magistrates Courts Act 1952 0

s assumed therefore RAY was remanded to~ on Prison until 2-7-1968., the date hi sxt dition was ordered at Bow Street Magistrates

t and thereafter he was detained at WandsworthPrison until the date of his extradition to theU. "moo

Finally, Home Office seek information upon the

more recent visit to London by representative s~ of the U.S. Committeeo Mr Edward EVANDe Mr

Jerome GUIS,INGS and ter Lewis PARISE arrived in

London during the weekend period 27thj29th

OC tOb G'Y' g 19,78m EVANS then left this country

on 5~11p19'78e his two colleagues eventually

leaving on 7o11o1978m I saw Mr EVANS myself at

New Scotland Yard on 31„10629786 when I advised

him in accordance of the guidelines set out in

the Flume Office memorandum dated 24810,7:9'780

which had been forwarded to me for this purpose .Ys° EVANS assured me he would convey that adviceto the members of his cammiLteeo

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In accordance with the policy agreed withHome Office I provided Fir TsVA~1' •, °

etective ea-&TIMM whn r tared on 16a5e196Se it 's

understood hnweverg the committee p xw~:$

then failed in their attempts to e either

man .

MANS was also given detail rentaddress of Ex. l?eteetiee Se pant Bert CHMY'eMr CHERRY was intervi b he:. J6itteerepresentatives but PolT1%L1e,1qW prssent .

In accordance with Off' 0Ttaidelines no

further information sup °ed to the committee

representatives esjj%jW the 1968 fingerprint

ev idexice m

could be foundin Police eco t ver reported Verbal

I told Air n

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admiss ° t y Y in 1968 . I alsotold S tha imself had also written aLett o this ce asking for this same information,Z also ide TANS with details of the datesin 1968 t had appeared before the London

Courts and t hira it suss not possible to provide

im with details o f the actin time that RAY had

t he remand prisons on tho s e particulart naliys E(7A i11u asked me if he could be

ded with detail s of police servic eZ~re ccs and a ash appraisal repos.to I refused

e que st o

I as that this report, in duplicate, together with atta che ~; erne be forwarded to Home Office, for their info ationm

copy is provided for the Foreign an d Commonwealth

F,Detective Chief 8uper5 satende nt

i -i

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