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Show r miiriiiif Hi in Ina 4A The Salt Lake Tribune, Sunday, February 2, h ifrawri flirt ft r 'Sh 1969 The Strange Case of Janies Earl Ray 9 The Gunman Vanishes He wasn't the kind of guy who broods a lot, and he wasn't a political guy. By Bernard Gavzer 3rd Installment Associated Press Writer In the second article Bernard Gavzer The shot that mortally wounded the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was fired at 6:01 p.m., Apiil 4, 1968, so far as the most careful checking can determine. Within minutes, police combed the immediate area, going toward probable vantage points, especially toward a roominghouse less than 100 yards away. Witnesses thought the shot came from there, and two occupants of the rooming-hous- e soon told of hearing the sound of a rifle shot coming from the hallway bathroom. The man they said had apparently which emerged from the bathroom had a window affording a direct line of fire to the motel balcony where Dr. King went down the hall and out of stood the building, carrying seme sort of That was the last anyone remembers S. seeing him in the vicinity of 422 Main St., Memphis, Tenn. Where did he go? How did he manage to vanish so quickly and completely? Investigators, once they found the abandoned white Mustang in Atlanta, were able to go back bit by bit, finding who had owned it, who bought it, where it had been serviced, and so on. But now the chore was to discover what it could tell about where its driver had gone. How did it get to Atlanta? Could anyone safely say it was abandoned by the man who was to become known as Eric Starvo Earl Lowmyer-Jame- s Galt-Harve- y Ray? The owner of the Atlanta rooming house could not say whether Galt had returned to the room anytime before 10:30 a.m. Friday, April. 5. That was when he came in to pull the linens and found the room empty and a note regarding the TV set. 35 Hour Trip Had anyone In flight wanted to head to Canada from Atlanta, he would have had;a choice of three Greyhound buses to Toronto, among other points. Its a scheduled 35 hours and by taking the 10:3p p.m. bus, a traveler would arrive in Toronto at 9:30 a.m., April 7. In the Huie-Ra- y account, Ray edly. reached Canada April 6. It is known that on April report- 8, 1968, James Earl Ray certainly was embarked on his final Canadian odyssey. It was on this day that a man wearing d glasses, a burgundy sports jacket and tan raincoat came to 102 Ossington Ave., In a working class section of Toronto largely inhabited by Italians, Hungarians, Poles, Lithuanians and dark-rimme- Mrs. Leda Szpakowsky, the landlady, showed him a room on the second floor. It had a large bay window overlooking the ptreet, a double bed, TV with rabbit eafs antenna, three wood chairs, a chest of 'drawers, a food cabinet, a dinette tablp, two color depictions of Jesus Christ, and a wall decoration saying Home Sweet Home. Ue man said he was a real estate salesman. He paid the rent of $10 in advance, left and returned in the early evening with a small overnight bag. His name? Paul Bridgman, said the man. He was a quiet, mannerly lodger, said Money Lures If I had to see a reason, and there was no money involved, then I can't see Jimmy doing it. He was no racist. My brother, Jerry, will tell you the same thing. Jerry, who was working as a maintenance man at Sportsman Country Club near Noiliibiook, a Chicago suburb, said James "was never a man of violence. Look at all the money he came into all of a sudden. Buying Mustangs, taking dancing lessons, taking trips to Mexico, Jerry said. But John Larry and Jerry are hardly the best authorities regarding James described police efforts to find the trail of Dr. Martin Luther Kings slayer. Today lie discusses Bays escape from prison and possible activities in Toronto. Earl. Mrs. Szpakowsky. He would go out a little before 9 a.m.. return before noon, leave in the early afternoon and return after dinner time. Associated Press Photos Checks Old Papers Ray claims he scaled this waii at Missouri State Penitentiary. But prison officials say he escaped 23-fo- ot His movements during these hours and days is not clear. One man thought he may have been the person who came to the Toronto Amateur Athletic Club which is across the street from the rooming house at 102 Ossington. The club man said such a man had inquired about a steam bath and shower but left when the telephone rang and he went to answer it. The formal count at 5 p.m., showed that Inmate Jamps E. Ray, No. 00416, assigned to the Main Kitchen on the 11 a.m.-p.m. shift, had not reported for work at 11 a.m. He was missing from the 5 p.m. count. A search was made of the The Toronto Telegram of that date carries the birth announcement of one Paul Edward Bridgman, who now is a consultant in the Toronto school system. The Daily Star of that date carries the birth announcement of Ramon George Sneyd, a constable in the Toronto Police Department. When and where did he pick the name Paul Bridgman? If somehow he had gotten to Toronto early Friday, April 5, 1968, presumably he could have found it in the library newspapers that Friday or on Saturday. The library is closed on 7 Sunday. a passport.) Rents 2nd Room And Paul Bridgman clearly had a passport on his mind on April 11. On that day, he came to Mrs. Mabel Agnews Arcade Photo Studio on Yonge St. She personally took passport photos of Paul Bridgman." She would not say when he picked them up, but did say our pictures are always hour. In 20 ready minutes to a half Five days later, Mrs. Yee Sun Loo, landlady of a rooming house at 962 Dund-a- s St., which is one of the main thoroughfares which crosses Ossington Ave., received a call from a Ramon George Sneyd who telephoned to inquire about a room. Ramon The same day, April 16, George Sneyd walked into the Kennedy Travel Bureau on Bloor St He asked Miss Lillian Spencer, the office manager, about travel to London and also completed a passport application. As one of he listed Paul his next-of-ki- 1PV rwm- Bridgman." He presented a duplicate birth certificate in the name of Sneyd, three passport photographs and $8 fee. Normally such an application requires the name of another Canadian citizen who has known the applicant at least two years, but in Canada this can be satisfied by the applicant swearing on oath that the information is true. Sneyd ordered a round trip excursion ticket from Toronto to London, at a charge of $345 Canadian or $319.50 U.S. currency. In Washington, D.C., the FBI issued a fugitive warrant for the arrest of ore Eric Starvo Galt. He was described as a man with a "rural" way of speaking; a taste for volka and beer; and a preference for western and country music. He was said to have a nervous habit of occasionally pulling at an ear lobe with his hand. His left ear protrudes further from his head than his right ear. The complaint charged: On or about March 29, 1968, at Birmingham, Alabama , . . Eric Starvo Galt and an irdividual whom he alleged to be his brother, entered into a conspiracy which continued until on or atwut April 5, 1968, to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate Martin Luther King, Jr., in the f e exercise or enjoyment of a right secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States; namely, the right to freely travel from state to state. In furtherance of this corspiracy, Eric Starvo Galt did, on or about March 30, 1968. pur'bare a rifle at Birmingham. ... fv - - ' "W - . ; "I j v Associated Miss Iallian Spencer, olfice manner of a Toronto travel agency, yNwWHiiHWWfw 'WI'W' " Press Photo works in the office in which Ray inquired about travel to London. was wearing a dark or black suit jacket that was cut so much of a white shirt could be seen, the sort of jacket that might go with a tuxedo. The black bow-ti- e added to the idea that it was a tuxedo-styl- e jacket. A second version of the same photograph was distributed, this time with eyes painted in by an FBI artist. (There is a real Eric S. Galt. The lull name is Eric St. Vincent Galt. He is a man of 54 a, id an employe of Union Carbide in Toronto. This Galt was found to be a responsible citizen. Mysterious Call n Issue Warrant V- and rare occasions for the brothers to see or know one another, especially as free men. At the Missouri Slate Penitentiary in Jefferson City it was approximately 3:25 p.m., on Sunday, April 23, 1967, when Lt. William R. Turner, Control Center Desk Officer, was told there had been an escape from the institution. Over the Wall? The next day, Henry Moos of the Kennedy Travel Bureau routinely notarized the passport declaration that the applicant was a Canadian citizen. It was sent off to the Department of External Affairs in Ottawa, with the request that the application be expedited because was anxious to make a trip. Sneyd r- Brother Jim had been elsewheie most of the time since 1919. So there were few 8, 1932. If he had not arrived until Monday, April 8, when could he have gotten the name, since he used it on renting his room? It is not known whether anyone at the library ever saw anyone answering his description either prior to April 8, or in the eight days following. (The birth announcements carry some such as the very essential information maiden name of the mother as well as the name of the father. This is the sort of information needed when one applies for ft I960. hi breadbox on truck similar to one in lower photo. Officials claim a convict aided Rays April, 1967, escape. He may have been in the Public Library on College Street, looking through bound volumes of backdated newspapers, such as the Toronto Telegram of Nov. 11, 1932, and the Toronto Daily Star of Oct. y ft aint saw Jim on the outside since admits John Only on the inside, Larry, who entered Menard Prison in Illinois Junp 1, 1953, on a 5 to 10 years sentence for motor vehicle larceny. He was known as John Ryan, Inmate No. 23401. He was released Feb. 1, 1960. Jerry entered Menard Feb. 26, 1954, on a for larceny, under the name Gerald Ryan. Before then, he had been at St. Charles reform school in Illinois. He was paroled from Menard Dec. 12, 1955, and returned as a parole violator Aug. 1, 1958. He was discharged Mav 6, I 1949. Alabama . . (He had no idea how anyone came to be using his name. An avid scuba diver, he had traveled to United States shore areas on vacations. But how anyone could have had access to his papers or to information about him, he could not fath om. He did do something unusual, how ever, in signing his name. He abbreviat ed his middle name, St. Vincent, as St V., making little circles for the periods, One reading the signature could interpret it as saying Starvo.) The next day, April 18, at Mrs. Szpakowskys rooming house, her young daughte. answered the phone and a man asked for Paul Bridgman. He was not home, she said. No message was left. Ramon Over - on Dundas Street, George Sneyd saw Mrs. Yee Sun Loo and gave her $9, a week's rent, in advance, and said hed be moving in later. He did, on April 19. And now, the alias Eric Starvo Galt is officially discovered. In Washington. D.C., the fingerprints are matched and theie is no mistake about it: The wanted man is James Earl Ray, an escaped convict from the Missouri State Penitentiary. He had been serving 20 years for armed robbery and as an habitual criminal. He had already served seven years when he escaped April 23, 1967. tavIn St. Louis, at The Grapevine ern on the South Side, John Larry Ray heard the news stoically. It was on the radio. His brother wa wanted for one of the sensational killings of our time. He went on serving his cuctomers. But I was kind of surprised, John Larry says. Personally, I got douots myself that Jimmy did the actual killing. Birth $ "Ls BRIDGMAN On Thursday. Nov. 10th. 32, to Mr. and Mrs. Edward Brldxna Mince Evelyn Godclen), a son, Paul Edward. 5 COX On Thursday, November 3rd. at I Women Hospital. Bloor street, to Mr K I and Mrs. Cecil Cox, a son. -- ,10 Birth U I V 31 . i i 1 Bruet wtverie? - men (Atinui Garre). A"'SinW-- M ..-- 1 on - 1 STS V-?- . Hrst&otor,c)- - Photogiaphs of the wanted man showed a man with his eyes closed. He Ray presumably was wearing the a dark green outfit prison uniform s w'th a inch blark stripe on the outside seam of the trousers. He could also have switched to the white trousers worn in the kitchen, where he was assigned, or have gotten them from convict hospital attendants. In these days of hippie styles, says Fred Wilkinson, he could have been on the street in prison greens and no one would have paid particular attention, since the stripe is a rather simple three-quarter- The 3x5 ft. breadbox was hauled to tlie Renz Farm where the prisoners no- ticed the squashed and mined bread, but said nothing. They had enough bread for the day and so no issue was made of it. However, if they did know it was part of an escape, they probably would not have said a word because the inmate rode is to seal lips on any escape attempt. There is no question about the stale of the bread. A man had been in the breadbox and we are certain it was Ray," says Wilkinson, "Also, even on a Sunday morning there is a lot of movement around the loading dock with at least five or six trucks there. He couldn't have run across the yard without being spoi'd " Tbe saga of Ray's life and the hard-lucfamily from which lie emerged now began lo unfold. James Earl was the lust of nine Om was to die in a fite, another in a car whit li plunged into a liver. James Mail and his tun closest brothers, John and Jeny, ueie eventually to know lives behind the walls of penitenk clnl-die- 1 Associated Press .hoto . Clippings, taken from 1932 Toronto, Canada, papier gave James Hippie Style marking .n4 wt. Art1' fV'Tl 1 grounds and walls, inside and out, without result. Ray, according to Huie, claims to, have got out at approximately 8:30 a.m. when a guard nodded and he sprinted 75 feet from the kitchen loading dock to the wall, at a pointf where there is a tunnel through it. Ray supposedly hoisted himself atop a pipeline and from this starting point of about 6 feet up the wall, managed to get sufficient held in crevices by using a four foot rod to hoist himself in stages over the wall. Ihe rod has a hook at the end and is used m tbe kitchen to move hot pans in large ovens. Ray is covering up, says Fred Wilkinson, Missouri State Director of We discovered very early Corrections. in the game that he was aided in the escape by another inmate. We know who-thainmate is and he still is in prison. Regardless of what Ray says now, we are satisfied that he got out hidden in a bread box. Wilkinson and others previously reconstructed the escape as having occurred in thL way: An inmate helped him get into a 3x5 breadbox, squishing the loaves as he got in, and then covering him with bread. The box was placed on an open stake truck for a two and a half mile trip to the Renz Farm, which is a prison farm. There are eight boulevard stops and two traffic lights on the route from the prison, in downtown Jefferson City, to the farm. The box holding Ray was one of two on thp truck. Ray needed the help of an inmate to be certain his box wouldn't be on the bottom. There was once an escape attempt in which a convict was hidden in a coffin but other prisoners, unaware of the escape, loaded it on a freight car upside down. The man almost suffocated. Earl Ray two aliases, I'aul Edward Bridgman and George Sneyd. tiaries. Janies Earl, disgi untied See Page A-- at lining Column 1 ' |