| OCR Text |
Show iiUBftrfir lte 4A 8(111 rijuW'jTfrjiiB ijptiMji Lake Tribune, bunday, February 1, 1968 Not to Mention Mr. Bridgman Fouled-Up- , Tenuous Trail Nets Arrest of yd even a million dollars by the man who would kill King. Curtis was in jail in Dalton, Ga., when he made this recollection. Assuming he was fiat when he escaped April 23, 1967, Ray managed to move around easily and spend cash for everything. Almost all of what was spent, was shelled out in the 11 months and half until the day of Kings slaying. In that time, it is known Ray managed to clothe, feed and house himself; he traveled to Montreal; then Birmingham, where he bought a car for $1,995; then Mexico; then California; then a round trip to New Orleans; then Atlanta, Birmingham and Memphis. He spent close to $750 for dancing lessons at a bartending school. He put 19,000 miles on the at Mustang in less than eight months an operating cost of about $1,000. The speculation that he was a hired gun rests on the assumption that all this was paid coming to perhaps $10,000 for by people who wanted King out of the Final Installment Bernard Gavser in this last of four installments recounts the movements of James Earl Ray from Canada to Europe , including his arrest in London on June 8, 1968, by Scotland Yard detectives . a Ray-Galt-Sne- nviVAVivviYririivujVuv By Bernard Gavzer police. It remains unsolved. No one saw the getaway car at all. Fred Wilkinson, director of Missouris department of corrections, offered a de- says Wilkinson. He was the sort of prisoner you would rarely notice. If he was in a group of prisoners you were talking to about prison conditions youd never hear from him. He was the sort we describe as being involved in attention-arrestin- g events, rather than as a trouble-makeSome prisoners who fit that description slice their wrists or cut their Achilles tendon, or they do as Ray did, they hide out. r. How did Ray come to use names of living Canadians, all residents of Toronto. and all in at least vague ways physically resembling Ray? John Larry Ray says he heard somehow that there was a convict from Missouri State Penitentiary who got out and was captured in Canada and came back. He was sent to Jeff City, says John Larry. Anyhow, if Jim was going to Canada, there must be a grapevine up there, all these underground places got different things. If I was pulling 20 and got out, Id go to Canada. Wilkinson knows of no such event or Abandons Car The dragnet was set for "Eric Starvo Galt the man America's top investigative agency said was wanted for the slaying of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. But this "Galt had chameleon-lik- e qualities. He seemed to blend into any background and be undistinguishabl'e from other people and tilings. And dig as they might, the FBI and local police could come up with precious little about this particular Galt. ' On the very day the FBI in Washington, D.C., was publicly identifying Eric Starvo Galt as the fugitive James Earl it was April 19, 1968 Ray Ray was shifting lodgings in Toronto. He moved into a roominghouse run by Mrs. Yee Sun Loo at 962 Dundas Ave. Toronto newspapers, as with newspapers in many parts of the world, carried photographs of the wanted man on April 20. 'The next day, a letter addressed to 'Taul Bridgman arrived at 102 Ossing-to- n Ave. Mrs. Leda Szpakowsky had no forwarding address so she returned it. It came from the Bureau of Vital Statistics, 70 Lombard SL. Toronto. It had a duplicate birth certifies ,e. The photographs of Ray struck a bell April 24 with Samuel Marshall, assistant manager of the Queen Street supermarket in Toronto. He remembered that the day before he came upon a man who was at the door leading to a basement storeroom. Suspicious, Marshall asked the man what he wanted, and the man replied that he was looking for a job, but then hurried away. That man, said Marshall, was the man in the photo. Causes a Stir The passport application had been processed and on April 25, the Department of External Affairs, Ottawa, sent passport DJ909324, in the name of Ramon George Sneyd, to Sneyd, in care of the Kennedy Travel Agency on Bloor Street. About 1,000 miles to the south, in Atlanta, Maj. Barney Ragsdale, director oflhe Georgia Bureau of Identification, caused a stir when he complained there from Missouri has been a large foul-uState Penitentiary. Ragsdale was responsible for revealing that the wanted flyer originally distributed by Missouri State had the wrong fingerprints. This discovery came after receipt of the FBI flyer, April 19, when "Galt was identified as Ray. It sure is dangerous to put something like that in our files here and ever expect us to find James Earl Ray for them, said Ragsdale. No one, at this time, had any clue to the whereabouts of Ray. p Harold R. Swenson, warden of Missouto put the record straight by explaining that the error had been discovered soon after it had been made. At that time, in May 1967, it ri State Penitentiary, tried g mistake was hardly an since Ray was patently not one of Americas notorious criminals. I Ragsdale said that his agency never received a corrected notice. Det. Supt. Ginton Giafin of the Atlanta police department said no corrected notice was received for its files. But a random check of other police departments showed that some had corrected notices and some had none at all. In Toronto, meanwhile, Ray apparently drew as little attention to himself as possible. As Sneyd, a hospital worker according to his story, he had only one visitor anyone knows of at the rooming h&use on Dundas. That was Mav 2, when a- - man came seeking him and handed him an envelope after a few minutes conversation. As it later turned out, the conscientious citman was a izen who had found an envelope in a telephone booth and returned it personally to tiie sender. earth-shakin- I Picks Up Passport I Earlier that day, Sneyd called at the Kennedy Travel Bureau and picked up his passport and airline tickets. Four days later, Sneyd journeyed 18 miles northwest to Malton Airport and boarded British Overseas Airways Corp. Flight 600, scheduled to depart at 6 p.m. and arrive in London at 6:40 a.m., Friday, May 7, London time. In the rooming nouse. Mrs. Yee Sun Lpo found her lodger had left an overnight bag, six rolls of film, a photographic. Hght meter, an empty, small strongbox, a map of Toronto, three girlie magazines, three empty beer bottles and a dirty white shirt. Was tnere anything on the film? No, says Supt. C. R. Doey of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Supt. Doey says the film was unexposed and remained in possession of the RCMP. Arriving in London, "Sneyd apparently spent the day in the vicinity of Heathrow Airport because that evening, so far as can be determined, he boarded British European Airways Flight 074, departing at 10:55 p.m., for Lisbon. Its scheduled arrival in Lisbon was 1.20 a.m., May 8. On that day, he took a room in the Hotel Portugal, a hostelry. Why Lisbon? One theory was that he might have gone there because Rhodesia has a mission there and he may have been determined to get to Rhodesia. Another is that he tried to make contact with recruiters for white mercenaries. Meanwhile, in Ottawa, on the evening of May 13, a dozen young Mounties trooped into the passport office after normal hours and began a search of 250,000 passport applications. They were trying to determine whether the American, James Earl Ray, had come to Canada and obtained a passport with a new ideneither back tity and then slipped away to the United States or to some foreign land. They each had photos of the real Ray. third-grad- Would they risk paying the bills for a man who took nearly a year to do the job? Would they start out figuring it would take nearly a year, and by doing that rsk that their hired gun might be tripped up accidentally by getting arrested for being drunk, or going through a stoplight, or identified by an turned informer? After April 4, in the period of flight went to so far as is known Ray Atlanta, where he abandoned the car; e Gets iVetc Passport While this was going on in Ottawa, their quarry was doing some business with the Canadian Embassy in Lisbon. On May 16, 1968, he appeared there seeking a new passport. His, he said, had the name as misspelled Sneyd Sneya. Portuguese officials had spotted the error. He presented a copy of a birth certificate, showing that the correct name should be "Ramon George Sneyd, and a new passport was issued. The next day, May 17, he returned to London. Why did he go to London? If he had gone to Lisbon to seek a way to get to Rhodesia and thus beyond the grasp of American authorities, he could have accomplished the same thing by remaining in Lisbon. oeriod until May 28 reThe mained a mystery. Ray seemed to have disappeared completely. So far as is known, the British authorities uncovered no clue as to Ins whereabouts or activities. Ray did surface May 28, when he obtained a room in New Earls Court Hotel in Penywem Rd. as Ramon George Sneyd. And he surfaced June 1, pictorially at least, in Ottawa, where the young Mounties had already sifted through thousands upon thousands of passport applications. It was getting to be groggy work, and yet on June 1, a young constable was sharp enough to halt with the photograph of Ramon George Sneyd. The left ear stood out. He looked at the photo of James Earl Ray for comparison. The same telltale ear. The man in d the passport photo, wearing spectacles, appeared much more dignified than the mugshots of burglar and y horn-rimme- armed robber James Earl Ray. But there was no question about it now. James Earl Ray had obtained a passport in the name of Ramon George Sneyd. The search shifted into high gear as authorities moved to track down Ray's further movements. Fingerprints Match And in London, on June 4, a man wearing sunglasses and a blue suit, and physically resembling James Earl Ray, entered the Trustee Savings Bank in the Fulham District. Said bank manager Alan Perains: The man was about 40; 5 ft. 10 inches tall, brown hair. He had a gun and handed a teller a note saying; Give me cash. He was given 60 pounds in notes, which comes to $144 in U.S. money. There was ample evidence, according to a qualified and knowledgeable source, that the robber was James Earl Ray. The note had a fingerprint that was shown conclusively to be Rays. In.erest in contacbng white mercenary forces in Africa apparently brought Ray, presenting himself as Snevd. to telephone Ian Colvin, London Daily Telegraph writer, seeking information. Colvin said it was something he would not discuss on the telephone. The same day, June 5, Ray checked out of New Earls Court and went to an spot, the Pax Hotel, in Warwick Way, in the Pimlico section of London. He arrived in the midst of a violent rainstorm. Mrs. Anna Thomas, 54, a prisoner. Several Aliases If the grapevine supplied the names of Galt, Paul Bridgman and Ramon George Sneyd, it is entirely possible they were obtained when Ray was believed to have first been in Canada, although there is no reason to discount the possibility that he even got them while still in prison, or in Mexico or on the loose aftei breaking out. And what about the other aliases? Ray was also known as Harvey T "'vm-ye- r, James McBride, James Waltu.i, W. London, Lisbon and London The flight cost $319.50. At a round figure of $20 a day, he may have spent an additional $1,200. One theory was that Ray might have returned to old hunting grounds in Illinois on July 14, 1967 which would be nearly nine months before King was and participated in the $22,000 slain robbery of the Bank cf Alton. Two men wearing stocking masks, one carrying a shotgun and the other a pistol, held 18 bank employes and customers at bay. The man with the pistol scooped the money from two tellers cages, overlooking four other drawers full of cash. This has been interpreted by of goof. some theorists as a Ray-typ- e The men escaped through a rear door opening onto a parking lot. There wre no witnesses to the getaway. (In the Fuie-Ra- y chronology, Ray apparently was in East St. Louis, close to Alton, on that day). Toronto, again. press Photo Associated Handcuffed and wearing a bullet proof apron James Ray en- - Frl native of Sweden, said the man quibbled about paying $3.60 (in U.S. money) for a room. She said he seemed tense and anxious. During the next three days, Mrs. Thomas said, her new lodger was an oddly jumpy sort. He peeped out of his window and when she brought him a message or came to his room, he stood behind the door She had the impression he was always listening for someone in the hallways. He stayed in his rom, and to her knowledge never left it for more than 20 minutes at a time. I ters Shelby County Jail to face trial in murder of Martin L. King. Brother Jerry also figured money was involved. The Mustang, the airline tickets, the traveling all spelled money. And, said Jerry, You dont get that kind of money from sticking up grocery stores and my brother wasnt the kind to stick up currency exchanges. A criminal who was in Missouri State Penitentiary when Ray was there, Raymond Curtis, said Ray had talked about a big score that could be made maybe trans-Atlant- ic Herron and James OConner. In Bow Street Court in London, on June 27, there was an exchange between Ray and his British counsel, Roger Fris-bwhich would be unusual in the United States at such an extradition hearing. It went like this: Frisby: Did vou know Martin Luther King personally? Ray: No. sir. Frisby: Had you ever met him? Ray: No, sir. Frisby: Have you any kind of grudge J against him? Ray: No, sir. Frisby (conversationally): Did you kill Martin Luther King? Ray: No, sir. C. y, Remains Unsolved Theres no evidence that Ray robbed says Capt. John Light of the Alton it, 4 Telephone Calls There were four telephone calls for him. Two, it was later ascertained, came from an airline regarding postponed flights to West Germany. The other two? No one, so far as is known, knows. He made at least one known telephone call. It was to Ian Colvin again. Colvin said that if Sneyd wrote him a note he would send him the address of a contact in Belgium for possible recruitment as a mercenary. That was on June 6. The morning of June 8, Ray checked out of the Pax Hotel and headed for Heathrow Airport. He had a ticket for BEA Flight 46S, departing at 11:50 a.m. for Brussels. At about 11:15 a.m., presenting his passport prior to boarding the plane, an immigration official examined it and detained him for a moment, then asked that he come to the office for "farther inquiries." An All Ports Warning had been widely broadcast for Ray. I saw the defendant at about 1:05 Chief Supt. p.m., at London Airport, Thomas Butler of Scotland Yard later recalled. I told him we were police officers and said we understand he has two passports in the name of Sneya and Sneyd. Ray insisted he was Ramon George Sneyd. But he was held because he had a .38 caliber Liberty Chief revolver with five rounds of ammunition a violation of the Firearms Act of 1937. The two passports put him in violation of the Aliens Order of 1953. At 4:45 p.m., Ray was in a cell in Cannon Row police station. Butler, confronting him, said: I now believe your name is not George Sneyd, but James Earl Ray, that you are also known as Eric Starvo Galt and by other names and that you are wanted at present in the United States for serious criminal offenses, including murder in which a firearm was used. The Scotland Yard chief said Ray slumped back onto a seat, put his head in his hands and said; Oh, God. There was a long pause, and then, I feel so trapped. April 23,1967 Escapes from Jefferson City, Mo. St. Louis Arriving (reportedly) presumably same day. III. Edwordsville, April 28, 1967 -- June 25, 1967 7 (worked Winnetka, Chicago suburb-Ma- y June 25th living in Chicago northside all the while) Chicago April 30,1967 III. Brother Calls Quincy, Word of the capture flashed through newsrooms of newspapers, radio stations and television networks. It came to John Larry Ray from his brother, Jerry, who called from Chicago. Again, John Larry was occupied with the tavern. He runs it but because he is an he cannot own it. It is owned by his sister, Mrs. Carol Ann Pepper. "I was kind of surprised he was aiive, John Larry says. "I figured that if he did it, he did it for mcney and those who paid him wouldn't want hin itting around in any courtroom telling everything he knows. Chicago Presumably last week of June. III. III. Indianapolis July 15, 1967 July 14, 1967 (?) Detroit, Windsor, Montreal Toronto, July 18, 1967 Windsor Aug 21 Chicago Aug. 2 July 16, 1967 21, 1967 Puerto Vallarta, Mex. For one month to mid or late November. Angles Selma Ala. Toronto h Dec 18? or 21? to March 17th? March 22, 1968 March 23 Birmingham Atlanta Q Atlanta Oct. 7, 1967 To Dec. 15, 1967 New Orleans Dec. )Memphis ,1967 Birmingham August 25, 1967 -- Atlanta -- August ) Acopulco, Mex. (for cne week, mid October) Los Eary July, 1967 East St. Lou ir. Nuevo Laredo, Mex. (across border from Laredo, Texas Los Angeles be interpreted as the definition of a clever, decisive criminal. He was innocuous, way. Associated Press Writer of Ray that could hardly scription March 29th and 30th March 31 and 4th April 3 April 5th-6th- April 8? ? 6 |
