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 Written 8:25 pm Feb 8, 1991 by ihandler in cdp:nfd.ifeatures

 Insight Features, 2/91
 Book Review / 450 Words 


 Book Points To Intelligence Networks: 
 Was ML King Killed for his Antiwar Politics?  

 By Vernon Elliott 
 Insight Features 


 Members of the U.S. intelligence community may have been involved in some 
capacity in the assassination of civil right leader Dr. Martin Luther King, 
Jr.  

 That is the message of a recent book by Southeastern Massachusetts 
University (SMU) professor Philip H. Melanson. In The Murkin Conspiracy: An 
Investigation into the Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 
Melanson argues that James Earl Ray was not a :lone assassin." Rather, he 
says, there "was a much more sophisticated conspiracy executed by persons 
possessing the kind of expertise generally found within intelligence 
circles." 

 Through extensive research, interviews, and intelligence documents obtained 
through the Freedom of Information Act, Melanson asserts that Ray had 
assistance before and after the assassination "in terms of getting a cover 
identity, having help from a lot of people who seem to play very brief and 
separate roles, such as couriers, people who gave him information  a kind of 
network." 

 One of the more important issues Melanson investigates is Ray's use of four 
aliases, all of which, coincidentally, lived in the Toronto area and 
resembled Ray physically. The House Select Committee on Assassinations, 
while acknowledging the "unbelievable nature of the coincidences involved", 
concluded that Ray either randomly selected the names from the phone book, 
or obtained them through a criminal information network, a judgement 
Melanson considers unreasonable.  

 Of particular interest concerning Ray's use of aliases was the name "Eric 
Starvo Galt," whom Melanson later discovered was actually a marksman that 
had worked on classified U.S. defense projects. Ray's access to this name 
for use an alias, according to Melanson, strongly suggests the possibility 
that he had assistance from individuals within the U.S. government.  

 Melanson argues that a possible motive for killing King was his turn toward 
the antiwar movement. King "had planned an agenda for the springin which he 
was assassinatedto combine antiwar politics and the politics of poverty in 
these massive demonstrations. Also, memos kept describing (King) as an 
extremely critical problem for the security of the United States and talked 
about `countermeasures' in the FBI and CIA files." 

 Melanson said that he elected to investigate the case because the official 
conclusions were "preposterous." He remarks that the committee's 
investigation failed to interview crucial witnesses and investigators, that 
their judgement was based on inconclusive forensic evidence and 
contradictory testimony, and that the committee "narrowly looked at the FBI, 
and never looked at the intelligence community more broadly." Melanson also 
criticizes the committee's 50-year ban on public access to documents 
relating to the case, suggesting the possibility of a coverup.  

                            -- 30 -- 


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