Sue Hartigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Ray Family Wants Memphis Funeral > NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- The family of James Earl Ray, > the convicted killer of Martin Luther King Jr., wants > to hold a public funeral at a black church in the city > where the civil rights leader was assassinated. > > His brother hopes King's relatives, who believe Ray was > not responsible for the 1968 killing, would attend a > Memphis funeral. ``It will be a memorial to James to > show he done 30 years for a crime that he didn't > commit,'' Jerry Ray said Saturday in a telephone > interview from his home in Smartt, Tenn. > > The Rays want to hold the funeral at Centenary United > Methodist Church, a 650-member black church. The Rev. > Herbert Lester, minister at the church, said Sunday he > had not spoken to anyone about the planned funeral, but > said, ``I'd be open to talking about it.'' > > A spokeswoman for the King family did not return a > telephone message Sunday seeking comment on their > possible attendance. > > Ray, 70, died in Nashville Thursday from liver disease. > Though Ray pleaded guilty to killing King and avoided > the death penalty, he recanted his confession and > maintained his innocence until the time of his death. > > Funeral services will be conducted by the Rev. James > Lawson, who invited King to speak to striking > sanitation workers in Memphis in 1968. It was during > that visit that King was fatally shot on a motel > balcony. Lawson is a former pastor of Centenary United. > > Ray supporters, including the King family, wanted his > guilty plea thrown out so he could go to trial. > > King's widow, Coretta, who believes her husband was the > victim of a murder conspiracy and not a lone gunman, > has promised to continue pushing for a fuller > investigation of the assassination. > > Lawson is among those who believe Ray was innocent or > acted with help from others. He met Ray in the > mid-1970s and later became Ray's personal pastor, often > visiting him and presiding over Ray's prison marriage. > He has been pastor of Holman United Methodist Church in > Los Angeles since 1974. > > Ray's body is to be cremated, but a spokesman for > Phillips-Robinson Funeral Home in suburban > Hendersonville would not say Sunday whether it had been > done. Ultimately, Ray's ashes are to be flown to > Ireland where Ray family ancestors lived. -- Two rules in life: 1. Don't tell people everything you know. 2. Subscribe/Unsubscribe, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the body of the message enter: subscribe/unsubscribe law-issues
