5 chapters across the catalog
Percy Foreman, James Earl Ray and the $125,000 Briefcase
John Currington recounts delivering a briefcase containing $125,000 in cash to attorney Percy Foreman in Houston. The money was allegedly provided by H.L. Hunt to ensure that James Earl Ray, the accused killer of Martin Luther King Jr., would plead guilty. This maneuver was intended to prevent a trial where Ray might testify about who actually orchestrated the assassination.
The hosts analyze the rapid shift in the Dallas shooting narrative from multiple coordinated snipers to a "lone gunman." They compare this transition to historical assassinations like JFK and Martin Luther King Jr. Moe suggests that the "lone shooter" label is a tool used by authorities to quickly close cases and avoid deeper investigations into coordination.
Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lorraine Motel
On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was fatally shot while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. The official narrative states that James Earl Ray fired a single shot from a nearby rooming house bathroom. CBS News reporter Ike Peppas describes the immediate aftermath and the assassin's escape, marking the end of King's life at age 39.
Judge Joe Brown, who presided over James Earl Ray's later legal appeals, asserts that the Remington 760 Game Master rifle in the Civil Rights Museum was not the murder weapon. Brown claims Ray was not the gunman and was not even in Memphis at the time of the shooting. He explains that Ray's guilty plea was an "Alford plea," made because Ray believed it was in his best interest rather than an admission of actual guilt.
The show concludes with a "Factor or Fiction" story about a 2002 MLK Day plaque in Lauderhill, Florida, that accidentally thanked assassin James Earl Ray instead of actor James Earl Jones. The hosts reflect on the importance of looking at history with fresh eyes and questioning mainstream narratives. The episode ends with the song "Mr. Dream Merchant."
