1977. Geraldo Rivera’s Good Night America program brings us a detailed look into the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. beginning with the speech he made a day before being killed. Sitting in with Geraldo is Dick Gregory, a close associate of Mr. King and Mark Lane, who co-authored the book ‘Operation Zorro’.
Mark Lane interviewed James Earl Ray in 1977, and that interview is shown a few minutes into the segment. Later retired FBI agent Arthur Murtagh joins the conversation. He recounts 8 or 9 agents involved in the investigation, claiming one of them ‘jumped for joy’ on hearing of King’s death.
The MLK family did not believe James Earl Ray was the killer, though he was convicted. In 1999 a jury concluded that various U.S. government agencies conspired to murder King and frame Ray for the assassination.