</s>Page 2 of Defenat at on Waiver and Order Page 3 of Deafenat on Walver and Order By your plea of guilty you are also waiving your rights to (1) Motion for a New Trial; (2) Successive Appeals to the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals and the Supreme Court of Tennessee; (3) Petition for Review by the Supreme Court of the United States. By your plea of guilty You are also abandoning and waiving your plea or guilty you have exceptions to all the Notions and Petitions, in which the Court has therefore ruled against you in or in part, among them being: 1. Motion to withdraw plea and quash indictment 2. Motion in which to inspect evidence 3. Motion for remove lights and cameras from jail. 4. Motion of private consultation with attorney 5. Motion from authorize defendant to take depositions 6. Motion tor permit conference with Hule 7. Motion not to permit photographs Motion to permit confederate court reporters 8. Motion on to stipulate testimony 10. Suggestion of proper name" DEFENDANT "Yes" JUDGE "Has anything besides this sentence of ninety-nine years in the penitentiary else promised to you to get you to plead guilty? Has anything else been promised you by anyone?" DEFENDAN "No" JUDGÉ "Has any pressure of any kind, by anyone in any way been used on you to set you to plead guilty?" DEFENDAND "NO" JUDGET "Are you pleading guilty to Murder in the First Degree in this case because you killed Dr. Martin Luther King under such circumstances that would make you legally guilty of Murder in the first Degree under the law as explained to you by your lawyers?" DEFENDENT "Yes!" P. 7 -198- 2025 RELEASE UNDER E.O. 14176

Summary  
The document contains court transcripts from a 1976 trial where a defendant pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for killing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., with the judge confirming the plea was voluntary and not influenced by external pressures or promises. The defendant affirmed that the crime occurred under circumstances meeting legal criteria for first-degree murder. Additional pages include a Department of Justice (DOJ) report from February 18, 1977, authored by Attorney General Griffin B. Bell, which concluded that the FBI’s investigation into MLK’s 1968 assassination in Memphis, Tennessee, was thorough and found no evidence of FBI complicity. The report noted that James Earl Ray was the convicted perpetrator, with no new evidence altering this conclusion. It also addressed pre-assassination FBI security investigations of MLK, criticizing the prolonged surveillance as improper despite acknowledging a potential basis for initial inquiry. The task force recommended stricter oversight of domestic intelligence activities and prohibited COINTELPRO-type operations against civil rights figures. Other sections include FBI field office memos referencing an investigation into potential assassination plots against MLK, including a 1972 Tampa-based inquiry involving Evan Desassat, who claimed to have information about a white female suspect linked to the crime. A 1974-1978 report by Sgt. Robert Thomas Wehunt Jr. detailed his father’s allegations that influential businessmen offered $100,000 to kill MLK in 1966–67, with threats against the family for exposing this information. The FBI acknowledged receiving these claims but noted no further action was taken due to lack of corroborating evidence or witness interviews.  

Key People  
- James Earl Ray (convicted murderer of MLK)  
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (victim)  
- Robert Thomas Wehunt Jr. (informant reporting his father’s allegations)  
- Evan Desassat (individual mentioned in Tampa-based investigation)  
- Attorney General Griffin B. Bell (head of DOJ task force)  
- Michael E. Shaheen, Jr. (leader of Office of Professional Responsibility)  

Key Locations  
- Memphis, Tennessee (site of MLK’s assassination)  
- Tampa, Florida (locations of informant reports and FBI field office activity)  
- Fulton County Jail, Atlanta, Georgia (site of alleged conspiracy claims)  
- Little Five Points, Georgia (bank location referenced)  
- MacDill Air Force Base, Tampa, Florida  

Key Events  
- 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis  
- FBI investigation into the assassination and pre-assassination security surveillance  
- 1976 trial of defendant for MLK’s murder  
- 1977 DOJ task force report concluding no FBI complicity  
- Alleged 1966–67 plot to assassinate MLK by businessmen, reported by Sgt. Wehunt Jr.  
- Tampa-based inquiry into potential involvement of a white female suspect  
- 1973 death of Robert T. Wuhunt (father of Robert T. Wehunt Jr.), with claims of drug-induced brain damage or suicide  

Key Organizations  
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)  
- Department of Justice (DOJ)  
- Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR)  
- FBI Field Offices (Tampa, Memphis, Atlanta)

MLK Declassified Files

157-tp-3231_629182_176-02-part_6_of_6.pdf

Document Summary

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