</s>PAGE THREE MM 44-1854 WHILE IN OKECHOBEE SMITH ,, AN AVID READER OF NOVELS FREQUENTLY MENTIONED A CHARACTER BY THE NAME OF ERIC, IN A JAMES BOND TYPE NOVEL. WHEN HE LEFT OKEECHOBE BE THE THREE TWENTYENTIVE SIXTEIGHT HE LEAFT PEACOCK A NOTE AND IN THE NOTE HE REFERRED TO A PASSAGE FROM THE BOOK "ATLAS SHRUGGED" WHERE JOHN GALT WAS SPEAKING. PEACOCK DESCRIBED CARPENTER AS WN, BORN FIVE FEET NINE AND ONE/HALF INCHES, ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY LBS, DARK BROWN HAIR, BLUE-BLOODSTONE/HALLF OCCUPATION WELDER, ALLEDGEDLY SERVED ONE YEAR IN VIET NAM, ATTENDED SCHOOL IN LESLIE, GA. AND MOTHER MRS. ALICE CARPENER LIVES IN LESSIE, CURRENTLY EMPLOYED CONTINENTAL TELEPHONE CO ., GAY, GRAY, EXVIFIE ., MRS. VIRGIL SALTER, RESIDES AMERICUS, GA ., TELEPHONE NUMBER NINE TWO FOUR, FIVE ONE THREE THREE. SHE DESCRIDED SMITH AS W/M, BORN FLA ., SIX FEET, ONENHURDED SEVENTIVO LBS ., STRAIGHT SANDY HAIR, AT MARIANNA, LONG SIDEBURNS, AND WORE A BEARD, BLU-GRAY EYES, EMPLOVED CONTINENAL TELEphONE CO. GRAY. GA. HIS FATHER RUNS SMITH SERVICE CENTER, MARIANNNA FLA. END PAGE THREE 2025 RELEASE UNDER E.O. 14176

Summary  
The documents detail FBI and local law enforcement investigations into James Earl Ray’s potential involvement in the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., focusing on his movements, associates, and forensic evidence. Key efforts included verifying Ray’s whereabouts through telephone records, fingerprint analysis of a beer can from Atlantic Beach, Florida, and tracking his vehicle registration linked to a Florida license plate (43-3771). The FBI sought to confirm connections between Ray and individuals like J. V. Judry, Jerry Kirkland, and Roy M. Goldsmith, while also investigating claims of a $100,000 reward offered by the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan for his death. Investigations into Bailey Sandlin’s alleged confrontation with someone resembling Ray in Orlando, Florida, and scrutiny of a trans-chaplain vessel for an individual matching Ray’s description were also conducted. Forensic analysis of laundry tags from Jacksonville, Florida; Canton, North Carolina; and Winter Park, Florida, yielded no conclusive matches. The FBI coordinated efforts across multiple offices, including Jacksonville, Memphis, and Charlotte, to track Ray’s fugitive status and verify witness accounts of his sightings in restaurants and motels.  

Key People  
- **James Earl Ray** (central suspect in MLK assassination investigation)  
- **J. V. Judry** (linked to a phone call in Atlanta)  
- **Jerry Kirkland** (Jacksonville fire department official with information on James Jackson Ray)  
- **Clark Wilson** (Jacksonville PD officer)  
- **Robert L. Crongeyer** (FBI SAC conducting fingerprint checks)  
- **George McLamb** (alleged local official who approved Ray’s assassination plan)  
- **Mae Helms** (Ray’s wife, located in Charlotte, NC)  
- **Roy M. Goldsmith** (linked to a Florida license plate associated with Ray’s vehicle)  
- **Paul Jonus Phillips** (individual resembling Ray observed in Alabama)  
- **Bailey Sandlin** (investigated for potential involvement, later found deceased)  
- **Mr. & Mrs. Connors** (identified someone resembling Ray at a bar)  

Key Locations  
- **Atlanta, Georgia** (phone call records, Duval County files)  
- **Jacksonville, Florida** (FBI laboratory, fingerprint checks, Ray’s alleged residence)  
- **Charlotte, North Carolina** (Ray’s wife located here)  
- **Daytona Beach, Florida** (hospital where Ray was reportedly confined)  
- **Florence, Alabama** (restaurant where Ray was allegedly seen)  
- **Orlando, Florida** (Sandlin’s residence and investigation)  
- **Key West, Florida** (trans-chaplain vessel route)  
- **Memphis, Tennessee** (central FBI file on MLK assassination investigation)  
- **Birmingham, Alabama** (death record of James Curtis Woods)  

Key Events  
- FBI efforts to locate Carpenter and Smith through telephone records and Continental Telephone Co. in Gray, Georgia  
- Bar incident in Atlantic Beach, Florida, involving a beer can examined for fingerprints  
- Alleged $100,000 reward offer by the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan for killing MLK  
- Investigation into Bailey Sandlin’s claims of being threatened by someone resembling Ray  
- Scrutiny of trans-chaplain vessel for an individual matching Ray’s description  
- FBI fingerprint checks against Ray’s prints in Jacksonville and Pensacola  
- Release of photographs of Ray for media distribution to aid public identification  
- Forensic analysis of laundry tags from multiple locations (no conclusive matches found)  
- Verification of Ray’s vehicle registration details, including a Florida license plate linked to Roy M. Goldsmith  
- Inquiry into the death of James Curtis Woods (died November 7, 1967)  
- Witness accounts of Ray’s sightings in restaurants and motels in Florence, Alabama  

Key Organizations  
- **Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)** (Jacksonville, Memphis, and other SACs)  
- **Duval County Sheriff's Office** (records on James Jackson Ray)  
- **Pensacola Police Department** (fingerprint checks)  
- **Escambia County Sheriff's Office** (latent fingerprint file)  
- **Local law enforcement agencies** (Jacksonville, Charlotte, Birmingham, Orlando, Atlantic Beach PD)  
- **Continental Telephone Co.** (used to verify employment details of Carpenter and Smith)  
- **Newspapers** (for distributing fugitive alerts and publicizing Ray’s whereabouts)

MLK Declassified Files

44-jk-769_739798_01-04-part_5_of_8.pdf

Document Summary

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