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A Tale of Two Mustangs


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William Pepper and others who do not believe James Earl Ray shot Martin Luther King Jr. put stock in Ray’s claim he was at a gas station blocks away trying to get a flat tire in his trunk fixed at the time of the assassination. In support of this supposed alibi they say two similar Mustangs were parked on the east side of South Main St. close to the rooming house and that Ray drove off in his half an hour before the assassination while just after the shot a man in a black suit posing as Ray ran from his room (5B) with his possessions (including the rifle) tied up in a bedsheet, dumped the bundle in front of Canipe’s Amusements and drove off in the other. The evidence does indeed suggest there were 2 late-model out-of-state white hard-top Mustangs parked on the east side of S. Main near the flophouse that afternoon. At least half a dozen witnesses saw one parked in front of Jim’s Grill (next door to the flophouse) and a similar number saw one south of Canipe’s (itself a few doors to the south of the rooming house). The chart below from Pepper’s book Orders to Kill corresponds pretty closely to the witness accounts. However based on their descriptions of it, the Mustang in front of the bar almost certainly was NOT Ray’s thus “black suit man” (BSM) almost certainly got into Ray’s car and thus almost certainly was Ray himself.

ordertokillmlk.6.jpg

[ 1]

Ray’s Mustang recovered in Atlanta

Ray’s 289 HP hardtop 1966 Mustang recovered in Atlanta a few days after the assassination had several distinctive features:

All the tires except the right front were whitewalls. Ray had changed a flat, the black wall was the spare, there was a flat white wall in the trunk. AFAIK we have only Ray’s word that he got the flat before the assassination. He dumped the car less than 400 miles away [ 2] over 14 hours after the assassination [ 3] so on the afternoon of April 4, 1968 all 4 tires might have been whitewalls.

the wheels had very distinctive wire spoke hubcaps

The interior was bright red

Ray had recently visited Mexico, it had two distinctive Mexican tourist pass stickers, one on the passenger side of the windshield and the other on the rear right window - they were even noticed by a young boy at the housing project were the car was dumped, “her son Johnny Niesen 13 became curious about the car he noticed it had two Mexican stickers and a lot of cigarette ashes” [ 4]

[ 5]

79293_Front_3-4_Web.jpg

Photo of Ray’s car from a recent auction[ 6]

smustangredinterior.jpg

Bright red interior of Ray’s Mustang

SEE MORE IMAGES BELOW

Fox 13 video of car: http://rcvideos.magn...Mustang-Goes-to

The Mustang in front of Jim’s Grill

Six witnesses gave descriptions of the Mustang parked in front of the bar and grill to the FBI and MPD:

LOYD JOWERS

The first of those witnesses to see the car in front of Jim’s was the bar’s now infamous proprietor Loyd Jowers:

LOYD JOWERS, owner, Jim's Grill, 418 South Main Street, advised that at approximately 3:55 p.m. on April 4, 1968, he arrived at the Grill, and parked directly in back of a white Mustang that was parked on the street directly in front of his Grill. He stated that he believed that the car had Mississippi license plates on it because they were of an orange or orangish-yellow color. [FBI] [ 7]

He said that his first impression was that they were Mississippi license plates they were light in color, but he wasn't sure about the state….[MPD] [ 8]

An “orange or orangish-yellow” license plate? As Pepper pointed out “Ray's car, of course, had Alabama plates with white letters on a red background. So Mr. Jowers seems not to have seen Ray’s car.

Backers of the ‘Ray was a patsy’ theory will of course object that Jowers later “confessed” he was part of the plot and thus anything he said in 1968 was suspect. The Civil Rights Division of the DoJ however made a very strong case that Jowers later claims were BS, he told an essentially consistent story for over 25 years, then told various inconstant and implausible tales of a complex conspiracy which he eventually recanted and described as “bullxxxx”. His ‘confession’ was apparently part of a scheme to try and get a book or movie deal [ 9]. Also from early on he had said he thought the sound of the shot came from the kitchen or behind his bar. For example according to the Memphis PD Homicide Report “around 6:00 PM [Jowers] said he was standing at the cash register, which is in the front end of the building, when he heard a loud noise, which wounded like it came from the rear of the building, or the kitchen…[he] asked Harold Parker [who was sitting in the back] if he had heard the noise in the kitchen, and Parker told him he had.” [ 10] Jowers was one of the few, if not the only, person who said they heard the shot come from behind his grill, Parker told the FBI (emphasis mine) ‘he told JOWERS he had NOT heard any shooting…he definitely DID NOT hear any shot fired while he was in Jim's Grill’ [ 11]. Why would Jowers have said this it he was part of a plot to frame Ray? Even if we dismiss his account The other witnesses described details inconsistent with Ray’s Mustang.

DAVID WOOD

Mr. DAVID M. WOOD…advised he left work at approximately 5:00p.m., on April 4, 1968, and walked alone to Jim's Grill…He said he walked down Huling Street to South Main and crossed South Main diagonally toward Jim's Grill. He said he would estimate it was approximately 5:05 p.m., when he walked in front of a Mustang automobile whichwas parked close to Jim's Grill…He said he felt thatthis was a white car that appeared to be dirty and not recentlywashed. He said this car did not have hubcaps, had blacktires, but he did not notice the interior of the car. He saidhe did not look at the license, but glanced down and there wasno front license plate. He said also he noticed in the windowthere was no city of Memphis sticker in this window… [FBI] [ 12]

“…he noticed that it did not have a license plate in the front and there were no stickers, city or Inspection, on the windshield. As he stepped up on the sidewalk, he stated he glanced over his right shoulder to observe the size of the engine in theMustang and saw it to be a 289 emblem on the front fender” [MPD] [ 13]

Black tires? No hubcaps? He looked and noticed “there were no stickers, city or Inspection, on the windshield” but not did see the large and conspicuous Mexican tourist sticker? Also since he passed by the front hood car and looked at the windshield it is hard to imagine he would have failed to notice an attention grabbing red interior. So Mr.Wood seems not to have seen Ray’s car.

STEVE CUPPLES

Mr. GILBERT STEPHEN (STEVE) CUPPLES…stated he left work at approximately 5:03 p.m., drove his 1959 white Chevrolet Impala, and parked it immediately across the street from Jim's Grill …[he] stated he recalls seeing a white Mustang that could have been a 1967 or possibly 1968 model parked directly in front of JOWERS' Cadillac. He said this Mustang had black wall tires and believes it had large hubcaps. He said when he entered Jim's Grill he walked behind JOWERS' Cadillac and, therefore, he did not notice very many details of the Mustang…He said he got the impression the Mustang was dirty or not freshly washed… [FBI] [ 14]

Cupples was the only witness to say the car had hubcaps but like several of the others he said it had black wall tires. He could have been mistaken but said it was ’67 or ’68 model, Ray’s was a ’66. So Mr. Cupples seems not to have seen Ray’s car.

KENNETH W. FOSTER

Mr. KENNETH W. FOSTER… advised he left work at approximately 5:00 p.m., with BILLY HOARD, picked up his car and drove to a parking space immediately across the street from Jim's Grill…it was approximately 5:05 p.m., when he entered Jim's Grill with BILLY HOARD. He stated he recalls specifically that he walked between a white Mustang and a white Cadillac …he noticed the Mustang had black tires, but does not recall if it had hubcaps. He added he does not recall looking to determine if the Mustang had stickers on the window or it had a local license. [FBI] [ 15]

Foster like the others said the car had black wall tires, Ray’s hubcaps were fairly attention getting but Foster didn’t notice any. So Mr. Foster seems not to have seen Ray’s car.

.JAMES WALKER

Mr. JAMES A. WALKER, JR….advised he left work about 5:05 p.m., on April 4, 1968, and…arrived at the area of Jim's Grill at approximately 5:20 p.m., and attempted to park in his usual parking place that is near the entrance to Jim's Grill. He said when he pulled up he noticed .LOWERS' Cadillac parked in the first parking space Just north of the fire hydrant that is near the entrance of Jim's Grill, He said he usually parks in the next parking space, but found that it was occupied by a white Mustang…Mr. WALKER stated he recalls that this was a 1966 white Mustang hardtop. He said the interior of the car was dark possibly red or black he said he did not see the license on the car, but looked at the windows to see if these were any stickers. He said he was particularly aware of stickers because he has a habit of looking in the windows of cars to see if they belonged to a particular college fraternity. He said he does not recall seeing any stickers or antenna on the car. He said, however, there could' have been an antenna that he did not notice. He said he did not look at the tires or the hubcaps and cannot furnish any other information concerning tires or stickers other than, as he recalls, the car appeared to be slightly dirty or at least not recently washed. He stated he does not recall looking into the car, but is certain that he would have seen a sticker especially on the rear window if there had been any stickers on the window of this Mustang. [FBI] [ 16]

Walker’s description comes closest to describing Ray’s car a 1966 white hardtop with a possibly red interior but it’s hard to imagine describing the color of the interior or Ray’s car as ‘dark’. Walker however said he look specifically for stickers and didn’t see any. It also would have been hard to miss the rather large antenna on Ray’s Mustang. So Mr. Walker seems not to have seen Ray’s car.

RAY HENDRIX and BILL REED

Hendrix and Reed, both of whom were staying at the Fox Hotel just around the corner from Main St on Vance Av. two blocks north of Jim’s, they told the FBI (respectively) “they left the grill at approximately 5:30 p.m.” or “between 5:15 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.” Just after they left Hendrix remembered that he had forgotten his jacket in Jim’s so Reed waited for him outside while he retired it. Reed said that while his friend was retrieving his jacket he,

…saw a white Mustang was parked near the entrance of Jim's Grill. Mr. Reed stated he does not have a car and is in the market for a car and was considering buying a Mustang and therefore he looked this car over.

He said he believed the car was an off white color, that it was not dirty, but was not exactly clean either. He said he believes this car had not been recently washed. He said he does not recall the color of the interior, but believes that it was a dark color. He said he does not recall seeing anything inside the car other than five cartons lying on the back seat. He described these cartons as being the size of a tin package cigarette carton. He said these cartons were red andwhite in color, but does not remember any lettering on the cartons nor does he rememberwhether the white or the red was dominant. He said when he saw these cartons he feltthat the owner of this car was probably a traveling salesman …Mr. Reed stated he does not know whether or not any stickers were in the window of this car and he did not look at the license… [FBI] [ 17]

Though many butts were found in his car Ray claimed he was not a smoker and said nothing about having any cigarettes - let alone five cartons, i.e. 50 packs – in it. It is hard to imagine Reed would have noticed that the cigarette cartons were “red and white” but failed to notice the seat they were lying on like the rest of the interior was bright right and then gone on to describe interior as being “a dark color”. It is equally had to imagine he could have failed to notice the prominent Mexican tourist stickers especially when looking through the right side windows at the back seat. So Mr. Reed seems not to have seen Ray’s car.

Reed and Hendrix both said that as the got to the corner of Vance and Main a white Mustang turned the corner heading east on Vance:

He [Reed] said he does not know if this is the same car he saw parked in front of Jim's Grill but added it seemed to be the same car. He said he did not see who was in the car but believes it was a white male with a white shirt… [FBI] [ 18]

So Reed who had just “looked [the] car over” about 2 minutes before thought it was the same Mustang, but not having seen the one near Canipe’s might simply have assumed that was the case. Confirmation that the Mustang in front of Jim’s was the one that passed Hendrix and Reed came from taxi driver James McCraw. Harold Weisberg said the cabby told him when he came to pick up resident Charlie Stephens he double parked next to Jowers’ car and the “white Mustang was not there.”[ 19] Decades latter however McCraw told Pepper and others he saw two Mustangs near the flophouse [ 20]. But he was a friend Jowers and seems to have part of his attempted scam [ 21].

It’s also significant that Reed said the driver had a white shirt. Several people who saw Ray when he rented the room in the flophouse at around 3:30 said he was wearing a black suit. Just before 6 PM, about 30 minutes after Reed saw the driver, MLK returned to his room to get his jack because it was getting chilly so it is unlikely Ray would have removed his jacket at this time.

The Mustang south of Canipe’s

THE MEN IN CANIPE’S

According to Guy Canipe and two customers in his store at about 6:00 PM a white man dropped a bundle - later found to full of James Earl Ray’s possessions including a rifle he had bought a few days earlier, a pair of binoculars he had bought a few hours earlier and a newspaper indicating King was staying at room 306 in the Lorraine Motel – in front of Canipe’s store, walked south and drove off in a white Mustang. The MPD/FBI/HSCA/DoJ/Shelby Co. prosecutors said the man was Ray and the Mustang was his. Based on the accounts of the witnesses who described the car in front of Jim’s Grill that almost certainly was the case. Ray defenders however insist that the car was not Ray’s and that the man was part of a conspiracy to frame him for the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

GUY CANIPE:

…a white male, who CANIPE described as tall, a little on the heavy aide, wearing dark colored possibly black suit, a shirt and tie, having dark colored hair possibly black, moments before had deposited these articles in the doorway and had then run south on Main Street [FBI] [ 22]

After hesitating momentarily, Mr. CANIPE walked out onto the sidewalk, looking in both directions to see what happened to the man who obviously had dropped this bundle. As he did this, a white small car, possibly a compact, pulled away from the curb on the cant side of Main Street at a point just south of his store. There was only one man in the car, namely the driver. [FBI] [ 23]

Mr.Canipe further advised Lt .Ghormley that he noticed a white Mustang leave at a high, rate of speed north on Main. [MPD] [ 24]

BURNELL FINLEY:

As his attention was attracted to this box or package, he also saw a man walking rapidly SOUTH on the sidewalk on the east side of Main, it being obvious that this was the person who had dropped or thrown the package in front of CANIPE's store, there being no one else around in that area and the box or package not having been there earlier…Just about the time that Mr, CANIPE started out of the front door of the store, Mr, FINLEY heard the "screech" of tires and looked up to see a white Mustang speeding north on Main past CANIPE's store. [FBI][ 25]

JULIUS GRAHAM:

Mr. JULIUS L. GRAHAM…accompanied Mr. BERNELL FINLEY from their place of employment to Canipe Amusement Company… they arrived about 5:30 P.M. …He also recalls that as they were looking for a parking space there definitely were two white cars in the parking spaces in front of and to the south of Canipe Amusement Company. The second of those two white cars, or the one slightly south of the CANIPE store was definitely a white Mustang. He believes the other white car, the one in front of CANIPE's store, was probably a white Rambler. He cannot remember a third car being parked behind the Mustang. The Mustang he saw as they approached the store looking for a parking place was the ordinary variety of Mustang rather than the late model "Fastback" variety. He did not notice the license plates on this Mustang…

[…]

Mr. GRAHAM heard tires "screech" and observed a white Mustang to speed north on Main…Mr. GRAHAM is positive that the car which sped away was white Mustang and there is no question in his mind but what it was the same Mustang he had seen earlier… [FBI] [ 26]

Upon hearing the sound of the package falling, he [Graham] turned and viewed the man turning the corner of the building in a southerly direction. He saw him only from the back, and immediately after he passed the doorway, a white late model Mustang pulled off from the curb hurriedly. [MPD][ 27]

MRS. HURLEY AND HER COWORKERS:

At the time of the assassination Seabrook Wallpaper was across the street from Canipe’s, its work day ended at 4:30. On April 4, 1968 two employees, Frances B. Thompson and Elizabeth Copeland were looking out the window looking for their rides home when they saw a white car driven by a white man pull up between 4:30 and 4:45. Mrs. Copeland told Peggy Hurley another coworker her husband Charles Hurley had arrived. Mrs. Hurley told her friend that the car was not her husband’s it was a Mustang and he drove a Falcon. Mrs. Copeland said the man had dark hair and she believed he had a dark coat (which would match Ray). She said when her husband arrived at approximately 5:20 the man was gone; this fits with Graham saying he saw the Mustang at 5:30 but made no mention of seeing any one in it. [ 28]

MR. HURLEY:

Mr. Hurley arrived a few minutes after the Mustang and parked behind it while waiting for his wife. He told the press and FBI within days of the assassination and repeated under oath at King v. Jowers that he believed the Mustang had an “Arkansas license plate, because the numerals were red and the background was white” [ 29]. Additionally according to his FBI interview summary ‘he looked at the license plate of the Mustang and believed…the first two letters being "AL." Mr. HURLEY said he could not be positive of the two letters "AL" on the license, but he believed these letters did appear on the license…” [ 30] Ray’s car had an Alabama plate that had white numbers (1-38993) on a red background. It is interesting to note that he thought he saw letters AL on what was probably an ALabama license plate, did his mind simply play a trick on him?

At the trial he testified that he arrived around 4:45 -4:50 and that the car was “right there” in front of Jim’s Grill [ 31], so it is tempting to cite him as yet another witness who gave a description of the car parked there that was not consistent with Ray’s vehicle. However numerous witnesses said Jowers’ car was almost bumper to bumper behind the Mustang and Hurley acknowledged “That has been a long time” [ 32] seemingly indicating that after over 30 years he was not sure about the location.

In 1988 he told Pepper the car was occupied by “a young man wearing a dark blue windbreaker”. Ray’s lawyer took this as additional confirmation this was NOT Ray’s car as he noted “Ray was dressed in a dark suit, white shirt and dark tie on that afternoon.” [ 33] Hurley’s recall of the details however is questionable, unless there were THREE white Mustang’s on the block (one of which was not seen by anyone) either the six witness who saw the car in front of the bar were wrong or he was and by 1999 he had misremembered the location of the car. The part about the blue wind breaker was a also contradicted by Canipe who said the man running to the car after the shooting “wearing dark colored possibly black suit.” Additionally Hurley had only seen the man from a car length away through two car windows and only would have seen the part of his jacket above the top of the seat. The day after the assassination he told the FBI ‘it was too dark in the man's car to enable him to get a good look at the man’ and tell them anything other than he was white [ 34]. It does not even make sense, if the man in the Mustang was supposed to be a stand in for Ray why have him wear such an obviously different jacket? Why have him sit in the car for several minutes where people could see him? Why have him show up about 45 minutes before Ray drove away?

Conclusion

Pepper and other Ray apologists unquestioningly accept Charles Hurley’s account but as noted above either Jowers AND Wood AND Cupples AND Foster AND Walker AND Reed were all wrong or Hurley was mistaken. His account is not corroborated by anyone. On the other hand except for one saying it had hubcaps and another saying it did not the six men who saw the Mustang in front of Jim’s Grill gave very consistent descriptions, it was not very clean, it had black wall tires, it didn’t have front license plate, it didn’t have stickers, it had a dark interior, Jower’s Caddy was parked tightly behind it, a Lincoln Continental was in front of it etc. Though a few of the details they recalled were consistent with Ray’s car each of them mentioned one or more details that were not.

Ray’s defenders could say both tires on the right side of the car were partially obscured by the sidewalk and perhaps only the rear one was a white wall, but most of the witnesses said the first saw the car while crossing Main St. and thus would have had an unobscured view of the left side of the car.

I drew the witness statements from their FBI interview summaries and the MPD Homicide report, Pepper et. al. could argue that these documents did not fairly represent the statements of the witnesses but I doubt that is the case because they included some comments that undermined the case against Ray, for example much of Hurley’s description of the ‘south’ Mustang and Walkers’ description of the ‘north’ one plus Cupples’ comment about the hubcaps and Woods’ about the 289 emblem and Jowers’ about the noise from the back etc. They could also argue that the south Mustang being Ray’s would not prove that he was the man who dumped the bundle in front of Canipe’s or even the one who ran from his room let alone that he was the assassin. It would however indicate that Ray’s had lied for decades about his whereabouts at the time of the assassination. It would roughly fit his first alibi that he was waiting for Raoul in front of Jim’s when the latter jumped in the car, hid under a sheet and told him to drive off. The problem is that after decades of trying Ray and his advocates have yet to come up with any credible evidence of the supposed mystery man’s existence, let alone that he had any contact with Ray.

Ray’s gone to gas station alibi already lacked any credibility. If Ray really had a witness who could have placed him blocks away at the time of the assassination why didn’t he tell his attorney Arthur Hanes? As the HSCA pointed out his claim he was going to wait for trial to bring this up is too ludicrous to be taken seriously, it would not have given his lawyer enough time find the gas station attendant. Ray said he came not to trust Hanes but if he had a solid alibi it should have been one of the first things Ray told his defense attorney. This coupled with the witness statements discussed above and the facts there is no credible evidence supporting Ray’s supposed alibi and that he seems never to have said where the supposed gas station was or even what brand it was diminish the gas station story to the status of a fable only true believers could believe. In 1976 Ray told Playboy “there's a filling-station attendant and some others who'll say they remembered the car” [ 35], but 44 years after the assassination not one credible witness has said that saw him there. Two did come forward, one later admitted he had lied and was not in town at the time, the other even Pepper said was not credible.

It simply is not credible that Ray would not have remembered the brand of the service station. He claims that shortly after leaving it he heard news on the radio indicating he was a prime suspect in the shooting so he should have been saying to himself, ‘no I was at the Getty/Esso/Texaco station’. He supporters cannot claim he had a poor memory, according to Pepper he remembered the names of the motels he had spent one night each in on his way to Memphis [ 36] even though this had little bearing on his case.

Postscript

The two Mustangs were very similar. Both were dirty, white, late-model hard-tops from states (or a state) that did not use front license plates. Ray’s was a 1966 289 HP and the one in front of Jim’s appears to have been a 1966 - 8 289 HP as well. There are two possible explanations, coincidence or conspiracy. However unlike Pepper I don’t think the latter would point to the FBI, CIA, DoD, MPD or Mafia let alone a combination of these groups. Quite to the contrary, certainly either one of them would have been capable of getting two cars without the differences noted above, getting Ray to scrape off those Mexican stickers and parked the 2nd one in Ray’s spot after he pulled out. If this was more than an incredible coincidence it seems to have organized by a not very capable group of people perhaps some of Ray’s acquaintances or some KKK types, certainly not men like Richard Helms, J. Edgar Hoover, Carlos Marcello and Frank Holloman among others.

Endnotes

1] Orders to Kill http://www.american-...derskill.19.htm

2] http://maps.google.c...&mra=ls&t=m&z=7

3] FBI description of car (includes time and location of dump)

http://register.shel...t/0377-0506.tif

4] ‘The Strange Case of James Earl Ray ’,The Owosso Argus-Press - Jan 23, 1969 http://news.google.c...&pg=749,2280839

5] Auction site description and photos:

http://www.barrett-j...2&aid=303&pop=0

FBI description of car:

http://register.shel...t/0377-0506.tif

6] Auction site description and photos:

http://www.barrett-j...2&aid=303&pop=0

7] FBI 4/5/68:

http://jfk.hood.edu/...oyd/Item 01.pdf , 1968 Mississippi plates were indeed yellowish, http://platedepot.co...product_id=3901

8] MPD http://www.paperless...MLKHomicide.pdf

9] “Jowers’ Allegations”, DoJ: http://www.justice.g...m/mlk/part3.php

10] MPD http://www.paperless...MLKHomicide.pdf

11] FBI -4/15/68

http://jfk.hood.edu/...oyd/Item 08.pdf

12] FBI 4/13/68:

http://jfk.hood.edu/...oyd/Item 09.pdf

13] MPD:http://www.paperlessarchives.com/FreeTitles/MPDMLKHomicide.pdf

14] FBI 4/13/68:

http://jfk.hood.edu/...oyd/Item 17.pdf

15] FBI 4/13/68]:

http://jfk.hood.edu/...oyd/Item 10.pdf

16] FBI 4/13/68:

http://jfk.hood.edu/...oyd/Item 13.pdf

17] FBI 4/13/68]:

http://jfk.hood.edu/...oyd/Item 15.pdf

18] FBI 4/13/68]:

http://jfk.hood.edu/...oyd/Item 15.pdf

19] UNSOLVED MYSTERIES – "MARTIN LUTHER KING": INT. WITH HAROLD WEISBERG: pg 11 http://jfk.hood.edu/...-93/Item 04.pdf

20] Orders to Kill : http://www.american-...derskill.15.htm

21] “Jowers’ Allegations”, DoJ: http://www.justice.g...m/mlk/part3.php

22] FBI Ghormley interview 4/16/68:

http://jfk.hood.edu/...ant/Item 02.pdf

23] FBI 4/5/68]

http://jfk.hood.edu/...oyd/Item 04.pdf

24] MPD:http://www.paperlessarchives.com/FreeTitles/MPDMLKHomicide.pdf

25] FBI 4/5/68]

http://jfk.hood.edu/...oyd/Item 05.pdf

26] FBI 4/5/68]

http://jfk.hood.edu/...oyd/Item 06.pdf

27] MPD: http://www.paperless...MLKHomicide.pdf

28] Melanson http://books.google....jR-TgC&pg=PA115

29] King v. Jowers trial transcript: http://www.thekingce... TRANSCRIPT.pdf

30] FBI 4/5/68:

http://jfk.hood.edu/...oyd/Item 26.pdf

31] King v. Jowers trial transcript: http://www.thekingce... TRANSCRIPT.pdf

32] King v. Jowers trial transcript: http://www.thekingce... TRANSCRIPT.pdf

33] Orders to Kill : http://www.american-...derskill.15.htm

34] FBI 4/5/68: http://jfk.hood.edu/...oyd/Item 26.pdf

35] "Playboy's History of Assassination, Part VI -- Death Crosses the Color Line" by James McKinley, June 1976 – http://jfk.hood.edu/...t 6/Item 01.pdf pg. 216, PDF pg. 10

36] Orders to Kill : http://www.american-...derskill.10.htm

Edited by Len Colby
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FWIW

I've skimmed through this and note in particucular the constant references to colors.

I think it is important to consider how the eye functions at twilight.

Basically it's about the shift in rod-cone mix that occures.

One good way to test this is to go out and look at a red rose as light fades.

here are some links to help explain the background and some links that may help in considering luminance. What I haven't looked at but think is relevant is the weather conditions. Was it cloudy or clear? Similarly the shadows cast over scenes by buildings. For this one would need to study a map of the scene and figure out from a sun path map where the sun was. Or deduce from the photo.

http://www.aoa.org/x5352.xml

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/astronomy.html?n=409&month=4&year=2012&obj=sun&afl=-13&day=1

orraine-motel.jpg

Then it might be something useful to consider in relation to various statements about light dark blue red.

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FWIW

I've skimmed through this and note in particucular the constant references to colors.

I think it is important to consider how the eye functions at twilight.

Basically it's about the shift in rod-cone mix that occures.

One good way to test this is to go out and look at a red rose as light fades.

here are some links to help explain the background and some links that may help in considering luminance. What I haven't looked at but think is relevant is the weather conditions. Was it cloudy or clear? Similarly the shadows cast over scenes by buildings. For this one would need to study a map of the scene and figure out from a sun path map where the sun was. Or deduce from the photo.

http://www.aoa.org/x5352.xml

http://www.timeandda...n&afl=-13&day=1

orraine-motel.jpg

Then it might be something useful to consider in relation to various statements about light dark blue red.

Thanks for you interest John but the events in question happened 3:50 - 5:30 PM, Sunset was at 6:24 PM and twilight lasted till 6:50. There should have been adequate light. The sun was at 60.8* at 12:03, solar noon, and 0* I'd guess at the middle of twilight, 6:37. If we assume an even rate of movement it decended 60.8*/6.6hours or 9.3*/hour at 5:10 the time when most witnesses saw the car it would have been at about 13.4*, so the car would have been in the shade but still would have been plenty of light.

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/astronomy.html?n=409&month=4&year=1968&obj=sun&afl=-1&day=1

The photo above was taken about 6:03, 21 minutes to sunset, and even in the lower areas are NOT dark.

Edited by Len Colby
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Here are some image the software didn't allow in my previous post

79293_Front_3-4_Web.jpg

Photo of Ray’s car from a recent auction

smustangfrontsticker.jpg

Mexican ‘Turista’ sticker

I can see how the red could be called dark even with clean windows and direct sun though of course photos are often not a true depiction of what various human eyes percieve when the photos are taken. Anyway I don't know if it really matters or not.

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I can see how the red could be called dark even with clean windows and direct sun though of course photos are often not a true depiction of what various human eyes percieve when the photos are taken. Anyway I don't know if it really matters or not.

Yes John our brains, eyes and even the laws of physics can ‘color’ what we ‘see’ and our memories can play tricks on us in remembering what we saw or thought we saw later. The color of the interior however was but one of several discrepancies between Ray’s Mustang and the one in front of Jim’s. Regarding Bill Reed, who said the interior was dark, it seems unlikely he could have looked through the right side of the car and hallucinated the presence of 5 cartons of cigarettes but failed to notice the large ‘Turista’ sticker and imagined that the nonexistent packages were red but failed to notice seats they were (not) on was cherry red - and he was only one of six witnesses who described details inconsistent with Ray’s car. Either all of them were wrong or Hurley was, thus Ray’s alibi was BS.

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Ok. Interesting. However I simply wanted to address one particular matter. Do you think if one did consider references to dark versus red redundant, does that in any way weaken the proposition that Ray's alibi was a lie?

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Obviously it would weaken it a bit but IMO the case is still overwhelming that the car in front of Jim’s was NOT Ray’s and thus his ‘alibi’ was a lie. It is overwhelming because six witnesses gave fairly consistent accounts and described various aspects of the car that did not match Ray’s. And that is but one of several problems with the story the others being:

  • 1) He did not start talking about it till well after he confessed, and then recanted, his original alibi was that he was sitting in his car when “Raoul” jumped in, hid and told him to drive off
  • 2) The lack of supportin g witnesses, Ray said several people saw him but even Pepper aknowledges that only men came forward, one was a xxxx, the other unreliable.
  • 3) His inablity to identify the gas station despite the fact he remembered the names of motels he’s spent one night in.

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