James Earl Ray Recovers From Coma

James Earl Ray, the convicted assassin of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., was released from a hospital Monday and transferred to a prison hospital.

Ray, 68, had lapsed into a coma last week and appeared near death from liver disease. But his condition improved, and he was discharged Monday from Columbia Nashville Memorial Hospital, where he had been admitted Dec. 22.

Ray confessed to the 1968 shooting death of the civil rights leader but recanted three days later and has sought a new trial ever since. He is serving a 99-year sentence.