‘Turning Point’ Digs Into King-Death Conspiracy Theory
When Forrest Sawyer and his producers at “Turning Point” on ABC set out to examine why the family of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. believed that James Earl Ray should be given a trial to reassess his role in King’s murder, they had to examine the conspiracy theories of William F. Pepper, one of Ray’s lawyers.
They did - and found a witness thought to be dead who confounds Pepper’s theories.
Ray, in prison since confessing to King’s murder on April 4, 1968, has given several conflicting stories about that day. Pepper argues that the federal government conspired with the Mafia to hire a contract killer, and that eight National Guard snipers were stationed on nearby rooftops to back up the killer if he failed.
Pepper named one of the snipers as a Billy Eidson and said the government later killed him to ensure his silence.
In the “Turning Point” scheduled for tonight at 10, Sawyer brings Pepper face to face with Eidson, who now lives in Costa Rica. Eidson says he was never part of an assassination squad and has proof he was not in Memphis, Tenn., the day of the killing.
“We found not a single bit of verifiable evidence to support Mr. Pepper’s theory,” Sawyer said Tuesday. “I emphasize ‘verifiable,’ because Mr. Pepper says he has other sources he’ll reveal at a later date.”
The King family believes a trial for Ray might at least extract new information about the killing, whether or not it exonerates Ray. More puzzling is why the family continues to defend Pepper’s particular theory.
King’s son, Dexter, tells Sawyer that he believes, as does Pepper, that President Lyndon B. Johnson himself knew of a conspiracy to kill King. Sawyer said he understood the family’s frustration over the many unanswered questions from 1968.
As for his own conclusion, Sawyer said: “Is it possible the government did it? Yes. Is there any evidence of that? No.”
xxxx Program time “Turning Point” airs tonight at 10 on Spokane’s KXLY-Channel 4.