A Look Back at the Federal King Assassination Investigation

Key points from the 1979 report.

Death of an Icon - From the controversies to the final conclusions, BET.com analyzes some of the most pertinent findings from the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on Assassination's 1979 report on the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — Britt Middleton (Photo: Richard Sheinwald /Landov)

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Death of an Icon - From the controversies to the final conclusions, BET.com analyzes some of the most pertinent findings from the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on Assassination's 1979 report on the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — Britt Middleton (Photo: Richard Sheinwald /Landov)

King Was Killed by a Single Shot - On the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the second floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, King was killed by a single shot fired in front of him. Although the initial autopsy report was questioned for possibly misinterpreting the bullet's path through King's neck and chin, subsequent review of crime scene evidence by the committee upheld it as accurate. (Photo: Sam Melhorn/Commercial Appeal /Landov)

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King Was Killed by a Single Shot - On the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the second floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, King was killed by a single shot fired in front of him. Although the initial autopsy report was questioned for possibly misinterpreting the bullet's path through King's neck and chin, subsequent review of crime scene evidence by the committee upheld it as accurate. (Photo: Sam Melhorn/Commercial Appeal /Landov)

James Earl Ray's Checkered Past  - The report was accompanied with a background on King's assassin, James Earl Ray, who was discharged from the Army for drunkenness and breaking arrest in 1948. He lived as a career criminal bouncing in and out of jail on various robbery convictions. In April 1967, he escaped from the Missouri State Penitentiary and lived on the lam before traveling to Memphis in April 1968. (Photo: Federal Bureau of Prisons via Wikicommons)

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James Earl Ray's Checkered Past  - The report was accompanied with a background on King's assassin, James Earl Ray, who was discharged from the Army for drunkenness and breaking arrest in 1948. He lived as a career criminal bouncing in and out of jail on various robbery convictions. In April 1967, he escaped from the Missouri State Penitentiary and lived on the lam before traveling to Memphis in April 1968. (Photo: Federal Bureau of Prisons via Wikicommons)

MLK Jr. Assassination Honored by “50 Days of Nonviolence” - The 45th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. is being honored with the “50 Days of Nonviolence” campaign. On Thursday, the campaign was launched by the King Center in Atlanta, where his daughter Bernice King spoke at 7:01 p.m. ET — the exact time her father was killed.(Photo: Robert Williams/Commercial Appeal /Landov)

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Tracing the Bullet's Path - Ray's exact location at the rooming house at the time of the shooting has long been debated, largely because it was impossible to determine King's exact position at the time of the shooting, according to the committee. "Although the scientific evidence did not independently establish the location of the assassin, when it was combined with witness testimony, it pointed strongly to the rear of the rooming house," the committee said in its report. (Photo: Robert Williams/Commercial Appeal /Landov)

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Ray Stalked King - The committee believed Ray stalked the civil rights leader for a period of time before the murder, following King from Los Angeles to Atlanta and finally to Memphis. Ray used an alias to rent a room at a boarding house near the Lorraine Motel the day of King's murder and requested a private room with a view of the Lorraine Motel. (Photo: Birmingham News /Landov)

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Bringing Down a Killer - An international manhunt led authorities to Heathrow Airport in London, where the fugitive killer was captured on June 8, 1968. He was extradited back to the United States, plead guilty to King's murder in March 1969 and was sentenced to 99 years in federal prison. (Photo: REUTERS /SHELBY COUNTY REGISTER OF DEEDS /LANDOV)

Transporting the Murder Weapon - The committee determined that Ray used a number of aliases over the years, including Harvey Lowmeyer, the one used to purchase the .243 caliber rifle used to kill King. According to the report, he purchased the gun in Birmingham, Alabama, in March 1968, brought it to Memphis and dumped it at Canipe's Amusement Co. moments after the assignation. (Photo: Commercial Appeal /Landov)

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Transporting the Murder Weapon - The committee determined that Ray used a number of aliases over the years, including Harvey Lowmeyer, the one used to purchase the .243 caliber rifle used to kill King. According to the report, he purchased the gun in Birmingham, Alabama, in March 1968, brought it to Memphis and dumped it at Canipe's Amusement Co. moments after the assignation. (Photo: Commercial Appeal /Landov)

The "Raoul" Defense - In his defense, Ray used the name of a man named "Raoul," who he claimed instructed him to purchase the rifle used to kill King and to rent a room at the boarding house in Memphis, where a gun-running scheme was allegedly planned. The committee determined Ray's story was flawed as there were no witnesses to corroborate "Raoul's" existence and no explanation for why the alleged ringleader's fingerprints weren't on the murder weapon. (Photo: Keystone/Getty Images)

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The "Raoul" Defense - In his defense, Ray used the name of a man named "Raoul," who he claimed instructed him to purchase the rifle used to kill King and to rent a room at the boarding house in Memphis, where a gun-running scheme was allegedly planned. The committee determined Ray's story was flawed as there were no witnesses to corroborate "Raoul's" existence and no explanation for why the alleged ringleader's fingerprints weren't on the murder weapon. (Photo: Keystone/Getty Images)