The MLK Tapes – Details, episodes & analysis

Interviews with Ryan Jones, historian at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, & Brian Dominski, court reporter for the '93 HBO trial and the '99 Civil Trial.

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After King is murdered, John Curington notices increased contact between H.L. Hunt and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. One day, Hunt gives Curington a satchel to bring to Ray's attorney, Percy Foreman. As he hands the bag to Foreman, Curington says the words he was told to say: "Here are 125,000 reasons for Ray to plead guilty."

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The back door of Jim's Grill in Memphis opens onto a yard just opposite the Lorraine Motel. Waitress Betty Spates hears a sharp noise and then sees her boss, Loyd Jowers, come through the door carrying a smoking rifle.

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Famous criminal lawyer Percy Foreman talks his way in by telling Ray that his will be the easiest case he ever argued. Then, at the last moment, he informs Ray that he must plead guilty. Was Foreman working for someone offstage?

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Attorney Art Hanes Jr. and his father decide to represent James Earl Ray who says he didn't kill King. As they prepare for trial, they discover serious problems with the case against Ray.

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The black firemen across the street told to report elsewhere. The black detective surveilling King taken off the job. King’s all-black police security unit ordered to stand down. All this and more on just what happened to be the day Dr. King was shot.

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Who killed Martin Luther King, and why? While some answers have emerged over the past 50 years, others have been hiding in plain sight.

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Explore the rare recordings of eye-witness testimony that reveal the true story of the plot to kill Martin Luther King Jr. From the creators of Atlanta Monster, this is The MLK Tapes. The first two episodes are available now.

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Dallas oilman H.L. Hunt hated communists, and in his mind this included Martin Luther King. He attacked King regularly on his program Life Line, carried daily on 500 radio stations across the country. Hunt believed this would be enough to destroy King, but J. Edgar Hoover had other ideas.

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