Newly Unsealed FBI Interviews Reveal Ray May Have Been Offered Mafia-Linked Bounty for MLK Killing

Newly declassified FBI interview transcripts from 1968–1977 reveal that James Earl Ray, convicted assassin of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., may have targeted King as part of a $1 million bounty allegedly offered by southern white supremacists with organized crime ties.

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Raymond Curtis, a fellow inmate of Ray’s in Missouri State Penitentiary, gave detailed testimony to FBI agents that Ray had spoken repeatedly of collecting a large bounty for killing King—and that the contract was said to originate from a group called the “KK of the South.” 

Most explosively, Curtis claimed Ray was in contact with a New Orleans-based underworld figure, described as an older “fence,” who could provide a safe haven after the assassination.

According to Curtis, Ray discussed escape plans involving New Zealand, Brazil, or Switzerland and expected assistance from unnamed criminal contacts. 

FBI notes show Curtis implicated a third cellmate who overheard the discussions, but the man’s identity remains redacted. The Bureau attempted to follow up but abandoned the trail as “unverifiable.”

While previous investigations referenced bounty rumors, this is the first time full FBI memos have surfaced detailing:

• The alleged offer amount ($1M),

• Specific underworld players from New Orleans and Detroit,

• Ray’s fixation with using the money to live abroad, and

• His belief he would be helped out of the U.S.

Curtis’s credibility was debated internally. Some agents noted that he resisted attempts to embellish his story, even under pressure, and refused to name the third man for fear of retaliation.

These files challenge decades of official narrative framing Ray as a lone racist drifter. Instead, they expose the outlines of a possible criminal contract, intersecting with intelligence failures, interstate movement, and hints of organized cover-up. 

The full bounty trail was never followed by prosecutors at Ray’s trial, which ended with a guilty plea and no cross-examination.