5/9: FBI Files Reveal MLK Assassin’s Ties To Los Angeles Sex Network And Alias-Wrapped Relationships
A network of cocktail waitresses, bartenders, and alleged sex workers in late-1960s Los Angeles maintained contact with James Earl Ray under his alias Eric S. Galt, according to newly reviewed FBI files and interview transcripts.
The documents portray a hidden lifestyle that linked the assassin of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to a murky world of prostitution, coded sexual behavior, and potentially intelligence-adjacent surveillance.
He also visited her mother, delivering packages, and stayed in her home without registering in his name, all while concealing his own address and legal identity.
Martin told agents she met Galt while he was training at the International School of Bartending in Los Angeles, where he had “borrowed and returned a bartender manual,” raising questions about his use of the setting for social or operational cover.
A cardboard tissue box in her possession contained handwritten names including Ginger Day, Anita Katzwinkel, and Ginger Nance—none of whom appear in public assassination reports or official trial exhibits.
When shown the box, Martin denied knowing them. Investigators at the time noted the handwriting “appears deliberately casual but organized,” suggesting intentional record-keeping under false pretenses.
Witnesses further reported Martin was part of a sexual exchange network in the Hollywood area, where bartenders and bellboys shared contacts of women and men involved in transactional sex and underground dating. One informant told the FBI this network was “discreet and layered through alias use.”
The documents describe ceiling mirrors installed in the homes of Rita Stein and her ex-husband, Stanley Rosas, reportedly used for “freaking out” sexual stimulation. FBI agents noted this could indicate “ritualistic” or “psychological conditioning” behavior.
One incident included a man—later identified as Charles Stein—burying a woman’s underwear in his backyard after a trance-like state described as “sensory contact with nature.”
Marie Martin’s alias "Marie Perez" surfaced in conflicting reports. Though she denied using any alias, FBI memos flagged the name repeatedly.
Her sister, Marie Lee, worked at a bar in New Orleans—a city also connected to Galt’s alleged route before and after the assassination.
FBI memos highlight a pattern of vague answers and “repeated lapses in memory” by Stein and Martin. Yet both confirmed Galt made numerous long-distance calls--some traced to New Orleans and Maryland--on lines registered under fake names like RODE and ROSAS.
One such call, a collect charge on March 12, 1968, was made from Stein’s phone to a New Orleans number. She denied placing it.
The St. Francis Hotel and the Sultan Room in Hollywood appear in multiple interviews as consistent meeting places between these women, Galt, and men described as “out-of-towners with money.”
At least one hotel booth was used to place untraceable calls. A handwritten name, MIMI--possibly Martin’s alias--was found etched into the wooden frame of the phone.
Bartender James Morrison was shown a photograph of Dyrell Dennis, a blond woman linked by at least three separate witnesses to both Ray and an individual known as Ray Selma or Ray Fernandez Sesma.
He stated he knew Dennis but never saw her with Ray--a denial echoed by others in the same circles, leading agents to question whether cover stories had been coordinated.
One letter recovered from a hospital patient, Edgar Pendleton, written by Dennis read: Have you seen Ray? I hope he is okay. Love always.
This intimate tone, coupled with Pendleton’s sightings of both Dennis and Selma at the St. Francis Hotel, suggest an active relationship tied to the Ray network.
Despite these extensive contacts, none of the individuals--Dennis, Martin, Day, Katzwinkel--appear in mainstream accounts of the King assassination. FBI agents at the time repeatedly concluded: no pertinent information developed, despite clear ties to the principal suspect.
These relationships, layered with aliases, coded behaviors, and denied knowledge, offer a previously suppressed lens into the psychological and social underworld that James Earl Ray embedded himself in during the months leading to King’s assassination.
The exact nature of these interactions--whether supportive, transactional, or coercive--remains unresolved in public record.