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Loyd Jowers | |
|---|---|
 Jowers in court in 1999 | |
| Born | November 20, 1926 Lexington, Tennessee, United States |
| Died | May 20, 2000 Union City, Tennessee, United States |
| Nationality | Statesian |
Loyd Jowers (November 20, 1926 – May 20, 2000) was a former police officer and restaurant owner and an accomplice in the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. He owned Jim's Grill in Memphis at the time of the assassination in 1968 and claimed that Police Lieutenant Earl Clark and not James Earl Ray killed King.[1]
Early life
Jowers was a police officer in Memphis from 1946 to 1948.[1]
MLK assassination
Planning
Jim's Grill held planning meetings for the assassination. Jowers recognized Clark and two others out of six total plotters.[1]
Shooting
At the moment of King's assassination, Jowers was holding a rifle and hiding in the bushes next to the Lorraine Motel, but he denied being the shooter.[1]
Aftermath
According to Betty Spates, a waitress at Jim's Grill, said that Jowers ran into the kitchen carrying a rifle immediately after the shooting. His pants were wet and muddy because he had been hiding in the brush near the Lorraine Motel. He then wrapped the rifle in a tablecloth and hid it under a shelf by the counter. Police arrived shortly after and told him to lock down the restaurant. Jowers then gave the gun to James McCraw, who threw it off the Memphis–Arkansas Bridge.[1]
Confession
In an ABC interview in 1993, Jowers admitted that crime boss and produce company president Frank Liberto paid him $100,000 to arrange King's assassination.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Jeremy Kuzmarov (2022-04-04). "Did J. Edgar Hoover Order the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr?" CovertAction Magazine. Archived from the original on 2024-02-29.