DATE: REPLY TO ATTN OF: SUBJECT: TO: e ©) UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT Me : 3/29/78 | memorandum SA FRANCIS J. THIEL MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION CONCERNING THE ASSASSINATION OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. On 8/18Y¥78, ROBERT J. HORDESKY, Special Agent, igence, Cape Ma Coast Guard—TLeaining May, Wew ~—JEFSey, telephone number (FTS) ESCSon TI Agency of the FBI. HORDESKY stated that he wished to furnish some information to the FRI concerning circumstances in which he was involved at time of the assassination of U.S. Coast Guard's Jet akd Propulsion Engine School in Memphis, Tenn., during the time period involving the assassination. He stated that he and another Coast Guardsman, MICHAEL BUTLER, had diven to the Y.W.C.A. in Memphis, Tenn., where they were waiting for a couple of girls. They were in HORDESKY's black, 1965 Chevelle, and were listening to the radio. The news of the assassina- tion came over the air and the girls came out to the car. The news was also being broadcast on local tele- vision. The broadcast ‘stated that the police were look- ; ing for a white Ford Mustang in connection with the assassination. One of the girls mentioned that the motel where the shooting had occurred was only about two blocks away from their current location. At that point, a white car, either a Cougar or a Mustang, came down the street and went past them. HORDESKY recalls that the driver was a white male, in his late 20's or early 30's and that the car was not brand new. HORDESKY stated that he really did not see the driver clearly and.does not believe he would recognize him if he were to see him oo | J60 ~5 7235-34. PUT/lan od G]ROle | SEARCHED INDE RED i (2) ie SERIALIZED_Quke Fite AUG 2 S 1978 FBI- NEWAR Buy U.S. Savings Bonds Regularly on the Payroll Savings Plan OPTIONAL FORM NO (REV. 7-76) GSA FPMR (41 CFR) 101-11.6 5010-112 HW 55509 DoclIda: 37177315 Page 3
NK 62-0 again. HORDESKY stated that he was looking more at the car than at the driver, but did not notice anything unusual, The car was not speeding nor ‘was it being driven erratically. ‘ Ee He ‘and his friends only noticed it because they had just heard the broadcast relating to the white Mustang and were saying that they were glad they had a black car so they would not be stopped. HORDESKY stated that he had never thought about this event as being significant, but in the light of the current re-investigation of the assassination, he decided to relate this to the FBI. 2* HW 55509 DBocld: 327177315 Page 4
FD-350 (Rev. 12-5-78) ae Night Super. SA CF yo Vicate page, name of $$ : : spaper, city and state.) \A The Star-Ledger Newark N.J. Title: Character: or Classification: Submitting Office: L NEWARK 11/6/80 of Ray appeals ' pardon him. Ray, 52, facing imprisonment until the year 2034, '- submitted a 38-page document to the’state board of pa- ‘clemency. A + hearing, which would be held in 60 to 90 days. - . What he is asking for-is-a full and complete par- | don,” said Trammell,-adding that some lesser form of considered. Ka months’ since 1959, claimed:in a statement that he had : been placed in solitary confinement for years for his ratterf pts.to gain‘a trial in the killing ' of King, felled. by.a ' sn W r’s bullet on April’4, 1968; in Memphis. Hf | Trammell said the board’ decides most executive H clemency requests -“eyeball-to-eyeball” with the prison- —— | (HW 35509 Docld:32177315 Page 5 fn a4 a t | NASHVILLE (UPI) — James Earl Ray, serving a ' 99-year sentence for the assassination of Dr. Martin Lu-"’ | ther King Jr., asked . Tennessee officials yesterday to: role requesting a hearing: on his. bid for executive _ “Board Chairman ‘Nevin Trammel said the board will - probably decide in about a week whether to grant the’ relief, ‘such as commutation of sentence, also. could. be . il |! Ray, imprisoned for various crimes for all but 14" for a pardon f- erat the time the 1e hearing i is completed. He said the Ray petition was so complicated, however, that the board would probably have to take it under advisement “unless he presented some startling thing — likea witness who said, 1 killed him.’” . * © =) ; ; Only the governor has pardoning powers under the Tennessee constitution and Trammel said the. board ‘ recommends pardons only under, the most unusual .cir- cumstances to prisoners with exemplary records. _*_ Ray’s petition said he had spent six of his more than- ' 12 years in the Tennessee prison system in solitary con- finement — three of those years as a result of “efforts by “me then to gain trial in the MLK case.” for a Nov. 3,.1975, attempted escape from the fortress- .. like Brushy Mountain State Prison in east Tennessee. “ “The reason for the attempt (sic) escape is that I have been led to believe escaping is the only way I will be released (sic) from. prison, whether guilty or inn ent, ” - Ray typed on the petition. SEARCHED INDEXED SERIALIZED GL FILED f= NOV -6 1980 — FB-NES sity The application notes that Ray had been disciplined | FBI/DOJ