james earl ray had arrived in memphis. i'm not going to take much time to talk about james earl ray because i want to keep this introduction as soon as possible. but i will say that the book profiles james earl ray and it describes his actions april 3 and april 4 in 1968 and also describes the uncanny series of lucky breaks and enabled him to murder king. the next day, april 4, things are at the hotel he meets with some aid and is in a melancholy mood. through all of the troubles in the challenges that he faced at times you may know this story. his room at the motel was on the second floor. the room opened up to a balcony and at 6:00 he is invited to dinner at the house of a local minister and goes to the balco balcony. he talks to some of his aides in the parking lot below and james earl ray is across the street in a house, fires his rifle, the bullet strikes him on the right side of his face and he drops instantly to the floor of the balcony. the ambulance rushes him to st. joseph's hospital and he is pronounced dead at 7