Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lorraine Motel

Martin Luther King Jr. was shot on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis on April 4, 1968. James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to the murder in 1969 and was sentenced to 99 years in prison; he later recanted and sought a trial and died in 1998. The 1979 House Select Committee on Assassinations concluded that there was a likelihood of conspiracy, and questions and differing interpretations about the case have remained disputed among researchers and some family members. The Lorraine Motel now houses the National Civil Rights Museum, which includes exhibits on the assassination and the investigations.