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According to the official story, on April 4th, 1968, a lone gunman assassinated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. That man, James Earl Ray, pled guilty and for most people the case was closed. The MLK Tapes, a new true crime podcast from the creators of Atlanta Monster and Monster: DC Sniper, explores rare recordings of eye-witness testimony and new interviews with people who were there to reveal the true story of the plot to kill Dr. King.

The MLK Tapes

Vanished. Vilified. Voiceless.
 
This season on Truer Crime, every story has something in common: it’s not what it seems.
 
What starts as a disappearance, a tragedy, or a headline quickly reveals something deeper—about power, about prejudice, about who gets to be heard and who gets written off.
 
We’re digging into six gripping cases. Some you might recognize. Others you’ve never heard before. But every one of them will leave you questioning the stories we’re told and the stories we choose to believe.
 
Six months. Six cases. One show that digs deeper.
 
Truer Crime is available now. Listen for free on the iHeartRadio app, Spotify, Amazon Music, or Apple Podcasts.
 
Want early access to episodes? Tenderfoot+ subscribers get the full case at the start of each month—plus ad-free listening and exclusive content from over 30 shows. Sign up at ⁠⁠tenderfootplus.com⁠⁠.
 
Keep up with us through our ⁠⁠Truer Crime Substack Newsletter⁠⁠.
 
Follow @truercrimepod on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠X⁠⁠.
 
Follow me @celisiastanton on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠.
 
Sign up for my weekly newsletter, ⁠⁠Sincerely, Celisia⁠⁠.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Truer Crime Season 3: Vanished. Vilified. Voiceless.

Interviews with Ryan Jones, historian at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, & Brian Dominski, court reporter for the '93 HBO trial and the '99 Civil Trial.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BONUS: Memphis Blues

After King is murdered, John Curington notices increased contact between H.L. Hunt and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. One day, Hunt gives Curington a satchel to bring to Ray's attorney, Percy Foreman. As he hands the bag to Foreman, Curington says the words he was told to say: "Here are 125,000 reasons for Ray to plead guilty."

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

125,000 Reasons [13]

Dallas oilman H.L. Hunt hated communists, and in his mind this included Martin Luther King. He attacked King regularly on his program Life Line, carried daily on 500 radio stations across the country. Hunt believed this would be enough to destroy King, but J. Edgar Hoover had other ideas.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Campaign To Destroy King [12]

On this Bonus Episode, we look at the life of Attorney Bill Pepper. We trace his early career in sports, a brush with the mob, work for Bobby Kennedy, travels in Vietnam and Cuba, and his friendship with Martin Luther King Jr. Then, how he came to represent James Earl Ray's brother, Jerry, at the House Committee hearing. 

 
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BONUS: William Pepper

Lennie Curtis works at the police rifle range where sharpshooter Frank Strausser talks about killing King. On the fatal day, Strausser practices all morning with his new rifle. When Strausser leaves for town, Curtis tries to warn King, but fails. Years later, Pepper confronts Strausser.

 
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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Dead Shot [11]

After 30 years of silence, cab driver Louis Ward comes forward to tell what happened to him when King was shot. A few years later, Ronnie Lee Adkins, who says his family was involved in the assassination, confirms Ward's story.

 
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Every Dog For His Own [10]

Bill Pepper gets a phone call from attorney Rusty Larson who says that his client, Jim Green, was involved in the murder of King. Then Green calls and says his assignment was to kill Ray.

 
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Killing Ray [9]

Texas woman Glenda Grabow tells Bill Pepper she knew a gun runner in Houston named Raul, who she thinks was involved in the murder of Martin Luther King. Could this be the same Raul known by James Earl Ray?

 
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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Gun Runner [8]

A witness, John McFerren, overhears mob-connected Frank Liberto talking on the telephone, a conversation he's not supposed to hear.

 
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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Connected Man [7]

The black firemen across the street told to report elsewhere. The black detective surveilling King taken off the job. King’s all-black police security unit ordered to stand down. All this and more on just what happened to be the day Dr. King was shot.

 
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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Setting for a Murder [2]

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