Dexter King indicated that his 1997 interview with Loyd Jowers was a search for the truth behind his father's 1968 slaying. (Court TV)

				KING ASSASSINATION CONSPIRACY TRIAL
				Background Who killed Martin Luther King, Jr.? Discuss on our message board Coretta Scott King testifies 11/16/99: Special Report on the Case 11/23/99: Judge Joe Brown testifies Nov. 29 Update Nov. 29 Update (Afternoon) Nov. 30 Update (Morning) Nov. 30 Update (Evening) Dec. 1 Update (Morning) Dec. 1 Update (Evening): Dexter King testifies Dec. 2 Update Dec. 8 (The Verdict) Text of the Complaint

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Court TV) — Dexter King, son of Martin Luther King, Jr., told jurors Wednesday that he believed the late James Earl Ray's profession of innocence. Recalling his 1997 conversations with an alleged conspirator, the younger King said he believed there was a plot to kill his father — partly because of the slain civil rights leader's opposition to the Vietnam War.

Dexter King was the last plaintiff witness called in his family's wrongful death suit against Loyd Jowers. In a 1993 interview with ABC, Jowers claimed that he participated in a conspiracy to kill Martin Luther King, Jr. and that someone other than Ray shot King. Ray initially admitted killing King but retracted his confession days later. He was sentenced to 99 years in prison and spent the next 29 years of his life trying to get a new trial.

Plaintiff attorney Dr. William Pepper — who previously represented convicted King assassin James Earl Ray — says a liability judgment against Jowers would validate theories that Ray was set up as part of an alleged conspiracy to kill King — allegations largely discounted by law enforcement officials.

But when Dexter King took the stand Wednesday, he pointed out that as victims, his family deserved to have all possibilities and clues in his father's death explored. He indicated that his family's suspicions of a conspiracy had been "summarily dismissed" by law enforcement and the media.

The younger King recounted his two meetings with Jowers in 1997. During their last meeting, the witness said, Jowers seemed to want to get something off his chest. Jowers, King testified, admitted he had been contacted by a Memphis produce manager named Frank Liberto to participating in a plot to kill his father. King remembered Jowers saying that he received $100,000 in a produce box to give to a man known only as "Raoul." Raoul later gave Jowers a rifle in a box and asked him to hold the rifle.

On the day of the murder, King recalled Jowers saying, he gave the rifle to a now-deceased Memphis police officer named Earl Clark. After Martin Luther King was killed, Jowers apparently told Dexter, Clarke returned the gun to him. According to King, Jowers said he first tried — and failed — to get rid of the murder weapon by flushing it down a toilet. Eventually, King testified, Jowers said another man took the rifle and threw it into a river.

Jowers owned Jim's Grill, a cafe on the ground floor of a building that included the rooming house where Ray was staying in April 1968. The two-story structure overlooked the Lorraine Motel, where King stayed during his fateful trip to Memphis. Jowers, King told the jury, said police and "government types" often gathered in his place of business — where the conspiracy to kill Martin Luther King, Jr. was hatched. According to King, Jowers indicated that the fatal shot was fired from behind his cafe, not the room where Ray was staying.

"Raoul," another one of the alleged conspirators in King's assassination. (Court TV)

Despite Jowers' admissions, King said he and his family are not interested in criminally prosecuting him or anyone else who may have been involved in the plot. He stressed that his family was seeking the truth, wanted to spread his father's message of non-violent methods to seek solutions, and a sense of closure. King indicated that he hoped others could learn something from a victory in this case and that any monetary damages could be used toward a charity his father supported.

"Like anything that hasn't been resolved, it will haunt you and haunt you," Dexter King said. "And that just doesn't apply to the victim. It applies to the perpetrator."

King told jurors he believed Jowers had been truthful with him in their conversations but added that he suspected the 73-year-old man did not want to fully admit his role in the murder.

During cross-examination, Dexter King said Jowers apologized for his role in the assassination. He conceded that Jowers told him that he didn't realize that Martin Luther King, Jr. was the primary target of the conspiracy. However, King noted that in his story, Jowers seemed realize all along who was the center of the murder plot.

Before King took the stand, Dr. William Pepper read a deposition Jowers gave investigators in November 1994, a year after his incriminating interview with ABC. Invoking his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination, Jowers refused answer questions about the interview, particularly whether Ray killed King or whether he knew who killed King.

However, Pepper then read portions of a transcript of Jowers' interview with ABC's Sam Donaldson, where he was much more forthcoming. The interview contradicts claims by Jowers' attorney that his client did not know King was the target when he became involved in the murder plot. Jowers' defense, however, agrees that a conspiracy did exist.

Jowers' attorney, Lewis Garrison, will continue presenting his case Thursday. Jowers has fallen ill since the trial began two weeks ago and was unable to testify.

— Bryan Robinson