Hellhound on His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King, Jr. And the International Hunt for His Assassin

CHAPTER 29

POWER IN THE BLOOD

⁴⁵¹ "King wouldn't make a decision without him": Hosea Williams, quoted in McKnight, The Last Crusade, p. 108.

⁴⁵² "flashbulbs still blinked": Wills, "Martin Luther King Is Still on the Case," reprinted in The New Journalism, ed. Tom Wolfe, p. 393.

⁴⁵³ "sleepwalk through the night": Young, Easy Burden, p. 467.

⁴⁵⁴ "had received, through letter or telephone": Abernathy's testimony in House Select Committee on Assassination, Appendix Reports, vol. 1, p. 19.

⁴⁵⁵ "We can't let Martin down": Bevel, quoted in Young, Easy Burden, p. 468.

⁴⁵⁶ "They got him": Ibid.

⁴⁵⁷ "I touched the pillow": Georgia Davis Powers, I Shared the Dream, p. 233.

⁴⁵⁸ "This is Martin's precious blood": Frady, Jesse, p. 232.

⁴⁵⁹ Withers took several shots: Frank, American Death, p. 109.

⁴⁶⁰ wiped them down the front of his shirt: Young, quoted in Frady, Jesse, p. 232.

⁴⁶¹ "There's nothing that unusual": Ibid.

⁴⁶² "composed but dazed": Atlanta Constitution, April 5, 1968, p. 1.

⁴⁶³ King had not written a will: Kathryn Johnson, "Dr. King Leaves Little--He Gave It All Away," Atlanta Constitution, May 13, 1968, p. 1.

⁴⁶⁴ "If something happens": Honey, Going Down Jericho Road, p. 452.

⁴⁶⁵ "but there was something a little different": Memphis Commercial Appeal, April 2, 1978.

⁴⁶⁶ "just to do any little menial thing": Belafonte, quoted in Coretta Scott King, My Life with Martin Luther King Jr., p. 322.

⁴⁶⁷ "Mommy, when is Daddy coming home?": Ibid., p. 321.

⁴⁶⁸ "No, darling": Ibid.

⁴⁶⁹ Dr. Jerry Francisco: Biographical details and physical descriptions of Francisco are adapted from Memphis Commercial Appeal clippings and my interview with Francisco, Jan. 20, 2009.

⁴⁷⁰ "somehow looked more dead": Abernathy, And the Walls Came Tumbling Down, p. 445.

⁴⁷¹ "This is the body": Ibid.

⁴⁷² "It might tell us something": Ibid.

⁴⁷³ "giving the appearance": Memphis Police Department document, "Martin Luther King Homicide No. 3367, Supplement #5, Re: Consent for Autopsy and Autopsy," p. 2, Hughes Collection.

⁴⁷⁴ "More than any case": Author interview with Francisco.

⁴⁷⁵ "I felt very safe": Ibid.

⁴⁷⁶ "This is a well developed": Francisco's autopsy report, Hughes Collection.

⁴⁷⁷ "Every light in every store": Wills, "Martin Luther King Is Still on the Case," reprinted in New Journalism, p. 390.

⁴⁷⁸ "tens of thousands of Americans": Graham's reaction to King's murder, and the other reactions reproduced in this passage from various international figures, are taken from White House newswires, Situation Room memorandums, and State Department telexes received on April 4 and 5, 1968, Johnson Presidential Library.