James Earl Ray, convicted assassin of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., was hospitalized in critical condition Tuesday. State Correction Department spokesman Jim Rose confirmed that Ray was in critical condition but would give no details. The Tennessean newspaper reported that Ray was suffering from liver failure, and television station WSMV reported he was near death. Ray, 68, was transferred Saturday night from Riverbend State Prison in Nashville to the Columbia Nashville Memorial Hospital, the department said. Ray pleaded guilty in the April 1968 slaying of King, who was shot on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. Ray was sentenced to 99 years in prison but recanted his story three days later. He then filed fruitless appeals, claiming that he was set up by a man named Raoul whom he met in Montreal.
