Washington - The US Justice Department announced yesterday that it found no evidence of a conspiracy behind the 1968 assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
The nearly 18-month investigation stemmed from a request by King's family, which questioned whether the convicted killer, the late James Earl Ray, had been solely responsible for King's slaying on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee.
"We find that there is no reliable evidence to support the allegations . . . of a government-directed conspiracy involving the Mafia and Dr King's associates," the Justice Department said in its report. "Accordingly, no further investigation is warranted."