photo by: Craig Howell

As part of local observances of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, area residents gathered Monday at the Dunbar Recreation Center in Weirton to watch a performance of a docudrama by the Wayward Saints theater group, titled “Wanted by the FBI: James Earl Ray.”

On the day set aside to remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Weirton residents gathered to remember not only elements of his life, but also the events surrounding his death.

On stage before those at the Dunbar Recreation Center, Monday, the Wayward Saints theatrical troupe showcased their latest production, with a docudrama “Wanted by the FBI: James Earl Ray.”

“Each year we try to put this event together to support the community and tell how much Martin Luther King means to us,” noted Earleen Jones, president of the Dunbar Recreation Center.

Monday’s program, presented in a docudrama format, similar to an old radio program, chronicled King’s final days as he prepared to give a speech in support of black sanitation workers on strike in Memphis, Tenn., and his assassination in the city on April 4, 1968, as well as the search for James Earl Ray, the man later convicted on King’s killing.

“We wanted to represent this as accurately as we could,” Pete Fernbaugh, producer of the show said, explaining while much of the show is a dramatized re-enactment, they relied on historical documentation of the lives of King and Ray, as well as governmental records when putting together the script.

Intermixing speeches from King, the show focused much of its time on Ray, beginning with his escape from the Missouri State Penitentiary in April 1967, and his movements through St. Louis, Chicago, and into Canada and back into the U.S. to Birmingham, Ala., where he purchased the white 1966 Ford Mustang noted by investigators to have been involved in the escape of King’s assassin.

He would eventually make his way to Los Angeles, graduating from a bartending school, and volunteering for the political campaign of George Wallace, to whose segregationist platform Ray was drawn.

He eventually made his way back to Birmingham, where he bought the Remington 760 Gamemaster used in King’s killing under one of many aliases Ray had been using over the years. Through a newspaper article, he learned of King’s visit to Memphis.

Following King’s assassination, Ray was able to evade capture, making his way back into Canada, then to England and Portugal, and back into England from where he was attempting to reach Rhodesia, now known as Zimbabwe.

It was during those attempts that ticket agents noticed Ray had two passports, under different names one of which had been placed on a Royal Canadian Mounted Police watchlist, and he was placed under arrest, returned to the U.S. and charged with King’s murder.

The show did, however, note that not everything clearly indicated Ray as the assassin, including his recanting of his guilty plea and claims his lawyer told him the plea would keep him from a death sentence, and the possibility of a man named “Raoul” had actually been involved in King’s death. There also were inconclusive ballistics tests as to whether the bullet used to kill King came from Ray’s rifle.

Members of King’s own family also have publicly questioned aspects of the investigation, raising the possibility of a government-involved conspiracy.

“Sometimes investigations don’t answer all of the questions,” Fernbaugh said, drawing parallels with more recent assassinations and political events.

This is the fifth such show the Wayward Saints have produced in cooperation with the Dunbar Center.

Previous performances have focused on the life of King himself, Coretta Scott King and her efforts to continue her husband’s work, and the battle to establish the Martin Luther King Jr Day holiday.

Above all, Fernbaugh explained, King promoted non-violence in his efforts for equality and justice, something he hopes people remember.

“I hope we can take his philosophy and apply it to our times,” Fernbaugh said.