MEMPHIS (AP) - A Shelby County official says nine newly-found film reels may document the jailing and trial of James Earl Ray, the man who pleaded guilty to assassinating civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis in 1968.
County register Tom Leatherwood says the reels, discovered last spring in an old credenza being used for storage at the Criminal Justice Center in downtown Memphis, may contain three hours of footage about Ray's incarceration and trial.
However, Leatherwood says the reels also could be blank if they've deteriorated while in storage, The Commercial Appeal reports.
Leatherwood says he wants to find out what is on the reels. He hopes to have the films restored and converted to digital format, in order to post them online for the historical record.
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