REPORT ON GARRISON'S KING MURDER THEORIES

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Records Related to the Assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 00435581
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: June 6, 2025
• Document Release Date: June 12, 2025
• Publication Date: September 6, 1968

104-10117-104251 Jr l" . � III. 6 Sp 68 REPORT ON GARRISON'S K 0 MURDER THE Kiev PRAVDA UKRAINY 23 : 5 Aug 68 p 5 L USSR INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS (Text) A-prisoner called 4 <57ie Stephens is incarcerated in a prison in Memphis� ,-% . . � .,,,A's. - Shelby County, in the extreme south�o ennessee. Certainly for a prisoner the cbndil::. '.., tions of his life are somewhat strange. His cell is an individual room with al comforts supplied. It is equipped with airconditioning, television, radio, and-ir l -ak:11.1�;:(i.4::::_53 telephone. Three times a day he is brought food which has been specially prepared /:/ by the prison cook. He has at his disposal. papers, journals, magazines, and books. 9;1-?,',-=. c-�;,t �%. ' Apart from anything else, he has the assistant sheriff's company for 24 hours. a day. , . . The fact is that Charlie Stephens is the only person in the worlewho saw the murderer, or, more precisely, :the alleged murzlererof Dr Martin Luther King a_few minutes Aftr:', the shot had been fired in Memphis on 4 April this year. The .51-.Year-old .StephensF a former mechanic, rented a furnished room on South Main Street on the same,dayHe saw a person who was being shown the neighboring furnished room, was able to recall his clean-shaven cheeks, his long pointed nose, and his-square" � chin. The lodger was dressed in an evening suit.and wasswearing a white silir'reria a, dark narrow tie. His fairly thick hair was combed straight back. - Then Stephens heard the person from No 5 room go into the shared bathroom wkiitt:Was next to Stephens' room. He remembered this all the more clearly as 'the oce00,ant Of. . room No 4 attempted to get into the bathroom but found it locked. Then Stephens heard a loud shot. He immediately went into the hall and saw the lodger fromItOoi. No already at the door leading to the street. In his hands he had something'wrapped � up in a paper. At all events, this is what Stephens told reporters. .The next morning the police began to question him. The interrogation lasted several.days. But when the police let him go, the former mcchanicdrank himself sick, was picked up in a gutter, and: taken away to the police. But the police, knowing what kind of person he waS4i,-; released him. The district prosecutor, having found out about this,insisted,.t* Stephens be kept in prison. lest they'should be deprived a key witness ,before t' beginning of legal proceedings against 'Earl Ray, accused of assassinating Dr:Martim :> Luther King. That is how former mechanic Charlie is unhappy in prison: he has never and he is not allowed to drink. He during all his waking hours to make that he, Stephens, is an alcoholic. imprisons them. If you incarcerate Stephens came to be in prison.' People.0a:v Toad a book in his life, he cannot be phonelli% has no glass. lBecause of-this'Stephens..tries his companion, the deputy sheriff, underitand But there are millions of alcoholics andnobody, Stephens, you should not deprive him of his civil- � rights, so give him something to drink. After all, he is not responsible for what took place on 4 April in the house on South Main Street. The authorities explain to him that prison laws do not permit drinks to be given to pritonvrs and he cannot be released from prison becaupe he is the only witness. Lie might be killed or trapped, or might simply fall under an automobile otter one of. his drinking bouts. I have told you about the "key witness" for the prosecution because recently,sweird more questions are being raised around Ray, the alleged killer of Doctor Ktfig. - fiI. 6 sep g8 � � A 26 411/ USSR INTERVATIONAL AFFAIRS The view finds Increasing 611101)0ft that in all probability Ray was coy and someone else did the shooting. New Orleans District Prosecutor in Garrison poke about this recently and said that the killing of Martin Luther K g was carried out by the same people who murdered John and Robert Kennedy. In an interview with the free press, [as published] he named the CIA and American reaction as the chief organizers ' of all three murders. The future will show how the alcoholic Charlie Stephens will help to untangle the complex situation. � .� I remember let another interview which I and TASS corresponden ad with Jim Garrison nearly 1 and a half .years ago. Jim Garrison told us ne story of John Kennedyls death and then said: "To begin with, the CIA prepared for Fidel Castrols assassination. They did this with the aid of reactionaries from the southern states and counterrevolutionary Cuban emigrants. .The machine for the assassination was built and put into action. However, they did not succeed in killing him. Zee Harvey Oswald did not obtain a visa at that time to Cuba. But the machine had already been launched. It resembles a rocket. It is launched into the sky with a precise target to strike. But suddenly all controlof the rocket is lost. The - rocket flies in an arbitrary course and hits a completely different target. Thu was also the case with Kennedy;s assassination: once the machine had been launchillpere was no way of stopping it." There is a special reason why I remember Jilt: �Garrisonlit. words.' Recently the police found an ammunition depot on an isolated farm Called the "dead road" near New York. The ammunition consisted of half a ton of dynamite, several reels of fuse wirel_.:rifles, Pistols, and even a mortar. Apart from this the police discovered many complete sets ' of uniforms worn by the U.S. Marines in Vietnam. But instead of American Identification und silver crosses which had been sewn on and the words: This organization was Tormed.by Cuban counterrevolutionaries ast year and its aim s o overthrow the Cuban Government and to assassinate Fidel Castro. A group of Cuban emigre counterrevolutionaries led by specialists held secret training and preparation exercises on this farm It is hardlylik'dythat it:will-become known who these.speoialists were who -tralted�to kill. 'But the pOlice-believe that it-was this 7: croup which was responsible Tor 14�bombs_that-went.Off. in New York in recent. months, damaging many foreign consulates. UN legations, and tourist offices. As is 404ar, the trained diversionists decided to hold practical exercises in the area and.ebOse for these purposes New York, which is the nearest large tity;. . It is quite possible that once again somebody will prepare to launch a "rocket." Even now it is striking unexpected targets, but is not the CIA itself a rocket over vhich the U.S. Government has lost control? � --- "- " ETURUA COMMENTS ON DEMOCRATIC. CONVENTION: Moscow IZVESTIYA 27 Aug 68 p 2 L [Article b Sturua: "The Curtain.Risee] [Text] The brain cen f the Democrati arty convention in Chicago is at the Hilton hotel. Vice President 'Hump ablished hiffheadquarters on the 24th floor of the hotel, while SP.nntor MoCar,y-1a Ablished his headquarters on the 15th floor. The newspuper kitchen is opefating in the ba a Above it in the bunqueting halls the ordinary kitchen work. The hotel is picket demonstrators around-the clock.