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Brother says James Earl Ray near death
In coma, suffering from kidney failure
April 22, 1998
Web posted at: 8:40 p.m. EDT (0040 GMT)NASHVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) -- James Earl Ray has slipped into a coma, and doctors have told his family that he likely has just days to live, his brother said Wednesday.
Ray, 70, is serving a 99-year sentence for the 1968 assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
"He's in very critical condition, the worst he's ever been in since he came down with liver disease," Jerry Ray said. "We can't expect him to live much longer because his kidneys have shut down, he's got fluid on the lungs."
Jerry Ray said his brother's blood pressure is too low for doctors to perform kidney dialysis, and attempts to raise his blood pressure have been unsuccessful.
Ray, who suffers from cirrhosis of the liver, has been in and out of the hospital more than a dozen times since December 1996. He has unsuccessfully lobbied prison officials to allow him to undergo a liver transplant.
Jerry Ray describes the condition of James Earl Ray 
536K/24 sec. AIFF or WAV sound He was hospitalized again on Monday at Nashville Columbia Memorial Hospital and slipped into a coma on Tuesday.
Ray confessed to shooting King, who died after being struck down on the balcony of a Memphis hotel on April 4, 1968. But Ray later recanted that confession and has been fighting for years to get a trial, amid suggestions that the civil rights leader's death might have been the result of a wider conspiracy.
In recent months, Ray's quest for a trial has received support from members of King's family, including his widow, Coretta Scott King.
Related stories:
- James Earl Ray hospitalized again - April 21, 1998
- James Earl Ray in coma - March 13, 1998
- James Earl Ray off critical list - February 21, 1998
- James Earl Ray hospitalized again - October 30, 1997
- James Earl Ray loses bid for hearing - September 18, 1997
- King assassin near death in hospital - December 25, 1996
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