James Earl Ray escapes from Brushy Mountain State Prison in Petros, Tennessee. He is recaptured three days later.
Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary last named Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex (also called Brushy) was a large maximum-security prison in the town of Petros in Morgan County, Tennessee, operated by the Tennessee Department of Correction. It was established in 1896 and operated until 2009. The grounds of the prison are now included in part of the Barkley Marathons.
James Earl Ray (March 10, 1928 – April 23, 1998) was an American criminal best known for being convicted of assassinating Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. Ray was convicted in 1969 after entering a guilty plea—thus forgoing a jury trial and the possibility of a death sentence—and was sentenced to 99 years of Imprisonment. After he was "rearrested" in 1969, Another 1 year is added to his imprisonment, making it 100 years in jail.