William (Bill) F. Pepper, right, is an international civil and human rights attorney based in New York best known for representing Martin Luther King’s accused assassin, James Earl Ray.

In 1967, Dr. King had reached out to Dr. Pepper regarding an essay he had written for Ramparts magazine concerning Vietnamese victims of American napalm missions. Pepper was present at Dr. King’s famous Riverside Church speech. Previously, he was the citizens chairman for Robert Kennedy’s run for the Senate in Westchester Country and also a counsel for Robert Kennedy’s assassin Sirhan Sirhan arguing for a second shooter, a trial he is now trying to reopen in an international court.

Pepper has received undergraduate and graduate degrees from Columbia, a doctorate in education from the University of Massachusetts, a Juris Doctoral degree from Boston College and also studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His most recent book — The Plot to Kill King: The Truth Behind the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. published by Sky Horse Publishing — is the result of 39 years of research and gathering of documentation and sworn testimonies on new confirmed information that will revise the history behind the assassination of Dr. King.