#2: James Earl Ray
A lifelong career criminal and fugitive managed to trigger a wave of absolute grief and civil unrest across America by executing the legendary civil rights leader on a Memphis motel balcony. James Earl Ray initially entered a guilty plea to escape the electric chair, but spent the remainder of his life desperately trying to secure a formal trial. He insisted until his 1998 death that he was merely a scapegoat manipulated by a mysterious handler.
