Page 4-Friday, June 5, 1981-The Michigan Daily JAMES EARL RAY: Stabbed 2 stable condition EtR benFrom APEand UPI man) Davis," she screamed. "He had PETROS, Tenn. - James Earl Ray, James out in the general prison who pleaded guilty to killiog civil rights population - he knew some people leader Martin Luther King Jr., was wanted to get him. stabbed several times in the chest, arm "We know of some new evidence in and neck early yesterday in the law the case. I can't talk about it - but I library at Brushy Mountain Pentien- think there is a contract out for him and tiary, officials said. probably for me," the attractive Mrs. Ray, 53, serving 99 years for King's Ray said. murder in 1968 in Memphis, was taken SHE SAID she didn't believe the at- to Oak Ridge Hospital under heavy tack was racially motivated. guard, according to Debby Patterson, "I'm terribly shaken. James had a lot deputy press secretary to Gov. Lamar of black friends," she said. Alexander. Four inmates, three black and one HE SUFFERED 22 stab wounds and white, were held after the stabbing at also was beaten, said Dr. Ernest Hen- 8:58 a.m. EDT, a prison spokesman drix, who performed the hour-long said. Their names were not released. surgery. He said it took 77 stitches to Guards also confiscated a weapon close the wounds. fashioned from a 12-inch metal brace Ray was in stable condition. All his taken from a window frame. chest wounds were superficial, Hendrix THE MAXIMUM-SECURITY prison said. "Perhaps the worst area was the was locked down after the stabbing, but left arm. Some of the wounds there there were no disturbances, said War- were very deep." den Davis. The doctor estimated that Ray, "These suspects will be held for in- recuperating in a private room in the vestigation," he said. "I have in turn intensive care unit, would "be out of notified the Morgan County sheriff and here in a couple of days unless other we have sealed off the law library." problems arise." No motive was known, according to REPORTERS GOT a brief glimpse of Ronald Bishop, director of institutional Ray as he was wheeled into an X-ray programs for the Correction Depar- room. He looked pale and his eyes were tment. closed. He was being .given fluids in- "RAY WAS in the general prison travenously during the move. population and had no known problems A prison spokesman said those in- with the suspects," he said. The law volved with the attack would be library is accessible to the entire charged with felonious assault with in- population, he added. tent to commit murder. Armed guards were stationed outside "I think it can be assumed that the hospital, 15 miles from the prison, someone held him while someone else Patterson said. stabbed him," said the prison Barbara Washburn, a hospital spokesman. spokeswoman, said Ray came into the RAY'S WIFE, Knoxville artist Anna emergency department, "was Sandhu Ray, said she believed someone evaluated as having multiple stab "had a contract" out on her husband wounds which he received at the and indicated she feared for her life. prison" and sent into surgery. She had not been notified of the attack Ray was a fugitive from a Missouri when contacted by UPI. prison at the time King was slain April "That son of a bitch (Warden Her- 4, 1968. SUNDAY, JUNE 7 9am -3pm POTTERS, GUILDA In Brief Compiled from Associated Press and United Press International reports Lefever faces more questions WASHINGTON-President Reagan's besieged human rights nominee, Ernest Lefever, faced closed-door committee questions yesterday about his racial views, business ties and a purported assertion that his opponents are "communist inspired." Senate Republican Leader Howard Baker said he told Reagan again Wed- nesday that he believes Lefever still can be confirmed by the full Senate af- ter "a difficult struggle." Baker said yesterday he had completed a head count that shows strong Republican support for Lefever, possibly enough to win confirmation with Republican votes alone. Baker said he also found almost unanimous Republican support for cutting off an expected filibuster on the floor of the Senate, although he said Democratic help would be needed to get the 60 votes required. Crinunins found guilty of felony murder in Met killing NEW YORK-Former Metropolitan Opera stagehand Craig Crimmins was found guilty yesterday of felony murder in the backstage killing of violinist Helen Hagnes Mintiks last July. The stage hand faces a maximum of 25 years to life in prison. Jury forewoman Christine Overton read the verdict at 2:55 p.m., and Crimmins' relatives gasped when she said "not guilty" on the first count of intentional murder. When she said panelists found him "guilty" of felony murder, relatives collapsed into each others' arms. Prior to his arrest, Crimmins was said to have confessed to forcing Min- tiks off a backstage elevator and later killing her. Throughout the trial, those admissions and police behavior in obtaining them were in dispute. Before reaching the verdict the panel heard a re-reading of testimony by detectives about the night Crimmins confessed to the killing. Fatigue may have caused Nimitz crash WASHINGTON-Fliers and aircraft crewmen on the carrier Nimitz had worked nearly 14 hours a day for almost two weeks when a radar-jamming plane slammed into the deck and killed 14 people, Navy officials said yester- day. They declined to discuss any specifics regarding the air crew who flew the EA-6B which skidded across the flight deck last week, killing all three Marine fliers and 11 Navy men on deck. But they said the possibility that fatigue may have been a contributing cause probably will be considered by investigators. Commander James Harness, a Navy spokesman, said that long work hours "most certainly" are common when any carrier is engaged in flight operations at sea. According to Harness, the Nimitz launched and recovered planes frequen- tly in both day and night training during 12 days before the disastrous crash off Jacksonville, Fla. Williams nominated as union president LAS VEGAS, Nev.-Indicted Teamsters leader Roy Lee Williams, described as the "progressive labor leader of the 80s," was nominated yesterday to a five-year term as president of the nation's largest union. Union international vice president Jackie Presser of Cleveland had placed Williams' name in nomination, saying: "He's a problem-solver a tireless leader of the labor movement ... In the line of fire, he's had to take the heat for all of us. "Like every courageous leader who has stood at the helm of this union, he has withstood ina calm, honest and irreproachable manner attacks from ill- informed, dishonest, headline-seeking elements who are trying to under- mine the greatness of this union," Presser added. Following a concession statement by Peter Camarata, his challenger from the dissident faction of the nation's largest union, Williams was declared elected by acclamation, and pandemonium broke out on the floor of the Las Vegas convention center. UMW may reject contract PITTSBURGH-United Mine Workers President Sam Church said yester- day he "wouldn't know what to ask for" if the union's 160,000 striking miners reject a proposed contract this weekend. "I really wouldn't know what to ask for if this contract was rejected unless it would possibly be more wages or something," Church said while promoting the pact in western Pennsylvania. Church's visit to Pennsylvania came on the 70th day of the strike and marked the sixth coal state he has visited since reaching the tentative agreement with the Bituminous Coal Operators Association last week.