this. >> they said, i've never been with nobody as bold as he is. he just walked in and put a gun on somebody just like it's an everyday thing. they say he didn't have no fear or nothing. >> ray was born in alton, illinois, and grew up dirt poor along the mississippi river in mark twain country. >> everybody just called him jimmy. nobody called him james. that came out when king got killed, they started calling him james earl ray. we just all called him jimmy. >> by his mid-20s ray was a two-bit gunman. this is ray on a hospital table shot by a chicago cop after the botched robbery of a taxi driver in 1952. ray went to prison for two years. then three more years in federal prison at leavenworth for stealing post office money orders. ray turned down a transfer to an honor farm. prison records say he did so because he didn't want to live in an integrated honor dorm.