After watching a documentary on Martin Luther King’s assassination and the capture of James Earl Ray, I noticed that the FBI was very lucky. It took 65 days to find and arrest him abroad in UK.
The way he was arrested is interesting as he was travelling with two passports, one of them was miswritten, and a gun. Those two weird things arised suspicion at British customs, which is why he was detained at first. His extradition was also complicated, as FBI had no way to get his fingerprints due to British laws. They finally cheated and confiscated a glass he used to drink water, which was illegal and could have been used to block his transfer to USA.
A lot of butterflies could also have happened leading to a quicker escape of the murderer to Canada and UK, before RCMP and FBI found the identity of his fake Canadian passport. In Canada, he lost a full week looking for a passport, not knowing that they could be delivered at travel agencies without the need of an I.D.
He could also have modified his plan and not try to flee to Rhodesia, but instead chosen Ireland or even France, a country that wouldn’t have known about his fake passport from Canada as early as United Kingdom.
I think it could have effects on racial tensions and riots in USA, FBI reputation and perhaps even on the 1968 United States presidential election (as far as Nixon vs Eugene "anti-war" McCarthy). My question is simple what if James Earl Ray was able to disappear or not be captured by Scotland Yard?