It’s been 41 years since the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., and now, new images of that night that have been released.

Time Life’s photographer Henry Groskinsky and writer Mike Silva were on assignment April 4, 1968 in Alabama when they heard the tragic story and rushed to Memphis.
“We got there about three hours after the shooting,” said Groskinsky, now 75. “I was shocked that blood was still there.”

Among the pictures that Life released last Friday included shots of workers cleaning up the blood, the balcony where Dr. King delivered his last speech "I've Been to the Mountaintop", and also of his associates huddled in Dr. King’s motel room. Groskinsky said he felt like an intruder. “I spoke to the people. They were very gracious, no problem at all. I was very respectful of their feelings and I didn’t take too many pictures.” Groskinsky felt that King’s associates knew it was a significant moment, and seemed to want coverage.

In these pictures we get a much closer look at the last moments of the leader of the American civil rights movement. But now that these pictures have made it to the public eye, people are wondering, why now? A lot of people are leaving comments on different sites like this one, from Thembonez.blogspot, “That Life magazine could hold such important photo history for so very long is testament to how truth gets twisted. Did any agency of our government coerce suppression of this photo evidence?” Even though there may not be an answer to that question, Groskinsky says, “I don’t own the film, they have control over it. I didn’t think they would ever be released after almost 41 years but was happy those pictures were able to see the light.”

Dr. King’s legacy still remains as one of the most powerful and innovative civil rights leaders, and even though these new pictures captured one of the saddest moments in American history, it reminds us that history lives on.

“I don’t even know how to explain it. I was there and I documented it and it’s interesting how I became part of that history through my pictures. The down part is being part of something so sad like that,” Groskinsky said.