From eyewitness and survivor accounts, the program recreates the last week before the mass murder-suicide on November 18, 1978. They reported the car's license plate, which linked the car to Lawton. Don hung back for a moment before approaching Congressman Ryan and me at the picnic table and surreptitiously passing along the note. He attended Berkeley High School and was the editor of a campus newspaper called The Liberal. Layton's mother, who came from a wealthy family, divorced her husband and donated $300,000 to Jones' cause. We split up, as Jones had arranged. ", "Every week we're promised death, a relief from this miserable life. Members of the press and the Concerned Relatives waited behind on the airstrip until the truck could come back for a second load. Her book "Seductive Poison" will be in bookstores in November. We landed in Georgetown, Guyanas capital, on November 14, 1978. Jim Jones. ( 2007-01-15) [1] Jonestown: Paradise Lost is a 2007 documentary television film on the History Channel about the final days of Jonestown, the Peoples Temple, and Jim Jones. As I was lying seven miles away waiting for medical help, Sam Houstons granddaughters, Patricia and Judy, 14 and 15, were murdered, along with their mother, dozens of other would-be defectors and the rest of the Peoples Temple. Mr. Layton was also convicted of conspiracy in the attempted murder of Richard C. Dwyer, the deputy chief of the United States mission to Guyana, who was among those wounded at the airstrip. Congressman Ryans body was probably 15 feet away. | AP. By the time I returned, more than 900 people died. Elin Cederroos: Ocean Resort Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA. One night, when Mr. Jones was conducting an hourslong lecture to the commune, she arranged to be placed on duty helping to operate a shortwave radio that transmitted Mr. Jones's directives to cult members in San Francisco. I hope tonight is the last one. She died of cancer in Guyana three weeks before the death ritual. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. Until she was 20 years old, when she was denied admission to a university in Hamburg, Lisa Philips didn't know what it meant to be Jewish in Germany in 1935. . Clearing away those cobwebs meant writing a book -- it's called "Seductive Poison: A Jonestown Survivor's Story of Life and Death in the Peoples Temple." Politically, there was nothing to gainand everything to loseby taking on Jones, and there was no telling what hed do if confronted and challenged. Deborah nursed her mother and tried to conceal that a physician had told her the cancer was fatal. Lisa Layton's youngest son, Larry, is now under arrest in Guyana, accused of murdering Representative Leo J. Ryan and four other persons in the attack that eventually led Mr. Jones to order the mass deaths. ''You've heard graphic details about what happenened on the airstrip,'' he said. In 1969, to get her away from the drugs and other attractions in Berkeley, Dr. Layton and his wife decided to send Deborah to a Quaker school, Ackworth, in the countryside of Yorkshire, England. Last spring Deborah decided she had to escape. Last May, while serving Mr. Jones as a trusted aide, she escaped from Jonestown and tried in vain to alert the world that he was preparing for a mass suicide in order to establish a place for himself in history. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. (It was the 60s.) Larry shot and wounded two people at the Port Kaituma airstrip on 18 November 1978, and he attempted to shoot a third. Larry Layton, a former member of the People's Temple cult, was sentenced today to life in prison for aiding and abetting in the murder of Representative Leo J. Ryan at a jungle airstrip in Guyana . When Deborah came home from school in England in 1971, she brought a boyfriend, George Philip Blakey, a fellow Quaker and the son of a welltodo farming family in Northumberland. My ribs were broken. In 1978, I went to Guyana on a fact-finding mission. "[10], Lawton also founded the Reality Check Foundation, which is a 501(C)(3) charity that includes a mentoring program, and an annual golf outing. After that, she never stopped going back, Dr. Layton said. [15][18] Local police believed there was a connection between this robbery and a robbery that took place in May 1994 in Daytona Beach, and contacted the FBI. She carne back from that meeting in a state of shock, as if she had seen a ghost, her husband recalled. Under the Federal parole system, a person sentenced to life in prison is not normally considered for parole until 10 years have been served. They were issued four T-shirts, four pairs of socks, a toothbrush and toothpaste, four pairs of underwear and a bar of soap. In Jonestown, nobody could have any family attachments. [35][36] It also hosts an annual bowling tournament. Larry Howard Layton, 80, of Green Valley, AZ passed away December 10, 2020 from complications of COVID-19. Larry Layton was convicted in 1986 by a federal jury in San Francisco of conspiring in the 1978 murder of California congressman Leo Ryan and aiding and abetting in the attempted murder of. Leo Ryan assured me that there was nothing to worry about. Jones responded by telling them that if any actions were taken to remove John, the entire Jonestown population would commit suicide. It was nothing of the kind. There is a sickening recording of Jones coercing his followers that day. His suggestion that I would learn far more from first-hand experience was in step with the way he approached politics. While on the phone listening to the allegations that would soon be made public, Jones scribbled a note to his aides: We leave tonight.. SAN FRANCISCO Larry Layton was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison for his role in conspiring to murder Rep. Leo Ryan in Guyana in 1978. That was the last moment I remember with any real clarity before I surrendered my body to the medical staff. [28] Often he appears discussing crimes in the media as an expert on robberies. Anyone running afoul of Jonestowns security detail was put in a labor camp and forced to clear jungle. It was impossible to cope with the pain. [26] Lawton does not hold a degree in child psychology or criminology. Mr. Layton's first trial ended in a mistrial on Sept. 26, 1981, when the jury was unable to reach a verdict on any of the counts. "[27] Another time he said: "I had my arms pinned down, and I was beaten and peed on by the guards. Mr. Jones repeatedly sent word to her that he could cure her from Guyana, and she waited for his efforts to work. [6], Lawton was born in North Hempstead, New York on October 3, 1961. But, as interviews last week with family members and friends revealed, the Laytons slowly disintegrated under the pressures of family conflict, the disillusionment that gripped much of America during the 1960's, drug use, and the soothing, simplistic appeal of Mr. Jones. Is the Stanley Quencher tumbler worth its TikTok hype? Ryan decided that we would wait until the morning and suggested we keep a low profile until then. But, she said, I had to tell somebody what was happening in Jonestown. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. Mr. Layton was convicted here last Dec. 1 of conspiracy in the murder of Mr. Ryan, a California Democrat who had led a group that was investigating conditions at Jonestown and reports that people were being held there against their will. After Larry and Carolyn Layton joined the cult, Larry stopped writing to his parents and would not accept phone calls from them. He is bewildered at how it all happened, groping for an explanation of what he called a Greek tragedy.. Individually, their insistence would have been hard to question. The U.S. trial was confined to the question of whether he plotted to kill Ryan and U.S. diplomat Richard Dwyer. Also there was a strong feeling of community -- people of all races who really cared about each other.'. Inquisitive by nature, he was a proponent of experiential legislating, preferring to go out and experience issues firsthand before he decided what to do. | AP. He was not paroled from an American prison until 2002. Their daughter, after working briefly as a physical therapist in New York, went for graduate study as a therapist to Pennsylvania State University, where her uncle, Dr. Franck, was teaching. ", "I thought, what a waste. [3][4] He has acted as a spokesperson for prisoners and prisoner issues,[5] been a vocal advocate for prison reform, and made appearances in the media as an expert on robberies. They swallowed poison capsules in a suicide attempt and were removed, unconscious, from the train. He'd work you so hard you didn't have time to complain, and he'd blackmail you; he destroyed marriages and humiliated you.. Layton's mother, Lisa, had died of cancer 10 days before the mass suicide. | AP. The morning after our arrival, Congressman Ryan, Jim Schollaert and I attended a closed-door briefing by Ambassador John Burke and his staff at the U.S. Embassy. Dr. Layton was perplexed by his wife's behavior but began sleeping beside her on the floor. Jim Jones led 912 followers in a ritual of murders and suicides. Meanwhile, ex-devotees of the Peoples Temple began sharing stories about Jones darker side. Mr. Jones also apparently widened the rift between Larry Layton and his father. She said that she knew that to do so would endanger her mother and brother because Mr. Jones kept dissident members in line by holding relatives hostage. He was born in the mountains of West Virginia, between White Sulphur Springs and Charleston, to a. They were married in 1966 and a year later Larry, who as a Quaker had obtained a draft deferment as a consciencious objector, moved with his new wife to Ukiah in northern California to serve in lieu of military duty as a medical technician at the Mendocino State Hospital. Later on, I decided I had to show them. Dr. Layton was from a world substantially different from the aristocratic one of his bride. Youll see what a wonderful place it is. He took us on a tour highlighting the most favorable aspects of the commune. It was a message that appealed to the dispossessed, which is why it made sense for the Peoples Temple to relocate to San Francisco around 1972. Its hard to know when it became obvious that he was dead, or when I realized that others werent pretending. But he ordered them separated before they had consummated the marriage, and Mr. Blakey eventually left California to join the party establishing the cult's Guyana settlement. Layton complied, and Jones took Carolyn as his mistress. He was then returned to the United States and charged under a Federal statute against assassinating members of Congress and internationally protected people. Suddenly, my body was crushed by a blow to my side. Hours after Mr. Ryan and four others were shot to death at the airstrip near Jonestown, which was the headquarters of the cult, the cult's leader, the Rev. In 1970, as chairman of a committee overseeing prison reform, he assumed a pseudonym and had himself booked, strip-searched and incarcerated for 10 days at Folsom State Prison, revealing his. Jones became active in local politics, giving money, running food programs and busing Temple members to attend rallies and get out the vote for his favored candidates. [39] Other issues he is concerned with include prison conditions as well as post-release debt loads and their influence on unemployed ex-convicts. Ryan invited members of the press and a few of the Concerned Relatives to join him. The letters were presented during the hearing which resulted in a recommendation for Larrys release. He said that some of the recipients could be innocent. ref: Sparkle Lee Larry Layton 40-36 Tony Lundy 40-36 Lindsey Page 40-35 2020-01-10: Alicia Napoleon Espinosa: L-UD. The article dissected Joness rise, revealing his practices of manipulation, public humiliation and fake faith healings, called out the Temples corrupt financial structure, and included ex-members testimonies of sexual assault and brutal beatings by Jones or at his command. At Port Kaituma, while I ushered the defectors onto a plane, a large red tractor-trailer rumbled onto the airstrip. To the volatile flight home. In the summer of 1978, Lisa Philips Layton died of cancer in Jonestown, Guyana, three months before the Rev. Mr. Layton cried as his attorney described conditions at Jonestown and said that many prosecution witnesses must feel guilty for leaving loved ones behind to die. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. "If I hadn't been sent to Georgetown that day (in May)," Deborah Layton says now, "I would have died in Jonestown. After Jones moved to Jonestown, and with Layton still in California, Layton's sister, a power in the hierarchy of the temple, defected and began to tell of atrocities at the jungle agricultural project. Jim Jones with a group of children living at Jonestown, circa 1978. He is serving a life sentence in the federal prison at Lompoc. He was found guilty of conspiracy and aiding and abetting in the murder of Ryan and the attempted murder of U.S. embassy official Richard Dwyer and was sentenced to Read More See also Other Works | Publicity Listings | Official Sites View agent, publicist, legal and company contact details on IMDbPro Larry's parole came two years earlier than his previously-scheduled release date of April 2004. His father was a research scientist. We saw an impressive community with dozens of pathways, cabins, a medical center, a little school, and a large pavilion where the members congregated regularly. A self-anointed minister, as a young man he started proselytizing outside a storefront church in Indianapolis, and by 1955, had formed the Wings of Deliverance church. When cameras were rolling, he spoke of how he loved them and how there would always be a place for thembut those declarations would be followed by thinly veiled mutters about treason and liars. At both trials here the prosecution presented a confession signed by Mr. Layton in Guyana shortly after the killings, saying that he took ''full responsibility'' for the deaths at the airstrip but also saying, ''I don't know why I did it. | AP. Sam was far from the only person concerned about Jones malicious influence over a loved one. Infants cannot commit suicide. 2023 Alternative Considerations of Jonestown & Peoples Temple, Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple is a, The Campaign to Release Larry Layton from Federal Prison, to petition then-President Clinton to commute Larrys sentence. [10] Afterwards, another jewelry store in Lower Bucks County became suspicious of a person they believed was casing the place for a future robbery. Children had their own special punishment, Layton writes. In a cabin with about six women from the Temple, I took a top bunk, sweating as a downpour opened up outside. His father, an electrical engineer, died when Larry was 8 and the boy had to move in with his grandfather, a stern Methodist preacher. Ive shared my Guyana story countless times, but its still a challenge to go back and relive those days. I was even unaffected by the rice weevils and other strange bugs we ingested daily.". Secretly, she offered her mother a glass of the wine. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. The two store owners were bound while two individuals robbed the store and a third acted as a lookout and the other as the getaway driver. Charismatic and tall with salt-and-pepper hair, he commanded a room. [8][12] At one point, he purchased an Italian pizza restaurant in North Lauderdale, Florida, which he later burned down as part of an insurance fraud. He was acquitted after presenting a defense of brainwashing. Dr. Layton recalls that his wife began to resist his sexual advances and, when he protested, offered to move out. Other Peoples Temple. Rep. Ryan and I arranged to meet her. [8], In 2019, he made a video with Vanity Fair where he analyzed fictional robberies from films such as The Italian Job and Heat. In the summer of 1977, after an expose of Peoples Temple in New West magazine, Jones and his followers fled to Guyana. Larry Layton, who posed as a defector, was captured after badly wounding two people inside a plane trying to take off. Bodies lay crumpled on the tarmac around me. But the moment I looked down at my own body is locked in my mind. I'm so desperately tired. Excerpt from UNDAUNTED: Surviving Jonestown, Summoning Courage, and Fighting Back by Jackie Speier, reprinted under a license arrangement originating with Amazon Publishing. There was no movement, but I thought the others might also be playing dead. Family Tragedy: Hitler's Germany to Jones's Cult, https://www.nytimes.com/1978/12/04/archives/family-tragedy-hitlers-germany-to-joness-cult-the-layton-familys.html. I just needed to hang on. Education: Attended college in the area of San Francisco, CA. The Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, better known by its informal name "Jonestown", was a remote settlement in Guyana established by the Peoples Temple, a U.S.-based cult under the leadership of Jim Jones.Jonestown became internationally infamous when, on November 18, 1978, a total of 909 people died at the settlement, at the nearby airstrip in Port Kaituma, and at a Temple-run building in . On November 17, we landed at the tiny airstrip at Port Kaituma. Its leader, the Rev. After a year or so Dr. Layton and his wife heard from Carolyn's father that the couple had been divorced. Mr. Ryan, three journalists and a cult defector were killed and 11 others were wounded. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. I noticed an elderly woman stuffing pieces of bacon into her pockets; the ample spread was just another showpiece. Politics: Liberal. Lawrence Robert Lawton (born October 3, 1961) is an American ex-convict, author, paralegal, motivational speaker, and YouTuber. [28], After release he went to Palm Bay, Florida and started LL Research and Consulting and met a business partner. Reassured that they were on their way, we parked ourselves at a few picnic tables in the far corner of the pavilion area. In Ukiah, Layton's free will was already beginning to slip away, according to his lawyers. '', ''In a sense,'' he said, ''it would be easy to transfer the responsibility of Jones and put it on Larry Layton.'' Twenty years ago this month, Jones and 912 of his followers committed mass suicide at the jungle compound. Wed have to make multiple trips in the truck. I spoke with a woman named Edith Parks, the matriarch of three generations of Temple members who wanted out. She looks away for a moment, then brightens and starts to talk about a visit she made to Jonestown only a few months ago, accompanied by a crew from the Arts & Entertainment network, which is making a documentary on Peoples Temple. ", Looking back on it 20 years later, she says, "I put everything in denial and locked it down. When the time of their supposed deaths came and went with everybody still alive, Jones announced it had just been a drill to test their loyalty. The news at the time and the history lessons to follow usually fail to mention that a number of Peoples Temple members were shot, several of whom were in the field between the pavilion and the jungle, clearly trying to escape the massacre.

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