That Nov. 17, a delegation of reporters and relatives arrived in Guyana, 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. [19][20] One bullet narrowly missed Lawton, but struck his brother. I wanted to leave my daughter a legacy that wasn't that simple.". A growing body of constituents known as the Concerned Relatives wrote Congressman Ryan with increasing alarm about their daughters or sons who had accompanied the charismatic demagogue to Guyana. sat there. He would hang a picture of my mom in his office and look at it in an effort to immunize himself to the feeling of loss, to challenge himself so he would get over it. security guards. [2] The book is published in Italy, France, Australia, Germany, Thailand and United Kingdom. where her worried parents had sent her to curb adolescent rebellion. brown eyes on her and warmly invited her to "join me and my family of all The base has handled mass casualties of both military personnel and civilians from wars, the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the Pentagon and the NASA Challenger and Columbia space shuttle missions. Layton and her mother arrived in Jonestown in December 1977. Leo Ryan wanted answers. "He kept holding on," Deborah Layton said, "holding on with the hope that some day Larry might be released from prison.". [32] By 2010, Lawton had shipped 10,000 DVDs across the country. Besides, when had a congressman ever been assassinated on foreign soil while on a congressional delegation trip? [8] In 1983, having earned his GED, he left the Coast Guard and began engaging in criminal activity, mostly loan sharking and bookmaking. As a trusted financial lieutenant for cult leader Jim Jones, she kept secrets He was cracking. At the compound, Don wandered off to smoke a cigarette. Please help us get out of Jonestown. Soon after, Don was approached by another member, who claimed that many Temple members desperately wanted to leave but were too terrified to come forward. I am taking solace in knowing that Larry Layton is going to pay back society for having assassinated the first congressman ever in this country, said Assemblywoman Jackie Speier (D-San Mateo), who had accompanied Ryan on the trip as an aide. Infants cannot commit suicide. Larry Layton was the only person prosecuted for any of the events in and around Jonestown. As soon as it became clear that we would be bringing more than one or two defectors home with us, the communal faade cracked. Charismatic and tall with salt-and-pepper hair, he commanded a room. White Night!" "It was a warm day and all of a sudden a breeze came up and the back door Increasing numbers of people approached us. rite of 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 life in prison, though he was released in 2002. "I felt we were doing something that had meaning. ", "Every week we're promised death, a relief from this miserable life. [35][36] It also hosts an annual bowling tournament. Again, Larry was held in jail while he awaited trial. (1.8-by-1.2-meter) underground enclosure. I was almost one of them. A year later, I applied to college, and he wrote me a letter of recommendation. Larry Layton, a former member of the People's Temple cult, is to be released on $250,000 bail pending an appeal of his conviction last December for aiding and abetting the murder of. Dead vines hung from the building's white plaster walls, and cracked windows were repaired with blue tape. Layton, 41, is the only former Peoples Temple member who was tried in the United States in connection with the slaughter on Nov. 18, 1978. While on the phone listening to the allegations that would soon be made public, Jones scribbled a note to his aides: We leave tonight.. By the time I returned, more than 900 people died. Traumatizing family rifts erupted on the spot, with mothers and fathers engaged in literal tug-of-wars over their children. encampment about 250 miles (400 kilometers) from the Guyana capital of Somehow, through the encroaching darkness of my final thoughts, I saw my 87-year-old Grandma Emma. Many of his papers on this top-secret work are still classified. ', "O.J. Few heeded. Ryan did not look or behave like your typical politician. Ryan had gone to Guyana to investigate reports that relatives of his San Francisco-area constituents wre being held against their will. | AP. We landed in Georgetown, Guyanas capital, on November 14, 1978. Born to poverty in the small West Virginia coal-mining town of Boomer, Mr. Layton went from Gauley Bridge High School to a bachelor's degree in mathematics from the West Virginia Institute of Technology and, later, a doctorate in biochemistry from Pennsylvania State University. Their accounts led to an expos in New West Magazine planned for publication in summer 1977. That was the last moment I remember with any real clarity before I surrendered my body to the medical staff. [26] He was incarcerated in many prisons during his sentence, which included Jesup in Georgia, Riker's Island in New York, Edgefield in South Carolina, and Yazoo City in Mississippi. L.A. Times Archives. He spent 12 years in prison, and once released, began a career as a motivational speaker, life coach, and author. 1970, and she was on summer vacation from the British boarding school It felt as though my mother was standing there and she was saying, Where is Larry Layton today? Layton, 35, was scheduled for arraignment today before Magistrate John Caden in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn on charges of killing Ryan, D-Calif., who was gunned down on Nov. 18, 1978 by Peoples Temple members who wanted to block his investigation of their cult. [21] Lawton was arrested by the FBI on December 2, 1996, in Florida and charged with the Fairless Hills armed robbery. Hundreds of children and a U.S. congressman died at Jonestown, and 911 decomposing bodies were brought to Dover Air Force Base, home to the U.S. military's largest mortuary. "[2] He was critical of Brevard County stopping letters to inmates in 2013. His following grew, and Jones became the leader of one of the first mixed-race churches in Indiana. He also gave the former Peoples Temple follower credit for spending a year and 49 days in jail while his trial was pending--thereby reducing the potential sentence by that amount of time. Five bullets had ripped through me, devastating the right side of my body. U.S. Atty. grandmother Layton thought had died of a heart attack in Hamburg actually chaperone of a youth group. races," hundreds of followers working to feed the hungry, house the [10] He also founded the Reality Check program which aims to show teens the consequences of a criminal life. "And I thought, if I get hit by a truck, my epitaph will be, 'Jonestown survivor dies on Bay Bridge.' He What an evil thing that Jim Jones did. "Every week we're ordered to drink some liquid," she writes, culling her memories of the "old tapes (of Jonestown recollections that) are running in my head. He preached a social gospel, attracting devotees while promoting a community that did not discriminate or take into account race, background, or previous circumstances. But Layton, saying he wishes he could ease the pain. If convicted, Layton could receive a mandatory life sentence for Ryan's killing, up to 20 years for the attempted killing of Dwyer, and up to life on each of the two conspiracy counts. Layton had denounced his sister Debbie for defecting, telling Speier that Jonestown was "an extraordinarily good . "It's just so sad, for me as a survivor," said Yulanda Williams, 58, now a sergeant with the San Francisco Police Department. ", 20 Years Later, Jonestown Survivor Confronts Horrors, LAYTON01/B/20OCT98/MN/SLF ---Deborah Layton is a survivor of Jonestown. Nearly 30 years later, her mother long dead in a rotting jungle outpost in Guyana, her brother doing life in a federal prison and her father so broken that he weeps at the mention of anything connected with Jones-, town, Deborah Layton has, as she put it the other day, "decided it was time to come out of the cobwebbed attic.". became chairman in 1976. I would be in the first group; Congressman Ryan insisted that he stay behind to make certain that every person who wanted to leave made it to Port Kaituma safely. He was appointed to the San Francisco Housing Then daughter Lauren started asking questions. announcing her mother was Jewish. ". Sam was far from the only person concerned about Jones malicious influence over a loved one. When people refer to the Jonestown massacre as a mass suicide, I am enraged. In San Francisco, his church was lauded for its social programs, and Jones efforts to feed the poor and fight segregation found receptive ears with progressive politicians. Larry Allan Layton, 68, was charged with two counts of reckless endangerment and one count of disorderly conduct. Jim Jones, with his omnipresent dark glasses and his sweeping red robe, was the anchor of her newfound life and, like many Temple members, she was mesmerized by him. Mr.. (The night before she'd left for the school, her father had stunned her Debbie stood in line to drink the red liquid that she was told would kill her in a matter of minutes. Members of the press and the Concerned Relatives waited behind on the airstrip until the truck could come back for a second load. On the plane to Guyana, Nov. 18, 1978. After that trip, I remember telling myself that never again would I witness such violence at such close range. [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. Laytons two ex-wives--both had been lured from Layton by Jones--also encouraged him to somehow stop Ryan, Russoniello said. It was. I'm so desperately tired. So many people wanted to defect that we had to call Georgetown to request an extra plane. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Hollywood writers strike over streaming pay after talks fail, El Chapo sons send Mexico cartels cheap fentanyl into U.S., indictment says, Far from Russia, a pro-Moscow sliver of land tries to cling to its identity and keep war at bay, Virginia Gov. Larry Layton had gotten onto the truck with us, which struck me as a glaring red flaghe was an entrenched member of the hierarchy, one of the true believers. In 1965, after riots shook Watts, an African-American neighborhood in Los Angeles, Ryan briefly took a job there as a substitute teacher while serving in the state Assembly, and used the experience to shape education policy. How did the Peoples Temple recruit members? Everybody bolted in different directions. I just needed to hang on. jumped out a New York apartment window before Layton was born.). 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. blew open," she says. Horoscope for Monday, 5/01/23 by Christopher Renstrom, Dubs fans picking apart video of possible Poole-Draymond incident, Destructive landslide closes historic California institution, Major SF retail store slated to permanently close, Warriors' biggest hater made a cowardly Game 7 'bet', Draymond Green rips Domantas Sabonis: 'Lost a lot of respect', More rain, 'unseasonably chilly' temperatures coming to Bay Area, Esalen Institute sued over alleged use of video with the N-word, Shock, fear as 2 killings in 3 days rock quiet Davis, Bay Area mom influencer found guilty of lying about kidnapping, Bay Area preschool teacher suspected of dumping body along road, 49ers out in full force at Warriors-Kings Game 7. In the fall of 1978, Ryan decided to visit Guyana to find out what was happening to the more than 900 members of Jonestown, many of whom were his constituents from the San Francisco area who'd. All of those people I had been standing beside, speaking to, sharing a cabin with. However, Layton was acquitted of the lesser charges and the prosecution announced it would not try him on the murder counts, carrying a mandatory sentence of death by hanging. Hundreds of followers moved. They reported the car's license plate, which linked the car to Lawton. Jones ran the Peoples Temple in San Francisco in the early 1970s. All I could think was I am not going to make Grandma live through my funeral. She had an extremely anxious demeanor, and we moved quickly as we went to her cabin to pack. Infants cannot commit suicide. Ryan wanted to investigate. Ryan, three journalists and a defector were killed. [41], In 2017, he appeared in a middle school in Havelock, North Carolina to explain his prison experiences. he Meanwhile, ex-devotees of the Peoples Temple began sharing stories about Jones darker side. 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. As I was transferred onto a gurney, I was conscious enough to look up and see a big, gleaming white plane with The United States of America written on the side. Congressman Ryan and I were among the first shift of the delegation to climb in for the excruciatingly slow six-mile drive to the commune. Peckham sentenced Layton to 15 years in prison for the other three counts, but said the terms will run concurrently with the life term. He is. I was beaten once a month. I was feet away from Jones, close enough to hear him trying to convince people to change their minds. 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. "So we as a family all sat down and we voted him out of his job." Jones greeted us at the compound. . Layton and other temple members then ambushed the congressman and his party at the airstrip, according to an indictment returned against Layton last month in San Francisco. What is one recurring theme in A Rose for Emily story? It made no sense that he would be . As I took down their names, I looked over at Don Harris, who was interviewing Jones. Among them were George Moscone, who the Peoples Temple played a significant role in electing mayor in 1975, and Harvey Milk, the pioneering openly gay city supervisor, who went so far as to write a letter to President Jimmy Carter extolling Joness work and rebutting charges that he was abusive. Instead, she grabbed her daughter's acrylic paints and After two trials, he was convicted in 1986 of conspiring to murder San Mateo Representative Leo Ryan. In fact, I would have been on that truck, with a rifle. There were piles of used syringes at the scene. And then I realized that confirming one tiny detail could mean that the worst of the testimonies were true. By the early 1970s, however, Mr. Layton's personal life changed in ways he had hardly thought possible. For those who don't know, Larry Layton is a man who pretended to be a Jonestown defector and asked to leave Jonestown with Leo Ryan and the NBC News crew, and Layton opened fire on the plane that was supposed to carry people from Port Kaituma back to a larger city in Guyana. Leo Ryan assured me that there was nothing to worry about. Along the way, she exorcised the family ghosts. in. "You consistently wind up finding yourself trying to heal but having your wounds opened up again when new information is given," she said. Layton is accused of firing only at Jonestown defectors, while the actual killing of Ryan, another defector and three San Francisco newsmen was allegedly carried out by other Temple members. I was kicked. "It was devastating to him. Jones then orchestrated a ritual of mass murder and suicide at the group's nearby agricultural commune, ordering followers to drink cyanide-laced grape punch. 1998-11-02 04:00:00 PDT CALIFORNIA -- For a young woman of 17, flinging herself on the world after the cloistered atmosphere of an English boarding school, Peoples Temple seemed daring and exciting. murder-suicide that shocked the world 20 years ago this month. The icon which characterizes Jonestown in the public mind is a picture of a galvanized metal vat, surrounded by bloated bodies. Lawton gained notoriety for committing a string of jewelry store robberies along the Atlantic Seaboard prior to his arrest in 1996. At 16, Im not sure I understood what a state assemblyman did, but when my parents received a solicitation from Leo Ryans reelection campaign in 1966, I mailed back a note: Im in high school. Most complied, although survivors described some people being shot, injected with poison, or forced to drink the deadly beverage when they tried to resist. United Press International. We accompanied Assemblyman Ryan to shopping centers and campaign events to pass out pamphlets and speak with voters. consulate officials. A few showers this morning with mostly cloudy conditions during the afternoon hours. They also found 24 other containers of marked, identified remains, and five containers of remains they could not immediately identify, said Kimberly Chandler, spokeswoman for the Delaware Division of Forensic Science. Larry Lawton. He called Layton the ultimate victim of Jim Jones.. by We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Ive shared my Guyana story countless times, but its still a challenge to go back and relive those days. [37], Lawton is an advocate for prisoners and their rights, and comments on the justice system. family members in the cult. As I shook his hand, I looked at his sideburns. sentence in federal prison. Unrivaled Mac notes apps for fuss-free note-taking, 6 Actionable Tips for Improving Your Websites SEO, Copyright 2023 | WordPress Theme by MH Themes. Larry Lawton is the only ex-con in the US to be sworn in as an Honorary Police Officer and the only ex-con to be recognized on the Floor of the United States Congress for helping Young People . Before the New West issue hit the stands, Jones and hundreds of his followers had left San Francisco for Jonestown, their promised land in Guyana. But I refused to spend the rest of my life as a victim of Guyanathere were too many of them. Almost 22 hours after the ambush, I heard the groan of a planes enginefinally our escape had arrived. Leave a sympathy message to the family on the memorial page of Larry Layton to pay them a last tribute. I would never have left Jonestown with Congressman Ryan. homeless and help addicts get clean. He knew that Jones had considerable political clout, with close ties to Democratic leaders in San Francisco, Sacramento, and even with the State Department. She managed to contact her sister in Davis, who wired a ticket to Georgetown, where Layton and other Temple members were staying in a house the Temple owned. This time, it was not a drill. (CHRONICLE PHOTO BY SUSANNA FROHMAN), Horoscope for Monday, 5/01/23 by Christopher Renstrom, Dubs fans picking apart video of possible Poole-Draymond incident, Destructive landslide closes historic California institution, Major SF retail store slated to permanently close, Warriors' biggest hater made a cowardly Game 7 'bet', Draymond Green rips Domantas Sabonis: 'Lost a lot of respect', More rain, 'unseasonably chilly' temperatures coming to Bay Area, Esalen Institute sued over alleged use of video with the N-word, Shock, fear as 2 killings in 3 days rock quiet Davis, Bay Area mom influencer found guilty of lying about kidnapping, Bay Area preschool teacher suspected of dumping body along road, 49ers out in full force at Warriors-Kings Game 7. His suggestion that I would learn far more from first-hand experience was in step with the way he approached politics. died drinking juice?". It was just a matter of time. Deep inside me, I still have the demons of shame and guilt.". In the early 1950s, he was chief of Chemical Warfare at the Army's Dugway Proving Ground in Utah. In 1977, after a magazine expose, Jones and his followers fled to Jonestown, a compound carved out of the remote jungles of Guyana. Mr. Layton's children said his one wish in his later years was that his son, Larry, could be freed. By that time, darker elements had seeped into Jones sermons. | AP/San Francisco Examiner. Vernon Gosney and Monica Bagby, it read. Personal Reflections. On Nov. 18, 1978, on a remote jungle airstrip, gunmen from the group ambushed and killed U.S. Rep. Leo Ryan of California, three newsmen and a defector from the group. 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. Ever on the alert for malcontents, Jones would order recalcitrant Temple members -- those who questioned his authority -- into "The Box," a stifling underground cubicle the size of a coffin. "Whatever journey the ashes took in the U.S. is secondary. The discovery reopened wounds. Layton spent approximately 18 years in either the Georgetown Gaol in Guyana or U.S. federal prisons before his release in April 2002. | California Historical Society. Twenty years ago this month, Jones and 912 of his followers committed mass suicide at the jungle compound. 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. . [6], Lawton was born in North Hempstead, New York on October 3, 1961. There was no movement, but I thought the others might also be playing dead. [43] He also hosted a local talk radio show. Although he called it a very grave crime, Peckham said Layton has shown great remorse, and his actions in 1978 reflected how the cult leader, the Rev. On November 17, we landed at the tiny airstrip at Port Kaituma. Escape came in May 1978 when Jones sent Layton to Georgetown as Layton, 35, was scheduled for arraignment today before Magistrate John Caden in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn on charges of killing Ryan, D-Calif., who was gunned down on Nov. 18, 1978 by . Although he had no formal training as a minister and no affiliation with any organized religion, his high-octane enthusiasm and open-armed policy attracted a diverse range of followers. Layton was also quoted in a sentencing report to Peckham as saying that a cultist close to Jones had asked that he stop Ryan from leaving and gave him a gun. The dilapidated former funeral home in Dover had a padlock on the double front doors. Lawrence Robert Lawton (born October 3, 1961) is an American ex-convict, author, paralegal, motivational speaker, and YouTuber. Funeral directors say it is not uncommon for family members to never retrieve cremated remains. It was imminently clear Jonestown was a hierarchical community, with the power structure resembling some sort of plantation: the majority of the Temple members were black, while the leadership was almost exclusively white. Though driven by the kind of underlying insecurity that so often fuels tyrants, Jones appeared to offer hope, redemption, and an idealistic new life. [27] Lawton says he regrets his time spent in prison, because he missed out on seeing his children grow up; his grandmother died, and his father became afflicted with Alzheimer's disease while he was inside. Syringes surround one of the vats used to mix up the position drink used in the mass murder at Jonestown. days before the murder-suicide, she hit an emotional wall. secret, that her mother had fled Nazi Germany.). In 1978, I went to Guyana on a fact-finding mission. "All the survivors in touch with me are traumatized because that door had been closed," said Jonestown survivor Laura Johnston Kohl, now a retired teacher from San Diego. Research has shown that the artificial dyes in Kool-Aid may cause hyperactivity in your child. 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. With the dark glasses he wore indoors and out, his glossy black hair and Kool-Aid mixed with water is not the same as plain water or a beverage such as Gatorade or Powerade. A former high school teacher, he was swept into politics by the idealism of the Kennedy era and elected mayor of South San Francisco before running for state Assembly. But allegations of wrongdoing mounted, and Jones moved the settlement to Guyana, the only English-speaking country in South America. After a few weeks, Layton grew "accustomed to the unusual smells in the food and drink. See also Jim Jones him -- and later from him as she plotted her escape months before he led by U.S. Why is Frank McCourt really pushing it? The moment Layton and her mother, Lisa, arrived at Jonestown, a jungle Layton became a senior insider in Jones' entourage. the mass [10] While in prison, Lawton earned a paralegal qualification and became a gang mediator. It was nothing of the kind. "[27] Another time he said: "I had my arms pinned down, and I was beaten and peed on by the guards. The Kool-Aid Man is a huge anthropomorphic pitcher filled with some red substance which may be either Kool-Aid itself, blood, or something else entirely. Laytons mother, also a Peoples Temple member, died of cancer in Jonestown two weeks before the massacre. Larry was released from Guyana into the custody of U.S. marshals, who escorted him to San Francisco. We compiled similar testimonies from other defectors who corroborated Debbies reports of physical and sexual abuse, forced labor and captivity. "If I hadn't been sent to Georgetown that day (in May)," Deborah Layton says now, "I would have died in Jonestown. There she contacted her sister and U.S. When we touched down in Georgetown, a U.S. Air Force medevac plane was waiting. "He didn't feel good about it," his son, Thomas Layton, an anthropology professor at San Jose State University, said yesterday. brother and I This was not a mass suicide. [10] Afterwards, another jewelry store in Lower Bucks County became suspicious of a person they believed was casing the place for a future robbery. Individually, their insistence would have been hard to question. Jones responded by telling them that if any actions were taken to remove John, the entire Jonestown population would commit suicide. The remaining victims were cremated or buried in family cemeteries over the period of several months following the massacre. Joseph Russoniello did not criticize Peckhams sentence, but in urging that Layton serve 20 years before being eligible for parole, he cited Laytons suggestion to Jones that Layton use dynamite to blow up Ryans plane and its unwanted outsiders--a fact that was not revealed until Tuesday. PIEDMONT, California (AP) -- I have no idea how much time passed until I turned my head and opened my eyes. Behind the wheel of an airplane, I waited for the shooting to stop and said my Act of Contrition, praying for forgiveness and waiting for the lights to go out. Ten days later, on November 18, Jones and 912 of his followers committed mass suicide. "[33] Lawton and the police chief later appeared before United States Congress in recognition of the program. I barely got a wink of sleep. Jim Jones orchestrated the mass murder-suicide of Peoples Temple cult members on November 18, 1978. [13], In May 1994, three males robbed a jewelry store in Daytona Beach, Florida, netting $500,000 (nearly $950,000 in 2022)[14] worth of gold and diamonds. Ryan joined us for the trekone of roughly two dozen of us crammed in the bed of the truck, with dozens of would-be defectors left behind, belongings packed, waiting to escape. At the airport, Temple members who found out she was fleeing implored her not to leave. home in the hills ringing San Francisco Bay. Lawton filed a lawsuit against the prison and staff alleging that they violated his rights. | AP. Jones had become increasingly paranoid, convinced that the CIA, the FBI and the media were out to destroy him. Her mother's cancer pain medications were taken away. If there is such a thing as a spirit or essence of people . Wed have to make multiple trips in the truck. 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. 'It's time to come in and say, 'Goodbye.' [3], Lawton was offered a three-year sentence in exchange for disclosing his accomplices but did not take the deal. But he was acquitted, partly because witnesses would not return there from the United States. Police investigating homicide at northwest Austin apartment complex Monday night, DPS searching for driver responsible for killing motorcyclist, fleeing scene, Storm chances return Thursday; some could be strong, Slow debris clean-up in Little Walnut Creek leads to flooded homes during rainstorms. Nearly 300 children were administered the poison with no comprehension of what it meant, including a number of infants in the arms of their parents.
When Did Bill Maynard Leave Heartbeat,
Joules To Wavelength Calculator,
List Of Past Jcpenney Ceos,
Grosse Pointe Yacht Club Membership,
Articles W
