L.A. Times Archives. 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. Jones was found shot through the head. In the two years since, Jones and most of his followers had left the Bay Area and moved to Jones commune deep in the jungle of Guyana. Much later, Layton writes, she would find them "on the bookshelf in Father's house with the many other prescription drugs taken from Temple members.". Jones died of a gunshot wound to the head. I wanted to leave my daughter a legacy that wasn't that simple.". They all joined Peoples Temple, and Larry and Deborah Layton quickly became two of Jones's closest confidants. Leo Ryan wanted answers. After his campaign received my note, I started volunteering as a Ryan Girl, part of a troop of young women clad in houndstooth bobby hats, miniskirts, black tights, black turtlenecks and bright-white boots. Born in Crete, Indiana, in 1931, Jim Jones grew up an outcast and underdog, and was fixated on being recognized as someone greater. Larry Layton, a passenger posing as a defector, started shooting. (It was the 60s.) | California Historical Society. I knew him well enough to understand what would happen next. sweeping afraid. But at the time, none of that occurred to me; I was thrilled to be working for a candidate I believed inone who always treated me with respect. well, it wasn't there. | Amazon. A year later, I applied to college, and he wrote me a letter of recommendation. [28] Often he appears discussing crimes in the media as an expert on robberies. [11] He then began robbing jewelry stores along the Atlantic Coast,[3] using his contacts within the Gambino crime family to fence the stolen merchandise. Some were shot by [7] He became known as one of America's biggest jewel thieves and made the FBI's most wanted list in 1996. He has appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Christian Broadcasting Network, and Fox News. The night before, our delegation watched Jones followers perform a show at their compound. It was impossible to cope with the pain. We didnt want a group to present a canned response or any individual to look to others for their answers. The robbers drew what police at the time believed were firearms, and restrained the store owner. Copyright 2023 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. him -- and later from him as she plotted her escape months before he At one point, Congressman Ryan interrupted our tour to make sure that the press and Concerned Relatives had been given the transportation to join us. This was not a mass suicide. That was the last moment I remember with any real clarity before I surrendered my body to the medical staff. November 18, 1978 When did the Jonestown massacre occur? IamA Jonestown survivor/whistle blower. I was a trusted aide - Reddit It looked staged. Layton, Jones Had Sexual Relationship, Lawyer Says | AP. His suggestion that I would learn far more from first-hand experience was in step with the way he approached politics. It felt as though my mother was standing there and she was saying, With its bell-ringing calls for social justice -- this was in the fractious 1960s and early '70s -- the little-known church near Ukiah catered to the closet revolutionary in Deborah Layton. . 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. Inside the Jonestown massacre - CNN.com The next day, preparing to leave with about 20 defectors, Ryan's party GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Jan. 2 (AP) A Guyanese magistrate ruled today that Larry Layton, a member of the People's Temple, must stand trial in the slaying of Representative Leo J. Ryan. Chief among my concerns was how cozy Jones appeared to be with members of the embassy: How could any Jonestown resident feel safe reporting an injustice to a U.S. official who is arm in arm with Jim Jones in every image? 1970, and she was on summer vacation from the British boarding school She mentioned a Bay Area couple, the Stoens, who had defected and were fighting for the return of their young son, John. "So we as a family all sat down and we voted him out of his job." spiritual. The approach continued even after hed moved from Sacramento to Washington, D.C. Layton became a senior insider in Jones' entourage. The "Greeting Committee" promptly confiscated all their clothes and belongings and, most important, their passports. Her startling introduction to life there quickly allowed Layton to see the cracks in the facade. But he was acquitted, partly because witnesses would not return there from the United States. 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 was released from Guyana into the custody of U.S. marshals, who escorted him to San Francisco. He and four others were killed. It did not sit well with me. Increasing numbers of people approached us. Twenty years after Jonestown, a survivor looks back. "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. 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 Richard Dwyer, a U.S. diplomat wounded in the attack. Although he was acquitted in Guyana, he was returned here to face charges related to the shootings of Ryan and Dwyer, who were protected under U.S. law. [25] He received an additional sentence in 2002 for giving false witness. Generator vs power station: Which one is right for you? Don't Miss Audio:. Then, she wrote "Seductive Poison," her account of events leading up to Repeatedly, the defectors mentioned forced participation in mass-suicide rehearsals known as the White Night trials.. GUYANA - NOVEMBER 18: People's Temple follower Larry Layton (C) stands with police following his arrest November 18, 1978 in the shooting of two people on a remote Guyana airstrip. Layton faces murder conspiracy charges in the November 1978 shootings at a Guyana airstrip in which Rep. Leo Ryan, three newsmen and a temple defector were killed and several . 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. As soon as it became clear that we would be bringing more than one or two defectors home with us, the communal faade cracked. He genuinely believed that he had some sort of protective shield around him, despite the fact that we werent traveling with any military escort or protection. Individually, their insistence would have been hard to question. 'It's time to come in and say, 'Goodbye.' The discovery reopened wounds. By that time, darker elements had seeped into Jones sermons. Northern California Larry now lives in Northern California.. | AP. Seductive Poison - Wikipedia I had no idea. "I was ready to be overwhelmed by emotion," she says, "but when we got into the area, it just wasn't there. [30] The Lake St. Louis police chief praised Larry's message about the consequences of going to prison and said it is not a scared straight program, noting that Lawton said "fear doesn't have a lasting impact. Behind his dim glasses, Jones preached love and equality while manipulating his followerstaking their property and having them sign over their paychecks and Social Security. She was entrusted with flights to Europe and Panama to open Temple bank accounts, where Jones stashed the millions he was taking from Temple members who freely gave him their life savings, their homes and just about everything else. Escape came in May 1978 when Jones sent Layton to Georgetown as sat there. As one of his top aides, I accompanied the delegation, venturing out on the ice floes where the clubbing took place. His following grew, and Jones became the leader of one of the first mixed-race churches in Indiana. Returning to the pavilion area, I sought out other anxious-looking members. Rep. Ryan and I arranged to meet her. 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. So many people wanted to defect that we had to call Georgetown to request an extra plane. 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. 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. Looking back at the Jonestown tragedy Photos - ABC News "We would do what they wanted, either cremation or send the bodies back home. How to plan a weekend getaway to Mount Shasta, Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). Layton spent approximately 18 years in either the Georgetown Gaol in Guyana or U.S. federal prisons before his release in April 2002. [35][36] It also hosts an annual bowling tournament. [3][4] He has acted as a spokesman for prisoners and prisoner issues,[5] been a vocal advocate for prison reform, and made appearances in the media as an expert on robberies. Dwyer, who was wounded in the attack, has retired from the Foreign Service. [44][45], "Police hunt clues in Cannes jewelry heist; ex-jewel thief says it was a pro job", "Florida sheriff reintroduces chain gang", "Ex-jewel thief says of Kim K's purloined baubles: 'They're gone. home in the hills ringing San Francisco Bay. Kool-Aid is high in sugar or contains artificial sweetener and has little to no nutritional value. He was born June 30, 1940 in Long Branch NJ to William and Edna (Keller) Layton. At least 10 other Americans were wounded in the attack. A few Temple members stood in front of a rusty dump truck waiting to shuttle us to the compound. She was entrusted with flights to Europe and Panama to open Temple bank accounts, where Jones stashed the millions he was taking from Temple. His wife, Lisa, his daughter, Deborah, and another son, Larry, all became disciples of the Rev. Lisa, Deborah and Larry Layton all went to Jonestown, but in May 1978, Deborah, increasingly disturbed by Jones' paranoid ravings and brutal treatment of his flock, escaped and flew back to the United States. Others were buried in a mass grave in California. The family moved from Maryland to Northern California, where Mr. Layton was appointed chief of pharmacology at the Western Regional Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. [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. was ambushed After two trials, he was convicted in 1986 of conspiring to murder San Mateo Representative Leo Ryan. It was nothing of the kind. White Night!" Lawton was critical of the move, saying that "[c]hain gangs send a bad message about [the US]." 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. "If I hadn't been sent to Georgetown that day (in May)," Deborah Layton says now, "I would have died in Jonestown. Some were cremated. 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. I did not recover my old self; bullets render that impossible. It wasnt unusual for Temple members to be awakened at dawn over the loudspeaker and summoned to the pavilion for one of his increasingly unhinged sermons. [15] The robbers took $480,000 ($910,600.81 in 2022)[17] worth of gold and diamonds making it the biggest robbery in the city's history. They called it Jonestown. I'm so desperately tired. Megaplex Theatres With Joness wild gaze on us, I tape-recorded affidavits of their wishes to return to the United States. [32] By 2010, Lawton had shipped 10,000 DVDs across the country. Then the adults. During World War II, he did research on cancer and the healing of wounds at Johns Hopkins University's School of Hygiene and Public Health in Baltimore. Jonestown massacre In Jonestown Only one man, Temple member Larry Layton, was tried in the United States for his involvement in the November 18 events. "He kept holding on," Deborah Layton said, "holding on with the hope that some day Larry might be released from prison.". "[2] He was critical of Brevard County stopping letters to inmates in 2013. Her mother's cancer pain medications were taken away. 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. At the airport, Temple members who found out she was fleeing implored her not to leave. Where is Larry Layton today? He said Layton was insane at the time and was drugged by Jones with a mood-enhancing stimulant. It was. The cover of a Jonestown promotional booklet from 1978. Before going to print, the editor of the magazine, who held some esteem for Jones, felt compelled to call him and read aloud the article before it went to press. 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. Frostburg man arrested in recent firearm incident 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. [23][24] Lawton later said he was the biggest jewel thief of the 1980s and 90s operating within the United States of America. Within a year, a few Jonestown defectors had managed to return to the Bay Areamost notably, Debbie Layton Blakey, whod been Jones trusted aide and worked as the Temples financial secretary. She got a job in investment banking, married, had a child, divorced. 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. . UNDAUNTED: Surviving Jonestown, Summoning Courage, and Fighting Back, write a letter to President Jimmy Carter extolling Joness work, California's road to recovery runs through D.C. Republicans, Why New Jerseys ventilator guidelines may favor younger, whiter patients, Rhode Island ends specific restrictions on New Yorkers by making them national. Nobody joined thinking their lives would be taken.". Yes, Kool-Aid is bad for you. He later became a world expert in the field of human allergies. In the early 1950s, he was chief of Chemical Warfare at the Army's Dugway Proving Ground in Utah. [42][13], Lawton has made many media appearances. [28], After release he went to Palm Bay, Florida and started LL Research and Consulting and met a business partner. Mrs. Layton's former husband, Dr. Laurence Layton, an eminent scientist, was left behind in Berkeley, Calif., having lost a wife and at least $250,000 that she gave to Mr. Jones. Surviving Jonestown - POLITICO Magazine I was one of Larry's lead lawyers in his first U.S. trial in 1981, which resulted in an 11 to 1 vote for acquittal on faulty charges of conspiracy to kill the congressman. Larry Allan Layton, 68, was charged with two counts of reckless endangerment and one count of disorderly conduct. He spent 12 years in prison, and once released, began a career as a motivational speaker, life coach, and author. He treasured it. The suit was later dismissed. 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. It was the final stop for a group that for nearly 10 years had fascinated and, in the end, horrified the Bay Area. Twenty years ago this month, Jones and 912 of his followers committed mass suicide at the jungle compound. The building showed few signs of its former use, although a floral design was etched in glass panes at the entrance. 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. All were visiting Jonestown on a fact-finding mission to investigate reports of abuses of members. The store owner managed to break free and grabbed a .38 caliber pistol and fired five shots at the robbers as they fled. were sort of pushed onto the path of looking for answers -- and that Jim 35 years later, remains of Jonestown victims found | kvue.com They reported the car's license plate, which linked the car to Lawton. He was appointed to the San Francisco Housing announcing her mother was Jewish. grandmother had committed suicide. These are things that haunt me still," Layton says. Funeral directors say it is not uncommon for family members to never retrieve cremated remains.
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