Grenada

[Peter Lemkin]

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The Black Hole of Guyana
The Untold Story of the Jonestown Massacre
by John Judge
1985
You Know the Official Version
But Just Suppose
It Didn't Happen That Way...
Who Was Jim Jones?
What Was Jonestown?
One Too Many Jonestowns
The Links to U.S. Intelligence Agencies
The Strange Connection
to the Murder of Martin Luther King
Aftermath
SOURCES


The ultimate victims of mind control at Jonestown are the
American people. If we fail to look beyond the constructed
images given us by the television and the press, then our
consciousness is manipulated, just as well as the Jonestown
victims' was. Facing nuclear annihilation, may see the current
militarism of the Reagan policies, and military training itself, as
the real "mass suicide cult." If the discrepancy between the
truth of Jonestown and the official version can be so great,
truth of Jonestown and the official version can be so great,
what other lies have we been told about major events?
History is precious. In a democracy, knowledge must be
accessible for informed consent to function. Hiding or distorting
history behind "national security" leaves the public as the final
enemy of the government. Democratic process cannot operate
on "need to know." Otherwise we live in the 1984 envisioned
by Orwell's projections and we must heed his warning that
those who control the past control the future.
The real tragedy of Jonestown is not only that it occurred, but
that so few chose to ask themselves why or how, so few
sought to find out the facts behind the bizarre tale used to
explain away the death of more than 900 people, and that so
many will continue to be blind to the grim reality of our
intelligence agencies. In the long run, the truth will come out.
Only our complicity in the deception continues to dishonor the
dead.
Somewhere in the concrete canyons of New York City a recently
formed rock group is using the name Jim Jones and the Suicides.
Irreverent and disarming, the name reflects the new trend in
punk rock, to take social issues head on. Cynicism about the
Jonestown deaths and its social parallels abound in the lyrics of
today's music. The messages are clear because we all know the
story.
In fact, people today recognize the name "Jonestown" more than
any other event, a full 98% of the population.[1] The television
and printed media were filled with the news for more than a
year, even though the tale read like something from the National
Enquirer tabloid. But despite all the coverage, the reality of
Jonestown and the reasons behind the bizarre events remain a
mystery. The details have faded from memory for most of us
since November 18, 1978, but not the outlines. Think back a
moment and you'll remember.
You Know the Official Version
A fanatic religious leader in California led a multiracial
community into the jungles of remote Guyana to establish a
socialist utopia. The People's Temple, his church, was in the
heart of San Francisco and drew poor people, social activists,
Blacks and Hispanics, young and old. The message was racial
harmony and justice, and criticism of the hypocrisy of the world
around his followers.[2]
The Temple rose in a vacuum of leadership at the end of an era.
The political confrontations of the 60s were almost over, and
religious cults and "personal transformation" were on the rise.
Those who had preached a similar message on the political soap
box were gone, burnt out, discredited, or dead. The counterculture
had apparently degenerated into drugs and violence.
Charlie Manson was the only visible image of the period.
Suddenly, religion seemed to offer a last hope.[3]
Even before they left for the Jonestown site, the People's Temple
members were subjects of local scandal in the news.[4] Jim Jones
claimed these exposés were attacks on their newly-found
religion, and used them as an excuse to move most of the
members to Guyana.[5] But disturbing reports continued to
surround Jones, and soon came to the attention of congressional
members like Leo Ryan. Stories of beatings, kidnapping, sexual
abuse and mysterious deaths leaked out in the press.[6] Ryan
decided to go to Guyana and investigate the situation for
himself. The nightmare began.[7]
Isolated on the tiny airstrip at Port Kaituma, Ryan and several
reporters in his group were murdered. Then came the almost
unbelievable "White Night," a mass suicide pact of the Jonestown
camp. A community made up mostly of Blacks and women drank
cyanide from paper cups of Kool-Aid, adults and children alike
died and fell around the main pavilion. Jones himself was shot in
the head, an apparent suicide. For days, the body count
mounted, from 400 to nearly 1,000. The bodies were flown to
the United States and later cremated or buried in mass graves.[8]
Temple member Larry Layton is still facing charges of conspiracy
in Ryan's murder. Ryan was recently awarded a posthumous
Medal of Honor, and was the first Congress member to die in the
line of duty.[9]
Pete Hammill called the corpses "all the loose change of the
sixties."[10] The effect was electric. Any alternative to the current
system was seen as futile, if not deadly. Protest only led to police
riots and political assassination. Alternative life styles and drugs
led to "creepy-crawly" communes and violent murders.[11] And
religious experiments led to cults and suicide. Social utopias
were dreams that turned into nightmares. The television urged
us to go back to "The Happy Days" of the apolitical 50s. The
message was, get a job, and go back to church.[12] The
unyielding nuclear threat generated only nihilism and
hopelessness. There was no answer but death, no exit from the
grisly future. The new ethic was personal success, aerobics,
material consumption, a return to "American values," and the
"moral majority" white Christian world. The official message was
clear.
But Just Suppose It
Didn't Happen That Way...
The headlines the day of the massacre read: "Cult Dies in South
American Jungle: 400 Die in Mass Suicide, 700 Flee into
Jungle."[13] By all accounts in the press, as well as People's
Temple statements there were at least 1,100 people at
Jonestown.[14] There were 809 adult passports found there, and
reports of 300 children (276 found among the dead, and 210
never identified). The headline figures from the first day add to
the same number: 1,100.[15] The original body count done by the
Guyanese was 408, and this figure was initially agreed to by U.S.
Army authorities on site.[16] However, over the next few days, the
total of reported dead began to rise quickly. The Army made a
series of misleading and openly false statements about the
discrepancy. The new total, which was the official final count,
was given almost a week later by American authorities as 913.[17]
A total of 16 survivors were reported to have returned to the
U.S.[18] Where were the others?
At their first press conference, the Americans claimed that the
Guyanese "could not count." These local people had carried out
the gruesome job of counting the bodies, and later assisted
American troops in the process of poking holes in the flesh lest
they explode from the gasses of decay.[19] Then the Americans
proposed another theory -- they had missed seeing a pile of
bodies at the back of the pavilion. The structure was the size of a
small house, and they had been at the scene for days. Finally, we
were given the official reason for the discrepancy -- bodies had
fallen on top of other bodies, adults covering children.[20]
fallen on top of other bodies, adults covering children.[20]
It was a simple, if morbid, arithmetic that led to the first
suspicions. The 408 bodies discovered at first count would have
to be able to cover 505 bodies for a total of 913. In addition,
those who first worked on the bodies would have been unlikely
to miss bodies lying beneath each other since each body had to
be punctured. Eighty-two of the bodies first found were those of
children, reducing the number that could have been hidden
below others.[21] A search of nearly 150 photographs, aerial and
close-up, fails to show even one body lying under another,
much less 500.[22]
It seemed the first reports were true, 400 had died, and 700 had
fled to the jungle. The American authorities claimed to have
searched for people who had escaped, but found no evidence of
any in the surrounding area.[23] At least a hundred Guyanese
troops were among the first to arrive, and they were ordered to
search the jungle for survivors.[24] In the area, at the same time,
British Black Watch troops were on "training exercises," with
nearly 600 of their best-trained commandos. Soon, American
Green Berets were on site as well.[25] The presence of these
soldiers, specially trained in covert killing operations, may
explain the increasing numbers of bodies that appeared.
Most of the photographs show the bodies in neat rows, face
down. There are few exceptions. Close shots indicate drag
marks, as though the bodies were positioned by someone after
death.[26] Is it possible that the 700 who fled were rounded up
by these troops, brought back to Jonestown and added to the
body count?[27]
If so, the bodies would indicate the cause of death. A new word
was coined by the media, "suicide-murder." But which was it?[28]
Autopsies and forensic science are a developing art. The
detectives of death use a variety of scientific methods and clues
to determine how people die, when they expire, and the specific
cause of death. Dr. Mootoo, the top Guyanese pathologist, was
at Jonestown within hours after the massacre. Refusing the
assistance of U.S. pathologists, he accompanied the teams that
counted the dead, examined the bodies, and worked to identify
the deceased. While the American press screamed about the
"Kool-Aid Suicides," Dr. Mootoo was reaching a much different
opinion.[29]
There are certain signs that show the types of poisons that lead
to the end of life. Cyanide blocks the messages from the brain to
to the end of life. Cyanide blocks the messages from the brain to
the muscles by changing body chemistry in the central nervous
system. Even the "involuntary" functions like breathing and
heartbeat get mixed neural signals. It is a painful death, breath
coming in spurts. The other muscles spasm, limbs twist and
contort. The facial muscles draw back into a deadly grin, called
"cyanide rictus."[30] All these telling signs were absent in the
Jonestown dead. Limbs were limp and relaxed, and the few
visible faces showed no sign of distortion.[31]
Instead, Dr. Mootoo found fresh needle marks at the back of the
left shoulder blades of 80-90% of the victims.[32] Others had
been shot or strangled. One survivor reported that those who
resisted were forced by armed guards.[33] The gun that
reportedly shot Jim Jones was lying nearly 200 feet from his
body, not a likely suicide weapon.[34] As Chief Medical Examiner,
Mootoo's testimony to the Guyanese grand jury investigating
Jonestown led to their conclusion that all but three of the people
were murdered by "persons unknown." Only two had committed
suicide they said.[35] Several pictures show the gun-shot wounds
on the bodies as well.[36] The U.S. Army spokesman, Lt. Col.
Schuler, said, "No autopsies are needed. The cause of death is
not an issue here." The forensic doctors who later did autopsies
at Dover, Delaware, were never made aware of Dr. Mootoo's
findings.[37]
There are other indications that the Guyanese government
participated with American authorities in a cover-up of the real
story, despite their own findings. One good example was
Guyanese Police Chief Lloyd Barker, who interfered with
investigations, helped "recover" 2.5 million for the Guyanese
government, and was often the first to officially announce the
cover stories relating to suicide, body counts and survivors.[38]
Among the first to the scene were the wife of Guyanese Prime
Minister Forbes Burnham and his Deputy Prime Minister, Ptolemy
Reid. They returned from the massacre site with nearly $1
million in cash, gold and jewelry taken from the buildings and
from the dead. Inexplicably, one of Burnham's political party
secretaries had visited the site of the massacre only hours before
it occurred.[39] When Shirley Field Ridley, Guyanese Minister of
Information, announced the change in the body count to the
shocked Guyanese parliament, she refused to answer further
questions. Other representatives began to point a finger of
shame at Ridley and the Burnham government, and the local
press dubbed the scandal "Templegate." All accused them of
taking a ghoulish payoff.[40]
Perhaps more significantly, the Americans brought in 16 huge
C-131 cargo planes, but claimed they could only carry 36
caskets in each one. These aircraft can carry tanks, trucks,
troops and ammunition all in one load.[41] At the scene, bodies
were stripped of identification, including the medical wrist tags
visible in many early photos.[42] Dust-off operations during
Vietnam clearly demonstrated that the military is capable of
moving hundreds of bodies in a short period.[43] Instead, they
took nearly a week to bring back the Jonestown dead, bringing in
the majority at the end of the period.[44] The corpses, rotting in
the heat, made autopsy impossible.[45] At one point, the remains
of 183 people arrived in 82 caskets. Although the Guyanese had
identified 174 bodies at the site, only 17 (later 46) were
tentatively identified at the massive military mortuary in Dover,
Delaware.[46]
Isolated there, hundreds of miles from their families who might
have visited the bodies at a similar mortuary in Oakland that was
used during Vietnam, many of the dead were eventually
cremated.[47] Press was excluded, and even family members had
difficulty getting access to the remains.[48] Officials in New Jersey
began to complain that state coroners were excluded, and that
the military coroners appointed were illegally performing
cremations.[49] One of the top forensic body identification
experts, who later was brought in to work on the Iranian raid
casualties, was denied repeated requests to assist.[50] In
December, the President of the National Association of Medical
Examiners complained in an open letter to the U.S. military that
they "badly botched" procedures, and that a simple fluid autopsy
was never performed at the point of discovery. Decomposition,
embalming and cremation made further forensic work
impossible.[51] The unorthodox method of identification
attempted, to remove the skin from the finger tip and slip it over
a gloved finger, would not have stood up in court.[52]
The long delay made it impossible to reconstruct the event. As
noted, these military doctors were unaware of Dr. Mootoo's
conclusions. Several civilian pathology experts said they
"shuddered at the ineptness" of the military, and that their
autopsy method was "doing it backwards." But in official
statements, the U.S. attempted to discredit the Guyanese grand
jury findings, saying they had uncovered "few facts."[53]
Guyanese troops, and police who had arrived with American
Embassy official Richard Dwyer, also failed to defend
Congressman Leo Ryan and others who came to Guyana with
Congressman Leo Ryan and others who came to Guyana with
him when they were shot down in cold blood at the Port Kaituma
airstrip, even though the troops were nearby with machine guns
at the ready.[54] Although Temple member Larry Layton has been
charged with the murders of Congressman Ryan, Temple
defector Patricia Parks, and press reporters Greg Robinson, Don
Harris and Bob Brown, he was not in a position to shoot them.[55]
Blocked from boarding Ryan's twin engine Otter, he had entered
another plane nearby. Once inside, he pulled out a gun and
wounded two Temple followers, before being disarmed.[56] The
others were clearly killed by armed men who descended from a
tractor trailer at the scene, after opening fire. Witnesses
described them as "zombies," walking mechanically, without
emotion, and "looking through you, not at you" as they
murdered.[57] Only certain people were killed, and the selection
was clearly planned. Certain wounded people, like Ryan's aide
Jackie Speiers, were not harmed further, but the killers made
sure that Ryan and the newsmen were dead. In some cases they
shot people, already wounded, directly in the head.[58] These
gunmen were never finally identified, and may have been under
Layton's command. They may not have been among the
Jonestown dead.[59]
At the Jonestown site, survivors described a special group of
Jones' followers who were allowed to carry weapons and money,
and to come and go from the camp. These people were all white,
mostly males.[60] They ate better and worked less than the
others, and they served as an armed guard to enforce discipline,
control labor and restrict movement.[61] Among them were Jones'
top lieutenants, including George Phillip Blakey. Blakey and
others regularly visited Georgetown, Guyana and made trips in
their sea-going boat, the Cudjoe. He was privileged to be aboard
the boat when the murders occurred.[62] This special armed
guard survived the massacre. Many were trained and
programmed killers, like the "zombies" who attacked Ryan. Some
were used as mercenaries in Africa, and elsewhere.[63] The dead
were 90% women, and 80% Blacks.[64] It is unlikely that men
armed with guns and modern crossbows would give up control
and willingly be injected with poisons. It is much more likely that
they forced nearly 400 people to die by injection, and then
assisted in the murder of 500 more who attempted to escape.
One survivor clearly heard people cheering 45 minutes after the
massacre. Despite government claims, they are not accounted
for, nor is their location known.[65]
Back in California, People's Temple members openly admitted
that they feared they were targeted by a "hit squad," and the
that they feared they were targeted by a "hit squad," and the
Temple was surrounded for some time by local police forces.[66]
During that period, two members of the elite guard from
Jonestown returned and were allowed into the Temple by
police.[67] The survivors who rode to Port Kaituma with Leo Ryan
complained when Larry Layton boarded the truck, "He's not one
of us."[68] Rumors also persisted that a "death list" of U.S.
officials existed, and some survivors verified in testimony to the
San Francisco grand jury.[69] A congressional aide was quoted in
the AP wires on May 19, 1979, "There are 120 white,
brainwashed assassins out from Jonestown awaiting the trigger
word to pick up their hit."[70]
Other survivors included Mark Lane and Charles Garry, lawyers
for People's Temple who managed to escape the massacre
somehow.[71] In addition to the 16 who officially returned with
the Ryan party, others managed to reach Georgetown and come
back home.[72] However, there have been continuing suspicious
murders of those people here. Jeannie and Al Mills, who
intended to write a book about Jones, were murdered at home,
bound and shot.[73] Some evidence indicates a connection
between the Jonestown operation and the murders of Mayor
Moscone and Harvey Milk by police agent Dan White.[74] Another
Jonestown survivor was shot near his home in Detroit by
unidentified killers.[75] Yet another was involved in a mass
murder of school children in Los Angeles.[76] Anyone who
survived such massive slaughter must be somewhat suspect. The
fact that the press never even spoke about nearly 200 survivors
raises serious doubts.
Who Was Jim Jones?
In order to understand the strange events surrounding
Jonestown, we must begin with a history of the people involved.
The official story of a religious fanatic and his idealist followers
doesn't make sense in light of the evidence of murders, armed
killers and autopsy cover-ups. If it happened the way we were
told, there should be no reason to try to hide the facts from the
public, and full investigation into the deaths at Jonestown, and
the murder of Leo Ryan would have been welcomed. What did
happen is something else again.
Jim Jones grew up in Lynn, in southern Indiana. His father was an
active member of the local Ku Klux Klan that infest that area.[77]
His friends found him a little strange, and he was interested in
preaching the Bible and religious rituals.[78] Perhaps more
preaching the Bible and religious rituals.[78] Perhaps more
important was his boyhood friendship with Dan Mitrione,
confirmed by local residents.[79] In the early 50s, Jones set out to
be a religious minister, and was ordained at one point by a
Christian denomination in Indianapolis.[80] It was during this
period that he met and married his lifelong mate, Marceline.[81]
He also had a small business selling monkeys, purchased from
the research department at Indiana State University in
Bloomington.[82]
A Bible-thumper and faith healer, Jones put on revivalist tent
shows in the area, and worked close to Richmond, Indiana.
Mitrione, his friend, worked as chief of police there, and kept
him from being arrested or run out of town.[83] According to
those close to him, he used wet chicken livers as evidence of
"cancers" he was removing by "divine powers."[84] His landlady
called him "a gangster who used a Bible instead of a gun."[85] His
church followers included Charles Beikman, a Green Beret who
was to stay with him to the end.[86] Beikman was later charged
with the murders of several Temple members in Georgetown,
following the massacre.[87]
Dan Mitrione, Jones' friend, moved on to the CIA-financed
International Police Academy, where police were trained in
counter-insurgency and torture techniques from around the
world.[88] Jones, a poor, itinerant preacher, suddenly had money
in 1961 for a trip to "minister" in Brazil, and he took his family
with him.[89] By this time, he had "adopted" Beikman, and eight
children, both Black and white.[90] His neighbors in Brazil
distrusted him. He told them he worked with U.S. Navy
Intelligence. His transportation and groceries were being
provided by the U.S. Embassy as was the large house he lived
in.[91] His son, Stephan, commented that he made regular trips to
Belo Horizonte, site of the CIA headquarters in Brazil.[92] An
American police advisor, working closely with the CIA at that
point, Dan Mitrione was there as well.[93] Mitrione had risen in
the ranks quickly, and was busy training foreign police in torture
and assassination methods. He was later kidnapped by
Tupermaro guerillas in Uruguay, interrogated and murdered.[94]
Costa Gravas made a film about his death titled State of
Siege.[95] Jones returned to the United States in 1963, with
$10,000 in his pocket.[96] Recent articles indicate that Catholic
clergy are complaining about CIA funding of other denominations
for "ministry" in Brazil; perhaps Jones was an early example.[97]
With his new wealth, Jones was able to travel to California and
establish the first People's Temple in Ukiah, California, in 1965.
establish the first People's Temple in Ukiah, California, in 1965.
Guarded by dogs, electric fences and guard towers, he set up
Happy Havens Rest Home.[98] Despite a lack of trained personnel,
or proper licensing, Jones drew in many people at the camp. He
had elderly, prisoners, people from psychiatric institutions, and
150 foster children, often transferred to care at Happy Havens by
court orders.[99] He was contacted there by Christian
missionaries from World Vision, an international evangelical
order that had done espionage work for the CIA in Southeast
Asia.[100] He met "influential" members of the community and
was befriended by Walter Heady, the head of the local chapter of
the John Birch Society.[101] He used the members of his "church"
to organize local voting drives for Richard Nixon's election, and
worked closely with the republican party.[102] He was even
appointed chairman of the county grand jury.[103]
"The Messiah from Ukiah," as he was known then, met and
recruited Timothy Stoen, a Stanford graduate and member of the
city DA's office, and his wife Grace.[104] During this time, the
Layton family, Terri Buford and George Phillip Blakey and other
important members joined the Temple.[105] The camp "doctor,"
Larry Schacht, claims Jones got him off drugs and into medical
school during this period.[106] These were not just street urchins.
Buford's father was a Commander for the fleet at the
Philadelphia Navy Base for years.[107] The Laytons were a wellheeled,
aristocratic family. Dr. Layton donated at least a quartermillion
dollars to Jones. His wife son and daughter were all
members of the Temple.[108] George Blakey, who married Debbie
Layton, was from a wealthy British family. He donated $60,000
to pay the lease on the 27,000-acre Guyana site in 1974.[109]
Lisa Philips Layton had come to the U.S. from a rich Hamburg
banking family in Germany.[110] Most of the top lieutenants
around Jones were from wealthy, educated backgrounds, many
with connections to the military or intelligence agencies. These
were the people who would set up the bank accounts, complex
legal actions, and financial records that put people under the
Temple's control.[111]
Stoen was able to set up important contacts for Jones as
Assistant DA in San Francisco.[112] Jones changed his image to
that of a liberal.[113] He had spent time studying the preaching
methods of Fr. Divine in Philadelphia, and attempted to use them
in a manipulative way on the streets of San Francisco. Fr. Divine
ran a religious and charitable operation among Philadelphia's
poor Black community.[114] Jones was able to use his followers in
an election once again, this time for Mayor Moscone. Moscone
responded in 1976, putting Jones in charge of the city Housing
responded in 1976, putting Jones in charge of the city Housing
Commission.[115] In addition, many of his key followers got jobs
with the city Welfare Department and much of the recruitment to
the Temple in San Francisco came from the ranks of these
unemployed and dispossessed people.[116] Jones was introduced
to many influential liberal and radical people there, and
entertained or greeted people ranging from Roslyn Carter to
Angela Davis.[117]
The period when Jones began the Temple there marked the end
of an important political decade. Nixon's election had ushered in
a domestic intelligence dead set against the movements for
peace, civil rights and social justice. Names like COINTELPRO,
CHAOS, and OPERATION GARDEN PLOT, or the HOUSTON PLAN made the
news following in the wake of Watergate revelations.[118] Senator
Ervin called the White House plans against dissent "fascistic."[119]
These operations involved the highest levels of military and
civilian intelligence and all levels of police agencies in a fullscale
attempt to discredit, disrupt and destroy the movements
that sprang up in the 1960s. There are indications that these
plans, or the mood they created, led to the assassinations of
Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, as unacceptable "Black
Messiahs."[120]
One of the architects under then-Governor Reagan in California
was now-Attorney General Edwin Meese. He coordinated
"Operation Garden Plot" for military intelligence and all police
operations and intelligence in a period that was plagued with
violations of civil and constitutional rights.[121] Perhaps you recall
the police attacks on People's Park, the murder of many Black
Panthers and activists, the infiltration of the Free Speech
Movement and antiwar activity, and the experimentation on
prisoners at Vacaville, or the shooting of George Jackson.[122]
Meese later bragged that this activity had damaged or destroyed
the people he called "revolutionaries."[123] It was into this
situation Jones came to usurp leadership.[124]
After his arrival in Ukiah, his methods were visible to those who
took the time to investigate.[125] His armed guards wore black
uniforms and leather jackboots. His approach was one of
deception, and if that wore off, then manipulation and threats.
Loyalty to his church included signing blank sheets of paper,
later filled in with "confessions' and used for blackmail purposes,
or to extort funds.[126] Yet the vast membership he was extorting
often owned little, and he tried to milk them for everything, from
personal funds to land deeds.[127] Illegal activities were regularly
reported during this period, but either not investigated or
reported during this period, but either not investigated or
unresolved. He clearly had the cooperation of local police. Years
later, evidence would come out of charges of sexual solicitation,
mysteriously dropped.[128]
Those who sought to leave were prevented and rebuked. Local
journalist Kathy Hunter wrote in the Ukiah press about "Seven
Mysterious Deaths" of the Temple members who had argued with
Jones and attempted to leave. One of these was Maxine
Swaney.[129] Jones openly hinted to other members that he had
arranged for them to die, threatening a similar fate to others
who would be disloyal.[130] Kathy Hunter later tried to visit
Jonestown, only to be forcibly drugged by Temple guards, and
deported to Georgetown.[131] She later charged that Mark Lane
approached her, falsely identifying himself as a reporter for
Esquire, rather than as an attorney for Jim Jones. He led her to
believe he was seeking information on Jones for an exposé in the
magazine, and asked to see her evidence.
The pattern was to continue in San Francisco. In addition, Jones
required that members practice for the mysterious "White Night,"
a mass suicide ritual that would protect them from murder at the
hands of their enemies.[132] Although the new Temple had no
guards or fences to restrict members, few had other places to
live, and many had given over all they owned to Jones. They felt
trapped inside this community that preached love, but practiced
hatred.[133]
Following press exposure, and a critical article in New West
magazine, Jones became very agitated, and the number of
suicide drills increased.[134] Complaints about mistreatment by
current and ex-members began to appear in the media and
reach the ears of congressional representatives. Sam Houston, an
old friend of Leo Ryan, came to him with questions about the
untimely death of his son following his departure from the
Temple.[135] Later, Timothy and Grace Stoen would complain to
Ryan about custody of their young son, who was living with
Jones, and urge him to visit the commune.[136] Against advice of
friends and staff members, Ryan decided to take a team of
journalists to Guyana and seek the truth of the situation.[137]
Some feel that Ryan's journey there was planned and expected,
and used as a convenient excuse to set up his murder. Others
feel that this unexpected violation of secrecy around Jonestown
set off the spark that led to the mass murder. In either case, it
marked the beginning of the end for Ryan and Jones.[138]
At one point, to show his powers, Jones arranged to be shot in
the heart in front of the congregation. Dragged to a back room,
apparently wounded and bleeding, he returned a moment later
alive and well. While this may have been more of his stage antics
to prompt believers' faith it may also have marked the end of Jim
Jones.[139] For undisclosed reasons, Jones had and used
"doubles."[140] This is very unusual for a religious leader, but
quite common in intelligence operations.[141]
Even the death and identification of Jim Jones were peculiar. He
was apparently shot by another person at the camp.[142] Photos
of his body do not show identifying tattoos on his chest. The
body and face are not clearly recognizable due to bloating and
discoloration.[143] The FBI reportedly checked his fingerprints
twice, a seemingly futile gesture since it is a precise operation. A
more logical route would have been to check dental records.[144]
Several researchers familiar with the case feel that the body may
not have been Jones. Even if the person at the site was one of the
"doubles," it does not mean Jones is still alive. He may have been
killed at an earlier point.
What Was Jonestown?
According to one story, Jones was seeking a place on earth that
would survive the effects of nuclear war, relying only on an
article in Esquire magazine for his list.[145] The real reason for
his locations in Brazil, California, Guyana and elsewhere deserve
more scrutiny.[146] At one point Jones wanted to set up in
Grenada, and he invited then-Prime Minister Sir Eric Gairy to visit
the Temple in San Francisco.[147] He invested $200,000 in the
Grenada National Bank in 1977 to pave the way, and some
$76,000 was still there after the massacre.[148]
His final choice, the Matthew's Ridge section in Guyana is an
interesting one. It was originally the site of a Union Carbide
bauxite and manganese mine, and Jones used the dock they left
behind.[149] At an earlier point, it had been one of seven possible
sites chosen for the relocation of the Jews after World War II.[150]
Plans to inhabit the jungles of Guyana's interior with cheap labor
date back to 1919.[151] Resources buried there are among the
richest in the world, and include manganese, diamonds, gold,
bauxite and uranium.[152] Forbes Burnham, the Prime Minister,
had participated in a scheme to repatriate Blacks from the UK to
work in the area. Like all earlier attempts, it failed.[153]
Once chosen, the site was leased and worked on by a select crew
of Temple members in preparation for the arrival of the body of
the church. The work was done in cooperation with Burnham and
the U.S. Embassy there.[154] But if these were idealists seeking a
better life, their arrival in "Utopia" was a strange welcome. Piled
into busses in San Francisco, they had driven to Florida. From
there, Pan American charter planes delivered them to
Guyana.[155] When they arrived at the airport, the Blacks were
taken off the plane, bound and gagged.[156] The deception had
finally been stripped bare of all pretense. The Blacks were so
isolated and controlled that neighbors as close as five miles from
the site did not know that Blacks lived at Jonestown. The only
public representatives seen in Guyana were white.[157] Guyanese
children were "bought" also.[158]
According to survivors' reports, they entered a virtual slave labor
camp. Worked for 16 to 18 hours daily, they were forced to live
in cramped quarters on minimum rations, usually rice, bread and
sometimes rancid meat. Kept on a schedule of physical and
mental exhaustion, they were also forced to stay awake at night
and listen to lectures by Jones. Threats and abuse became more
common.[159] The camp medical staff under Dr. Lawrence
Schacht was known to perform painful suturing without
anaesthetic. They administered drugs, and kept daily medical
records.[160] Infractions of the rules or disloyalty led to
increasingly harsh punishments, including forced drugging,
sensory isolation in an underground box, physical torture and
public sexual rape and humiliation. Beatings and verbal abuse
were commonplace. Only the special guards were treated
humanely and fed decently.[161] People with serious injuries were
flown out, but few ever returned.[162] Perhaps the motto at
Jonestown should have been the same as the one at Auschwitz,
developed by Larry Schacht's namesake, Dr. Hjalmar Schacht, the
Nazi Minister of Economics, "Arheit Macht Frei," or "Work Will
Make You Free." Guyana even considered setting up an
"Auschwitz-like museum" at the site, but abandoned the
idea.[163]
By this point, Jones had amassed incredible wealth. Press
estimates ranged from $26 million to $2 billion, including bank
accounts, foreign investments and real estate. Accounts were set
up worldwide by key members, often in the personal name of
certain people in the Temple.[164] Much of this money, listed
publicly after the massacre, disappeared mysteriously. It was a
fortune far too large to have come from membership alone. The
receivership set up by the government settled on a total of $10
million. Of special interest were the Swiss bank accounts opened
million. Of special interest were the Swiss bank accounts opened
in Panama, the money taken from the camp, and the extensive
investments in Barclay's Bank.[165] Other sources of income
included the German banking family of Lisa Philips Layton,
Larry's mother.[166] Also, close to $65,000 a month income was
claimed to come from welfare and social security checks for 199
members, sent to the Temple followers and signed over to
Jones.[167] In addition, there are indications that Blakey and other
members were supplementing the Temple funds with
international smuggling of guns and drugs.[168] At one point,
Charles Garry noted that Jones and his community were "literally
sitting on a gold mine." Mineral distribution maps of Guyana
suggest he was right.[169]
To comprehend this well-financed, sinister operation, we must
abandon the myth that this was a religious commune and study
instead the history that led to its formation. Jonestown was an
experiment, part of a 30-year program called MK-ULTRA, the CIA
and military intelligence code name for mind control.[170] A close
study of Senator Ervin's 1974 report, Individual Rights and the
Government's Role in Behavior Modification, shows that these
agencies had certain "target populations" in mind, for both
individual and mass control. Blacks, women, prisoners, the
elderly, the young, and inmates of psychiatric wards were
selected as "potentially violent."[171] There were plans in
California at the time for a Center for the Study and Reduction of
Violence, expanding on the horrific work of Dr. José Delgado,
Drs. Mark and Ervin, and Dr. Jolly West, experts in implantation,
psychosurgery, and tranquilizers. The guinea pigs were to be
drawn from the ranks of the "target populations," and taken to
an isolated military missile base in California.[172] In that same
period, Jones began to move his Temple members to Jonestown.
The were the exact population selected for such tests.[173]
The meticulous daily notes and drug records kept by Larry
Schacht disappeared, but evidence did not.[174] The history of MKULTRA
and its sister programs (MK-DELTA, ARTICHOKE, BLUEBIRD, etc.)
records a combination of drugs, drug mixtures, electroshock and
torture as methods for control. The desired results ranged from
temporary and permanent amnesia, uninhibited confessions, and
creation of second personalities, to programmed assassins and
preconditioned suicidal urges. One goal was the ability to control
mass populations, especially for cheap labor.[175] Dr. Delgado
told Congress that he hoped for a future where a technology
would control workers in the field and troops at war with
electronic remote signals. He found it hard to understand why
people would complain about electrodes implanted in their
people would complain about electrodes implanted in their
brains to make them "both happy and productive."[176]
On the scene at Jonestown, Guyanese troops discovered a large
cache of drugs, enough to drug the entire population of
Georgetown, Guyana (well over 200,000)[177] for more than a
year. According to survivors, these were being used regularly "to
control" a population of only 1,100 people.[178] One footlocker
contained 11,000 doses of thorazine, a dangerous tranquilizer.
Drugs used in the testing for MK-ULTRA were found in
abundance, including sodium pentathol (a truth serum), chloral
hydrate (a hypnotic), demerol, thalium (confuses thinking), and
many others.[179] Schacht had supplies of haliopareael and
largatil as well, two other major tranquilizers.[180] The actual
description of life at Jonestown is that of a tightly run
concentration camp, complete with medical and psychiatric
experimentation. The stresses and isolation of the victims is
typical of sophisticated brainwashing techniques. The drugs and
special tortures add an additional experimental aspect to the
horror.[181] This more clearly explains the medical tags on the
bodies, and why they had to be removed. It also suggests an
additional motive for frustrating any chemical autopsies, since
these drugs would have been found in the system of the dead.
The story of Jonestown is that of a gruesome experiment, not a
religious utopian society. On the eve of the massacre, Forbes
Burnham was reportedly converted to "born again" Christianity
by members of the Full Gospel Christian Businessman's
Association, including Lionel Luckhoo, a Temple lawyer in
Guyana.[182] This same group, based in California, also
reportedly converted Guatemalan dictator Rios Montt prior to his
massacres there and they were in touch with Jim Jones in
Ukiah.[183] They currently conduct the White House prayer
breakfasts for Mr. Reagan.[184] With Ryan on his way to
Jonestown, the seal of secrecy was broken. In a desperate
attempt to test their conditioning methods, the Jonestown elite
apparently tried to implement a real suicide drill.[185] Clearly, it
led to a revolt, and the majority of people fled, unaware that
there were people waiting to catch them.
One Too Many Jonestowns
Author Don Freed, an associate of Mark Lane, said that Martin
Luther King, "if he could see Johnstown would recognize it as the
next step in his agenda, and he would say, one, two, three, many
more Jonestowns."[186] Strangely enough, almost every map of
more Jonestowns."[186] Strangely enough, almost every map of
Guyana in the major press located Jonestown at a different place
following the killings. One map even shows a second site in the
area called "Johnstown."[187] Perhaps there were multiple camps
and Leo Ryan was only shown the one they hoped he would see.
In any case, the Jonestown model survives, and similar camps,
and their sinister designs, show up in many places.
Inside Guyana itself, approximately 25 miles to the south of
Matthews Ridge, is a community called Hilltown, named after
religious leader Rabbi Hill. Hill has used the names Abraham
Israel and Rabbi Emmanuel Washington. Hilltown, set up about
the same time as Jonestown, followed the departure of David Hill,
who was known in Cleveland, a fugitive of the U.S. courts. Hill
rules with an "iron fist" over some 8,000 Black people from
Guyana and America who believe they are the Lost Tribe of Israel
and the real Hebrews of Biblical prophecy.[188] Used as strongarm
troops, and "internal mercenaries" to insure Burnham's
election, as were Jonestown members, the Hilltown people were
allowed to clear the Jonestown site of shoes and unused
weapons, both in short supply in Guyana.[189] Hill says his
followers would gladly kill themselves at his command, but he
would survive since, unlike Jones, he is "in control."[190]
Similar camps were reported at the time in the Philippines.
Perhaps the best known example is the fascist torture camp in
Chile known as Colonia Dignidad. Also a religious cult built
around a single individual, this one came from Germany to Chile
in 1961. In both cases, the camp was their "Agricultural
Experiment." Sealed and protected by the dreaded Chilean DINA
police, Colonia Dignidad serves as a torture chamber for political
dissidents. To the Jonestown monstrosities, they have added
dogs specially trained to attack human genitals.[191] The
operations there have included the heavy hand of decapitation
specialist Michael Townley Welch, an American CIA agent, as well
as reported visits by Nazi war criminals Dr. Josef Mengele and
Martin Bormann. Currently, another such campsite exists at
Pisagua, Chile.[192] Temple member Jeannie Mills, now dead,
reported having seen actual films of a Chilean torture camp while
at Jonestown. The only source possible at the time was the
Chilean fascists themselves.[193]
In the current period, Jonestown is being "repopulated" with
100,000 Laotian Hmong people. Many of them grew opium for
CIA money in Southeast Asia. Over 1,000 reside there already
under a scheme designed by Billy Graham's nephew Ernest, and
members of the Federation of Evangelical Ministries Association
members of the Federation of Evangelical Ministries Association
in Wheaton, Illinois (World Vision, World Medical Relief,
Samaritan's Purse, and Carl McIntyre's International Council of
Christian Churches).[194] Similar plans devised by the Peace Corps
included moving inner-city Blacks from America to Jamaica, and
other Third World countries. And World Relief attempted to move
the population of the Island of Dominica to Jonestown.[195] It is
only a matter of time before another Jonestown will be exposed,
perhaps leading again to massive slaughter.
The Links to U.S. Intelligence Agencies
Our story so far has hinted at connections to U.S. intelligence,
such as the long-term friendship of Jones and CIA associate Dan
Mitrione. But the ties are much more direct when a full picture of
the operation is revealed. To start with, the history of Forbes
Burnham's rise to power in Guyana is fraught with the clear
implication of a CIA coup d'état to oust troublesome independent
leader Cheddi Jagan.[196] In addition, the press and other
evidence indicated the presence of a CIA agent on the scene at
the time of the massacre. This man, Richard Dwyer, was working
as Deputy Chief of Mission for the U.S. Embassy in Guyana.[197]
Identified in Who's Who in the CIA, he has been involved since
1959, and was last stationed in Martinique.[198] Present at the
camp site and the airport strip, his accounts were used by the
State Department to confirm the death of Leo Ryan. At the
massacre, Jones said, "Get Dwyer out of here" just before the
killings began.[199]
Other Embassy personnel, who knew the situation at Jonestown
well, were also connected to intelligence work. U.S. Ambassador
John Burke, who served in the CIA with Dwyer in Thailand, was an
Embassy official described by Philip Agee as working for the CIA
since 1963. A Reagan appointee to the CIA, he is still employed
by the Agency, usually on State Department assignments.[200]
Burke tried to stop Ryan's investigation.[201] Also at the Embassy
was Chief Consular officer Richard McCoy, described as "close to
Jones," who worked for military intelligence and was "on loan"
from the Defense Department at the time of the massacre.[202]
According to a standard source, "The U.S. embassy in
Georgetown housed the Georgetown CIA station. It now appears
that the majority and perhaps all of the embassy officials were
CIA officers operating under State Department covers . . ."[203]
Dan Webber, who was sent to the site of the massacre the day
after, was also named as CIA.[204] Not only did the State
Department conceal all reports of violations at Jonestown from
Department conceal all reports of violations at Jonestown from
Congressman Leo Ryan, but the Embassy regularly provided
Jones with copies of all congressional inquiries under the
Freedom of Information Act.[205]
Ryan had challenged the Agency's overseas operations before, as
a member of the House Committee responsible for oversight on
intelligence. He was an author of the controversial Hughes-Ryan
Amendment that would have required CIA disclosure in advance
to the congressional committees of all planned covert
operations. The Amendment was defeated shortly after his
death.[206]
American intelligence agencies have a sordid history of
cooperative relations with Nazi war criminals and international
fascism.[207] In light of this, consider the curious ties of the
family members of the top lieutenants to Jim Jones. The Layton
family is one example. Dr. Laurence Layton was Chief of
Chemical and Biological Warfare Research at Dugway Proving
Grounds in Utah, for many years, and later worked as Director of
Missile and Satellite Development at the Navy Propellant Division,
Indian Head, Maryland.[208] His wife, Lisa, had come from a rich
German family. Her father, Hugo, had represented I.G. Farben as
a stockbroker.[209] Her stories about hiding her Jewish past from
her children for most of her life, and her parents' escape from a
train heading for a Nazi concentration camp seem shallow, as do
Dr. Layton's Quaker religious beliefs. The same family sent
money to Jonestown regularly.[210] Their daughter, Debbie, met
and married George Philip Blakey in an exclusive private school
in England. Blakey's parents have extensive stock holdings in
Solvay drugs, a division of the Nazi cartel I.G. Farben.[211] He also
contributed financially.[212]
Terri Buford's father, Admiral Charles T. Buford, worked with
Navy Intelligence.[213] In addition, Blakey was reportedly running
mercenaries from Jonestown to CIA-backed UNITA forces in
Angola.[214] Maria Katsaris' father was a minister with the Greek
Orthodox Church, a common conduit of CIA fundings, and Maris
claimed she had proof he was CIA. She was shot in the head, and
her death was ruled a suicide, but at one point Charles Beikman
was charged with killing her.[215] On their return to the United
States, the "official" survivors were represented by attorney
Joseph Blatchford who had been named prior to that time in a
scandal involving CIA infiltration of the Peace Corps.[216] Almost
everywhere you look at Jonestown, U.S. intelligence and fascism
rear their ugly heads.
The connection of intelligence agencies to cults is nothing new.
A simple but revealing example is the Unification Church, tied to
both the Korean CIA (i.e., American CIA in Korea), and the
international fascist network known as the World Anti-
Communist League (WACL). The Moonies hosted WACL's first
international conference.[217] What distinguished Jonestown was
both the level of control and the openly sinister involvement. It
was imperative that they cover their tracks.[218]
Maria Katsaris sent Michael Prokes, Tim Carter, and another
guard out at the last minute with $500,000 cash in a suitcase,
and instructions for a drop point. Her note inside suggests the
funds were destined for the Soviet Union.[219] Prokes later shot
himself at a San Francisco press conference, where he claimed to
be an FBI informant.[220] Others reported meeting with KGB agents
and plans to move to Russia.[221] This disinformation was part of
a "red smear" to be used if they had to abandon the operation.
The Soviet Union had no interest in the money and even less in
Jonestown. The cash was recovered by the Guyanese
government.[222]
Their hidden funding may include more intelligence links. A
mysterious account in Panama, totaling nearly $5 million in the
name of an "Associacion Pro Religiosa do San Pedro, S.A." was
located.[223] This unknown Religious Association of St. Peter was
probably one of the twelve phony companies set up by
Archbishop Paul Marcinkus to hide the illegal investments of
Vatican funds through the scandal-ridden Banco
Ambrosiano.[224] A few days after the story broke about the
accounts, the President of Panama, and most of the government
resigned, Roberto Calvi of Banco Ambrosiano was murdered, and
the Jonestown account disappeared from public scrutiny and
court record.[225]
The direct orders to cover up the cause of death came from the
top levels of the American government. Zbigniew Brezezinsky
delegated to Robert Pastor, and he in turn ordered Lt. Col.
Gordon Sumner to strip the bodies of identity.[226] Pastor is now
Deputy Director of the CIA.[227] One can only wonder how many
others tied to the Jonestown operation were similarly promoted.
The Strange Connection
to the Murder of Martin Luther King
One of the persistent problems in researching Jonestown is that
it seems to lead to so many other criminal activities, each with
it seems to lead to so many other criminal activities, each with
its own complex history and cast of characters. Perhaps the most
disturbing of these is the connection that appears repeatedly
between the characters in the Jonestown story and the key
people involved in the murder and investigating of Martin Luther
King.
The first clue to this link appeared in the personal histories of
the members of the Ryan investigation team who were so
selectively and deliberately killed at Port Kaituma. Don Harris, a
veteran NBC reporter, had been the only network newsman on
the scene to cover Martin Luther King's activity in Memphis at the
time of King's assassination. He had interviewed key witnesses at
the site. His coverage of the urban riots that followed won him
an Emmy award.[228] Gregory Robinson, a "fearless" journalist
from the San Francisco Examiner, had photographed the same
riots in Washington, D.C. When he was approached for copies of
the films by Justice Department officials, he threw the negatives
into the Potomac river.[229]
The role of Mark Lane, who served as attorney for Jim Jones, is
even more clearly intertwined.[230] Lane had co-authored a book
with Dick Gregory, claiming FBI complicity in the King
murder.[231] He was hired as the attorney for James Earl Ray,
accused assassin, when Ray testified before the House Select
Committee on Assassinations about King.[232] Prior to this
testimony, Ray was involved in an unusual escape plot at Brushy
Mountain State Prison.[233] The prisoner who had helped engineer
the escape plot was later inexplicably offered an early, parole by
members of the Tennessee Governor's office. These officials, and
Governor Blanton himself, were to come under close public
scrutiny and face legal charges in regard to bribes taken to
arrange illegal early pardons for prisoners.[234]
One of the people living at Jonestown was ex-FBI agent Wesley
Swearington, who at least publicly condemned the COINTELPRO
operations and other abuses, based on stolen classified
documents, at the Jonestown site. Lane had reportedly met with
him there at least a year before the massacre. Terri Buford said
the documents were passed on to Charles Garry. Lane used
information from Swearingen in his thesis on the FBI and King's
murder. Swearingen later served as a key witness in suits against
the Justice Department brought by the Socialist Workers
Party.[235] When Larry Flynt, the flamboyant publisher of Hustler
magazine, offered a, $1 million reward leading to the capture
and conviction of the John F. Kennedy killers, the long distance
number listed to collect information and leads was being
number listed to collect information and leads was being
answered by Mark Lane and Wesley Swearingen.[236]
With help from officials in Tennessee, Governor Blanton's office,
Lane managed to get legal custody of a woman who had been
incarcerated in the Tennessee state psychiatric system for nearly
eight years.[237] This woman, Grace Walden Stephens, had been a
witness in the King murder.[238] She was living at the time in
Memphis in a rooming house across from the hotel when Martin
Luther King was shot.[239] The official version of events had Ray
located in the common bathroom of the rooming house, and
claimed he used a rifle to murder King from that window.[240]
Grace Stephens did, indeed, see a man run from the bathroom,
past her door and down to the street below.[241] A rifle, later
linked circumstantially to James Earl Ray, was found inside a
bundle at the base of the rooming house stairs, and identified as
the murder weapon.[242] But Grace, who saw the man clearly,
refused to identify him as Ray when shown photographs by the
FBI.[243] Her testimony was never introduced at the trial. The FBI
relied, instead, on the word of her common law husband, Charles
Stephens, who was drunk and unconscious at the time of the
incident.[244] Her persistence in saying that it was not James Earl
Ray was used at her mental competency hearings as evidence
against her, and she disappeared into the psychiatric system.[245]
Grace Walden Stephens took up residence in Memphis with Lane,
her custodian, and Terri Buford, a key Temple member who had
returned to the U.S. before the killings to live with Lane.[246]
While arranging for her to testify before the Select Committee on
Ray's behalf, Lane and Buford were plotting another fate for
Grace Stephens. Notes from Buford to Jones, found in the
aftermath of the killings, discussed arrangements with Lane to
move Grace Stephens to Jonestown.[247] The problem that
remained was lack of a passport, but Buford suggested either
getting a passport on the black market, or using the passport of
former Temple member Maxine Swaney.[248] Swaney, dead for
nearly 2-1/2 years since her departure from the Ukiah camp,
was in no position to argue and Jones apparently kept her
passport with him.[249] Whether Grace ever arrived at Jonestown
is unclear.
Lane was also forced to leave Ray in the midst of testimony to
the Select Committee when he got word that Ryan was planning
to visit. Lane had attempted to discourage the trip earlier in a
vaguely threatening letter.[250] Now he rushed to be sure he
arrived with the group.[251] At the scene, he failed to warn Ryan
and others, knowing that the sandwiches and other food might
and others, knowing that the sandwiches and other food might
be drugged, but refrained from eating it himself.[252] Later,
claiming that he and Charles Garry would write the official
history of the "revolutionary suicide," Lane was allowed to leave
the pieces of underwear to mark their way back to
Georgetown.[253] If true, it seems an unlikely method if they were
in any fear of pursuit. They had heard gunfire and screams back
at the camp.[254] Lane was reportedly well aware of the forced
drugging and suicide drills at Jonestown before Ryan arrived.[255]
Another important figure in the murder of Martin Luther King
was his mother, Alberta. A few weeks after the first public
announcement by Coretta Scott King that she believed her
husband's murder was part of a conspiracy, Mrs. Alberta King
was brutally shot to death in Atlanta, while attending church
services.[256] Anyone who had seen the physical wounds suffered
by King might have been an adverse witness to the official
version, since the Wound angles did not match the ballistic
direction of a shot from the rooming house.[257] Her death also
closely coincided with the reopening of the Tennessee state court
review of Ray's conviction based on a guilty plea, required by a
6th Circuit decision.[258] The judge in that case reportedly
refused to allow witnesses from beyond a 100-mile radius from
the courtroom.[259]
The man convicted of shooting King's mother was Marcus Wayne
Chenault. His emotional affect following the murder was
unusual. Grinning, he asked if he had hit anyone.[260] He had
reportedly been dropped off at the church by people he knew in
Ohio.[261] While at Ohio State University, he was part of a group
known as "the Troop," run by a Black minister and gun collector
who used the name Rabbi Emmanuel Israel. This man, described
in the press as a "mentor" for Chenault, left the area immediately
after the shooting.[262] In the same period, Rabbi Hill traveled
from Ohio to Guyana and set up Hilltown, using similar aliases,
and preaching the same message of a "black Hebrew elite."[263]
Chenault confided to SCLC leaders that he was one of many
killers who were working to assassinate a long list of Black
leadership. The names he said were on this list coincided with
similar "death lists" distributed by the KKK, and linked to the
COINTELPRO operations in the 60s.[264]
The real backgrounds and identities of Marcus Wayne Chenault
and Rabbi Hill may never be discovered. But one thing is certain:
Martin Luther King Would never had countenanced the
preachings of Jim Jones, had he lived to hear them.[265]
Aftermath
In the face of such horror, it may seem little compensation to
know that a part of the truth has been unearthed. But for the
families and some of the Survivors, the truth, however painful, is
the only path to being relieved of the burden of their doubts. It's
hard to believe that President Carter was calling on us at the
time not to "overreact." The idea that a large community of Black
people would not only stand by and be poisoned at the
suggestion of Jim Jones, but would allow their children to be
murdered first, is a monstrous lie, and a racist insult.[266] We
now know that the most direct description of Jonestown is that it
was a Black genocide plan. One Temple director, Joyce Shaw,
described the Jonestown massacre as, "some kind of horrible
government experiments, or some sort of sick racial thing, a
plan like that of the Germans to exterminate Blacks."[267] If we
refuse to look further into this nightmarish event, there will be
more Jonestowns to come. They will move from Guyana to our
own back yard.
The cast of characters is neither dead nor inactive. Key members
of the armed guard were ordered to be on board the Temple
Ship, Cudjoe -- at the hour of the massacre they were on a
supply run to Trinidad. George Phillip Blakey phoned his fatherin-
law, Dr. Lawrence Layton, from Panama after the event.[268] At
least ten members of the Temple remained on the boat, and set
up a new community in Trinidad while Nigel Slingger, a Grenada
businessman and insurance broker for Jonestown, repaired the
400-ton shipping vessel. Then Charles Touchette, Paul McCann,
Stephan Jones, and George Blakey set up an "open house" in
Grenada with the others. McCann spoke about starting a
shipping company to "finance the continued work of the original
Temple."[269]
That "work" may have included the mysterious operations of the
mental hospital in Grenada that eluded government security by
promising free medical care.[270] The hospital as operated by Sir
Geoffrey Bourne, Chancellor of the St. George's University
Medical School, was also staffed by his son Dr. Peter Bourne.[271]
His son's history includes work with psychological experiments
and USAID in Vietnam, the methadone clinics in the U.S., and a
drug scandal in the Carter White House.[272] The mental hospital
was the only structure bombed during the U.S. invasion of
Grenada in 1983. This was part of a plan to put Sir Eric Gairy
back in power.[273] Were additional experiments going on at the
back in power.[273] Were additional experiments going on at the
site?[274]
In addition, the killers of Leo Ryan and others at Port Kaituma
were never accounted for fully. The trial of Larry Layton was
mishandled by the Guyanese courts, and the U.S. system as
well.[275] No adequate evidentiary hearings have occurred either
at the trial or in state and congressional reviews. The Jonestown
killers, trained assassins and mercenaries, are not on trial. They
might be working in Africa or Central America. Their
participation in Jonestown can be used as an "explanation" for
their involvement in later murders here, such as the case of the
attack on school children in Los Angeles.[276] They should be
named and located.
The money behind Jonestown was never fully examined or
recovered. The court receivership only collected a fraction. The
bulk went to pay back military operations and burial costs.
Families of the dead were awarded only minimal amounts.[277]
Some filed suit, unsuccessfully, to learn more about the
circumstances of the deaths, and who was responsible. Joe
Holsinger, Leo Ryan's close friend and assistant, studied the case
for two years and reached the same unnerving conclusions:
these people were murdered, there was evidence of a mass
mind-control experiment, and the top levels of civilian and
military intelligence were involved.[278] He worked with Ryan's
family members to prove the corruption and injustice, but they
could barely afford the immense court costs and case
preparation. Their suit, as well as a similar one brought by exmembers
and families of the victims, had to be dropped for lack
of funds.[279]
The international operations of World Vision and the related
evangelical groups continue unabashed. World Vision official
John W. Hinckley, Sr. was on his way to a Guatemalan water
project run by the organization on the day his son shot at
president Reagan.[280] A mysterious "double" of Hinckley, Jr., a
man named Richardson, followed Hinckley's path from Colorado
to Connecticut, and even wrote love letters to Jody Foster.
Richardson was a follower of Carl McIntyre's International
Council of Christian Churches, and attended their Bible School in
Florida. He was arrested shortly after the assassination attempt
in New York's Port Au...