[31] The DVDs contained condensed versions of Lawton's program and were 67 minutes long. same time, it's because of those secrets that I think my mother and my | AP/San Francisco Examiner. The cremated remains of nine Jonestown victims were discovered in a decrepit, now-shuttered funeral home in Dover, officials said. worked her way from front yard to back painting benches, the mailbox, even Ryan traveled to Guyana after winning his fourth congressional term to investigate reports from cult defectors--including Laytons sister, Debra--that the cult was holding members against their will. But how? [8] Lawton later said that he used a BB gun during the robbery. Watch movie trailers, order food and drinks online, find luxury seating, and see showtimes of feature films and movies currently playing near you at Megaplex Theatres. [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. After two trials, he was convicted in 1986 of conspiring to murder San Mateo Representative Leo Ryan. 1970, and she was on summer vacation from the British boarding school for [10][26] While recounting his prison experiences he said: "I saw inmates stabbed and friends die" and "I saw young men raped and pimped out as prostitutes for other inmates. Larry Lawton. PIEDMONT, California (AP) -- He is. Laurence Laird Layton, a distinguished scientist whose later life was devastated by his family's involvement with the Peoples Temple cult, died Wednesday in his Emeryville home. was feted by politicians. At least 10 other Americans were wounded in the attack. But I was one of very few women who held senior staff positions in Congress at the time, and I was concerned that if I gave in to my reluctance and let a male colleague go in my place, Id be setting back women in politics. In Congress, he joined a March 1978 Greenpeace mission to investigate the slaughter of baby seals in Newfoundland, Canada. [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. fixture. Last week, though, the ashes of nine victims were found neatly packaged and clearly marked, with the names of the deceased and place of their death included on accompanying death certificates, the Delaware Division of Forensic Science said Thursday. [15][18] Local police believed there was a connection between this robbery and a robbery that took place in May 1994 in Daytona Beach, and contacted the FBI. But Layton, saying he wishes he could ease the pain of survivors of the Jonestown massacre, could be freed within five years. Personal Reflections. What episode does Luna get Ancient Fairy Dragon? Jonestown survivor Deborah Layton grew up in a house of secrets. Larry Layton later became the only person ever charged in connection with a massacre at the nearby Port Kaituma airstrip. On the plane to Guyana, Nov. 18, 1978. He was met with mostly beaming declarations led by U.S. In Jonestown, the able-bodied among the 1,000 or so residents worked the Layton had denounced his sister Debbie for defecting, telling Speier that Jonestown was "an extraordinarily good . There were piles of used syringes at the scene. 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. Then-State Assemblyman Leo J. Ryan behind the bars in a Folsom prison cell in Feb. 1970, where he spent a week living as an inmate to learn needs for reform. Five bullets hit me from point-blank range, piercing my right arm, leg, and back. He founded a free health clinic and a drug rehabilitation program, emerging as a political force. The icon which characterizes Jonestown in the public mind is a picture of a galvanized metal vat, surrounded by bloated bodies. Mr.. This time, it was not a drill. "And I thought, if I get hit by a truck, my epitaph will be, 'Jonestown survivor dies on Bay Bridge.' Mr. Layton is survived by two sons, Thomas and Larry (Laurence John Layton); two daughters, Deborah Layton and Annalisa Layton Valentine, both of Piedmont, and three grandchildren. one last, [32] By 2010, Lawton had shipped 10,000 DVDs across the country. Join me, he assured his followers, and youll get health care, education and a family that would never mistreat you. Jones, who founded his church in Indiana and moved here in 1970, relocated to Guyana, a former British colony in South America, in 1977 after critical press accounts about his politically prominent sect. Peoples Temple follower Larry Layton, center, stands with police following his arrest in the shooting of two people, including California Congressman Leo Ryan, on a remote Guyana airstrip, Nov. 18 . Dont know why youre here, but were happy to have you, Jones said. Once out, Layton sounded the alarm: Jones planned to force his followers I'm so desperately tired. Debbie stood in line to drink the red liquid that she was told would kill her in a matter of minutes. (1.8-by-1.2-meter) underground enclosure. [16] Then in October 1994, four individuals robbed a jewelry store in Palm Bay, Florida. [15] The robbers had dropped off jewelry for repairs, and later returned to rob the store. There was no movement, but I thought the others might also be playing dead. Ryan and I asked one or two Temple members at a time to come talk to us. the mass I only wish there was something I could do to ease the pain, he said, fighting to keep his voice from breaking. For seven weeks, [23][34], The superintendent of student services at Brevard Public Schools declined to use the program and questioned its effectiveness: "[w]hile the program is well-organized and well-intentioned, it does not follow the scientific evidence-based research guidelines". It turned out to be a sort of family None of those red flags made the congressman reconsider. To go back to the gunshots. [21] Lawton was arrested by the FBI on December 2, 1996, in Florida and charged with the Fairless Hills armed robbery. As the bodies were identified, the military asked about a half-dozen local funeral homes to help the families make arrangements. Why is Frank McCourt really pushing it? 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. | AP. [1][2], In 2007, he started the Reality Check Program to help educate at-risk youths on the consequences of breaking the law. 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. Anyone running afoul of Jonestowns security detail was put in a labor camp and forced to clear jungle. [15][18], In 1996, there was a robbery of a jeweler in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania. 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. As a trusted financial lieutenant for cult leader Jim Jones, she kept secrets "If I hadn't been sent to Georgetown that day (in May)," Deborah Layton says now, "I would have died in Jonestown. A year later, I applied to college, and he wrote me a letter of recommendation. Leo Ryan assured me that there was nothing to worry about. 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. Ryan had gone to Guyana to investigate reports that relatives of his San Francisco-area constituents wre being held against their will. They had passed. November 18, 1978 It made no sense that he would be . But he was acquitted, partly because witnesses would not return there from the United States. 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. Unrivaled Mac notes apps for fuss-free note-taking, 6 Actionable Tips for Improving Your Websites SEO, Copyright 2023 | WordPress Theme by MH Themes. 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. 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. Nobody joined thinking their lives would be taken.". SAN FRANCISCO . 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. One of three family members who joined the cult, he was convicted Dec. 1 of conspiring with Jones to murder Ryan, a crusading San Mateo Democrat, and of conspiring in the attack on Richard C. Dwyer, then deputy chief of the U.S. mission in Guyana. While on the phone listening to the allegations that would soon be made public, Jones scribbled a note to his aides: We leave tonight.. "I understand what these well-meaning secrets were for," Layton says. While trying to keep the peace, he had been attacked with a knife. 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. 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. 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. [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. 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. She left with her 8-month-old daughter before the massacre. [8] In 1983, having earned his GED, he left the Coast Guard and began engaging in criminal activity, mostly loan sharking and bookmaking. The cover of a Jonestown promotional booklet from 1978. I admired Ryans worthy missions, but questioned if I shared his bottomless capacity to bear witness. 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. 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. [38][5][9] In 2013, the Brevard County Jail re-introduced chain gangs as a pilot project with the goal of deterring crime. My ribs were broken. jungle. Northern California Larry now lives in Northern California.. Members of the press and the Concerned Relatives waited behind on the airstrip until the truck could come back for a second load. Most complied, although survivors described some people being shot, injected with poison, or forced to drink the deadly beverage when they tried to resist. Bodies lay crumpled on the tarmac around me. Larry Layton was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison for his role in conspiring to murder Rep. Leo Ryan in Guyana in 1978. [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. Jones, who demanded that his flock call him Father, was one of the most politically powerful people in San Francisco, wined and dined by such luminaries as Rosalynn Carter, Assemblyman Willie Brown, Mayor George Moscone and Lieutenant Governor Mervyn Dymally. and afraid. The chaos persisted until, abruptly, a silence fell. 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. Breathing heavily, I pulled myself to my feet, stumbled to the planes baggage compartment and took shelter. Once, Debbie continued, Jones woke up the camp in the early hours of the morning. Then the adults. [29][13] The program is four hours long. ", She blithely ignored the warning signs -- the fake "cancer healings" and the increasingly hostile confrontations, when Jones would scream at members of his flock for faintly perceived faults or have them paddled harshly with the "board of education.". At the pavilion for breakfast, I did my best to appear unruffled. [7] Lawton attended Intermediate IS 192 and Lehman High School, but did not graduate. That same year, Congressman Ryan read a newspaper article about a constituent of his named Sam Houston, whose son had been a member of Jim Jones Peoples Temple and, in 1976, died under suspicious circumstances after having a phone conversation in which he confessed to wanting to leave the group. The night before, our delegation watched Jones followers perform a show at their compound. became chairman in 1976. [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. ", (The night before the trip in December 1977, another secret: The Former Peoples Temple member Larry John Layton was convicted Monday of conspiring to kill a U.S. congressman and a diplomat in a 1978 jungle ambush that led to a mass murder . The government theory during the first U.S. trial in the U.S. was that Larry knew of the plot to kill Ryan and that he was involved in it. The dilapidated former funeral home in Dover had a padlock on the double front doors. I felt my stomach knot. she couldn't write. . You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. [41], In 2017, he appeared in a middle school in Havelock, North Carolina to explain his prison experiences. No names were released publicly because relatives hadn't been notified. He had completed his mission and was trying to take off from an airstrip six miles from the jungle compound of Jonestown when a trailer filled with eight armed Jones devotees pulled onto the runway and began firing. ", "Every week we're promised death, a relief from this miserable life. In the months leading up to the trip, my boss, Congressman Leo Ryan, had been contacted by worried constituents whose loved ones were members of a San Francisco-based religious group called the Peoples Temple, which had fled to South America for the promise of a utopian commune led by their preacher, Jim Jones. Oh my God: Its true. Its leader, the Rev. Clearing away those cobwebs meant writing a book -- it's called "Seductive Poison: A Jonestown Survivor's Story of Life and Death in the Peoples Temple." Whatever impelled me to send in the card changed the course of my life. After the war, Mr. Layton had a series of government jobs. Generator vs power station: Which one is right for you? -- the signal that meant an attack was imminent, an excuse for conducting a suicide drill. security guards. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. The remaining victims were cremated or buried in family cemeteries over the period of several months following the massacre. It was a mass murder. Larry Layton is a scapegoat for everyone connected with the Peoples Temple mass deaths eight years ago and had no part . She was 16 before she found out she was Jewish, 24 before she learned her Congressman Ryans body was probably 15 feet away. I was 28, lying on a dusty airplane runway in the Guyanese jungle, and dying. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Although he was indicted in San Francisco, arraignment was scheduled for New York because that is where he first landed on his return to the United States from Guyana, where he has been jailed for the past two years. I wanted to leave my daughter a legacy that wasn't that simple.". Along the way, she exorcised the family ghosts. races," hundreds of followers working to feed the hungry, house the were innocent. He said that some of the recipients could be innocent. Ryan, three journalists and a defector were killed. [44] Lawton has a YouTube channel, and he has made videos analyzing heists in movies and video games such as Grand Theft Auto V; he also plays Prison Architect. From what Ive seen, he said, there are a lot of people here who think this is the best thing that happened in their whole life. He was interrupted by manically enthusiastic cheering. 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. U.S. District Judge Robert F. Peckham recommended that parole authorities consider releasing Layton in five years. One of the defectors wed interviewed claimed that Jones dyed them black. Long-term consumption may increase the risk of obesity, diabetes, and even cancer. But this particular morning, Jones told his followers that they had to kill themselves to keep from being tortured by mercenaries who were preparing an ambush. 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. They In 1978, I went to Guyana on a fact-finding mission. Should they have any doubt of his intentions, they could look to the vibrant community of believers who echoed his sentiments and treated his words as gospel. 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. 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. Jones became active in local politics, giving money, running food programs and busing Temple members to attend rallies and get out the vote for his favored candidates. Layton was arrested shortly after the killings by Guyanese authorities and signed a confession taking responsibility for the airstrip deaths--a confession that his lawyers maintained was coerced. 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. [40] Lawton has also shown concern over the prevalence of fentanyl-laced heroin, noting that in the past dealers had tried to sell pure heroin without any additives. And it wasn't an isolated incident. He was cracking. On November 17, we landed at the tiny airstrip at Port Kaituma. about Williams spent a decade with the Peoples Temple, including three months in Jonestown, named after the group's founder, Jim Jones. Within minutes, Ryan and four others were shot dead. where her worried parents had sent her to curb adolescent rebellion. I Peoples Temple leader Jim Jones (left) shakes hands with San Francisco Mayor George Moscone (right) after being sworn in to serve on the San Francisco Housing Authority, Nov. 24, 1977. Larry Layton was the only person prosecuted for any of the events in and around Jonestown. He His following grew, and Jones became the leader of one of the first mixed-race churches in Indiana. Find showtimes and movie tickets near you at Megaplex Theatres. [7] He became known as one of America's biggest jewel thieves and made the FBI's most wanted list in 1996. As I scanned the hundreds of smiling faces, I never could have fathomed that within 24 hours, virtually every one of them would be dead. "You consistently wind up finding yourself trying to heal but having your wounds opened up again when new information is given," she said.
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