Bodies lay crumpled on the tarmac around me. In a brief and halting speech to the court today, Mr. Layton expressed his regrets to the families of Mr. Ryan and the others who were killed. They reported the car's license plate, which linked the car to Lawton. From her childhood, friends said, Mrs. Layton had carried a deep fear of cancer. It felt like a Mack truck had just sped over me. Five bullets hit me from point-blank range, piercing my right arm, leg, and back. ", Looking back on it 20 years later, she says, "I put everything in denial and locked it down. Later that night, Jones had another suicide exercise. [8] Lawton later said that he used a BB gun during the robbery. Its hard to know when it became obvious that he was dead, or when I realized that others werent pretending. 2023 Alternative Considerations of Jonestown & Peoples Temple, Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple is a, The Campaign to Release Larry Layton from Federal Prison, to petition then-President Clinton to commute Larrys sentence. 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. Over the next decade, Jones moved his congregation and changed its name several times before settling on Peoples Temple around 1964. '', He said that Mr. Layton ''did not kill anybody'' at the airstrip, nor did he ''aid and abet or conspire to kill Leo Ryan.'' Jones greeted us at the compound. He was found guilty of conspiracy and aiding and abetting in the murder of Ryan and the attempted murder of U.S. embassy official Richard Dwyer and was sentenced to Read More He said that some of the recipients could be innocent. [10] Afterwards, another jewelry store in Lower Bucks County became suspicious of a person they believed was casing the place for a future robbery. [41], In 2017, he appeared in a middle school in Havelock, North Carolina to explain his prison experiences. Larry Layton, Quaker and pacifist, entered the Peoples Temple in 1968 to join the march to social justice as charted by the temple's mesmerizing leader, the Rev. All of those children. At both trials here the prosecution presented a confession signed by Mr. Layton in Guyana shortly after the killings, saying that he took ''full responsibility'' for the deaths at the airstrip but also saying, ''I don't know why I did it. It looked staged. Inquiry by Congressman. After graduating from the University of California campus at Davis in 1968 with a degree in social science, Layton and his wife moved to the Ukiah area and soon met up with the temple. [1][2], In 2007, he started the Reality Check Program to help educate at-risk youths on the consequences of breaking the law. I knew him well enough to understand what would happen next. [8][12] At one point, he purchased an Italian pizza restaurant in North Lauderdale, Florida, which he later burned down as part of an insurance fraud. Individually, their insistence would have been hard to question. Meanwhile, ex-devotees of the Peoples Temple began sharing stories about Jones darker side. Youll see what a wonderful place it is. He took us on a tour highlighting the most favorable aspects of the commune. ( 2007-01-15) [1] Jonestown: Paradise Lost is a 2007 documentary television film on the History Channel about the final days of Jonestown, the Peoples Temple, and Jim Jones. The bodies of Jones and 912 cult followers lay sprawled under the tropical trees of the commune, victims of an incredible murder-suicide rite. He said the trial was not the place to examine the deaths of 913 people at the cult's settlement in Jonestown, Guyana. Later, Jones also became enamoured of the new Mrs. Layton and soon added her, too, to his growing harem of temple members. Although his mother was of German-Jewish descent, his family practiced the Quaker faith, and Larry was the family's firmest believer, according to his brother. How could I not like the good things they were doing?. And he assigned two of his staff members to come along: Jim Schollaert and me. It made no sense that he would be trying to leave Jonestown. But I refused to spend the rest of my life as a victim of Guyanathere were too many of them. [10] He was sentenced for racketeering and robbery and spent 11 years in prison before being released in 2007. Copyright 2023 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Their daughter, after working briefly as a physical therapist in New York, went for graduate study as a therapist to Pennsylvania State University, where her uncle, Dr. Franck, was teaching. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. He said the accusation probably been inspired by Mr. Jones as part of a systematic effort to break up families in the church. Layton and her mother arrived in Jonestown in December 1977. | AP. But the moment I looked down at my own body is locked in my mind. 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. ', "O.J. The daughter of Hugo and Anita Philips, Lisa Philips Layton was born in Germany in 1915 into a family that had engaged in banking for at least 200 years. ", "I thought, what a waste. Don put it in his pocket and took a few more steps before carefully unfolding it. Also there was a strong feeling of community -- people of all races who really cared about each other.'. Larry Layton, who posed as a defector, was captured after badly wounding two people inside a plane trying to take off. [10] High school students can use the time spent in the program towards the 75 hours of community service required for the Bright Futures Scholarship Program. 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. Jones died from a bullet to the brain. [30] In 2009, the Brevard County Sheriff's Office spent $4500 on 500 DVDs from the Reality Check program. Answer (1 of 2): Above: Jonestown Before The Massacre Larry Layton was the only "armed guard" at Jonestown at the time of the massacre to outlive November 18, 1978, when all but a few dozen of the roughly 1,000 residents of Jonestown perished. In a book written by his brother, Thomas, after Ryan's death, Larry is quoted as saying he believed in the goals of the community, even though life was not always Utopian. [6][11] In 2010, Lawton filmed the pilot and sizzle reel for Lawton's Law, a reality show based on his work with at-risk youth. The night before, our delegation watched Jones followers perform a show at their compound. 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. The temple sent Layton to school for training as an X-ray technician. 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. To go back to the gunshots. 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. In the weeks leading up to the White House decision on the petition, a number of former congressmen and religious leaders including Rev. ''Look at the poor diet, the loss of weight, the physical exhaustion, the desperation, the lingering illness and death of his mother and the fear of punishment and humiliation,'' he said. After over twenty years in prison, Larry Layton was released on parole in 2002, largely due to the testimony of Vernon Gosney, one of the few survivors of the massacre, and the Federal Chief Judge, Robert F. Peckham. Deborah watched at close hand her brother's mental deterioration under Mr. Jones's oppressiveness: Larry had been very hung upon Carolyn, he loved her, and Jim took her away from him and gave him Karen, but then he took Karen away, too. 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. Though driven by the kind of underlying insecurity that so often fuels tyrants, Jones appeared to offer hope, redemption, and an idealistic new life. By Katherine Bishop, Special To the New York Times. Many hours before the plane came, somehow, word filtered in that after Jones had released his death squad to the airstrip, he had led more than 900 of his flock into his White Night of death. 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. Members of the press and the Concerned Relatives waited behind on the airstrip until the truck could come back for a second load. 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. Somehow, through the encroaching darkness of my final thoughts, I saw my 87-year-old Grandma Emma. Politics: Liberal. Its leader, the Rev. Layton's mother, Lisa, had died of cancer 10 days before the mass suicide. [23][24] Lawton later said he was the biggest jewel thief of the 1980s and 90s operating within the United States of America. Mrs. Layton moved out of their home on Labor Day 1979. In 1978, I went to Guyana on a fact-finding mission. Wed have to make multiple trips in the truck. See also Other Works | Publicity Listings | Official Sites View agent, publicist, legal and company contact details on IMDbPro Getting Started | Contributor Zone Contribute to This Page Edit page Larry Layton Personal Details Contact Info Dr. Layton was from a world substantially different from the aristocratic one of his bride. His father, an electrical engineer, died when Larry was 8 and the boy had to move in with his grandfather, a stern Methodist preacher. -- the signal that meant an attack was imminent, an excuse for conducting a suicide drill. Left-right: Jim Schollaert, Jackie Speier and Congressman Leo Ryan. [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. Jones then gave Layton permission to remarry a woman named Karen Tow. Of the more than 900 members of Joness congregation who had moved there, nearly a third were children. Ive shared my Guyana story countless times, but its still a challenge to go back and relive those days. Although some of Joness most zealous followers may have consumed the poison voluntarily, the vast majority were murdered outright and against their will. Repeatedly, the defectors mentioned forced participation in mass-suicide rehearsals known as the White Night trials.. By that time, it was obvious that some of his disciples intended to leave. Simpson skips media with early release", "Schatzkammer Dresden: "Super-GAU" im Grnen Gewlbe | DW | 26.11.2019", "Ex-jewel robber seeks redemption through mentoring", "Ex-con gives teenagers dose of prison realities", "Man plant einen Juwelenraub quasi von hinten", "Ex-Con Larry Lawton Finds Redemption in Rescuing At-Risk Youths", "Former prisoner DAREs Havelock students to make good choice", "$500,000 in 1994 2022 | Inflation Calculator", "Cops: Heist might be tied to robbery in Daytona", "Daytona police seek pair who looted jewelry store", "$480,000 in 1994 2022 | Inflation Calculator", "Jeweler helps police nab suspect in Fla", "Pearls of Wisdom: Ex-jewel thief imparts the perils of prison to the next generation", "An ex-con on how intelligence and street smarts equal a successful prison escape", "Reality Check participants get added incentive", "Larry Lawton, America's Most Notorious Jewel Thief, Just Wants To Masturbate In Prison In Peace", "Ex-Diamond Thief: Here's How $200M Heist Went Down", "Ex-con Larry Lawton to become an honorary police officer", "Cops try convict's DVD to deter teen crime", "Ex-con to receive honorary police officer title", "Young golfers, mentors join in Reality Check", "Making a difference in the lives of Youth", "Witness tampering alleged at Casey Anthony trial", "Ex-offenders face big debt challenges after prison", "Torres: Pain pills gone, heroin makes strong comeback", "D.A.R.E. [28] Often he appears discussing crimes in the media as an expert on robberies. The cover of a Jonestown promotional booklet from 1978. Deborah nursed her mother and tried to conceal that a physician had told her the cancer was fatal. After a few weeks, Layton grew "accustomed to the unusual smells in the food and drink. In 1972, Mr. Jones married Deborah Layton and Philip Blakey. Jackie Speier manages a smile as she is wheeled on a stretcher at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, Nov. 20, 1978. There were piles of used syringes at the scene. Infants cannot commit suicide. He'd work you so hard you didn't have time to complain, and he'd blackmail you; he destroyed marriages and humiliated you.. Returning to the pavilion area, I sought out other anxious-looking members. 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.". There was no movement, but I thought the others might also be playing dead. Jonestown: 13 Things You Should Know About Cult Mas. We compiled similar testimonies from other defectors who corroborated Debbies reports of physical and sexual abuse, forced labor and captivity. Last spring Deborah decided she had to escape. 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. Ryan decided that we would wait until the morning and suggested we keep a low profile until then. Until she was 20 years old, when she was denied admission to a university in Hamburg, Lisa Philips didn't know what it meant to be Jewish in Germany in 1935. 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. One night, when Mr. Jones was conducting an hourslong lecture to the commune, she arranged to be placed on duty helping to operate a shortwave radio that transmitted Mr. Jones's directives to cult members in San Francisco. The defense rested its case without presenting witnesses. My recovery continuedthough that very word is not an accurate description of the aftermath of being shot. Extradited to the U.S. after a Guyana jury found him not guilty of murder, Larry was tried twice on four charges related to the shootings, including Conspiracy to Kill a Congressman. An uncle, Dr. James Franck, won the Nobel Prize for physics in 1935. To the tarmac. Hours after the incident, the Rev. I felt my stomach knot. Almost immediately, Jones ordered Layton to Jonestown. [18], Lawton is believed to have hit around 20 to 25 jewelry stores,[11] stealing a self-estimated total of around $1518 million worth of high-value items, including watches, diamonds, and other gems. ", Crimes for which children went to the well included "stealing food from the kitchen, expressing homesickness, failing a socialism exam, or even natural childish rebelliousness.". Layton was attracted to the Utopian principles of the temple and its multi-racial flock, living and working together under the guidance of Jones, a combination professed faith-healer and leftist political prophet. While asserting that Mr. Jones was ''primarily responsible'' for the killings at the airstrip, Federal District Judge Robert F. Peckham said Mr. Layton would be eligible for parole after five years. [10] In 2012, Lawton self-published Gangster Redemption, an autobiography co-written with Peter Golenbock. As a temple member, Mrs. Layton separated from her husband and was said to have contributed $250,000 in family assets to the cult. 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. One, Karen Layton, died in the carnage at Jonestown. The suit was later dismissed. In the summer of 1978, Lisa Philips Layton died of cancer in Jonestown, Guyana, three months before the Rev. All of those people I had been standing beside, speaking to, sharing a cabin with. In a cabin with about six women from the Temple, I took a top bunk, sweating as a downpour opened up outside. ", 20 Years Later, Jonestown Survivor Confronts Horrors, LAYTON01/B/20OCT98/MN/SLF ---Deborah Layton is a survivor of Jonestown. | AP. Lawton filed a lawsuit against the prison and staff alleging that they violated his rights. 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