I heard screams and the rapid pounding of gunfire. After spending 18 years in Guyana jails and U.S. federal prisons, Larry Layton, the only man convicted on criminal charges arising from the events of November 18, 1978, was released in April 2002. His suggestion that I would learn far more from first-hand experience was in step with the way he approached politics. Her marriage was ruptured by Mr. Jopes even before it could be consummated. Before I could even comprehend what was happening, about a dozen men leapt from the tractor, leveled their automatic weapons, and fast approached. There is abundant evidence that Mr. Jones used such tactics to divide families and break up marriages. It was an implausible ending for the fiery preacher, who had curried favor among the fashionable elite of the Democratic Party. Ten years later the road came to a dead end in the jungles of Guyana. Life in Jonestown became a drab and exhausting routine of dawn-to-dusk labor in the fields, replete with swarms of voracious mosquitoes that even went after the toughened soles of people's feet. Jim Jones would order more than 900 of his followers to commit suicide. What an evil thing that Jim Jones did. Larry Layton, a former member of the People's Temple, broke into tears today at his trial on charges of conspiring to commit murder as his attorney told jurors not to make him a scapegoat ''for . Perhaps death is better than this.". He was acquitted after presenting a defense of brainwashing. But listening to one after the other after the other say the same choreographed thing made me uneasy. Copyright 2023 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. 'I was a fool to leave California, but then I was a fool long before that,' he said. The next year, his church relocated to Redwood Valley, a small community in northern California. By Robert Lindsey Special to The New York Times. One of the defectors wed interviewed claimed that Jones dyed them black. [10] In 2012, Lawton self-published Gangster Redemption, an autobiography co-written with Peter Golenbock. [27] Lawton says he regrets his time spent in prison, because he missed out on seeing his children grow up; his grandmother died, and his father became afflicted with Alzheimer's disease while he was inside. How could I not like the good things they were doing?. Like all of the tracks in the United States, it closed during the World War II years (1941-1945) and re-opened in 1946. He preached a social gospel, attracting devotees while promoting a community that did not discriminate or take into account race, background, or previous circumstances. Larry shot and wounded two people at the Port Kaituma airstrip on 18 November 1978, and he attempted to shoot a third. When cameras were rolling, he spoke of how he loved them and how there would always be a place for thembut those declarations would be followed by thinly veiled mutters about treason and liars. "When I joined Peoples Temple, I was 17 and it was like joining the Peace Corps," she says. Indescribable pain consumed me, leaving room only for a fleeting thought that I should pretend to be dead. American author, Youtuber and jewel thief, "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. -- the signal that meant an attack was imminent, an excuse for conducting a suicide drill. That date was later moved back to April 2004, after the board credited him for his time in the Georgetown jail. My ribs were broken. Larrys parole came two years earlier than his previously-scheduled release date of April 2004. View Source Suggest Edits Memorial Photos Flowers Created by: Mike Added: 6 Apr 2021 In 2009 the Rockledge Florida police used the DVDs as part of a community policing project with the money to buy the DVDs procured through asset forfeiture. He was cracking. Dr. Layton was from a world substantially different from the aristocratic one of his bride. Three witnesses appeared on Larrys behalf before a parole hearing at the federal prison at Lompoc, California, including attorney Frank Bell and Loren Buddress, the former Chief Probation Office for the Northern District of California. An uncle, Dr. James Franck, won the Nobel Prize for physics in 1935. He was not paroled from an American prison until 2002. Larry Layton was the only person prosecuted for any of the events in and around Jonestown. 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. But ladies and gentlemen, it is notLarry Layton. Dont know why youre here, but were happy to have you, Jones said. Initially discouraged, Larrys family pressed ahead with the petition for early release, collecting another 50 letters in support, including letters from former Temple members and critics, numerous religious leaders, and a former congressman. Mr. Layton was also sentenced to three concurrent terms of 15 years each in related charges of conspiring to kill Mr. Ryan and in the attempted murder of a United States diplomat in the same incident. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Also there was a strong feeling of community -- people of all races who really cared about each other.'. I dont have any money to donate, but Id like to volunteer. By all accounts, Layton was on a small plane about to leave Jonestown when the plot to kill Ryan was set in motion. '', ''In a sense,'' he said, ''it would be easy to transfer the responsibility of Jones and put it on Larry Layton.'' Layton and her mother arrived in Jonestown in December 1977. He is bewildered at how it all happened, groping for an explanation of what he called a Greek tragedy.. #3 Journalists and Defector Killed Mr. Layton was the only person charged in the United States with criminal acts arising from the events of Nov. 18, 1978, when Mr. Ryan and a group of journalists and relatives of other cult members were ambushed at the Port Kaituma airstrip in the jungle near Jonestown. At the airport, Temple members who found out she was fleeing implored her not to leave. Syringes surround one of the vats used to mix up the position drink used in the mass murder at Jonestown. He treasured it. [28] In 2013, Lawton was made an honorary police officer by the Lake St. Louis, Missouri Police Department due to his work after prison. But, she said, I had to tell somebody what was happening in Jonestown. Others, who presumably refused to drink the Kool-Aida flippant, misguided phrase I very much wish could be scrubbed from our lexiconwere injected with cyanide and other poisons. Instead he proposed a better use of law enforcement resources would be to "help inmates with drug addiction. As I took down their names, I looked over at Don Harris, who was interviewing Jones. Debbie said the couple had gone to court to try to compel the Guyanese government to intervene; Rev. I dove beneath the plane, hiding behind the wheel as bullets thumped against the metal above me. The defense rested its case without presenting witnesses. Larry Howard Layton, 80, of Green Valley, AZ passed away December 10, 2020 from complications of COVID-19. Her involvement in the cult, he said, was useful activity, taking care of poor people; she said so much that she looked down at wealth and had guilt feelings, and Jim Jones helped her get rid of them. [28] Often he appears discussing crimes in the media as an expert on robberies. A growing body of constituents known as the Concerned Relatives wrote Congressman Ryan with increasing alarm about their daughters or sons who had accompanied the charismatic demagogue to Guyana. I was later told that he had been shot 45 times. Deborah nursed her mother and tried to conceal that a physician had told her the cancer was fatal. He was born in the mountains of West Virginia, between White Sulphur Springs and Charleston, to a family that had helped settle Virginia 225 years earlier and claimed ancestors datmg from the Mayflower. Mr. Layton was also convicted of conspiracy in the attempted murder of Richard C. Dwyer, the deputy chief of the United States mission to Guyana, who was among those wounded at the airstrip. Initially she was allowed to recuperate in a cabin of her own, but later she was moved into a crowded dormitorystyle cabin with other elderly women. Repeatedly, the defectors mentioned forced participation in mass-suicide rehearsals known as the White Night trials.. Her father, a wealthy banker in Hamburg, and her mother would be marched off at gunpoint to a train bound for a concentration camp. The tumult of the late 60s and early 70s had left masses of people searching for a greater sense of security and purpose. After a few weeks, Layton grew "accustomed to the unusual smells in the food and drink. SAN FRANCISCO Larry Layton was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison for his role in conspiring to murder Rep. Leo Ryan in Guyana in 1978. Last year, Mrs. Layton became ill, and the diagnosis was what she feared most cancer. In a cabin with about six women from the Temple, I took a top bunk, sweating as a downpour opened up outside. [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. the attorney said. John Ford. Politics: Liberal. I was beaten once a month. Oh my God: Its true. All I could think was I am not going to make Grandma live through my funeral. But he ordered them separated before they had consummated the marriage, and Mr. Blakey eventually left California to join the party establishing the cult's Guyana settlement. I'm so desperately tired. 'A Tremendous Amount of Guilt'. 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. 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.". Mrs. Layton was convinced the man had been cured by Mr. Jones, who is known to have faked such cures by presenting chicken and cattle entrails as cancerous tissue he claimed to have removed. The store owner managed to break free and grabbed a .38 caliber pistol and fired five shots at the robbers as they fled. [37], Lawton is an advocate for prisoners and their rights, and comments on the justice system. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. The "Greeting Committee" promptly confiscated all their clothes and belongings and, most important, their passports. [23][24] Lawton later said he was the biggest jewel thief of the 1980s and 90s operating within the United States of America. [43] He also hosted a local talk radio show. Congressman Ryans body was probably 15 feet away. He was to use the skill when the flock made its planned migration to the Guyana settlement, which Jones already had picked out and named Jonestown. One, Karen Layton, died in the carnage at Jonestown. On the plane to Guyana, Nov. 18, 1978. Lawton was critical of the move, saying that "[c]hain gangs send a bad message about [the US]." Breathing heavily, I pulled myself to my feet, stumbled to the planes baggage compartment and took shelter. 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. Subsequently, he said, she urged him to have an affair. Later, Jones also became enamoured of the new Mrs. Layton and soon added her, too, to his growing harem of temple members. This site houses a variety of PDF documents. ''I feel a tremendous amount of guilt and remorse for the events that happened,'' he said. In the summer of 1977, after an expose of Peoples Temple in New West magazine, Jones and his followers fled to Guyana. "[2] He was critical of Brevard County stopping letters to inmates in 2013. My recovery continuedthough that very word is not an accurate description of the aftermath of being shot. 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. It was just a matter of time. They recovered and with the help of friends managed to reach Italy, later coming to the United States. Lawrence Robert Lawton (born October 3, 1961) is an American ex-convict, author, paralegal, motivational speaker, and YouTuber. With the camp surrounded by his armed guards, he told his followers to give the medicinegrape FlavorAid and Kool-Aid laced with cyanide and tranquilizersto the children and the elderly first. We worked quickly to locate and speak to the individuals whose families had contacted our office and had been campaigning for their return. Last spring Deborah decided she had to escape. 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. Her book "Seductive Poison" will be in bookstores in November. "I was ready to be overwhelmed by emotion," she says, "but when we got into the area, it just wasn't there. Anyone can read what you share. Later, after being barred from the university as a Jew, Lisa took training as physical therapist, which was permitted by the Nazis. Subsequently, she arranged to leave the settlement on an errand for Mr. Jones and left Guyana on May 13. Jim Jones, and 912 of his followers died by poison and gunfire in mass killings and suicides. I noticed an elderly woman stuffing pieces of bacon into her pockets; the ample spread was just another showpiece. It was utter pandemonium. 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. Jones then gave Layton permission to remarry a woman named Karen Tow. 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. [1][2], In 2007, he started the Reality Check Program to help educate at-risk youths on the consequences of breaking the law. Nevertheless, in 1991, a parole board ruled that Larry would have to serve 20 years, and set his release date for 2006. Mr. Ryan, three journalists and a cult defector were killed and 11 others were wounded. She carne back from that meeting in a state of shock, as if she had seen a ghost, her husband recalled. In the weeks leading up to the White House decision on the petition, a number of former congressmen and religious leaders including Rev. 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. The U.S. trial was confined to the question of whether he plotted to kill Ryan and U.S. diplomat Richard Dwyer. The letters were presented during the hearing which resulted in a recommendation for Larrys release. Deborah Layton is now 45, lives in an elegant house in Piedmont and takes her 12-year-old daughter to play in soccer games. Debbie stood in line to drink the red liquid that she was told would kill her in a matter of minutes. Last May, while serving Mr. Jones as a trusted aide, she escaped from Jonestown and tried in vain to alert the world that he was preparing for a mass suicide in order to establish a place for himself in history. Leo Ryan wanted answers. I barely got a wink of sleep. After that trip, I remember telling myself that never again would I witness such violence at such close range. ref: Sparkle Lee Larry Layton 40-36 Tony Lundy 40-36 Lindsey Page 40-35 2020-01-10: Alicia Napoleon Espinosa: L-UD. Lawton gained notoriety for committing a string of jewelry store robberies along the Atlantic Seaboard prior to his arrest in 1996. As I shook his hand, I looked at his sideburns. Her brother, Larry, later became the only person ever charged in connection with the airstrip massacre and, after two . [35][36] It also hosts an annual bowling tournament. When we touched down in Georgetown, a U.S. Air Force medevac plane was waiting. I was an orphan and my grandfather didn't let me forget it; he wanted me to work hard; he didn't want to ruin me with praise; I was supposed to be humble. It was impossible to cope with the pain. Larry's parole came two years earlier than his previously-scheduled release date of April 2004. Larry Layton: Survivor of the Peoples Temple 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. Layton, Deborah 1953- PERSONAL: Born in 1953, in Tooele, UT; daughter of Laurence Laird and Lisa Layton; married; children: Lauren. Biography Mini Bio (1) Larry Layton is known for Viva (2007) and Escape to Grizzly Mountain (2000). His mother and father were cousins who had lived on adjoining estates, and in earlier generations the family's land, worked by slaves, had been prosperous. Months previously, her husband had begun noticing that money and family possessions were dis appearing from the household. But her childhood, she said later, was not a happy one. [8], In 2019, he made a video with Vanity Fair where he analyzed fictional robberies from films such as The Italian Job and Heat. Jones responded by telling them that if any actions were taken to remove John, the entire Jonestown population would commit suicide. [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.[44][45]. Larry Layton Net Worth is $14 Million. She looks away for a moment, then brightens and starts to talk about a visit she made to Jonestown only a few months ago, accompanied by a crew from the Arts & Entertainment network, which is making a documentary on Peoples Temple. The robbers had been there the day before and returned asking about a ring. It looked staged. [29][13] The program is four hours long. 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. On May 13 28 ] Often he appears discussing crimes in the Georgetown.... Church relocated to Redwood Valley, a U.S. Air Force medevac plane was waiting we! October 3, 1961 ) is an advocate for prisoners and their Rights, and of! ( 2007 ) and Escape to Grizzly Mountain ( 2000 ) implored her not to.... Of Guyana than 900 of his followers to commit suicide publication in 1996 was later moved to. Months previously, her husband recalled, Layton was the only person charged. Decision on the petition, a number of former congressmen and religious leaders including.. An accurate description of the events in and around Jonestown, a number of congressmen... Layton and her mother arrived in Jonestown in December 1977 women from the print! 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