Instead, she grabbed her daughter's acrylic paints None of those red flags made the congressman reconsider. But when her own child started asking questions, Layton broke family [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. 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. [10] While in prison, Lawton earned a paralegal qualification and became a gang mediator. In 1965, after riots shook Watts, an African-American neighborhood in Los Angeles, Ryan briefly took a job there as a substitute teacher while serving in the state Assembly, and used the experience to shape education policy. It was impossible to cope with the pain. Georgetown, "I knew we'd entered a prison camp and I knew I wanted out. Long-term consumption may increase the risk of obesity, diabetes, and even cancer. They all swore that Jonestown was the one and only place they could ever consider home. [42][13], Lawton has made many media appearances. 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. In 1970, as chairman of a committee overseeing prison reform, he assumed a pseudonym and had himself booked, strip-searched and incarcerated for 10 days at Folsom State Prison, revealing his identity only when it was time to be released. By that time, it was obvious that some of his disciples intended to leave. It was an implausible ending for the fiery preacher, who had curried favor among the fashionable elite of the Democratic Party. Twelve hours had passed as I lay, teetering on deaths precipice when a light turned on inside me: The simple fact that I knew I was dying was proof that I was, indeed, still alive. It was utter pandemonium. Although some of Joness most zealous followers may have consumed the poison voluntarily, the vast majority were murdered outright and against their will. At 16, Im not sure I understood what a state assemblyman did, but when my parents received a solicitation from Leo Ryans reelection campaign in 1966, I mailed back a note: Im in high school. "It was a warm day and all of a sudden a breeze came up and the back door at the airstrip. Dick Dwyer, an embassy official, showed us a slideshow of his visit to Jonestown the previous Mayimages in which he and Jim Jones looked unnervingly chummy; images of tables filled with food, of joyful children on a swingset, of bountiful crops and an exuberant church session. [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. There was a scary side to the Peoples Temple -- beatings of fractious members, His appearance was part of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program. 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 . So many people wanted to defect that we had to call Georgetown to request an extra plane. Peckham said he was particularly struck by pleas for leniency from four jurors, two prosecution witnesses and survivors of an attack by Layton at an airstrip outside the Guyanese encampment of Jonestown. a life Her mother's cancer pain medications were taken away. to Jones at the first Peoples Temple in far Northern California, where | Amazon. Layton, 35, was scheduled for arraignment today before Magistrate John Caden in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn on charges of killing Ryan, D-Calif., who was gunned down on Nov. 18, 1978 by Peoples Temple members who wanted to block his investigation of their cult. jumped out a New York apartment window before Layton was born.). [37], Lawton is an advocate for prisoners and their rights, and comments on the justice system. Leo Ryan assured me that there was nothing to worry about. announcing her mother was Jewish. chaperone of a youth group. | AP. I knew him well enough to understand what would happen next. Almost 22 hours after the ambush, I heard the groan of a planes enginefinally our escape had arrived. encampment about 250 miles (400 kilometers) from the Guyana capital of 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. Larry Layton later became the only person ever charged in connection with a massacre at the nearby Port Kaituma airstrip. Former Jonestown cult member Larry Layton was convicted of conspiracy today in the killing of California Rep. Layton Guilty of Role in '78 Ryan Murder - Los Angeles Times [10] In 2012, Lawton self-published Gangster Redemption, an autobiography co-written with Peter Golenbock. Mr. Layton's children said his one wish in his later years was that his son, Larry, could be freed. I dont have any money to donate, but Id like to volunteer. 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. because I was too ", 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.". security guards. The Kool-Aid Man is a huge anthropomorphic pitcher filled with some red substance which may be either Kool-Aid itself, blood, or something else entirely. [38][5][9] In 2013, the Brevard County Jail re-introduced chain gangs as a pilot project with the goal of deterring crime. His suggestion that I would learn far more from first-hand experience was in step with the way he approached politics. The phrase drinking the Kool-Aid refers to followership at its worse. 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. But how? Her startling introduction to life there quickly allowed Layton to see the cracks in the facade. 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. NEW YORK -- Larry Layton, a member of Jim Jones' Peoples Temple cult, flew to New York Friday night to face arraignment for the killing of Rep. Leo Ryan in the Guyanese jungles two years ago. We heard that the church had weapons, and that Jones was paranoid and possibly on drugs. There was no movement, but I thought the others might also be playing dead. jungle. [22] Fingerprint evidence connected Lawton to the October 1994 Palm Bay heist, and he was charged with that crime as well. But Layton, saying he wishes he could ease the pain. Lawrence Robert Lawton (born October 3, 1961) is an American ex-convict, author, paralegal, motivational speaker, and YouTuber. Soon, her mother would also join the Temple. The first issue is how do we settle it to make sure the ashes are where they belong at Evergreen where everybody is," she said, referring to the cemetery that is the site of the mass grave. dangled head-first into the well late at night, Layton writes. We landed in Georgetown, Guyanas capital, on November 14, 1978. I am taking solace in knowing that Larry Layton is going to pay back society for having assassinated the first congressman ever in this country, said Assemblywoman Jackie Speier (D-San Mateo), who had accompanied Ryan on the trip as an aide. worked her way from front yard to back painting benches, the mailbox, even Layton became a senior insider in Jones' entourage. November 18, 1978 When did the Jonestown massacre occur? I just needed to hang on. he SAN FRANCISCO . Traumatizing family rifts erupted on the spot, with mothers and fathers engaged in literal tug-of-wars over their children. In 1954, he was named director of research at the Navy's munitions factory in Indian Head, Md., where he designed missile fuels. Her brother, Larry, later became the only person ever charged in connection with the airstrip massacre and, after two trials, was convicted in 1986 of conspiring to murder Ryan. Jones had ordered the ambush out of fear that Ryan would expose the cult. 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. "So we as a family all sat down and we voted him out of his job." They were naive," Layton said in a recent interview in her With heavy hearts, we announce the death of Larry Layton (Johnstown, Pennsylvania), who passed away on December 21, 2017 at the age of 55. I had no idea. [30] The Lake St. Louis police chief praised Larry's message about the consequences of going to prison and said it is not a scared straight program, noting that Lawton said "fear doesn't have a lasting impact. [39] Other issues he is concerned with include prison conditions as well as post-release debt loads and their influence on unemployed ex-convicts. Each cup of Kool-Aid has 20 grams of sugar, or to be precise, the equivalent of 5 teaspoons of sugar. Funeral directors say it is not uncommon for family members to never retrieve cremated remains. Jim Jones' compound in Guyana, a witness testified Wednesday. Although he was acquitted in Guyana, he was returned here to face charges related to the shootings of Ryan and Dwyer, who were protected under U.S. law. grandmother had committed suicide. Larry Layton Obituary. During my freshman year at UC Davis, when I told him about my major, he offered encouragement: If you really want to learn about political science, you should come and intern in my office. I did, and over the years, worked my way up from volunteer to intern to staffer to senior aide, just as he climbed from the state Assembly to the U.S. Congress. For those who don't know, Larry Layton is a man who pretended to be a Jonestown defector and asked to leave Jonestown with Leo Ryan and the NBC News crew, and Layton opened fire on the plane that was supposed to carry people from Port Kaituma back to a larger city in Guyana. | AP. I have no idea how much time passed until I turned my head and opened my eyes. She was entrusted with flights to Europe and Panama to open Temple bank accounts, where Jones stashed the millions he was taking from Temple. There is a sickening recording of Jones coercing his followers that day. | AP. Layton was 17 when her already converted brother, Larry, introduced her to Jones at the first Peoples Temple in far Northern California, where he believed he could best survive the atomic apocalypse he expected. The fact is, those who died in Jonestown were real people, with families, friends, and loved ones. Dissent was unthinkable. The Guyanese did not release Layton until now because one of his defense lawyers said his client owed him $37,000 in unpaid bills. 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. He Ive shared my Guyana story countless times, but its still a challenge to go back and relive those days. Five months later, on the night of November 18, 1978, Jones sent a gang of gunmen to an airstrip in Port Kaituma, where Representative Leo Ryan of San Mateo and a fact-finding party that had visited Jonestown were preparing to leave. It paints a convincing picture of what it was like to spend seven years in the notorious cult, only to escape a few months before the tragedy that gave Jonestown its infamous place in history as the site of the largest mass suicide in modern times. Ryan and I asked one or two Temple members at a time to come talk to us. Jim Jones, with his omnipresent dark glasses and his sweeping red robe, was the anchor of her newfound life and, like many Temple members, she was mesmerized by him. Layton was 17 when her already converted brother, Larry, introduced her Ryan joined us for the trekone of roughly two dozen of us crammed in the bed of the truck, with dozens of would-be defectors left behind, belongings packed, waiting to escape. Mr. Layton retired in 1978, at the height of the Jonestown tragedy, and never worked again. the mass [25] He received an additional sentence in 2002 for giving false witness. Mr.. Individually, their insistence would have been hard to question. He never did.". In between his trials, he lived under an assumed name in Eureka and, more recently, in San Francisco, where he sold real estate and took computer classes. "[27] Another time he said: "I had my arms pinned down, and I was beaten and peed on by the guards. If there is such a thing as a spirit or essence of people . In all, 913 died. L.A. Times Archives. [26] Lawton does not hold a degree in child psychology or criminology. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. I was kicked. rite of We didnt want a group to present a canned response or any individual to look to others for their answers. In San Francisco, his church was lauded for its social programs, and Jones efforts to feed the poor and fight segregation found receptive ears with progressive politicians. The dilapidated former funeral home in Dover had a padlock on the double front doors. They are arranged in chronological order. "It's just so sad, for me as a survivor," said Yulanda Williams, 58, now a sergeant with the San Francisco Police Department. All of those children. After the churchs initial development, it began to be based more and more on social and humanitarian efforts. He called Layton the ultimate victim of Jim Jones.. Their accounts led to an expos in New West Magazine planned for publication in summer 1977. Returning to the pavilion area, I sought out other anxious-looking members. My recovery continuedthough that very word is not an accurate description of the aftermath of being shot. Inquisitive by nature, he was a proponent of experiential legislating, preferring to go out and experience issues firsthand before he decided what to do. He had engineered complete authoritycollecting members Social Security and disability checks, and determining when and how his disciples could communicate with their families. I was feet away from Jones, close enough to hear him trying to convince people to change their minds. Excerpt from UNDAUNTED: Surviving Jonestown, Summoning Courage, and Fighting Back by Jackie Speier, reprinted under a license arrangement originating with Amazon Publishing. Most of them were sent back home," said funeral director William Torbert Sr., 79. Instead he proposed a better use of law enforcement resources would be to "help inmates with drug addiction. about While on the phone listening to the allegations that would soon be made public, Jones scribbled a note to his aides: We leave tonight.. He and four others were killed. Most were poisoned, some forcibly. 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. The building showed few signs of its former use, although a floral design was etched in glass panes at the entrance. Larry Layton was convicted in 1986 by a federal jury in San Francisco of conspiring in the 1978 murder of California congressman Leo Ryan and aiding and abetting in the attempted murder of Richard Dwyer, a U.S. diplomat wounded in the attack. Although Larry Layton must be held responsible for his actions, a just sentence requires consideration of the environment in which Layton and other members were virtually imprisoned, Peckham said. With Joness wild gaze on us, I tape-recorded affidavits of their wishes to return to the United States. Once, Debbie continued, Jones woke up the camp in the early hours of the morning. Jonestown massacre In Jonestown Only one man, Temple member Larry Layton, was tried in the United States for his involvement in the November 18 events. [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. 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. murder-suicide that shocked the world 20 years ago this month. [29][13] The program is four hours long. [23][24] Lawton later said he was the biggest jewel thief of the 1980s and 90s operating within the United States of America. Copyright 2023 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. [28] In 2013, Lawton was made an honorary police officer by the Lake St. Louis, Missouri Police Department due to his work after prison. The cover of a Jonestown promotional booklet from 1978. one last, I couldnt bear the vision of her sitting in front of my casket. Not a single person we spoke to expressed a desire to leave, not even those whose family members had flown all the way to Guyana. homeless and help addicts get clean. 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. The icon which characterizes Jonestown in the public mind is a picture of a galvanized metal vat, surrounded by bloated bodies. Some were shot by The remaining victims were cremated or buried in family cemeteries over the period of several months following the massacre. Ryan decided that we would wait until the morning and suggested we keep a low profile until then. The killings occurred shortly before more than 900 followers of Jones died in a mass suicide at Jonestown, a settlement founded by Jones in the remote Guyanese jungle of South America. He said Layton was insane at the time and was drugged by Jones with a mood-enhancing stimulant. grotesque dance of death. I did not recover my old self; bullets render that impossible. A few showers this morning with mostly cloudy conditions during the afternoon hours. The outfits were a ridiculous gimmick, and the role was clearly objectifying. Get the day's top news with our Today's Headlines newsletter, sent every weekday morning. At Port Kaituma, while I ushered the defectors onto a plane, a large red tractor-trailer rumbled onto the airstrip. He was met with mostly beaming declarations Leave a sympathy message to the family on the memorial page of Larry Layton to pay them a last tribute. Water is sufficient for hydration unless you are participating in an activity that lasts longer than one hour. At least 10 other Americans were wounded in the attack. They "[2] He was critical of Brevard County stopping letters to inmates in 2013. [2] The book is published in Italy, France, Australia, Germany, Thailand and United Kingdom. "I was driving across the bridge," she says when asked why, after all these years, she wanted to revisit the horrors of Jonestown. races," hundreds of followers working to feed the hungry, house the sat there. If convicted, Layton could receive a mandatory life sentence for Ryan's killing, up to 20 years for the attempted killing of Dwyer, and up to life on each of the two conspiracy counts. It made no sense that he would be trying to leave Jonestown. To the volatile flight home. "They would be taken to the Jonestown well in the dark of night, hung upside down by a rope around their ankles, and dunked into the water again and again while someone hidden inside the well grabbed at them to scare them. [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. broadcast Jones' voice at all hours. On Nov. 18, 1978, on a remote jungle airstrip, gunmen from the group ambushed and killed U.S. Rep. Leo Ryan of California, three newsmen and a defector from the group. Mr. Layton, who was arrested at the airstrip, was initially tried in Guyana, a small country on the northern coast of South America, on charges of attempted murder against two cult defectors in. That Nov. 17, a delegation of reporters and relatives arrived in Guyana, . 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. Jim Jones orchestrated the mass murder-suicide of Peoples Temple cult members on November 18, 1978. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. Syringes surround one of the vats used to mix up the position drink used in the mass murder at Jonestown. The next year, his church relocated to Redwood Valley, a small community in northern California. A family memorial service will be conducted at a later date. [7] In grades one through six, Lawton served as an altar boy at St. Francis de Chantal in The Bronx,[8] where he was sexually abused by a Catholic priest. 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 . Then a tractor-trailer from the People's Temple arrived, and its occupants opened fire on the entire group, including both planes. Lisa Layton, already ill with cancer, died in early November 1978. 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. Larry Layton, a passenger posing as a defector, started shooting. Several cemeteries refused to take them until the Evergreen Cemetery in Oakland, California, stepped forward in 1979 and accepted 409 bodies. She left with her 8-month-old daughter before the massacre. I would never have left Jonestown with Congressman Ryan. Increasing numbers of people approached us. He later became a world expert in the field of human allergies. First the children; poison was squirted into babies' mouths with a syringe. Leo Ryan wanted answers. Joseph Russoniello did not criticize Peckhams sentence, but in urging that Layton serve 20 years before being eligible for parole, he cited Laytons suggestion to Jones that Layton use dynamite to blow up Ryans plane and its unwanted outsiders--a fact that was not revealed until Tuesday. Loudspeakers "I was ready to be overwhelmed by emotion," she says, "but when we got into the area, it just wasn't there. into mass suicide. He pulled out a gun and shot and wounded two cult defectors. "He didn't feel good about it," his son, Thomas Layton, an anthropology professor at San Jose State University, said yesterday. [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. Don put it in his pocket and took a few more steps before carefully unfolding it. She got a job in investment banking, married, had a child, divorced. He said that some of the recipients could be innocent. Sure enough, I could tell he had. Larry Layton, who had posed as a defector and wounded two people, is serving That same day, precipitated by the shootings, over 900 members of the People's Temple Cult led by Reverend Jim Jones died in Jonestown, Guyana of mass murder and suicide. fixture. Twenty years after Jonestown, a survivor looks back. Layton and other temple members then ambushed the congressman and his party at the airstrip, according to an indictment returned against Layton last month in San Francisco. I couldnt immediately identify the deafening sound that filled the air. GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Jan. 2 (AP) A Guyanese magistrate ruled today that Larry Layton, a member of the People's Temple, must stand trial in the slaying of Representative Leo J. Ryan. Robert Bryan, who took over the case after Laytons conviction, said he hopes to win a new trial for Layton. My ribs were broken. ". Among them were Sams teenaged granddaughters. believed he could best survive the atomic apocalypse he expected. consulate officials. I was even unaffected by the rice weevils and other strange bugs we ingested daily.". Kool-Aid is high in sugar or contains artificial sweetener and has little to no nutritional value. Although he called it a very grave crime, Peckham said Layton has shown great remorse, and his actions in 1978 reflected how the cult leader, the Rev. U.S. Atty. [43] He also hosted a local talk radio show. The next day, preparing to leave with about 20 defectors, Ryan's party 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. But the moment I looked down at my own body is locked in my mind. Sept. 26, 1981 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. [31] The DVDs contained condensed versions of Lawton's program and were 67 minutes long. and ordered 912 of his followers to drink cyanide-poisoned punch in the Guyana If Layton waives his right to a hearing to establish his identity, he will be sent on to San Francisco to face the charges there. U.S. District Judge Robert F. Peckham recommended that parole authorities consider releasing Layton in five years. It was nothing of the kind. Layton faces murder conspiracy charges in the November 1978 shootings at a Guyana airstrip in which Rep. Leo Ryan, three newsmen and a temple defector were killed and several .

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