https://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/17/us/cult-member-cries-over-plea-to-jury.html. It made no sense that he would be trying to leave Jonestown. 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. ''The story of Jonestown is really the story of a world gone mad. A few Temple members stood in front of a rusty dump truck waiting to shuttle us to the compound. [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. Besides, when had a congressman ever been assassinated on foreign soil while on a congressional delegation trip? | AP. It was the final stop for a group that for nearly 10 years had fascinated and, in the end, horrified the Bay Area. [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. By the following year, Jones was making a reputation for himself in. In the weeks leading up to the White House decision on the petition, a number of former congressmen and religious leaders including Rev. In August 1979, he joined the Coast Guard[9] and took part in the Mariel boatlift. On the plane to Guyana, Nov. 18, 1978. See the article in its original context from. While he was never charged with shooting Mr. Ryan, the Government contended that Mr. Layton conspired with Mr. Jones and other cult members to kill the Congressman and others in his group to prevent them from returning to the United States with negative reports about Jonestown. After he passed legislation improving prison conditions, the inmates showed their gratitude by giving him a chess set they had sculpted from toothpaste and toilet paper. 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. 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. [21] Lawton was arrested by the FBI on December 2, 1996, in Florida and charged with the Fairless Hills armed robbery. Jones had a penchant for suddenly getting on the compound loudspeaker long after everyone had gone to bed and shouting, "White Night! The night before, our delegation watched Jones followers perform a show at their compound. 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. The two store owners were bound while two individuals robbed the store and a third acted as a lookout and the other as the getaway driver. Lawton gained notoriety for committing a string of jewelry store robberies along the Atlantic Seaboard prior to his arrest in 1996. He attended Berkeley High School and was the editor of a campus newspaper called The Liberal. To the stretchers. '', See the article in its original context from. [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]. [11] He then began robbing jewelry stores along the Atlantic Coast,[3] using his contacts within the Gambino crime family to fence the stolen merchandise. the attorney said. 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. I was feet away from Jones, close enough to hear him trying to convince people to change their minds. 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 . Leo Ryan wanted answers. When people refer to the Jonestown massacre as a mass suicide, I am enraged. I did not recover my old self; bullets render that impossible. Her mother's cancer pain medications were taken away. But, as interviews last week with family members and friends revealed, the Laytons slowly disintegrated under the pressures of family conflict, the disillusionment that gripped much of America during the 1960's, drug use, and the soothing, simplistic appeal of Mr. Jones. The robbers drew what police at the time believed were firearms, and restrained the store owner. They reported the car's license plate, which linked the car to Lawton. Chief among my concerns was how cozy Jones appeared to be with members of the embassy: How could any Jonestown resident feel safe reporting an injustice to a U.S. official who is arm in arm with Jim Jones in every image? Meanwhile, ex-devotees of the Peoples Temple began sharing stories about Jones darker side. History. Among them were George Moscone, who the Peoples Temple played a significant role in electing mayor in 1975, and Harvey Milk, the pioneering openly gay city supervisor, who went so far as to write a letter to President Jimmy Carter extolling Joness work and rebutting charges that he was abusive. We saw an impressive community with dozens of pathways, cabins, a medical center, a little school, and a large pavilion where the members congregated regularly. All of those children. "[27] Another time he said: "I had my arms pinned down, and I was beaten and peed on by the guards. [8] Lawton later said that he used a BB gun during the robbery. He said the accusation probably been inspired by Mr. Jones as part of a systematic effort to break up families in the church. His father, an electrical engineer, died when Larry was 8 and the boy had to move in with his grandfather, a stern Methodist preacher. So many people wanted to defect that we had to call Georgetown to request an extra plane. "I felt we were doing something that had meaning. The book describes the events that occurred in Jonestown, Guyana, where over 900 people lost their lives as the result of mass forced suicide, which constituted the largest loss of American civilian life (other than due to natural disasters or during the course of violence with Native Americans) in United States history until the events of Instead he proposed a better use of law enforcement resources would be to "help inmates with drug addiction. By that time, darker elements had seeped into Jones sermons. 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. The next year, his church relocated to Redwood Valley, a small community in northern California. The defense attorney urged jurors to consider conditions at Jonestown and their impact on Mr. Layton. Ryan wanted to investigate. I couldnt bear the vision of her sitting in front of my casket. Inquiry by Congressman. Jim Jones with a group of children living at Jonestown, circa 1978. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. I was 28, lying on a dusty airplane runway in the Guyanese jungle, and dying. In Jonestown Only one man, Temple member Larry Layton, was tried in the United States for his involvement in the November 18 events. Larry Layton can be an professional, known for Get away to Grizzly Hill (2000) and Viva . In 1972, Mr. Jones married Deborah Layton and Philip Blakey. While the tathiiy was unique in its deep involvment with Mr. Jones, the story of the Laytons tells a great deal about why and how hundreds of other families became tangled in his persuasive web of religion mixed with social activism. Other Peoples Temple. At Port Kaituma, while I ushered the defectors onto a plane, a large red tractor-trailer rumbled onto the airstrip. Hours later at the Jonestown emcampment, Jones led the death rite of himself and his followers. Mrs. Layton divorced her husband in 1975 and their home on the Berkeley hilltop was sold. 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. ''Why not pin this on Larry Layton, then close the book and not look at the hard questions of why Leo Ryan and all those Americans died?'' 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. But Dr. Layton denied strongly in a separate interview that he had ever been antiSemitic. We worked quickly to locate and speak to the individuals whose families had contacted our office and had been campaigning for their return. Later, Jones also became enamoured of the new Mrs. Layton and soon added her, too, to his growing harem of temple members. Infants cannot commit suicide. 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. 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. Elin Cederroos: Ocean Resort Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA. 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 cover of a Jonestown promotional booklet from 1978. Layton, Deborah 1953- PERSONAL: Born in 1953, in Tooele, UT; daughter of Laurence Laird and Lisa Layton; married; children: Lauren. The motion contends that Mr. Layton should be given a new trial because his previous defense attorneys did not know and thus failed to inform him that he faced a mandatory sentence of life in prison if convicted on the count of aiding and abetting in Mr. Ryan's murder. The hospital was not far from the People's Temple community Mr. Jones had established in Redwood Valley. In May 1978, she was sent by Jones to Georgetown to chaperone some Temple children on a cultural exchange. Original release. He was then returned to the United States and charged under a Federal statute against assassinating members of Congress and internationally protected people. [42][13], Lawton has made many media appearances. [25], Law enforcement officials and judges have supported the program. She had an extremely anxious demeanor, and we moved quickly as we went to her cabin to pack. In a cabin with about six women from the Temple, I took a top bunk, sweating as a downpour opened up outside. Jones responded by telling them that if any actions were taken to remove John, the entire Jonestown population would commit suicide. Ryan did not look or behave like your typical politician. Before I could even comprehend what was happening, about a dozen men leapt from the tractor, leveled their automatic weapons, and fast approached. Just click the "Edit page" button at the bottom of the page or learn more in the Biography submission guide. Children had their own special punishment, Layton writes. They joined. None of those red flags made the congressman reconsider. Lawrence Robert Lawton (born October 3, 1961) is an American ex-convict, author, paralegal, motivational speaker, and YouTuber. ''I feel a tremendous amount of guilt and remorse for the events that happened,'' he said. Twenty years ago this month, Jones and 912 of his followers committed mass suicide at the jungle compound. I was beaten once a month. Jones wove his way through the camp, repeating that he wasnt upset that they wanted to leave; it was just that they were doing it in the wrong way. Mr. Layton believes that his wife gave Mr. Jones at least $250,000 and possibly more; he said she had some secret accounts of her own that apparently contained money from her father. [1][2], In 2007, he started the Reality Check Program to help educate at-risk youths on the consequences of breaking the law. Among them were Sams teenaged granddaughters. Almost immediately, Jones ordered Layton to Jonestown. I never played; I never learned how. Layton's mother, Lisa, had died of cancer 10 days before the mass suicide. Officers & convicted felon give 'real talk' to Havelock Middle School students", "Real-Life Jewel Thief Breaks Down Inaccuracies of GTA 5's Jewelry Heist Mission", "Was ein Ex-Hftling zu "Prison Architect" zu sagen hat", Former Jewel Thief Reviews Famous Heist Movies, From Oceans Eleven to Heat, Posey Presents Reality Check Community Champion Award to Thomas Reed of Rockledge, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Larry_Lawton&oldid=1140595137, Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 20 February 2023, at 20:41. ", "Every week we're promised death, a relief from this miserable life. In 1996, the family and friends of Larry launched a campaign for a presidential commutation. Dr. Layton was from a world substantially different from the aristocratic one of his bride. When Deborah came home from school in England in 1971, she brought a boyfriend, George Philip Blakey, a fellow Quaker and the son of a welltodo farming family in Northumberland. Mr. Jones, Deborah said, callously gave Mrs. Layton that news. Mr. Blakey survived the killings and suicides at Jonestown; he was on a boat owned by the commune at the time of the deaths. Congressman Ryan and I were among the first shift of the delegation to climb in for the excruciatingly slow six-mile drive to the commune. Months previously, her husband had begun noticing that money and family possessions were dis appearing from the household. Ryan was gunned down by a band of temple members intent on stopping the visitors from leaving and reporting the doings of the cult to the outside world. 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. Jonestown: 13 Things You Should Know About Cult Mas. 'I was a fool to leave California, but then I was a fool long before that,' he said. Alternative Considerations of Jonestown & Peoples Temple. They visited her brother in Ukiah, listened to Mr. Jones's teachingswhich in many ways paralleled those of the Quakers and before long even Mr. Blakey's mother had flown from England to join the People's Temple for a short while. My mother had cared a lot for my father, but Jim broke it up.. I dove beneath the plane, hiding behind the wheel as bullets thumped against the metal above me. At the airport, Temple members who found out she was fleeing implored her not to leave. . ", 20 Years Later, Jonestown Survivor Confronts Horrors, LAYTON01/B/20OCT98/MN/SLF ---Deborah Layton is a survivor of Jonestown. 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. [30] In 2009, the Brevard County Sheriff's Office spent $4500 on 500 DVDs from the Reality Check program. As I took down their names, I looked over at Don Harris, who was interviewing Jones. Members of the press and the Concerned Relatives waited behind on the airstrip until the truck could come back for a second load. He said that some of the recipients could be innocent. Under the Federal parole system, a person sentenced to life in prison is not normally considered for parole until 10 years have been served. I couldnt immediately identify the deafening sound that filled the air. A second jury convicted Larry, although four jurors took what the trial judge called an unprecedented step of asking for leniency in Larrys sentencing. I asked to speak to Monica Bagby, one of the names on Dons note. '', See the article in its original context from. She arrived in London at 16, was met by some cousins and got what she would later call the biggest surprise of her life: I discovered that I was Jewish.. [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. Layton was brought to trial in Guyana on charges of attempted murder and was acquitted. But I refused to spend the rest of my life as a victim of Guyanathere were too many of them. Five bullets had ripped through me, devastating the right side of my body. The Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, better known by its informal name "Jonestown", was a remote settlement in Guyana established by the Peoples Temple, a U.S.-based cult under the leadership of Jim Jones.Jonestown became internationally infamous when, on November 18, 1978, a total of 909 people died at the settlement, at the nearby airstrip in Port Kaituma, and at a Temple-run building in . Friends of Larry Layton recall that Mr. Jones took both Carolyn and Karen from him after having the women watch him force Larry to submit to a homosexual act. That date was later moved back to April 2004, after the board credited him for his time in the Georgetown jail. 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. After she left, he discovered that she had given a number of family valuables to the People's Temple. At Penn State, still barely able to speak English, she met Laurence Layton, who was studying for a doctorate in biochemistry and needed a tutor in German. Over the next decade, Jones moved his congregation and changed its name several times before settling on Peoples Temple around 1964. The "Greeting Committee" promptly confiscated all their clothes and belongings and, most important, their passports. To the volatile flight home. Ryan and I asked one or two Temple members at a time to come talk to us. Closing the Book on Case. The spellbinding preacher had a message that attracted many disaffected people of the 1960's, and soon Carolyn had stirred her husband's sense of social activism and brought him into the group. Monica confirmed that she wanted to leave. All of those people I had been standing beside, speaking to, sharing a cabin with. 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. As soon as it became clear that we would be bringing more than one or two defectors home with us, the communal faade cracked. ''I submit they were presented to inflame you, to arouse your passions, to prejudice you. It was to be the secret of her life. Indescribable pain consumed me, leaving room only for a fleeting thought that I should pretend to be dead. But the moment I looked down at my own body is locked in my mind. The campaign succeeded in making it to the Oval Office, and seemed to be viable up until 20 January 2001, President Clintons last day in office, but Larrys name did not appear on the final list of pardons and commutations. Once, Debbie continued, Jones woke up the camp in the early hours of the morning. 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. Mrs. Layton got a large share of the proceeds, as well as money from the sale of stock they had owned Jointly; this also was given to the cult. Earlier, United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello asked Judge Peckham to sentence the 40-year-old defendant to life in prison, serving a minimum of 20 years before being considered for parole. In fact, I would have been on that truck, with a rifle. He was cracking. 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. Wiki Bio of Larry Layton net worth is updated in 2023. Larry shot and wounded two people at the Port Kaituma airstrip on 18 November 1978, and he attempted to shoot a third. Ive shared my Guyana story countless times, but its still a challenge to go back and relive those days. Mrs. Layton moved out of their home on Labor Day 1979. The parole examiner said he was deeply troubled that Larry had remained in prison for so long well in excess of the five years recommended by the sentencing judge and noted Larrys exemplary behavior while in federal custody. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. [10] Afterwards, another jewelry store in Lower Bucks County became suspicious of a person they believed was casing the place for a future robbery. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. Her childhood playmates included cousins and friends from some of the bestknown families of Germany's Jewish aristocracy, such as the Berensons and Rothschilds. Although he had no formal training as a minister and no affiliation with any organized religion, his high-octane enthusiasm and open-armed policy attracted a diverse range of followers. Lawrence Robert Lawton (born October 3, 1961) is an American ex-convict, author, paralegal, motivational speaker, and YouTuber. He was acquitted after presenting a defense of brainwashing. He said the trial was not the place to examine the deaths of 913 people at the cult's settlement in Jonestown, Guyana. Nevertheless, in 1991, a parole board ruled that Larry would have to serve 20 years, and set his release date for 2006. ", 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.". Copyright 2023 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. There was no movement, but I thought the others might also be playing dead. Lawton was critical of the move, saying that "[c]hain gangs send a bad message about [the US]." 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. ", "I thought, what a waste. I'm so desperately tired. He got a job as a student pastor at the Somerset Methodist Church in a poor, predominantly white neighborhood in Indianapolis. Born in Crete, Indiana, in 1931, Jim Jones grew up an outcast and underdog, and was fixated on being recognized as someone greater. Dr. Layton had learned of his wife's religious background after they were married, but the couple had agreed not to tell anyone, especially their children. 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. ''It is not the proper forum for answering questions about Jonestown.'' 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 U.S. trial was confined to the question of whether he plotted to kill Ryan and U.S. diplomat Richard Dwyer. Mr. Jones repeatedly sent word to her that he could cure her from Guyana, and she waited for his efforts to work. [8], In 2019, he made a video with Vanity Fair where he analyzed fictional robberies from films such as The Italian Job and Heat. 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. Bodies lay crumpled on the tarmac around me. Anyone can read what you share. From eyewitness and survivor accounts, the program recreates the last week before the mass murder-suicide on November 18, 1978. Mr. Jones also apparently widened the rift between Larry Layton and his father. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Larry Layton, a former member of the People's Temple cult, was sentenced today to life in prison for aiding and abetting in the murder of Representative Leo J. Ryan at a jungle airstrip in Guyana . Later that night, Jones had another suicide exercise. With Joness wild gaze on us, I tape-recorded affidavits of their wishes to return to the United States. bout wiki. He is also charged with conspiring to harm Richard Dwyer, a United States diplomat who was wounded in the ambush. 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. Later on, I decided I had to show them. In 1973, when Larry and Deborah Layton and their spouses were living at the Ukiah temple, an acquaintance of Mrs. Layton thought he had cancer, and her children urged Mrs. Layton to bring him to Ukiah. After his campaign received my note, I started volunteering as a Ryan Girl, part of a troop of young women clad in houndstooth bobby hats, miniskirts, black tights, black turtlenecks and bright-white boots. Her brother, Larry, later became the only person ever charged in connection with the airstrip massacre and, after two . Dr. Layton was perplexed by his wife's behavior but began sleeping beside her on the floor. Preserve these articles as they originally appeared, the entire Jonestown population would commit suicide about Cult.! Leaving larry layton biography only for a fleeting thought that I Should pretend to be the secret of her in! And belongings and, most important, their passports one of the Peoples Temple around 1964 story countless,. 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