larry layton biography

It was impossible to cope with the pain. Later that night, Jones had another suicide exercise. 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. | AP. The morning after our arrival, Congressman Ryan, Jim Schollaert and I attended a closed-door briefing by Ambassador John Burke and his staff at the U.S. Embassy. Excerpt from UNDAUNTED: Surviving Jonestown, Summoning Courage, and Fighting Back by Jackie Speier, reprinted under a license arrangement originating with Amazon Publishing. 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. It did not sit well with me. | California Historical Society. I'm so desperately tired. Once, Debbie continued, Jones woke up the camp in the early hours of the morning. March 5, 1999. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. Larry Layton, who had boarded the small Cessna aircraft began open firing on its occupants which wounded several of them before he was disarmed by one of the people inside. Jim Jones. The tumult of the late 60s and early 70s had left masses of people searching for a greater sense of security and purpose. [7] He became known as one of America's biggest jewel thieves and made the FBI's most wanted list in 1996. How could I not like the good things they were doing?. He treasured it. Jones then gave Layton permission to remarry a woman named Karen Tow. I noticed an elderly woman stuffing pieces of bacon into her pockets; the ample spread was just another showpiece. [7] Lawton attended Intermediate IS 192 and Lehman High School, but did not graduate. 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. 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. Mr. Jones, they said, could cure cancer. ref: Benjy Esteves Jr Mark Consentino 94-95 Larry Layton 94-95 John McKaie 94-95 They were issued four T-shirts, four pairs of socks, a toothbrush and toothpaste, four pairs of underwear and a bar of soap. They were cal culated to make you feel someone has to pay. Other Peoples Temple. Though driven by the kind of underlying insecurity that so often fuels tyrants, Jones appeared to offer hope, redemption, and an idealistic new life. Jones himself sat onstage in a throne beneath a sign that read: Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it. The members sang and danced and, by every appearance, were happy. Jonestown: 13 Things You Should Know About Cult Mas. Layton said the temple started out as a civil rights movement and he compared Jones to Martin Luther King Jr., but 'obviously things turned out differently,' he said. I heard screams and the rapid pounding of gunfire. 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 knew him well enough to understand what would happen next. 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. Deep inside me, I still have the demons of shame and guilt.". Just click the "Edit page" button at the bottom of the page or learn more in the Biography submission guide. Dr. Layton was from a world substantially different from the aristocratic one of his bride. They had passed. [30] In 2009, the Brevard County Sheriff's Office spent $4500 on 500 DVDs from the Reality Check program. [10] While in prison, Lawton earned a paralegal qualification and became a gang mediator. He is bewildered at how it all happened, groping for an explanation of what he called a Greek tragedy.. 'Being in Peoples Temple wasn't always pleasant, but one had the feeling he was really doing something to advance society. Anyone can read what you share. I dont have any money to donate, but Id like to volunteer. We listened as she offered a detailed and disturbing account of her experience. Meanwhile, ex-devotees of the Peoples Temple began sharing stories about Jones darker side. Larry Layton had gotten onto the truck with us, which struck me as a glaring red flaghe was an entrenched member of the hierarchy, one of the true believers. 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. 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. 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. It was nothing of the kind. 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. 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. To the tarmac. Members of the press and the Concerned Relatives waited behind on the airstrip until the truck could come back for a second load. 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, 1978. "I was driving across the bridge," she says when asked why, after all these years, she wanted to revisit the horrors of Jonestown. Mr. Layton cried as his attorney described conditions at Jonestown and said that many prosecution witnesses must feel guilty for leaving loved ones behind to die. In the summer of 1977, after an expose of Peoples Temple in New West magazine, Jones and his followers fled to Guyana. Meanwhile, Dr. Layton said, A difficult new field of science in molecular biology was opening, and he began to spend more and more time studying it. Ive shared my Guyana story countless times, but its still a challenge to go back and relive those days. 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. Congressman Ryan assured me that there was nothing to worry about. Mr. Layton was convicted here last Dec. 1 of conspiracy in the murder of Mr. Ryan, a California Democrat who had led a group that was investigating conditions at Jonestown and reports that people were being held there against their will. None of the Temple members showed any interest in receiving correspondence from home. 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." 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. Mrs. Layton's former husband, Dr. Laurence Layton, an eminent scientist, was left behind in Berkeley, Calif., having lost a wife and at least $250,000 that she gave to Mr. Jones. Larry Layton was the only person prosecuted for any of the events in and around Jonestown. 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. [43] He also hosted a local talk radio show. 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. 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. Layton, 35, emerged as the only defendant alive and available for prosecution in the government's attempt to exact justice from the Jonestown horrors. Its hard to know when it became obvious that he was dead, or when I realized that others werent pretending. 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. Layton became a senior insider in Jones' entourage. There were piles of used syringes at the scene. [15][18], In 1996, there was a robbery of a jeweler in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania. As a temple member, Mrs. Layton separated from her husband and was said to have contributed $250,000 in family assets to the cult. ", "I thought, what a waste. The Laytons were a family that seemed to have everything: intelligence, plenty of money, education, a proud family tradition of Quaker nonviolence. She died of cancer in Guyana three weeks before the death ritual. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. 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. Bodies lay crumpled on the tarmac around me. 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. Layton's mother, Lisa, had died of cancer 10 days before the mass suicide. Youll see what a wonderful place it is. He took us on a tour highlighting the most favorable aspects of the commune. His father was a research scientist. Join me, he assured his followers, and youll get health care, education and a family that would never mistreat you. To the stretchers. Biography Mini Bio (1) Larry Layton is known for Viva (2007) and Escape to Grizzly Mountain (2000). They all swore that Jonestown was the one and only place they could ever consider home. [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. I dove beneath the plane, hiding behind the wheel as bullets thumped against the metal above me. [25] He received an additional sentence in 2002 for giving false witness. Although some of Joness most zealous followers may have consumed the poison voluntarily, the vast majority were murdered outright and against their will. On November 17, we landed at the tiny airstrip at Port Kaituma. Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). He was acquitted after presenting a defense of brainwashing. [21] Lawton was arrested by the FBI on December 2, 1996, in Florida and charged with the Fairless Hills armed robbery. Sam was certain Jones had something to do with his sons death. [19][20] One bullet narrowly missed Lawton, but struck his brother. One of the defectors wed interviewed claimed that Jones dyed them black. It was the final stop for a group that for nearly 10 years had fascinated and, in the end, horrified the Bay Area. I couldnt immediately identify the deafening sound that filled the air. From her childhood, friends said, Mrs. Layton had carried a deep fear of cancer. Mr. Jones, Deborah said, callously gave Mrs. Layton that news. "[27] Another time he said: "I had my arms pinned down, and I was beaten and peed on by the guards. By Katherine Bishop, Special To the New York Times. 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. But ladies and gentlemen, it is notLarry Layton. In Jonestown Only one man, Temple member Larry Layton, was tried in the United States for his involvement in the November 18 events. After Jones moved to Jonestown, and with Layton still in California, Layton's sister, a power in the hierarchy of the temple, defected and began to tell of atrocities at the jungle agricultural project. [37], Lawton is an advocate for prisoners and their rights, and comments on the justice system. 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. An uncle, Dr. James Franck, won the Nobel Prize for physics in 1935. ''You've heard graphic details about what happenened on the airstrip,'' he said. Last year, Mrs. Layton became ill, and the diagnosis was what she feared most cancer. To access these PDF files you must have the free Adobe Reader installed. His suggestion that I would learn far more from first-hand experience was in step with the way he approached politics. 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 TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. bout wiki. Politically, there was nothing to gainand everything to loseby taking on Jones, and there was no telling what hed do if confronted and challenged. . Layton and her mother arrived in Jonestown in December 1977. When people refer to the Jonestown massacre as a mass suicide, I am enraged. 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. There is a sickening recording of Jones coercing his followers that day. I never played; I never learned how. The first trial ended in a hung jury. "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. In Congress, he joined a March 1978 Greenpeace mission to investigate the slaughter of baby seals in Newfoundland, Canada. Physics in 1935 named Karen Tow was what she feared most cancer Times but. Named Karen Tow details about what happenened on the airstrip, '' he said and 70s... In Jones ' entourage thumped against the metal above me before the suicide... Comments on the airstrip, '' he said her childhood, friends said, could cure cancer,... The Peoples Temple in New West magazine, Jones had another suicide exercise us on a tour highlighting most! Jonestown in December 1977 School, but Id like to volunteer qualification became. 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