Layton Sentenced to Life in Ryan's Death - Los Angeles Times Dissent was unthinkable. Jim Jones orchestrated the mass murder-suicide of Peoples Temple cult members on November 18, 1978. 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. I did not feel confident this was a good idea. Where is Larry Layton today? - chroniclesdengen.com We worked quickly to locate and speak to the individuals whose families had contacted our office and had been campaigning for their return. [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. [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. 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. We heard that the church had weapons, and that Jones was paranoid and possibly on drugs. View the profiles of professionals named "Larry Layton" on LinkedIn. He was jailed at the Metropolitan Correctional Center. Larry Layton, a member of Jim Jones' Peoples Temple - UPI NBC news correspondent Don Harris was part of our delegation, and was well versed on the accusations against Jones. the mass I only wish there was something I could do to ease the pain, he said, fighting to keep his voice from breaking. of 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 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 But listening to one after the other after the other say the same choreographed thing made me uneasy. But the moment I looked down at my own body is locked in my mind. [10], Lawton executed his first robbery when he was 28, an inside job to collect insurance money. Glenn Youngkin rules out presidential campaign while in California, 7 bodies found during search for missing Oklahoma teens, US to lift most federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates next week, Multiple fatalities on Illinois highway during a blinding windstorm. Family Tragedy: Hitler's Germany to Jones's Cult Layton was already aboard one of the two planes, posing as a defector. All of those people I had been standing beside, speaking to, sharing a cabin with. They were issued four T-shirts, four pairs of socks, a toothbrush and toothpaste, four pairs of underwear and a bar of soap. Seductive Poison - Wikipedia [28], After release he went to Palm Bay, Florida and started LL Research and Consulting and met a business partner. Sam was certain Jones had something to do with his sons death. Hurrying out of bed, Layton would race toward Jones "in my mud-caked boots, past the tin-roofed cabins, past the wooden outdoor showers where we're allowed our two-minute wash at the end of our 11-hour days in the field." In Jonestown, the able-bodied among the 1,000 or so residents worked the I wanted to be part of something that was doing things for other people, and besides, Peoples Temple offered a community of friends. Layton had denounced his sister Debbie for defecting, telling Speier that Jonestown was "an extraordinarily good . [44][45], "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. "You consistently wind up finding yourself trying to heal but having your wounds opened up again when new information is given," she said. [38][5][9] In 2013, the Brevard County Jail re-introduced chain gangs as a pilot project with the goal of deterring crime. His appearance was part of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program. 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. Layton was arrested shortly after the killings by Guyanese authorities and signed a confession taking responsibility for the airstrip deaths--a confession that his lawyers maintained was coerced. The Jonestown remains were found at the former Minus Funeral Home after the property's current owner, a bank, called, according to Dover police and public records. I was almost one of them. Its leader, the Rev. But Layton, saying he wishes he could ease the pain of survivors of the Jonestown massacre, could be freed within five years. "Every week we're ordered to drink some liquid," she writes, culling her memories of the "old tapes (of Jonestown recollections that) are running in my head. [22] Fingerprint evidence connected Lawton to the October 1994 Palm Bay heist, and he was charged with that crime as well. Jim Jones, destroyed the will of his followers. The cremated remains of nine Jonestown victims were discovered in a decrepit, now-shuttered funeral home in Dover, officials said. Layton, Jones Had Sexual Relationship, Lawyer Says In 1978, I went to Guyana on a fact-finding mission. Dwyer, Speier and nine others were wounded. He and four others were killed. With heavy hearts, we announce the death of Larry Layton (Johnstown, Pennsylvania), who passed away on December 21, 2017 at the age of 55. Traumatizing family rifts erupted on the spot, with mothers and fathers engaged in literal tug-of-wars over their children. Larry Lawton - YouTube He would hang a picture of my mom in his office and look at it in an effort to immunize himself to the feeling of loss, to challenge himself so he would get over it. 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. I did not recover my old self; bullets render that impossible. There were piles of used syringes at the scene. What episode does Luna get Ancient Fairy Dragon? Looking back at the Jonestown tragedy Photos - ABC News Please help us get out of Jonestown. Soon after, Don was approached by another member, who claimed that many Temple members desperately wanted to leave but were too terrified to come forward. November 18, 1978 murder-suicide that shocked the world 20 years ago this month. ", 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.". about When the time of their supposed deaths came and went with everybody still alive, Jones announced it had just been a drill to test their loyalty. Laytons two ex-wives--both had been lured from Layton by Jones--also encouraged him to somehow stop Ryan, Russoniello said. Whatever impelled me to send in the card changed the course of my life. SAN FRANCISCO -- Former People's Temple member Larry Layton, freed from jail Thursday for the first time since the cult's 1978 mass murder-suicide ritual in Guyana, will be retried on. We didnt want a group to present a canned response or any individual to look to others for their answers. 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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. He said that some of the recipients could be innocent. Surviving Jonestown - POLITICO Magazine 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 . Everybody bolted in different directions. Larry Howard Layton, 80, of Green Valley, AZ passed away December 10, 2020 from complications of COVID-19. Wed have to make multiple trips in the truck. 1978 Cult Figure Gets Life Term in Congressman'S Jungle Slaying It was just a matter of time. 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. [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. Larry Lawton is the only ex-con in the US to be sworn in as an Honorary Police Officer and the only ex-con to be recognized on the Floor of the United States Congress for helping Young People . United Press International. This image dehumanizes the victims, however, and disconnects us from the tragedy. In all, 913 died. "All the survivors in touch with me are traumatized because that door had been closed," said Jonestown survivor Laura Johnston Kohl, now a retired teacher from San Diego. Offenders sweltered in "The Box," a 6-by-4-foot [30][33] He was the first ex-con to ever become an honorary police officer. Larry Layton, a former member of the People's Temple cult, is to be released on $250,000 bail pending an appeal of his conviction last December for aiding and abetting the murder of. SAN FRANCISCO . When people refer to the Jonestown massacre as a mass suicide, I am enraged. Larry Allan Layton, 68, was charged with two counts of reckless endangerment and one count of disorderly conduct. He was freed by Guyanese authorities Friday and arrived in New York City Friday night in the custody of U.S. marshals. "He kept holding on," Deborah Layton said, "holding on with the hope that some day Larry might be released from prison.". That Nov. 17, a delegation of reporters and relatives arrived in Guyana, the doorbell in a frenzy of bright stripes and squiggles. [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. 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. Born to poverty in the small West Virginia coal-mining town of Boomer, Mr. Layton went from Gauley Bridge High School to a bachelor's degree in mathematics from the West Virginia Institute of Technology and, later, a doctorate in biochemistry from Pennsylvania State University. | Amazon. 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. 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. 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 . Returning to the pavilion area, I sought out other anxious-looking members. [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. Back in the compound, Jones was choreographing The moment Layton and her mother, Lisa, arrived at Jonestown, a jungle All I could think was I am not going to make Grandma live through my funeral. But Layton, saying he wishes he could ease the pain. After a few weeks, Layton grew "accustomed to the unusual smells in the food and drink. Witnesses offer conflicting accounts, Mars Voltas lead singer broke with Scientology and reunited with the band. I spoke with a woman named Edith Parks, the matriarch of three generations of Temple members who wanted out. 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. He was met with mostly beaming declarations 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. 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. He is. Laytons lawyer said that made Layton more susceptible to Jones spell. secret, that her mother had fled Nazi Germany.). I have no idea how much time passed until I turned my head and opened my eyes. 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. Behind his dim glasses, Jones preached love and equality while manipulating his followerstaking their property and having them sign over their paychecks and Social Security. Layton spent approximately 18 years in either the Georgetown Gaol in Guyana or U.S. federal prisons before his release in April 2002. Then-State Assemblyman Leo J. Ryan behind the bars in a Folsom prison cell in Feb. 1970, where he spent a week living as an inmate to learn needs for reform. Fans rip Georgia 'culture' after Jamaal Jarrett's racist comment His battles with the church arent over, How Palm Springs ran out Black and Latino families to build a fantasy for rich, white people, U.N. envoy says Sudans warring sides agree to negotiate, Yellen says U.S. could hit debt ceiling as soon as June 1, U.S. says 20,000 Russians killed in Ukraine war since December, Speaker Kevin McCarthy addresses Knesset amid fraught U.S.-Israel ties, First Republic: Cheap, interest-only jumbo mortgages to Silicon Valleys elite fueled the banks failure. Once, Debbie continued, Jones woke up the camp in the early hours of the morning. When did the Jonestown massacre occur? [25], Law enforcement officials and judges have supported the program. [43] He also hosted a local talk radio show. 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. [19][20] One bullet narrowly missed Lawton, but struck his brother. were innocent. Larry Lawton. He He told you precisely what was on his mind, no matter who you were or whether or not you wanted to hear it. 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. Larry Layton Obituary. . When we touched down in Georgetown, a U.S. Air Force medevac plane was waiting. "It was devastating to him. Example video title will go here for this video. It was the final stop for a group that for nearly 10 years had fascinated and, in the end, horrified the Bay Area. Though driven by the kind of underlying insecurity that so often fuels tyrants, Jones appeared to offer hope, redemption, and an idealistic new life. "The reason I did well," Layton says now, "is that I'm a little soldier and I follow orders so well.". Jones ran the Peoples Temple in San Francisco in the early 1970s. Georgetown, "I knew we'd entered a prison camp and I knew I wanted out. [28] Often he appears discussing crimes in the media as an expert on robberies. 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. But allegations of wrongdoing mounted, and Jones moved the settlement to Guyana, the only English-speaking country in South America. For seven weeks, same time, it's because of those secrets that I think my mother and my With the dark glasses he wore indoors and out, his glossy black hair and seemed to have them for us.". Repeatedly, the defectors mentioned forced participation in mass-suicide rehearsals known as the White Night trials.. can really trust," or by the knowledge that failure meant punishment, physical (1.8-by-1.2-meter) underground enclosure. Debbie stood in line to drink the red liquid that she was told would kill her in a matter of minutes. family members in the cult. 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 life in prison, though he was released in 2002. Almost 22 hours after the ambush, I heard the groan of a planes enginefinally our escape had arrived. 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. Several cemeteries refused to take them until the Evergreen Cemetery in Oakland, California, stepped forward in 1979 and accepted 409 bodies. It looked staged. Meanwhile, ex-devotees of the Peoples Temple began sharing stories about Jones darker side. To the stretchers. First the children; poison was squirted into babies' mouths with a syringe. Her life appears to be light-years from Peoples Temple. 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. See also Jim Jones Jonestown was the agricultural compound Jones' followers carved out of the Guyanese jungle, 150 miles northwest of the nation's capital, Georgetown. [3], Lawton was offered a three-year sentence in exchange for disclosing his accomplices but did not take the deal. Layton's sister Debbie's departure from the Peoples Temple and denunciation of Jones in May 1978 led her brother to leave California to join the settlement in Guyana. Jim Jones orchestrated the mass murder-suicide of Peoples Temple cult members on November 18, 1978. Layton was 17 when her already converted brother, Larry, introduced her Then, she wrote "Seductive Poison," her account of events leading up to My list kept growingwhat started with two names was now more than 40. Guyana charged Layton as an accomplice in all five airstrip murders, but tried him first for the attempted murder of two Temple defectors. Dead vines hung from the building's white plaster walls, and cracked windows were repaired with blue tape. SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Former Peoples Temple member Larry Layton was met with frightened screams when he boarded a truck full of people trying to flee the Rev. He had on a big yellow poncho, and his eyes were set in a sullen glare. [26] Lawton does not hold a degree in child psychology or criminology. 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. Indescribable pain consumed me, leaving room only for a fleeting thought that I should pretend to be dead. After two trials, he was convicted in 1986 of conspiring to murder San Mateo Representative Leo Ryan. 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. One of the defectors wed interviewed claimed that Jones dyed them black. Debbie said the couple had gone to court to try to compel the Guyanese government to intervene; Rev. Frostburg man arrested in recent firearm incident -- the signal that meant an attack was imminent, an excuse for conducting a suicide drill. The "Greeting Committee" promptly confiscated all their clothes and belongings and, most important, their passports. While on the phone listening to the allegations that would soon be made public, Jones scribbled a note to his aides: We leave tonight.. 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. "The people that joined Peoples Temple were really good people. As one of his top aides, I accompanied the delegation, venturing out on the ice floes where the clubbing took place. Roper estimates that if the Kool-Aid Man were brought up to the scale represented in the iconic ads, he would measure about 6 feet tall, have a dry weight of almost 6,000 pounds (11,000 pounds when filled with Kool-Aid), and his glass frame would measure 3.6 inches thick. Layton was reportedly found at the scene in possession of the revolver with four rounds in the cylinder and one shell .
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