Larry Howard Layton, 80, of Green Valley, AZ passed away December 10, 2020 from complications of COVID-19. I just 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. So many people wanted to defect that we had to call Georgetown to request an extra plane. She had an extremely anxious demeanor, and we moved quickly as we went to her cabin to pack. | AP. Simpson skips media with early release", "Schatzkammer Dresden: "Super-GAU" im Grnen Gewlbe | DW | 26.11.2019", "Ex-jewel robber seeks redemption through mentoring", "Ex-con gives teenagers dose of prison realities", "Man plant einen Juwelenraub quasi von hinten", "Ex-Con Larry Lawton Finds Redemption in Rescuing At-Risk Youths", "Former prisoner DAREs Havelock students to make good choice", "$500,000 in 1994 2022 | Inflation Calculator", "Cops: Heist might be tied to robbery in Daytona", "Daytona police seek pair who looted jewelry store", "$480,000 in 1994 2022 | Inflation Calculator", "Jeweler helps police nab suspect in Fla", "Pearls of Wisdom: Ex-jewel thief imparts the perils of prison to the next generation", "An ex-con on how intelligence and street smarts equal a successful prison escape", "Reality Check participants get added incentive", "Larry Lawton, America's Most Notorious Jewel Thief, Just Wants To Masturbate In Prison In Peace", "Ex-Diamond Thief: Here's How $200M Heist Went Down", "Ex-con Larry Lawton to become an honorary police officer", "Cops try convict's DVD to deter teen crime", "Ex-con to receive honorary police officer title", "Young golfers, mentors join in Reality Check", "Making a difference in the lives of Youth", "Witness tampering alleged at Casey Anthony trial", "Ex-offenders face big debt challenges after prison", "Torres: Pain pills gone, heroin makes strong comeback", "D.A.R.E. It made no sense that he would be . I couldnt bear the vision of her sitting in front of my casket. 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. Nearly 30 years later, her mother long dead in a rotting jungle outpost in Guyana, her brother doing life in a federal prison and her father so broken that he weeps at the mention of anything connected with Jones-, town, Deborah Layton has, as she put it the other day, "decided it was time to come out of the cobwebbed attic.". Laytons mother, also a Peoples Temple member, died of cancer in Jonestown two weeks before the massacre. Suddenly, my body was crushed by a blow to my side. White Night!" But I refused to spend the rest of my life as a victim of Guyanathere were too many of them. contentment. 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. At the compound, Don wandered off to smoke a cigarette. ", Looking back on it 20 years later, she says, "I put everything in denial and locked it down. Layton became a senior insider in Jones' entourage. "It's just so sad, for me as a survivor," said Yulanda Williams, 58, now a sergeant with the San Francisco Police Department. In the summer of 1977, after an expose of Peoples Temple in New West magazine, Jones and his followers fled to Guyana. died drinking juice?". Some were cremated. Infants cannot commit suicide. Hes a jug, and nothing more. Jones was found shot through the head. ', "O.J. My recovery continuedthough that very word is not an accurate description of the aftermath of being shot. Moments later, Congressman Ryan emerged from a throng of people with a torn and bloodied shirt. When did the Jonestown massacre occur? days before the murder-suicide, she hit an emotional wall. Kool-Aid mixed with water is not the same as plain water or a beverage such as Gatorade or Powerade. him -- and later from him as she plotted her escape months before he Northern California She left with her 8-month-old daughter before the massacre. were sort of pushed onto the path of looking for answers -- and that Jim All were visiting Jonestown on a fact-finding mission to investigate reports of abuses of members. When people refer to the Jonestown massacre as a mass suicide, I am enraged. Later that night, Jones had another suicide exercise. "The reason I did well," Layton says now, "is that I'm a little soldier and I follow orders so well.". But the moment I looked down at my own body is locked in my mind. Lawton filed a lawsuit against the prison and staff alleging that they violated his rights. Dwyer, Speier and nine others were wounded. There was no movement, but I thought the others might also be playing dead. [38][5][9] In 2013, the Brevard County Jail re-introduced chain gangs as a pilot project with the goal of deterring crime. family members in the cult. 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. Larry now lives in Northern California. Don't Miss Audio:. After over twenty years in prison, Larry Layton was released on parole in 2002, largely due to the testimony of Vernon Gosney, one of the few survivors of the massacre, and the Federal Chief Judge, Robert F. Peckham. I had read the articles and listened to hours of testimony. It was utter pandemonium. On November 17, we landed at the tiny airstrip at Port Kaituma. Returning to the pavilion area, I sought out other anxious-looking members. One of three family members who joined the cult, he was convicted Dec. 1 of conspiring with Jones to murder Ryan, a crusading San Mateo Democrat, and of conspiring in the attack on Richard C. Dwyer, then deputy chief of the U.S. mission in Guyana. Peoples Temple leader Jim Jones (left) shakes hands with San Francisco Mayor George Moscone (right) after being sworn in to serve on the San Francisco Housing Authority, Nov. 24, 1977. Why is Frank McCourt really pushing it? In 1977, after a magazine expose, Jones and his followers fled to Jonestown, a compound carved out of the remote jungles of Guyana. Offenders sweltered in "The Box," a 6-by-4-foot [26] Lawton does not hold a degree in child psychology or criminology. I hope tonight is the last one. Individually, their insistence would have been hard to question. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. same time, it's because of those secrets that I think my mother and my Jim Jones orchestrated the mass murder-suicide of Peoples Temple cult members on November 18, 1978. He told you precisely what was on his mind, no matter who you were or whether or not you wanted to hear it. Find showtimes and movie tickets near you at Megaplex Theatres. Congressman Ryans body was probably 15 feet away. They all joined Peoples Temple, and Larry and Deborah Layton quickly became two of Jones's closest confidants. 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. Along the way, she exorcised the family ghosts. (It was the 60s.) He is serving a life sentence in the federal prison at Lompoc. for . [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. "I was ready to be overwhelmed by emotion," she says, "but when we got into the area, it just wasn't there. [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. a life I He never did.". He had engineered complete authoritycollecting members Social Security and disability checks, and determining when and how his disciples could communicate with their families. That was the last moment I remember with any real clarity before I surrendered my body to the medical staff. Watch movie trailers, order food and drinks online, find luxury seating, and see showtimes of feature films and movies currently playing near you at Megaplex Theatres. Guyana charged Layton as an accomplice in all five airstrip murders, but tried him first for the attempted murder of two Temple defectors. broadcast Jones' voice at all hours. sentence in federal prison. 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. robes, Jones, known as Father to his flock, soon became a San Francisco Layton and her mother arrived in Jonestown in December 1977. | Amazon. [25] He received an additional sentence in 2002 for giving false witness. Layton had denounced his sister Debbie for defecting, telling Speier that Jonestown was "an extraordinarily good . As the bodies were identified, the military asked about a half-dozen local funeral homes to help the families make arrangements. On the plane to Guyana, Nov. 18, 1978. Indescribable pain consumed me, leaving room only for a fleeting thought that I should pretend to be dead. [8] In 1983, having earned his GED, he left the Coast Guard and began engaging in criminal activity, mostly loan sharking and bookmaking. Most complied, although survivors described some people being shot, injected with poison, or forced to drink the deadly beverage when they tried to resist. I wanted to leave my daughter a legacy that wasn't that simple.". Instead he proposed a better use of law enforcement resources would be to "help inmates with drug addiction. 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. Larry was released from Guyana into the custody of U.S. marshals, who escorted him to San Francisco. [8][9] The 367-page book covers his early life, his string of crimes, and his post-release career. It was impossible to cope with the pain. Ive shared my Guyana story countless times, but its still a challenge to go back and relive those days. 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 . Repeatedly, the defectors mentioned forced participation in mass-suicide rehearsals known as the White Night trials.. 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. Mr. Layton is survived by two sons, Thomas and Larry (Laurence John Layton); two daughters, Deborah Layton and Annalisa Layton Valentine, both of Piedmont, and three grandchildren. murder-suicide that shocked the world 20 years ago this month. Misbehaving children were [43] He also hosted a local talk radio show. Jim Jones with a group of children living at Jonestown, circa 1978. He was not paroled from an American prison until 2002. I was kicked. As soon as it became clear that we would be bringing more than one or two defectors home with us, the communal faade cracked. [10] Afterwards, another jewelry store in Lower Bucks County became suspicious of a person they believed was casing the place for a future robbery. Yes, Kool-Aid is bad for you. of Layton's mother, Lisa, had died of cancer 10 days before the mass suicide. 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. What is one recurring theme in A Rose for Emily story? She mentioned a Bay Area couple, the Stoens, who had defected and were fighting for the return of their young son, John. Wed have to make multiple trips in the truck. A man followed him and slipped a folded piece of paper into his hand, then disappeared back into the crowd. Its hard to know when it became obvious that he was dead, or when I realized that others werent pretending. In May 1978, she was sent by Jones to Georgetown to chaperone some Temple children on a cultural exchange. Layton was reportedly found at the scene in possession of the revolver with four rounds in the cylinder and one shell . in. Long-term consumption may increase the risk of obesity, diabetes, and even cancer. | AP. Today. U.S. Atty. The robbers drew what police at the time believed were firearms, and restrained the store owner. [37], Lawton is an advocate for prisoners and their rights, and comments on the justice system. A few showers this morning with mostly cloudy conditions during the afternoon hours. Sam was far from the only person concerned about Jones malicious influence over a loved one. [10], Lawton executed his first robbery when he was 28, an inside job to collect insurance money. The Guyanese did not release Layton until now because one of his defense lawyers said his client owed him $37,000 in unpaid bills. Laytons two ex-wives--both had been lured from Layton by Jones--also encouraged him to somehow stop Ryan, Russoniello said. I admired Ryans worthy missions, but questioned if I shared his bottomless capacity to bear witness. Layton, expressionless for most of the hearing and dressed casually in a light blue sweater, said he extended his most sincere regrets to the families of the victims. [28] Often he appears discussing crimes in the media as an expert on robberies. Laytons lawyer said that made Layton more susceptible to Jones spell. 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. 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. 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. 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? Instead, she grabbed her daughter's acrylic paints I would never have left Jonestown with Congressman Ryan. led by U.S. Ten days later, on November 18, Jones and 912 of his followers committed mass suicide. Rep. Ryan and I arranged to meet her. 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=1151413947, This page was last edited on 23 April 2023, at 22:22. [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. Example video title will go here for this video. And then I realized that confirming one tiny detail could mean that the worst of the testimonies were true. Thirty-five years ago, funeral directors in Delaware struggled to quickly bury and cremate the remains of more than 900 people who died in a suicide-murder in Jonestown, Guyana, many of them Peoples Temple followers who drank cyanide-laced punch. During World War II, he did research on cancer and the healing of wounds at Johns Hopkins University's School of Hygiene and Public Health in Baltimore. My ribs were broken. The outfits were a ridiculous gimmick, and the role was clearly objectifying. It was. He spent 12 years in prison, and once released, began a career as a motivational speaker, life coach, and author. Jones, who founded his church in Indiana and moved here in 1970, relocated to Guyana, a former British colony in South America, in 1977 after critical press accounts about his politically prominent sect. We didnt want a group to present a canned response or any individual to look to others for their answers. A former high school teacher, he was swept into politics by the idealism of the Kennedy era and elected mayor of South San Francisco before running for state Assembly. He genuinely believed that he had some sort of protective shield around him, despite the fact that we werent traveling with any military escort or protection. didn't want people to know who I was.". Mr. Layton died of congestive heart failure, five days before his 85th birthday. Young and unanchored, Layton was charmed as Jones fixed his penetrating Dissent was unthinkable. The cover of a Jonestown promotional booklet from 1978. 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. 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. 'It's time to come in and say, 'Goodbye.' security guards. Others were buried in a mass grave in California. Larry Allan Layton, 68, was charged with two counts of reckless endangerment and one count of disorderly conduct. at the 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. It felt like a Mack truck had just sped over me. Although some of Joness most zealous followers may have consumed the poison voluntarily, the vast majority were murdered outright and against their will. Jackie Speier manages a smile as she is wheeled on a stretcher at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, Nov. 20, 1978. Layton, the cult's X-ray technician and a former conscientious objector, allegedly posed as a false defector from Jones and left the Jonestown commune the day of the mass-suicide. Leo Ryan assured me that there was nothing to worry about. "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. It was Raised as a Quaker -- and, in turn, raising his own family in the Quaker faith -- Mr. Layton was continually tormented by the dichotomy between his professional pursuits, which focused on technical warfare, and his faith, which preached peace and nonviolence. We compiled similar testimonies from other defectors who corroborated Debbies reports of physical and sexual abuse, forced labor and captivity. They are arranged in chronological order. It was just a matter of time. 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. Family and friends can send flowers and condolences in memory of the loved one. jungle. passage; Larry had been told years earlier. Five bullets had ripped through me, devastating the right side of my body. 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. home in the hills ringing San Francisco Bay. afraid. | AP. After a few weeks, Layton grew "accustomed to the unusual smells in the food and drink. I dont have any money to donate, but Id like to volunteer. she couldn't write. The approach continued even after hed moved from Sacramento to Washington, D.C. To go back to the gunshots. I wanted to be part of something that was doing things for other people, and besides, Peoples Temple offered a community of friends. We heard that the church had weapons, and that Jones was paranoid and possibly on drugs. Twenty years ago this month, Jones and 912 of his followers committed mass suicide at the jungle compound. Lisa, Deborah and Larry Layton all went to Jonestown, but in May 1978, Deborah, increasingly disturbed by Jones' paranoid ravings and brutal treatment of his flock, escaped and flew back to the United States. Debbie stood in line to drink the red liquid that she was told would kill her in a matter of minutes. Never one to accept second-hand information, he decided to embark on a fact-findingand potentially life-savingtrip. This was not a mass suicide. Five bullets hit me from point-blank range, piercing my right arm, leg, and back. Jones had a penchant for suddenly getting on the compound loudspeaker long after everyone had gone to bed and shouting, "White Night! Some were shot by Don put it in his pocket and took a few more steps before carefully unfolding it. 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. grotesque dance of death. "And I thought, if I get hit by a truck, my epitaph will be, 'Jonestown survivor dies on Bay Bridge.' She got on the plane, leaving her mother behind. [31] The DVDs contained condensed versions of Lawton's program and were 67 minutes long. March 5, 1999 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. 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. became chairman in 1976. He was cracking. He said that some of the recipients could be innocent. The phrase drinking the Kool-Aid refers to followership at its worse. Georgetown, "I knew we'd entered a prison camp and I knew I wanted out. Deborah Layton is now 45, lives in an elegant house in Piedmont and takes her 12-year-old daughter to play in soccer games. They She got a job in investment banking, married, had a child, divorced. Infants cannot commit suicide. [35][36] It also hosts an annual bowling tournament. In 1978, I went to Guyana on a fact-finding mission. 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. Join me, he assured his followers, and youll get health care, education and a family that would never mistreat you. Lawton gained notoriety for committing a string of jewelry store robberies along the Atlantic Seaboard prior to his arrest in 1996. ", 20 Years Later, Jonestown Survivor Confronts Horrors, LAYTON01/B/20OCT98/MN/SLF ---Deborah Layton is a survivor of Jonestown. Layton was already aboard one of the two planes, posing as a defector. at the airstrip. 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 . 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. 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 Ryan decided that we would wait until the morning and suggested we keep a low profile until then. fields, subsisting mostly on rice, Layton writes. [30] In 2009, the Brevard County Sheriff's Office spent $4500 on 500 DVDs from the Reality Check program. Jones had ordered the ambush out of fear that Ryan would expose the cult. I asked to speak to Monica Bagby, one of the names on Dons note. "I understand what these well-meaning secrets were for," Layton says. With Ryan dead, Jones concluded that the United States would retaliate, so he exhorted his followers to kill themselves by drinking cyanide-laced punch. All of those children. They were issued four T-shirts, four pairs of socks, a toothbrush and toothpaste, four pairs of underwear and a bar of soap. He was jailed at the Metropolitan Correctional Center. 1998-11-02 04:00:00 PDT CALIFORNIA -- For a young woman of 17, flinging herself on the world after the cloistered atmosphere of an English boarding school, Peoples Temple seemed daring and exciting. (AP) -- Thirty-five years ago, funeral directors in Delaware struggled to quickly bury and cremate the remains of more than 900 people who died in a suicide-murder in Jonestown, Guyana, many of them Peoples Temple followers who drank cyanide-laced punch. [23][34], The superintendent of student services at Brevard Public Schools declined to use the program and questioned its effectiveness: "[w]hile the program is well-organized and well-intentioned, it does not follow the scientific evidence-based research guidelines".