The temple sent Layton to school for training as an X-ray technician. An eyewitness who escaped described how people who did not cooperate were injected with poison where they sat, or were held down and injected with poison.. Jim Jones would order more than 900 of his followers to commit suicide. 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. Years later, after Lisa Layton Joined the People's Temple, she would tell other members of the cult that her husband had been antiSemitic and was ashamed of her being a Jew. 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. Education: Attended college in the area of San Francisco, CA. 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. 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. But Layton, saying he wishes he could ease the pain. Sam was far from the only person concerned about Jones malicious influence over a loved one. 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. Jim could really get to people, Deborah recalled in an interview. See also Other Works | Publicity Listings | Official Sites View agent, publicist, legal and company contact details on IMDbPro Getting Started | Contributor Zone Contribute to This Page Edit page Larry Layton Personal Details Contact Info They had passed. Suddenly, my body was crushed by a blow to my side. Somehow, through the encroaching darkness of my final thoughts, I saw my 87-year-old Grandma Emma. '', See the article in its original context from. [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. [8] Lawton later said that he used a BB gun during the robbery. In Jonestown, nobody could have any family attachments. 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. 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. [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. 'A Tremendous Amount of Guilt'. Mr. Jones, they said, could cure cancer. Inquisitive by nature, he was a proponent of experiential legislating, preferring to go out and experience issues firsthand before he decided what to do. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. [23][34], However, the superintendent of student services at Brevard Public Schools declined to use the program, and questioned its effectiveness, claiming that "[w]hile the program is well-organized and well-intentioned, it does not follow the scientific evidence-based research guidelines. Like all of the tracks in the United States, it closed during the World War II years (1941-1945) and re-opened in 1946. 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. If there is such a thing as a spirit or essence of people . And then I realized that confirming one tiny detail could mean that the worst of the testimonies were true. Anyone running afoul of Jonestowns security detail was put in a labor camp and forced to clear jungle. [16] Then in October 1994, four individuals robbed a jewelry store in Palm Bay, Florida. As a temple member, Mrs. Layton separated from her husband and was said to have contributed $250,000 in family assets to the cult. The retrial was delayed for years because of complex appeals over the admissability of certain evidence excluded by Judge Peckham's rulings in the first trial. But the moment I looked down at my own body is locked in my mind. 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. But, she said, I had to tell somebody what was happening in Jonestown. 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. We split up, as Jones had arranged. Layton, 35, emerged as the only defendant alive and available for prosecution in the government's attempt to exact justice from the Jonestown horrors. The next year, his church relocated to Redwood Valley, a small community in northern California. Larry Layton can be an professional, known for Get away to Grizzly Hill (2000) and Viva . Don hung back for a moment before approaching Congressman Ryan and me at the picnic table and surreptitiously passing along the note. 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. Lawton gained notoriety for committing a string of jewelry store robberies along the Atlantic Seaboard prior to his arrest in 1996. It felt like a Mack truck had just sped over me. Tom Layton, Larry's older brother, reported to his father that Larry had complained repeatedly of what a awful father the scientist had been. But at the time, none of that occurred to me; I was thrilled to be working for a candidate I believed inone who always treated me with respect. Deborah watched at close hand her brother's mental deterioration under Mr. Jones's oppressiveness: Larry had been very hung upon Carolyn, he loved her, and Jim took her away from him and gave him Karen, but then he took Karen away, too. After a few weeks, Layton grew "accustomed to the unusual smells in the food and drink. [32] By 2010, Lawton had shipped 10,000 DVDs across the country. Her startling introduction to life there quickly allowed Layton to see the cracks in the facade. The first trial ended in a hung jury. I hope tonight is the last one. [28] Often he appears discussing crimes in the media as an expert on robberies. All of those children. Sure enough, I could tell he had. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. [37], Lawton is an advocate for prisoners and their rights, and comments on the justice system. But when Larry Layton was growing up in the 1920's, the land was not worth much. 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.". But listening to one after the other after the other say the same choreographed thing made me uneasy. Layton's mother, who came from a wealthy family, divorced her husband and donated $300,000 to Jones' cause. The outfits were a ridiculous gimmick, and the role was clearly objectifying. I wanted to be part of something that was doing things for other people, and besides, Peoples Temple offered a community of friends. 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. 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 1969, to get her away from the drugs and other attractions in Berkeley, Dr. Layton and his wife decided to send Deborah to a Quaker school, Ackworth, in the countryside of Yorkshire, England. One of the defectors wed interviewed claimed that Jones dyed them black. The letters were presented during the hearing which resulted in a recommendation for Larrys release. 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. His appearance was part of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program. I couldnt immediately identify the deafening sound that filled the air. 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. The robbers had been there the day before and returned asking about a ring. I would never have left Jonestown with Congressman Ryan. Just click the "Edit page" button at the bottom of the page or learn more in the Biography submission guide. Congressman Ryans body was probably 15 feet away. Besides, when had a congressman ever been assassinated on foreign soil while on a congressional delegation trip? 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. She had an extremely anxious demeanor, and we moved quickly as we went to her cabin to pack. Layton was brought to trial in Guyana on charges of attempted murder and was acquitted. I was feet away from Jones, close enough to hear him trying to convince people to change their minds. Hours later at the Jonestown emcampment, Jones led the death rite of himself and his followers. I asked to speak to Monica Bagby, one of the names on Dons note. The night before, our delegation watched Jones followers perform a show at their compound. [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. Deborah Layton is now 45, lives in an elegant house in Piedmont and takes her 12-year-old daughter to play in soccer games. Lawton filed a lawsuit against the prison and staff alleging that they violated his rights. [3], Lawton was offered a three-year sentence in exchange for disclosing his accomplices but did not take the deal. 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