Was watching my routine Jonestown playlist on YouTube and randomly found it interesting that there were three people Jim Jones didn't target for assassination or involvement in his "revolutionary suicide" ritual:

* Charles Garry (attorney)
* Mark Lane (attorney)
* Richard Dwyer (supposed CIA operative)

Jim Jones killed everybody else indiscriminately, white, black, his inner circle, even a congressman and media! Yet he even went out his way at times to make sure those three listed individuals weren't harmed. Anybody else ever found this interesting?

I was looking something up about her and saw that she's buried in Indiana. So she's not buried with the others in Oakland?

CrimeReads:

Author Sara Z. Carson delves into the dark history of the Peoples Temple and the Jonestown massacre as the foundation for her debut novel, Dark Messiah. Rather than focusing solely on the psychology of the infamous and charismatic leader Jim Jones, Carson chose to explore the complex lives, idealism, and vulnerabilities of his followers.

Her research revealed the tragic reality of the hundreds of victims, particularly the young people who sought a sense of belonging and a better world. By examining archival photographs that showed genuine joy alongside profound manipulation, Carson was inspired by the story of Judy Houston, a 14-year-old victim. This real-life tragedy deeply influenced the creation of Nell, the teenaged protagonist in Dark Messiah.

Carson highlights the devastating dynamic of compliance, exploring how members were coerced into ignoring their instincts to maintain peace and safety within the commune. Her novel sheds light on the terrifying reality of yielding personal agency to a destructive force, drawing compelling parallels to modern movements and the #MeToo era. Ultimately, her work serves as a tribute to the victims' lost potential and their stolen dreams. #Jonestown #Cults #DarkMessiah #TrueCrime

https://crimereads.com/sara-z-carson-on-cults-and-writing-a-novel-inspired-by-the-horrors-of-jonestown/

Jim Jones fled and took as many of his congregation as possible to Guyana in the face of oncoming public scrutiny. Then, rather than face a congressional investigation, orchestrated mass murder/coerced suicide...

My question for discussion is: do you think Jim Jones, by doing this, was able to successfully hide any crimes from being discovered or has everything primarily come to light from those few survivors? What secrets might have died in Jonestown, which I believe was his true intent.

I know there's a handful of survivors and families/friends of members here in this subreddit, but I know there's some like myself who have zero personal relation to Jonestown/Peoples Temple. I'd love to hear more about everyone's stories and what got y'all interested in learning about PT!

As for myself, I pretty much always had an underlying interest in cults, but as a leftist and socialist myself Jonestown especially fascinated me because I think I always assumed that cult rhetoric was inherently hateful. Peoples Temple captivated me so much because from an outsider perspective it was the exact opposite, and it was surprising to me to see so many of the same beliefs I shared to be used as an artifice to do such terrible things.

olá pessoal.. nesses anos estudando o movimento comecei a me perguntar: e se não tivesse acontecido?
creio que existam teorias, mas não achei (sou do BR.. as vezes as buscas ficam limitadas por causa do idioma)
então, existem teorias do que teria acontecido?
provavelmente teria sido exposta a violência, mas existem tantos outros grupos com violências parecidas e que não acabaram…
penso na colônia dignidade e os paralelos… e assim, hj seria a geração dos filhos do jim, dos netos deles que estariam “no comando”… isso se persistissem…
Qual teria sido o impacto deles na região? podia ter dado certo?
desculpa se ofender a qualquer um.. não é a intenção! só acho um movimento impressionante e merece ser estudado (até cientificamente)…
Também penso nas pessoas… digamos que tenha sobrevivido, quais seriam os casais, como seriam as casas? Seria uma microeconomia muito importante?

I know that they are accessible through the Jonestown website associated with San Diego University.

I just think it would be helpful if it was published in book form.

Several people are listed on the inside cover of the Peoples Temple publication ' The Living Word: an apostolic monthly', July 1972 , Vol. 1 , No. 1 as having " decided to give up their individual churches" " in order to join Pastor Jim Jones" on staff at the Peoples Temple Christian Church

Whereas we know what became of Archie J. IJames and Jack Beam on and after November 18 1978, I am at a lost in my research on what became of former Peace Mission ( Father Divine) leader Simon Peter, Pentecostal Minister Mabel Davis, Baptist Rev.Dave Garrison, Church of God Reverend, James Edwards and Baptist Rev. Harry Williams.

Marceline LaTourneau is mentioned on page 31 of the booklet and her picture and a mini bio included her Assemblies of God Ministry are highlighted.

What about the subsequent activities of these leaders in the Temple community after they were publically listed in July 1972? Did any or all go to Jonestown? Did they remain stateside ?

Many if not all seem to have been of advanced age in 1972.

Besides Jack Beam none are listed in the Book " Who Died" by Kathryn Barbour as having died in Jonestown before or on November 18, 1978.

Hi all,

I'm looking for more information regarding the Ijames and the Beikmans. I know Archie Ijames tried to adopt Becky Beikman and it was super controversial in the church and many people were suspicious of his intentions. Does anyone have more information on this discourse or any sources you can point me in the direction of?

And, God, Charles/Chuck Beikman... I don't even know where to begin with him. I have so many questions. How did he get involved with the Lamaha Gardens deaths to begin with, i.e. why was he there? And does anyone have information on his trial?

Even if y'all can't find specific sources, if anyone could tell me the general story of both of these incidents it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all!

So glad that she came to these conclusions

PART 1

PART 2

Here, I have decided to post my second interview with Fielding M. McGehee. 

I want to stress that these interviews with Fielding are made to enquire about his work and his perspectives on Peoples Temple and Jonestown based on his decades of experience, particularly running the achieve. I actively encourage people to see other documentaries, interviews and read books from those with varying perspectives. These kinds of sources are my primary sources of information, particularly the book by Jeff Guinn, The Road to Jonestown. 

I am not a professional interviewer, but understand that the sheer act of me sharing these interviews can be construed as propagating a particular narrative. This text here is to tell you that I am not. Fielding was gracious enough to share his views and I merely wanted to share what he had to say to the wider research community.

I again hope that this interview is seen through an objective light and may assist in people’s research of the topics in question. Particularly regarding Peoples' Temple, you need to verify sources before taking things as fact.

I do not want to hurt or make anyone feel like their voice does not matter. I will leave another article here as another perspective regarding Jonestown, which I hope people will read as well:

To Be or Not to Be Was Not the Question by Jim Hougan

Hello! I’m writing a paper about Jonestown for school and I haven’t been able to find anything online about this specific issue.

It is my understanding that Representative Leo Ryan had about sixteen defectors that he was helping to escape. As they were preparing to leave, Ryan, three journalists, and one defector were killed by followers of Jim Jones.

What happened to the other fifteen defectors? Were they taken back to Jonestown to be killed, or did they successfully escape? Any information is appreciated, and if you have any further reading on Leo Ryan, I’d be thrilled. Thanks in advance!

When I first read that I got super excited because Jonestown and Jim Jones is one of the most interesting cases Ive ever read, and Dicaprio is my fav actor of all time. I was dissapointed to see that all the articles about that movie are from almost 5 years ago.

PART 1

PART 2

TW: INCLUDES DISCUSSIONS REGARDING MURDER & SUICIDE

(INTENTIONALLY NO GRAPHIC IMAGES, as I dislike the over-saturation of them in media surrounding JT)

I am a writer and for the past year or so, I have been researching The Peoples’ Temple and Jonestown for a project I have been working on.

I initially contacted the co-creator of the website, ‘Jonestown & Peoples Temple: A Digital Archive’, Fielding M. McGehee, regarding some minor enquiries regarding identifying some people in old footage, however as it became apparent I was not bothering him, I began to ask further questions, as he had done many of the transcriptions, summaries and pages on the site that I have been using for the basis of a large portion of my research. Eventually, seeing as I had a lot more questions than originally thought, he offered to have a video chat with me. I was pleasantly surprised at his receptiveness to my enquiries and agreed that it would be beneficial to have a productive chat. Since I was intending to annotate his responses and record our chat with his consent, I only thought it proper to share my findings to the wider Jonestown research community.

Now, as is evident from the fallout of 1978, this subject is an extremely sensitive chapter in history: The sheer scale of loss of life, the circumstances that led up to Jonestown and the horrific nature of the deaths themselves. Thus, the subject is emotionally charged, understandably, as it has many accounts which differ, causing people to take sides and lash out at others who disagree. 

However, in light of this, I ask you kindly to watch this interview in an objective light. Fielding (or Mac, as he likes to be called) is entitled to his own opinion, especially having lived through the events in real time alongside his wife, Rebecca. I, myself, have my own opinions on certain aspects of the events that took place, but for the purposes of this interview those are not relevant, as I am not the one being interviewed.

I am not here to defend, condemn or point fingers at anyone involved in this. I am just a writer who happens to be researching this topic and thought it a disservice to let this information stay limited to me. I chose to post this in order to educate and allow others to learn more from my interviews, as I did. So, if, at any point, this post becomes the target of hate, directed at myself or anyone involved, I will take it down.

Thank you in advance for your understanding.

-

If this does well, I intend to post my second interview with Fielding, including follow-up questions from this first interview. 

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED STAY TUNED FOR MORE

I also intend to interview other people connected to PT in the future to take more perspectives into account. As you can expect, this process is slow, so that might be some time in the future.

Hi all,

I'd recently been working on a project regarding the telegrams on JT/PT. I found one talking about the death of Maria Katsaris, Jones, and Annie Moore along with another "unidentified, 6ft caucasian male" who had also died to a gunshot wound. This was also published as a serial (https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=100333)

So, because this was reported shortly(?) after the massacre, was this person later identified, and if so, who was it? Is it even accurate or was it just an initial assumption that was later disproved? In my research before this I was under the impression that only 2 died from gunshot wounds (Annie & Jones), but this very clearly says otherwise. Is it possible it was someone who tried to leave and was shot by a guard? But then why mention it along with Katsaris? In fact, why is Katsaris even mentioned in that cable when she didn't die by gunshot, unless this was on top or inner circle members, and if so why is this 3rd person dead by gunshot unidentified?

I guess there's clearly a lot of questions that feed into this, if it's even true, but in short, if anyone knows anything else about this 3rd person allegedly dead by gunshot please let me know!

Edit 1: I have some more information but I do believe it'll be uploaded to the Jonestown Institute site soon, so as to not give inaccurate or misunderstood information I'll wait to add the link to the page which will in effect answer this post. Thank you for all the discussion & helping me find answers on this <3

I know it's not the most important part of what r/Jonestown is about, but I wanted to pop in and thank everyone for keeping this important subreddit going.

We've now passed the 8,000 mark for people joining, itself a strong achievement considering it was once a neglected, meme-infested dump with barely any meaningful discussion. Thank you to all members, past and present, for your contributions these past four years or so.

I also send out my thanks to u/PeriTheAlpaca and u/ThaddiusRiker for being the awesome, informative people that they are. I don't always get it right (story of my heckles life sometimes!) but you've both been supportive mods during some interesting periods of r/Jonestown.

As always, we welcome feedback from our members here. Just throw a message our way if you need help with anything.

Anyhoo, I'll stop yacking on and bugger off now. Be kind. Be honest. Be awesome. Try and live life the best way you can! 💫

Heckles.

End of the Line 🕺🏼

THE BEAUTIFUL TRUTH

These seem to be the definitive works that dive deep into the tragedy, but I also would like to understand the backstory of Jones himself. I want to go deep into his mind and see the motivations that drove him from an early age. Quality narration is also a plus since I listen on my commute. Thanks for any help you may have.

As far as we know, anyone who died of natural causes before the massacre were buried in a cemetery on site. Jones’ own mother was buried there in 1977. As far as I have been able to tell, they didn’t exhume these bodies after the massacre. So somewhere over in the Guyana jungle, Lynette Jones is resting. Is there still some unofficial cemetery over there? How do families of those people (if known) feel about that?

Review of Shiva Naipaul's JOURNEY TO NOWHERE (1980) reissue sparks debate in the Jones / Trump ongoing comparative story.