I knew him well enough to understand what would happen next. They were cal culated to make you feel someone has to pay. As he grew older, Dr. Layton gravitated from Methodism to Quakerism, a faith with roots in the Reformation whose tenets included nonviolence, racial and religious toleration, rigorous selfdiscipline, and love and good works for the needy. | AP. [23][24] Lawton later said he was the biggest jewel thief of the 1980s and 90s operating within the United States of America. Congressman Ryans body was probably 15 feet away. The land later became the site of a large Union Carbide plant. "I was driving across the bridge," she says when asked why, after all these years, she wanted to revisit the horrors of Jonestown. Syringes surround one of the vats used to mix up the position drink used in the mass murder at Jonestown. I was beaten once a month. [28] Often he appears discussing crimes in the media as an expert on robberies. | AP. 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. Mrs. Layton moved out of their home on Labor Day 1979. In 1996, the family and friends of Larry launched a campaign for a presidential commutation. We didnt want a group to present a canned response or any individual to look to others for their answers. Suddenly, my body was crushed by a blow to my side. All of those people I had been standing beside, speaking to, sharing a cabin with. Judge Peckham also set April 21 for a hearing on a motion for a new trial filed by Mr. Layton's new defense attorney, Robert R. Bryan. Later on, I decided I had to show them. Over the next decade, Jones moved his congregation and changed its name several times before settling on Peoples Temple around 1964. ', "O.J. Breathing heavily, I pulled myself to my feet, stumbled to the planes baggage compartment and took shelter. "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. When people refer to the Jonestown massacre as a mass suicide, I am enraged. Ryan and I asked one or two Temple members at a time to come talk to us. [2] The book is published in Italy, France, Australia, Germany, Thailand and United Kingdom. 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. Larry Layton was the only person prosecuted for any of the events in and around Jonestown. [35][36] It also hosts an annual bowling tournament. 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. 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 to be the secret of her life. A short time later, Larry married his second wife, Karen,whom Dr. Layton would come to know as a loving, sweet person.. His family, too, had had great wealth. A man followed him and slipped a folded piece of paper into his hand, then disappeared back into the crowd. Larrys parole came two years earlier than his previously-scheduled release date of April 2004. Mr . He spoke often of apocalypseJones chose Redwood Valley because he believed it was one of a few places in the country that could survive a nuclear holocaustyet insisted the Peoples Temple would exist as a sort of heaven on Earth, with himself in the role of God. [10] In 2012, Lawton self-published Gangster Redemption, an autobiography co-written with Peter Golenbock. [10] He was sentenced for racketeering and robbery and spent 11 years in prison before being released in 2007. We worked quickly to locate and speak to the individuals whose families had contacted our office and had been campaigning for their return. They swallowed poison capsules in a suicide attempt and were removed, unconscious, from the train. His mother and father were cousins who had lived on adjoining estates, and in earlier generations the family's land, worked by slaves, had been prosperous. '', ''In a sense,'' he said, ''it would be easy to transfer the responsibility of Jones and put it on Larry Layton.'' It was imminently clear Jonestown was a hierarchical community, with the power structure resembling some sort of plantation: the majority of the Temple members were black, while the leadership was almost exclusively white. My ribs were broken. They were married in 1966 and a year later Larry, who as a Quaker had obtained a draft deferment as a consciencious objector, moved with his new wife to Ukiah in northern California to serve in lieu of military duty as a medical technician at the Mendocino State Hospital. March 5, 1999. Jim Jones had taken my place. In addition, Mr. Layton was convicted of aiding and abetting the murder of Mr. Ryan and the attempted murder of Mr. Dwyer. 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. Youll see what a wonderful place it is. He took us on a tour highlighting the most favorable aspects of the commune. My list kept growingwhat started with two names was now more than 40. When people refer to the Jonestown massacre as a mass suicide, I am enraged. Later, Jones also became enamoured of the new Mrs. Layton and soon added her, too, to his growing harem of temple members. He knew that Jones had considerable political clout, with close ties to Democratic leaders in San Francisco, Sacramento, and even with the State Department. But as Hitler consolidated his power in the 1930's, her parents began to see the Nazi holocaust taking shape and they urged her to go to New York to join relatives there. Jim Jones, and 912 of his followers died by poison and gunfire in mass killings and suicides. [22] Fingerprint evidence connected Lawton to the October 1994 Palm Bay heist, and he was charged with that crime as well. Layton's mother, Lisa, had died of cancer 10 days before the mass suicide. Children had their own special punishment, Layton writes. Mini Biography. ''I submit they were presented to inflame you, to arouse your passions, to prejudice you. But ladies and gentlemen, it is notLarry Layton. [31] The DVDs contained condensed versions of Lawton's program and were 67 minutes long. 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. Ive shared my Guyana story countless times, but its still a challenge to go back and relive those days. ''It is not the proper forum for answering questions about Jonestown.'' Layton was accused of conspiracy to murder in the November,1978, violence that triggered the mass deaths -- the airstrip attack on Rep. Leo Ryan and his party in which the congressman and four others were killed. [15] The robbers had dropped off jewelry for repairs, and later returned to rob the store. Larry Layton, a former member of the People's Temple, broke into tears today at his trial on charges of conspiring to commit murder as his attorney told jurors not to make him a scapegoat ''for . Ryan did not look or behave like your typical politician. He was then returned to the United States and charged under a Federal statute against assassinating members of Congress and internationally protected people. "When I joined Peoples Temple, I was 17 and it was like joining the Peace Corps," she says. Reassured that they were on their way, we parked ourselves at a few picnic tables in the far corner of the pavilion area. We listened as she offered a detailed and disturbing account of her experience. Larry, sister Debbie and their mother, Lisa, all joined the temple while it was located in California. Lawrence Robert Lawton (born October 3, 1961) is an American ex-convict, author, paralegal, motivational speaker, and YouTuber. Her book "Seductive Poison" will be in bookstores in November. 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. Their daughter, after working briefly as a physical therapist in New York, went for graduate study as a therapist to Pennsylvania State University, where her uncle, Dr. Franck, was teaching. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. Indescribable pain consumed me, leaving room only for a fleeting thought that I should pretend to be dead. In Jonestown Only one man, Temple member Larry Layton, was tried in the United States for his involvement in the November 18 events. Once, Debbie continued, Jones woke up the camp in the early hours of the morning. [7] Lawton attended Intermediate IS 192 and Lehman High School, but did not graduate. Her life appears to be light-years from Peoples Temple. Layton did so. His father, an electrical engineer, died when Larry was 8 and the boy had to move in with his grandfather, a stern Methodist preacher. And it wasn't an isolated incident. [37], Lawton is an advocate for prisoners and their rights, and comments on the justice system. Her mother, on discovering that her husband was having an affair with Lisa's English governess, gave Lisa a detailed account of it and threatened to commit suicide. Layton was attracted to the Utopian principles of the temple and its multi-racial flock, living and working together under the guidance of Jones, a combination professed faith-healer and leftist political prophet. 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. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. (CHRONICLE PHOTO BY SUSANNA FROHMAN), Restaurant chain slated to close site at Bay Area mall, One of the largest movie theaters in SF to close permanently, Grapevine closed indefinitely due to heavy snow and ice, Plan to bring bullet train from LA to Vegas is underway, 'Zero visibility' conditions: All roads to Tahoe are closed, What it looks like inside Coit Towers former apartment, Graupel falls on Disneyland, shocks guests, Avalanche slams into Tahoe apartment building amid blizzard, Hundreds of thousands of workers have abandoned downtown SF, Tahoe's snowfall totals are on track to break records, Report: Matthew McConaughey has a massive Salesforce paycheck, Popular yet divisive fast food chain coming to this Bay Area town. The hundreds of elderly were told that if they attempted escape, they would be left to die prolonged deaths alone in the depths of the jungle. [6], Lawton was born in North Hempstead, New York on October 3, 1961. I was almost one of them. [8] Lawton later said that he used a BB gun during the robbery. 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. Layton, 35, emerged as the only defendant alive and available for prosecution in the government's attempt to exact justice from the Jonestown horrors. Jones had a penchant for suddenly getting on the compound loudspeaker long after everyone had gone to bed and shouting, "White Night! Nevertheless, in 1991, a parole board ruled that Larry would have to serve 20 years, and set his release date for 2006. The spellbinding preacher had a message that attracted many disaffected people of the 1960's, and soon Carolyn had stirred her husband's sense of social activism and brought him into the group. Lawton gained notoriety for committing a string of jewelry store robberies along the Atlantic Seaboard prior to his arrest in 1996. From her childhood, friends said, Mrs. Layton had carried a deep fear of cancer. 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. Initially discouraged, Larrys family pressed ahead with the petition for early release, collecting another 50 letters in support, including letters from former Temple members and critics, numerous religious leaders, and a former congressman. Larry's parole came two years earlier than his previously-scheduled release date of April 2004. 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. The campaign succeeded in making it to the Oval Office, and seemed to be viable up until 20 January 2001, President Clintons last day in office, but Larrys name did not appear on the final list of pardons and commutations. I have no idea how much time passed until I turned my head and opened my eyes. In 1968, Carolyn Layton became the first member of the family to be enticed by Mr. Jones's diatribes against the rich, the Vietnam War, social injustice and racism. His father was a research scientist. In Congress, he joined a March 1978 Greenpeace mission to investigate the slaughter of baby seals in Newfoundland, Canada. Left-right: Jim Schollaert, Jackie Speier and Congressman Leo Ryan. UNDAUNTED: Surviving Jonestown, Summoning Courage, and Fighting Back, write a letter to President Jimmy Carter extolling Joness work, California's road to recovery runs through D.C. Republicans, Why New Jerseys ventilator guidelines may favor younger, whiter patients, Rhode Island ends specific restrictions on New Yorkers by making them national. It was a mass murder. I'm so desperately tired. To the tarmac. But this particular morning, Jones told his followers that they had to kill themselves to keep from being tortured by mercenaries who were preparing an ambush. To the stretchers. After a few weeks, Layton grew "accustomed to the unusual smells in the food and drink. She managed to contact her sister in Davis, who wired a ticket to Georgetown, where Layton and other Temple members were staying in a house the Temple owned. They had passed. While he was never charged with shooting Mr. Ryan, the Government contended that Mr. Layton conspired with Mr. Jones and other cult members to kill the Congressman and others in his group to prevent them from returning to the United States with negative reports about Jonestown. The cover of a Jonestown promotional booklet from 1978. Is the Stanley Quencher tumbler worth its TikTok hype? This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. At one point, Congressman Ryan interrupted our tour to make sure that the press and Concerned Relatives had been given the transportation to join us. Larry Layton, who posed as a defector, was captured after badly wounding two people inside a plane trying to take off. Dr. Layton was from a world substantially different from the aristocratic one of his bride. The docket for Laytons trial through its various appeals through 1990 is here. He is also charged with conspiring to harm Richard Dwyer, a United States diplomat who was wounded in the ambush. White Night!" 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. There were piles of used syringes at the scene. After spending 18 years in Guyana jails and U.S. federal prisons, Larry Layton, the only man convicted on criminal charges arising from the events of November 18, 1978, was released in April 2002. 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. Under the Federal parole system, a person sentenced to life in prison is not normally considered for parole until 10 years have been served. In some way, I think he was a substitute husband and father figure who filled all the needs that I failed to give.. 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