# Peoples Temple · The Cult Dossier · The Atlas · The Congregation of Tomorrow

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The Cult Dossier · No. 052 · Apocalyptic / Doomsday
Peoples Temple
Peoples Temple of the Disciples of Christ; Jonestown
1955 – 18 November 1978 · Indianapolis; Redwood Valley and San Francisco, California; Port Kaituma, Guyana
VI. THE 1970s — THE GREAT PROLIFERATION
Began as a Christian congregation; ended as atheistic-Marxist with a deified leader
### Who led it
### What it worshipped and taught
### Who was in it
### How it ended, or where it stands
### The dead
### Of note
### Its timeline
- 1955 Jones founds the Wings of Deliverance, soon Peoples Temple, in Indianapolis — one of the first fully integrated congregations in the city.
- 1961 Appointed director of the Indianapolis Human Rights Commission.
- 1965 Moves the congregation to Redwood Valley, California, having identified it as a nuclear-safe zone from a magazine article.
- 1970s Expansion to San Francisco and Los Angeles. MEMBERSHIP IS GENUINELY HARD TO FIX AND NO MEMBERSHIP RECORDS SURVIVE. THE TEMPLE CLAIMED 20,000; scholarship puts actual active membership at 3,000–5,000. Jones and his leadership described 16,000–20,000 people passing through the doors, which counts visitors rather than members. HISTORIAN JOHN R. HALL documents 86 arriving with Jones at Redwood Valley, 136 members two years later, and about 7,500 across several California locations by 1973. Between 4,800 and 5,000 people held membership cards recording vital statistics, and upwards of 2,000 were committed enough to apply for Guyanese immigration. Jones gains real political influence, is appointed Chairman of the San Francisco Housing Authority in 1976, and is courted by Willie Brown, Harvey Milk, George Moscone and Rosalynn Carter.
- 1 August 1977 New West magazine publishes Marshall Kilduff and Phil Tracy's exposé. Jones flees to Guyana that night.
- 1977–1978 About 1,000 members relocate to the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project — JONESTOWN — carved out of jungle in northwest Guyana. Conditions: 11-hour workdays, poor food, loudspeakers broadcasting Jones's voice day and night, passports confiscated, armed perimeter guards.
- 14 NOVEMBER 1978 Congressman Leo Ryan arrives in Guyana with journalists and Concerned Relatives to investigate.
- 17 November 1978 Ryan's party visits Jonestown. During an evening concert a member passes a note asking for help. Fifteen defectors ask to leave.
- 18 NOVEMBER 1978, c.16:50 At the Port Kaituma airstrip, Temple gunmen open fire. LEO RYAN, Don Harris, Bob Brown, Greg Robinson and defector Patricia Parks are killed; eleven wounded. Ryan remains the only member of the US Congress murdered in the line of duty.
- 18 NOVEMBER 1978, evening THE DEATH TAPE. Jones assembles the community in the pavilion and directs what he calls revolutionary suicide. A grape-flavoured drink (Flavor Aid, not Kool-Aid) laced with cyanide, Valium, chloral hydrate and Phenergan is prepared in a metal tub. CHILDREN ARE KILLED FIRST, poison squirted into their mouths with syringes. Christine Miller argues against it on the tape and is shouted down. 918 DIE, of whom 304 ARE CHILDREN. Jones dies of a gunshot wound to the head.
- 1979–1980 Larry Layton convicted in the US for conspiracy in Ryan's murder; released 2002.
### Its people
### James Warren Jones
Jim Jones; Father; Dad
Founder, Peoples Temple · 13 May 1931 – 18 November 1978 · active 1955–1978
Before the law. Never prosecuted. Arrested in Los Angeles in 1973 for lewd conduct in a cinema restroom; the record was expunged.
Where things stand. Deceased 18 November 1978. HIS ACTIONS KILLED 918 PEOPLE, 304 OF THEM CHILDREN.
- 1955 Founds Peoples Temple in Indianapolis.
- 1961 Appointed to the Indianapolis Human Rights Commission.
- 1965 Moves the congregation to California.
- 1976 Appointed Chairman of the San Francisco Housing Authority.
- 1 August 1977 New West exposé published; he flees to Guyana that night.
- 18 NOVEMBER 1978 Orders the airstrip ambush killing Congressman Leo Ryan, then the deaths of 918 people at Jonestown.
Checked 2026-08-24
### Marceline Jones
Marcy
Wife of Jim Jones; nurse and administrator, Peoples Temple · 8 July 1927 – 18 November 1978 · active 1949–1978
Before the law. None.
Where things stand. Deceased 18 November 1978. Her son Jim Jones Jr. survived, being in Georgetown with the basketball team.
- 1949 Marries Jim Jones.
- 1954 The Joneses adopt Jim Jones Jr., among the first white American couples to adopt a Black child.
- 1960s–70s Runs the Temple's care homes; increasingly distressed by her husband's conduct.
- 18 NOVEMBER 1978 Dies at Jonestown.
Checked
### Carolyn Layton
Carolyn Moore Layton; Karen Layton
Jones's principal partner and de facto chief of staff · 1945 – 18 November 1978 · active 1968–1978
Before the law. None.
Where things stand. Deceased 1978. Her sister Annie Moore, a nurse, also died; her brother-in-law Larry Layton was the only person criminally convicted.
- 1968 Joins the Temple; becomes Jones's partner.
- 1970s Manages Temple finances and overseas accounts.
- 1975 Bears Jones's son, Kimo Prokes.
- 18 NOVEMBER 1978 Dies at Jonestown with her son and her sister Annie.
Checked
### Maria Katsaris
—
Inner circle; custodian of Temple assets · 1953 – 18 November 1978 · active 1973–1978
Before the law. None.
Where things stand. Deceased 1978.
- 1973 Joins the Temple.
- 1977 Her father Steven is refused access to her in Guyana and joins the Concerned Relatives.
- 1978 Controls Temple financial assets in Guyana and Panama.
- 18 NOVEMBER 1978 Dies at Jonestown, in Jones's cabin.
Checked 2026-08-24
### Larry Layton
—
Peoples Temple gunman at the Port Kaituma airstrip · born 1946 · active 1968–1978
Before the law. CONVICTED in US federal court of conspiracy to murder a Congressman. THE ONLY CONVICTION ARISING FROM JONESTOWN.
Where things stand. LIVING — confirmed to April 2024, resident in NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. He was released in APRIL 2002, two years ahead of a scheduled April 2004 release, after EIGHTEEN YEARS held between Guyanese jails and United States federal prisons. HE WAS THE ONLY PERSON TRIED IN THE UNITED STATES for the events of 18 November 1978.
- 1968 Joins the Temple with his family.
- 18 November 1978 Boards Ryan's plane posing as a defector and opens fire.
- 1980 Acquitted in Guyana.
- 1981, 1986 First US trial hangs; convicted at retrial of conspiracy in Ryan's murder.
- 2002 Released on parole after 18 years.
Checked 2026-08-24 · living: health details are kept at home
### Deborah Layton
Deborah Layton Blakey
Peoples Temple defector who filed the warning affidavit · born 1953 · active 1971–1978
Before the law. Never charged.
Where things stand. Living — no death record found, though nothing consulted reports on her recently. Her memoir SEDUCTIVE POISON: A JONESTOWN SURVIVOR’S STORY OF LIFE AND DEATH IN THE PEOPLES TEMPLE remains in print and is among the essential first-person accounts of the movement. Her June 1978 affidavit is the definitive example of a warning that was specific, sworn, and ignored.
- 1971 Recruited aged 17.
- 1970s Handles Temple finances; moves millions into Panamanian and Swiss accounts.
- May 1978 Escapes from Jonestown.
- 15 JUNE 1978 Files a sworn affidavit with the State Department describing the mass suicide rehearsals — FIVE MONTHS BEFORE THE DEATHS.
- 18 November 1978 Her mother Lisa dies at Jonestown.
- 1998 Publishes Seductive Poison.
Checked 2026-08-24 · living: health details are kept at home
### Tim and Grace Stoen
—
Peoples Temple defectors; the custody case that triggered Jonestown · Tim born 16 January 1938; Grace born 1949 or 1950 — sources differ · active 1967–1977
Before the law. Neither charged.
Where things stand. BOTH LIVING — checked August 2026, no death record found for either. Tim Stoen is 88. A SMALL DISCREPANCY LEFT VISIBLE RATHER THAN GUESSED AT: this file carried 1949 as Grace's birth year, while accessible sources give 9 April 1950. Neither is firmly established here, so both are shown. Their son JOHN VICTOR STOEN, born 25 January 1972, DIED AT JONESTOWN ON 18 NOVEMBER 1978, AGED SIX — the child at the centre of the custody battle that preceded the killings.
- 1967–70 Both join the Temple; Tim becomes its attorney.
- 1972 John Victor Stoen born; Jones claims paternity.
- 1976–77 Both defect and seek custody.
- 1977–78 Found the Concerned Relatives; press for US government action.
- 18 November 1978 John Victor Stoen, aged 6, dies at Jonestown.
- 2016 Tim Stoen publishes Marked for Death.
Checked 2026-08-24
### Congressman Leo J. Ryan
—
US Congressman killed at Port Kaituma · 5 May 1925 – 18 November 1978 · active 1978
Before the law. His murder produced the only criminal conviction arising from Jonestown — Larry Layton, for conspiracy.
Where things stand. Deceased 18 November 1978, aged 53.
- 1973 Elected to the US House of Representatives for California's 11th district.
- 1978 Receives constituent complaints and the Layton affidavit; announces a fact-finding visit.
- 17 November 1978 Arrives at Jonestown; during an evening concert a member passes him a note asking for help.
- 18 NOVEMBER 1978 Fifteen people ask to leave with him. At the Port Kaituma airstrip Temple gunmen open fire. Ryan is shot dead along with three journalists and one defector.
- 1983 The Congressional Gold Medal is awarded to him posthumously.
Checked
### Christine Miller
—
The one person who argued back at Jonestown · 1918 – 18 November 1978 · active 1970s–1978
Before the law. —
Where things stand. Deceased 1978. Hers is the single dissenting voice on the recording, and it is worth remembering that someone did say no.
- 1970s Joins Peoples Temple in Los Angeles.
- 18 NOVEMBER 1978 On the death tape, argues repeatedly with Jones against the deaths, urging that the children be spared and that the community fly to the Soviet Union. She is shouted down.
- 18 November 1978 Dies at Jonestown aged 60.
Checked
### Marshall Kilduff
—
Journalist whose exposé forced Jim Jones out of the United States · born c.1947 · active 1977
Before the law. Journalist.
Where things stand. LIVING, AND RETIRED — A CORRECTION. This file described him in the present tense as a 'long-serving San Francisco Chronicle editorial writer'. HE RETIRED ON 17 JANUARY 2021, announcing it in his own column under the heading A Farewell Note. He had written for the Chronicle SINCE 1971, latterly as its CHIEF EDITORIAL WRITER — a fifty-year run at one paper. His significance to this dossier predates all of it: he co-authored the 1978 NEW WEST MAGAZINE investigation of Jim Jones, THE PUBLICATION OF WHICH PRECIPITATED THE FLIGHT OF JONES AND HIS CONGREGATION TO GUYANA.
- 1976–77 Investigates Peoples Temple; struggles to place the story.
- 1 AUGUST 1977 'Inside Peoples Temple' published in New West with Phil Tracy.
- 1 August 1977 Jones leaves for Guyana that night and never returns to the United States.
- 1978 The Jonestown deaths.
Checked 2026-08-24 · living: health details are kept at home
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