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Crime House has the perfect new show for spooky season Twisted Tales. Hosted by Heidi Wong, each episode of Twisted Tales is perfect for late night scares and daytime frights, revealing the disturbing real life events that inspired the world's most terrifying blockbusters and the ones too twisted to make it to screen. Twisted Tales is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. Listen wherever you get your podcasts new episodes out every Monday. This is Crime House, so we all know someone who thinks they have all the answers. No matter what, they always need to have the last word. That sort of self assurance can get people far in life, but when they mistake their confidence for expertise and things can get dangerous in 1955, Pastor Jim Jones proclaimed he was a prophet. His followers didn't question him when he said nuclear war was coming. Jim promised that they would survive the apocalypse as long as they did exactly as he said. Jim's congregation eagerly obeyed him. But over the years, his ideology became increasingly twisted. It all reached a boiling point in 1978 when he ordered his followers to die. In a few tragic hours, 909 people, some as young as one year old, lay dead and Jim Jones was to blame. From UFO cults and mass suicides to secret CIA experiments, presidential assassinations, and murderous doctors, these aren't just theories, they're real stories that blur the line between fact and fiction. I'm Vanessa Richardson and this is Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes, a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. Every Wednesday I'll explore the real people at the center of the world's most shocking events and nefarious organizations. These cases are wild and I want to hear what you think at the end of each episode. Leave a comment wherever you listen. Be sure to rate, review and follow conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes to continue building this community together. Together and for early ad free access to every episode plus exclusive bonus content. Subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. Today I'm discussing Jim Jones and the Jonestown massacre. Starting in 1955, Jim led an American cult called the People's Temple. At its peak, he had over 3,000 followers at his beck and call. But not everyone believed he was a prophet. In 1974, journalists began reporting that physical and emotional abuse was rampant in the People's Temple. To escape the scrutiny, Jim ordered his acolytes to build a compound in Guyana on the northern coast of South America. He named it Jonestown after himself. Little did they know there was no escaping Jonestown. All that and more coming up. The detective said missing kids usually come home. What happens when they don't? Based on a true story Police looking for John Gacy. We discovered bodies by the looks of it. The younger man. The things he did to those kids. He's sick. The system failed These families. Devil in disguise. John Wayne Gacy Streaming now only on Peacock. Do you know how many there are? Up to you to find out. When did making plans get this complicated? It's time to streamline with WhatsApp, the secure messaging app that brings the whole group together. Use polls to settle dinner plans, send event invites and pin messages so no one forgets mom 60th and never miss a meeting or milestone. All protected with end to end encryption. It's time for WhatsApp message privately with everyone. Learn more@WhatsApp.com Jim Jones never felt like enough. Rejected by his peers and his family, he eventually used the Bible to manipulate others. He tried to force people to accept him, to love him, and in the end, to die for him. It all started back in 1931 in the small town of Lynn, Indiana. Jim's family didn't have much. No electricity, no running water, and no time for their only child. His father was injured during World War I, so he spent most of his days sick in bed. He almost never left the house except to attend weekly meetings with the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. Because of his disability, Jim's mom had to work to support the family herself. She was so busy doing odd jobs that Jim hardly ever saw her either. Outside of school, he had nothing to do but wander the streets and try to make friends. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to connect with kids his own age. Desperate for a place to belong, young Jim turned to God for guidance. While his parents weren't very religious, most of the other people in town were. There were six Christian churches in Lynn catering to different denominations. Jim went to them all. This was the beginning of a lifelong obsession with religion. When he wasn't attending services, Jim was pretending to be a preacher and making up fiery sermons behind his house. He took bits and pieces from each church he attended, blending their beliefs into his own unique doctrine. The results were interesting. For example, as a teenager in the 1940s, Jim collected roadkill from ditches and held public funerals for the animals. He claimed that all creatures deserved a proper burial. Jim invited his classmates to attend, but they were rarely interested. As you might expect, this behavior raised a lot of eyebrows. Local kids gossiped about him, claiming he'd killed the animals himself. Others mocked him for his Bible thumping attitude. He seemed more interested in telling people what to do than actually getting along with them. Instead of taking their constructive criticism to heart, Jim only retreated further into himself. By 1947, Jim was 16 and completely sick and tired of his hometown. He resented his parents for neglecting him. He hated his peers for refusing to listen to him. But surprisingly, he didn't think any of them were at fault. Around this time, Jim started going to the local library and reading about history. That's when he decided the system was the problem. And so he adopted a new ideology. One that flew in the face of everything his family stood for. He became an outspoken communist. This was in the midst of the Red Scare in the us A time of extreme political paranoia. Most people were terrified of the consequences of being considered sympathetic to any element of the doctrine, let alone publicly admitting to being a communist. But Jim was already an outsider. He didn't care what the rest of the town thought about his beliefs. Instead, he dreamed about creating his own chosen family in an ideal communist structure as Marx would describe quote from each according to his ability, to each according to his need. Jones's views were progressive, but they were also ego driven. Jim fantasized about finding a group that would let him lead. And before long he got the chance to look for like minded people in a new place. Around 1947, his parents divorced. Jim wasn't too upset. If anything, he was happy to get away from his dad. He and his mother left Lynn for Richmond, Indiana, a larger town to the south. There he started over, telling his classmates all about his plans to become a minister. Unfortunately for him, the kids in Richmond didn't like him much either. The disappointment continued when he graduated from high school in 1949. Jim's grades weren't good enough to get accepted to ministry school. The 18 year old had to take a job unsuited to his desire for power and admiration as an orderly at a Richmond hospital. That's where he met a nurse named Marceline Baldwin. At first, 22 year old Marceline was put off by some of Jim's views. He was adamant about not drinking or smoking and frequently scolded people who disagreed. Over time though, Marceline came to respect Jim's passion and they started dating. Just a few months later, the pair got married. They spent a few more years in Richmond, but in 1952 they decided they needed a change. That year the couple moved to the state capital of Indianapolis in search of better jobs. There Jim attended a few meetings with the local Communist party. For the first time, he was around people who shared his passion for fighting the oppressive capitalist system. But even then, his ultimate goal was still to become a preacher. Later that year, 22 year old Jim got one step closer. He met a Methodist pastor in a used car lot. Though Jim had never been ordained, the man was impressed by his fire and knowledge of the Bible. He gave him a job as a student pastor at his church. It should have been a dream come true, a sign from God. But trouble started right away. Jim was as outspoken as ever on the pulpit. He made no secret of his communist perspective and enraged his white congregation by preaching in support of the developing civil rights movement. Angry churchgoers reacted by throwing dead animals onto the lawn. Some even clogged the toilets with dirt. Dead cats. Tensions continued to rise over the next few years. Finally, in 1954, Jim had had enough. After the church refused to racially integrate the congregation, Jim left. But he wasn't giving up. At 23 years old, he founded his own church down the road. One where he could say whatever he liked. And while Jim finally found himself in a position of undoubtedly checked authority, there were a few problems. Namely that he didn't have much money or followers. Jim knew he needed to do something dramatic to raise funds and get his name out there. One of the most famous evangelists of the time was a man named William Branham. Branham claimed to be a divine prophet with the power to heal illnesses and lift demonic curses. Most of the people he healed were never sick at all. They were plants. But people either didn't realize that or didn't care. Jim saw one of William's traveling shows and found himself spellbound. He watched as the audience showered the preacher with praise and emptied their wallets when it came time for donations. That was the kind of attention Jim had always wanted. So he started hosting his own supposed revivals. He went all over the lower midwest, employing the same deceptive techniques he'd observed and developing some of his own. He even recruited his wife, Marceline, to join him. At the beginning of every week, she went to the store to buy chicken organs and left them out to rot. Once they were stinking black and shriveled up, she wrapped them in cellophane and hid them in her purse while Jim began his sermons. When the music was at its loudest and the crowd was enraptured, he called out for volunteers with cancer to come forward. Inevitably, an old woman would be helped to the front by one of his assistants. He would put his hand on her forehead and scream at the top of his lungs, asking God to heal her. Then he would ask his wife to escort the woman to the bathroom so she could get rid of her cancer. Once, in the privacy of a stall, Marceline would reach underneath the old woman and reveal the rotten chicken organs. This, she said, was the cancer. Thanks to Jim's prayers, it had miraculously been expelled from the old woman's body. Marceline would then lead the bewildered volunteer back out to the cheering crowd, holding up the rotten chicken innards for everyone to see. As for Jim, his performance worked surprisingly well. He had a knack for picking out the most vulnerable, desperate people in his audience, and by 1955, people were joining Jim's ministry in droves. He was so successful that William Branham himself joined a few of Jim's revivals. They attracted crowds of thousands who listened in awe as the two prophets sermonized about the healing power of Christ. Jim beamed on stage as the crowd chanted his name. This was what he'd been searching for his entire life. That same year, Jim changed the name of his church. The People's Temple was born. And now that Jim had realized his dreams of power and attention, he'd do anything to keep it. This episode is brought to you by Netflix. Everyone is telling her she dreamt it, but in the woman in cabin 10, Lo Blacklock is determined to uncover the truth. In the gripping new thriller coming to Netflix October 10th, Keira Knightley plays a journalist aboard a luxury yacht who witnesses a crime she can't unsee. Adapted from Ruth Ware's best selling novel, directed by Simon Stone. Watch the woman in Cabin 10 now only on Netflix. In 1955, 24 year old Jim Jones officially founded the People's Temple in Indianapolis, Indiana. At the time, he said the church was Pentecostal. This is a specific version of Christianity that encourages a second baptism later in life. Usually this is accompanied by a sign like speaking in tongues or miracles. But Jim wasn't interested in the finer details. He chose to align himself with the Pentecostal movement because they were relatively lax about ordaining ministers. And unlike some other broader Christian movements, they accepted so called faith healers like him. That meant Jim was left to his own devices in his church, free to say whatever he wanted without contradicting any official doctrine. Like William Branham, he called himself a prophet. And from the beginning he urged his acolytes to listen to him above all else, even the Bible. While most people were afraid to speak openly about segregation and race relations, Jim dove in headfirst on the pulpit. He preached about the need for more equality but he didn't just talk about making change, he also acted on it. Once, Jim was at the hospital and refused medical treatment until a black man with more serious injuries was helped first. Jim's stunt was widely reported on. Despite Jim's bogus faith healing rituals, it was these kinds of stories that helped him become one of Indiana's most well known religious leaders and attract even more followers. Unsurprisingly, his Congregation was about 70% black. Depending on who you asked, Jim was either an agitator or a passionate activist. Either way, people knew his name. By 1960, he was 29 and regularly giving sermons to audiences of more than a thousand people. And whether or not his advocacy was just a ploy to gain followers, it was having a real impact in Indianapolis. Thanks to Jim, the city integrated many churches and businesses. In 1961, he and Marceline became the first white couple in Indiana's history to adopt a black child. They called themselves a Rainbow family and later took in a Native American daughter and three Korean American children, too. If Jim's story ended there, he would be remembered as a meaningful contributor to the civil rights movement in Indiana. But behind the closed doors of the People's Temple, he wasn't the selfless hero he pretended to be. Sometime in the late 50s, Jim created something he called an interrogation committee Inside the church. These were his closest confidants, people who obeyed him unquestioningly. Their job was to stamp out dissent within the church. Anyone who criticized Jim would be taken in front of the committee and questioned for hours on end. Often the meetings ended with physical punishment. Dissenters were beaten and forced to march outside for miles to pay for their so called mistakes. Because in Jim's world, disagreeing with him was the worst sin of all. While Jim seemed like a benevolent leader to those on the outside, the people within his church had a very different experience. With the interrogation committee breathing down their necks, Jim's followers began to keep their complaints to themselves. It was an unspoken rule. The People's Temple was built on a culture of silence. Still, no matter how many people Jim disciplined or how many civil rights victories he won, he was left unsatisfied. Racial tensions were still on the rise. Personal attacks against him and the press were multiplying. As he walked through Indianapolis, he became paranoid, constantly afraid that he or his church was going to be attacked. In the end, he decided that the problem was the same as always. He didn't have enough control. He needed to go somewhere new, a place where he could monitor his people more closely. In late 1961, 30 year old Jim told his congregation he had an apocalyptic vision of nuclear war. He claimed Indianapolis would be the center of an atomic attack sometime soon. This was during the height of the Cold War, so his words fed into some very real fears. Kids run duck and cover drills at school to defend against nuclear attacks. Parents read about the threat of war every day in the newspaper. A few months after his prophecy, Jim read a magazine article that claimed South America was the safest place to be in the event of nuclear war. He took the article at face value. In early 1962, Jim and his family took an extended trip to Brazil to scout out a new location for his temple. On the way, they stopped in Guyana, a small British colony on the northern coast. While they were there, Jim led a few sermons. He got a great response. It was just the validation Jim needed. Back in Indiana, things weren't going so well. Attendance at the People's Temple plummeted without its leader. Still, Jim remained committed to establishing a new home for his flock in South America. He spent almost two years trying to build a local following to serve as a foundation before urging members of the People's Temple to relocate. Ultimately, the initial spark of intrigue didn't last. The language barrier was too difficult to overcome and news from Indiana became increasingly dire. By 1963, Jim was forced to head home and regroup. He went back to tried and true methods, faith healing and apocalyptic rhetoric, which took on a more extreme and imminent tone. He started telling his followers that nuclear conflict was inevitable. The Soviet Union and the United States were doomed. Jim graduated to messianic status as he claimed that he would be the savior to rise from the ashes and to lead a communist utopia. His doomsday predictions earned the church more followers and more donations. Eventually, Jim had enough money to embark on some new scouting missions. This time, he looked to California. Land was plentiful there and the people tended to be more open to progressive political views. In 1965, he found what he was looking for in a farming community in the northern part of the state called Redwood Valley. By November, the new People's Temple had officially opened. But 34 year old Jim had trouble convincing his followers to join him. Though he still regularly preached to around 1,000 people every week, few were willing to move across the country for him. So he made do with a second church in California, taking only around 140 people with him. While members of his inner circle guided the Indiana congregation, he traveled between the two states, working hard to keep things afloat. Slowly but surely, he made progress by 1969, Jim had doubled his follower count to around 300 and instituted himself in local politics. Many of the people who joined his church were runaways or former drug addicts with nowhere to go. Jim welcomed these people into his flock as long as they were willing to work for him. The problem was, there just weren't enough people in Redwood Valley to grow much further. He couldn't get the critical mass of recruits he wanted. So the following year, in 1970, the 39 year old moved his flock again. This time, he went a few hours south to San Francisco. There he used his stockpile of money to win over the local politicians and newspapers. He offered grant money to TV stations and magazines, and then donated a huge sum to a professional journalism organization. These donations meant the papers reported on his faith healing revivals more often. His follower count boomed over the next few years as hundreds of people watched him pretend to cure cancer live on stage. But as Jim's success ballooned, so did his ego. Jim believed he was destined to change the world. And like any great trailblazer, he thought his detractors were willing to do anything to stop him. Soon he was walking around San Francisco with armed bodyguards. When he traveled to do his faith healing shows. He used a custom bus complete with a bulletproof sleeping compartment. At some point, he started taking pain medication to deal with the physical toll of preaching for hours at a time. Before long, he was using stimulants to stay awake and sleeping pills to come down. His entourage carried an entire briefcase full of pills to keep him functioning. All the drugs only heightened his paranoia. He continued to prophesize about a coming doomsday. But now he also claimed the CIA and FBI were wiretapping him. Over the next few years, nearly every aspect of Jim's teachings became more radical. Although he'd never shied away from controversial topics, his beliefs became almost completely untethered from conventional Christianity. For example, he started preaching about sex. Like many religious leaders, he warned against temptation and the evils of adultery. But unlike other pastors, he actively policed the sex lives of his followers. He regularly ordered married women to divorce their husbands and sleep with him. Instead, he got at least three of them pregnant. He encouraged at least one to have an abortion. On the pulpit, Jim preached faithfulness. And yet he was cheating on his wife with multiple people. It wasn't just women, though. He had relationships with several men and a 17 year old boy while in San Francisco. Afterward, he blackmailed them into keeping quiet. Marceline remained married to Jim despite his repeated infidelity and served Dutifully as his second in command. Though she wasn't happy about his affairs, she continued to stay by his side as long as it benefited her. Jim regularly gave her expensive clothes and jewelry to buy her silence. With each passing year, Jim fell deeper into his delusions. There was no longer any sign of the man who had once preached peace and communal living. Now he only cared about moving money and power. Despite all his misconduct, by the early 1970s, Jim was more popular than ever. Between his congregations in Redwood Valley, San Francisco and Indianapolis, he had over 2,500 followers. One of them was a young woman named Debbie Layton. She joined the People's Temple in 1971 at the age of 18. Unlike many of the congregants, she came from a rich white family. She attended one of Jim's sermons in San Francisco on a whim and found herself completely captivated. Debbie was searching for her place in the world, and Jim's vision of equality resonated with her. But Debbie wanted to do more than listen to his sermons. She wanted to get involved. Despite her young age, she quickly climbed the ranks. Before long, Debbie was a financial secretary. That's how she learned the People's Temple was bringing in a boatload of money. Every faith healing revival brought in thousands of dollars. Jim encouraged people to donate whatever they had, whether it be cash, jewelry, or anything else. That was on top of the monthly tithes that permanent members were expected to offer. Debbie still believed in Jim's benevolent vision of equality. But she was disappointed to learn that most of the money didn't go to people in need. It went to Jim in what he called a reserve fund. He claimed he needed the extra cash for when the church was inevitably attacked. When that happened, he said he would use the reserve fund to lead his congregation to the promised land. And as it turned out, Jim had already sensed that he'd overstayed his welcome in northern California. By 1973, even the sympathetic Prince Press was questioning the 42 year old's faith healing abilities. That year, several journalists exposed one of his revivals as completely fake. They tracked down the insiders he planted at his demonstrations, who obviously confirmed that Jim didn't possess supernatural healing abilities. It was a devastating expose and led many of Jim's followers to question their infallible leader, despite the risk of retribution from the interrogation committee. And that was only the beginning. Several weeks later, another paper ran a story about the physical abuse going on inside the People's Temple. Jim denied everything. He insisted the press and the government were out to get him. He reminded his congregation that questioning him meant they were questioning God. It was enough to quiet most of the critics within the church, for the time being at least. But Jim could tell the walls were closing in. It was time to skip town. As he thought about where to go next, he remembered his trip to Guyana a decade earlier. It was now independent from Britain, but still a very small and remote country, which meant it was far from the prying eyes of the American press and the perfect place to set up a fully isolated commune. That way, everything would be under his control and no one would dare question him ever again. Jim felt his followers owed him their lives, and when the time came, he wouldn't hesitate to collect. So good, so good, so good. Just then Thousands of winter arrivals at your Nordstrom rack store. Save up to 70% on Colts, slippers and cashmere from Kate Spade New York, Vince Ugg, Levi's, and more. Check out these boots. They've got the best gifts. My holiday shopping hack join the Nordiclub. Get an extra 5% off every rack purchase with your Nordstrom credit card. Plus buy it online and pick it up in store the same day for free. Big gifts, big perks. That's why you rack at New Balance. We believe if you run, you're a runner however you choose to do it. Because when you're not worried about doing things the right way, you're free to discover your way. And that's what running is all about. Run your way@newbalance.com Running in December 1973, 42 year old Jim Jones traveled to Guyana to build the commune of his dreams. Jim took his family and his most trusted advisors along with him for the trip. When searching for the ideal location for his compound, he had two main requirements. First, the spot had to be isolated, difficult for outsiders to get into and followers to get out. Second, there had to be fertile land. He was hoping to set up a self sufficient farming community. After several weeks, Jim found what he was looking for. He made arrangements with local authorities to lease a 27,000 acre plot of land. It was about six miles from a northern river town called Port Kaituma. The surrounding jungle was thick but not impassable, and though the soil wasn't ideal, it was still possible to farm there. While Jim went back to San Francisco, he left around 50 of his followers in charge of building the compound. Of course, he didn't pay them for their labor. Instead, he spent his time in California, refusing to be interviewed and urging his followers to ignore the mainstream press. The city eventually investigated reports of abuse in the church. But the culture of silence inside the People's Temple made it difficult for authorities to act on the reporting. Public opinion slowly turned against Jim. His drug use grew more severe, and his grip on reality loosened. By 1977, he'd become a pariah. The 46 year old decided to move down to Guyana full time, even though the compound wasn't completed. A thousand followers, around a third of his total base, went with him. For the most part, these were his most vulnerable followers, those who didn't have as much to lose by moving thousands of miles away. Before making the trip to Guyana, Jim convinced these people to give their earthly belongings to the People's Temple. This served as the final letter of control over the members who'd followed him abroad. Even if they found a way back to the United States, none of Jim's followers had any houses, cars, or material possessions to resume their former lives. They were stuck in Jonestown at the whim of of their profit. Three years in, the compound still wasn't hospitable or equipped to handle so many residents. Most of the followers inhabited a single building filled with bunk beds. Of course, Jim lived in a fully furnished home with the rest of his inner circle. And that wasn't the only distinguishing factor between the upper echelons of the church and everyone else. Adults were recording, required to work from 6 in the morning until 10 at night, plowing fields and preparing communal meals. When church members weren't engaging in hard labor, Jim brought the group together to reinforce psychological control through regular catharsis sessions, creating artificial emotional bonds among his followers by ostracizing critics through group bullying. Many cults use similar tactics. Essentially, Jim punished followers who challenged his authority to reveal their personal secrets in small groups. The target would then be ridiculed by the others and made to feel like a failure. Some had their heads shaved or wore a yellow hard hat to signify disloyalty. But the abuse didn't stop there. Kids who wet the bed were shocked by cattle prods or forced to wear their underwear on their heads. These tactics had a severe physical and emotional effect on his followers, which was exactly what Jim wanted. To keep them weak, he fed them a minimal number of calories each day to keep them moving, sometimes just a thin rice porridge and a few wilted vegetables. This was partially by design and partially because of necessity. The fields in Jonestown were producing crops, but not nearly enough to sustain a population of 1000. Most of the food was imported from the United States, and Jim rationed it heavily to save money. But withholding food wasn't the only way Jim exerted control over his followers. While his starving acolytes worked the field, loudspeakers blasted Jim's sermons for hours on end. Although these were probably recordings, Jim claimed he was constantly, constantly watching the group. He promised that anyone who tried to escape the compound would be caught and punished. Though Jim and his inner circle lived more comfortably, he knew that the commune operated without any room for error. An issue with a food shipment would leave them all without sustenance. A random visit from an outsider could once again expose the poor living conditions and mistreatment that caused them to flee San Francisco. This time, Jim didn't have relocation as a backup plan. Instead, he started to install his plan for mass murder. First, he introduced the notion through intentional false alarms to familiarize and desensitize the group. On any given morning, he'd gather his flock and alert them to an imminent threat, like a blood crazed militia breaking down the gates. Too many to fight off. Then he passed around cups of red liquid, which he said contained poison. Finally, he'd order his followers to drink the liquid. The only way they would ascend to heaven was to die alongside him. Although Jim introduced the concept as a collective act, like they had a choice, there was no option to refuse. He'd handpicked several of his burliest followers to be armed guards. As Jim passed around the red liquid, the guards monitored the group in case anyone tried to make a run for it. At that point, no one did. After everyone drank from the cups and said their final goodbyes, Jim told them it was only a test. There were no militants standing outside the gates and the red liquid was just fruit punch. It was all a trick to test their faith. For some, this was a step too far. Debbie Layton had first joined the People's temple back in 1971 and rose through the ranks to become financial secretary. She packed up her life and joined Jim when he announced the move to guyana. But by 1977, the 25 year old had reached her breaking point. Debbie had once admired Jim, but after arriving in Jonestown, she started to see through his facade. Now she knew who he really was. A tyrant. For the next year or so, she waited patiently for a chance to escape. Finally, in early 1978, she was assigned to recruit new followers outside of the temple in Guyana's capital city. Away from the watchful eyes of the guards. She contacted her sister back in the US within hours, she had a plane ticket. Once she landed in San Francisco, she went straight to a lawyer. She had to get the word out about what she'd seen. She summarized the terrible conditions at the People's Temple in a sworn affidavit and called for the government to intervene. US citizens were being abused. As we've mentioned, this was far from the first report of wrongdoing at the People's Temple. Up to this point, Jim had used his small time political connections to avoid criminal charges. But this time, Debbie found a champion for her cause higher up the food chain. Representative Leo Ryan, a 53 year old California lawmaker, took her claims seriously. So seriously that on November 18, 1978, he traveled to Jonestown himself to see what was going on. An NBC camera crew, a slew of reporters, and some relatives of Jim's followers came along with him. 47 year old Jim wasn't very happy to see them. Even so, he welcomed the party into Jonestown. He presented the compound as a socialist paradise. A place where everyone shared equally in a fulfilling life. When pressed about whether people were free to come and go, Jim told the congressman that everyone could do as they pleased. Though there were many who wanted to leave, most of the followers were too afraid to speak up. In the end, the journalists only found 15 people who said they wanted to go back to the United States. Jim begrudgingly let them leave the compound for the airport. Jim's greatest fear, losing his sense of authority and control, was coming true. He realized the government was going to intervene to protect the hundreds of citizens he'd whisked off to a makeshift commune, shut down Jonestown and likely prosecute him for his offenses. Rather than face the consequences of his actions, Jim decided to act. First. He sent his armed guards out to stop Leo Ryan from reaching the airstrip. They blasted through the jungle in a minute. Massive dump truck arriving just as the Congressman was about to board a plane. They fired on sight, killing Ryan and four others who were part of his team on the Runway. The rest of the party dove into the jungle for safety. Luckily, the gunmen didn't follow them, opting to turn around and head back to Jonestown instead. They had more important things to do. The end of days was upon them. Back at the compound that evening, Jim told his inner circle to brew the planned batch of cyanide laced liquid. Then he gathered the remaining members of his flock. A little over 900 people. Just like before, he passed out. Tiny cups filled with poisoned flavor aid, an off brand version of Kool Aid. Those other times he'd ordered his followers to drink supposed poison. It was all things fake. But this time it wasn't a drill, Jim told his followers that the US Government was coming to destroy them. The only option was to die by what he termed revolutionary suicide. The promise of the perfect communist society was gone. His prophecies had come to nothing. Jim told his flock that their enemies had won. Now there were only two options. Torture at the hands of the US Government or death. Though he pretended it was voluntary, it absolutely wasn't. The compound was surrounded by Jim's armed guards. People were told that if they tried to escape, they would be shot. Anyone who refused to drink was either murdered or force fed. Babies as young as one year old had the poison squirted into their mouths via syringe. In total, 909 people, including Jim Jones and his wife Marceline, died that evening. Only three of their children lived. Their sons happened to be at a basketball game in Guyana's capital during the massacre. They, along with around 80 other followers who'd managed to escape the guards, ended up surviving. They were found by Guyana's military the next day. The media called the event the Jonestown Massacre. The carnage Jim Jones left behind was unspeakable. And nearly 50 years later, the tragedy still lingers. In the decades since Jonestown, the public has struggled to understand the tragedy. As a result, some myths have sprung up around the cult's final days. The most common one is the that Jim's followers were so brainwashed that they didn't resist his final orders. In reality, they were coerced at every turn. The people who believed in Jim Jones were not simply mindless sheep. They were lied to, manipulated and psychologically abused. For over a year before their deaths, many were vulnerable people with nowhere else to go. Jim took everything they had, then betrayed their trust. They were stranded in a foreign country and threatened with violence if they tried to escape. Jim Jones was a man who used the language of freedom and liberation to imprison the people who believed in him most. He should be remembered as a mass murderer who pretended to be a man of God, and his victims deserve nothing but respect. Sadly, he's far from the only demagogue willing to gamble with people's lives to get what they want. In Cult Watch this week, I'm highlighting an extremist Hindu group called Sri Ram Sina. On August 6, Indian authorities arrested the local leader of the group in the state of Karnataka. He, along with two other men, are accused of poisoning the water of an elementary school. In total, at least 11 kids got sick from drinking the tainted water. The group was reportedly planning to blame the sickness on the school's headmaster, who's Muslim, Sriram Sina is a staunchly nationalist group and has tried to foment conflict between Hindu and Muslim residents in the past. Like Jim Jones, they've seized on existing social tensions and to get what they want, they're willing to use any any means necessary, even poison. Thanks so much for listening. I'm Vanessa Richardson and this is Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes. Come back next week. We'll decode the episode together and hear another story about the real people at the center of the world's most notable notorious cults, conspiracies and criminal acts. Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes is a Crime House original. Powered by Pave Studios Here at Crime House, we want to thank each and every one of you for your support. If you like what you heard today, reach out on social media, Rimehouse on TikTok and Instagram. Don't forget to rate, review and follow Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback truly makes a difference. And to enhance your Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes listening experience, subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. You'll get every episode ad free, plus exciting bonus content. We'll be back next Wednesday. Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes is hosted by me, Vanessa Richardson, and is a Crime House original Powered by Path Pave Studios. This episode was brought to life by the Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes team Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Benedon, Natalie Pertzofsky, Lori Marinelli, Stacy Warrenker, Sarah Camp, Terrell Wells, Leah Roche and Michael Langsner. Thank you for listening. And Doug, here we have the Limu Emu in its natural habit, helping people customize their car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual. Fascinating. It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug. Uh, Limu is that guy with the binoculars watching us? Cut the camera. They see us. Only pay for what you need@libertymutual.com Liberty Liberty Liberty Liberty Savings Fairy Underwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and affiliates, excludes Massachusetts Twisted Tales with Heidi Wong is perfect for spooky season. 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