`The Primary Emotions Were Exhaustion and Fear'

`The Primary Emotions THE WASHINGTON POST Tuesday, November 21,1978 A15 Were Exhaustion and Fear' Deborah Layton Blakey, 25, was a top punishment for defection was death. The aide of the Rev. Jim Jones until May, when fact that severe corporal punishment was she asked American consul officials to safe- frequently administered to temple members guard her departure from the Peoples Tem- gave the threats a frightening air of reality. ple jungle outpost in Guyana. In the follow. The Rev. Jones saw himself as the center ing June 15, 1978, affidavit given to her of a conspiracy. The identity of the con- lawyer for potential action, she detailed. spirators changed from day to day along conditions at the agricultural mission, say- with his erratic world vision. He induced ing Jones had become a "paranoid" ob- the fear in others that, through their contact sessed with "traitors." Spokesmen for the with him, they had become targets of the temple categorically denied her charges at conspiracy. He convinced black temple mem- the time. bers that if they did not follow him to The purpose of this affidavit is to call Guyana they would be put into concentra- tion camps and killed. White members were to the attention of the United States govern- instilled with the belief that their names ap- ment the existence of a situation which peared on a secret list of enemies of the threatens, the lives of United States citizens state that was kept by the CIA and that they living in Jonestown, Guyana. would be tracked down, tortured, impris- oned' and subsequently killed, if they did From August• 1971 until May 13, 1978, I not flee to Guyana. 1-' was a member of the People's Temple. For a substantial period of time prior to my Paranoid Vision of World departure for Guyana in December 1977, I Frequently;- at temple' meetings,. Rev. held the position of financial secretary of Jones would talk nonstop for hours. At vari- ous times he claimed that he was the rein- the Peoples Temple. , carnation of either Lenin,, Jesus Christ, or I was 18 years old when I joined the one of a variety of other religious or politi- Peoples Temple. I had grown up in affluent cal figures. He claimed that he had divine circumstances in the permissive atmosphere powers and could heal the sick. He stated that he had extrasensory perception and of Berkeley, Calif. By joining the Peoples could tell what everyone was thinking. He Temple, I hoped to help others and in the '.11 said that he 'had powerful connections the process to bring structure and self-discipline world over, including the Mafia, Idi Amin, to my own life. and the Soviet government. During the years I was a member of the When I first joined the temple, I Rev. Peoples Temple, I watched the organiza- Jones seemed to make clear distinctions be- tion depart with increasing frequency from tween fantasy and reality. I believed that its professed dedication to social change and most of the time 'when he said irrational participatory democracy. The Rev. Jim Jones things 'he was aware that they were irra- gradually assumed a tyrannical hold over tional, but that they served as a tool of his the lives of temple members. leadership. His theory was that the end Any disagreement with his dictates came justified the means. At bther times, he aP- to be regarded as "treason." The Rev. Jones peared to be deluded by a paranoid vision of labeled any person who left the organiza- the world. He would not sleep for days at tion a "traitor" and "fair game." He stead- a time and talk coinpulsively about the con- fastly and convincingly maintained that the spiracies against him. However, as time went . — on, he appeared to become genuinely irrational. that a public statement by Timothy Stoen Rev. Jones insisted that temple members • would increase the tarnish on his public work long hours and completely give up image. all semblance of a personal life. Proof of loyalty to Jones was confirmed by actions When the temple lost track of Timothy showing that a member had given up every- Stoen, I was assigned to track him down thing,,even basic necessities. The most loyal and offer ahim a large sum of money in re- were in the worst physical condition. Dark turn for his silence. Initially, I was to offer circles under one's eyes or extreme loss of him $5,000. I was authorized to pay him up weight were considered signs of loyalty. to $10,000. I was not able to locate him and did not see him again until on or about Oct. The primary emotions I came to experi- 6, 1977. On that date, the temple received ence were exhaustion and fear. I knew that information that he would be joining Grace Rev. Jones was in some sense 'sick," but in a San Francisco Superior Court action that did not make me any less afraid of him. to determine the custody of John. I was one Rev. Jones fled the United States in June of a group of temple members assigned to 1977 amdist growing public criticism of the meet him outside the court and attempt to practices of the temple. He informed mem- intimidate him to prevent him from going bers of the temple that he would be im- inside. prisoned for life if he did not leave im- The September 1977 crisis concerning mediately. John Stoen reached major proportions. The radio messages from Guyana were frenzied Between June 1977 and December 1977, and hysterical. One morning, Terry J. Bu- when T was ordered to depart for Guyana ford, public relations adviser to Rev. Jones, I hid access to coded radio broadcasts from. And myself were instructed to place a tele- phone call to a high-ranking Guyanese official who was visiting the United States and deliver the following threat: unless the government of Guyana took immediate Rev. Jones in Guyana to the Peoples Temple I steps to stall the Guyanese court action re- headquarters in San Francisco. A Major Crisis In September 1977, an event which Rev. Jones viewed as a major crisis occurred. Through listening to coded radio broad- ' casts and conversations which other members of the temple staff, I learned that an garding John Stoen's custody, the entire attorney for former temple member Grace population of Jonestown would extinguish itself in a mass suicide by 5:30 p.m. that Stoen had arrived in Guyana, seeking the day. I was later informed that temple mem- return of her son, John Victor Stoen. bers in Guyana placed similar calls to Rev. Jones has experienced particular other Guyanese officials. bitterness toward Grace Stoen. She had We later received radio communication chief counselor, a position of great responsi- to the effect that the court case had been stalled and that the suicide threat was bility within the temple. Her personal quali- called off. ties of generosity and compassion made her very popular with the membership. Her Conditions at Jonestown departure posed a threat to Rev. Jones' I arrived' in Guyana in December 1977. I absolute control. ,Rev. Jones delivered a spent a week in Georgetown and then, pur- number of public tirades against her. He suant to orders, traveled to Jonestown. said that her kindness was faked and that Conditions at Jonestown were even worse she was a CIA agent. He swore that he than I had feared they would be. The settle- ment was swarming with armed guards. No would never return her son to her. one was permitted to leave unless on a I am informed that Rev. Jones believed special assignment, and these assignments that he would be able to stop Timothy were given only to the most trusted. We Stoen, husband of Grace Stoen and father were allowed to associate with Guyanese people only while on a "mission." of John Victor Stoen, from speaking against The vast majority of the temple members the temple as long as the child was being held in Guyana. Timothy Stoen, a former assistant district attorney in. Mendocino and San Francisco counties, had been one of Rev. Jones' most trusted advisers. It was rumored that Stoen was critical of the use of physical force and other forms of intimi dation against temple members. I am further informed that Rev. Jones believed were required to work in the fields from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. six days per week and on Sunday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. We were allowed one hour for lunch. Most of this hour was spent walking back to lunch and stand- ing in line for our food. Taking any other breaks during the workday was severely frowned upon. The food was woefully inadequate. There was rice for breakfast, rice water soup for lunch, and rice and beans for dinner. On Sunday, we each received an egg and a cookie. Two or three times a week we had vegetables. Some very weak and elderly members received one egg per day. How- ever, the food did improve markedly on the few occasions when there were outside visitors. , In contrast, Rev. Jones; claiming prob- lems with his blood sugar, dined separately and ate meat regularly. He had his own refrigerator which was stocked with food. The two women with horn he resided . and the two-small boys who lived with him . dined with the membership. However, they were in much better physical shape than everyone else since they were also allowed to eat the food in Rev.

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