Q732 Summary

Summary prepared by Fielding M. McGehee III. If you use this material, please credit The Jonestown Institute. Thank you.

To read the Tape Transcript, click here. Listen to MP3 (Pt. 1, Pt. 2).
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FBI Catalogue           Unidentified Individuals Speaking

FBI preliminary tape identification note:“News of the Day April 8”

Date cues on tape:    April 8, 1978 (Specific reference to April 8)

People named:

Bible verses cited:      None

Summary:

(Note: This tape was transcribed by Richmond Arquette. The editors gratefully acknowledge his invaluable assistance.)

Jim Jones reads the news. He reads slowly, in part because he is tired – so tired, he says in the second segment of reading, that he fell asleep as he read, then awakened to find himself still holding the microphone – and in part because he is simultaneously listening to the radio behind him. The pauses between phrases and sentences are often long enough that the NBC broadcast in the background can be understood, as well as how Jones repeats (or sometimes re-interprets) what he hears.

As with other newscasts, Jones adds editorial comments, sometimes in his description of the people he is reporting on (“Israeli fascist Premier Menachem Begin”; “dreaded dictator, who was put in power by our merciless CIA, Augusto Pinochet”) and sometimes after completing the reading of a news item. On two occasions, for example, after reporting on the “fraudulent” election in the Philippines, and on the Nicaraguan dictator Somoza hiring U.S. mercenary pilots, Jones adds,  “there is no security in capitalism.”

The centerpiece of the first half of his broadcast is a long article on the “basic causes of economic depression under capitalism.” The second segment includes a passionate tribute to his mother, who had died a few months earlier. “Faithful mother, beloved friend of all of you, who gave hours of her time when she was so ill back in the States and here, with your counseling matters, your tax problems,” he says of Lynetta Jones.  “[Without her] you would then never have had this place that has given purpose to your life.”

Other items include:

At least part of the newscast was taped over a previous recording of a number of young men either teasing or trying to retrieve something from Mr. Muggs, the Temple’s chimpanzee. There is no context for the tape, although, since there are sounds of small electric saws and other construction tools in the background, it is likely in Jonestown. However, the Jonestown location would mean that the young men doing the teasing may not be Wesley Breidenbach and Don Scheid, since they were older than the voices on the tape sound.

FBI Summary:

Date of transcription: 3/21/79

In connection with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s investigation into the assassination of U.S. Congressman LEO J. RYAN at Port Kaituma, Guyana, South America, on November 18, 1978, a tape recording was obtained. This tape recording was located in Jonestown, Guyana, South America, and was turned over to U.S. Officials in Guyana and subsequently transported to the United States.

On March 5, 1979, Special Agent (name deleted) reviewed the tape numbered 1B62 #49. This tape was found to contain the following:

Side A contains a male speaker, appears to be in Guyana, South America, reporting, paraphrasing and adding text to news events. Appears to be a People’s Temple newscaster. Radio or TV can be heard in the background.

Side B contains a continuation of the same on side A. The same male in a news reporting status.

This tape was reviewed, and nothing was contained thereon which was considered to be of evidentiary nature or beneficial to the investigation of Congressman RYAN.

Differences with FBI Summary:

Other than the fact that the “male speaker” is Jim Jones – a voice which the FBI should have recognized after reviewing scores of tapes with his voice – the summary is accurate and meets the FBI’s purposes.

Tape originally posted December 2009