Q268 Summary

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

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FBI Catalogue Jones Speaking

FBI preliminary tape identification note: Labeled in part “Sept. 9, 1978 Questions to ask informer”

Date cues on tape: Contents of tape consistent with note

People named:

Bible verses cited: None

Summary:

Jim Jones discusses the arrival of Joe Mazor to the Jonestown community, anticipated to occur within the next few days.

Mazor is an unknown quantity to Jones. The private investigator had been hired by Concerned Relatives to spirit various family members out of Jonestown, and in the course of his work, he allegedly organized a mercenary force before – also allegedly – he spied on the jungle community, became disenchanted with the Concerned Relatives’ message and switched his allegiance to side with Peoples Temple forces against his former employers.

For these reasons, Jones is suspicious of their new ally – “the former conspirator who is now an informer” – in part because he believes the research which the Temple has done on Mazor, some of which is itself suspect. Mazor has a criminal record, as Jones has said on this and previous tapes, and he must have pulled some strings to be able to get an investigator’s license in spite of that record, again as he has said on this and previous tapes. He says Mazor was once part of INTERPOL and other related police- and intelligence agencies. While they welcome him, then, they also want to be careful with him.

So they plan to test him, by asking him who in the Guyanese government is in the CIA. That’s just one is a series of upwards of 50 questions Jones proposes to ask Mazor about their enemies, known and unknown, including their plans and their financing. Some of the questions are posed to learn specific information, and some will be asked to gauge the general state of mind and motivation of the opposition. Still others have a more subtle purpose, such as those designed to solidify Mazor’s tentative alliance with the community, as when Jones suggests that “we might want to remind him what [Jeff Haas, the attorney for the Stoens] said about Mazor? When he was caught in a corner, he said that Mazor was a crook. So that may help to divide more, because he did say that.”

Finally, some of the questions have no other purpose than to test Mazor’s candor and truthfulness. “Has he been doing anything in the Mendocino County area in the last month or two? Because we know he has, and if he says no, we will know he’s a liar.”

The balance of the tape includes general announcements, including the assignment of people to special classes to help them do better on the next current events test.

FBI Summary:

Date of transcription: 6/11/79

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 May 30, 1979, Special Agent (name deleted) reviewed the tape numbered 1B93-14. This tape was found to contain the following:

JAMES JONES speaking to the people advises that four people have been selected by him [to] return to the United States for assignments of great responsibility. (They are: TERRI BUFORD, MARCELINE JONES, HUGH [Hue] FORTSON, and PAULA ADAMS).

JONES also poses questions for people to ask Moser [Mazor] when he visits Jonestown. (i.e., conspiracies against People’s Temple).

Differences with FBI Summary:

The summary is accurate and meets the FBI’s purposes.

 Tape originally posted May 2016