DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
COMMUNICATION MESSAGE FORM
DATE: 1/26/79
CLASSIFICATION: UNCLAS
PRECEDENCE: PRIORITY
FM DIRECTOR FBI
TO FBI SAN FRANCISCO PRIORITY
FBI BROOKLYN-QUEENS MRA PRIORITY
BT
UNCLAS
RYMUR.
For information San Francisco and Brooklyn-Queens MRA Legat Robert Oglesby, Georgetown, Guyana, will arrive FBIHQ on January 30, 1979. SA Oglesby will be transporting seven crates of tapes released to the FBI by the Government of Guyana (GOG). Accompanying SA Oglesby will be Cecil A. Roberts, Assistant Commissioner in charge of the Criminal Investigative Division, Police of Guyana, who was in charge of captioned investigation in Guyana.
In this regard, a conference will be held at the FBIHQ on Wednesday, January 31, 1979, between Commissioner Roberts and FBIHQ personnel. ASAC [Assistant Special Agent in Charge] Lawrence G. Lawler and SA Donald R.
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Hale, San Francisco Division and SAs [names deleted], BQMRA, are instructed to be present at the above conference which will begin at 9:00 AM, January 31, 1979. Agents should report to the Personal Crimes Unit, Room 5096.
San Francisco representatives should be prepared to discuss all aspects of RYMUR, specifically potential United States criminal violations and investigation desired in the future by police of Guyana.
BQMRA representatives should be prepared to discuss results of interviews with repatriating People’s Temple (PT) members at New York City.
Commissioner Roberts will be prepared to discuss all phases of the investigation by the police of Guyana including, but not limited to details of investigation at the crime scene in Port Kaituma, Georgetown, and Jonestown; weapons recovered; physical evidence; witness statements; PT member interviews; finances of the PT; police reports; and radio transmission activities of the PT.
San Francisco and BQMRA advise of itineraries of agents
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reporting to FBIHQ, attention Criminal Investigative Division, Personal Crimes Unit.
BT
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Note: RYMUR is the code name for Bureau major case investigation number 16 involving the assassination of Congressman Leo J. Ryan and other members of his party at Port Kaituma, Guyana, while investigating the activities of the PT.
The investigation has been hampered by our inability to conduct investigation in Guyana, and prior restrictions placed upon the Bureau by the Government of Guyana as to what evidence and information collected by the police of Guyana would be made available to the United States Government.
Legat, Oglesby has advised that Commissioner Roberts has received permission from his government to travel to FBIHQ and discuss for the first time all aspects of the investigation in Guyana including furnishing the FBI with statements of witnesses and surviving members of the PT who were interviewed by Guyanese authorities. Commissioner Roberts will also furnish an inventory of physical evidence maintained by the police of Guyana and discuss the possibility of transfer of all items including drugs and weapons to the United States.
The above-mentioned conference will take place, Wednesday, 1/31/79. On Thursday, A.M., 2/1/79, Commissioner Roberts would like to visit the FBI Laboratory and talk to personnel about ballistics and photographic techniques.
On Thursday, A.M., 2/1/79, Commissioner Roberts would also like to visit the Identification Division and discuss FBI procedures relative to identification matters.
On Thursday, A.M., 2/1/79, Commissioner Roberts would like to visit Quantico and discuss police training matters with appropriate personnel
Commissioner Roberts has requested an opportunity to meet Director [William] Webster at a time convenient to the director. Commissioner Roberts’s itinerary calls for him to depart for Guyana on Sunday, 2/4/79.
The above is submitted for information as Commissioner Roberts’s itinerary while at FBIHQ will be formalized and approved by separate memoranda.