[Editor’s note: This article is a contextual guide to the radio codes used by Peoples Temple HAM operators. There are two Excel spreadsheets for the codes, one for “People” and the second for “General” subject areas.]
During the final years of its existence, Peoples Temple relied on HAM amateur radio as its primary mode—and often, the only mode—of communication between its three locations, in San Francisco and in Jonestown and Georgetown, Guyana. Under the U.S. Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) amateur radio guidelines, operators cannot conduct business duties or communication over the air. However, as the Temple was reliant on ham radio to maintain its day-to-day operations, it utilized a system of codes to circumvent the FCC’s guidelines and to ward off prying listeners who were—more often than not—apt to report the Temple’s operators for their misuse of amateur radio.[1]
As part of its investigation into Peoples Temple, the FBI collected tens of thousands of documents from Jonestown and the Temple’s Lamaha Gardens location. These files—organized into 118 sections under the FBI’s RYMUR “Guyana Index”—contain hundreds of pages of codes that correspond to the names of Temple members, detractors, supporters, actions, items, and locations. The Temple’s radio operators would refer to these people, actions, items, and locations by their designated codes, thereby obscuring the true nature and meaning of their conversations. A significant number of the codes related to medical terms, which could make otherwise suspicious communications appear more legitimate when used over ham radio.
It is unknown which Temple members created and distributed the codes or exactly how often they were changed. One set of codes, E-3-A-7-15 – E-3-A-7-17, however, appears to have been created by Karen Layton. At least towards the end—especially following the defection of Deborah Layton in May 1978—the radio codes were routinely changed every “so often,” according to survivor Tim Carter.[2] But since most of the documents collected in Jonestown date to the 1977–78 period, it is likely that most code sets originated during that era.[3] Contextual clues, such as the names of individuals listed as “defectors” or “enemies” of the Temple, can help narrow down the dates.
So far, I have identified 33 code sets throughout RYMUR. All of these have been organized into a master sheet, which is split into “People” and “General” words. The “People” sheet is alphabetically subcategorized into Peoples Temple members, defectors/former members, Americans/international, and unknown/unidentified. From there, the code sets are listed as columns, allowing users to easily compare and contrast the various code words used for an individual. I strongly recommend using the “Find” function to quickly locate specific words. If additional code sets are found within any Peoples Temple collection or archive, they will be added to the master sheet. Likewise, each code set can be viewed separately as a PDF via the research page.
It should be noted that the words considered important enough to be assigned a code frequently changed between sets. Across all sets, I identified over 1,200 unique words that had been assigned a code.[4] Frequently mentioned individuals, like Tim or Grace Stoen, appeared in nearly every code set; lesser-used words, like “referendum” or “Philadelphia,” usually only appeared once or twice. Even within a single code set, individuals were often assigned numerous codes. In code set E-4-B-2 – E-4-B-2-w, for example, Tim Stoen was assigned 11 distinct codenames.
So, what is the intended use of this master sheet, and what is its significance? There are many radio traffic notebooks and audiotapes that have yet to be transcribed. Most of these sources contain codewords that need to be deciphered. By using the master sheet, researchers can more easily decipher these codes.
Take, for example, BB-3-i-1, Deborah Layton’s radio traffic notes, which were deciphered by using the master sheet:
Hudson [Fred Wills] conversation with Claude [Forbes Burnham] last night
Hudson said Claude was upset at things Mr. Maxwell [Lawrence “Bunny” Mann] & people underneath Hudson had told him.
Hudson feels Maxwell & people under him are now against him & that could be what’s affecting the plane situation.
Large tank coming into port may hold us up 2 extra days.
[Illegible name, could be Julie [Carolyn Layton]] wasn’t going to leave til Friday – who knows now
Tried to get a hold of Hudson, but they had a power failure where he is & can’t
Get a hold of Richard [possibly Vibert Mingo] & see if he can authorize charter, since Hudson’s unavailable & GDF & company want his approval
Moreover, by cross-referencing the code sets with the radio traffic notes—which are mostly dated—it is likely possible to date many of the code sets themselves.
Of course, this master codename sheet is not perfect. Researchers should consult the original PDFs of the individual code sets to ensure accuracy and account for any errors or ambiguities in the transcription. However, by compiling all known code sets into a single location, this master sheet provides researchers with a useful tool for deciphering previously unidentified codes and, ultimately, making other Temple documents easier to understand and transcribe.
Notes:
[1] Throughout 1977 and 1978, the FCC investigated and cited Peoples Temple’s U.S.-based operators—namely, Ben Bowers and Elton Adams—for its misuse of amateur radio. See, FCC Investigation of Peoples Temple and CQ Magazine Article for thorough accounts of the FCC’s investigation of the Temple.
[2] Tim Carter, interview by Aliah Mohmand, December 16, 2025.
[3] As part of its investigation into the Temple, FBI agents attempted to roughly date some of the code sets, along with other documents in E-4. I have yet to review this work. See, Serial 2089.
[4] I did not see the code of interest to most researchers, “We’re going to see Mrs. Frazier” — the code for committing suicide, according to Jim Jones Jr. — in any of the RYMUR code sets.
(Aliah Mohmand is the Research Associate for this website. Her research has resulted in multiple projects regarding the aftermath of the Jonestown tragedy. Aliah attends Kalamazoo College, pursuing studies in History and Finance. Her full collection of articles for this site may be found here. She may be reached at aliahmohmand@gmail.com.)