{"id":123611,"date":"2023-07-24T16:36:33","date_gmt":"2023-07-24T23:36:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=123611"},"modified":"2023-07-24T16:36:33","modified_gmt":"2023-07-24T23:36:33","slug":"abc-news-jonestown-press-conference-with-stephan-jones-11-21-78-parts-1-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=123611","title":{"rendered":"ABC News \u201cJonestown\u201d: Press Conference with Stephan Jones, 11\/21\/78 (Parts 1 & 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Transcriber\u2019s Note: <\/strong>Both parts of the ABC News press conference tape may be viewed directly through the ABC VideoSource Archive here: ABCNEWS VideoSource<\/a> (Search 20P725A for Part 1; 20P725B for Part 2)<\/p>\n

Alternatively, the first part may be viewed on YouTube here: (27:34; press conference begins at 5:50) https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Bt2EIcAY3vw<\/a><\/p>\n

This press conference that took place in the days following November 18th features Stephan Jones\u2014the sole surviving biological son of Jim Jones\u2014who managed to survive as he and the rest of the Jonestown basketball team were in Georgetown during the Jonestown mass suicides. The woman seated to the left of Stephan Jones is Temple Lamaha Gardens administrator and secretary, Paula Adams. To the right of Stephan Jones is Lee Ingram, the Jonestown basketball team coach. Additionally, Charles Krause\u2014a Washington Post <\/em>journalist who visited Jonestown and survived the Port Kaituma shootings\u2014is present among the crowd of reporters and asks multiple questions. Temple attorney Mark Lane also makes an appearance in the crowd but is not heard on this tape.<\/p>\n

Some of the questions asked to Stephan include: his relationship with his father; the guns located in Jonestown; his mother, Marceline; the conditions in Jonestown and Lamaha Gardens; the members who survived; Sharon Amos; the continuation of Temple activities; \u201cinner circle\u201d members; Jones\u2019 ideologies; rumors of hitmen, among other questions.<\/p>\n

Due to the microphone being positioned towards the front of the room, many of the reporters\u2019 questions are unintelligible or inaudible. However, the general context of the questions is noted or can be understood. Please also note that due to the many camera cuts in the ABC tape, this transcript does not cover the entirety of the press conference. Again, due to many of the reporters\u2019 being somewhat unintelligible, the reporters are not specified in this transcript; however, questions that are believed to have been asked by Charles Krause are noted.<\/p>\n

An alternate MSNBC clip from the press conference may be viewed here: News Conference With Stephan Jones After The Jonestown Massacre<\/a><\/p>\n

TAPE 1 (22:14): <\/strong>(Search 20P725A on ABC VideoSource)<\/p>\n

Stephan Jones<\/strong>: (Talking into mike; audio is not captured for the first thirty seconds) \u2014Trying to build and uh\u2014I just\u2014like I said before all I was saying is that there\u2019s no reason to hide it. I mean like uh I for one came way down here\u2014uh regardless of what I (Unintelligible) I didn\u2019t necessarily like it all the time but I didn\u2019t like it, you know, when I was in the States all the time either. And uh\u2014what does it matter you know, it\u2019s\u2014there\u2019s so many good things happening\u2014<\/p>\n

(Tape cuts)<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: (Unintelligible; question likely in\u00a0 regards to the presence of guns in Jonestown ) \u2014Killing and uh<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: I knew that two shot guns who tried to get licensed for them. We did get licensed for them and we\u2019re trying to get licenses for others, and I never knew if these licenses came through.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: How many guns were there altogether?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Uh all that I knew of\u2014were uh\u2014at the moment I think\u2014I think I knew for sure of\u2014I saw three. And\u2014<\/strong>and I was reasonably sure that they were licensed. And uh I\u2014you know\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: You knew nothing of the cash (Unintelligible)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: No. I did not.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Why was it necessary for your father to have approximately a million and a half dollars uh in the uh cash and um\u2014gold and um\u2014cheques?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: It was\u2014I don\u2019t see how it could be necessary at all and I don\u2019t know anything about it and if it\u2019s\u2014made me more aggravated that you know, there could of been a lot more for you know, a lot of people\u2014with you know, if that money would have been used.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: You know uh\u2014were you familiar with the term \u201cWhite Night\u201d?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Yes I was. It was\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: What have you done with those people who escaped\u2014<\/strong>will not be in fear or harmed by the remnants of the Peoples Temple? (Unintelligible) Are there anything\u2014<\/strong>are there any extremist elements? It seems to me that since this was a headquarters that certain tried and true men would be here, that some of these people\u00a0 might well be (Unintelligible) \u2014<\/strong>supposed to escape, because some of them were pursued into the jungle (Unintelligible).<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: I\u2014I understand what you\u2019re saying and I am worried that they will think that, and we haven\u2019t been able to do much of anything, we\u2019re kind of isolated. And uh, I\u2019m trying\u2014I can assure you that I really am trying\u2014I want to get through these people because I do want to help them because I feel a lot of guilt that I didn\u2019t you know uh\u2014although I didn\u2019t really see any way that I could stop it without causing you know, something\u2014something to happen. I was trying\u2014I didn\u2019t see it you know\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Were you in radio contact with Jonestown from Lamaha Gardens?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Excuse me?<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Were you in radio contact with Jonestown from Lamaha Gardens?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: No.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: How did you know what was happening?<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: (Unintelligible) \u2014Call from\u2014from Jonestown?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: I know that she [Sharon Amos] was taking traffic.\u00a0 And uh I was gone at the time when I came back and uh\u2014she had done it. People ran out to me and told me what had happened.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Were there a lot of people in the house?
\nStephan<\/strong>: Yes. But they had you know\u2014I mean\u2014you can\u2019t expect people to think that somebody\u2019s going to take their\u2014their\u2014these children were beautiful. I can only describe them as beautiful. And you can\u2014no way we could of imagined that she would take them up and do what she did. I mean, you know. I\u2014they were there\u2014God would you have imagined it? Could\u2014could you uh\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Is this Maria Katsaris we\u2019re talking about?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: No. No. Sharon Amos\u2014with her children.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Maria Katsaris apparently killed uh John Vincent Stoen and uh\u2014Kimo Prokes\u2014the two children who lived with your father?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: I don\u2019t\u2014I don\u2019t\u2014I didn\u2019t know that.<\/p>\n

Lee Ingram<\/strong>: Is this information you\u2019re giving us\u2014giving us now\u2014is this fact? We\u2019ve not heard\u2014<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: All we know about is what\u2019s come over the news here.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>:\u00a0 Did John Timothy Stoen live with your father and mother in Jonestown, physically in the house?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Uh my mother did not live with my father. She lived\u2014she lived separately. And uh, Kimo and John lived up there with him and uh no\u2014we were led to believe\u2014and I don\u2019t care if they were or not I love them very much, but we were led to believe that they were uh you know, his sons. You know on one side and there\u2019s no way\u2014I was not a witness to the sexual act so there\u2019s no way I could know. But all I can say is that uh\u2014I love them very much. They were like little brothers to me cause I you know\u2014I never had a little brother, you know. My little brother is two years younger than me and he\u2019s bigger than I am. And uh, I tried as best as I could to care for them and give them the fatherly attention that they never got.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>:\u00a0 (Unintelligible) The thing is\u2014Blakey, gave the deposition in California and the Stoen custody case\u2014 she testified at that time was admitted to court hearing in Guyana that Maria Katsaris had one time given these two children sleeping pills before she did want to kill them when they were awake so that it would be easier when she killed them\u2014if they were ever came a time she\u2019d have to kill them like apparently like what took place that night. Is that beyond your realm of comprehension?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: I didn\u2019t know that. I didn\u2019t\u2014I mean I can only tell you that you know, I mean these are like if you had two little sons\u2014Timmy and uh\u2014I would\u2019ve never stood for that, and they knew I wouldn\u2019t, and anybody who\u2019s out there knows that it was a conflict between me and\u2014and my dad, and anybody directly involved with him, you know. And you know, it was a very tight situation. I would\u2019ve never stood for that if I would’ve known that happened.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: You indicated that your mother was a fairly strong-willed woman who was completely and rationally aware of your father\u2019s condition. (Unintelligible, cars in background)\u2014Even suggest that in the last moment of\u2014mother, mother, mother\u2014that there might have been an argument going on at the last act of both their lives. And yet she apparently\u2014excuse me for\u2014 you know\u2014I understand that you\u2019re grieving with what you\u2019ve been through\u2014but she apparently (Unintelligible)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Like I said before\u2014the only thing\u2014reason she told me many times because you know, she had been hurt many times, you know, and we all have because of what we believed in and everything but the only reason she lived was for me, and myself, and my brothers. And uh all I can think is that you know, she thought that we\u2019d, you know, we were gone.<\/p>\n

Lee Ingram<\/strong>: I can only say to that\u2014to that\u2014to his question there\u2014(Brief tape cut)\u2014pardon (Unintelligible saying from a reporter)\u2014it was intermittent\u2014intermittently, and had it been I would not have known because I wasn\u2019t there that often to know if it was or not. But had you know\u2014because there might not of been and there had been intermittent communication\u2014she might had assumed that all was lost here, you know. If there had been any communication you know, that she\u2014and his dad were going to kill themselves.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: How many people were left here?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Forty-something.<\/p>\n

Paula Adams<\/strong>: Forty-six.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: How many were there on the basketball team?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Uh eleven are basketball players, and we have a trainer and a coach.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Is it true that the basketball team was in fact the group that was trained to\u2014to be the marksmen for Peoples Temple?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: No\u2014no.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: It\u2019s not true?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: No it\u2019s not.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: It\u2019s not true that the basketball team practiced with the thirty or forty weapons and hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition that were found?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: If we had practiced with these weapons and if we were the ones you know, designated to do this, why would we be sent to town?<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: (Unintelligible; equipment clacking in background, question is referring to a conflict between Stephan and Jim Jones)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: It could be. I\u2014I don\u2019t know. I know that I came\u2014I wanted to play basketball. I wanted\u2014I wanted to prove we could leave and I wanted\u2014I felt we were good. And uh, I wanted to play.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Steve, how many of your members are being detained at Lamaha Gardens and how many by the government (??), and at some other facilities?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Well I think that all of us that are here are being detained. You know that were in the Jones\u2014Georgetown house when this happened, and it\u2019s about forty-six. I have a list\u2014I have a list of\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: \u2014Of the Georgetown house\u2014?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Excuse me?<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Of the Georgetown house right?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Yes.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Every forty-six people in the Georgetown house?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: That\u2019s right.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: No one as far as you know is being detained in the police headquarters?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: I don\u2019t know anything that\u2019s going on.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>:\u00a0 (Reporters talk over each other) Is it true Steve that\u2014<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Excuse me?
\nReporter<\/strong>: Do you think that the conflict with your father would of resulted in your death?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Uh no. I think he was scared of me.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: (Unintelligible)
\nStephan<\/strong>: I can\u2019t say. I\u2014I don\u2019t want to make any\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter (Charles Krause?)<\/strong>: Your father\u2019s illness by any means was not terminal illness? He did not think he was going to die? Did he talk about his death from the course of his health reasons and drugs and everything?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: He talked about, you know, everything. I mean he\u2019s\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter (Charles Krause?)<\/strong>: Specifically that. I mean\u2014did he think he was dying then?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Uh I don\u2019t know. He said he did. I don\u2019t know if he really thought\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter (Charles Krause?)<\/strong>: (Unintelligible)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: I don\u2019t know that. He had\u2014he listed a number of illnesses you know, and I\u2019m no doctor.
\nReporter (Charles Krause?)<\/strong>: Did Schacht treat him?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Yes. But I would say that he treated himself, you know.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: What were some of the illnesses that he\u2014 (Unintelligible)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: There was no\u2014I know he claimed trouble with his heart. Uh\u2014uh I can\u2019t think of the\u2014low blood sugar, high blood sugar\u2014I don\u2019t know which it was uh\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter (Charles Krause?)<\/strong>: What did your father think about you and your position as his kid? (??) (Unintelligible) Was he frightened of that\u2014 (??) (Unintelligible)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Yeah. Right.<\/p>\n

Reporter (Charles Krause?)<\/strong>:\u00a0 (Unintelligible; question is likely in regards to how Jim Jones perceived Stephan)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Uh he claimed he was afraid of nothing, which I know is\u2014bull. He\u2019s a very frightened man. Uh he claimed uh\u2014that\u2014I don\u2019t know\u2014he had no ego, which is the total opposite. He had one of the biggest egos I\u2019ve ever seen in my life. Uh\u2014but I think he was\u2014that\u2019s another reason why I felt he was\u2014he did so much I felt he was\u2014he feared for his life so much that he would never do anything like this.<\/p>\n

Reporter (Charles Krause?)<\/strong>: Steve, isn\u2019t it true that it was discussed among the top leadership that um if this should come to pass, some people from Jonestown uh (Camera pans towards Charles Krause and other reporters) would then go\u2014some people who were decided to have lived would go to the States to uh kill the\u2014certain people who were on a list of enemies of the church? (Camera pans back towards Stephan Jones)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: As I said before\u2014he never really let me in on the decision-making because I was\u2014I guess what you might say too contrary, you know. I believed in doing what we were doing at the time and uh\u2014leave all this\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter (Charles Krause?)<\/strong>: Have you heard any stories to this event?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Uh\u2014no. I mean, no.<\/p>\n

Reporter (Charles Krause?)<\/strong>: You never heard that?<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: (First part of question unintelligible) \u2014Who was making the decisions here?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Uh when I say the decision-making I mean in the total working of the\u2014the\u2014the compound, right, you know, different facets of it like agriculture, you had construction, you had uh you know, in medical. You had everything and uh there was you know, departments\u2014department heads\u2014and there was heads of that\u2014it was like a little government and uh\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Has the government of Guyana informed you or indicated to you your status?\u00a0 Has anyone indicated any possible criminal charges pending?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: No they haven\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Or deportation?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: No they haven\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: They\u2019ve just asked you questions and you\u2019ve tried to\u2014<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: (Nods)<\/p>\n

Reporter (Charles Krause??)<\/strong>: Steve, how close was your father to Mr. Reed?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Mr.?<\/p>\n

Reporter (Charles Krause??)<\/strong>: Mr Reed.\u2014vice mayor\u2014of Guyana.<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: I don\u2019t know. He complimented the man many times. Uh\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter (Charles Krause??)<\/strong>: And your father saw him from time to time in Jonestown?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Not in Jonestown. I don\u2019t even know that. I was rarely in Georgetown. (Asking Paula Adams) Did he meet?<\/p>\n

Paula Adams<\/strong>: (Camera zooms in on Paula) He had met with him. But uh\u2014and I was present at those meetings and I can say at those meetings he presented Peoples Temple as what Peoples Temple stood for\u2014non-violent, racially equal, economically equal, socially equal, and a community that was basically built to be. And at that time that he presented himself he presented it as parts of Peoples Temple\u2014and not the insane aspect of his personality.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Steve, I don\u2019t know the circumstances (Unintelligible)\u2014It seems almost impossible in Guyana for a foreigner to get land.<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: I didn\u2019t know there wasn\u2019t\u2014I didn\u2019t know that.<\/p>\n

Paula<\/strong>: There\u2019s\u2014there\u2019s not such a large lease. The lease was three-thousand acres I believe. And\u2014<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Considering the landmass here\u2014<\/p>\n

Paula<\/strong>: No\u2014no\u2014it was not. It was not. It was not twenty-thousand because I was uh directly involved with the lease. It was set on a basis of um\u2014like uh\u2014I forget the word\u2014(Reporters chatter). You know if\u2014if we needed more land, it could be developed instead of having to drive ten miles up a road, you know. It was\u2014it was designed so that if the farm spread in such a way, that it could be used. But it was not leased to us this way.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: (Unintelligible; question pertaining to the Jonestown land lease)<\/p>\n

Paula<\/strong>: Well it was an option that it was the government that determined whether we would own it.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>:\u00a0 (Unintelligible; question likely asking about activities and leisure in Jonestown)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: There were uh, get-togethers. You know, one of my (Unintelligible) you know everybody kind uh\u2014did their thing, you know.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>:\u00a0 Like what for instance? What would you do at these get-togethers?
\nStephan<\/strong>: Singing. Uh we had performances. Uh you know we had a good band and uh\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter (Charles Krause??)<\/strong>: Steve, wasn\u2019t it true that most nights your father would (Unintelligible) from nine-o’clock until two, three in the morning until everyone finally got tired? Basically all the people had to come to the pavilion and listen to him talk, talk, talk, talk\u2014<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: He required a lot of uh you know, teaching\u2014not necessarily from him, but different classes you know.\u00a0 We uh\u2014current events, you know we had\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter (Charles Krause?)<\/strong>: Wasn\u2019t it true that people seventy and eighty-years-old were forced to sit up half the night listening to this\u2014and if they fell asleep there were security guards who would come over with a gun or with a\u2014<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: No. No, that\u2019s not true. It\u2019s true that there were times where people were kept up till uh unheard of hours, you know. And uh\u2014it makes it sound like I condone it. (??) I didn\u2019t uh\u2014you have to put yourself in my spot, you know. What am I to do uh\u2014I\u2019m only nineteen years of age and do what\u2014what did Debbie Blakey\u2014I understand why she left. I understand her feelings. But what did she accomplish? Nothing, you know. And I\u2014I was only\u2014I\u2014I wanted to do the same thing she did\u2014stop it. But did she accomplish anything? Did any of the people that have left you know understandably so\u2014but have they accomplished anything?<\/p>\n

Reporter <\/strong>: Can you explain why your father was so upset at the possibility of members leaving?
\nStephan<\/strong>: No. Cause I said before he had a tremendous ego. (<\/strong>Camera pans away from Stephan and towards Mark Lane)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: (Tape Cuts)\u2014Felt that we were doing a good thing, you know. Uh<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Was there a tendency to (Unintelligible) any of the members, which would maybe believe that they may go up and do (Unintelligible)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: (Camera zooms out from Mark Lane) Uh tendency to violence uh\u2014I know myself (Tape cuts and the camera pans towards the reporters and Stephan)\u2014committing murder, or you know, hurting anyone that not, you know, hurt me. And uh no, I think for the most part\u2014like one thing that was remarkable to me was that the relationship between young men\u2014my age, you know\u2014and in the States it was like, prove yourself, right? And uh here we didn\u2019t have that, you know.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>:\u00a0 But was anybody tried (Tape cuts and camera pans towards reporters) that thing before? (??)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: There was never any physical prevention. But I can\u2019t say there was an atmosphere there. It was like uh\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter (Charles Krause?)<\/strong>: Steve, can you describe the Extended Care Unit? (Camera pans to Stephan)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: I don\u2019t know what you\u2019re talking about.<\/p>\n

Reporter (Charles Krause?)<\/strong>: Isn\u2019t it true that anyone who tried to leave was caught and brought back and put on drugs for a long period of time?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: If that is true uh\u2014I didn\u2019t know. I didn\u2019t know about it\u2014I knew a young man that I took care of and cared a lot about\u2014Vincent Lopez uh\u2014at one time\u2014he wasn\u2019t even leaving, I mean he was a young kid\u2014and I\u2019ve done it before\u2014wanted attention, you know. And uh he had no one, and I had said something to him, you know. I had gotten mad with him because he had a lot of bad patterns, you know, that he brought over\u2014a lot of\u2014he stole a lot and stuff. He\u2014he left, you know, and he was brought back\u2014we were all put under the impression that he was sick, you know\u2014that he had been bitten by something. And uh, he was taken to\u2014what we call the Intensive Care Unit\u2014you know people that had high temperatures and stuff like that. And if that happened, you know, I didn\u2019t know about it.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: (Unintelligible; reporters talk over each other)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Excuse me?<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Was the mail censored?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: I\u2014I never got any mail. I don\u2019t have that many relatives outside\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: But I know they used the mailing address of Georgetown for delivery and to get it\u2014 (??)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: No. I\u2014I\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: (Unintelligible; question is referring to mail censorship)\u2014People say that mail was censored both in and out.
\nStephan<\/strong>: I don\u2019t doubt that. But I\u2014I can ensure you sir I do not\u2014I was not in on what happened here. I came here to play basketball and I don\u2019t doubt that there was a lot of\u2014you know, I\u2019m doing the best I can, and I understand your\u2014I understand your problem.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Steven (Unintelligible) who physically had control of the passports?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: I don\u2019t know that. I know that one time George Touchette\u2014uh recorded information, you know, necessary information of who was there, their age, you know, and different things like that so we could you know.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: On what condition did they come in (??)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Who?<\/p>\n

Lee Ingram<\/strong>: What do you mean?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: They flew. They came in\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>:\u00a0 (Unintelligible; question may be pertaining to \u201cdocumentation\u201d, and the process of the arrival of Peoples Temple members in Guyana)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Not that I know of.<\/p>\n

Paula Adams?<\/strong>: They all came in on their own\u2014<\/p>\n

(Tape cuts)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: You know, more and more all I can say is that I wouldn\u2019t doubt it. But I can tell you uh\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter (Charles Krause?)<\/strong>: You never heard about a tape recording of uh\u2014of an interlude between a\u00a0 Guyanese official in Washington and someone in the Temple? We\u2019ve been told there was\u2014this was something that was pretty well known.<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: I\u2014I never heard that. But I can tell you there was a lot of like uh\u2014he read a lot of books\u2014a lot of books. And I think he tried to live through his books. And he played a lot of games, but I just felt like you know, let him play his little games and you know, just stay away, and I\u2019m going to do what I can and build what I can here. And uh, if he did it I don\u2019t doubt it, you know. There\u2019s a lot of game playing. There\u2019s a lot of unnecessary, you know, stuff done. But uh\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>:\u00a0 (Unintelligible; question cuts to Stephan\u2019s response)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: \u2014What he has taught me in my mind, in my body, there\u2019s not any kind of thing that I read and I follow, you know, it\u2019s just what I feel, you know. I know when I\u2014I know what I feel that\u2019s wrong and what I feel is right. And I think he knew basically, you know,\u00a0 what was wrong and right.\u00a0 I just think that he became obsessed with his ego, with his power, and there were a lot a women that worshiped him, you know. And uh I think he just thought he was something\u2014<\/p>\n

(Tape cuts to Stephan\u2019s response to a new question, likely pertaining to Marceline Jones)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: She felt very hurt. See this is what originally, you know\u2014many years ago, what separated me and my father cause I loved my mother very much. She\u2019s a very\u2014she was a very loving and understanding person and I think anybody that has encountered her can testify to that. And uh\u2014uh I just think\u2014she knew she had something to do\u2014she was head of the medical department and she was, you know\u2014everybody loved her. And she was just trying to get something done and she knew that if she dwelled on what he did, there was no way you know\u2014I too\u2014there was no way that we could get done that we wanted to\u2014to accomplish. And uh, I think it hurt her, that I think she got over it.
\nReporter<\/strong> (Charles Krause?)<\/strong>: (Reporters talk over each other) Rhodes said that at the suicide, when Schact played the poison, that these nurses passed out the poison. (??) Were there many nurses up there? Was your mother a nurse?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Uh there were many. But my mom was a nurse but she was\u2014like I said it was a government-like-thing and she was the one that was in charge of the medical department, you know. She saw that everyone like\u2014just an example, say someone uh one of our seniors was not well, uh he had a wife, but he had to be moved to an intensive care area and she would make sure that you know\u2014that like, the wife got to move in with him. She\u2014she made sure everything was going smoothly and everybody reported to her uh\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Can you please give us (Unintelligible; tape cuts)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Uh\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: (Unintelligible; question involves Stephan\u2019s family)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: I have a mother and father. I have two brothers in town, two adopted brothers, I\u2019m the only natural born. Uh\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Are they both younger than you?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: One\u2019s older, one\u2019s younger. But I mean it\u2019s only\u2014the one that\u2019s older, it\u2019s only a matter of months and uh\u2014
\nReporter<\/strong>: Steve, did you know about the black box?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: What black box? I mean\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: The black box that Debbie Layton spoke about\u2014that people were put in it for one to seven days?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: That\u2014that\u2019s not true.<\/p>\n

Tape ends.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

TAPE 2 (20:55): <\/strong>(Search 20P725B on ABCVideoSource)<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: (Unintelligible question)<\/p>\n

Stephan Jones<\/strong>: No.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: (Unintelligible)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Oh you mean that were\u2014at\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: \u2014Jonestown?
\nStephan<\/strong>: No. We have no contact, and we were\u2014we\u2014two of us\u2014my\u2014one of my brothers and another good friend had, you know, gone up to identify\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: We heard of stranglers coming in.<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Oh yeah.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Steve, you explained to us in\u2014this (Unintelligible) purposes\u2014you explained you were here in town at the time of the suicides because of the basketball team\u2014<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: That\u2019s right.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: What about the other three individuals\u2014what\u2014how\u2014what was the reason that those individuals were not at Jonestown at the time of the uh\u2014<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: (Referring to Lee Ingram) He\u2019s the coach.<\/p>\n

Lee Ingram<\/strong>: I\u2019m the coach. I came in with the basketball team.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Alright.<\/p>\n

Deborah Touchette (??)<\/strong>: (Camera pans to Deborah) We\u2014all people took turns coming into Georgetown for different things like to be in charge of the medical department, to be in charge of public relations, to be in charge of seeing the people get dental care done. And it was my turn to come\u2014<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Just like a total administration here. You know, we have to have\u2014maintain contact\u2014we\u2019re isolated out there and people alternate. (Tape cuts)<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: (Unintelligible; question is likely regarding the continuation of Temple activity)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Uh, I\u2019m planning to\u2014right now I have no plans other than to see everyone safe and to see everyone get a chance to do what they want to do. Uh as for carrying on work, I know I\u2019m going to go on believing in what I believe in, you know, uh\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Steven, will you try to go back out there and play (Unintelligible)\u2014in Georgetown and bring some of your people down from San Francisco again?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: I don\u2019t see how that would be possible.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Who\u2019s in charge of the group in San Francisco?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: I think, the one I\u2019ve been talking to now is Jean Brown, but as for someone being in charge, it\u2019s not, it\u2019s not that definite of a thing, you know. It\u2019s just a lot of respect between people and you know\u2014<\/p>\n

Paula Adams<\/strong>: (Unintelligible)<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: (Unintelligible; question may be pertaining to the reactions of members in San Francisco)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: How were they reacting? Primarily the same as we are. They\u2019re frightened, you know.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: (Unintelligible; question likely pertaining to the discipline and the punishments of children in Jonestown )\u2014ropes tied around their bodies? I heard from three independent sources.<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: I know that there was\u2014I know that they used to take uh\u2014uh children down in a\u2014it would be like for discipline you know, (Unintelligible)\u2014they said they just could not uh<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: \u2014From the ages of three to fourteen?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: I don\u2019t know the ages. But I know that\u2014I never\u2014I know that they would come back and they would be crying and they would be scared and you know.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: But you don\u2019t know about that well?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: I know about a well. I know\u2014I know about a well. Uh, I can say that there was, you know, a lot of things I didn\u2019t understand, a lot of things I didn\u2019t agree with. Uh, like I said before, what would you do? I mean, would you uh leave and leave everybody you\u2019ve loved, everybody you\u2019ve lived with all your life and\u2014and accomplish nothing you know.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: What were some of the things you didn\u2019t agree with? (Unintelligible)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: I think I\u2019ve said most of them. It\u2019s just, you know. Inconsis\u2014inconsistencies, you know different\u2014with my father especially you know. Uh, I don\u2019t know. I was in a very\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: (Unintelligible)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: I hope to see my people safe.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: (Unintelligible; question may be referring to the removal of Jim Jones as the leader of the organization)\u2014the time your father was alive (Unintelligible)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Uh I had hoped.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Did you hope (Unintelligible)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: I think that\u2019s a bad way of putting it. To uh be able to go on you know, the way things started. You know, building and trying to help people. And uh I know my mother was loved and I think had a lot respect\u2014especially from people in my age group and I just wanted\u2014however I can do it, I wanted to eliminate all of the bull that was going down, a lot of the mess, and just get down to what we wanted to do.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Was there any (Unintelligible) in the past year or two that frightened you about the drill\u2014the trend, the way Peoples Temple was going with the leadership? It really\u2014I know you had a father-son friction and tension but was there anything that was like wow, this is scary, this is against the thing in the world we\u2019re trying to do here.<\/p>\n

Paula<\/strong>: Before he answers that question\u2014before he can go onto it, but I wanted to say for you know, (Camera zooms in on Paula Adams) let my\u2014let my personal self\u2014as of February, I was\u2014you know when you\u2019re not trusted\u2014and as of February, it was decided that I was no longer trusted because I questioned too many. I was in Georgetown continuously for the first four years that it was developed. I mean the first year that it was not really developed\u2014it was paperwork. And for the first four years I built something I believed in, something I loved, and all of a sudden I was determined untrustworthy because I questioned things. I thought there was too much paranoia, too much overreacting, too little things, and because I would not carry out instructions as they were given, I was transferred to Jonestown. And I have a child there\u2014a two-and-a-half-year-old child\u2014and I couldn\u2019t leave, because if I left I\u2019d leave that child.<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: So you have to\u2014you have to understand\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter in crowd<\/strong>: (Reporters and Stephan talk over each other) Wait, wait.<\/p>\n

(Tape cuts)<\/p>\n

Paula<\/strong>: I refused to do it. I refused to overreact to\u2014what\u2014Jim Jones considered priceless situations. Now to give you details into the past, I can\u2019t give you details. I agree that if people wanted to leave, let them leave. I mean not everybody, it\u2019s you know\u2014once a community situation, and it\u2019s not designed for every person.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: (Unintelligible; question may be asking why people couldn\u2019t leave)\u2014Who\u2019s stopping you?<\/p>\n

Paula<\/strong>: In that atmospheric situation, you have to realize um\u2014I think there was\u2014much of it was um\u2014relatives were often left in the interior\u2014loved ones were left in the interior. You\u2019ll find almost every person in Georgetown\u2014unless they were there for medical reasons\u2014has a loved one in the interior. And the reason being is you\u2019ll always return, which is true. Can you desert those you love? Can you do something rash and risk those you love?<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: (Unintelligible)<\/p>\n

Paula<\/strong>: I was in San Francisco, yes. (Reporter talking over Paula) Yes. I was in San Francisco only a few weeks ago. And I wanted to say that I believe in Jonestown, not in what Jim Jones was doing to Jonestown, but in Jonestown, I\u2019ll never denounce what Jonestown was to be\u2014it was beautiful community, and other than the atmosphere that existed when Jim Jones\u2014you know, put pressure\u2014it was a lovely place to live. A lovely place to raise children. But when I was in San Francisco\u2014I almost left, I almost left in February, and the only reason I came back were loved ones. (Tape Cuts)<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: What they say that they couldn\u2019t take your child? (??)<\/p>\n

Paula<\/strong>: It was passed over the radio and I was given the story by Sharon Amos. I don\u2019t know if it was true or not true. I was told that the grandmother was refusing to let the child out.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Do you believe that during the time of your separation from your child, that if you do not conform\u2014conform\u2014something might happen to that child?<\/p>\n

Paula<\/strong>: I\u2014I can\u2019t really say that I\u2014I really knew. I mean I\u2019m not saying that it didn\u2019t enter my mind, but I\u2019m not saying I really knew. Cause I really knew\u2014I didn\u2019t realize that\u2014that uh\u2014I don\u2019t think I ever thought anything would really happen. Uh I mean as far\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Not even the possibility?<\/p>\n

Paula<\/strong>: No. I\u2014I\u2019m saying that the possibility entered my mind. I\u2019m not saying that it didn\u2019t enter my mind. I\u2019m saying that I don\u2019t think\u2014I don\u2019t ever believe it would happen. But I know as a fair warning?? my child has not been allowed to leave.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: What is your role\u2014what was your role in the Peoples Temple?<\/p>\n

Paula<\/strong>: I was one of the secretaries and I was one of the administrators in Georgetown for over four years. And uh\u2014and as I said I questioned what I felt was overreacting and I was transferred immediately.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Can you tell us\u2014<\/p>\n

Paula<\/strong>: \u2014And\u2014I also want to say I know there was other people that were in the same situation as myself.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Where\u2019s your child now?<\/p>\n

Paula<\/strong>: Um. (Shakes head slightly)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: We don\u2019t know anything.
\nReporter<\/strong>: Could you\u2014 could you tell us who were members of the high-council or were you a member of the high-council?<\/p>\n

Stephan <\/strong>(??): No.<\/p>\n

Paula<\/strong>: Jim Jones was the high-council.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: No but he did have a group of people\u2014<\/p>\n

Paula<\/strong>: Did he? That\u2019s what I want to know. Is did he? He played everybody against each other.<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: That\u2019s right\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: It was an organization (Unintelligible)<\/p>\n

Paula<\/strong>: That is Jonestown. There was an organization for running the place.<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: \u2014For running Jonestown. There\u2019s a lot of other facets to it that you know. (Camera zooms out and towards Stephan) What you don\u2019t understand is like that he would make\u2014you would tell you you\u2019re trusted. Uh you know I trust you and tell other people you don\u2019t trust you. Everybody thought they were trusted and nobody else was. It was uh\u2014like when I started to interrupt her, I was not trying to cut her off. I was trying to add to it saying that you have to understand our position. We knew that there was something wrong there. But all of those people were my life. All of my nineteen years I\u2019ve known no one else, right. Uh, what am I going to do? You see what\u2019s happened when a few people tried to leave, you know. I didn\u2019t know what could happen. I wanted to protect my people. I wanted to\u2014maybe some way, you know. Also, I\u2019ll say again I didn\u2019t see socialism discredited, or what I believed in discredited. And I felt I didn\u2019t take it as serious\u2014I felt a lot of guilt about that\u2014that I didn\u2019t take it that serious. And I felt that I could, you know, ease him out easily.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: You saw this as socialist rather than a fascist (Unintelligible)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: I saw him as\u2014I saw him as\u2014uh\u2014I think you know\u2014if he was at a cross, it was like he came to a crossroads and just picked one. He could of been either.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Which one did he go?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Well the socialist way. And uh, all of us, I still believe it, and you know, most of us still believe it, you know. Not necessarily socialism, you know, but we have basic\u2014you know, beliefs of what\u2019s right and wrong. Uh I see him as, you know, a fascist, eventually he became\u2014 (Points towards Paula)<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: You spoke about overreacting. (Camera zooms in towards Paula) If you say (Unintelligible) or rather, or give a specific example of what you mean by overreacting. How did Jim Jones overreact?<\/p>\n

Paula<\/strong>: To uh relatives he wanted\u2014he often asked me to contact, you know, several ministries which I felt were\u2014should not of been bothered with such I mean\u2014he would want letters written. He would want whole\u2014a whole range of contacts made for something that I felt was not\u2014you know it was not anything. It was relatives wanting to visit.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Oh? He would try to prevent them from visiting?<\/p>\n

Paula<\/strong>: That\u2019s right.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: How would you therefore accept this community with your child being held as hostage yet you still have this faith in all what you\u2019re doing? It seems completely contradictory.<\/p>\n

Paula<\/strong>: I understand what you\u2019re saying but the community itself and the people within the community were very lovely people\u2014very good people. We came together in the United States because we wanted to promote social change, racial equality, and what I can say to the principles of\u00a0 a life, but the community was very nice. I mean the community was truly egalitarian. But\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Do you have any set of principles on the way the community operated? (??)<\/p>\n

Paula<\/strong>: I would say it was a socialist\u2014oh, you\u2019re talking about like uh?<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Like uh, a constitution, a charter, any set of rules or?<\/p>\n

Paula<\/strong>: No set of rules. It had\u2014it was\u2014it was organized in the sense that recently, within the last four or five months maybe, it was broken down into departments where certain people were in charge of certain areas. Uh you know departmental. And it ran much more efficiently\u2014I would say it also brought in a lot of people into decision-making. And there has been\u2014I want to say there has been no discussion of any White Nights for many months.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: I would think that keeping your child was some form of coercion. Were you aware of any other forms of coercion employed that would prevent them from leaving?<\/p>\n

Paula<\/strong>: I don\u2019t\u2014I don\u2019t agree with the brainwashing thing because I think that still, basically people were wanted to do what they felt principally right to do, you know. And that Jonestown was\u2014we had several hundred children there that were\u2014really had opportunities that they never had before. But I\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: (Unintelligible) \u2014After all this?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>:\u00a0 I don\u2019t really know. Uh\u2014<\/p>\n

Paula<\/strong>: Shock. Who wouldn\u2019t be.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: You were in the media, I believe it was Thursday night when the Congressman came to the Lamaha Gardens.<\/p>\n

Ingram<\/strong>: Yes.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: (Camera zooms out from Paula and back towards Stephan and Ingram) Could you just tell us a bit about what your reaction after the Congressman left was uh (Unintelligible) Was it uh discussed at that time maybe the idea would be to get him up there and kill him at that time or would that (Unintelligible)<\/p>\n

Ingram<\/strong>: Well that had never entered my mind about killing him or anyone for that matter. And um\u2014I was very surprised to see Congressman Ryan come that evening. I hadn\u2019t expected him. I don\u2019t think anybody there at the household expected him. And um I just thought that were was things that needed to be clarified and be best clarified if he had, you know, visited Jonestown. (Camera zooms in on Ingram)<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: You were one of the people who thought it would be a good idea for him and\u2014<\/p>\n

Ingram<\/strong>: Him and others\u2014him and others to visit\u2014to see what was being done, what had been accomplished.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: And tell me, when did you\u2014were there any radio communications after the mass suicide began in the house in Georgetown?<\/p>\n

Ingram<\/strong>: If there had been, you know, I\u2019m saying they must of\u2014 they were either intermittent\u2014<\/p>\n

(Tape cuts and the camera focuses on Stephan)<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: \u2014Did they labor in the fields?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: No.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Did they have special privileges?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Yes. That\u2019s why\u2014that\u2019s why I\u2014like I said made\u2014that\u2019s why I gained respect because I made an effort to be right there working, you know. Like I got the scar on my leg from cutting myself with an ax before I came in here. Uh you know I just\u2014uh but special privileges meaning that they were allowed\u2014I don\u2019t know, just\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Did they eat better? Did they eat in the same communal kitchens? (Reporters talk over each other)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: (Camera zooms in on Stephan) Uh I think mainly it was they didn\u2019t just work in the fields. I think they ate the same. You know they may of had different things sent to them that weren\u2019t sent to other people.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Was this uh Layton\u2014uh I forgot his name, Christ?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Christ?<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: No I forgot it, what\u2019s it\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter (different)<\/strong>: Prokes?<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Carter? Prokes?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: No they were not\u2014no they were not in the inner\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Did they do\u2014<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: I can say that Mike Prokes and Tim Carter too did make an effort to work, you know with everyone else. And uh they were not\u2014there were others who you know, were led to believe they were trusted, and you know. It was mainly just\u2014like uh, it was more mainly females that fed his ego. It was only a few\u2014very few.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Did your father talk about\u2014did he like to talk about planes falling out of the sky or did he use that image?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: I don\u2019t\u2014I don\u2019t remember that. I mean I don\u2019t deny he said it but I don\u2019t remember that. I don\u2019t even know what context you\u2019re speaking on.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: I don\u2019t know (Unintelligible)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: He talked about it a lot.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Do you know why Prokes and Carter\u2014 (Unintelligible)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Excuse me?<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Do you know why Prokes and Carter\u2014 (Unintelligible)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: They\u2019re blind. (??) That\u2019s all I can say. And how could I know I wasn\u2019t there, you know. And I just want to say that I thank all of you for giving us a chance to say how we feel because we\u2019re really in bad situation and uh I don\u2019t want\u2014I don\u2019t want to be associated with what\u2019s happened. That\u2019s the last I want. I want my loved ones here you know. If everybody\u2014if I can see that everyone\u2019s okay I don\u2019t care what happens to me and I honestly mean that. But you know I\u2019m worried about everybody else.<\/p>\n

Reporter <\/strong>new: Do you think that most of the Peoples Temple\u2014those who\u2019ve left (Camera zooms in on Paula) who\u2019ve come out of the jungle\u2014do you think that their natural inclination will be to return to the United States or is their hatred of the United States enough to try to seek refuge somewhere else.<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: I don\u2019t think there really was any hatred of the United States. It was just another way of lying.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Your father didn\u2019t\u2014<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: He hated the United States. He preached\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: \u2014(Unintelligible) The capitalist system?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: He preached quite a bit\u2014quite a bit of few things uh and a lot of them were contradictory. But I know I had no hatred for the United States. I\u2014I hate anything that oppresses people and where people starve but I see you know, a combination of both in the United States.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: I ask Mrs. Touchette and Ingram that everything you heard Mr. Jones say today\u2014is there anything\u2014 (Camera cuts to Ingram)<\/p>\n

Ingram<\/strong>: I know when he came of age, to you know, to speak\u2014even when he was younger, he spoke against his father. You know when he disagreed with\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: But his description of his father\u2014is that something you see as objective, rather than a son\u2019s uh you know, own deal with his father?<\/p>\n

Ingram<\/strong>: Yes I do.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Paula, how old are you?<\/p>\n

Paula<\/strong>: Twenty-nine.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Twenty-nine. And where are you from?<\/p>\n

Paula<\/strong>: Ukiah.<\/p>\n

(Tape cuts and the camera is back towards Stephan and the crowd of reporters)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Here, if someone wants to get with him, we\u2019ll find out.<\/p>\n

The camera pans across the room of reporters then focuses back on Stephan as the press conference comes to a close. The tape then switches over to footage of Stephan, Paula, Ingram, and the others being escorted out of the building by Guyanese officials. The tape then finally cuts to outside footage of Stephan and the others entering a van, before it switches to footage of them inside it. A reporter then asks the group multiple questions before the van leaves. <\/strong><\/p>\n

(Unintelligible conversation between Stephan, Paula, Ingram, and reporters)<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: (Asking outside the vehicle) How do you think they\u2019re going to survive in the jungle?<\/p>\n

Paula<\/strong>: (Shakes head)<\/p>\n

Ingram<\/strong>: They\u2014it would be very difficult because the jungle is very dense.
\nReporter<\/strong>: I don\u2019t quite understand how one large group died, and then another large group of maybe six-hundred people (Camera pans over to Ingram) are thought to still be alive. What would\u2014why do you think those six-hundred people didn\u2019t join in the\u2014<\/p>\n

Stephan?<\/strong>: They got away.<\/p>\n

Paula<\/strong>: They got away before\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: You\u2019d think that these four-hundred people were forced to do what they did?<\/p>\n

Paula<\/strong>: While from what (Unintelligible)<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Most of them yeah.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Rather than being fooled by the process (Camera pans back towards Paula and Stephan)\u2014this White Night thing had happened many times right?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: Once. I mean we\u2019d have discussions. Only one time was it\u2014was it\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Didn\u2019t you say at one point during this news conference that you thought that the people might of believed that it was another drill? That it was\u2014that it didn\u2019t\u2014once they took it they didn\u2019t die they might do it another time?<\/p>\n

Ingram<\/strong>: One of the newsmen said that.<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: (Muffled) One of the newsmen said it\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Well is that what you think?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: No. I think that some may of\u2014because they thought that there was no hope and they thought that I was dead or something. But I think some were\u2014just knew that they had no choice. (Camera zooms in on Stephan)<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: But you don\u2019t think they didn\u2019t believe in\u2014that this probably wouldn\u2019t hurt them? That it would harm them?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: No. (Shakes head)<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: You think that they were convinced that they knew it was going to be poison?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: I think so, but how can I say?<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Yeah. But the last thing is Steven, what made him think that you were dead?<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: I just\u2014I don\u2019t know. I thought maybe he told\u2014<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Your mother was in charge of the nursery\u2014<\/p>\n

Ingram<\/strong>: Right. She was. (??)<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: The nurses were supposed to be giving out the poison. Is it possible\u2014<\/p>\n

Stephan<\/strong>: She was in charge to a certain point. At that point I can assure you she had nothing to do with it. I can assure you that she would be against any such action. Thank you.<\/p>\n

Reporter<\/strong>: Thank you.<\/p>\n

Tape ends. <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Transcriber\u2019s Note: Both parts of the ABC News press conference tape may be viewed directly through the ABC VideoSource Archive here: ABCNEWS VideoSource (Search 20P725A for Part 1; 20P725B for Part 2) Alternatively, the first part may be viewed on YouTube here: (27:34; press conference begins at 5:50) https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Bt2EIcAY3vw This press conference that took place […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"parent":123586,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-123611","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/123611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=123611"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/123611\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":123612,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/123611\/revisions\/123612"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/123586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=123611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}