{"id":28194,"date":"2013-06-16T00:18:36","date_gmt":"2013-06-16T00:18:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alternativejonestown.com\/?page_id=28194"},"modified":"2016-03-02T16:06:31","modified_gmt":"2016-03-02T16:06:31","slug":"608-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=28194","title":{"rendered":"Q608 Summary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary prepared by Fielding M. McGehee III. If you use this material, please credit The Jonestown Institute. Thank you.<\/strong><\/i><\/p>\n

To read the Tape Transcript, click here<\/a>. Listen to MP3<\/a>.
\nTo return to the Tape Index, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

FBI Catalogue<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Identified Individuals Speaking<\/p>\n

FBI preliminary tape identification note: <\/strong>One Ampex 60 In paper marke[d] Gary Lambrev (suicide)<\/p>\n

Date cues on tape:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (According to Garry Lambrev, the conversation likely took place in March or April 1974)<\/p>\n

People named:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Peoples Temple members<\/em>
\nBonnie Beck
\nDon Beck
\nLiz Forman
\nGarry Lambrev (speaks)<\/strong>
\nKaren Layton (speaks)<\/strong><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Bible verses cited:<\/strong> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 None<\/p>\n

Summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Note: <\/strong>Garry Lambrev’s discussion of this tape appears here<\/a>.)<\/i><\/p>\n

Garry Lambrev, a once and future member of Peoples Temple, is in a deep personal crisis, severe enough that he talks several times about suicide during a conversation with a Temple member. Karen Layton, who has called him to talk him through his distress, seemingly prevails \u2013 near the close of the conversation, Lambrev speaks about trying to get away from work so he can take a weekend trip with the Temple \u2013 but given the things she has said during the call, her success seems completely incidental.<\/p>\n

Lambrev was a longtime member of the church, the first Californian to join after the Temple\u2019s migration to Redwood Valley from Indiana. He had also left several times, only to rejoin again. The tape gives conflicting evidence of his status at the time of the call: he agrees with Layton\u2019s glowing descriptions of Jim Jones, and yet he talks in the present tense about being on the outside. At the time of this call \u2013 which Lambrev dates to the spring of 1974 \u2013 Karen Layton \u201chad been one of my \u2018minders\u2019 \u2026 and Jim held her partly responsible for my hurried departure on the previous occasion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, her handling of a potential suicide is na\u00efve at best, her response blinded by her loyalty to the Temple. She says some soothing things \u2013 Garry is so talented, he has so much to offer, everyone needs him \u2013 but they are buried under the Temple\u2019s party line.<\/p>\n

When Garry talks about the pain he\u2019s going through, Karen compares it to the \u201cagony and misery\u201d that Jim Jones goes through every day, and finds Garry\u2019s troubles lacking in comparison. Once Garry understands that, she continues, he\u2019ll get over his \u201cemotional indulgences,\u201d a term, she quickly assures him, is not judgmental.<\/p>\n

But there are aspects of his potential suicide which are worth exploring. If he is truly suicidal, she suggests, he should wait and do it for the cause. \u201cIf we can just hold on for a few more years, you know, and then everybody graduates. You know about that. Just graduate and get out of this goddamn mess.\u201d<\/p>\n

Committing suicide at the current time might bring repercussions he needs to remember from what Jim has told them. He would \u201cregress all that way back and start it all over again.\u201d In addition, when he came back, he wouldn\u2019t have Jones around to guide him. The final disadvantage would be that he would be back after the nuclear war.<\/p>\n

And even all this is secondary to her most immediate concern, the question she asks him first: \u201cBut the church has nothing to do with your feeling suicidal, though, does it?\u201d<\/p>\n

The tape reveals how early the concept of mass suicide \u2013 which Jones described as revolutionary suicide\u00a0\u2013 was part of the normal conversation, and how it was used to exploit and shame members facing genuine emotional issues. A single suicide was considered cowardly and wasteful, but the graduation of everyone together would allow them all to \u201cget out of this goddamn mess.\u201d With these considerations already part of the discussion, familiar to all parties, in early 1974 \u2013 four and a half years before the mass deaths \u2013 it seems the conversations on the subject became nothing more than just part of the background noise.<\/p>\n

FBI Summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Date of transcription: 6\/8\/79<\/p>\n

In connection with the Federal Bureau of Investigation\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

On March 5, 1979, Special Agent (name deleted) reviewed the tape numbered Q 608 1B47 #50. This tape was found to contain the following:<\/p>\n

Side A has a telephonic interview of a person named GARY by a female named KAREN. GARY is contemplating suicide and KAREN is attempting to help him and win him to People\u2019s Temple. Side B is blank.<\/p>\n

Differences with FBI Summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The summary is accurate and meets the FBI\u2019s purposes.<\/p>\n

Tape originally posted May 2013<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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. To return to the Tape Index, click here. FBI Catalogue\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Identified Individuals Speaking FBI preliminary tape identification note: One Ampex 60 In paper marke[d] Gary Lambrev […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":27996,"menu_order":392,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-28194","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28194","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\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28194"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28194\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66504,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28194\/revisions\/66504"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}