{"id":28310,"date":"2013-08-10T21:28:07","date_gmt":"2013-08-10T21:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alternativejonestown.com\/?page_id=28310"},"modified":"2025-05-14T17:58:56","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T00:58:56","slug":"884-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=28310","title":{"rendered":"Q884 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>. To listen to MP3, click here<\/a>.
\nTo return to the Tape Index, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

FBI Catalogue: <\/b>Unidentified Individuals Speaking<\/p>\n

Date cues on tape: <\/b>Late May 1978 (Several references to travels to Jonestown early in the month)<\/p>\n

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

Public figures\/National and international names:<\/i>
\nForbes Burnham, Guyana prime minister (by reference)
\nVibert Mingo, Guyana minister of home affairs
\nGeorge Hunter, publisher of Ukiah Daily Journal
\nKathy Hunter, wife of George Hunter<\/p>\n

People Temple relatives, supporters<\/i>
\nCharles Garry, Temple attorney (speaks)<\/b>
\nVivian\/Luvee Davis, relative of Temple members
\nBarbara Moore, mother of Carolyn Layton and Ann Elizabeth Moore (speaks)<\/b>
\nJohn Moore, father of Carolyn Layton and Ann Elizabeth Moore (speaks)<\/b>
\nVicki Prokes, sister of Temple member Mike Prokes
\nMrs. Prokes, first name unknown, mother of Mike Prokes<\/p>\n

Peoples Temple adversaries; members of Concerned Relatives:<\/i>
\nTim Stoen, leader of Concerned Relatives<\/p>\n

Reporters at news conference:<\/i>
\nIsabel Peron (also spelled Isabelle Perone), reporter for Channel 2 (speaks)<\/b>
\nSuzanne Saunders, reporter for Channel 7 (speaks)<\/b>
\nIvan Sharpe (speaks)<\/b><\/p>\n

Peoples Temple members:<\/i>
\nJean Brown (speaks)<\/b>
\nTim Clancy
\nLeona Collier
\nDaughter of Mrs. Davis, probably Cynthia Marie Davis
\nCarolyn Layton (by reference)
\nJim McElvane (speaks)<\/b>
\nAnn Elizabeth Moore (by reference)
\nKay Nelson (by reference)
\nJim Jon (Kimo) Prokes (by reference)
\nMike Prokes
\nLarry Schacht (by reference)
\nGuy Young (speaks)<\/b><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Bible verses cited: <\/b>None<\/p>\n

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

(Editor\u2019s note<\/strong>:\u00a0Although the transcribers and reviewers of these tapes struggle for neutrality in use of descriptions and choices of verbs and adjectives, personal considerations may get in the way of that objectivity at times. This may be one of them: the first half of the press conference features a lengthy report by John and Barbara Moore, the parents-in-law of this website\u2019s editor, Fielding McGehee.)<\/i><\/p>\n

This tape consists of a press conference called by Charles Garry, the principal attorney for Peoples\u00a0Temple in\u00a0San Francisco, to present the perspectives of relatives of Jonestown residents who are sympathetic to the project in\u00a0Guyana. The main speakers \u2013 John and Barbara Moore, the parents of\u00a0Temple members Carolyn Layton and Ann Elizabeth Moore, and the grandparents of Jim Jon (Kimo) Prokes \u2013 have recently returned from a week in\u00a0Guyana, including several days in Jonestown (John Moore’s report of the couple’s trip to Jonestown, is\u00a0here<\/a>). Other relatives are in attendance, but don\u2019t speak to any great extent during the formal question-and-answer session. Several\u00a0Temple members also speak, especially during the second half of the tape.<\/p>\n

The press conference takes place in May 1978, a time of great turmoil for\u00a0Peoples\u00a0Temple. Although most of the Jonestown residents had migrated from the U.S. more than six months before, the Concerned Relatives \u2013 an organization of defectors, former members, and relatives of current Temple residents \u2013 remains persistent in its criticisms against the group, and has presented a list of grievances against the Temple the previous month. At the time of the conference, many Bay Area reporters are still following up on the charges leveled by these Temple antagonists. The organization is also circulating reports of Jonestown residents being held against their will, information which may have been based upon the observations of a private detective who spied on the community (and whose presence was discovered). Whatever the source of the reports, the allegations form the basis of many of the reporters\u2019 questions during the press conference.<\/p>\n

Coincidental to the timing of the press conference \u2013 at least according to Charles Garry \u2013 a woman named Kathy Hunter, an old ally of the\u00a0Temple and the wife of the newspaper publisher in Ukiah,\u00a0has\u00a0run into unexpected and seemingly inexplicable problems with the Guyanese government in her efforts to get to Jonestown, and is stuck in\u00a0Georgetown. Much of the second half of the press conference focuses on Hunter\u2019s mysterious and unresolved presence in\u00a0Georgetown.<\/p>\n

John and Barbara Moore, who have just returned from Jonestown, open the press conference by offering their impressions of the project to a half dozen reporters. Their experience has been positive. As John says in his opening remarks, \u201cthe two words that come to my mind \u2026 immediately while I was there and as I tried to reflect on my experiences were \u2018impressive\u2019 and \u2018amazing.\u2019\u201d They speak about the project\u2019s facilities, ranging from the medical clinic to the farm, from the library to the nursery. They also talk about the people they met and the \u201cfeeling of freedom\u201d they encountered among the residents.<\/p>\n

The reporters seem less interested in the details about Jonestown\u2019s chickery and piggery than they are about the\u00a0Moores\u2019 responses to the charges that have been recently leveled against theTemple. Even before John has completed his prepared statement, a reporter asks if he ever got \u201cany impression that anybody was being kept there against their will\u201d and, a short time later, whether \u201cany \u2026 people there wanted to leave the Temple, any of them having any intentions of coming back to San Francisco.\u201d The questions linger on how much \u2013 and what kind of \u2013\u00a0access the Moores had to the people of Jonestown, what their meetings with Temple leader Jim Jones were like, and how the Temple planned to defend itself against accusations made in the U.S.<\/p>\n

The reporters also ask the parents whether they are \u201cconcerned\u201d about their daughters. Both parents affirm their daughters\u2019 decision to join the\u00a0Temple and to go to Jonestown. \u201cI would rather they would be closer to me,\u201d Barbara says, \u201cbut I think my reaction was that of anyone whose children have moved a long distance. I would be just as lonely at times as if they had moved to\u00a0France\u00a0or\u00a0England.\u201d John addresses the issue later by reminding the reporters that his daughters are adults and can make responsible decisions. \u201cAnd as they made their choices about their lives, we have supported them in the choices which they made.\u201d<\/p>\n

The exchange turns somewhat testy when the press asks the\u00a0Moores why they went to\u00a0Guyana. Barbara replies that they wanted to see their daughters and grandson, as any parent would. When a reporter asks whether the\u00a0Temple paid for their trip, Barbara answers sharply: \u201cDefinitely not. No, we went on our own. This was a vacation.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the end of the\u00a0Moores\u2019 presentation, the questions have shifted in tone and become more conciliatory. One reporter asks Barbara to follow up on her description of Jonestown as a \u201cutopian community,\u201d and another asks them to speculate on why so many negative stories seem to be arising from the\u00a0Temple, if their experiences were so positive. John addresses the last point by saying that the press is in the job to sell newspapers, and bad news sells better than good. \u201cThat\u2019s my bias,\u201d he concludes.<\/p>\n

Questions about Kathy Hunter fill the second half of the conference, although Charles Garry insists that he did not call the reporters in order to pre-empt any negative stories Hunter might have upon her return. The questions are more disjointed, the answers more cautious, but that is likely due to the fact that details of Hunter\u2019s whereabouts, and her purposes for being in\u00a0Guyanaat all, are unknown. Garry alludes to, and then makes direct reference to, an alcohol problem that Mrs. Hunter\u2019s husband told him about, but doesn\u2019t pursue the issue. Of greater concern, according to the\u00a0Temple, was Mrs. Hunter\u2019s assertion that she had been invited by the\u00a0Guyana prime minister, an assertion which the government has denied. In the climate of accusations and counter-accusations \u2013 one\u00a0Temple member says the opposition has interjected \u201can element of terror\u201d into the situation \u2013 the replies to reporters\u2019 questions seem guarded and cautious.<\/p>\n

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

Date of transcription: 6\/21\/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,\u00a0Guyana,\u00a0South America, on November 18, 1978, a tape recording was obtained. This tape recording was located in\u00a0Jonestown,\u00a0Guyana, South America, and was turned over to U.S. Officials in\u00a0Guyana\u00a0and subsequently transported to the\u00a0United States.<\/p>\n

On June 10, 1979, Special Agent (name deleted) reviewed the tape numbered 1B102-C18. This tape was found to contain the following: A recording of a press conference where the speakers tell the press how impressive Jonestown was and how the people have a happy way of life.<\/p>\n

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

Aside from the fact that the participants in the press conference identify themselves several times \u2013 thereby making the placement of the tape in the \u201cUnidentified Individuals Speaking\u201d category somewhat inaccurate \u2013 the summary is accurate and meets the FBI\u2019s purposes.<\/p>\n

Note: <\/strong>This tape was transcribed by Michael Bellefountaine. The editors gratefully acknowledge his invaluable assistance.<\/em><\/p>\n

Tape originally posted April 2004<\/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. To listen to MP3, click here. To return to the Tape Index, click here. FBI Catalogue: Unidentified Individuals Speaking Date cues on tape: Late May 1978 (Several references to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":27996,"menu_order":586,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-28310","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28310","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=28310"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28310\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":130257,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28310\/revisions\/130257"}],"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=28310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}