It began with a note smuggled to us from two members. But some lived. He apparently was searching for his wife, who had carried away their child that morning, hoping to escape the settlement. Jim Jones had years earlier conceived his South American settlement as a distant haven where Peoples Temple members could live in communal isolation, protected from unfriendly reporters and all the other enemies Jones denounced through his congregation. Going by the first body count, the media reported 383 dead. 'Everyone participated in it and because of that, it went as far as it did,' she said. But a lot of the rage that I kept for years was keeping me from looking at my part and seeing what I hope I would do differently if in similar circumstances. A vat that contained a drink laced with deadly cyanide sits on a sidewalk at Peoples Temple in Jonestown, Guyana in November 1978. Four decades later, Americans often use this phrase in political and business contexts without knowing its origin. White devil.' But she wasn't in the truck and the men left. He imagines the guards with guns, and the sky clouding over, and the air suddenly wild with fear, and the sight of the children. When John Cobb was born in 1960 in a black section of Indianapolis, his mother and older siblings already were temple members. Toward Nov. 18 they crowd up faster and closer, but even in the spring and summer, when the anniversary is tucked safely off on the other side of the year, even then he cannot keep the dreams away. The silence could mean only one thing: An ambush was awaiting them. I just wish people could understand what was attractive about him. Jones himself, after some artfully applied pressure to the mayor's office, was appointed to the San Francisco Housing Authority, where once-tedious meetings about public housing suddenly erupted into vigorous cheering sessions, with temple members applauding the pronouncements of Commissioner Jones. He is a businessman in Northern California, married, with three daughters. NBC reported that Stephan Jones was the vice president for an office installation company in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2008. (Actually, the deadly beverage that day might have been based on a cheaper imitation, Flavor Aid. 1998-11-08 04:00:00 PDT JONESTOWN, GUYANA-- "My father was a fraud."- Stephan Gandhi Jones, son of Jim Jones A lone palm tree stands where Jim Jones exhorted his followers to die for him, but the . 2010-10-03 19:23:36. Recent interviews with Stephan include: Son of Anarchist: My Father, Jim Jones, and What the World Can Still Learn From Him, by Moran Sharir, Haaretz, January 22, 2019. By 1978, the White Nights included a rehearsal for suicide, something Jim Jones previously had tried only with his small circle of confidants within the church. "I think I'd probably be pretty messed up if I hadn't lost everybody I had and hadn't gone through the prison experience," Stephan told The Washington Post in 1983. The church provided free drug rehabilitation, medical care, food. He rode bulldozers, dodged falling trees, killed snakes, lit brush fires and rode the slow boats upriver with loads of cut wood for flooring and walls. I made that last trip with him and he made me stay in Jonestown. The guy you see in all the images. I dont think he went from being an altruistic, selfless, humble man to what he became. For years it was largely forgotten along with a number of other insanities in the United States in the 1970s. He was 18 and running a temple construction crew when the church sanctioned his marriage to a talented 16-year-old singer, Ollie Wideman. Some of those leaving the temple eyed the vehicles with suspicion. File photo: Bodies of Peoples Temple mass suicide victims led by Jim Jones in Jonestown, Guyana, November 1978. Then they start to ask questions right away.". He promised that he wouldnt. ". He said reporters would make the situation worse. Stephan is the only living son of Jim Jones and his late wife Marceline Jones. Partner of Terry Carter Jones, aka Mary Theresa Carter, Mary Theresa Jones, Terry Carter Jones (died November 18 . JONESTOWN 40 YEARS LATER: Mass suicide shocked world, Amanda Knox to host new true crime podcast: 'I tend not to be a fan of the genre'. Mud made the truck bed slick, so everyone clung to the sideboards. As a San Francisco high school student, he was dispatched to help build Jonestown. From hair trends to relationship advice, our daily newsletter has everything you need to sound like a person whos on TikTok, even if you arent. Siblings by adoption include Agnes Paulette Jones (1943-1978); Stephan Gandhi Jones(Born 1959); Jimmy Jones, Jr. aka James Warren Jones, Jr.(born 1960); and Timothy Tupper aka Timothy Glenn Tupper Jones, Tim "Day" Jones (1959-1978). It's unclear if he is currently married or if he retains a relationship with his surviving siblings. People raced over to the outdoor pavilion. If you or someone you know are experiencing suicidal thoughts, call 911, or call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255. The list of defectors rapidly grew to at least 16. The pilot had radioed for help after the shooting, but during the night the only thing we heard were more rumors about the imminent arrival of Guyanese troops and medical evacuation planes. She gave her house to the Peoples Temple and they moved to San Francisco. Jim Jones of the Peoples Temple, poses for a portrait near San Rafael, California, November 13, 2008. 'I just have to love him and forgive him.'. _taboola.push({ Instead of finishing high school, Vilchez moved to San Francisco, where she lived in the church. The rest of us were accommodated in a private home. During that period, more than 900 people died including Stephans mom and some of his siblings. I refused. Now 58, he owns a modular office furniture business in the East Bay and is married with a daughter. Neither were the White Nights where everyone stayed up, armed with machetes to fight enemies who never arrived. Stephan Gandhi Jones, age 60s, lives in Petaluma, CA. Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. All Rights Reserved. And when her 23-year-old sister joined, Jordan went to live with her at age 12. I found relief in the woods and rivers and creeks, and I got away as often as I could, but there was always a low-level anxiety that I only really can identify now.. My mother, trying to appease him, made him promise that he wouldnt leave me down there. A large poncho covered his belt area so no one knew for sure and no one challenged him. "I don't know what was happening . "I don't think his own ego would let him run out on that toward the very end," he says. For years, Vilchez was ashamed of the part she played in an idealistic group that imploded so terribly. They are Agnes Pauline Jones, Timothy Glen Jones, Jim Jon Prokes, Jim W. Jones Jr, Lew Eric Jones, John Moss Jones, Suzanne O. Jones, and Stephanie Jones. I guess I wanted to believe that, as a child.". He plays forward. "You can tell when it's a man; the positions are different," Jones says evenly. So the second thing is this whole idea of drinking the Kool-Aid thats such a prevalent saying. And based on what Stephan Jones is doing now, it seems he has tried to live his life as normally as anyone who has gone through what he has possibly could. ': Golf glamor girl Paige Spiranac defends 'FUNNY' Woods tampon prank after 15-time major winner was forced to apologize, He's still got it! Reviews. Greg's body was near the boarding steps with his camera bag and cameras scattered around him. "I'm blessed to have hit enough of a bottom and to have been surrounded by amazing, wonderful, honest, compassionate and challenging people to see me through that," Stephan said. In "Raven," the detailed Jim Jones biography by Tim Reiterman and John Jacobs, it is Stephan Jones who stands in the shadows as his father lies and fakes and bends the people around him, his sickness mounting through the years. He has been married to Kristi Jones since 1991. Jim Jones had said as a tropical storm rained on the Peoples Temple pavilion. I would either have had to fight, or I would have taken it. Jim Jones charismatic, volatile and ultimately evil. We didnt see that coming. The slaughter at Jonestown was the worst civilian tragedy in U.S. history before September 11, 2001. stephan gandhi jonesNitro Acoustic. Then they could identify and allow themselves to step into the story and understand how such a thing could happen. Stephan Jones tells Haaretz about the man who would convince his followers to drink the Kool-Aid. "The media has done a poor job; theyve demonized him. I want out of this.' File photo: A vat that contained a drink laced with deadly cyanide sits on a sidewalk at Peoples Temple in Jonestown, Guyana, November 20, 1978. When people ask about his past, he says he was "overseas," or "in volunteer service." Vilchez was dispatched to the Guyanan capital of Georgetown to raise money. Vilchez worked as office manager at a private crime lab for 20 years and now, at 61, sells her artwork. The 59-year-old, Jim Jones son Stephan Jones has gone through a lot after the mass massacre in Jonestown led by his father, Late Jim Jones on Nov. 18, 1978. After they left, I crept out of the bush and saw five bodies around the plane. Reporters were hearing disturbing allegations about Jim Jones' church--there were stories of beatings, armed guards, extensive sexual activity. He has been married to Kristi Jones since 1991. In addition to writing the articles below, Stephan appeared as a speaker during the Griot Institute of African Studies lecture series entitled Jonestown: 35 Years Later at Bucknell University; his presentation appears on this page (scroll down the videos). "He was always preaching the hostility toward us and warning people what would happen or what could happen from the outside," Stephan Jones says. Then, after a 1977 New West magazine expose of temple disciplinary beatings and other abuses, she was sent to Jonestown. A bullet ripped through my left forearm. An In-Depth Look at Naomi Girmas Salary in Professional Soccer. Some of them had started out with him in the earliest days in Indiana and moved with him to California. Have your feelings toward your father and his role in your life evolved over the years? someone hollered as we scrambled over the gravel to the far side of the plane. Wiki User. Partner : Ava Phenice Jones, aka Ava Phenice Brown, Ava Phenice Cobb. 'I believe that it was always a personal agenda for my father, and yes, there was a gradual shift in the balance. He has read most of "Raven," which he believes to be the best of the books about his father, but he has never been able to bring himself to read the chapter about the suicides and murders. He limps this month, still recovering from a broken ankle bone that went undetected for a while, but when he is well he picks up a regular game in San Francisco, sometimes with the young men he played with before--the basketball team from the Peoples Temple settlement at Jonestown, Guyana. Stephan Jones was born on 06/01/1959 and is 63 years old. By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our. stephan gandhi jones. He went through years of nightmares, mourning and shame. After the slaughter, Stephan Jones was arrested on suspicion of abetting the mass murder and spent three months in a Guyanese prison. 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