Sociopaths series: Jim Jones > #Jonestown Murder/Suicide Tragedy

8.6.17

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James Warren "Jim" Jones (May 13, 1931 -- November 18, 1978) was an
American religious leader and community organizer. Jones was the founder
and the leader of the Peoples Temple, best known for the cult
murder/suicide in November 1978 of 909 of its members in Jonestown,
Guyana, and the murder of five individuals at a nearby airstrip,
including Congressman Leo Ryan. Over 300 children were murdered at
Jonestown, almost all of them by cyanide poisoning.[3] Jones died from a
gunshot wound to the head; to this day it is unknown whether his death
was a suicide or murder.

Signs of this disorder:
Contemptuous of those who seek to understand them
Does not perceive that anything is wrong with them
Authoritarian
Secretive
Paranoid
Only
rarely in difficulty with the law, but seeks out situations where their
tyrannical behavior will be tolerated, condoned, or admired
Conventional appearance
Goal of enslavement of their victim(s)
Exercises despotic control over every aspect of the victim's life
Has an emotional need to justify their crimes and therefore needs their victim's affirmation (respect, gratitude and love)
Ultimate goal is the creation of a willing victim
Incapable of real human attachment to another
Unable to feel remorse or guilt
Extreme narcissism and grandiose
May state readily that their goal is to rule the world

(The above traits are based on the psychopathy checklists of H. Cleckley and R. Hare.)
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The Black Hole of Guyana--The Untold Story of the Jonestown Massacre, by John Judge, 1985 - The headlines the day of the massacre read: "Cult Dies in South American Jungle: 400 Die in Mass Suicide, 700 Flee into Jungle."[13] By all accounts in the press, as well as People's Temple statements there were at least 1,100 people at Jonestown.[14] There were 809 adult passports found there, and reports of 300 children (276 found among the dead, and 210 never identified). The headline figures from the first day add to the same number: 1,100.[15] The original body count done by the Guyanese was 408, and this figure was initially agreed to by U.S. Army authorities on site.[16] However, over the next few days, the total of reported dead began to rise quickly. The Army made a series of misleading and openly false statements about the discrepancy. The new total, which was the official final count, was given almost a week later by American authorities as 913.[17] A total of 16 survivors were reported to have returned to the U.S.[18] Where were the others?

At their first press conference, the Americans claimed that the Guyanese "could not count." These local people had carried out the gruesome job of counting the bodies, and later assisted American troops in the process of poking holes in the flesh lest they explode from the gasses of decay.[19] Then the Americans proposed another theory -- they had missed seeing a pile of bodies at the back of the pavilion. The structure was the size of a small house, and they had been at the scene for days. Finally, we were given the official reason for the discrepancy -- bodies had fallen on top of other bodies, adults covering children.[20]

It was a simple, if morbid, arithmetic that led to the first suspicions. The 408 bodies discovered at first count would have to be able to cover 505 bodies for a total of 913. In addition, those who first worked on the bodies would have been unlikely to miss bodies lying beneath each other since each body had to be punctured. Eighty-two of the bodies first found were those of children, reducing the number that could have been hidden below others.[21] A search of nearly 150 photographs, aerial and close-up, fails to show even one body lying under another, much less 500.[22]

It seemed the first reports were true, 400 had died, and 700 had fled to the jungle. The American authorities claimed to have searched for people who had escaped, but found no evidence of any in the surrounding area.[23] At least a hundred Guyanese troops were among the first to arrive, and they were ordered to search the jungle for survivors.[24] In the area, at the same time, British Black Watch troops were on "training exercises," with nearly 600 of their best-trained commandos. Soon, American Green Berets were on site as well.[25] The presence of these soldiers, specially trained in covert killing operations, may explain the increasing numbers of bodies that appeared.

Most of the photographs show the bodies in neat rows, face down. There are few exceptions. Close shots indicate drag marks, as though the bodies were positioned by someone after death.[26] Is it possible that the 700 who fled were rounded up by these troops, brought back to Jonestown and added to the body count?[27]
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