In this series, Newsweek reproduces the events that led to the Jonestown massacre day after day, just like what happened in 1978.
November 7, 1978: On the morning of Tuesday, November 7, US Consul Doug Ellice flew from the capital of Guyana to Jonestown to conduct “welfare and whereabouts” checks on residents.
The 31-year-old diplomat is new here. This is his first visit to a settlement. He was a key figure in the relatives who worried about his family in Jonestown, and he was asked to talk to a long list of residents. His predecessor once advised Ellis not to send the list in advance, lest the temple leaders have no time to guide the residents or arrange for them to “be unwell.”
But Ellis ignored this suggestion. When dozens of residents were tracked, he didn’t want to wait. He brought the deputy consul Dennis Reece to help interview the residents. The two men stood at a table next to the stadium, away from eavesdroppers and rumors hidden in the range of the microphones throughout Jonestown.
At the rally the night before, Jones warns residents Be careful what they say to visitors, implying that they are hidden CIA Agents who participated in the “great conspiracy” that undermined their movement. He instructs residents to listen to and remember the recordings of the questions visitors may ask and the answers he wants them to provide. For example, if asked about their diet, residents will answer that they “eat meat every day…fish, rice, vegetables, pastries, and all kinds of tea and coffee.”
Jones also instructed his followers to carry out extensive repairs to various buildings and areas in Jonestown before the arrival of the consular visitor: “This must be corrected tonight“, he insisted.
On the day of the consul’s visit, the residents on the list approached the table one by one and handed their passports to Ellis and Rees to confirm their identities. They repeated Jones’s lie about eating well and smiled happily as instructed, looking very happy. The diplomat made the same proposal to each of them: If you want to leave today, all you have to do is accompany us to our car and we will take you home. But for one person, every resident rejected the proposal. This is Jones’ psychological control over his followers: they are not only worried that the consular visitor is the enemy; they are also worried that if they defect, Jones will vent their anger to the relatives left behind.
After the interview, the residents’ passports were confiscated again, and the diplomats were taken to visit the property that was hurriedly cleaned the day before.
These two people have fulfilled their duties-as their job description outlines. But they didn’t notice the threat that was growing beneath the tidy surface of Jonestown. They did not notice the bright fear in the eyes of the residents. Or know the poison cache waiting in the locked storage room.
Ellice and Reece stayed for lunch, during which time they accepted elaborate guessing games. The Jonestown Express sang “Beautiful America,” and residents stood up and put their hands on their hearts, pretending to be an exciting performance of patriotism. Jones appeared late, wearing a gauze mask, dragging between the two assistants. He complained that he had a fever of 105 degrees, but both noticed that his palms and forehead were dry when they shook hands. Although Jones’ mask concealed his long-term lip licking-his dry mouth is a common side effect of drug addiction-he could not conceal his slurred speech. Once, he tried to spell out a simple word, not wanting the children nearby to hear it, and then gave up in frustration.
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Jonestown Institute
Jonestown Institute
Jonestown Institute
The visit was interrupted by an impending thunderstorm. The pilot wanted to fly back to Georgetown before it hit. As the plane passed over the settlement, the diplomats pointed out that they could not see “barbed wire, any armed or other guards, or any other physical signs that people were forcibly detained in Jonestown.”
The State Council passed this information to Ruian. Therefore, the staff of members of Congress are more concerned about travel logistics and what type of clothes to pack, rather than the possibility of violence.
Julia Scheeres is an award-winning journalist and writer.Her books include Land of jesus with A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Jonestown.
