Jim Jones

=== Murder of Congressman Ryan ===
[[File:1973 Congressional Pictorial Leo Ryan.jpg|thumb|200px|Congressman [[Leo Ryan]] was shot and killed on Jones's orders as he and others attempted to leave Jonestown in November 1978.|alt=Leo Ryan, a middle aged man wear a suit and tie.]]

In November 1978, Congressman Ryan led a [[Trier of fact|fact-finding]] mission to Jonestown to investigate allegations of human-rights abuses.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=481}} His [[delegation]] included relatives of Temple members, an [[NBC]] camera crew, and reporters for several newspapers.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|pp=476–480}} The group arrived in the Guyanese capital of [[Georgetown, Guyana|Georgetown]] on November 15.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=481}}

Two days later, they traveled by airplane to [[Port Kaituma]], then were transported to Jonestown.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|pp=487–488}} Jones hosted a reception for the delegation that evening at the central pavilion in Jonestown, during which Temple member Vernon Gosney passed a note meant for Ryan to NBC reporter [[Don Harris (journalist)|Don Harris]], requesting assistance for himself and another Temple member, Monica Bagby, in leaving the settlement. Tensions began to rise as news spread through the community that some members were attempting to leave. Ryan's delegation left hurriedly the afternoon of November 18 after Ryan narrowly avoided being stabbed by Temple member Don Sly.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|pp=519–520}} Ryan and his delegation managed to take along 15 Temple members who expressed a desire to leave,{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=524}} and Jones made no attempt to prevent their departure at that time.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=516}}

Marceline Jones announced on the public address system that everything was fine and urged locals to go back to their houses after Ryan left Jonestown for Port Kaituma. During this time, aides prepared a large metal tub with grape [[Flavor Aid]], poisoned with [[diphenhydramine]], [[promethazine]], [[chlorpromazine]], [[chloroquine]], [[chloral hydrate]], [[diazepam]],<ref>{{Harvnb|Hall|1987|p=282}}</ref> and [[cyanide]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/CarolynMooreLayton.pdf|title=Jonestown Autopsies: Carolyn Moore Layton|date=April 18, 1979|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304051255/http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/CarolynMooreLayton.pdf|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=live|access-date=September 9, 2015}}</ref>

As members of Ryan's delegation boarded two planes at the Port Kaituma [[airstrip]], Jonestown's Red Brigade of armed guards arrived and began shooting at them.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=527}} The gunmen killed Ryan and four others near a [[Guyana Airways]] [[Twin Otter]] aircraft.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|pp=529–531}} At the same time, one of the supposed defectors, Larry Layton, drew a weapon and began firing on members of the party inside the other plane, a [[Cessna]], which included Gosney and Bagby.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=533}} NBC cameraman Bob Brown was able to capture footage of the first few seconds of the shooting at the Otter, just before he himself was killed by the gunmen.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=529}}

The five killed at the airstrip were Ryan, Harris, Brown, ''[[San Francisco Examiner]]'' photographer Greg Robinson, and Temple member Patricia Parks.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=529}} Surviving the attack were future Congresswoman [[Jackie Speier]], a Ryan staff member; Richard Dwyer, [[Deputy Chief of Mission]] from the U.S. Embassy in Georgetown; Bob Flick, an NBC producer; Steve Sung, an NBC sound engineer; [[Tim Reiterman]], an ''Examiner'' reporter; Ron Javers, a ''Chronicle'' reporter; Charles Krause, a ''[[The Washington Post|Washington Post]]'' reporter; and several defecting Temple members. They escaped into the jungle to avoid being killed.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=529}}