As a San Francisco high school student, he was dispatched to help build Jonestown. He has been married to Kristi Jones since 1991. Stephan Gandhi Jones. After the massacre, Layton strolled back to the area. His wife has learned at those moments to let him be. target_type: 'mix' He climbed aboard the truck and we took off. 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. He dreams he sees the men and women he knew, older now, changed by the years. In this Nov. 5, 2018 photo, John Cobb poses for a portrait at the the Jonestown Memorial at Evergreen Cemetery in Oakland, Calif. After years of struggles that included drug addiction, Jones says he's now living a pleasant life in the United States with his wife and three daughters. After all, we had seen things we weren't supposed to see. If you or someone you know are experiencing suicidal thoughts, call 911, or call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255. "I would have been a traitor to the greatest cause there ever was . For 19 of his 24 years, they were all he knew. I didn't see who fired the shot but the sound came from the tractor and trailer. Stephan is the only living son of Jim Jones and his late wife. Those who broke rules were disciplined. By nightfall, the seriously wounded, some of them on litters provided by the community, were sheltered in army soldiers' tents. 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. 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). When John Cobb was born in 1960 in a black section of Indianapolis, his mother and older siblings already were temple members. It would have been like I was a counter-revolutionary, in some sense.". But he was also very loving, especially during the early period'. Some had the distinct impression that the two were close to opening fire on the truck. Copyright 2017-2018 Free Articles by ecelebritymirror.com, All rights reserved. Jim Jr. would go on to lose 15 immediate relatives in Jonestown, including his pregnant wife, Yvette Muldrow, In the aftermath, Jim Jr. built a new life. In this March 5, 2018 photo released by Kevin Kunishi, Jordan Vilchez sits at memorial for mass murder and suicide victims at the Jonestown settlement in Guyana. For years, Vilchez was ashamed of the part she played in an idealistic group that imploded so terribly. Volleys of shotgun, rifle and pistol fire kept coming. Everyone participated in it and because of that, it went as far as it did, she said. . Stephan Gandhi Jones is the son of the notorious religious cult leader Jim Jones. Stephan ran to the U.S. Embassy and appealed for a helicopter to take him to the colony to try to stop the disaster, but no one listened. There was a gaping wound in his shoulder and possibly his ribs. After years of struggles that included drug addiction, Jones says hes now living a pleasant life in the United States with his wife and three daughters. Some of those leaving the temple eyed the vehicles with suspicion. They have three children. He was right, of course. His LinkedIn profile indicates that he still has the position of vice president of operations at MB Contract Furniture. They also killed their dogs. I thought there were reasons for people to want to get us. He has nine siblings, most of whom are now dead. , MoKal . I know Ive reached a better place and I dont fear lapsing back into the darkest times, but its a daily process and one that Im grateful to have.. To access these PDF files you must have the free Adobe Reader installed. mode: 'thumbnails-a', He said he considered it a failing on his part when he did. This past year, she returned to long-overgrown Jonestown. window._taboola = window._taboola || []; What Are Essential Oils and Do They Work. In fact, he thought he was the only one who could save the situation. When the prodigals visited, the Cobbs kept it secret from Jones. This November 1978 file photo shows the bodies of Peoples Temple mass suicide victims led by Jim Jones in Jonestown, Guyana. View their profile including current address, phone number 415-785-XXXX, background check reports, and property record on Whitepages, the most trusted online directory. He loves basketball; he is agile and strong and was tall even before he reached high school. They have three children. 'To me the ends justified the means,' he said. But it was too late. 'This is really crazy,' he recalls thinking. Even though he attended public schools, Stephan Jones had never really learned to live in the outside world. They were forced. Jim Jones was cultivating his growing celebrity--elected officials visited the San Francisco temple, Mayor George Moscone had used temple members as campaign workers, and much was made of the 1976 photo that showed Jim Jones and Rosalynn Carter together during the Democratic Central Committee meeting in San Francisco. More than 300 Jonestown victims were children. Maybe they just thought, 'God, leave me alone. Stephan believed he was too cowardly to follow through with the oft-threatened revolutionary suicide.. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. Other Works I think that Ill pick two. 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. There are moments when he glimpses the edges of power and understands precisely how it might be used. Plunged into a new world, those raised in the temple or who joined as teens lost the only life they knew: church, jobs, housing - and most of all, family and friends. Despite his unconventional upbringing and the horrific tragedy brought about by his father's religious group, the Peoples Temple, Stephan speaks candidly about his experience in the documentary. The temple was the only life he knew but says he always had his doubts. All the people who lay there around him had followed him. And Smiths wife, son and mother died. I believe that it was always a personal agenda for my father, and yes, there was a gradual shift in the balance. He pushes through the crowd, but he cannot get to his father. ', 'I argued with my Dad,' he said. He was in Georgetown, Guyana on November 18, 1978 with the Jonestown Basketball Team. You describe yourself in your writings as a rebellious kid. "He used to say we were the only two people of our kind in the universe," Jones says, clasping his hands behind his head and gazing out his apartment window. Stephan Jones was born on June 1, 1959 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA as Stephan Gandhi Jones. Stephan was around 17 years old when he moved to Jonestown in February 1977 to help build the compound. Some have come to acknowledge that they helped enable Jim Jones to seize control over people drawn to his interracial church, socialist preaching and religious hucksterism. Stephan Jones is a Jonestown survivor. "He always gave us a hug and a kiss, but it became more mechanical as time went by." 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'. But after temple gunmen killed the congressman, three newsmen and a church defector on the Port Kaituma airstrip, Jones ordered a poisoned grape-flavored drink administered to children first. Stephan Gandhi Jones is the son of the notorious religious cult leader Jim Jones. 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). Heres How To Watch The Alex Murdaugh Trial Live, Morgan Doughty Filed A Lawsuit Against The Murdaugh Family, Sophie Turners Joan Charts The Rise Of A Famous British Jewel Thief, Alex Murdaugh Faces Life In Prison For Allegedly Killing His Wife & Son, Get Even More From Bustle Sign Up For The Newsletter. In the aftermath, he built a new life. Rebelling, they refused Jones order to come back. He was the son of Jim Jones, who established Jonestown. Jim Jones, pictured in 1976,dreamed up Jonestown. Stephan may be reached at moreheart1@comcast.net. John was attending a San Francisco high school when he was allowed to join his best friends in Jonestown. . Jim Jr., followed that July and was 16 years old at the time. Not so many people died. Dozens of Peoples Temple members in Guyana survived the mass suicides and murders of more than 900 because they had slipped out of Jonestown or happened to be away Nov. 18, 1978. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. I would either have had to fight, or I would have taken it. He was summoned to the temple radio room. He also made sure that the other disciples who were in the capital would do nothing hasty. Listen, not long before, we went to play basketball. I wouldn't have run.". All I can do is tell what I saw and heard. "Who they spoke to. I guess maybe somebody who hadnt been in the temple their entire lives and was just stepping into it couldve seen it coming. I said there must be another way.. During the long night, the temple defectors told us that all the horror stories about Jim Jones and the church were true. Now 58, he owns a modular office furniture business in the East Bay and is married with a daughter. I would say that there are times when its very enriching to speak with people about it All too often people want to write everyone off as a bunch of crazies. The reason that I have agreed to talk to as many people as I have is because of that. 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. He went through years of nightmares, mourning and shame. Stephan Jones, Jim Jones's sole surviving child, was born in Indiana, United States, on June 1, 1959. By the fall of that year, almost 1,000 Temple members emigrated to Jonestown, but for Stephan Jones, the pleasure crumbled when his father arrived. Oh yeah, I think you can see that from my writing. Then they could identify and allow themselves to step into the story and understand how such a thing could happen. "The minute I stepped out on the street, I felt so uncomfortable," he says. Then, with heart-stopping suddenness, the first shot was fired. Jim Jr. would lose 15 immediate relatives in Jonestown, including his pregnant wife, Yvette Muldrow. Instead of finishing high school, Vilchez moved to San Francisco, where she lived in the church. Gruelling field work was not to her liking. Stephan Jones currently lives in Petaluma, CA; in the past Stephan has also lived in San Rafael CA and Novato CA. 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. It was Stephan Jones who managed security--who carried a gun, watched over temple members and planned group escape routes--when Jim Jones began summoning his community into a frenzied series of meetings to prepare for imminent attacks from outside. 'We think he's got a gun. "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 Jones says. At the far end of the strip sat a yellow government plane. Devotion to its ideals bolstered her self-worth. container: 'taboola-below-article-thumbnails-3rd', . And I dont know if it was paranoia. My arm was gushing blood so I stripped off my belt and pinched down the biggest wounds. That he was just this crazy zealot this entire time. Ryan, his thick gray hair bloodied, was near the front of the plane. "My experience in Jonestown was this: when I first got there I was happy and I was really enjoying myself. Like everyone else, he died there, his son said. He led the Peoples Temple, a new religious movement, between 1955 and 1978. These people have given their lives, for whatever reason . He is married to his wifeKristi Jones since 1991. Wiki User. But Stephan was the biological son of Jim and Marceline Jones. When Smith reunited with his mother and wife in Jonestown, Ollie was 8 1/2 months pregnant. As rapidly as possible Jacqueline Speier was signing on passengers at the fool of the boarding ladder while a reporter helped her check for weapons. So the second thing is this whole idea of drinking the Kool-Aid thats such a prevalent saying. Stephan escaped death with the Jonestown basketball team, Alternative Considerations of Jonestown & Peoples Temple. "There was always that guilt fed to you by my father that kept you in check, kept you thinking, 'Maybe I'm wrong'--the guilt for being selfish and questioning this.". Yet he submitted to a new search, then returned to his seat. placement: 'Below Article Thumbnails 3rd', It was he who dreamed up Jonestown, he who willed it into being, and he who brought it down: first, with the assassination of U.S. Rep. Leo Ryan and four others by temple members on a nearby airstrip on Nov. 18, 1978, then with the mass murders and suicides of hundreds, a horror that remains nearly unimaginable 40 years later. He was not prepared for suicide. There was something there. container: 'taboola-right-rail-thumbnails', Jordan Vilchezs parents were Berkeley progressives in the 1960s her father African-American, her mother Scotch-Irish. Only natural son of Rev. Other people were injured. The tournament was in Georgetown, the Guyanese capital, 150 miles away. Save record . But the entertainers stayed in Jonestown to entertain Ryan. How Twins Megan Rapinoe and Rachael Rapinoe are Breaking Barriers for the LGBTQ+ Community? Another hit my wrist and knocked off my watch. Devotion to its ideals bolstered her self-worth. I believed there was too much racism, and there was a need for change. He remarried three decades ago, and he and his wife Erin raised three sons with two now coaching basketball at the high school and college level. . He's never remarried, and Martin Luther Smith was his only child. Stephan helped erect a basketball court and form a team. So yes there were often thoughts of taking him out but I know I wasnt capable of that kind of thing. Maybe they saw no hope--because they didn't see themselves leaving, but they didn't want to go on with Jim Jones. The reunion with Jones was not as joyous. I tried to fire - but nothing happened.'. File photo: Peoples Temple compound, led by Jim Jones, after bodies were removed, in Jonestown, Guyana, November 1978. The rest was jungle, damp and hot and so thick with growth that Stephan Jones would stand among the massive trees and feel the 20th century fall away. And when her 23-year-old sister joined, Jordan went to live with her at age 12. Stephan fought him, swore at him, obeyed him, contemplated killing him, argued with his mother about how to bring Jim Jones under control. "I would have had to, especially if I saw other people doing it, and I right off the bat wasn't on top of things, and somehow wasn't right there starting some kind of--it's so hard--", Stephan Jones covers his face for a moment, fingers kneading his forehead. Read more about cookies here. Plunged into a new world, those raised in the temple or who joined as teens lost the only life they knew: church, jobs, housing and most of all, family and friends. In the days before Ryan's fact-finding mission to the settlement, the players were in Georgetown for a tourney with the Guyana national teams. Then he decides it is time, and he falters, and he tells them they may not believe what he is about to say. mode: 'thumbnails-a', I crawled until I came to taller bushes and brambles, clawing my way into a pocket in the brush. ", Jim Jones moved to Guyana in 1977, just as New West magazine was preparing to publish a lengthy account of defectors' allegations about Peoples Temple. It was just more controlled. "I always explain to them that it's not what people think--it wasn't a bunch of starry-eyed people in line waiting to take the potion . I think there are people who are interested in it because of whats going on in the world. The reports were wrong, they say. Hes 61 now. that one last act would be admitting he was a coward, and about nothing. Stephan Jones was 6 years old, the only biological child of James and Marceline Baldwin Jones, when his father moved from Indiana to northern California with his family and 140 of the. Did you ever consider the ultimate rebellious act: to defect from the temple? Johnny Brown: Taking Care of His Own(2013), This site houses a variety of PDF documents. Toward the end, as he watched the array of barbiturates, amphetamines and tranquilizers that now slurred his father's speech and sometimes left him physically unable to leave the Jonestown house, Stephan Jones says murder seemed almost redundant. File photo: Bodies of Peoples Temple mass suicide victims led by Jim Jones in Jonestown, Guyana, November 1978. Did You Know Soccer Player Crystal Dunns Husband Pierre Soubrier Is A Football Specialist? . White devil.' 'I believe 100 percent that not everyone would have been dead,' he said. 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. For a long time I thought they felt the convulsions before they died, until somebody assured me that you pass out before you feel the convulsions. A lot more conversation about the outside threat that was anyone that wasnt in the temple. This answer is: Study guides. 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