Something Was Wrong - S4 E4: We Will Kill You

Episode Date: February 22, 2020

www.somethingwaswrong.comwww.instagram.com/lookieboowww.patreon.com/somethingwaswrongEverything Sucks: A Gratitude Journal For People Who Have Been Through Some Sh*t Sources: (Affiliate Links)Combating Cult Mind Control by Steven Hassan Gaslighting: Recognize Manipulative and Emotionally Abusive People--and Break Free by Stephanie Moulton Sarkis, PhDPsychopath Free Recovering from Emotionally Abusive Relationships With Narcissists, Sociopaths, and Other Toxic People by Jackson MacKenzie A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Jonestown by Julia ScheeresRaven: The Untold Story of the Rev. Jim Jones and His People by Tim Reiterman See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, prime members, you can listen to something was wrong early and add free on Amazon music. Download the app today. I'm Candace DeLong and on my new podcast, Killer Psychy Daily, I share a quick 10-minute rundown every weekday on the motivations and behaviors of the cold-butter killers you read about in the news. Listen to the Amazon Music Exclusive Podcast Killer Psychy Daily in the Amazon Music exclusive podcast killer psyche daily in the Amazon Music app. Download the app today. Something was wrong is intended for mature audiences. Many episodes discuss topics that

can be triggering, such as emotional and physical abuse, suicide and murder. Please take caution when listening. I am not a therapist or a doctor. Opinions expressed by guests of the show do not necessarily represent the views of this podcast. If you or someone you know is being abused, please contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233. If you or someone you love is experiencing a suicidal crisis or thoughts of suicide, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

Thank you. I'd like to dedicate this episode to my baby brother Bobby. He was murdered eight years ago today. In his memory, at the end of this episode, there's a cover song I performed with one of my best friends Isaac a few years back. The song is by Death Cab for QT, one of Bobby and I's favorite bands that we bonded over. I will love and miss him forever. A quick note. The formatting of season 4 is slightly different due to the unique nature of the story, interviews, and historical significance of the People's Temple and the murders at Jonestown. In order to shed more light on the Boge family story as a whole, narration based on and

including content from books, essays, media coverage, and FBI documentation will be included to further round out the story, provide background information, and explain the context of some interviews. Additionally, it's sometimes easier for trauma survivors to write about specific parts of their story, and that is okay. I respect that not all survivors want to verbally record all aspects of their experience, and the last thing I ever want to do is retraumatize anyone. It is truly an honor and a privilege to get to tell these stories. PS, you may notice a tapping sound in some of today's recordings, not to worry,

the bogemen just like to emphasize when they talk. Thank you friends. The once-good reputation of the People's Temple Church began its downfall as defectors left and started sharing their stories with the media in the mid-1970s. Because of this, Jim Jones was motivated to isolate members further by moving them from California to Guyana in South America. The group's new compound was sold to members as a magical utopia of equality and good works, an opportunity for members to start over and rebuild their lives from the ground up. Defectors taking a stand and leaving the People's Temple impacted families like the Bugs, who saw both the bravery of the people escaping and yet the backlash of the abuse of those who tried

to escape. The messaging to rank and file members of the church was clear. Those who leave will be punished. This further Titan Jones grip on members both emotionally and physically. A few people's temple members died under suspicious circumstances after defecting from the church.

Tom and Jim both spoke with me about a principal church member, Bob Houston, who was found dead in a suspect train yard incident in 1976, two years before the massacre at Jonestown. I'm Tiffany Reese, and this is Something was Wrong. Thinking of me who don't know me Of course by then some other people already died who left Here in the States that had defected and the mysterious they didn't come up dead

But Jones had prophesied Oh they should have never left. I see them, they're getting gunned down in the street. Oh, they should come back to the father. They should come back to the house. And it's just like, and then a few days later, you hear they got shot down in the street. What's it is?

Really. There was Chris Lewis. And he grew up in the streets. And he was, I'm just guessing at his age, considering my age I was young, you know, and I figured he was probably in his mid-30s. So he grew up in the streets all of his life, but the moment he defects from the church,

somehow he gets gunned down in the streets. Then he had Bob Houston. Now here's a gentleman who, I don't know just how many years had worked for the railroad, but many years, many, many years, you know, definitely journey level. But somehow after he left, Jones saw him having an accident at the train yard and next thing you know, yeah, somehow he'd got stuck between two cars crushed as they were

backing one train up to another. It's like and you think this guy didn't know to stay out of the way. So that was a direct message to people. We will kill you. So that was the very, so so basically some of the others who did defect it. They did stay local. They flat out disappeared for many, many years. Bob Houston, he was in San Francisco, there somewhere, but he was killed in the train yards. He said it was a suicide, but we know it wasn't. What if you were trafficked into a cult over shot nine times, or fell in love with a vampire, or went into a minor surgery and woke up one week later, paralyzed? What would you do? I'm Whit Missildine, the creator of this is actually happening, a podcast from Wondry that brings you extraordinary true stories of life-changing events, told by the people who lived them.

From a young man that dooms his entire future with one choice, to a woman who survived a notorious serial killer, you'll hear their first-person account of how they overcame remarkable circumstances. Each episode is an exploration of the human spirit and personal discovery. These haunting accounts sound like Hollywood movies, but I assure you this is actually happening. Follow this is actually happening wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad-free on the Amazon Music or Lund the app. As punishment for trying to run away from the People's Temple Church with his best friend

Brian Davis, Tom was kept in isolation for two weeks and then escorted by Jim Jones himself to the jungles of Guyana at the age of 15. Tom and Jim hadn't seen each other in over two years. Based on her interviews she did with Tom and Jim, Julia Shears wrote about Tommy's arrival to Jonestown in her book A Thousand Lives. On the day Tommy arrived at Jonestown in July 1976, Jim Boog heard the tractor laboring up the muddy road before he saw it, and reluctantly stopped working. Jonest was expected. Everyone but Boog was a flush with excitement. As farm manager, it was his job to debrief the leader on food production,

and as he walked down a pathway toward the central area in his rubber boots, he ticked over the points he wanted to make. He lined up beside the road with the others, cheering with them as the tractor lumbered into view. Boog composed his face into flat lines, hoping Jones wouldn't detect his low simmering anger. He could hardly bear to glance at the newcomers jumping down from the trailer behind Jones, but the bubble of hope he knew would only hurt him rose in his chest anyway. His eyes were drawn to a slight figure balancing a duffle bag on his shoulder, a boy, a teenage boy. The kid was staring at him, a wide grin spreading over his face. It was Tommy, his son, filled out and grown some, a scraggle of fuzz on his upper lip.

15 now, almost a man. Two years Jones had stolen from them. Jones and the others stood back and watched the father-son reunion in Smug Unison. They kept Tommy's arrival a secret from him, like so many other things, but it didn't matter now. His family was being returned to him. Of course, that was one of my happy days of my life. You know I couldn't believe that he was really there. Tom had a way of being in trouble from the word go. I mean he was constantly. Did it make you nervous for him? Yeah. Me and Brian Davis had run away.

Being him weren't so much trouble. You know, from nearly the beginning, all into the time they shipped me to South America. But a couple of years later, they sent him, and again, I was even trouble all the time down there. Okay. So he shows up and within about six months or so, they said they're gonna put him in charge of me as the watch over me on one of my disciplines.

Okay. Me and him, you know, and at first we were a little longer with each other. He didn't know if I had changed since last time we'd saw each other and I didn't know if he had. And so, but it didn't take us long to figure it out. We were still on the same page. And once you've freed out, I was just like,

how stupid are these people? We remember talking about that. How stupid are they? You know, he's like, they actually put me in charge of you. And I, I know they put you in charge of me. You know, and we devised this whole plan to run away again. And we did.

And that's how we ended up with scars on our ankles from having shackles welded on our ankles to each other. Because one he's like I and we didn't want to be part of this uneven level anyway. He wanted to go back to his moms. I believe she lived in a San Roel, San Roel or Moran or something like that and I just wanted to get the hell out of there. But we decided that we were going to walk back. Over 3,000 miles of we're going to walk. We're going to go through the jungle. We don't care. We're going to take our cullises and go. And before he had showed up, I'd been working

out working a lot with the local Indians. So they taught me a lot about survival in the bush, you know, which can eat how you can get it and all the other stuff, right? It could have done quite well. So anyway, we came over this plan that since he was in charge of me we were going to go out to the woods to collect wood for a fire for the fire in the kitchen right. So we had actually put inside these big gunny sacks or supplies. We take off across the field we each have a cutlass which is like a three foot long knife used for going through the bush and it's a very good survival tool. He's

telling me run. Hurry up let's go. Let's go run. Run. You know like like he's supposed to do and I remember and I remember as as people are think that he's making me run across this field like he should be in hard on me almost with pride in her face and and in a couple of them laughing and stuff like oh look he's making him run he deserves it right and as soon as we get past the end of the jungle, get past the Woodrow area, which is transitioning from the open field into the actual jungle,

we stop, we break up our gear and we start leaving. We're out of there. And Old Bear Plan was gonna be was to get to Matthew's Ridge, where we were going to contact their, because there's a military base there, a small contingent. And we were going to contact them to the US consulate in Georgetown Guyana and get out of there. Pretty much, she stayed in jungle for the first couple hours, then we came out on the road. And we heard the tractor coming, it was to get to be nightfall. So we hid behind this little hill that this road went between.

And after they passes up, we thought we were going to be clear, you know, at least till we could hear them again. So we started walking again and it sure as hell, they caught us from both sides and took us back. Oh, they were discussing all kinds of punishment within the meeting because you know, we're being made an example of too. So we're in front of everybody. They're discussing everything from just beating us down to actually shooting us in the stomachs with wet cardboard with a shotgun. And so they decided that they were going to chain and shackle us together and make us work 18 hours a day hard labor. So this is active what they did. We went out to the warehouse and they had made these shackles with chains to put between us and they welded them on our legs and Then they dip our feet in a bucket of water to cool down the metal

Which actually would burnt burnt our skin and it actually I mean it actually made deep wounds on both our ankles I still have that scar to this day, although it's not nearly as easily seen, but no, that scar is still there. So then they, they well out on them, yes, we had to work 18 hours a day, but you know, there's one thing even while they were doing that, that I didn't come to appreciate

until the next evening, when we got done with our first time, first shift. How do you change your clothes? You don't. No, so our clothes got washed every day because that's the only way we could wash. So yes, we had to go out there work 18 hours a day, cut them with this log and everything. You know, just huge log, probably about three foot around and they had somebody supervising us with the shotgun and they put this one guy. I don't know here's probably 1718 himself watching over us and there's knucklehead and he even been trained With a firearm in any sense of the word. So he's sitting there bouncing it on the ground because he's bored

Right and sure as hell about the third bounce it goes off. Do you shoot himself? No, no. He came close though He came close. He probably came within 12 inches or less of his face. And my brother took him, turned the brother over. That's just one question. It's loaded. So yeah, they came out there. He actually ended up on a on a disciplined crew himself over it. And then they put somebody older with the shotgun watch over. After that, I can't say this also during that time we ate the best of anybody there and then that was Jim Jones's wife who made sure that Marshall and because it's like you know you can't have these kids working like

this and not giving them the food to do it with your keloch so anyway so yes we ate better we're probably only once they actually got eggs and meat and so we were the initial two that formed the discipline crew which grew later when then when the actual discipline crew or the work crew Whatever you want to call it began to grow the hours shortened, but so I Remember about two weeks in we were cutting the the wood up in the firewood, splitting it, and Brian was holding the mall, the splitting mall on top of one of the logs,

and he's like, dude, he goes, well, we use terms like dude back then. But he gives us, like, time we go, he hit my thumb. I was like, what? He's like, put my thumb on the mall, hit it with the sledgehammer. Right? I'm like, no! I'm like, hit it with the sledgehammer Right, I'm like no, I'm like it'll it'll bust your thumb. It was I just need a break. I just need a break

Right, he was just be careful I'm like okay, we're swinging a five pound sledgehammer at a splitting mall to split this hardwood And he wants me to be careful on how I hit his thumb, totally desperate. And I thought it was absolutely insane. But then he got so desperate with it, I actually went to do it. I should get it. He stuck his thumb up there. I brought that mall over my head. And... But by the grace of God, all I did was break the skin. Did he get a break? Oh yeah, we got a break. So they didn't unchain you?

Even after that. Oh no! Oh no! No, did not unchain us. And we had big... Sores on our ankles now. Yes. I mean, there were probably the...

The sores on our ankles where we did been welded we're probably silver dollar size at this point and so now we're going to the nurses station Okay, because you know, they take us there because it's thumps been hit right and while we're in there getting treated Stephen Jones walks in and he saw it and he tells the nurse Keep them here. I'll be back. Because Stephen was nothing like his father. Stephen actually cared about people. He was like the big brother of our generation.

He really did his best to look after us. So anyway, he goes and gets his mother. She comes over there and she looks and she tells them the same thing. Keep them here. And she leaves and then she comes back and she says Jim said to take our father said to take the shackles off. Yeah. So they used air-driven cutting wheels to take them off. Oh yeah. Yeah so we got you know another burn with that right but it agrees to go. So from we got you know another burn with that right but it at least they got them off so from that point you know it probably took almost to heal up. So after those came off

then we you know we went back to spring with the nether as other kids got in trouble with her else they were assigned to the learning crew also and then they put this roast sadist in charge of his Sebastian seven years older than us eight years older than us and he was he was a black belt and he had this this thick stick hard wood stick probably about six feet tall that he stuck rubber shielding on both ends probably about a quarter inch thick and so if you weren't doing what you were supposed to do he'd crack you with that stick. Some kids got totally knocked down. I'd be pretty bad over his stick. He went to whack Brian once at once. And I honestly by the time I off-throw would be gone through, Brian just looked at him.

It was like, that's all you got. Because he really had nothing left. Yeah, he had just about taken his knee out from the backside. And all, and all, and I don't even remember seeing Brian's face wins. All he did was just fall back, just got back up like nothing happened. I always says, though, he had just tripped. Did you ever dare fight back? Oh hell no.

Because you have nothing and this guy's got to die and stick. Well, not only that, but it's pointless. It's not a battle you're gonna win. I mean, we learned that lesson when we were still in San Francisco. Oh, when I was about 13, 14 years old, when I'd gotten in trouble and back then it was boxing.

And they would take somebody who they felt could just, you know, take you down. And they put me up against this one kid. They didn't know that me and this kid had gotten into a tiff the day before. So we were already. You were actually ready to go. Oh, yeah. Cock'sucker bit me.

Yeah. The day before. The day before. So yeah, I was, it was like, yeah, we're ready, right? And they felt because he was the son of a Marine that he had been able to kick my butt and all this stuff, right? But we'd kind of grown up together too, right? And they, he didn't know crap, but anyway.

And I win that one. I straight up knock him out. So then they'd say, oh, so you're not just gonna stand there and take it like you're supposed to. So then when he got this other kid, that was a few years older than me. Right afterwards? Oh yeah.

Oh yeah, they're gonna beat you down so they beat you down till you get beat. And this kid, you know, it was an interesting thing because he kept like knuckling me on top of my head. And I was just ducking, covered, ducking, covered, ducking, covered. And I remember you're hitting my head. Okay, you're hitting a block of wood buddy

And so after a while you know it was just like okay he's had enough and I remember to myself that dude didn't do crap to me Right until the next day it felt like somebody had ripped all my hair out by its roots. Oh Yeah, he knew exactly what he was doing. I mean, you couldn't touch the inner ear hair with that go, whoa, whoa, I probably hadn't combed my hair in a month. Oh yeah, he bruised the hell out of my head. I think he spent most of his time on hard labor. Pretty close. What did that feel like for you as his dad?

Well, I learned Tom was probably the one What did that feel like for you as his dad? Well, I learned Tom was probably the one of the strongest people I ever met in my life. He's awful close now here and that. I never told him that. But he took it more. He took beatings. I seen him choke down so much that I thought he was dead. But he'd get right up and pull another prank. A lot of people don't consider Jones very bright, but he was an extremely brilliant man. Things he did, you know, he knew medicine inside out and upside, but a lot of people just don't never want to print that part about him too much, but he wasn't extremely brilliant, man. Until he got on drugs.

And he probably always was on drugs to a certain amount, but I don't know. But down there he just got sloppy ass. Of course he had his young girl, Teddy, that stayed there with him most of the time. But, uh, no, that project could have worked. That was the part that bothered me because it wasn't to be. It seems like you said he was the actual detriment to his own self because it's not the work of the group that... No, but the group supported you. Do you think blindly? Blindly a lot of them did simply for his attention and

Of course he weeded them out right away to get that inner support from the support of the other people and they become like little Gestoppos, you know, and that's why Down there. I learned right quick. You know, I said, oh, Jim Bogey, you better get yourself some smarts. And I did, and I got, I, I, most days, I was away from the general group. I become a mining person. We knew there was gold there, because the guineas was finding gold all over the place.

Did you guys ever find any? No. We just used that for an excuse. I had two buddies, probably heard about the Indian ones. We would take off every morning and would stay gone. Oh, I'm up through some periods of feeling sorry for myself. You know what?

I can imagine why. I mean... Do you feel like you sort of just had to be neutral? No. On the outside you went with the group. On the inside you went, I mean you felt sorry for yourself, you felt degraded or it kind of, and of, you would do best you can so that you wouldn't be put in trouble. Was it ever hard to contain yourself? Like physically speaking?

Well, yes, but you got to the point you know, you was only going to make the matters worse, but the main thing was to stay ahead of the crowd. These two ended really, they were dad and son, they were great guys. So you had people in the sun. They were great guys. So you had people in the church that you were close with? They had them too. And of course my physical condition went down pretty bad. And Tina and Juanita, my two daughters, they were both there and they would steal eggs.

So we'd boil them and feed them to them because they was afraid I wasn't going to be able to have the strength to get out of there. So a lot of us had opportunities to do Jones in. I mean a lot of us when you have a gun and you got live ammunition and you could put it right on him and it didn't happen. And I wonder why we didn't, especially me, why I didn't. I had such a couple of real opportunity. I could have blowed him right out of that chair and why I didn't. Do you think because you were afraid of how the other members would respond to you?

No, I don't think anybody's ever thought how other members would feel about anything. No, you know, because I can see that night just as plain as a footish yesterday. That land there with that high powered gun and oiled just a short distance away. You know why I didn't and when I got home I'd have dreams about getting him with a pitchfork. I remember my father telling me three months before him you've got to stay out of trouble. He was because it come time comes for us to leave. We've got to leave. Because these things are going to be all put in place. He never did survive very well. We used to tell him Tom be ready anytime, but we didn't dare tell him too much

because he talked to me sleep. If it got out, we were doomed. Next time. You think you know me, you don't know me, well, let oh. You know, by this time we all knew something was going to happen. Something was wrong is written, recorded, edited, and produced by me, Tiffany Reese. Thank you so much to the Boge family for participating in this season. Music by Gladrags.

Follow me on Instagram at lookyboo. L-O-O-K-I-E-B-O-O. Resources mentioned on the podcast can be found, linked in the episode notes, or at something was wrong.com slash episodes. If you would like to help support the growth of something was wrong, please consider leaving a five star review on iTunes, supporting the podcast on patreon.com, supporting our sponsors, or sharing it with your friends and family, or your gym coach, travel agent, stylist, neighbor, bestie, friends with benefits. Uh, okay, you get the point. Okay, love you. Bye. The Love The Love The Love The

Love The Love The Love The Love The Love The Love

The Love The Heaven and hell decide They both are satisfied Looming egg The No On their Bacon Seat are satisfied, luminated notes on their vacancy sides. There's no one beside you when you're so involved.

I'll follow you into the dark. You and me, we're seeing everything see, bang out the Calgary Souls of your shooting, all in one down Time for sleep is now, there's nothing to cry about, to hold each other as soon as black is the moon. Heaven held side that they both are satisfied. Illuminated the nose on the vacancy sign There's no one beside you

When you're so in the farm I'll follow you to the garden I'll follow you to the garden Thank you. Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo!

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