Something Was Wrong - S4 E5: Close the Door or Die

Episode Date: February 29, 2020

www.somethingwaswrong.comwww.instagram.com/lookieboowww.patreon.com/somethingwaswrongwww.katwhitemusic.com Everything 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. At the end of July 1977, Tom's mom and Jim's wife, Edith Boag, arrived in Jonestown with Juanita, Tina, and Marley Boge. During this time, the People's Temple Church was in the midst of a mass exodus from California to Guyana. Jim hadn't seen his wife Edith in over three years. Jim was excited to see Edith, but quickly learned the feeling wasn't mutual.

Edith was still in a relationship with fellow Temple Member Harold Cordell. During their awkward reunion, Jim tried to warn Edith to be weary of the two shits, as they enjoyed reporting other members to Jones for perceived acts of misbehaving. Edith's prompt response to Jim's olive branch was to march over to Jones and tattle on him. That night, Jim was called up in front of everyone and be raided for his behavior. As the number of settlers in Jonestown multiplied, available resources were drained. This was a sharp contrast to the dream life Jones had sold his congregation back in California. Moral and health of church members rapidly declined in the humid jungles of Guyana.

As confidence in Jones diminished, his addiction to drugs and sadistic behavior only escalated. I'm Tiffany Reese, and this is Something Was Wrong. You think you know me, you don't know me well At all, you think you know me, but you don't know me well At all, you think you know me, you don't know me well Oh, I take my time every day I call my mom and she said She said heck Due to increasing political, legal, and social pressures from the outside world, members could see that Jim Jones in his paranoid drug-induced state was a ticking time bomb.

He began holding mandatory church sessions called White Night Drills, where he pretended to have poisoned the congregation with cyanide mixed into fruited, similar to coolade. Jones began brainwashing the community to fear the outside world entirely and indoctrinated members with the idea of revolutionary suicide. Jones had designed an organization that could not survive his death or imprisonment. He programmed his members to believe that they simply could not live without him. We were kind of idiots, me and Brian were. So we're sitting there while this is going on.

And we're kind of like up close to the podium. And when people start drinking this and you see people crying and all this other stuff Brian turns to me. He kind of whisper is he goes dude. There's nothing to coolate. I was in the back cup and make it Okay So I and I snickered out loud And he's like what's so funny over there? And that's also when we true that could we found out that Jones couldn't tell if you're lying or not Like you always said he could and it was like oh crap

Nothing father It was like then why are you snickering? It's just the amount of joy that we have that we finally get to die for the cause and the revolution and you know go down that road He's like see this see these young men see this understand it, right? That was a close one though. And you know, in the end of the web, too, there's always that psychosomatic reaction to things, too. So some people will, if you tell them they're sick, they're gonna be sick.

And there's people like that in the world. We'd be doing, we'd been doing white nights for probably six months to a year at that point. We were gonna go on revolutionary suicide. As John said, it'll be a shot heard around the world. By this time we all knew something was going to happen, and this building and building and building. 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. Followed this is actually happening wherever you get your podcasts.

You can listen ad-free on the Amazon Music or Wundery app. Back in the United States, Raven author Tim Reiterman tried for over a year to get approval from the People's Temple to visit Jonestown to investigate claims made by defectors and their families, Sammy Houston, father of Bob Houston, who had died in the suspicious train yard incident in San Francisco, worked with Raven author Tim Reiterman at the Associated Press Office in San Francisco, which is how Reiterman originally learned of the alleged abuse and possible murders of the People's Temple defectors. Prior to Jonestown, he met with a few defectors, but still needed more verifiable information,

thus his interest in seeing Jonestown for himself. Sammy Houston, father of Bob Houston, had a long time friendship with California Congressman Leo Ryan. After Bob died, his father Sammy approached his friend the Congressman about helping him look into the suspicious death of his son and helping reconnect with his granddaughters, whom were still being raised by their mother in the church. Congressman Leo generously agreed to do his best to help his friend find answers. After reading an article on allegations against the People's Temple in the San Francisco

Examiner, Congressman Ryan declared his intention to visit Jonestown. His decision was also influenced by the Concerned Relatives Group, which consisted of church members worried family members. Congressman Ryan invited a handful of members of the media and the Concerned Relatives Group to join him on the visit. Ryan seemed to want the news media presence to help force open the gates of Jonestown and offer a bit of personal protection. Amongst the small group of journalists was a national television network and three major

newspapers. Journalist Tim Reiderman was amongst the small group, and was a national television network and three major newspapers. Journalist Tim Reiterman was amongst the small group and he was excited to finally get approval to visit Jonestown. Meanwhile in Guyana, Jonest began prepping his members for the congressman's visit. We were all on our best behavior because Ryan and his party was there. We don't receive instruction to stay away from any of the reporters. Don't talk to anyone. If they approach you, these are the type of things you are to say in response to their questions. Make sure you don't say anything negative.

Those are very explicit instructions. We knew those are very explicit instructions. There would be dire consequences if you did other than that. We didn't know ultimately about that or why I should say we didn't know at that point what ultimately would happen. We were thinking more in terms of discipline, that sort of stuff. There was only certain ones that could make personal contact, excuse themselves and get away. Because that was what they were told to do. A lot of them probably would have liked to say something because that's human nature. Like the one passing the note.

The first evening of the group's visit was peaceful, especially considering the circumstances. People's Temple members sang songs and performed acts for the congressman's group while they ate dinner and asked Jones' questions about the church and his vision. After the visit to the compound, both the congressmen and author Tim Reiderman seemed to think that members were free to leave and appear to be happy to live in Jonestown. Later that evening, as Ryern's group decompressed and reflected on the day and their Jonestown visit back at their hotel, Ryderman was informed by another reporter that he had been slipped a secret note from two Temple members asking to leave Jonestown when Ryern's party departed.

What the group had suspected seemed to be true. Not only did some people want to leave, but they also feared coming forward openly. You got so you didn't even dare talk to your spouse about anything that might be a little off-color. I mean nobody, you didn't trust nobody, you learned not to trust. Now, once you're down there, all your information was provided by Jim Jones himself. What was going on in the world as he would want to manipulate it for the purposes of controlling you. Now, Harold, he had a short way of radio, so he was able to listen to like British broadcast and all this sort of stuff on it. But not very many people knew he had that radio.

No, I don't know. No, I don't know. I know I did. Was it contraband? Yes, well yes, because that gave you an outlet to hear what was going on the outside world. And that is often what caused conflict with the way Harold and Mom looked at what was being said in John's town because here it is, they had a direct source outside of John's town they could listen to.

And that's why even though for the most part, it seemed like they were just, you know, you're ever going faithful followers and everything else. But they had discovered shortly after being there in themselves, their things were not as they seemed based upon what they could hear off this radio. And you think that helped your mom know? You did. Like you pushed her to know that it's still good.

Absolutely. Yeah. Because Harold had seen on the boat where this poison, well I forgive one. Sinite. And he seen that and he told Edus and that's when Ederson got smart.

I was standing over in the cottage area when the reporters came through and I actually saw her pass the note to them. You did? Yes. Because that's when I told my dad what he saw. And that's when he gave me some instructions. Because you figure if nothing came of it, then we could just came back down from salt mill

and nobody would know it'd be the wiser. But if something did come of it, then we could just cut out right through the jungle from right there and nobody'd be the wiser. So it was kind of like a safe spot to be at. So we're all kind of mingling around. And then we heard that the the parks family had gone to Ryan and told them they wanted to leave. So then immediately I told my father what it occurred and he said

you all you know go tell your mom and sister we're gonna meet up with the sawmill because we don't even plan in and escape as a family. We're going to meet up with the sawmill with some local um, Amerindian. That was a friend of my father's and we're going to go out through the jungle. Yes, because things were getting dire and bad and and yeah and there was a boat that was supposed to meet us over on the river and it gets to Georgetown. We're going to go into the embassy. Those plans weren't to happen. When we heard this was going to, we knew that was the end. We knew that that day was not going to end well. So I went and told, you know, everybody I was supposed to tell, he told others. And we all met up at the sawmill

so things were getting scary real fast. So we all went down to tell Ryan we were leaving. And then when we went down and told him that, then it started growing. And so first was the park's family, then it was my family, and then there were some others that started telling them they wanted to leave too. So the next thing Ryan knew is he had a group on his hands that wanted to leave. Everything wasn't rosy and paradise. And that was the first news he got of it that away because until then it had been playing the role. So he said, okay, you know, as well, you guys go get on the truck and, you know, we're gonna start heading out to the airport.

So we grab a few of our belongings and we start walking out there to the truck. We get on the truck. He just was strong that day. She was strong, probably stronger than me. But she she kind of got us all together. I think they were 16 of us in the back of that truck which I was upset at all. But she seemed to be strong and and and accepted in kind of a guidance in this course. And Ryan Henning came out to the truck yet. They were heard of commotion back at the

compound, which is probably only 150 feet away from where we were at. And it turned out that that's when Mark Sly had attacked Congressman Ryan. And and apparently somehow cut himself with a knife because there was some blood on Ryan's shirt And so here we were back in the compound Ryan was doing things around there and one guy grabbed Ryan around the neck and put a knife to each throat But Jones told him let him go

So put her knife to each throat, but Jones told him let him go. So, um, Jones tells Ryan, you know, you need to go, I can't control this. So Ryan and not that Jones had any tension of controlling it, because Jones set the whole thing up to start with. So he gets on the truck. We take off, we start heading out. We get to the main gate entering the compound. And there was one of the guards there, Joe Wilson, and they're carrying guns now. It's like we're not hiding anything anymore now. Zero to a hundred.

I'm telling them, Ryan had never seen any guns. Okay, but now there's guns out. So Ryan knows this shit serious. Okay, and So anyway, he he's gonna search the truck. He's looking for his wife and child Yes, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, Joe Wilson. Oh, sorry. I was looking for his wife and child What he didn't know is Just the day before She'd came up and asked me For the path to get out of Jones town the back the path that leads out of the back of the compound over to the road Because she wants out There was her and I guess a few others that went that party and went out through the backside

so others that went that party and went out through the backside. So, so naturally she's not with us and I didn't know really what had happened to her. I had fallen out until later that she did actually take that path along with a few others. So, again, truck or he doesn't find him. So, we leave, we go out to the airport. And because there's so many of us, they had to order another airplane. So now we're stuck on the tarmac waiting. Then I think there's 21 defectors at that time. I don't quite remember how many, but they used 21 or 28, something like that.

Anyway, so about an hour later, the other airplane shows up. And we're on pins and needles the whole time because nothing ever goes this smoothly. So we start borne and needles the whole time because nothing ever goes this smoothly So we start born up on the planes And we tell the congressman that Larry Shaq is not a defector He is one of Jones he was part of Jones's entourage and

Larry Shaq had been so Beat down by Jones over the years that he was kind of at the point he would just do whatever Jones said he basically came in a tomaton you're okay fine I'll go do this right and so so they kind of did a little pat search I remember watching do the patterns is like really that's your search so they totally missed the gun that Larry was carrying. So they get on the smaller plane. Our family gets on the bigger plane, along with several others.

We started getting on the plane. The two planes, they were two of them there. And I was on there with Juan Nida and Tom and Tina. one needer and Tom and Tina. They're shooting at all started. And Kim remember exactly when but it was just a few minutes later Larry pulls out the gun. Shoot's Monica Bag B. Doesn't kill her though. Goes to shoot Le Verne, who's, I guess, in front of him, or next to him, and the gun mess fires.

They're wrestling the gun away from him. And at the same time, this tractor starts pulling up with a trailer behind it. And when it pulls up, it swings around the planes, it pulls up even parallel to our plane. And then gunmen stand up and they start shooting. And they're just shooting anybody they can see. And at that point, Patti Parks, who was sitting right in front of me in the airplane, I'm sitting

right across from the door. She gets the back of her head shot off. And her brain just fall up my feet and I remember everything I was thinking right and it was like then very next thought was close the door or die and that was it it was just pure survival instinct it was close the door or die and so I jump up go to close the door I grabbed the two wires that hold the the stairway down start pulling up on it I can't quite Get it and my sister gets behind me and it starts to pull on me because she sees what I'm doing

That's when I get shot get the back of my leg blown off and that's when she gets shot in her leg also with 22 which rattles around who goes down of bone and comes back out of ankle. But we get the door closed. Tom and Tina close the door on the plane, which was very vital, and they both got shot. In the guy that shot him, he was a friend of ours before we even went to Guyana. I mean, before we even in the Jones group, he

threw my dad. He came from a therapeutic massage. One woman, Tina was holding her hand when she got shot. It just took off the top of her head. Tina had strength too and that kind of a situation. It's plenty of how people get strength and the hardest times. Just prior to all this happening when we were still in the tarmac my father, Dory told me that if anything happens, grab your sisters and run, run for the jungle. Because they're really new all my background the jungle, because I lived there basically two years before this all started going crazy. So.

How many sisters did you have? Two. Well, I actually had three sisters, but two that left. And one sister stayed, because her husband was stained, but the two sisters left with us. And we left one daughter there. Jones had really captured her. So at that point, when the door's closed,

they shoot a couple of times more at the plane, then they get off the trailer and they start walking around just to point blank shooting people that are on the ground. And I mean, Ryan was by one of the tires of the plane, and he walked him and shot him in the head. And then they got on the train on the left. Oh, and they shot the tire on the plane too,

so it couldn't leave. When they left with the tractor and trailer, I went outside, and Jackie Spear was there and she'd been shot and the ants were crawling around on the earth and so they was kind of honored and I tried to comfort her and I'd sent and got some liquor and I was feeding her liquor. I think I got her drunk. I'm sure So they get on the trailer. They leave and after you know about five minutes ago We let the the doorway back down the gang plank and a few minutes goes by and Somebody screams to coming back to coming back.

So that's for me and my sisters. We both for the jungle and the park's kids. Tracy Brenda and Brenda's boyfriend ran with us. Yeah, I told Tom to take Juan Eda and these other two two three kids. I don't remember. But he took them into the jungle and I guess he was in there three days, something like that. And then we were out in the jungle for three days and two nights and we decided we were going to come back out and it had gotten lost. So we're kind of following this one river.

Because you have no idea what's going on at the Bavillion at this state. No, no. You have no idea. So you just think you're being hunted. Yes. And actually, we believe we are being hunted in the jungle too.

Because at one point, after the second night in the jungle, we'd have waken, and we could smell cigarette smoke. And we saw this one guy in a military outfit leaning up against the tree smoking a cigarette. So and the creek you've heard of what you want to call it. That was close by so we just slipped into the creek and just kind of like floated down the creek just staying as low as we could. Just like you see in the movies you know where you know you just got your nose above the water and you're just But what it happened why we were in the jungle is they'd sent other planes out pick them up my father

I don't remember my Dept dead at that point had stayed there also There's a couple of others that had stayed waiting for us to come out of the jungle and my dad had no idea that I'd been so injured So I got in the back of my leg blown off that by the third morning I was delirious. I lost all my sense of direction, all that. He just kept telling me, you know, my sons with him, he knows the jungle, they'll come out, they'll come out, they'll come out, right? But like I said, he had no idea that I was not in my right mind anymore. Yeah, I was done. And I've gotten maggots in my leg, which what they say about maggots

is true. They eat gangering. That's all. So it actually was healthy. It saved my leg. Wow. So we ended up we're most way out. The parks went ahead of us because me and my sister could barely walk anymore. So they'd gone ahead and and came out. Then they'd sent some locals up the river with some good news. They'd gotten us. We came back out. Edith and somebody else they went to the town I told them I wouldn't leave until we found out where they were and so and like say like three days I stayed there and here they come walking up I was the biggest surprise you ever seen. What did you feel like when you saw them again? Oh well I don't think you can tell it. And from there we end up having to

spend the night in the local bar there, because they had no where else to stay. And the next morning, they flew us out. And then I was in the George Town Hospital for a month, recovering from my leg. Then we came back and we got to the States and we were interviewed several hours by the FBI. Next time. You think you know me, you don't know me well at all. You think you know me, you don't know me well.

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. Listener Cover by Cat White, Cat White Music.com. Follow me on Instagram at lookiboo. L-O-O-K-I-E-B-O-O. Resources mentioned on the podcast can be found, linked in the episode notes, or at somethingwaswrong.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, Stylus, Neighbor, Bestie, Friends with Benefits. You know me well, you don't know me.

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