WEBVTT 1 00:00:31.320 --> 00:00:32.920 Welcome back to the Pathway Chili. 2 00:00:33.000 --> 00:00:38.000 I'm Robin, I'm Jules, and I'm Ashley. Let's dive right 3 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:39.200 into this week's case. 4 00:00:40.520 --> 00:00:46.479 February twenty sixth, nineteen eighty, Berkeley, California. Fifty one year 5 00:00:46.520 --> 00:00:49.240 old Al Mills, his forty year old wife, Jeannie, and 6 00:00:49.359 --> 00:00:52.520 Jeannie's sixteen year old daughter, Dapien are all shot to 7 00:00:52.600 --> 00:00:57.320 death execution style inside their home. Jeanie's seventeen year old son, Eddie, 8 00:00:57.359 --> 00:01:00.880 is left unharmed inside his bedroom, claims he didn't hear 9 00:01:00.920 --> 00:01:04.359 the murders take place. Since the family is defected from 10 00:01:04.439 --> 00:01:08.840 Jim Jones's call the People's Temple and become outspoken advocates 11 00:01:08.840 --> 00:01:12.319 against them, there is speculation that surviving members of the 12 00:01:12.359 --> 00:01:17.519 cult orchestrated their assassination. However, investigators suspect Eddie of being 13 00:01:17.519 --> 00:01:20.319 the perpetrator, and while they make a failed attempt to 14 00:01:20.400 --> 00:01:22.879 charge him with the crime, twenty five years later, the 15 00:01:22.959 --> 00:01:25.159 Mills family murders are never solved. 16 00:01:26.040 --> 00:01:29.840 After that, the path went Chiley. So today we're going 17 00:01:29.879 --> 00:01:31.840 to be covering a case in which three people were 18 00:01:31.920 --> 00:01:35.159 killed inside their home, the nineteen eighty murders of the 19 00:01:35.159 --> 00:01:38.760 Mills family. This story involves the fatal shootings of a 20 00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:42.079 couple and their teenage daughter. But what's truly unique about 21 00:01:42.120 --> 00:01:44.439 this crime is that it can all be considered an 22 00:01:44.439 --> 00:01:47.480 epilogue to one of the most infamous tragedies of all time. 23 00:01:48.439 --> 00:01:50.439 I'm sure pretty much all of you are familiar with 24 00:01:50.480 --> 00:01:54.239 the notorious reverend Jim Jones, who launched a religious movement 25 00:01:54.319 --> 00:01:57.439 slash calt called the People's Temple and went down in 26 00:01:57.439 --> 00:02:01.680 infamy after orchestrating a mass murders suicide involving himself and 27 00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:05.120 over nine hundred of his followers at his Jonestown settlement 28 00:02:05.159 --> 00:02:08.800 in Guyana. Well years before that, a couple named Al 29 00:02:08.840 --> 00:02:11.960 and Jenie Mills were high ranking members of the People's Temple, 30 00:02:12.360 --> 00:02:15.960 but they eventually grew very disturbed about Jones's cruel tactics 31 00:02:16.159 --> 00:02:19.039 and decided to defect from the group alongside their children. 32 00:02:19.599 --> 00:02:23.159 They soon became very outspoken opponents of Jones and his cult, 33 00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:27.280 publicly exposing their human rights abuses and launching a support 34 00:02:27.319 --> 00:02:31.520 group for other defectors from the organization. Naturally, this put 35 00:02:31.560 --> 00:02:34.319 them right at the top of Jones's enemies list, so 36 00:02:34.400 --> 00:02:37.439 an Al, Genie and Genie's sixteen year old daughter were 37 00:02:37.479 --> 00:02:40.240 all shot to death inside their house fifteen months after 38 00:02:40.280 --> 00:02:43.000 the Jonestown massacre took place. There was a lot of 39 00:02:43.039 --> 00:02:46.080 speculation that they were killed by a vengeful hit squad 40 00:02:46.400 --> 00:02:50.719 consisting of loyal surviving members of the People's Temple. However, 41 00:02:50.759 --> 00:02:54.439 the big complication is that Genie's seventeen year old son, Eddie, 42 00:02:54.479 --> 00:02:57.280 was inside his bedroom when the murders took place and 43 00:02:57.400 --> 00:03:00.520 left unharmed, and he always maintained that he never heard 44 00:03:00.520 --> 00:03:04.520 a thing. The authorities found enough suspicious discrepancies to make 45 00:03:04.520 --> 00:03:08.479 them believe that Eddie murdered his mother, stepfather, and sister himself, 46 00:03:08.840 --> 00:03:11.159 but they lacked the evidence to build a successful case 47 00:03:11.159 --> 00:03:15.240 against him. Opinions are still sharply divided about whether the 48 00:03:15.280 --> 00:03:18.360 Mills family were murdered by intruders or if Eddie was 49 00:03:18.360 --> 00:03:21.599 the real perpetrator. So we're going to explore both sides 50 00:03:21.599 --> 00:03:22.919 on this series of episodes. 51 00:03:23.800 --> 00:03:26.479 All right, Well, as soon as you started describing this murder, 52 00:03:26.520 --> 00:03:29.759 I immediately thought of Donnie Henson and the case where 53 00:03:30.120 --> 00:03:33.680 he survived the death of his two sisters, and they 54 00:03:33.960 --> 00:03:37.439 eventually you really were convinced that he had done the killing. 55 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:39.840 His parents had survived, and so as soon as you 56 00:03:39.879 --> 00:03:41.560 described it, I almost thought we were talking about the 57 00:03:41.560 --> 00:03:45.360 same case, because you have a family who's killed, the 58 00:03:46.360 --> 00:03:50.960 teen son survives and supposedly doesn't even witness or understand 59 00:03:50.960 --> 00:03:55.280 anything that's happening in this scene. So an incredibly eerie 60 00:03:55.400 --> 00:03:58.719 similarity to that case. And then when you tie in 61 00:03:58.840 --> 00:04:01.840 the People's Temple, well, that is one of the most 62 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:06.759 tragic and heartbreaking cult cases I've ever researched. I used 63 00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:09.639 to teach a cult class, and I used to expose 64 00:04:09.639 --> 00:04:14.039 students to group think and different kinds of psychological tactics 65 00:04:14.039 --> 00:04:17.079 that we use and we see even in corporations and 66 00:04:17.120 --> 00:04:20.439 things like that. But People's Temple takes the cake for 67 00:04:20.519 --> 00:04:25.519 me because of how incredibly significant that end tragedy was, 68 00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:28.040 where I call it a mass murder, that even the 69 00:04:28.040 --> 00:04:30.600 people who thought they were willingly taking their lives had 70 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:35.079 been so brainwashed. Is that truly a suicide? But it's 71 00:04:35.120 --> 00:04:38.120 interesting to me because there is an idea of this 72 00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:41.519 was a violent group. When they were pushed to extremes, 73 00:04:41.560 --> 00:04:44.839 when they thought that their group was in danger, they 74 00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:49.519 had this incredibly violent reaction where they're shooting the congressmen 75 00:04:49.600 --> 00:04:52.639 when they are attacking his team and then they start 76 00:04:52.680 --> 00:04:56.160 to actually execute and kill all the members of the 77 00:04:56.160 --> 00:04:59.680 People's Simple in Guyana. But I don't know that I 78 00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:05.720 would see people fifteen months later actually go after people 79 00:05:05.839 --> 00:05:08.399 who had stood up against that group. I almost feel 80 00:05:08.399 --> 00:05:12.199 like that was such a shocking moment. Would people remember 81 00:05:12.199 --> 00:05:15.279 there weren't many survivors that actually were in Guyana. There 82 00:05:15.319 --> 00:05:18.480 were I think about eighty that survived, or it might 83 00:05:18.519 --> 00:05:20.399 have been even less than that because they happened to 84 00:05:20.439 --> 00:05:23.240 be away for the day. But I don't know that 85 00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:26.759 there would have been many people who truly said everything 86 00:05:26.800 --> 00:05:30.319 that happened is okay when that was the end result, 87 00:05:30.560 --> 00:05:32.800 even if they loved Jim Jones, even if they believed 88 00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:35.839 in the mission. I think that an event rocked people 89 00:05:35.839 --> 00:05:38.279 that had stayed in the United States and still subscribed 90 00:05:38.319 --> 00:05:40.800 to his mission. So I want to hear more about 91 00:05:40.839 --> 00:05:44.519 this surviving sun and what happened there, because again, it's 92 00:05:44.560 --> 00:05:47.720 reminding me more of another case where we watched a 93 00:05:48.120 --> 00:05:51.480 son basically get away with murdering his two sisters. 94 00:05:51.480 --> 00:05:55.000 If I recall correctly, yes that is true, because Donnie 95 00:05:55.040 --> 00:05:57.680 Hansen did go on trial, but he was found not guilty, 96 00:05:57.759 --> 00:06:00.720 so technically that case is still unsolved, even though the 97 00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:03.480 consensus is that Donnie did it and may have had 98 00:06:03.519 --> 00:06:07.319 accomplices as well. The key differences between the two cases 99 00:06:07.360 --> 00:06:09.639 is that in the handsome case, the home was set 100 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:12.519 on fire, so there was chaos going around while he 101 00:06:12.600 --> 00:06:16.879 was killing his sisters. But here Eddie was the surviving 102 00:06:16.879 --> 00:06:20.000 teenage son was just sitting in his bedroom and apparently 103 00:06:20.120 --> 00:06:23.240 his mother's, stepfather and sister were all killed right down 104 00:06:23.279 --> 00:06:25.439 the hall from him, and he didn't even notice, which 105 00:06:25.480 --> 00:06:28.519 some people found unbelievable. But at the same time, they 106 00:06:28.519 --> 00:06:30.399 were unable to turn up much of a motive for 107 00:06:30.519 --> 00:06:32.639 Eddie to have done this, and there was really not 108 00:06:32.800 --> 00:06:34.680 much in the way of evidence. So it makes you 109 00:06:34.759 --> 00:06:38.319 wonder if it wasn't Eddie, if it wasn't surviving members 110 00:06:38.360 --> 00:06:40.839 of the People's Temple, then who actually could have done this. 111 00:06:42.360 --> 00:06:46.560 Our story begins in Berkeley, California, in nineteen eighty Two. 112 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:49.240 Of our central figures are fifty one year old Al 113 00:06:49.319 --> 00:06:52.240 Mills and his forty year old wife, Jeanie Mills, who 114 00:06:52.319 --> 00:06:55.800 are currently living in a suburban cottage, alongside Genie's two 115 00:06:55.879 --> 00:06:59.480 children from a previous marriage, Seventeen year old Eddie and 116 00:06:59.600 --> 00:07:03.439 sixteen year old dayphen. At around nine twenty pm on 117 00:07:03.519 --> 00:07:07.040 the evening of February twenty sixth, Al's mother, who lived 118 00:07:07.079 --> 00:07:10.480 in a nearby rest home, arrived at the Millses Cottage 119 00:07:10.519 --> 00:07:13.639 for a visit, but made a horrific discovery when she 120 00:07:13.800 --> 00:07:17.560 entered the main bedroom and came across the bodies of Al, Jeannie, 121 00:07:17.639 --> 00:07:21.720 and Daphene. After she let out a scream, Eddie suddenly 122 00:07:21.759 --> 00:07:25.360 emerged from his bedroom across the hall and joined his grandmother, 123 00:07:25.879 --> 00:07:29.480 so the Berkeley Police Department were immediately contacted and summoned 124 00:07:29.480 --> 00:07:32.759 to the scene. It turned out that all three victims 125 00:07:32.759 --> 00:07:35.839 had been the victim of an execution style shooting with 126 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:39.439 a twenty two caliber weapon. Al was lying face down 127 00:07:39.480 --> 00:07:41.839 on the bedroom floor and had been shot through the 128 00:07:41.839 --> 00:07:44.560 back of the head. Jeanie was lying dead on the 129 00:07:44.600 --> 00:07:47.639 floor in the adjacent bathroom and was also shot in 130 00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:50.600 the back of the head. Daphene was lying on top 131 00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:52.879 of the bed with two gunshots to her right temple, 132 00:07:53.319 --> 00:07:55.759 but she was still alive and was rushed to the hospital. 133 00:07:56.360 --> 00:07:59.040 She remained in critical condition for the next two days, 134 00:07:59.319 --> 00:08:02.279 but had suffered such extensive brain damage that she was 135 00:08:02.360 --> 00:08:07.120 neurologically dead and had zero hope of recovery. Daphene was 136 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:09.680 kept alive long enough so that one of her kidneys 137 00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:12.560 could be used for a transplant before she was taken 138 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:16.560 off life support. Eddie claimed that after taking a long shower, 139 00:08:16.639 --> 00:08:19.120 he had gone inside his bedroom to smoke some marijuana 140 00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:22.600 and watch television, but maintained that he did not hear 141 00:08:22.680 --> 00:08:25.959 any gunshots and had no idea a crime had even 142 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:29.600 taken place until he heard his grandmother screaming. When the 143 00:08:29.639 --> 00:08:33.200 Mills's neighbors and other local residents were interviewed by police, 144 00:08:33.759 --> 00:08:36.279 they also claimed that they did not hear gunshots or 145 00:08:36.320 --> 00:08:40.440 anything unusual. Two family friends had visited the residents at 146 00:08:40.480 --> 00:08:43.759 around five pm and said everything seemed normal with the 147 00:08:43.799 --> 00:08:47.360 Millses and that the atmosphere was friendly. There were no 148 00:08:47.519 --> 00:08:50.559 signs of forced entry or any struggle at the cottage, 149 00:08:50.960 --> 00:08:53.440 but one neighbors said that was not uncommon for the 150 00:08:53.480 --> 00:08:56.159 Millses to leave their front door unlocked so that their 151 00:08:56.240 --> 00:08:58.879 children's friends could enter and exit the house with these 152 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:02.320 If nothing appeared to have been stolen from the residence, 153 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:06.279 robbery was ruled out as a possible motive for the murders, 154 00:09:06.600 --> 00:09:10.360 but rumors immediately started circulating that the crime may have 155 00:09:10.399 --> 00:09:13.480 been a professional hit, since the Mills family had an 156 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:15.080 extraordinary backstory. 157 00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:20.000 Okay, so let's take a peek at at Eddie. Eddie. 158 00:09:20.120 --> 00:09:23.519 Obviously there were friends that had visited the residents around 159 00:09:23.519 --> 00:09:26.960 five pm. The bodies are found at nine twenty, and 160 00:09:27.080 --> 00:09:30.879 basically Grandma has to run in and wake Eddie and say, hey, 161 00:09:30.960 --> 00:09:34.120 by the way, your whole family has been slain, and 162 00:09:34.320 --> 00:09:37.360 he says, I had no idea. There's a four hour 163 00:09:37.559 --> 00:09:40.679 and twenty minute gap there. Do we know when the 164 00:09:40.960 --> 00:09:44.080 examinations were done on the bodies, about how long police 165 00:09:44.120 --> 00:09:46.480 believed that they had been in that condition before they 166 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:47.720 were discovered by the grandmother. 167 00:09:48.120 --> 00:09:50.840 It has never really been revealed the exact time of death. 168 00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:53.080 I mean, I'm sure they tried to make an estimate, 169 00:09:53.120 --> 00:09:56.240 but it's never been released publicly, so I technically don't 170 00:09:56.279 --> 00:09:59.799 know how long they were dead by the time before 171 00:09:59.840 --> 00:10:02.440 the were discovered. And I always think if Eddie was 172 00:10:02.480 --> 00:10:06.440 in the shower, then maybe he did not hear the gunshots. 173 00:10:06.440 --> 00:10:09.320 But you're also thinking, well that her intruders wouldn't They've 174 00:10:09.399 --> 00:10:12.200 got into the shower and heard it and killed Eddie 175 00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:15.960 as well. So there are certain reasons like maybe he 176 00:10:16.039 --> 00:10:18.600 was listening to music with headphones on, where you think 177 00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:20.919 that he wouldn't have been able to hear the gunshots. 178 00:10:21.279 --> 00:10:23.440 But at the same time, he was just so close 179 00:10:23.480 --> 00:10:26.000 across the hall that you can understand why the police 180 00:10:26.039 --> 00:10:28.759 became suspicious of him immediately. Oh. 181 00:10:28.840 --> 00:10:32.679 Absolutely, the fact that he was stoned could definitely be 182 00:10:32.759 --> 00:10:36.639 a contributing factor if somebody is just so out of it, 183 00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:39.360 and the fact that the neighbors didn't hear it. Is 184 00:10:39.399 --> 00:10:41.840 it possible that if somebody came in, they could have 185 00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:42.720 used a silencer. 186 00:10:43.480 --> 00:10:46.000 Yeah, that's what I'm thinking as well, because nobody reported 187 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:48.679 hearing gunshots, that if this was a professional hit, they 188 00:10:48.720 --> 00:10:51.440 could used silencers. And maybe they just would have been 189 00:10:51.480 --> 00:10:53.679 quiet enough that if Eddie was stoned or he was 190 00:10:53.720 --> 00:10:56.480 listening to music, that he just honestly did not hear 191 00:10:56.519 --> 00:10:57.240 the gunshots. 192 00:10:58.120 --> 00:11:00.320 Interesting. Do we know if there was any kind of 193 00:11:00.360 --> 00:11:02.399 insurance policy set up where he would have been the 194 00:11:02.440 --> 00:11:05.440 sole beneficiary if his sister and his parents had passed away. 195 00:11:05.960 --> 00:11:09.639 Not necessarily an insurance policy, but he was set to inherit. 196 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:13.120 We'll talk about this later. Part of a sizeable estate, 197 00:11:13.320 --> 00:11:16.600 and because Al had other children from his previous marriage, 198 00:11:16.679 --> 00:11:18.519 he would have to divide it with them, but Eddie 199 00:11:18.519 --> 00:11:21.399 would technically get like the largest percentage because he was 200 00:11:21.440 --> 00:11:24.440 the only surviving member from Genie side of the family. 201 00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:27.360 So before they were known as al and Jeannie Mills, 202 00:11:27.399 --> 00:11:29.919 the couple used to go by their birth names Elmer 203 00:11:29.960 --> 00:11:33.679 and Deanna Myrtle. Before they even met, Almer and Deanna 204 00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:36.039 had already both been married to other people and had 205 00:11:36.039 --> 00:11:39.759 a total of five children between them. Deanna had Eddie 206 00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:43.360 and day Feene, while Elmer had three children named Steve, Linda, 207 00:11:43.399 --> 00:11:46.480 and Diana. They officially got married to each other in 208 00:11:46.559 --> 00:11:49.600 nineteen sixty eight, but within a year, Elmer had quit 209 00:11:49.600 --> 00:11:52.320 his job at Standard Oil so that he and Deana 210 00:11:52.360 --> 00:11:55.200 and their five children could join the People's Temple, a 211 00:11:55.240 --> 00:11:58.639 new religious movement founded by the Reverend Jim Jones, which 212 00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:02.039 was situated at Californi, Orny's Redwood Valley at that time. 213 00:12:02.759 --> 00:12:05.000 As most of you probably know, it would turn out 214 00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:07.720 that the People's Temple functioned like a cult as its 215 00:12:07.799 --> 00:12:11.000 members were brainwashed by Reverend Jones, who forced them to 216 00:12:11.000 --> 00:12:14.360 turn over all of their property, possessions, and assets and 217 00:12:14.440 --> 00:12:18.200 swear their undying loyalty to him. According to Deanna. When 218 00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:20.759 Eddie was only eight years old, she believed that he 219 00:12:20.799 --> 00:12:24.159 had developed in a regular heartbeat. While Eddie was never 220 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:27.639 diagnosed by a doctor, Jones performed telepathy on him and 221 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:31.399 convinced Diana that he had miraculously cured his condition, which 222 00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:34.240 played a major role in her family's decision to devote 223 00:12:34.240 --> 00:12:37.240 their entire lives to Jones and the People's Temple. The 224 00:12:37.320 --> 00:12:40.799 Murders became key players in the organization, as Genie served 225 00:12:40.840 --> 00:12:44.000 as head of their publications office, while Elmer functioned as 226 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:46.720 the official photographer, and they were both members of the 227 00:12:46.720 --> 00:12:49.519 group's governing council known as the Planning Commission. 228 00:12:50.559 --> 00:12:53.759 This makes me so angry. The abuse of religion and 229 00:12:53.879 --> 00:12:57.039 using spirituality and spiritual healing and things like that as 230 00:12:57.080 --> 00:13:00.440 a weapon and tool to convince people to follow you 231 00:13:00.519 --> 00:13:03.559 and to donate their lives to you is so frustrating. 232 00:13:04.320 --> 00:13:06.279 You know, this was not the first time Jones did 233 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:09.519 stuff like that. There's one case where Jones had a 234 00:13:09.639 --> 00:13:11.440 packed house. I mean, he used to have hundreds upon 235 00:13:11.639 --> 00:13:15.240 hundreds of mixed race individuals worshiping in his temples and 236 00:13:15.279 --> 00:13:20.120 in his churches. And Jim Jones performed a quote miracle 237 00:13:20.279 --> 00:13:24.080 on a woman who could not walk, and she was very, 238 00:13:24.200 --> 00:13:28.480 very elderly and fragile, and by the end of it, 239 00:13:28.519 --> 00:13:30.879 she's dancing and running up and down the aisles. He's 240 00:13:30.879 --> 00:13:32.360 telling her, put one foot in front of the other, 241 00:13:32.440 --> 00:13:35.639 you can walk. Now you're healed. And it's this crazy 242 00:13:35.679 --> 00:13:38.759 celebration where almost everyone in attendance is giving their life 243 00:13:38.759 --> 00:13:44.360 over to Jim Jones, not Jesus Jim. And when that happens, 244 00:13:44.399 --> 00:13:46.320 come to find out that was a secretary who was 245 00:13:46.440 --> 00:13:50.480 very able bodied and she was faking right, acting that 246 00:13:50.559 --> 00:13:53.519 she had been healed. But by convincing somebody that their 247 00:13:53.639 --> 00:13:58.159 child had been medically healed, I mean no wonder. They 248 00:13:58.519 --> 00:14:01.519 gave everything to that organization, to that church. They felt 249 00:14:01.559 --> 00:14:04.919 he was led by the Holy Spirit. He's being this 250 00:14:05.039 --> 00:14:08.159 man who's been blessed with the ability to perform miracles 251 00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:11.360 via their faith. And so it makes me so mad, 252 00:14:11.480 --> 00:14:13.639 But I don't blame them. I think that was a 253 00:14:13.679 --> 00:14:16.279 tactic he used because he knew it worked. And you 254 00:14:16.360 --> 00:14:20.080 had this very successful couple who ends up quitting and 255 00:14:20.200 --> 00:14:24.120 using all their resources and talents to further the people's temple. 256 00:14:24.159 --> 00:14:27.960 And so what a crazy start for this couple. And 257 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:30.840 now it's interesting they change their name and we're trying 258 00:14:30.879 --> 00:14:34.279 to live a life basically devoid of that history they had. 259 00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:39.039 It totally reminds me of Rasputen and like the influence 260 00:14:39.120 --> 00:14:42.200 that he had over the Romanovs when he was treating 261 00:14:42.240 --> 00:14:45.879 their son Alexei. He was able to have these people 262 00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:49.399 like devote everything to him. It was so intense, and 263 00:14:49.440 --> 00:14:53.039 I think Jim Jones had a similar magnetism where he 264 00:14:53.200 --> 00:14:56.240 was able to convince people of almost anything, and he 265 00:14:56.279 --> 00:14:58.679 could sell himself. He could be what they needed him 266 00:14:58.679 --> 00:15:00.559 to be in that moment, and that was such a 267 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:01.279 powerful thing. 268 00:15:01.759 --> 00:15:03.600 Oh yeah, we're going to talk more about this later. 269 00:15:03.639 --> 00:15:06.279 But the Joneses would become friends with one person who 270 00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:09.360 said that I became convinced that Jones was the real 271 00:15:09.399 --> 00:15:12.159 deal because I saw him perform this miracle on a 272 00:15:12.159 --> 00:15:14.840 woman who was in a wheelchair and she just suddenly 273 00:15:14.840 --> 00:15:17.559 got up and walked. And of course it turned out 274 00:15:17.600 --> 00:15:19.639 that was a complete fraud. It was only used to 275 00:15:19.679 --> 00:15:23.039 learn new members in because they believed he could perform miracles. 276 00:15:23.399 --> 00:15:25.200 And that's pretty much the same thing they did with 277 00:15:25.240 --> 00:15:28.519 the Mills family, where they thought that he cured Eddie's 278 00:15:28.519 --> 00:15:30.639 heart ailments even though he did nothing. 279 00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:35.320 However, as the years went on, the Myrtles gradually became 280 00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:40.320 disillusioned with the People's Temple, particularly after witnessing Jones perform 281 00:15:40.440 --> 00:15:44.399 numerous acts of cruelty, such as frequent beatings of his followers, 282 00:15:44.440 --> 00:15:48.840 including the children. The breaking point occurred in nineteen seventy 283 00:15:48.840 --> 00:15:51.799 four when the Myrtles witnessed Jones used a two foot 284 00:15:51.879 --> 00:15:55.360 long paddle to spank Elmer's daughter, Linda, who was sixteen 285 00:15:55.399 --> 00:15:58.679 at the time. According to Jones, Linda had embraced a 286 00:15:58.720 --> 00:16:01.320 friend of hers, whom he considered to be a trader, 287 00:16:01.840 --> 00:16:05.320 and spanked her with a paddle seventy five times as punishment. 288 00:16:06.200 --> 00:16:08.960 After spending the next year working up the courage to leave, 289 00:16:09.399 --> 00:16:12.320 the Myrtles finally decided to defect from the People's Temple 290 00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:15.679 with their children. When they originally joined the group, Elmer 291 00:16:15.720 --> 00:16:18.360 and Diana were forced to turn all of their properties 292 00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:21.320 over to Jones and grant him full power of attorney 293 00:16:21.320 --> 00:16:25.000 over them. To prove their loyalty, Jones also demanded that 294 00:16:25.080 --> 00:16:28.519 his members signed false confessions to committing to such horrific 295 00:16:28.559 --> 00:16:32.000 crimes as molesting their own children, which he could use 296 00:16:32.039 --> 00:16:35.200 against them if they ever decided to leave in order 297 00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:38.559 to avoid all the powers Jones had over them. Elmer 298 00:16:38.600 --> 00:16:41.279 and Diana Myrtle officially changed their names to Al and 299 00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:42.559 Jeannie Mills. 300 00:16:43.279 --> 00:16:47.799 I cannot imagine. I cannot imagine. You've given your life 301 00:16:47.919 --> 00:16:51.679 and your finances, and your belongings and your time and 302 00:16:51.720 --> 00:16:55.679 your family over to this church family, and then you 303 00:16:55.799 --> 00:16:58.360 start to see behind the curtains when it almost feels 304 00:16:58.399 --> 00:17:01.759 like it's too late, when everyone is trained not to 305 00:17:01.919 --> 00:17:05.599 speak of troubling issues, when they're all trained to look 306 00:17:05.640 --> 00:17:08.599 the other way or report when people are talking negatively 307 00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:11.640 about the group. So in many ways, they probably felt 308 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:14.640 very stuck when they started to see these kind of 309 00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:18.160 the facade fall down. And yet, just like groups like 310 00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:21.279 scientology and those other types of organizations that we see 311 00:17:21.319 --> 00:17:25.480 functioning that are able to keep their members so much 312 00:17:25.680 --> 00:17:29.319 in their palm right and in control of their lives 313 00:17:29.720 --> 00:17:34.160 because they use things like blackmail and confessions and these 314 00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:37.599 kinds of things where they're asking you to in this case, 315 00:17:37.680 --> 00:17:41.599 actually lie about things that you've done, and in other 316 00:17:41.640 --> 00:17:44.920 groups they convince you you've done these horrible things, and 317 00:17:44.960 --> 00:17:47.000 if you leave, it's held over your head. And so 318 00:17:48.319 --> 00:17:51.559 I'm incredibly impressed because I know it took nothing short 319 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:55.799 of true trust in one another to leave that organization 320 00:17:55.960 --> 00:17:58.240 and trust that they were going to be okay, because 321 00:17:58.279 --> 00:18:02.240 the fear and the psychological damage and the spiritual warfare 322 00:18:02.279 --> 00:18:05.160 being used against them couldn't have been anything other than 323 00:18:05.200 --> 00:18:06.240 absolutely horrendous. 324 00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:11.559 So, after the Mills family moved to Berkeley, Alan Jini 325 00:18:11.640 --> 00:18:15.039 became outspoken opponents of the People's Temple and wanted to 326 00:18:15.079 --> 00:18:18.160 help others who followed their example and defected from the cult. 327 00:18:18.960 --> 00:18:22.160 The couple established the Human Freedom Center, a halfway house 328 00:18:22.160 --> 00:18:25.519 which functioned as a sanctuary for defectors and refugees from 329 00:18:25.559 --> 00:18:28.559 the cult when nowhere else to go. The Mills has 330 00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:32.480 also worked alongside another defector named Timothy Stowen, a former 331 00:18:32.519 --> 00:18:35.559 People's Temple attorney who had once served as Jones's right 332 00:18:35.599 --> 00:18:39.279 hand man, and together they formed their own organization called 333 00:18:39.279 --> 00:18:43.160 the Concerned Relatives of People's Temple Members. It served as 334 00:18:43.200 --> 00:18:46.359 a support group for defectors and their families and sought 335 00:18:46.400 --> 00:18:50.160 to deprogram them and help them readjust to normal society again. 336 00:18:51.079 --> 00:18:54.640 In July nineteen seventy seven, New West Magazine published an 337 00:18:54.640 --> 00:18:59.240 expose about Jones and his organization, titled Inside People's Temple, 338 00:18:59.599 --> 00:19:02.279 in which the Millses and other former members exposed the 339 00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:06.200 cruelty and human rights abuses which took place there. They 340 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:09.119 continued to exert pressure on the media and the government 341 00:19:09.160 --> 00:19:13.160 to take action against Jones and his group. Needless to say, 342 00:19:13.279 --> 00:19:16.720 Jones was outraged by the Mills' actions and would reportedly 343 00:19:16.759 --> 00:19:19.960 deliver angry rants to his followers in which he referred 344 00:19:19.960 --> 00:19:22.680 to the Mills as traders and vowed to get revenge 345 00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:25.920 on them. During this time period, the Millses claimed that 346 00:19:25.960 --> 00:19:28.559 they received a number of threatening phone calls and found 347 00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:32.119 threatening notes on their doorstep. At one point, a bomb 348 00:19:32.200 --> 00:19:34.039 went off at the bank where the Millses kept a 349 00:19:34.079 --> 00:19:36.880 safety deposit box, and they soon found a note on 350 00:19:36.920 --> 00:19:39.839 their front porch in which the People's Temple took credit 351 00:19:39.880 --> 00:19:43.680 for the bombing. On one occasion, Al's daughter Diana, reported 352 00:19:43.680 --> 00:19:46.119 seeing eight or nine armed men in the yard of 353 00:19:46.119 --> 00:19:46.519 her home. 354 00:19:47.480 --> 00:19:49.960 This is so sad, So this is this group of 355 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:54.519 the concerned relatives of the People's Temple. They were people 356 00:19:54.519 --> 00:19:57.759 who were saying, look with my loved ones. Have been 357 00:19:57.799 --> 00:20:00.960 convinced that anyone who's not part of the People's Temple 358 00:20:01.119 --> 00:20:05.160 is evil. That there's some kind of danger to them 359 00:20:05.240 --> 00:20:08.759 if they're interacting with the general public, if they are 360 00:20:10.200 --> 00:20:12.519 speaking to people who are not in the group, if 361 00:20:12.599 --> 00:20:16.240 they support any of these quote traders, And so when 362 00:20:16.279 --> 00:20:21.359 you have that kind of tension and struggle where they're 363 00:20:21.359 --> 00:20:24.039 saying this is no longer optional. For my family members 364 00:20:24.039 --> 00:20:26.519 who are there, I feel like they're stuck, that they 365 00:20:26.599 --> 00:20:29.359 can't get out. And you have people like the Millses 366 00:20:29.400 --> 00:20:32.880 who are sharing experiences where there's a reason we almost 367 00:20:32.920 --> 00:20:36.440 couldn't leave as well. We know that we're not the 368 00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:39.440 only ones who experienced these things. We saw it, and 369 00:20:39.519 --> 00:20:42.559 so it's not just people who are concerned, it's people 370 00:20:42.599 --> 00:20:46.640 who know legitimate dangers operating inside this group. And it's 371 00:20:46.839 --> 00:20:50.359 it's the reason why this group is the reason why 372 00:20:50.519 --> 00:20:54.759 the big threat quote unquote to Jonestown down in Guyana 373 00:20:55.319 --> 00:20:58.000 started in the first place, is because this is where 374 00:20:58.039 --> 00:21:01.880 Congressman Ryan's going to fly down to investigate and try 375 00:21:01.880 --> 00:21:05.000 to give peace to these family members and show is 376 00:21:05.079 --> 00:21:07.799 there a danger or are these people happy? Are they 377 00:21:07.960 --> 00:21:10.880 choosing to be there? And you guys know it goes 378 00:21:11.160 --> 00:21:14.480 at first this kind of angelic experience for the congressman 379 00:21:14.799 --> 00:21:17.960 and very quickly, he starts to realize maybe there are 380 00:21:18.039 --> 00:21:20.000 people who want to leave and can't. 381 00:21:20.599 --> 00:21:24.200 The concerned relatives of People's Temple members eventually helped convince 382 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:28.039 Leo Ryan, a Democratic Congressman from sam Matteo, to perform 383 00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:32.480 an investigation into the organization and their practices. By this point, 384 00:21:32.680 --> 00:21:37.720 Jones had already established the People's Temple Agricultural Project aka Jonestown, 385 00:21:38.119 --> 00:21:40.640 our most settlement in the Jungles of Guyana, which was 386 00:21:40.680 --> 00:21:43.960 the primary base of operations for Jones and his followers. 387 00:21:44.759 --> 00:21:48.960 Ryan and his delegation, which included his staff, some media representatives, 388 00:21:49.000 --> 00:21:52.839 and several relatives of People's Temple members, decided to travel 389 00:21:52.839 --> 00:21:56.440 to Jonestown on a fact finding mission, but a devastating 390 00:21:56.480 --> 00:22:00.960 tragedy would soon take place. On November eighteenth, nineteen seventy eight, 391 00:22:01.240 --> 00:22:04.920 after Congressman Ryan and his entourage paid a visit to Jonestown, 392 00:22:05.279 --> 00:22:07.759 they left the settlement with a group of People's Temple 393 00:22:07.799 --> 00:22:11.200 members who expressed their desire to defect, and traveled to 394 00:22:11.240 --> 00:22:14.000 an airstrip in Port Kaituma in order to board a 395 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:17.680 pair of transport planes to leave. It wasn't long before 396 00:22:17.720 --> 00:22:20.960 some People's Temple gunmen opened fire on the group, killing 397 00:22:21.000 --> 00:22:25.720 five people, including Ryan, and wounding nine others, and unfortunately, 398 00:22:25.960 --> 00:22:29.640 it wasn't long before Jones orchestrated a mass murder suicide 399 00:22:29.680 --> 00:22:32.599 at Jonestown, in which his followers were forced to drink 400 00:22:32.640 --> 00:22:37.240 flavor aid laced with potassium cyanide. Four followers died the 401 00:22:37.240 --> 00:22:41.400