Jim Jones’ Son on Oprah Winfrey

Notoriety surrounding terrible crimes has affected innocent relatives in many ways. They suffer not only from shame and disgrace, but a grief that most of us never know of having loved and known the good side of a murderer. Oprah Winfrey talked to two people who were related to notorious mass murderers on her July 9th show: Jim Jones, Jr., son of the infamous founder of the Peoples Temple and Karen (née Gacy), sister of the infamous serial killer known as the “Killer Clown.

This article is about Jim Jones, Jr. Read the article about Karen Gacy here

Jim Jones (James Warren Jones) was the mastermind of the 1978 Jonestown Massacre in Guyana and charismatic leader of the Peoples Temple. He was the person responsible for the murders of Congressman Leo Ryan and people who traveled with him to Guyana. Right after these November 18, 1978 murders, Jones ordered the mass suicide of his own followers, giving them Kool Aid laced with poison to drink.. Oprah’s guest, Jim Jones, Jr. was not the evil preacher’s natural son. Jim Jones, Jr. was adopted by Jones and his wife Marceline. Jim Jones, Jr. said his parents adopted other children of different nationalities and they were called a “Rainbow Family.

Jim Jones, Jr. was adopted when he was 10 months old and was the first African American child adopted by a Caucasian family. Oprah asked him if it was difficult being the first African American child to live with white people, but he never had any idea what racism was about growing up. The commune was all about classlessness, or the “not-isms:” no racism, no rich, no poor, no haves and no have-nots, etc. He said he just thought he had “a better tan.” Their family had African-Americans, two Korean-American children from Seoul and he referred to Jones’ natural son, Stephan by the nickname “Homemade.”

Oprah began by showing clips of Jones’ religious movement from its beginnings in Indiana to California to Jonestown. Congressman Leo Ryan arrived in Jonestown to investigate allegations of coercion and abuse on November 15th. He first was given the impression that everyone there was willing and more than happy to be there, but leaks began to get through that people wanted to leave and were being forced to stay against their will. Congressman Ryan agreed to take 15 members of the Peoples Temple back to the States with him.

As the Congressman and the people with him attempted to board their plane to leave, Jim Jones’ armed guards, the “Red Brigade,” pulled up in a tractor-pulled trailer and opened fire on all of them. The Congressman was killed as well as NBC reporter, Don Harris, NBC cameraman, Bob Brown, San Francisco Examiner photographer, Greg Robinson; and Temple member, Patricia Parks. Jim Jones’ response in the aftermath of this attack was to order his followers to commit suicide by drinking cyanide-laced Kool-Aid.

Before bringing out Jones’ adopted son, Oprah first explained the horrible death that Jim Jones inflicted on his followers. “Death by potassium cyanide is an agonizing process. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the deadly poison attacks the central nervous system, starving the body, brain and heart of oxygen. Unable to breathe, victims die of suffocation. Eventually, their organs completely shut down. Eyewitnesses at Jonestown report seeing the poisoned people going into convulsions, their faces twisted in violent contortions, foam coming from their mouths. Officials say it took the victims about 5 minutes to die.”

A clip was then shown of Jim Jones, Jr., who was 18 years old at the time, explaining why he was not at the Peoples’ Temple Compound that fatal day: “On November 18, 1978, I was in Georgetown, Guyana with the basketball team.” His father called him that day and said they (everyone at the compound) were “visiting Ms. Frazier” which, Jim Jones, Jr. said was code for suicide. Jim Jones told his sons to find knives, piano wire or poison and commit suicide. When he came out in person, he told Oprah that he and the two brothers also in Georgetown went to the US Embassy. Jim Jones, Jr. said they had suicide drills before November 18th, but they were mostly tests of loyalty to the cause.

Oprah felt that it was very difficult for people to this day to understand why over 900 people would agree to commit suicide. It was particularly incomprehensible, she said, that the mothers would give the children the cyanide first. Jim Jones, Jr. said this was a manipulation tactic on his father’s part to take away the mothers’ will to live. After a commercial break, Oprah said they had talked about how the members were already indoctrinated into obeying Jim Jones and were totally brainwashed. Well, yes, but their choices were either to kill themselves or be killed by the guards at that point. Jim Jones must have gone over the reasons why they had to kill their own children in the drills they held beforehand. No one who should ever consider it voluntary suicide. Even Stephan Jones said in a 2007 interview with the Gazette: “If members of the Temple had a choice, maybe 20 would have chosen to take their lives. It could happen again. There are people out there who think they have the right and the only way, and there are still people who will follow them to the end.” That is 20 out of some 600+ adults. 276 of the 900 were children.

Jim Jones, Jr. lost his wife and unborn child, siblings who were at the compound and his parents. Stephan, or “Homemade,” was with Jim in Georgetown at the time and also survived, as well as another adopted son, Tim Jones, the biological son of a woman belonging to the movement. His birth name was Timothy Glen Tupper. Tim Jones also lost a child in the massacre.

For many years Jim Jones, Jr. turned to drugs and alcohol for solace. He now says basketball saved his life twice. Not only did it save him in 1978, but years later, after he quit drinking to salvage his failing marriage, he reconnected with his love of the sport through one of his sons. His 6′ 6″ son, Rob, is making a name for himself in the basketball. “For years, everywhere I went, the people who knew me, knew me as the son of Jim Jones,” Jim Jones, Jr. said, “Now, with great pride and great honor, it’s nice to be known as the father of Rob Jones, the basketball player.”

He told Oprah that after the tragedy, he saw no reason to live at first. He went by the name James Jones for many years to avoid being connected to his father. Jim Jones, Jr. went back to Jonestown on the 20th anniversary with his children, looking for the answer to why it happened and why he survived. He said all he found was the vat the Kool Aid was in and he knew there were no answers. Instead, he decided to find a way to move on. He says he has forgiven his father and believes his father was mentally ill, but he also takes some pride in the fact that the member of the Peoples Temple tried to create a new world.

Jim has three sons with his wife, Erin. Oprah said that Jim is a great inspiration of how to deal with guilt and shame over family secrets and he is proof that people don’t have to let it be a burden. Jim Jones said it was by “the grace of God and a great wife” that he had survived the trauma.

Sources: Oprah Winfrey Show (7/9/2010)
Courthouse Steps Maven: Jim Jones – The Peoples Temple

Also see, John Wayne Gacy’s Sister on Oprah Winfrey