The Reverend Jim Jones was one of the most bizarre religious leaders America has ever known. One November 18th 1978 he ordered his followers to commit suicide. Why did over 900 people follow one man to their doom? How did Jim Jones control so many lives? In Search of s6e7 … Jim Jones, 1981
The Jonestown Massacre: more than 900 died there; the youngest victim just five weeks old, and the oldest, 97, and the man responsible was Jim Jones. Wildly charismatic for decades, Jones was idolised by his flock but he used his church as a way to con people with phony cures to take their money, he sexually abused his followers and was obsessed with death. Obsessive behaviour that traces all the way back to his childhood. Very Scary People: Jim Jones: Unholy Massacre I, CI 2020
I acted out against the conformities in the community. First way, because I was never accepted. ibid. Jones
Mum started to see that dad was not all he said he was. Mum was in conflict from early on. ibid. son of Jones
He sees quickly that the large crowds and the big donations come when people work miracles. ibid. researcher
No Cadillacs here, no Lincolns here and ho alligator shoes here. There’s no wristwatch even on this wrist. ibid. Jones
We have to be prepared to take our flight to the valley in the case of the apocalypse that would spring forth in a nuclear hell. ibid.
He is less circumspect about some of his own moral behaviour. He begins having sex with members of his congregation … He is bisexual … He is now a sexual predator. ibid. researcher
Jones’s paranoia will prove to be very dangerous to members of the People’s Temple. ibid. researcher
There was a shot and he fell to the ground. Everybody was screaming and running … ibid. witness
They faked that shooting; he was now supremely the centre of attention. He was elated because he saw how distraught everyone was when they thought they had lost him.’ ibid. son of Jones
He said we are going to commit revolutionary suicide. He was testing us. ibid. witness
On August 1st 1977 the article was released: ‘Why Jim Jones Should Be Investigated’. Very Scary People: Jim Jones: Unholy Massacre II, headline
It is literally impossible to guess how much money and property people have Jim Jones in the twelve years since he moved his People’s Temple to California. ibid. article’s opening paragraph
Of the nearly 1,000 members of Jonestown, nearly a third were children, about another third were elderly people, many of them women. ibid. researcher
They called themselves The Concerned Relatives. One of the people making a lot of noise was Grace Stone, the mother of Jones’s five-year-old son who was back at the camp in Guyana. ibid.
What are we going to do? We gonna commit revolutionary suicide? ibid. Jim Jones
Jim Jones founded his church – the People’s Temple ... Members of Jones’s Red Militia ambushed them and opened fire. America’s Book of Secrets: Deadly Cults s2e6, History 2013
But was it mass suicide?
JONES, KEITH ALLEN murder: Accused: Guilty or Innocent? TV -
Fort Myers, Florida, 18th June 1997: When his [Keith Allen Jones] bloody body was discovered the door to room 42 was wide open. Tonight, police want to know more about the woman who checked into the hotel with the man found murdered. Accused: Guilty or Innocent? s4e2: Murder Mastermind or Innocent Witness? TV news, Channel 5 2024
It is a cold case … After 25 years new evidence has come forward about Michelle Ashley … They believe it is enough to charge her with first degree murder … There are theories that Michelle is the mastermind behind this robbery. ibid. Rob Harris, defense
If you’re in on this, why are you leaving your shoe? ibid.
The defendant is not guilty. ibid. jury
JONES, LESTER: True Crime Recaps 2022 - World's Most Evil Killers TV -
What happened to Paige Birgfeld, a single mom of three who disappeared without a trace? Detectives suspect her two ex-husbands might have had something to do with it. But when they discovered that Paige was leading a secret double life, the list of suspects suddenly got much bigger. True Crime Recaps: Secret Double Life Led to Tragedy, Youtube 13.15, 2022
New evidence finally led police to the killer’s doorstep. ibid.
One really weird client stood out, a guy who called himself Jim … His name was Lester Ralph Jones. ibid.
One hot Colorado evening in June 2007 34-year-old mother Paige Birgfeld failed to return home to her three waiting children. World’s Most Evil Killers s8e1: Lester Jones, Sky Crime 2023
The discovery of a side to Paige Birgfeld that few people knew about. ibid.
One of Paige Birgfeld’s clients was local mechanic Lester Jones, a man with a dark past. ibid.
JONES, MATTHEW & PAUL: Cold Case Files TV -
1989: A small town’s first murder in decades. An amateur detective risks her life. A secret kept for 25 years. Cold Case Files s1e9: Circle of Friends, A&E 2021
Who killed Shannon Siders? ibid.
‘There was some mutilation.’ ibid. rozzer
Matt ‘Skip’ Jones is convicted of 1st Degree Murder and sentenced to life without parole. Paul Jones is convicted of 2nd Degree Murder and sentenced to 30-75 years in prison. ibid. captions
JONES, RAYMOND: Inside Crime TV -
Daryl Floyd is determined to locate the body of his brother Terry who’s been missing since 1975, suspected of being abducted by a local sex offender. Daryl is certain he knows the killer. Inside Crime s2e8: Raymond Jones, 2020
Daryl is not alone in his belief that this man – Raymond Jones – holds the key to the case. He’s strongly backed by one of Australia’s most successful homicide detectives. ibid.
And there’s a new victim who claims to have survived Raymond Jones all those years ago. ibid.
JONES, RHYS murder: see MERCER, SEAN
JONES, ROBERT: Prime Suspect: Who Killed Diane Jones? TV -
Diane Jones disappeared 40 years ago. Her body was found 3 months later. Prime Suspect: Who Killed Diane Jones? aka Prime Suspect: Murder in Suburbia, Channel 5 2024
This was a murder with only one suspect. A murder which gripped a nation. As an idyllic small town became engulfed in scandal.
Three times they [rozzers] submitted evidence seeking to charge her husband, the respectable local GP Robert Jones, with the murder. Each time they were told their evidence was not strong enough. ibid.
Eight more murders would occur in and around Coggeshall. ibid.
As with Diane Jones, no culprit has ever been identified for Janice Weston’s murder. ibid.
Police believe this is a crime which today would be solved within minutes. ibid.
‘Dr Jones was the person who tried to kill me after he killed his wife.’ ibid. witness
Soon he was back in the spotlight facing serious allegations arising from his role as a family doctor. ibid.
He would start a new life as a vineyard owner in a tiny village in the south of France. ibid.
In March 2023, at 80 years of age, Robert Jones collapsed suddenly at his home. ibid.