Peoples Temple received a call from Dennis Banks and Leighman Brightman saying that two people were coming over to Brightman’s house that night with “some information” they claimed to have about Peoples Temple. Banks and Brightman invited the church to send some of our members to their house to listen to this meeting. They said they would notify us when the people had arrived.
We received the arranged notice from Mr. Brightman and several church members went over to his house. They stayed outside on the sidewalk and on the driveway until a young Native American came out of the house and got into a car. One of the Temple members photographed him at the time. Immediately thereafter Mr. Brightman came out of the house and stated that no pictures were to be taken. He then invited the group of Temple members to come up on the property and listen in on the conversations going on with Mr. Conn from a position he directed them to under an open window. The group did as he instructed, but found it difficult to have more than two people stand by the window without risking exposure. So one of the persons stayed under the window to take notes and the other took turns listening in.
When Mr. Conn and his Native American associate had both left Brightman’s home, two of the Temple members went into the home at Mr. Brightman’s invitation. Present were Dennis Banks, Leighman Brightman, two or three other young Native Americans, and the two Temple members. One of the young Native Americans had been taking notes during the previous conversations. Banks and Brightman also had taken notes throughout the meeting with Conn. (These notes are included as exhibits herein.)
Brightman said he had been contacted several months before by this same
young Native American man who had accompanied Conn that night. At that time he had asked to set up a meeting with Conn and Banks regarding Jim Jones, but Brightman had refused saying that he had appreciated what Jim Jones had done for him earlier in Ukiah.
It was the same person who had set up the meeting that actually did take
place that night. The man had contacted Brightman’s wife and Brightman had
returned his call. At that time Brightman had agreed to set up the meeting with Conn and it was scheduled for a future date. The man had called back, however, saying that the meeting would have been sooner and asked for it that night.
Brightman said, and it was confirmed by those who had been listening outdoors, that the young Native American man did not know all the things about Peoples Temple that were discussed that night. Brightman concluded the man was being used by Conn as a means of gaining access to himself and Dennis Banks.
(Brightman’s neighbors observed the people who were listening under the
window. They said later they could see clearly what was going on from the windows bordering on his property.)