Debbie (Deborah) Layton first joined the People’s Temple in 1971. She was 18 at the time and had hoped to help others in the process. Deborah was the Financial Secretary of the People’s Temple and one of few aides that Jones had trusted. In December of1977 she was transferred to Guyana, spent a week in Georgetown then traveled toJonestown. While in Jonestown, she had realized conditions were worse than she had imagined. In February, 1978 around half of Jonestown fell severely ill with diarrhea and high fevers. She herself was ill for two weeks. She wanted to speak up about how poorly treated the people were as she knew that the Temple received over $65,000 inSocial Security checks per month. In April, 1978, she was transferred to Georgetown.During this time in Georgetown, she had contacted her sister and the United StatesEmbassy to help her get out of Guyana. About a month later, Deborah issued an affidavit. Four days before the tragedy of Jonestown, Deborah was in Washington D.C.giving a testimony in front of State Department officials requesting help for the 900people in Guyana. Finally she has written a book called Seductive Poison, which retells her life as an aide for Jim Jones.
Survivor Profile: Debbie Layton
