I read this article last night, precisely. It is absolute madness what our ludacris beliefs can make us do =(
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Jonestown's Medicine Man
A young Houston physician designed a lethal cocktail that killed more than 900 men, women, children and babies at a place that was supposed to be a paradise but is better known as Jonestown.
"They're not crying from pain," Maria Katsaris said over the children's wailing. "It's just a little bitter-tasting."
A similar lie came from Peoples Temple lawyer Mark Lane when, after the world heard the news, he was contacted by Ezra Schacht. Only this time it was meant as a token of mercy for a bewildered father. According to an FBI memo, Ezra "called Lane from Houston and asked...if Lane believed his son was a poisoner, adding that he (the father) was very shaken by the press coverage his son had received in Houston, Texas. Lane tried to put his son in the best possible light by advising Schacht's father that his son was possibly engaged in mercy killing to prevent more painful deaths in view of the presence of armed guards."
Peoples Temple Collection, California Historical Society, MSP 3800.35.0822
Survivors say Schacht credited Jones with turning his life around by sending him to medical school.
Peoples Temple Collection, California Historical Society, PC 010.07.0740
Larry Schacht (center) told Jim Jones (right) he wanted to first test the cyanide on one of Jonestown's pigs.
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At the time, Schacht's fate was unknown; his body had not yet been identified. Danny Schacht, then 33, told the Associated Press that he doubted his brother would have killed himself.
"I don't see how a person who has invested so much time and effort in himself would be likely to throw it away," he was quoted as saying.
Apparently, Ezra had trouble seeing that as well. According to Jonestown researcher Fielding McGehee III, Ezra — ever distrustful of the government — believed the whole thing was a conspiracy. An exceptionally bright, detail-oriented man, Ezra created a complex "triptych" mapping out what he believed was a CIA connection to Jonestown.
According to McGehee, Ezra remained convinced Jonestown was a conspiracy right through the time he was killed in a car accident in Kemah in 2010. He was 91.
His obituary in Houston's Jewish Herald-Voice stated that he was survived by his son, daughter and second wife. There is no mention of a son preceding him in death.
In a way, the absence of Ezra's youngest son from his memorial is fitting. After all, at the time of Larry Schacht's death, he was calling another man "father."
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