Today is Wednesday, November 18th, 2020.

On this day in 1978, cult leader Jim Jones ordered the murder suicide of over 900 of his followers.

The event became known as the Jonestown Massacre.

Welcome to Today in True Crime, a Spotify original from Parcast.

Due to the graphic nature of today's crimes, listener discretion is advised.

Extreme caution is advised for listeners under 13.

I'm Vanessa Richardson, and today I'm joined by our guest host, Wendy McKenzie from

Solved Murders.

Her show investigates True Crime's most notorious murders and tells the tale of how real-life detectives closed the cases.

Wendy will handle the historical context and the aftermath of the Jonestown massacre while I'll cover the narrative.

Thanks for having me, Vanessa.

Hello, everyone. I'm glad to be here.

Now let's go back to the Guyana Jungle in the early afternoon of November 18th, 1978.

U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan was on a rescue mission. He needed to get back to Washington as soon

as possible to inform the country about the fanatics in Jonestown. The rumors he'd heard were true.

Jim Jones was dangerous. He was keeping people at his compound against their will. Ryan had come to Guyana a few days previously to investigate the rumors about a cult known as the People's Temple.

Now he had several members of the group with him. They'd begged to join him for the flight back to the United States.

But as Ryan, his congressional cohort and a few journalists wait begged to join him for the flight back to the United States.

But as Ryan, his congressional cohort, and a few journalists waited to board the plane,

a huge truck suddenly roared out of the jungle.

The vehicle was loaded with armed members of the People's Temple.

The congressman watched in horror as the gunmen jumped out and

...