Photo by Jonestown Institute
Jim Jones
Jim Jones was the leader of the People’s Temple, a cult located in South America. Known for his charismatic and winning personality, Jones drew droves of people to follow his religious orders. At the culmination of his leadership, nearly 900 bodies were identified–each someone who had committed ritual suicide. Although it may seem strange to name this one of the FBI’s most frightening cases, they became involved when the murder of Congressman Leo Ryan was tied to his followers.
After investigating, it was discovered that Jones’ followers had killed not only Ryan, but several of his companions, too. Upon probing these murders, evidence lead FBI to the hundreds of bodies killed through forced ritual suicide.
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