When Society Becomes A Cult

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A Contract Hit on David Wise?

David Wise hid out for 25 years because he had every reason to believe that there was a contract hit on his life. His first clue was a goon squad sent to beat me up and force him to turn over tape recordings, it was at this time that he was told that Jones had taken a contract out on his life. We may never know whether or not Jim Jones followed through, but according to one news release, money was set aside for that purpose.

After the mass suicides there was a nationwide scare that “death squads” or assassins were looking to avenge Jim Jones’ enemies. Especially of concern were the Mertles/Millses, who were found tied and shot, execution style. They had been leading concerned relatives “against” People’s Temple.

The transcript of the FBI tape #Q688 shows David Wise as one of those on top of Jim Jones' enemy list. Why? The tape reveals the answer. In the first interview, Chaikin (the Peoples Temple attorney) asks a female member of the security force…about David Wise's placement of listening devices in some telephones at Peoples Temple's headquarters in San Francisco. The woman speaks of the hierarchy of the Temple, and describes the importance of the third floor, where she says she saw Wise plant a bug in a phone.

Jim Jones believed David Wise knew too much and also knew that he was in possession of secret incriminating tape recordings. Jim was determined to show David as a failure publicly. Jim Jones was made to look bad when a pastor left in opposition to him, so he publicly accused Wise of pilfering church funds. However, Kay Nelson, the People's Temple treasurer, went before Jones and the congregation and told them that Wise had not taken any money. Of course this made Jim Jones even more humiliated.

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