New Trial in Rep. Ryan’s Death
The government said today it will re-try Larry Layton on charges of conspiring to murder Rep. Leo Ryan near the Peoples Temple commune in Guyana in 1978.
U.S. Atty. Joseph Russoniello said the trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 2. A jury in the first trial voted 11 to 1 to acquit Layton, the only former Peoples Temple member to be tried in the United States. He was charged with conspiring with the Rev. Jim Jones to kill Ryan, who along with four other people was killed on an airstrip hours before Jones and 912 followers committed mass suicide in their jungle compound.
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