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THE TRIPLE MURDER OF DEFECTORS FROM JIM JONES' CULT REMAINS UNSOLVED DECADES AFTER JONESTOWN

Authorities to this date suspects that Elmer and Deanna Mertle met their end at the hands of their son rather than from due to Jim Jones' loyal follower

BY SOMDATTA MAITY

PUBLISHED APR 19, 2024

Image Source: (Original Caption) Reverend Jim Jones and his wife, Marceline, taken from a pink photo album left behind in the village of the dead in Jonestown, Guyana. (Photo by Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)

The Jonestown massacre remains one of the biggest cases of mass murder-suicide in American history, as per the Guardian. It was orchestrated by a single man, who had enough hold over the minds of 900 individuals to convince them to follow his lead and allegedly die by suicide. Reverend Jim Jones, the mastermind behind this massacre, was known to have a ruthless attitude towards defectors from his cult. Anyone, who dared leave Jonestown in Guyana lived in constant fear of retribution from Jones. Among those were Al and Jeannie Mills, a couple that managed to sneak out of Guyana and blew the lid off every illicit act being committed by Jones in his so-called settlement, as per AE TV. The couple were scared for their life after hearing about the massacre, believing that Jones had left behind loyal soldiers to hunt them down. The authorities dismissed their fears, but their dead bodies forced them to confront the fact that Jones' dangerous minions may still be at large.

Image Source: Portrait of American religious leader Jim Jones (1931 - 1978), the founder of the People's Temple, and his wife, Marceline Jones (1927 - 1978), seated in front of their adopted children and next to his sister-in-law (right) with her three chilldren, California, 1976. In 1977, Jones relocated the People's Temple from San Francisco, California, to Jonestown, Guyana, where he led the mass suicide of over 900 members on November 18, 1978, before dying of a gunshot wound later that day. (Photo by Don Hogan Charles/New York Times Co./Getty Images)

Before meeting Jones, Al and Jeannie Mills were known as Elmer and Deanna Mertle, who were affluent and well-to-do people with multiple properties. In 1969, they were captivated by Jones' teachings and joined the Peoples Temple to become his close associates rising quickly through the ranks. Jonestown Institute Research Director Fielding McGehee III shared that the couple wielded a lot of power in the setup. “You didn’t want to run afoul of these two people,” McGehee said. “They were definitely people who Jones relied on to do some of his dirty work.”

At the settlement in Jonestown, the couple once intercepted the letters of a 19-year-old girl wrote to a relative in the camp and gave them to Jones. The reverend in a bid to keep his 'sham' together, made the girl believe he had divine powers by communicating to her word to word what she had written in the letter. The couple found themselves getting caught up in the movement that had strayed far away from its original ideal of equality. The couple had given up control of all their assets to Jones, as a gesture of goodwill. They had joined the group with their whole family, which included four of their children.

Cover Image Source: Jim Jones (1931 - 1978), founder of the Peoples Temple cult, pictured with a parrot on his arm, circa 1970. The photograph is from an album found at Jonestown, Guyana, after November 1978. (Photo by UPI/Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)

The duo realized that for the safety of their family, they needed to get out of the settlement as quickly as possible. They made an escape plan and succeeded in their attempt.

Image Source: Local tourist office employees prepared to place a sign to mark the site of the Peoples Temple and Jonestown, Guyana, the site of the Jim Jones mass suicide where over 900 people died. The Jonestown massacre happened 30 years ago. (Photo by David Howells/Corbis via Getty Images)

After coming to California they began to share their experiences in Jonestown and the way the Reverend was manipulating the citizens to do their bidding. They established the Human Freedom Center as a refuge for other Temple defectors, as per SDSU. The duo changed their names to Elmer and Deanna Mertle, to void the power of attorney they had given to Jones on their assets. After exiting the system they gave statements to New West magazine about their life in the settlement. They even informed the U.S. Customs Service about the stockpiling of illegal weapons at Jonestown and hired a private detective named Joe Mazor, to help the people left behind in the settlement.

Image Source: Richard Clark and Diane Louie escaped the Peoples Temple in Jonestown, Guyana before their megalomaniac leader Jim Jones ordered the death of his followers. Clark and Louie, in a group of five others, were among the 32 that escaped the massacre. (Photo by © Roger Ressmeyer/CORBIS/VCG via Getty Images)

Being close associates of Jones, they made their knowledge about Jonestown public on various platforms, attracting the attention of then-California Congressman Leo Ryan, who decided to conduct a probe into the settlement. “It became apparent who they were because they were very public in their criticisms of Jones and Peoples Temple,” McGehee says. “When you made a stink, you became enemies of the church.”

Image Source: Men load coffins into a moving truck for transport in Dover, Delaware, April 26, 1979. The coffins all arrived from Jonestown, Guyana, where the Reverend Jim Jones led more than 900 of his followers, the People's Temple, in a mass suicide. (Photo by New York Times Co./Keith Meyers/Getty Images)

The probe ended with Jones ordering his followers to open fire on the US Congressman and his associates on an airstrip, before convincing 900 followers which included children to drink cyanide-laced fruit punch. After that Jones allegedly shot himself to death.

Image Source: San Francisco Examiner reporter Tim Reiterman (L) and photographer Greg Robinson. Robinson was one of the five people killed and Reiterman was among the nine injured after an attack by members of the People's Temple in Guyana. (Photo by Bettman/ Getty Images)

Following this chain of events, the couple was beyond scared that their life was in danger, and that they would meet the same end as the inhabitants of Jonestown. The authorities took their fears seriously and investigated but could not find any loyalists on their hunt. “A lot of those rumors were perpetuated by Jones to keep people in line,” McGehee tells A&E True Crime. “Jones talked about having people ready to take care of ‘our enemies,’ but I don’t think there was anything to it, especially after the mass deaths.” Almost 2 years after the massacre the couple were shot dead, and their bodies were found in their cottage. Their teenage daughter Daphene Mills was also shot and was moved to the hospital for medical assistance, but succumbed three days later.

Image Source: Members of the recovery team arrive at Port Kaituma airstrip near Jonestown, Guyana, November 25th 1978. US Congressman Leo Ryan and his delegation were boarding the Guyana Airways plane shown in the background when they were ambushed by members of the Peoples Temple cult. (Photo by UPI/Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)

Police focused on their son who was living under the same roof but claimed to have not heard the gunshots. Gun residue was found on Eddie's hands, which further strengthened the authority's suspicions. But lack of evidence made it hard for them to make a solid case.

They also arrested him in 2005 but were unable to move forward with charges against him. Mills got support from all his half-siblings, who did not believe that he had any hand in this murder. Later on, Mills moved to Japan, while the Department closed the case. No efforts were made by the family's side, to reopen the case.