Episode 04: The Death Tape

Q042 known as the Jonestown death tape. Of all the evidence recovered in the aftermath of the Jonestown massacre, one artifact confirmed the unthinkable: an audio tape found in the pavilion, surrounded by the bodies of over 900 Peoples Temple members. This 7-inch reel-to-reel recording captured the final moments as Jim Jones exhorts his followers to drink a deadly potion as a defiant act of revolutionary suicide. The final moments of the tape capture the agony of community as the deadly ritual is carried out. For decades, this tape has served as the definitive record of what happened on November 18, 1978. But what if the tape was edited-spliced together from earlier suicide drills, known as White Nights or manipulated to craft a final illusion? What has been edited out of the recording and why? Could this recording, historically regarded as irrefutable evidence, have been one final act of control? On this episode, we analyze the infamous Death Tape searching for edits, anomalies, and buried truths. Was it tampered with? Who had the motive and the means to alter it and why? Join Transmissions from Jonestown as we examine this tragic piece of Temple history through archival documents, survivor testimony, and audio forensics. After our investigation, you’ll hear the full tape, uninterrupted and in its entirety.