Episode 04: The 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 Jonestown residents debated what they called “revolutionary suicide.” At the command of Reverend Jim Jones, men, women, and children drank a cyanide-laced concoction in a mass ritual now etched into true crime history. 

For decades, this tape has served as the definitive record of what happened on November 18, 1978. But what if it wasn’t the whole story? 

What if the tape was edited-spliced together from earlier suicide drills, known as White Nights or manipulated to craft a final illusion? What if some voices were never meant to be heard, and others were carefully removed? Could this recording, long regarded as irrefutable evidence, have been one final act of control? 

In this episode, we analyze the infamous Death Tape searching for cuts, 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.