Date: 1981-06-23
Speaker: WILLIAM J. COYNE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. 2 years after the shooting death of a Member of this body. Congrossman Leo Ryan of California. in Guyana. the U.S. Justice Department sought the return from Guyana of Laurence Layton who was charged in that murder by the Federal court in Ryans home district outside San Francisco. To lead this sensitive and delicate mission to pick up Layton. an associate of former cult leader Jim Jones. the U.S. Marshals Service chose Howard Turner of Pittsburgh. Previous missions had failed to win Laytons release from Guyana. One of Turners main difficulties was to arrive at this small South American country. via a circuitous route through the Caribbean. without publicity. Because Turner and his two assistants. Paul Pongrace and Stan Holland. were armed. getting in and out of various airports was no simple matter. The American Embassy in Guyana handled the secret release of Layton to the marshals just before their plane took off for Trinidad. By the time they arrived in New York City. the word of the arrest had leaked out. Escorting Layton to his arraignment there. flying him to San Francisco and delivering him safely to the county jail from the airport were made difficult by hordes of newsmen. The account of this complicated but successful assignment is featured in the Pentacle. the bimonthly magazine of the U.S. Marshals Service. Marshal Turner and the extradited prisoner. Larry Layton. are pictured on the cover. I want to share the article so the public can take pride in the ability and professionalism of this arm of the Justice Department and of the particular officers who carried out the mission. [From the Pentacle] THE ExTrADITIoN op LAURENCE JOHN LAYTON On October 9. 1980. a Federal grand jury in the Northern District of California indicted Lauence "Larry" Layton for conspiring with former cult leader Jim Jones in the murder of U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan in Guyana. The Federal Court jurisdiction that issued the charges and the bench warrant for Laytons arrest includes Ryans home district outside San Francisco. Since no witnesses were available. the Guyanese earlier acquitted Layton of the airstrip slayings. but had planned to hold him on other charges until the United States intervened. Charging that Layton also attempted to murder Richard Dwyer. Deputy Chief of the United States mission in Guyana. the grand jury based its indictment on a statute that makes it a crime to kill a congressman or an "internationally protected person." What follows is U.S. Marshal Howard Turners personal account of subsequent events. which he obligingly reconstructed at our request: "Little did I know that the events on the West Coast and in South America would affect my life in distant Pittsburgh and turn my already harried schedule into 27 days of mad rush and constant tension. On October 27. at approximately 1100 hours. I received a phone call from Howard Safir. Assistant Director for Operations. During the conversation. Safir said the Director had selected me to lead the mission to pick up Layton. who was then being held by Guyanese authorities in that nations capital. Georgetown. Safir told me that Thomas Kupferer. Chief of Enforcement Operations for the Service. and Carole Shaffer. Administrative Assistant. would coordinate details of the mission from Washington. D.C. Safir added that I should pick two of my assistants to accompany me. I chose Inspector Paul Pongrace and Deputy Stan Holland. Due to international complications. there were false starts and at least three plan changes. causing physical and emotional stress that cannot be measured. Finally. Headquarters gave us the green light. and on November 19. we left the Greater Pittsburgh International Airport on a 9:40 a.m. flight bound for Miami. Prearranged communications and coordination with State Department officials along our preplanned route through the Caribbean facilitated our movements through Customs and Immigration. Despite the complexity of the planning and the many stops on our route to Guyana. we had to keep our mission secret. We feared that if word leaked out about our purpose. then the Guyanese might be reluctant to release Layton to us. No one wanted to take any chances. because previous missions had failed for similar reasons. Replete with details of the gruesome mass murders and suicides. newspaper and TV reports were noting the second anniversary of the Jonestown deaths. Since this coincided with our trip. keeping it quiet became particularly difficult. Meanwhile. a Congressional Committees intent to hold hearings on Ryans murder was also making headlines. Therefore. we intended to keep a low profile when we arrived at the Miami airport at 12:15 p.m. Inspector Jim Simmons of the U.S. Marshals office met us and presented us with a copy of the indictment against Layton. two photographs of him. and an FBI rundown on his personal history. When problems came up with our next flight. Headquarters officials intervened. and we managed to get tickets on an Antillean Airlines flight. which took us on a circuitous route to Guyana. Our scheduled arrival time in Georgetown changed from 8:55 p.m. to 4:15 a.m. When we got off the plane in Portof. Spain. Trinidad. we noticed three linesone for citizens. one for visitors. and one for passengers changing planes. Since uniformed officers manned all three lines. we immediately realized we might have problems explaining our guns. We decided we had better seek out the chief immigration official at the airport. When we found him. we told him our problem. explained our duties. and went over our arms and ammunition with him. Finally. he gave us a security clearance and escorted us to the next flight bound for Guyana at 2:49 a.m. At 4:23 a.m.. we were met at the Guyana Airport by the U.S. Counsel. who took care of problems with the Immigration and Customs officials and introduced us to the Chief of Police. The American diplomats had taken care of everything. so we did not have to reveal our identities or reasons for traveling to Georgetown. After a meeting with airport officials. we set off at 5:30 a.m. on a 45minute hairralsing ride to the Deputy Ambassadors home. In the darkness of predawn. we drove at a high speed on the left hand side of the road over rickety bridges that only one vehicle could cross at a time. We learned that the houses along the road were. brightly -lit inside and out to ward off the many bur- marks at this point In the RECORD and glars in the city. When we arrived at the house. uniformed security men let us onto the grounds. We * Mr. SEIBERLING. Mr. Speaker. rethen met Deputy Ambassador Dennis Good- cently the Senate Energy and Natural man. who showed us to our rooms and told Resources Committee began hearings me that Ambassador Roberts would meet on S. 842. the socalled RARE II with us after we had rested. Review Act of 1981. A similar bill is I slept fitfully for two hours until a driver currently being circulated for cosponcame to pick up Pongrace and me and take sors In the House. The title of S. 842 Is us to the American Embassy. There we met with Ambassador Roberts and his staff. who very misleading in that It leads one to updated us on the mission. American diplo. believe that it represents a balanced mats spent the rest of the day helping us to approach to congressional action on obtain necessary papers and photographs to the RARE II rondless area recommenshow to Guyanese officials on our depar- dations. In fact. S. 842 Is completely ture. That evening. we enjoyed a formal onesided In that It rubberstamps and dinner at the Goodmans residence. The next day. November 21. Guyanese authorities agreed to release Layton to our and evaluation II (RARE II) recoicustody. That morning. we met with Ambas- mendations for land developmentsosador Roberts and later went to the airport called nonwilderness areaswhereas It to wait for the Guyanese authorities to places In wilderness not 1 acre of the bring Layton. land RARE II recommended for wilThey arrived fifteen minutes before our derness. It would also amend the Nascheduled 3 p.m. flight was to leave for PortofSpain. After our flight arrived in Trinidads capital city. we received a very 1976and hence the Forest and cordial greeting from the Customs officials Rangeland Renewable Resources Planwith whom we had made friends on the way ning Actto prohibit the Forest Servto Guyana. They escorted us to and pre- Ice from ever again considering wilderboarded us on the flight to New York. ness as a possible land management Prior to landing. we learned that the option when future national forest media had been informed of our arrival. man which only made me apprehensive. because it further complicated security measures. short. the bill Is designed to force deIndeed. as I left the plane. I was momentar- velopment In all national forest areas ily blinded by the photographers lights. not already congressionally designated But. when I recovered my sight. I was re- as wilderness or wilderness study lieved to see we were surrounded by our areas. even where sound forest manbrothers in blue. I greatly appreciated the agement would Indicate that an area professionalism displayed by the combined should not be developed. No coneespolice agencies. they provided us with a security blanket that completely shielded us from the mobs who had turned out to get a vation groups or others Interested In glimpse of Layton. Deputy Marshals. FBI wilderness protection. agents. and Customs officials assisted New In my opinion. legislation such as S. York City police and airport security offi- 842 Is not only unfair but unnecessary. cers. Two years ago. at the end of the We dropped Layton off at the Federal RARE II process. the Congress vas MCC facility in New York. where one man waa detailed to be with him at all times. The faced with a national forest backlog of next day. after Layton had been arraigned some 12.4 million acres of recommendbefore a U.S. Magistrate. we left for our ul- ed national forest wilderness in the timate destination. San Francisco. lower 48 States. By the end of last U.S. Marshal Glen Robinson and staff year. the backlog had been reduced to members from the Northern District of some 7.9 million acresa reduction of California met us on our arrival. Robihson 36 percent. If Alaskan National Forest had personally made arrangements with the various police agencies. so we left the air. li port under security via a ramp away from of the backlog was eliminated. the usual exit. We drove away from the air- With the exception of relatively port surrounded by police vehicles. The small amounts of further planning moment we made a turn and got out of and wilderness study lands. the wildersight of the media. we quickly got out of the ness isste was completely resolved in car and climbed into a closed van with the the States of Alaska. Colorado. Louisiprisoner. while the same number of men took our places in the car and proceeded ana. Missouri. New Mexico. South without a perceivable stop to the county Dakota and In central Idaho and eastjail. em South Carolina. This was done Meanwhile. surrounded by unmarked cars. using a balanced "StatebyState" apwe continued in the van by another route to proach to Congress consideration of the jail and arrived safely with the prisoner. the RARE II recommendations. We executed the switch quickly and profes Housepassed bills would further have sionally. and I gladly turned Layton over to settled matters In California. Florida. U.S. Marshal Robinson there. As I was leav- ssi Ing to return to Pittsburgh with my men. Misippi. West Virginia. and eastern Layton called me over and said. "Thank you North Carolina. but these bills unforfor the way youve treated meso tunately failed to clear the Senate in the last days of the 96th Congress. TIMBER INDUSTRY WILDERNESS The StatebyState (or- imltitate RELEASE BILL DISCARDS NE- package)approath has been a very nfGOTIATED alect l method of processing both the wilderness and nonwilderness recom.