August 21, 1981, New York Times - AP, Cult Defector Testifies In 1978 Guyana Ambush,

August 21, 1981, New York Times - AP, Cult Defector Testifies In 1978 Guyana Ambush, 

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 20— A defector from the Peoples' Temple cult testified today that his suspicions were aroused when Larry Layton, on trial for conspiracy to commit murder, joined a party leaving the cult's settlement in Jonestown, Guyana.

Harold Cordell said he was apprehensive when he saw Mr. Layton board the vehicle carrying defectors to the Port Kaituma airstrip near Jonestown, where Representative Leo J. Ryan and others in his party were ambushed.

''I said I don't know why he's here,'' Mr. Cordell said, referring to Mr. Layton. ''I don't believe he's a defector.'' Mr. Cordell, a longtime temple member, described the Nov. 18, 1978, attack in which Mr. Ryan, a California Democrat, and four others, including three journalists, were killed. Shortly after the ambush, more than 900 members of the cult joined their leader, the Rev. Jim Jones, in a mass murder-suicide ritual.