James Warren Jones May 13 1931 November 18 1978 was an American preacher political activist and mass murderer He led the Peoples Temple a new religious movement between 1955 and 1978 In what he called revolutionary suicide Jones and the members of his inner circle orchestrated a mass murdersuicide in his remote jungle commune at Jonestown Guyana on November 18 1978 Jones and the events which occurred at Jonestown have had a defining influence on societys perception of cults