---
born: 1933
category: Key Figures
created: 2026-06-03
died: 1991-08-29
location: Georgetown, Guyana
summary: CIA agent present at Jonestown during the 1978 massacre who was named by
  Jim Jones in the final death tape, shouting 'Get Dwyer out of here' as the mass
  killings unfolded.
tags:
- Person
- CIA
- Assassination
- Hypnosis
updated: 2026-06-03
---

Richard Dwyer was a [CIA](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/) agent who was present at Jonestown, Guyana, during the 1978 mass deaths of over 900 members of the [People's Temple](/organizations/peoples-temple/). In a recording made during the final moments of the mass deaths, [Jim Jones](/people/jim-jones/) could be heard shouting, "Get Dwyer out of here," explicitly naming the CIA operative as the killings unfolded.[^1]

Dwyer's presence at Jonestown was one of several pieces of evidence pointing to CIA involvement in the People's Temple operation. Researchers documented a strong CIA presence in almost all of the dealings of Jim Jones before, during, and after Jonestown. Dwyer was working under diplomatic cover at the time of the massacre, which allowed him to be present at the remote Guyana site. His identification by Jones on the death tape, combined with the discovery of drugs used in known [MKULTRA](/programs/project-mkultra/) operations at the site, including 11,000 doses of Thorazine, contributed to theories that the Jonestown massacre was a CIA mind control experiment rather than a mass suicide.[^1]

[^1]: Curt Rowlett, "Project Mind Kontrol: Did the U.S. Government Actually Create Programmed Assassins?," Steamshovel Press #16, 1998.