12 Facts About Maria Katsaris

Maria Katsaris was a member of the Peoples Temple cult led by Jim Jones.

Maria Katsaris is known for being one of the most high-ranking figures in Temple leadership and one of Jim Jones' lovers.

Maria Katsaris attended high school in Belmont, California before moving with her family to Ukiah, California, where she became acquainted with the Peoples Temple.

Maria Katsaris worked as a teacher's aide at Trinity School in Ukiah, where her father worked, and attended the College of the Redwoods and Sonoma State University before dropping out to join the Peoples Temple in 1973.

Maria Katsaris began her tenure in the Peoples Temple by helping with letter-writing campaigns, rising through the ranks to take on a major role in the organization's Planning Commission.

Maria Katsaris moved to Guyana, where the Temple had established its Jonestown settlement, in June 1977.

Maria Katsaris was heavily involved in the Peoples Temple's financial activities, which included transferring large sums of money between the United States and foreign bank accounts, and held the post of financial secretary at the time of her death.

Research by journalist Julia Scheeres has found that Maria Katsaris was intended to be part of an unrealized plot to hijack a commercial airliner and deliberately crash it.

In 1975, Maria Katsaris attended the Sierra Academy of Aeronautics in Oakland and received a private pilot's license, though she was instructed by Temple officials to only complete enough training to learn how to take the plane's controls.

Maria Katsaris stated that she was happy in Jonestown, that she did not intend to return to the United States, and that there was "absolutely no problem between my brother and myself".

Maria Katsaris reportedly arranged for money to be transferred from accounts in Swiss banks in Panama to the Soviet Union.

Maria Katsaris was a signed witness to the last will and testament of Jim Jones' wife, Marceline, as well as Carolyn Layton.