Guyana, and an inquest established by the opposition blamed Burnham for the deaths. Burnham was considered an ally of Jones. There are suggestions that Burnham's government participated in a cover-up of the affair. Burnham's wife Viola and his Deputy Prime Minister Ptolemy Reid were among the first to the scene and may have returned from the massacre site with nearly $1 million in cash, gold and jewelry. In addition, one of Burnham's secretaries may have visited Jonestown only hours before it occurred, a visit that was never explained. 1979 Fire and Murder of Bernard Darke In 1979, a fire destroyed many of the official government records, including official communications with the Peoples Temple. There is some speculation that the fire was started deliberately by Burnham's government, and there are reports that men in Guyana Defense Force uniforms were seen running from the fire. Two different government offices were burned. Walter Rodney was arrested and charged with arson. The trial was deferred three times and later dropped due to lack of evidence. During civil unrest after the fire and arrest, Jesuit Priest Bernard Darke was stabbed to death by members of the House of Israel, a religious cult closely associated with Burnham and his PNC party. Darke was associated with the Catholic Standard, a newspaper described as being "extremely critical" of the PNC. According to a 2013 article by Kaieteur News, the editor of Catholic News, Andrew Morrison, may have been the target of this attack, making it a failed assassination attempt. 1980–1985: President of the Co-Operative Republic of Guyana In 1980 the constitution was changed to make the presidency an executive post (before this time, the post was held by Arthur Chung in a ceremonial head-of-state role). Burnham won election as president that year, winning 76% of the vote to 20% for Jagan in the official results. International Observers protested that Indo-Guyanese voters were prevented from voting in several polling locations, and there were widespread accusations of vote fraud. This presidential role came with the powers to dissolve Parliament at will, veto legislation, and to appoint or dismiss almost all senior members of government. Burnham introduced mass games to Guyana. They were first held in February 1980 to commemorate the founding of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana. Assassination of Walter Rodney Walter Rodney died on 13 June 1980 in Georgetown at the age of 38 in a car bomb explosion.