This Day in History:
Heaven’s Gate Cult
Members Found Dead March 26, 1997 Led by Marshall Applewhite,
39 members of the cult peacefully
committed suicide by drinking a
mixture of vodka and phenobarbital. Clothed in matching Nike sneakers
and dark uniforms, the 21 men and
18 women were were found in
several rooms throughout the mansion. The macabre scene was
discovered by police in a
mansion in a San Diego suburb. The Heaven's Gate members were convinced
their suicides would free them from their bodies,
allowing them to enter an alien spacecraft
hidden behind the rare Hale-Bopp comet. The cult advocated sexual abstinence
and several of the men had undergone
castration surgery, including Applewhite. None of the 39 bodies
showed any signs of
blood or trauma.
