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Things to beware of in 1997:
Earth, wind, and fire. Or, more preciesely, earthquakes, tornados,
and volcanos (new ones). The weather, it is a-changin.
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Friday, March 28, 1997
Rendezvous with a comet
Cultists planned to grab UFO
trailing Hale-Bopp
C0PLEY NEWS SERVICE
RANCHO SANTA FE, Calif. - The 39 members of the Heaven's Gate
cult who poisoned themselves in a Rancho Santa Fe mansion
apparently believed they were going to hitch a ride to a
better life aboard a space ship trailing the Hale-Bopp comet.
They had systematically planned their deaths for months, even
years. And they took great care not to leave a mess behind as
they executed their scheme, leaving their belongings packed
neatly alongside their bodies and their identification in
their shirt pockets.
"We know whatever happens to us after we leave our bodies is a
step forward," a pale, balding man believed to be the group's
65-year-old leader, Marshall Applegate, said on a videotape
distributed before the mass suicide.
He added ominously, "Your only chance to evacuate is to leave
with us."
As authorities worked around the clock Thursday to uncover
the details of one of the nation's worst mass suicides:
Solemn medical examiner's personnel removed the bodies
and began conducting autopsies.
Authorities said the poison was alcohol and phenobarbitol - a barbiturate,
anti-seizure and tranquilizing drug.
It was determined that 21 of the dead were women, and that the ages of the
dead ranged from 26 to 72. They died in separate groups: 15 the first day,
15 the second and nine the third day.
Details about the cult emerged from World Wide Web pages, cult watchers,
clients and acquaintances.
And hundreds called a toll-free number set up for those who fear their
relatives are among the dead.
In Sacramento, Gov. Pete Wilson called the mass suicide "terribly sad" and
offered state aid for the investigation. In Washington, President Clinton
called the deaths "heartbreaking, sickening, shocking."
The group's members left behind two videotapes explaining their beliefs and
a trail of propaganda on the World Wide Web.
Authorities found a letter in the Colina Norte house explaining the group's
philosophies, but didn't disclose details.
There also was a computer, left on, with a digital image of the Hale-Bopp
comet. "We haven't had the ability or time to process whatever information
is on that computer," said sheriff's Cmdr. Alan Fulmer, who had 50 homicide
detectives and evidence technicians on the case.
All 39 bodies were loaded into three refrigerated trucks and delivered to
the San Diego County Medical Examiner's office. The last bodies left at
9:45 a.m.
The names of the dead were not released because their relatives were still
being notified. Autopsies and toxicology tests were expected to continue
through the weekend, with assistance from Los Angeles County coroners.
Authorities seemed impressed by the group's neatness and thorough planning.
Medical Examiner Brian Blackbourne described the house as "immaculate," and
noted that the identification documents the dead left behind were a "great
help" in identifying the bodies.
The group's members took had packed their clothing in black suitcases,
donned brand-new matching black Nike sneakers, dark shirts and black pants,
neatly laid their eyeglasses beside them, and followed a printed recipe.
According to Blackbourne, the recipe read, "Take this package of pudding or
applesauce, put the medicine in it and stir, eat it quickly, drink the
vodka mixture and lay back and rest quietly."
The living covered the faces of the dead with purple shrouds and disposed
of plastic bags that may have been used to hasten death.
The bodies of two members were found with plastic bags over their heads.
Investigators believe they drank their poison last, lingering to place the
soft fabric over the corpses of the others. Copies of the recipe were found
near some bodies.
Sheriff's deputies initially concluded that all of the dead were men
because they all wore buzz haircuts.
Officials offered no theories as to why the cult members took their own
lives, but said the members appeared happy about their decision on the
videotapes.
"What I saw (on the tape) was an individual who was very upbeat, very
outgoing, who did not appear to be upset or frightened with what they were
talking about doing," Fulmer said.
The group was apparently founded back in the 1970s by Applewhite and his
partner, Bonnie Lu Nettles. The couple, called "Bo" and "Peep," believed
that death could be overcome with help from humans traveling in a space
ship.
That cult disbanded, but it apparently reformed under a new name. A man
called Do pleaded for people to join him and his followers on a videotape
called "Last chance to evacuate earth before it's recycled."
He said, "This planet is about to be recycled, refurbished, started over.
... The purpose of this tape is to warn you that this is about to happen,
and that it's going to happen very soon."
The group came to San Diego County in the fall.
Members rented two other houses in North County before moving in October
into the multi-million Rancho Santa Fe estate,which was reportedly rented
for $7,000 a month.
The 9,200-square-foot house is a modernized Spanish design, with a plain
tan stucco exterior and oversized picture windows beneath a red-tile roof.
It sits atop a hill covered with carefully tended gardens that are filled
with palms, red Japanese maples, red-and-white roses and stands of
flowering birds of paradise.
Cult members called it their "temple."
Sleeping in bunk beds, they quietly produced Web pages for such clients as
a polo club, a company selling British cars and car accessories, and a firm
selling compact disks.
As they produced cyber advertisements, the group's members were planning
their deaths, or "ascension to a higher level," as they call it.
Last July, someone from the group posted apocalyptic messages on hundreds
of specialized Internet bulletin boards. The five-line message, terse and
elliptical, reads: "How and When the door to the Physical/Kingdom Level
Above Human May be Entered/Organized Religions are Killers of Souls/UFL's
and Space Aliens - Sorting Good from Bad/Final Warning for Possible
Survivors".
The group's leader posted a much longer message on a religious newsgroup
that concludes, "The human kingdom was never meant to be anything but a
steppingstone - a realized hell that must be evacuated with the help of a
representative from the next evolutionary level - the kingdom of heaven."
They hadn't talk much to neighbors since moving into the house. But members
of the group were seen as polite, meticulous and, despite their odd
behavior, quite intelligent by those who may have encountered the cult the
most in the past few months: the real estate agents trying to sell the
14-year-old house.
Marvin Caldwell showed the home at least twice to prospective buyers. He
said the living room appeared to have been turned into a meeting room with
a large television.
"They were bright mentally," Caldwell said. "They would be candidates for
Mensa (a group for geniuses). I didn't see them as oddballs."
When real estate agent Scott Warren showed the house last week, most of the
residents were dressed casually, in jeans and T-shirts. "No one spoke, they
were very quiet," he said. "They seemed quite religious."
Five members of the group visited agent Kim Sanford's office last fall.
"Their skin didn't look like it had any protein," she said. "It was
transparent."
Several real estate brokers believed they met the group's leader. Warren
said a tall, thin man who called himself "Father John" escorted him and his
client through the house. He described him as intimidating but nice.
"He was very cordial, ... very calm," he said.