Editing Heaven's Gate (religious group) (section)

=== Mass suicide ===

In October 1996,<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=1997-03-27 |title=Group: 39 Found Dead in Apparent Suicide |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/32138115/the_los_angeles_times/ |access-date=2019-06-01 |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |page=33 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> the group rented a large house which they called "The Monastery", a {{convert|9200|sqft|sp=us|adj=on}} mansion located near 18341 Colina Norte (later renamed to  Paseo Victoria<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-04-26-mn-52769-story.html|title=Street Where Cultists Died to Be Renamed|agency=Associated Press|work=Los Angeles Times|date=26 April 1997|access-date=19 April 2025}}</ref>) in [[Rancho Santa Fe, California]]. They paid the $7,000 per month rent in cash ({{Inflation|US|7000|1996|fmt=eq|r=-3}}).<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=April 7, 1997 |title=The marker we've been... waiting for |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,986136-4,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080121074654/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,986136-4,00.html |archive-date=2008-01-21 |access-date=2025-09-19 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref> The same month, the group purchased alien abduction insurance that would cover up to fifty members and would pay out $1{{nbsp}}million per person (the policy covered abduction, impregnation, or death by aliens).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lederer |first=Edith |date=2 April 1997 |title=Alien Abduction Insurance Cancelled! |url=http://www.artgomperz.com/newse/abd.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112032728/http://www.artgomperz.com/newse/abd.html |archive-date=2020-11-12 |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=Associated Press}}</ref> In June 1995, they had purchased land near [[Manzano, New Mexico]], and began creating a compound out of rubber tires and concrete, but had left abruptly in April 1996.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mendoza |first=Martha |author-link=Martha Mendoza |date=1997-03-30 |title=Heaven's Gate left mounds of old tires and a few friends in New Mexico |url=https://apnews.com/article/4e4bdbde4264179baf3a51e49e71edc5 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502003253/https://apnews.com/article/4e4bdbde4264179baf3a51e49e71edc5 |archive-date=2021-05-02 |access-date=2021-05-02 |work=[[Associated Press]] |language=en-US}}</ref>

On March 13, 1997, media reported on a mass sighting of [[Phoenix Lights|unidentified lights over Phoenix]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wxXYEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA174 | title=Alien Abduction in the Cinema: A History from the 1950s to Today | isbn=978-1-4766-8827-5| last1=Meehan | first1=Paul | year=2023 | publisher=McFarland | archive-date=March 26, 2025 | access-date=February 9, 2025 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250326131507/https://books.google.com/books?id=wxXYEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA174 | url-status=live }}</ref>  During March 19{{ndash}}20, Marshall Applewhite taped himself in a video titled ''Do's Final Exit'', speaking of mass suicide and "the only way to evacuate this Earth". After asserting that [[Comet Hale–Bopp]] was the sign that the group had been looking for, as well as the speculation that an [[unidentified flying object]] (UFO) was trailing the comet, Applewhite and his 38 followers prepared for ritual suicide, coinciding with the closest approach of the comet, ostensibly so their souls could reach the Next Level before the closure of "Heaven's Gate". Members believed that after their deaths a UFO would take their souls to another "level of existence above human", which was described as being both physical and spiritual. Their preparations included most members videotaping a farewell message.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=1997-03-27 |title=Mass suicide involved sedatives, vodka, and careful planning |url=https://www.cnn.com/US/9703/27/suicide/index.html |access-date=2010-05-04 |work=[[CNN]] |language=en-US |archive-date=May 26, 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120526002020/http://edition.cnn.com/US/9703/27/suicide/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ayres |first=B. Drummond Jr. |date=1997-03-29 |title=Families Learning of 39 Cultists Who Died Willingly |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/29/us/families-learning-of-39-cultists-who-died-willingly.html |access-date=2008-11-09 |work=[[The New York Times]] |page=1 |language=en-US |quote=According to material the group posted on its Internet site, the timing of the suicides were probably related to the arrival of the Hale–Bopp comet, which members seemed to regard as a cosmic emissary beckoning them to another world. |archive-date=July 30, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110730130610/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/29/us/families-learning-of-39-cultists-who-died-willingly.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The 39 adherents — 21 women and 18 men between the ages of 26 and 72 — are believed to have died in three groups over three successive days, with the remaining participants cleaning up after the prior group's deaths.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news |last=Ramsland |first=Katherine |author-link=Katherine Ramsland |title=Death Mansion |url=http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/mass/heavens_gate/5.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061211012614/http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/mass/heavens_gate/5.html |archive-date=2006-12-11 |access-date=September 20, 2006 |work=All about Heaven's Gate cult |publisher=[[CourtTV]] Crime Library |quote=On Saturday{{nbsp}}[...] The first team of 15{{nbsp}}[...] Sunday, the next team of fifteen followed. Finally, there were seven on Monday, and then only two.}}</ref>

[[File:Heaven's Gate member lays in a bedroom in Rancho Santa Fe.png|thumb|The body of a member lying on a bed inside of the house the suicides occurred]]
The suicides began on March 22–23 in three waves.{{sfn|Zeller|2014a|p=171}}{{sfn|Coleman|2004|p=80}}{{efn|Some news reports give different dates, with some stating that all three groups committed suicide on March 22, that the groups committed suicide on March 22–24, or on March 24–26.<ref name=":5" /><ref name="NW-19970406">{{Cite news |last1=Thomas |first1=Evan |date=April 6, 1997 |title=The Next Level |url=https://www.newsweek.com/next-level-171594 |access-date=June 3, 2019 |website=[[Newsweek]] |quote=March 23: The first group of 15 swallow applesauce{{nbsp}}[...] March 24: Fifteen more die{{nbsp}}[...] March 25: The remaining cultists kill themselves}}</ref><ref name="Timeline-20161014">{{Cite web |last1=Reimann |first1=Matt |date=October 14, 2016 |title=Suicide, Nikes, and comet space ships: the story of the Heaven's Gate cult |url=https://timeline.com/the-heavens-gate-mass-suicide-7f440ab4b333?gi=9d87ef1ddca3 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715105033/https://timeline.com/the-heavens-gate-mass-suicide-7f440ab4b333?gi=9d87ef1ddca3 |archive-date=July 15, 2020 |access-date=June 3, 2019 |website=Timeline |quote=15 people on March 24, another 15 on March 25, and the final nine on March 26}}</ref><ref name="EG-20190327">{{Cite web |author1=dweisman |date=March 27, 2019 |title=22 years ago, Heaven's Gate couldn't wait |url=https://escondidograpevine.com/2019/03/27/20-years-ago-heavens-gate-couldnt-wait/ |access-date=June 3, 2019 |website=Escondido Grapevine |quote=March 24{{nbsp}}[...] Fifteen members died that night. Fifteen more died the next day, followed by nine on March 26.}}</ref> Autopsies determined that the deaths began on 22 or 23 of March.<ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1525/nr.2006.10.2.75| issn = 1092-6690| volume = 10| issue = 2| pages = 75–102| last = Zeller| first = Benjamin Ethan |author-link=Benjamin E. Zeller | title = Scaling Heaven's Gate: Individualism and Salvation in a New Religious Movement| journal = Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions| date = 2006 |jstor = 10.1525/nr.2006.10.2.75}}</ref>}} Members took lethal doses of the sedative drug [[phenobarbital]] mixed into [[apple sauce]] or pudding. They also consumed [[vodka]], which can cause fatal overdose when combined with barbiturates. Afterwards, they secured plastic bags around their heads to induce [[asphyxia]]tion. All 39 were dressed in identical black shirts and sweatpants, brand-new black-and-white [[Nike, Inc.|Nike]] Decades athletic shoes, and armband patches reading "Heaven's Gate Away Team" (one of many instances of the group's use of ''[[Star Trek]]'' terms). Each member carried a five-dollar bill and three quarters in their pockets.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Meredith |first1=Nikki |title=The Manson Women and Me: Monsters, Morality, and Murder |year=2018 |publisher=Citadel Press |isbn=978-0-8065-3860-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IYgqDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT280 |access-date=11 February 2021 |language=en}}</ref>{{sfn|Zeller|2014a|p=171}} According to former members, this was standard for members leaving the home for jobs and "a humorous way to tell us they all had left the planet permanently"; the five-dollar bill was for covering the cost of [[vagrancy]] laws and the quarters were for calling home from pay phones.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2015-09-17|title=Heaven's Gate Cult Still Alive and Checking Emails|url=https://www.monsterchildren.com/breaking-news-heavens-gate-cult-still-alive-and-checking-emails/|access-date=2021-04-11|website=Monster Children|language=en-AU|archive-date=2021-04-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411162624/https://www.monsterchildren.com/breaking-news-heavens-gate-cult-still-alive-and-checking-emails/|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{sfn|Zeller|2014a|p=171}} Another former member stated that it was a reference to a [[Mark Twain]] story, which said $5.75 was "the cost to ride the tail of a comet to heaven."<ref>{{Cite AV media |people=Tweel, Clay (director) |date=2020-12-03 |title=Heaven's Gate: The Cult of Cults, Episode 4 |type=Docuseries |language=English |url= |access-date= |format= |time=21:14 |location=  |quote= }}</ref> No such passage from the writings of Twain is known to exist.<ref name="Schrager">{{Cite journal|last=Schrager|first=Cynthia D.|date=1997|title=American Eye: Mark Twain and Heaven's Gate|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25126154|journal=The North American Review|volume=282|issue=5|pages=4–9|jstor=25126154 |issn=0029-2397}}</ref>

After a member died, a living member would arrange the body by removing the plastic bag from the person's head, followed by posing the body so that it lay neatly in its own bed, with faces and torsos covered by a square purple cloth, for privacy. In a 2020 interview with Harry Robinson, two members who were not in Rancho Santa Fe when the suicides happened said that the identical clothing was a uniform representing unity for the mass suicide, while the Nike Decades were chosen because the group "got a good deal on the shoes".{{sfn|Zeller|2014a|p=171}} Applewhite was also a fan of Nikes "and therefore everyone was expected to wear and like Nikes" within the group. Heaven's Gate had a saying, "Just Do it", echoing Nike's slogan, but pronouncing "Do" as "Doe", to reflect Applewhite's nickname.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-12-10|title=How Heaven's Gate's Choice Of Nikes For Mass Suicide Became A Cultural Touchstone|url=https://www.oxygen.com/true-crime-buzz/how-did-nike-get-tied-into-heavens-gate-mass-suicide|access-date=2020-12-10|website=Oxygen Official Site|language=en-US}}</ref>

Among the dead was Thomas Nichols, brother of the actress [[Nichelle Nichols]], best known for her role as [[Uhura]] in the original television series of ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]''.<ref name="CNN-19970328">{{Cite news |date=1997-03-28 |title=Some members of suicide cult castrated |url=http://www.cnn.com/US/9703/28/mass.suicide.pm/ |website=[[CNN]] |language=en-US |archive-date=February 22, 1999 |access-date=August 25, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990222131949/http://www.cnn.com/US/9703/28/mass.suicide.pm/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Applewhite was the third to last member to die; two people remained after him, and were the only ones found with bags over their heads and not having purple cloths covering their top halves. Before the last of the suicides, similar sets of packages were sent to numerous Heaven's Gate affiliated (or formerly affiliated) individuals,<ref name=":5" /> and at least one media outlet, the BBC department responsible for ''Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends'', for which Heaven's Gate had earlier declined participation.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}}

Among those on the list of recipients was Rio DiAngelo. The package DiAngelo received on the evening of March 25<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last1=Meyer |first1=Norma |last2=Medina |first2=Hildy |date=1997-03-28 |title=Package to office alerts ex-member to the fate of cult |url=https://www.newslibrary.com/sites/sdub/ |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200324012503/https://www.newslibrary.com/sites/sdub/ |archive-date=2020-03-24 |work=[[San Diego Union-Tribune]] |page=A-1 |language=en-US |agency=[[Copley News Service]]}}</ref> contained — like other packages that were sent out<ref name=":5" /> — two VHS videotapes: one with ''Do's Final Exit'', and the other with the "farewell messages" of group followers.<ref name=":3" /> It also contained a letter stating that, among other things, "we have exited our vehicles just as we entered them."<ref name=":2">{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzWpfq103q4 |title=Heaven's Gate suicides remembered |date=2011-03-25 |language=en-US |publisher=[[CNN]] |access-date=2019-06-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190616165246/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzWpfq103q4 |archive-date=June 16, 2019 |url-status=bot: unknown |via=[[YouTube]] }}</ref> DiAngelo informed his boss of the contents of the packages, and received a ride from him from Los Angeles to the Heaven's Gate home so he could verify the letter. DiAngelo found a back door intentionally left unlocked,<ref name=":2" /> and used a video camera to record what he saw. After leaving the house, DiAngelo's boss, who had waited outside, encouraged him to make calls alerting the authorities.<ref name=":3" />

The [[San Diego County Sheriff's Department]] received an anonymous tip through 911 at 3:15{{nbsp}}p.m. on March 26,<ref name=":0" /> suggesting they "check on the welfare of the residents".<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Calvo |first=Dana |date=1997-03-27 |title=At Least 39 Found Dead in Luxury Estate |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/32137981/the_signal/ |access-date=2019-06-01 |website=[[The Santa Clarita Valley Signal|The Signal]] |page=1 |language=en-US |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |archive-date=June 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190607003201/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/32137981/the_signal/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Days after the suicides, the caller was revealed to be DiAngelo.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" />

{{Blockquote|text=Caller: Yes, I need to report an anonymous tip, who do I talk to?

Sheriff's Department: Okay, this is regarding what?

Caller: This is regarding a mass suicide, and I can give you the address{{nbsp}}[...]|sign=|source=San Diego County 911 call, March 26, 1997, 3:15 p.m. PST<ref name=":2"/>}}

The lone deputy who first responded to the call entered the home through a side door,<ref name=":1" /> saw ten bodies, and was nearly overcome by a "pungent odor,"<ref name=":0" /> as the bodies had already begun decomposing in the hot Southern California spring.<ref name=":0" /> After a cursory search by two more deputies found no one alive, they retreated until a search warrant could be procured.<ref name=":1" /> All 39 bodies were ultimately [[cremation|cremated]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}}