Editing Marshall Applewhite (section)

==Mass suicide==
[[File:Comet Hale-Bopp Death Valley.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Comet Hale–Bopp]] over California in April 1997]]
In October 1996, the group rented a mansion in [[Rancho Santa Fe, California]].{{sfn|''The San Diego Union-Tribune'', "Heaven's Gate: A Timeline"|1997}}{{sfn|Chryssides|2004|p=358}} That year, they recorded two video messages in which they offered their viewers a "last chance to evacuate Earth".{{sfn|Zeller|2006|p=86}} Around the same time, they learned of the approach of Comet Hale–Bopp.{{sfn|Chryssides|2004|p=358}} Applewhite now believed that Nettles was aboard a spaceship trailing the comet, and that she planned to rendezvous with them.{{sfn|Partridge|2006|p=60}} He told his followers that the vessel would transport them to an [[empyrean]] destination, and that a government conspiracy was attempting to suppress word of the craft.{{sfnm|1a1=Balch|1a2=Taylor|1y=2002|1p=209|2a1=Zeller|2y=2011|2p=177}} In addition, he stated that his deceased followers would be taken by the vessel, as well, a belief that resembled the Christian [[pretribulation rapture]] doctrine.{{sfn|Partridge|2006|p=61}} How he learned of the comet or why he believed that it was accompanied by extraterrestrials or why he should have believed the dead Nettles would be with them is not known.{{sfn|Lewis|2003|p=112}}{{efn|name=art}}

In late March 1997, the group isolated themselves and recorded farewell statements.{{sfn|Chryssides|2004|p=359}} Many members praised Applewhite in their final messages;{{sfn|Lalich, ''Bounded Choice''|2004|p=98}} Davis describes their remarks as "regurgitations of Do's gospel".{{sfn|Davis|2000|p=243}} Applewhite recorded a video shortly before his death, in which he termed the suicides the "final exit" of the group and remarked, "We do in all honesty [[Contemptus mundi|hate this world]]".{{sfnm|Urban|2000|1p=279|Partridge|2006|2p=55}} Lewis speculates that Applewhite settled on suicide because he had said that the group would ascend during his lifetime, so appointing a successor was unfeasible.{{sfn|Lewis|2003|p=113}}

Religious scholar [[Catherine Wessinger]] posits that the suicides began on March&nbsp;22.{{sfn|Wessinger|2000|p=230}} Most members took [[barbiturate]]s and alcohol and then placed bags over their heads. They wore [[Nike, Inc.|Nike]] shoes and black uniforms with patches that read "Heaven's Gate Away Team".{{sfnm|1a1=Balch|1a2=Taylor|1y=2002|1p=209|Lalich, ''Bounded Choice''|2004|2p=27}} A bag that contained a few dollars and a form of identification was placed beside most bodies.{{sfn|Lalich, ''Bounded Choice''|2004|p=27}} The deaths occurred over three days; Applewhite was one of the last four to die. Three assistants helped him commit suicide, then killed themselves.{{sfn|Balch|Taylor|2002|p=224}} An anonymous tip led the [[San Diego County Sheriff's Department]] to search the mansion;{{sfn|Lalich, ''Bounded Choice''|2004|p=28}} they found 39 bodies there on March&nbsp;26.{{sfnm|Lewis|2003|p=103|Associated Press, March 28, 1997}} It was the largest group suicide involving U.S. citizens since the 1978 mass suicide of 913 Americans in [[Jonestown]], [[Guyana]].{{sfnm|Wessinger|2000|1p=229|Daniels|1999|2p=204}} Applewhite's body was found seated on the bed of the mansion's master bedroom.{{sfn|Jones|2007}} [[Medical examiner]]s determined that his fears of cancer had been unfounded, but that he suffered from [[coronary atherosclerosis]].{{sfn|Lifton|2000|p=311}}

The deaths provoked a [[media circus]],{{sfn|Lalich, ''Bounded Choice''|2004|p=30}} and Applewhite's face was featured on the covers of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' and ''Newsweek'' on April&nbsp;7.{{sfn|McCutcheon|2003|pp=104–5}} His final message was widely broadcast; Hugh Urban of [[Ohio State University]] described his appearance in the video as "wild-eyed [and] rather alarming".{{sfn|Urban|2000|p=275}}