Heaven’s Gate revisited

Ten years ago, 39 members of the Heaven’s Gate cult committed mass suicide inside a Rancho Santa Fe mansion. First responders are still haunted by the gruesome discovery.

[...] It began unfolding the afternoon of Wednesday, March 26, 1997, during a period when the Hale-Bopp comet could be seen in the night sky.

Inside a mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, 39 members of the Heaven’s Gate cult lay dead. Convinced that a spaceship was traveling behind the comet and that they would be transported to the vessel to begin a new life “beyond human,” they had poisoned themselves. Twenty-one women and 18 men died by eating pudding and applesauce laced with phenobarbital and other drugs – the largest mass suicide on U.S. soil.

All went willingly under the guidance of their leader, Marshall Applewhite, also known as “Do.”

Their bodies were discovered by a former cult member who had received videotapes in the mail telling him that by the time he watched them, the group would have moved on. [...]

“We didn’t know what to expect going in there,” [sheriff's Deputy Robert] Brunk said. “You start thinking of cults and all sorts of things start playing in your mind – animal and human sacrifice, that kind of thing.

“As we entered the house, we started seeing bodies that were covered up. … Every room that you went into, we found more. Some were in bunk beds.

“They were all in their running suits with their ‘Heaven’s Gate Away Team’ patch on the sleeve. There was a computer flashing ‘Red Alert,’ sort of like ‘Star Trek.’ There was still a load of laundry in the machine. It was surreal.”

Purple shrouds covered all but two bodies. Brunk remembers lifting the shroud off only one person, among the youngest. He also remembers shaking a foot of every body to check for rigor mortis. All were wearing black Nike running shoes with the white swoosh on the side. [...]

Scully, a veteran homicide detective considered among the best, was the lead investigator for Heaven’s Gate. So many bodies was a challenge, but as a whodunit, it was easy. After obtaining a search warrant, and after a hazardous-materials team had determined the air in the house was safe, Scully and others went inside.

“It was like being in the Twilight Zone,” he said. “We were wandering from room to room to room, and every room we went into we were finding bodies. You’re thinking: ‘When is this going to end? How many bodies are going to be in here? How many rooms are there to this place?’ Because every room we went in had bodies stacked up like cordwood.”

He remembers thinking: “How could people do this to each other. What kind of person led them to do this?”

“Then we got to the final room. Marshall Applewhite, aka Do. It was the upstairs master bedroom, a huge room, and he had the bedroom to himself. Great big bed. He’s all propped up with pillows around him.

“As soon as you walked in, you knew this guy was the head chief. He was the leader.” [...]

From a follow-up report written by Scully:

“The members of Heaven’s Gate adhered to a strict doctrine. Members led a regimented lifestyle. Particular attention was paid to: punctuality, cleanliness, orderliness, personal possessions, how to dress, what to eat, how to phrase a question, and most importantly desires. Each member was assigned a partner to watch over him or her in order that they could constantly fight their ‘human desires.’

“Their beliefs were a hybrid of science fantasy (UFOs and aliens) and Christian beliefs. Essentially they believed that God and the Kingdom of God were extraterrestrial. They believed that they descended from this extraterrestrial kingdom and took occupancy in human bodies some 20 years or so ago. They believed that they had learned all there was to learn of the human condition and that it was time to return to the kingdom from where they came.” [...]

Some of the Heaven’s Gate members earned income for the group by providing computer services and Web site design through their company, Higher Source. [...]

“The investigation revealed that (the decedents) were ardent followers of Do, Marshall Applewhite. … Members wrote that their only purpose was to make Do happy,” a Sheriff’s Department report concluded. [...]

Applewhite and six members of the cult had been castrated in Mexico a few months earlier – another way to deal with unwanted desires. [...]

This is a summary extract from the full article as it appeared on San Diego Union-Tribune, March 18 2007
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