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Heaven's Gate tragedy remains the country's worst mass suicide
By: YVETTE URREA - Staff Writer | ∞
RANCHO SANTA FE ---- Ten years ago 39 Heaven's Gate religious cult members killed themselves inside a Rancho Santa Fe mansion, believing their souls would board a spaceship that was supposedly trailing the Hale-Bopp comet. It remains the country's worst mass suicide.
Sheriff's deputies received a telephone tip about the suicides on March 26, 1997.
Deputies Robert Brunk and Laura Gacek responded to the home at 18241 Colina Norte about 3:30 p.m. An anonymous caller had told a dispatcher that 40 people had committed suicide inside the home.
Later that year, two former cult members committed suicide bringing the death toll to 41.
The cult members inside the house reportedly decided to "shed their earthly containers" by ingesting a lethal concoction of pudding or applesauce, sedatives and vodka. Plastic bags were tied over their heads to make sure they reached what they called the Level Above Human. All but two people had purple shrouds draped over their upper bodies.
Initially deputies believed the dead were all men because they all had close-cropped hair, but there were 21 women. They all wore black clothing with new, black Nike running shoes with a white swoosh. Black duffel bags containing their possessions were nearby.
Later, investigators revealed that they had died in groups over several days.
Although deputies at first were skeptical about the call being real, Brunk said in interviews later that when he opened the door, "that decomposing body smell was there." The smell from the bodies was so terrible that the deputies later went to a local hospital to be examined and a county Hazardous Materials Team was sent to the scene.
He recalled that the two deputies walked from room to room and discovered neatly arranged bodies.
A transcript of the dispatch tapes showed Brunk confirming the deaths to dispatchers.
"It doesn't appear that we have any survivors," Brunk reported in a somber tone. "Does anyone have the number for homicide?"
Later, while searching the nine-bedroom, two-story mansion, investigators found one of several computers still on with the image of Hale-Bopp on the screen.
Sheriff's homicide investigators later determined that Richard Ford, a former Heaven's Gate cult member, had received a videotape and letter from the cult members indicating that by the time he got the package, they would be dead. Ford, who lived in Beverly Hills at the time, returned to the Rancho Santa Fe home and was the first to discover the bodies of 21 women and 18 men.
He left the home and called in the first tip from a pay phone in Carlsbad at about 1:30 p.m. but police did not give the call a high priority because it was anonymous. At 3 p.m., dispatchers got a second phone call from a Beverly Hills detective, who said two men had come into the station to report that 40 people were dead inside the home. Brunk was already on his way there.
The group, a religious sect of traveling computer programmers whose business involved creating Internet Web pages, had been in the county since 1993 or '94, living in Rancho Santa Fe since the third week of October 1996, authorities said.
Recently, San Diego County Chief Medical Examiner Cal Vine, 60, recalled walking into the home.
"Walking into that scene, it was just surreal," Vine said. "It was an eerie, eerie feeling."
Before the case was over, Vine said, he understood the cult's special language, the code names members used, and the backgrounds of each person who died.
In the days and weeks that followed, investigators documented the scene, gathered evidence including videotaped farewell tapes, removed the bodies, and notified families. All had identification on them but the task still inundated county investigators as hundreds of calls came in from potential family members.
Sheriff's investigators also held daily briefings for the throngs of media representatives from all over the world. Eventually, they showed a three-minute video of the bodies inside the estate and released all the names of the cult members.
In May of that year, another cult member killed himself at a Leucadia motel. Another cult member killed himself the next year in Arizona.
In July 1997, Rancho Santa Fe residents changed the name of the street to Paseo Victoria and the home's address to 18239 to try to keep curious people away.
In 1999, the county auctioned off cars, televisions and furniture belonging to the cult members, though personal items including the cult's Heaven's Gate Away Team patches were not included. The money went to pay county administration costs and to pay for part of a $100,000 bill for funeral expenses.
That same year, in mid June, Rancho Santa Fe Groves, Inc. bought the 9,000-square-foot Mediterranean-style home, that included a pool, tennis court, sauna, elevator, putting green and a limousine garage, for a mere $668,000, less than half the $1.6 million asking price before the suicides.
It was unclear if the home has been sold again since 1999.
Contact staff writer Yvette Urrea at (760) 901-4076 or yurrea@nctimes.com. Comment at nctimes.com.
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Marshall wrote on Mar 26, 2007 6:44 AM:Do we have to re-visit this story and feel sorry for these oddballs? It was bizarre, I know.
Maybe we are wrong.. wrote on Mar 26, 2007 12:01 PM:They all could be looking down on us from the Hale Bopp comet.
Sriprada wrote on Mar 26, 2007 12:56 PM:hi how are you ? I was reading your article on heavens' gate this morning. It really shocked me but I know some other cults NOT IN USA but very dangerous. I will really appreciate if you do research and write about them too. I know one such cult which will for sure take more lives in near future. The name of this cult is sacha sauda. It has many branches and about 10 million members. It is based in Sirsa, India. It's main purpose is to use its members to make money and get political gain. When you will do research, you will learn that they are using its members to do free labor for them. Few years ago it had troubles with law. They asked it members to go on hunger strike. Finally govt gave up to save lives. Now, they have again ordered its members to vote one particular political party and they proved its power. Since criminal investigation is still going on against them they will for sure ask its members to commit suicide by hunger strike or strike against govt with weapons. I am asking your help because I think making people aware will save some lives atleast. You can search yahoo or google with key words "Dera sacha sauda" or "dhan dhan satguru" to learn more about them. thank you.
obvious wrote on Mar 26, 2007 3:18 PM:Prior to the 668K sale, it appears the property was foreclosed on. Rancho Santa Fe Groves sold the property to Paseo Victoria LLC in May of 2004 for 900K. In January 2006 Paseo Victoria LLC obtained a constuction loan for 5.25 million.
Danny H wrote on Mar 28, 2007 8:49 AM:Up close and personal Jehovah's Witnesses can be wolves in sheep's clothing. Think about this-When the devil comes knocking on your door he may not have the 'dark goth look'.They could be smartly dressed and wielding the Christian Bible. The central core dogma of the Watchtower is Jesus second coming (invisibly) in 1914 and is a lie.Jehovah's Witnesses are a spin-off of the man made Millerite movement of 1840. A destructive cult of false teachings, that frequently result in spiritual and psychological abuse, as well as needless deaths (bogus blood transfusion ban). Yes,you can 'check out anytime you want but you can never leave',because they can and will hold your family hostage. Jehovah's Witnesses are often a mouth that prays a hand that kills.The Watchtower is a truly Orwellian world. ---- Danny EXJehovah's Witness X 33 years and 3rd generation
Danny wrote on Mar 28, 2007 8:50 AM:Up close and personal Jehovah's Witnesses can be wolves in sheep's clothing. Think about this-When the devil comes knocking on your door he may not have the 'dark goth look'.They could be smartly dressed and wielding the Christian Bible. The central core dogma of the Watchtower is Jesus second coming (invisibly) in 1914 and is a lie.Jehovah's Witnesses are a spin-off of the man made Millerite movement of 1840. A destructive cult of false teachings, that frequently result in spiritual and psychological abuse, as well as needless deaths (bogus blood transfusion ban). Yes,you can 'check out anytime you want but you can never leave',because they can and will hold your family hostage. The Watchtower is a truly Orwellian world. Danny- EXJehovah's Witness X 33 years and 3rd generation
Monica wrote on May 14, 2007 12:27 PM:I think all these people r stupid for doing wat they did and no i dont think they are in heaven i think they all went to hell....thats wat hapens wen u comit suicide. I hope that they are paying for wat they did and i think if they wer smart enough and belived in god they would have gone to heaven wen they're time came....gosh i think its rediclulous..if i could i wld go back and stop them and show them its not the way to go
Charles wrote on Dec 22, 2007 1:33 PM:My mother is a jehovah's witness.I choose a diffrent path to God, I choose Islam, but she never understood why I made that choice, and I explained that I wanted to worship God diretly not through a organstion that made false prohies before in the past. Oh she didnt take that very well she hithard with a frying pan(im not lying) and kicked me out the house when I was 16 years old. Luckly my grandmother was muslim so i lived with her for the next 2 years. To this day my mother never talks to me to this day because im a "apostate". If you read this message mother I just want tosay I love you. But if doesnt speak mind control cult i dont know what does.
Charles wrote on Dec 22, 2007 1:35 PM:My mother is a jehovah's witness.I choose a diffrent path to God, I choose Islam, but she never understood why I made that choice, and I explained that I wanted to worship God diretly not through a organstion that made false prohies before in the past. Oh she didnt take that very well she hithard with a frying pan(im not lying) and kicked me out the house when I was 16 years old. Luckly my grandmother was muslim so i lived with her for the next 2 years. To this day my mother never talks to me to this day because im a "apostate". If you read this message mother I just want tosay I love you. But if doesnt speak mind control cult i dont know what does. I think pretty soon the watchtower is going to be another heavens gate.
Rosemary wrote on May 22, 2008 6:13 PM:I was a faithful JW for 25 years, a pioneer-since I could not treat my children so harshly as that cult does,
I left the organization. It was a joyless harsh religion. I have family members who have not spoken to me in over a decade.I found Jesus and now know what true Christians are really like. JW's are a cult.
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