This Day in History: Heaven’s Gate Cult Members Found Dead (Sunday, March 26)

This Day in History:, Heaven’s Gate Cult Members Found Dead.

March 26, 1997.

Led by Marshall Applewhite, 39 members of the cult peacefully committed suicide by drinking a mixture of vodka and phenobarbital.

The disturbing scene was discovered by police in a mansion in a San Diego suburb.

Clothed in matching Nike sneakers and dark uniforms, the 21 men and 18 women were were found in several rooms throughout the mansion.

They were convinced their suicides would free them from their bodies, allowing them to enter an alien spacecraft hidden behind the rare Hale-Bopp comet.

The cult advocated sexual abstinence.

Several of the men had undergone castration surgery, including Applewhite.

None of the 39 bodies showed any signs of blood or trauma