Welcome to Heaven's Gate!

Who was Marshall Applewhite?

He lived in Huston, TX Worked as a music professor and lead the choir

at his Episcopal church. He was married and had two children He was charismatic and funny He was a singer and had a beautiful voice He was a natural born leader

In 1972, everything changed.....

When Marshall met Bonnie...Marshall left his wife and kids in 1972

Bonnie Lu Nettles was a nurse at Huston, Texas

hospital and she and Marshall met there while he

was visiting a patientThey realized that they had a “spiritual

connection”They called each other “Bo and Peep” and then

later “Do and Ti”They both were convinced that a UFO was going

to come for them behind the Hale-Bopp Comet They went around the country and had online

websites to “recruit” people for their “cult”Bonnie died 1985, but Marshall carried on the

cult

What did they believe in?And how strange was it...?

They believed that..... They were angels

The world was going to be recycled

Them dying, would get rid of their “containers”, also known as

their human bodies

They would move up to the next level above human after they got

rid of their containers

There would be a UFO behind the Hale-Bopp comet and that is

what will take them to the next level

The group goes into hiding

During the 80s the group goes into hiding, or undercover

They try to stay out of the public eye

However, NBC makes a TV movie called “The Mysterious Two” and it is about “Bo and Peep”

Bonnie dies of cancer in 1985 Applewhite believes her spirit is

still with the group

Then....What did they do? &Where did they live?

The cult lived in Rancho Santa Fe, California They lived in a rented house The house was the headquarters of a business that

was run there by the cult called “Higher Source” The business “Higher Source” designed pages for a

profit and that is how the group supported themeselves

The group members stuck out from the people of Rancho Santa Fe because they were not rich and were unaturally pale

March 1997March 23:

The Hale-Bopp comet is closest to the Earth.

Fifteen of the group’s thirty-nine members consumed Phenobarbital, applesauce, and a shot of vodka.

Just in case, some of the members suffocated themselves with plastic bags.

The group killed itself in shifts so the living members could carefully arrange the dead.

March 24: Fifteen more members of the group kill themselves by

the same means as first group.

March 25: The final nine members of the group commit suicide.

Richard Ford, an ex-member of the group, received a FedEx delivery of two videos from Applewhite.

March 26: Ford alerts the San Diego authorities of the group’s

suicide.

What Marshall said in the video tapes he sent out to Richard Ford:

How they were found: Authorities found the dead lying neatly in

their own bunk beds, faces and torsos covered by a square, purple cloth. Each member carried a five dollar bill and three quarters in their pockets.

Each of the 39 members were dressed in identical black shirts and sweat pants, and black & white Nike Windrunner athletic shoes.

The victims, between the ages of 26 and 72, are believed to have committed suicide in three groups over three consecutive days, with remaining members cleaning up after each previous group's death.

Fifteen members died on March 24, 15 others on March 25, and nine more on March 26.

The leader, Marshall Applewhite was the third to last member to die.

Two women stayed after him and were the only ones found without bags over their heads.

The remaining member: The cult had 40 members, but only 39 died in the mass suicide

One was told to leave by Applewhite one month before the

suicides His name was Rio DiAngelo

Applewhite told him he had to leave so that he could tell the

group's story DiAngelo does not believe in

suicide, but he calls what the group did “an exit”