Mass suicide of 39 people in horror cult after recording chilling messages | World | News
Two members of the cult leave their goodbye messages (Image: Sipa Press / Rex Features)
In the chilling moments before they died by suicide, members of the infamous Heaven’s Gate cult recorded a series of haunting farewell messages which would later stun the world.
Their voices betrayed no fear or hesitation – some even smiled as they expressed gratitude to their leaders and eagerly anticipated what lay ahead.
Heaven’s Gate was a cult established in the 1970s by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles. They convinced their followers they were celestial entities tasked with guiding others towards a superior existence.
The cult members came to believe that their earthly bodies were merely transient “vehicles”, and that death was an escape from this world.
By the 1990s, the group developed an obsession with the Hale–Bopp comet. Applewhite persuaded his devoted followers that a spaceship trailed the comet, ready to transport them to a superior realm, reports the Mirror.
Applewhite convinced people to take their own lives (Image: Sipa/REX/Shutterstock)
On 26 March 1997, a horrifying discovery was made when police entered a rented property in Rancho Santa Fe, California.
Inside, they found the bodies of 39 individuals, meticulously arranged on beds. All were identically dressed in dark attire and Nike trainers, their faces shrouded by purple cloths.
Investigators deduced that the deaths occurred in phases over several days, with surviving members tidying the house and carefully positioning the deceased before taking their own lives.
Before the tragic conclusion, numerous members were urged by their leader to film haunting farewell video messages.
One woman read out her message (Image: ABC)
The youngest, a former US Army soldier in his mid-20s, expressed his gratitude to the group for providing his life with meaning.
Speaking on camera, the unnamed 20-something said “I just want to say how thankful I am to Do and Ti ( the names Applewhite and Nettles would go by) for helping me and taking me under their wing.
“I feel very fortunate to be here. My classmates have been wonderful to me, and I’m very happy about what’s happening.”
The eldest member, a 71-year-old grandmother, revealed her final thoughts were brimming with joy and amazement.
Other members characterised the day as blissful, whilst several proclaimed it the most euphoric moment of their existence.
Applewhite’s own farewell message proved perhaps the most disturbing. He instructed followers that mass suicide represented the sole method to “evacuate” Earth and cautioned that those remaining would forfeit their opportunity to advance.
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