Photo Archive

20 Photos Taken Inside the Heaven’s Gate Mansion

Gurneys in front of the Heaven’s Gate mansion

In 1997, 39 members of the Heaven’s Gate cult took their own lives in an attempt to reach what they believed was an extraterrestrial spacecraft following Comet Hale–Bopp.

A San Diego County Sheriff’s investigator shines a light at a window outside the Heaven’s Gate mansion
A San Diego County Sheriff’s investigator shines a light at a window outside the Heaven’s Gate mansion.

The cult leader Marshall Applewhite persuaded 38 followers to prepare for a ritual suicide, believing it would enable their souls to board the supposed extraterrestrial craft.

Gurneys in front of the Heaven’s Gate mansion
Gurneys in front of the Heaven’s Gate mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, California.

Applewhite believed that after their deaths, an unidentified flying object (UFO) would transport their souls to another “level of existence above human,” which he described as being both physical and spiritual.

A Los Angeles County Coroner truck arrives at the scene
A Los Angeles County Coroner truck arrives at the scene.

All cult followers were dressed in black tracksuits, with customized patches identifying themselves as the “Heaven’s Gate Away Team,” and wore Nike Decade sneakers.

An EMT arrives at the scene
An EMT arrives at the scene.

The followers committed suicide by ingesting barbiturates mixed into applesauce or pudding and chased it down with vodka. After tying plastic bags around their heads, the 39 followers climbed into bunk beds to wait for their “graduation.”

The cult didn’t refer to the act as suicide. They called it graduation. To them, those who stayed behind were the ones killing themselves.

Bodies of the cult members inside the Heaven’s Gate mansion
Bodies of the cult members inside the Heaven’s Gate mansion.

The 39 cult members committed suicide in shifts over three days, so that those still earthbound could tidy up after those who had just left, draping purple shrouds atop the bodies.

Inside their pockets, each cult member had a five-dollar bill and three quarters for the “interplanetary toll.”

Bodies of the cult members inside the Heaven’s Gate mansion
Bodies of the cult members inside the Heaven’s Gate mansion
Bodies of the cult members inside the Heaven’s Gate mansion
Bodies of the cult members inside the Heaven’s Gate mansion

In addition to abandoning their families and giving up their possessions, the Heaven’s Gate cult members were asked to cleanse their bodies of things like fast food and “impure” sexual thoughts.

The process involved the Master Cleanse, a liquid-only diet consisting of laxative teas and lemonade made with maple syrup and cayenne pepper.

The diet was invented by Stanley Burroughs in 1941, who initially marketed it as a way to treat ulcers.

In one of his interviews, former cult member Richard Ford said that the group took the diet to the extreme by drinking nothing but the homemade lemonade for three months.

Items belonging to the Heaven's Gate cult members
Personal belongings, including signs and drawings of aliens, beloging to the Heaven’s Gate cult members.
Items belonging to the Heaven's Gate cult members
Personal belongings, including stored food, of the cult members.
Color artwork found among the possessions of the Heaven’s Gate cult members
Color artwork found among the possessions of the Heaven’s Gate members.
Items belonging to the Heaven's Gate cult members
A copy of “How and When Heaven’s Gate May Be Entered” sits among the cult members’ belongings recovered from the Rancho Santa Fe house where they committed mass suicide.
Items belonging to the Heaven's Gate cult members
Among the items recovered from the mansion was a t-shirt with an extraterrestrial theme. The cult’s property was stored at the county public administrator’s office before being auctioned off.

Eight of the male members of the group, including cult leader Marshall Applewhite, voluntarily underwent castration as an extreme means of maintaining the ascetic lifestyle.

Before their mass suicide, group members filmed themselves explaining why they believed what they believed and why they were happy about the opportunity to escape the impending Armageddon and move to what they called the “Level Above Human.”

Copies of the goodbye tapes were sent to former members, including one who discovered the corpses.

Officials of the San Diego Sherriff’s department hold photographs taken inside the Heaven's Gate mansion
Officials of the San Diego Sherriff’s department hold photographs of some of the 39 members of the Heaven’s Gate cult.
Journalists watching the video footage taken inside Heaven's Gate mansion
Journalists at a news conference at the Del Mar Fairgrounds gather around one of two monitors to watch sheriff’s video of the Heaven’s Gate suicide scene.
Officials of the San Diego Sherriff’s department hold photographs taken inside the Heaven's Gate mansion
Officials of the San Diego Sherriff’s department hold photographs of some of the 39 members of the Heaven’s Gate cult.

As of today, the cult’s website is still active and maintained by two former members who live in Phoenix.

The site has the flashing “RED ALERT” at the top, the same wording sheriff’s deputies saw on computers when they were called to the mansion on March 26, 1997, and discovered the 39 bodies. There are links on the site to videotapes, “Earth Exit Statements” and other religious material.

When asked why they kept the website active, the surviving members said:

“They asked us to do it and we were honored to perform the task.”

The information, they said, “is still timeless and we are here to provide it to those who ask.”

Medical examiner’s personnel bring the bodies of the dead cult members down the steps of the mansion
Medical examiner’s personnel bring the bodies of the dead cult members down the steps of the mansion.
A truck containing the bodies of the cult members is shown outside the Santa Fe mansion
A truck containing the bodies of the Heaven’s Gate members is shown outside the cult’s compound.
A truck containing the bodies of the cult members is shown outside the Santa Fe mansion
A truck containing the bodies of the Heaven’s Gate members is shown outside the cult’s compound.
Behind the Tape Photobook
Enjoy exploring the dark, uncensored side of true crime?
Behind the Tape Photobook features over a thousand more hand-picked crime scene photos.
Filled with exclusive case file information and never-before-heard facts, the Photobook is the ULTIMATE treat for every true crime junkie!
WARNING: THE BOOK ISN’T FOR THE FAINT OF HEART.
Get the book as part of one of our bundles while stocks last!

You may also like

Birthday Giveaway Alert!

To celebrate True Crime Magazine's 8th birthday, we're giving away 50 ULTIMATE bundles (worth $136) for FREE - just pay shipping. Enter the email below to claim yours while stocks last!