remember heaven´s gate

Suicide

Thirty-eight cult members, plus Marshall Applewhite, the cult's leader, were found dead in a rented mansion in the upscale San Diego community of Rancho Santa Fe, California on March 26, 1997. The mass death of the Heaven's Gate group is one of the most widely-known examples of cult suicide.
In preparing to kill themselves, members of the cult drank citrus juices to ritually cleanse their bodies of impurities. Their suicide, conducted in shifts, was accomplished by ingestion of phenobarbital mixed with vodka, along with plastic bags secured around their heads to induce asphyxiation. Each member carried five dollars in quarters, reportedly for use on the spaceship to which they would be transported upon their death. All 39 were dressed in identical black shirts and sweat pants, along with brand new black-and-white Nike tennis shoes and purple armbands reading "Heaven's gate away team".