This Day in History:, Heaven’s Gate Cult <br />Members Found Dead.<br />March 26, 1997.<br />Led by Marshall Applewhite, <br />39 members of the cult peacefully committed suicide <br />by drinking a mixture of vodka and phenobarbital.<br />The disturbing scene was discovered by <br />police in a mansion in a San Diego suburb.<br />Clothed in matching Nike sneakers and dark uniforms, <br />the 21 men and 18 women were were found in several <br />rooms throughout the mansion.<br />They were convinced their suicides would free them <br />from their bodies, allowing them to enter an <br />alien spacecraft hidden behind the rare Hale-Bopp comet.<br />The cult advocated sexual abstinence. <br />Several of the men had undergone <br />castration surgery, including Applewhite.<br />None of the 39 bodies showed <br />any signs of blood or trauma
