Murder, Mystery & Makeup - The Dark Story Behind A UFO "Religious" Group - Heavens Gate

Episode Date: November 15, 2022

Hi friends!  Hope you are all staying safe and healthy out there. Today on Murder, Mystery & Makeup, I wanted to talk about Heavens Gate, ooohhhweee. This one is always highly requested! Now to be fair, I keep my videos pretty, simple? Basic? Straight to the point, so I do often leave out small details that I feel don't contribute to the overall story. What I am getting at is, you can always deep dive on your own and read more about these stories. At least you have an overall basic understanding of what it was. Hope that makes sense? Idk I always see comments about me leaving stuff out, so, just wanted to let you know? haha. Hope you all have a wonderful rest of your day, Love and appreciate you guys so much!! I hope to be seeing you very soon x o Bailey Sarian Check out the original video here and don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube @BaileySarian! Tik Tok : https://bit.ly/3e3jL9v Instagram : http://bit.ly/2nbO4PR Facebook : http://bit.ly/2mdZtK6 Twitter : http://bit.ly/2yT4BLV Pinterest : http://bit.ly/2mVpXnY Youtube : http://bit.ly/1HGw3Og Snapchat : https://bit.ly/3cC0V9d Discord: https://discord.gg/BaileySarian

If it's a flat or a squeal, a wobble or peel, your tread's worn down or you need a new wheel, wherever you go, you can get a pro at Tread Experts. Conquer rugged terrain with on-road comfort. Until June 15th, receive up to $60 on a prepaid MasterCard when you purchase Kumo Road Venture AT52 tires. Find a Kumo Tread Experts dealer near you at treadexperts.ca slash locations. From tires to auto repair, we're always there at treadexperts.ca slash locations. From tires to auto repair, we're always there, treadexperts.ca. Hi friends, how are you today? I hope you're having a great day so far. My name is Bailey Sarian and today is Monday, which means it's Murder la sha, sha la sha, sha la sha. If you're new here, hi, how are you?

That's great. So, every Monday I sit down and I talk about a true crime story that's been heavy on my noggin. And I do my makeup at the same time. If you're interested in true crime and you like makeup, I would highly suggest you hit that subscribe button. This week, I'm gonna do a story that's been highly requested. Bailey, cover more cults, they say. And I was like, okay, okay. Calm down.

So today we're going to talk about Heaven's Gate. Have you heard of it? Well, I vaguely remember when it happened because I kind of was living not far from where the, it all took place, you know? But I didn't really know like the full story. So I went down a rabbit hole, part usual, and now I'm gonna tell you everything that I learned.

But other than that, I will shut my dirty little trap and I'll get right into it. A little backstory. We're gonna start with Marshall Applewhite. Now Marshall, he was born in Texas in 1931. His father was said to be a minister and he combined aliens into Christian theology, so it was a little different than normal religion.

Marshall, he served in the United States Army, he then went on to finish school at Austin College, and he also taught music at the University of Alabama. So after teaching there for a little bit, he actually ended up returning to Houston, Texas, and that is where he also would teach music, and he served as the chair of the music department at the University of St. Thomas. Now, it's alleged that he was fired due to having a sexual relationship

with one of his male students. Now, Marshall's dad would pass away in early 1970s, and this sent Marshall into like a really deep depression. He was really close to his father and he was devastated when his father passed away and he just wasn't doing well. He was not doing well. It was said at some point,

Marshall ended up staying at a psychiatric hospital for a bit of time. While staying at the psychiatric hospital, that's where he met a woman named Bonnie, Bonnie Nettles. So who is Bonnie Nettles? Well, let me tell you a little bit about her now. Bonnie Nettles, she was born in 1927, also in Texas, and she was born into a Baptist family.

She would go on to become a registered nurse, and then she also married a successful businessman, his name was Joseph, and this was in 1949. The two of them would go on to have four children together, and their marriage seemed all good, all dandy until about 1972. It was said that the marriage between Bonnie and her husband began to fall apart when Bonnie's belief that the 19th century monk named Brother Francis often spoke to her, gave her instructions on like what to do in life. So she was listening to this monk in her head.

Bonnie would become very interested in conducting seances with mediums in order to connect with spirits, people who are dead. Started as like a little hobby, you know, an interest, and then it just kind of like consumed her life. So her husband is like, dude, what the, what the hell are you doing, you know? In 1972, Bonnie went on to see multiple different psychics

who told her that she was going to meet a man who was tall with light hair and a fair complexion, and that she needed to go with this person. So Bonnie's like, oh yeah, okay, so I gotta look out for a tall man, light hair with a fair complexion. Be on the lookout. Bonnie is working as a nurse, and guess what?

She's working at the same place that Marshall is staying at, the psychiatric hospital. So she sees Marshall and, oh my God, he's tall, has light hair and a fair complexion. This is who the psychic was telling me about. Bonnie then did an astrological reading for Marshall. And while doing this, she found out that both of their stars

were aligned in some kind of way, which meant that they were supposed to be together. She found an alignment between the stars. So the two of them ended up connecting and they felt like they had met for a reason. So while Bonnie is working as a nurse and Marshall is a patient, they're just forming a relationship. He knew that she was married, but the stars were telling them that they were meant to be together.

So, and they ended up leaving the hospital together on New Year's Day, 1973. Bonnie ended up leaving her children behind with their father. One of them was like in his twenties and I think he just kind of just went on his own. Bonnie was ready to start her new life with Marshall. So Bonnie and Marshall, they were off to create something big.

I mean, that was their goal. They just knew together that they could conquer anything. Bonnie and Marshall, they decided that they wanted new names. So they went by the names Bo and Peep. Bonnie was Bo, Marshall was Peep. So they ended up taking a six month long road trip across the United States. Goals, I wanna do that.

While they're traveling and stuff, they're really just kind of going over their beliefs and what they think the meaning of life is, you know? And they wanted to spread their message, which I'm not even quite sure what their message fully was, but that's fine. They wanted to spread it. If it's a flat or a squeal, a wobble or peel, your dread's worn down or you need a new wheel, wanted to spread it. Kumo RoadVenture AT52 tires. Find a Kumo tread experts dealer near you at treadexperts.ca

slash locations. From tires to auto repair, we're always there, treadexperts.ca. So in 1975, Bonnie and Marshall, they gave a presentation about Heaven's Gate in Oregon, and they were giving out flyers that was a mix of like conspiracy theory, science fiction. And it kind of seemed to be a recruitment form. On this paper that they were handing out, at the top it said UFO, just some big letters, you know, just to really grab them at the beginning.

UFO, what? The flyer had two paragraphs of information on Heaven's Gate saying, quote, "'Two individuals say they were sent from the level above human and will return to that level in a spaceship within the next few months, end quote. So they would travel around and give little presentations promoting Heaven's Gate, but at this time,

it was called human individual metamorphosis. But overall, it would suggest that a UFO was coming to save the cult members and take them away. And they would elevate them to a new world and a better life. And they called this TELA, which stood for the evolutionary level above human. So they would have a group of people attend their events.

And it was said that one in Oregon had about 200 people attend. Yeah, that's a lot of people. So they would hand out these flyers, try and get like some promotion, they would meet and give their spiel. So after having 200 people show up to these presentations, only a small amount would follow up afterwards and actually end up joining the group.

So Bonnie and Marshall were able to convince people to leave their homes and belongings and travel with them around the country for over two decades. The members didn't have like a real home at that time and they lived in extreme poverty while they traveled around, but they didn't really need anything. They just needed somewhere to sleep

and maybe a little bit of food to eat. But they were making these sacrifices because they truly believed what Bonnie and Marshall were preaching, that aliens were coming back to the planet to take them away and just live this amazing afterlife. Many of the followers gave up their conventional lives and were seeking new spiritual answers to many of their old questions.

Like, what am I doing here? What's the meaning of life? Where am I going? Those questions that nobody has an answer to. Oh, I ask myself that all the time. Many found Heaven's Gate attractive because of the blend of self-discipline, science fiction, unity,

and it had some Christian thinking in there as well. It kind of sounded like, honestly, kind of like Scientology, but it kind of does. So some would say it was like Christianity, but in a modern, updated way, and people just really related to it. I just feel like these people were just kind of maybe questioning things and where they're at in life and just kind of feeling lost, and that's probably how they got suckered to it. I just feel like these people were just kind of maybe questioning things and where they're at in life and just kind of feeling lost and that's probably how they got

suckered into it. Bonnie and Marshall were said to be so nice, loving, and charismatic, so people just like were attracted to it. So for example, Heaven's Gate taught that Mary, you know Mary from the Bible? Cool. So she actually was impregnated by being taken up into a spacecraft. That's where she got pregnant. Now it sounds silly to us, but many thought it was more believable than just plain she was a virgin and she got pregnant. So anytime a new member would come into the group, this new member would have to abandon their families, they would have to turn over any and all of their money, and then they were asked to cleanse their bodies of the impure influence of things like fast food and impure sexual thoughts.

On this cleanse, they would drink nothing but the mix of lemonade, cayenne pepper, and maple syrup. They would have to do that for three months in order to cleanse themselves before being like an official member. If they didn't cleanse, then they couldn't be welcome into the group. So Bonnie and Marshall, they actually told their followers

that they would be visited by aliens who would provide them with new bodies. So they believed that their body, again, was gonna ascend to the spaceship. Once they were up there, that's when they would get their new bodies. So they believe that their body again, was gonna ascend to the spaceship. Once they were up there, that's when they would get their new bodies. They again, would live this fantastic afterlife. But later they would kind of change the script,

which I don't know if you could do that, but I guess you can. There's like no rules when it comes to religion. So I guess that applies to cult. Do cults qualify for a tax exemption as well? That's a great question actually. So he changes the script a little bit and he's saying, now that their bodies were just containers of their souls,

which would be later placed into new bodies. So your soul would leave you and your soul would enter a new bod. I mean, that one kind of sounds convincing, right? I mean, we all have souls, that's factual. Yeah, right? Oh, whatever. The group was able to pay for housing and other expenses

because they received an influx of funds from the members giving their life savings over to the group. And when they got new members, it just meant like more money. So when they got money from the members, they would rent different houses in Denver, and then they would go to Dallas and rent different houses. The group was very secretive about their lifestyle and covered all of their windows

whenever they were renting a new home, they wouldn't be allowed to talk about it. The first rule about Heaven's Gate is you don't talk about Heaven's Gate. At this time, they had about 40 members, so a good size. In Texas, they told their followers that a forthcoming visitation from aliens was happening and instructed them to go wait outside all night.

They needed to wait outside so the spaceship would beam them up. And I know, I know, it's like, why are these people doing this? I don't know. That's the interesting thing about cults, my friend. So the cult members are standing outside all damn night. And then eventually once the night had ended

and it was becoming morning time, that's when Bonnie and Marshall informed the members that there were no aliens coming and it was just a test of faith to see if they were loyal. So doing this was increasing their students devotion and also helping them get rid of the people who were not devoted, right? But it made them realize how much control and power they had over their members. Members.

So every so often they would do one of these tests. They were probably out of ideas and needed to keep the people entertained. So they're like, yeah, just go outside and stand there. It was said that the members were becoming desperate for Marshall's approval. They would do anything, just go above and beyond anything that they could do to make Marshall like them. It was getting a little competitive

and honestly, Marshall liked that. In 1980, the group had about 80 followers. Many of them held working jobs with computers or as car mechanics. Bonnie and Marshall would allow the members to call their family once in 1982, and then in 1983, they actually allowed the followers to visit their families on Mother's Day.

Like actually leave and visit their followers, which I mean, and visit their parents, family, sorry. So they left and they visited their families on Mother's Day, which this was like never allowed. They were never allowed to leave. Well, they could leave, but could you really? It was one of those. Like you can leave, door's open.

They were instructed to tell their family that they were studying computers at a monastery. These vacations, quote unquote vacations, were intended to make the families less angry by demonstrating that they were staying in this group on their own terms, that they wanted to be there. They're studying computers, they're at a monastery. How dare you question me?

It was more just to let the family members know that they're alive, they're good, they wanna be there and they're happy, which I'm sure gave a lot of family members peace of mind, but they had no idea what was to come. Nay nay. Over the years, several hundred people, they joined the group, then left,

and in the early 1990s, the members were only down to 26, which is still a lot, but you know, they were at a high with like 80. They wanted that back. I also forgot to say that Bonnie and Marshall, they were equals in this group as the leader. They both wanted to be there. I mean, so it was said, they both wanted to be there.

And Bonnie was technically the brain. She was like the smart one. She would make the posters. She put all the outline together of what they were preaching. And then Marshall was the speaker. So in 1983, Bonnie, she had to have an eye removed due to cancer.

And the doctor informed her at that time that the cancer was spreading and it was going through the rest of her body and that she either needed to get treatment for it or she was gonna die because it was getting everywhere. But Bonnie truly believed that her doctor was ignorant and that she could not die, which is very interesting. Actually, I just thought of this because she was a nurse.

So you think she would, I don't know, believe her doctor? Oh, interesting, I just now thought of that. Hmm. Anyhow, so the cancer ended up continuing to worsen and Bonnie ended up passing away in 1985. Now this was not good for Marshall. Marshall was devastated. He lost his wife, his partner.

I'm sorry, they weren't married, but he lost his partner. He told the group that her broken down vehicle was left behind, and that she had ascended into the spaceship. Because of Bonnie's passing, it turned the cult's beliefs into that the human bodies were just vessels or vehicles, and that they were carrying them on their journey, and could be abandoned at any time. So now the view had changed that you can leave your vehicle at any time

versus having to wait for the aliens to beam you up, so it keeps evolving. In May 1993, the group rebranded and took the name Total Overcomers Anonymous, they spent $30,000 to publish a full page advertisement that warned the people of a catastrophic judgment to befall the earth. This, hold on. Now, because of this publication, it brought some new members to the group.

And that was like the overall goal. They wanted more. In the 90s, the internet was new, the World Wide Web. You can connect with people anywhere on the planet. In the beginning of the internet was new, the world wide web. You can connect with people anywhere on the planet. In the beginning of the internet, there were only so many websites you could go to and it's like brands and companies and stuff weren't really using it to its fullest potential yet,

but Heaven's Gate was actually on top of it. They were like, hey, we're gonna build a webpage and reach more people. So again, in the 90s, they had 39 active cult members and these members made web pages for businesses and had a web design firm called Higher Source along with a few others but these members used the money they had made from online business to rent a mansion in a gated community just outside of San Diego. Marshall was realizing for the first time of the possibility of suicide as a way to reach the next level.

So that's the goal. They wanted to reach the next level because it was going to be amazing. It was going to be everything and more. So that's what they wanted. So this is when he started to realize, hey, we can just abandon our vehicles, commit suicide. And he introduces this to the group as well, because he hadn't mentioned suicide before.

So Marshall explained to the group that everything human had to be left behind, including the human body, before one could ascend. So we went from having to be beamed up by aliens to now you have to kill yourself before you can ascend. And once again, this time the group was renamed Heaven's Gate. The group increasingly focused

on the suppression of sexual desire. Several of the members opted for surgical castration. There was an ex-group member who said that Marshall didn't say they had to do it, but the group members wanted to do it, just to prove to Marshall, once again, that they were loyal. So they did it. Surgical castration.

That's some dedication right there. Now, Marshall viewed sexuality as one of the most powerful forces that bound humans to their bodies, and hindered their efforts to evolve to the next level. So in addition to required members to adopt similar clothing and haircuts to reinforce that they were a non-sexual family, they weren't allowed to participate in any sexual acts.

They weren't even allowed to think sexual thoughts. Like it was heavily frowned upon. October, 1996, the group had been renting a mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, California, close to San Diego. It was a big old house. I don't know how they afforded it. Cause I thought like they were barely making it, but they were getting, they were renting some big mansions.

The pieces are not adding up. That year they recorded two video messages in which they offered their viewers a last chance to evacuate Earth and they uploaded it onto their website. They had their own dedicated website in hopes to bring in more members. They upload this saying like, this is your chance to evacuate Earth, it's gonna happen. Around the same time the group had learned about the approach of a comet named Hale-bop. Is that how you say it?

I feel like that's not right. Uh, the comet Hale-bop is in- Hale-bop! Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. So they make this video, and around this same time, the group had learned about the approach of a comet, Hale-Bopp. This comet was most observed of the 20th century and one of the biggest, or I'm sorry,

the brightest seen for many, many decades. People were going crazy over this comet because it was just like once in a lifetime, it was just incredible. So there's a lot of talk going on about it. And because it was so bright, unlike any other there's a lot of talk going on about it, and because it was so bright unlike any other, and people were getting really hyped about it, hyped, excited about it, it led to the group concluding

that the comet Hale-Bopp had a spaceship following it, and Marshall's wife Bonnie was in that spaceship, and she was coming back for them. So romantic, it was like a love story, like a Romeo and Juliet with spaceships. They believed that this spaceship was the vessel that would take their spirits on board for a journey to another planet.

Marshall truly believed that a government conspiracy was attempting to suppress the word of the alien spaceship. Marshall kept trying to get out there in the newspaper, kind of get in the word out there that there are spaceships coming, come join with us. We have to get out of here, the world's ending. In late March, 1997, the group isolated themselves and recorded farewell statements.

Many of them praised Marshall in their messages and said this is what they wanted to do and that they were looking forward to the afterlife. Marshall also recorded his own video as well. The plan was that the group was just going to commit suicide because it would allow them to ascend to the spaceship as the comet goes by. They had to do it because it was coming along

with the comet and they were gonna miss their ride. So it was like a now or never. If they didn't do it, they wouldn't get on their spaceship. And they were just gonna be stuck here on earth for Lord only knows how long. Oh, they couldn't even think about that. Before the group followed through with their suicides, they went out for a last supper together.

It was said that they went to Marie Callender's, the restaurant, the chain restaurant, I know. I was like, really? They all ordered the exact same thing. They all had iced teas, salads, followed by turkey pot pie, then cheesecake with blueberries on top for dessert. On March 22nd, the suicides began. Members took barbiturates and alcohol,

then placed bags over their heads. They all wore Nike shoes and black tracksuits. It said that the shoes and the outfits were purchased in bulk because of their cost and not necessarily their style. I'm bringing that up because there always has been a big rumor like, why did they pick Nike? Why did they pick the tracksuit and stuff like that?

Came down to just that it was cheaper to buy those. So they did. The deaths occurred over three days. Marshall was one of the last four to die. Three assistants helped him die by suicide, then they killed themselves. Once the members died, a purple shroud was placed over their body

covering their faces. Many of the members laid neatly a purple shroud was placed over their body, covering their faces. Many of the members laid neatly in their bunk beds, all face up, and they all looked exactly the same. An anonymous tip had come in saying that people or the police needed to go and check out this home because some shit went down. So the sheriff's department, they go out to search the mansion, and on March 26th, they discovered the 39 people lying in their bunk beds, identical black and white shoes,

matching tracksuits, they all had an armband that read Heaven's Gate Away Team. Oh, that's kind of funny. It was the largest group suicide involving US citizens since the 1978 mass suicide in Jonestown, which is horrifying story. That's a horrifying story. Let me tell you, I get lost in the Jonestown story

so many times, like that one is just fucking nuts. So this finding turned into a media circus and was widely broadcast. You couldn't avoid it on the news. It was everywhere. Marshall even't avoid it on the news. It was everywhere. Marshall even got a cover on Time Magazine. Next to the bodies, they left little bags, like little pouches, which had their ID

and whatever money they had left. That way the bodies could be identified. So all of the family members were contacted, sadly, and they had to get the news that their kid or their brother, their sister, their partner, whoever it was, was in this and killed themselves. A lot of people just wanted to know, like why wouldn't these people just leave?

Why wouldn't they know better than to believe this spaceship stuff? And a cult member who left said that Marshall isolated the group socially and cultivated an attitude of complete religious obedience in them. Many of the students had made a long-term commitment to him, and many had been around for about 20 years. Marshall was said to be extremely charismatic and a master manipulator. He built trust and fear into his followers,

to the point where they had no reason to question him. What he was saying was true to them, which can be extremely hard to understand, and it is hard to understand. They were loyal and by committing suicide, it was demonstrating that they had conquered the fear of death, and showed their faith in Marshall and the overall religion, cult. So that is the story about Heaven's Gate.

We can all say, oh, they were all brainwashed. I hate that answer, because it's more complicated than that. It is, it's not just you're brainwashed, it's weird. If you've ever been in a controlling or an abusive relationship, it's like that, where you just don't leave. I don't know, unless you've been in it, it's so hard to explain, but I don't know.

I get why the people were stuck in a way. I don't know. I have such mixed feelings about cults because it's like, I know there's probably a few who don't necessarily wanna be there, but they're kind of stuck there. But then there's people who truly want to be there. And it's like, how do you tell the difference

between somebody who doesn't wanna be there and there's like, I want out, and the people who wanna be there? there's like, I want out, and the people who wanna be there. And if they want to be there, should we just back off and let them be? I mean, if they're living happy lives and they're not hurting anybody else, I don't know. I always go back and forth.

When it comes to the Jonestown cult, like that one, those people were sucked into it, but then they were trapped. A lot of people, oh my God, so many people died. 900 and something people, it was just insane. But a lot of them didn't wanna die. Whereas with Heaven's Gate, it's like, I'm not saying that it's not wrong what they were doing

and cults aren't wrong, but how do you tell the difference between the people who just wanna do it and are all for it versus the people who don't? And should we allow others to step in? We have a museum of death out here in Los Angeles and they have a whole setup. They somehow got the track suits and the shoes. It was a donation, I think, from somebody.

And they have a whole setup. They even have a TV going with Marshall with his last message. Oh, it's eerie. You just like, ugh, it's creepy. This is just a personal opinion. But in the very beginning, I had mentioned that Marshall had a relationship with student of his,

a male student of his. It was said that Marshall and Bonnie never participated in sexual relations. And that was part of being clean so they could go into their planet. But I'm thinking like, I think Marshall just, maybe he felt like he couldn't be himself. So he just was like, if I can't have sex,

none of you guys can have sex. You know what I'm saying? Like maybe he wanted to be with a man because he never really got to be who he wanted to be. I don't know. I'm just thinking out of my ass right now. I could be a hundred percent wrong, which I probably am. Cults.

I mean, I think at the end of the day, people just want a sense of community. And if you're feeling lost in the world and you're feeling confused and you're not sure what you're doing or your purpose is, it can be really easy to get sucked right in. And it's sad because a lot of the people who are involved in cults, you know,

their family members will try everything that they can to get them out of it, but then they don't want out. And it's like, you can't force somebody to get out if they don't want out. And oh, I couldn't imagine having a family member in a cult because you can't save them. They have to want to be saved, you know? Oh, I forgot to mention one more thing really quickly

because I'm curious and I just wanted to know, like, did this harm Nike's sales? Because obviously this isn't a good look. This was a worldwide. It wasn't a good look for Nike. There was just a lot of rumors swirling, like maybe Nike's involved. So Nike ended up pulling that style of shoe

that they had used. And obviously they tried to back it up away from the situation. And yeah, not that we should feel sorry for Nike, but there was a pair that were found in storage and it was said to belong to the cult and they sold for around $7,000. I mean, if you got seven grand to spend on a cult shoe,

then let them have it, like, geez. Thank you guys so much for hanging out with me today. Appreciate you guys so much. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week. Stay safe, stay healthy, make good choices, please. I'll be seeing you guys later. Bye. Honestly, I don't think Marie Callender's was a bad choice.

I would do that.