Justice for Faith

This is Deborah Roberts. Welcome to the. 2020 True Crime Vault. Each week we reach back into our. archives and bring you a story we found. unforgettable. >> He broke her teeth. He broke her bones. >> Poisons that you could use that would be. undetectable. >> Oh my goodness. What have you done? >> Take a listen. >> Four bodies. >> 16 bodies. >> 29. Grand total to 39. >> Okay, clear the way. >> What in the hell happened here?

>> Who are these people? >> Members of the cult who believed there. was a UFO waiting to transport them to. the kingdom of heaven. >> Hold your patched Heaven's Gate away. team. >> Diane Sawyer reporting. >> Are you still the messenger? >> How did so many smart, idealistic young. people end up ensnared in a cult? >> 39 to beam up. >> Convinced this one man could teach them. to perfect themselves and get to heaven. >> It's the cult. I mean, it's the cult of. cults. It's the cult of truth.

>> By trying to erase their gender, their. sexuality, their private thoughts. >> Heaven's Gate stands out because it was. so extreme. >> For more than 2 years, we've unearthed. tapes hidden for decades, tracked down. former followers, >> This is the first time that I've been. asked really about the story. >> And the loved ones left behind. >> The sense of betrayal. >> Now [music] trying to unravel the. mystery of Heaven's Gate once and for.

all. >> Be careful who's on the other side of. the door. >> Then I can be your shepherd. >> The cult next door. >> A sprawling mansion, the curtains drawn, a mystery inside. An old video tape begins to into view.

Our first glimpse of a secret world. It is Christmas and we see a kind of. family [music] bustling with activity. In their home videos everyone's smiling, hugging, laughing. At the stove a girl from a well-heeled. New York neighborhood. She was once a. cheerleader, the whole world at her. feet. >> Cuz if you do it too fast it breaks.

It was really entertaining. >> A young man born into a prominent. [music] Connecticut family. His future. filled with opportunity and wealth. >> Are you filming this? >> No. >> [music]. >> The tall man at the door with a blazing. smile, once a Colorado businessman, a. former political candidate. Another beautiful, quiet smile. He is the brother of a famous actress on. an iconic TV show. >> Hailing frequency open, sir. >> She is Lieutenant Uhura from Star Trek.

>> We should have been there 10 minutes. ago, sir. >> Look at the camera. You look great. >> So many people on this tape once high. achievers, strivers, filled with. promise. Now performing a giddy talent show. >> [music]. >> That's a valedictorian, was once a. presidential scholar. So take a closer look at the revelers.

Do you notice anything about them? >> [music]. >> Their haircuts, exactly alike. Baggy clothes, no gender. And with every move they fix [music]. their adoring gaze on one man in the. room. They call him Doe. >> Marshall Herff Applewhite Doe is. basically their god. >> Who is this man called Doe? And what is. the source of his power over highly. accomplished people from all over the.

country. Ohio, Missouri, Minnesota. Listen, he's directing the scene. >> Look at the camera. Where's your normal? There. Ah, good girl. >> [laughter]. >> For more than 20 years, how has he. convinced these followers he can lead. them through the gates of heaven? He promises they'll be carried to the. next level of existence in a UFO. Does he believe what he's saying as he. asks them to record video [music]. farewells to Earth, death just hours.

away? Tapes that raise so many questions about. the narrow divide between choice and. coercion, faith and delusion. >> You think about what Peter Pan that. every time someone stops believing in. little people like her, a little person. dies. >> The people in the world who. thought that I had completely lost my. marbles. They're not right. >> These people who are laughing. >> 24 or 48 hours later ingest poisonous.

barbiturates and kill themselves with. bags tied over their heads. >> Sheriff's Department with a search. warrant demanding entry. >> And on top of the table. there's one body. >> We're going to begin tonight with a. strange suicide of the 30. >> It's very strange. >> March 26, 1997. America reels at one of. the most bizarre stories in the history. of cults and religion. >> One on top of another. One bed here, one.

bed there. >> Four bodies, six bodies. >> 10, 12. >> 14, 16, 19. >> Body after body. >> 23 bodies. >> 29, 33. >> On the floor, on tables. >> Now 38. Grand total to 39. >> 39 people. >> deceased. >> On the stair landing, on bunk beds. Why. were they wearing homemade spaceship. uniforms, brand new Nike sneakers, their. pockets filled with their ID cards, lip. [music] balm, spiral notebooks? >> The largest mass suicide on US soil in.

this century. >> Even the hardened cops at the scene are. stunned. >> Okay, clear the way. >> What in the hell happened here? Who are these people? >> Three to beam up. Energize. >> 39 to beam up. Thank you. >> She goes. 39 to beam up. You know, and and that. I I think that just said it all. I felt. so sorry for her. >> It can be the best thing in the.

>> of Heaven's Gate. >> Find the next kingdom. >> begins. >> Yes, it is. It's a cult. I mean, it's. the cult of cults. It's the cult of truth. >> For more than 2 years, we've been. pouring over the decades of old. documents, video tapes, hundreds of. hours of audio tape we've not heard. before. Tapes found in archives and storage. bins. We set out to find former. followers, including the anonymous. caller. What secrets will he share 25. years later? And other witnesses start to come out of.

the shadows to talk with [music] us. about our central question. How did wonderful people so much like. our friends, our family, end [music] up. ensnared in a cult? A life of isolation, rituals, medieval. hoods blocking their faces, some even. castrating themselves to curb any sexual. desire. And for every face on these. videos, there are so many anguished. [music] people they left behind. Parents, children, lovers desperate to.

find them. >> My parents ran the Heaven's Gate cult. >> My wife was Yvonne. >> What happened to my brother? >> Is he still living? >> This was the love of my life. >> A child abandoned by her mother and her. father. [music]. >> Both your parents. Both. Did you have a moment where you said. goodbye? >> I just couldn't stop crying. And then that was it. They were gone.

>> So now, go back again and take one more. look at the followers living secretly. inside the big house next door. >> Let's [music and singing] start at the. very beginning. >> Honored a beloved song from a beloved. movie. >> A doe, a deer, a female deer. >> Twisted into an anthem about serving. Doe, their leader. Even to death. We'll help you follow along. >> [music].

[singing]. [music]. >> The gentleman said I'm from the. coroner's office in San Diego. So, I knew immediately why he called and. that all hope was lost. >> This sense of betrayal. and literally asking the question to. myself. >> [snorts].

[snorts]. >> Sorry to interrupt. >> Go ahead. >> I think, what a [music] waste. All of. those 39 people. What a waste. What a. waste of talent and beauty [music] cuz. they were good. They had good hearts. These people were not malicious. >> I just wish that there was some way. she could have found [music] something. worth living for him. >> Coming up next, who was this leader. called Doe and how did he become the man.

with the haunting eyes and horrifying. [music] plan? >> He was very deliberate about wanting to. go out with a bang, something that. everybody would notice. And they did. >> Every deranged leader was something else. [music] before he was a deranged leader. >> [music].

>> The story of the man called Doe begins. with a little boy in a Texas [music]. house. A precocious child who wants to. be just like his dad. >> Marshall Herff Applewhite was the son of. of a preacher, a very successful. Presbyterian preacher. >> Father and son both named Marshall Herff. Applewhite. At the age of five, the young boy walks. into a meeting of church elders and says. [music] he's fired up to start preaching. the word of God, too.

>> Was nearly always on the honor roll and. president of the class and he was just. [music]. a born leader. >> His older sister, Louise Whynant. >> I just really felt like I had to do this. so that I could let people know that he. was a wonderful person. One time. >> You knew him in the '70s? >> We searched for someone [music] who. might remember him then. >> You get the old characters. I'm almost. 90 and she's.

>> 87. >> Yeah. >> And a half. >> Reverend John and Eleanor Alexander have. never spoken on camera before. They sang in a choir with their good. friend, Herff. >> A wonderful, wonderful baritone voice. >> [singing]. >> Big smile all the time. He was the kind. of young man that most mothers would be. thrilled to death for their daughters to. marry. >> Kevin and Teresa Cooney say he was their.

loving musical mentor. >> Why this confusion? >> He had a very positive effect on all of. us. We all adored him. >> Applewhite marries his high school. girlfriend, another star student from a. Christian family. He's in Colorado getting his master's. when he becomes a surprisingly big star. in local theater. Take it from the 18-year-old girl who. appeared with him in Annie Get Your Gun.

Does she look familiar? It's TV star. Joan Van Ark blazing onto the 1979 hit. Knots Landing. >> Okay, they're all set. >> Look at you. Oh, hello. How was he on. stage? >> Wonderful on stage. Wonderful energy and. you knew he loved being there. I didn't see struggling with anything. I. just saw isolation. >> As if something were hidden behind his. famously powerful voice. He even sang.

with the opera. >> [music]. >> A voice last heard long ago. We were. told all sound of him was lost. It took us months, but we heard about an. old recording in a university archive. Inside a vinyl record untouched for. decades. When it begins to turn, a stunning sound. emerges. Marshall Herff Applewhite [music]. singing a solo about suffering.

>> [music]. [music]. [music]. >> With his beautiful wife and two. children, he had a job as music. professor at the University of Alabama. >> Outwardly, he's trying to present. himself as a respectable heterosexual. university professor. He's married,

kids, beautiful wife. >> When he is 33 years old, a shadow moves. in. Suddenly, his wife goes back to her. parents. The children go with her. >> [music]. >> The rumors are rampant. >> Secretly, he's got these gay affairs. going on. >> His old friends knew nothing of [music]. the reason he felt he had to resign. >> We didn't even have the word homosexual. when we were going to school. >> In in the '50s. [laughter].

>> It probably was there, but it just never. occurred to anybody. >> 1 2 3 4. >> We sift through the hours of old audio. tape out of the past and find one that. has never been released before. Audett Applewhite, now the leader of a. cult with his followers, remembering the moment he had to tell. his formidable parents he is gay. >> After years of marriage, finally decided. that it couldn't play a double life. game. Really more.

naturally. a homosexual than heterosexual. And. after 13 years of marriage, drove to. Texas to tell the parents. And it was like going to tell everybody, get it all over with. >> My understanding is that the. confrontation between Herff and his. father, when he found out that his son. was gay, he completely and utterly. rejected him. >> Years later, Applewhite on that old.

audio tape quotes his parents' reaction. >> What kind of sins have I committed for. the Lord to scorn me this way? [music]. >> Through the years, when he mentions the. word father, even his heavenly father, his voice often breaks. >> His father. >> Father. >> Father. Heavenly Father. >> His ability to recognize his father. And want to be like his father. >> He enters a kind [music] of free fall. >> Everything was just. crumbling, going downhill. [music].

>> He was bisexual, but he couldn't even. make relationships work with the men in. his life, either. >> It was disastrous to have [music] a. relationship. Kept getting sucked into. relationships. >> [music]. >> Applewhite is in New Mexico, unmoored. from his brilliant future, cast away. from his childhood religion, >> [music]. >> and now tormented by voices and visions. in his head. >> It was barely daylight on a Sunday. morning. Drove the little green Fiat, that little convertible. Got out in the. middle of the bridge and and screamed.

to God and said, "You've got to give me. some focus, or at least [music] give me. the guts to jump off this bridge.". Cuz I can't handle this. I just don't. want to be here anymore. >> [music]. [singing].

>> In a different world in a different time. with more acceptance of being diverse. he might have been able to deal with it. better. I don't know. >> It's a an absolute perfect Greek [music]. tragedy. He is a very talented man who. sings. What does he do with his singing? He seduces people into a crazy cult. He's a man full of sexual energy. What. does he do?

He castrates [music] himself. >> Some terrible thing must have happened. in his mind and emotions that we don't. understand. I speak right out and think. about it again. >> Applewhite says he was just at a. hospital visiting a friend, but there. are other versions. Was he a patient. [music] trying to cope with voices, visions, panic attacks? >> One is that he went in for heart. palpitations. He does say he's having. these weird [music] spiritual. experiences, cracking under pressure.

>> Some type of heart problem, [music]. near-death experience. He met this nurse. who said that she was sure God brought. him back for a reason. >> The nurse is named Bonnie Lu Nettles. She's a married mother of four children, dabbles in astrology, and UFOs. At. first, [music] she seems to be falling. for the handsome, fragile young man, but. there's no chance of romance. >> [music]. >> Instead, she gives a diagnosis. >> It's not that you're going crazy. It's. not that you're sick. It's not that. you're a failure. It's that you just.

haven't met me yet. Here's the solution. You don't belong on this planet. [music]. >> And she will say those unearthly voices. may be anointing him as the prophet of a. new religion with a kind of heaven that. [music] glorifies him. She changes her hair just like his and. says she will be right there [music]. with him, guiding him. >> From that moment, my life changed. Changed very significantly.

>> Like they had a purpose, which was. immortalizing each other. >> A self-idealization. >> And that [music] is how two cracked. people head out across America, gathering followers they will lead down. a dark and dangerous path. >> [music].

[music]. >> The '70s, a time of upheaval and the. search for new answers. >> There were the Moonies, the Children of. God, the Hare Krishnas. People were having these amazing [music]. experiences under the influence of. psychedelic drugs, becoming one with the. universe. >> The first space flights, and the heavens.

seem open. >> More than 12,000 reported sightings of. unidentified flying objects. >> But here is a picture that was released. >> It was hovering over the house. >> At this moment, two self-appointed. >> messengers from God put up handmade. posters, inviting curious seekers of all kinds. just to come to a meeting. >> [music].

>> If you're comfortable, coming closer, we would welcome you to. do so. >> At a table, two unthreatening. middle-aged people with matching. haircuts. >> We [music] can. help you limitlessly. >> He was deeply charismatic. >> You feel like he He speaking directly to. you. >> They know they don't look like biblical. prophets. So, with folksy intensity, they call themselves silly names like Ti. and Do and Winnie and Pooh.

>> There's a playfulness to it, isn't. there? >> I think part of that is very explicit. >> Is it playful or something else? >> I think it's playful. I think it's also. intentionally disruptive. And part of. that is their appeal. >> He knows their message about a UFO. coming to pick them up sounds crazy out. on the street. >> So, in saying that we should quickly be. locked up. >> But he says, "Take a chance. Come with. them. Live under the stars.". The way to get to heaven, he says, is to. become pure enough, sort of like angels.

And they can teach you how to do that. >> Spacecrafts could come in by the. thousands. Maybe come in shifts. >> I say it was America's UFO religion. >> A Christian UFO new age high-tech sci-fi. religion? >> You said it better than I did. That's. it. What's absolutely critical. to understand that Heaven's Gate did not. begin as a suicide group. Their explicit. draw was that you did not have to die to.

go to heaven. >> We began searching in the shadows for. any seekers drawn to those meetings or. former followers who might remember how. young they once were. >> [music]. >> I love that song. >> [music]. >> My name is Leslie Light. >> Just a young girl at a crossroads and a. little uncertain.

>> But I was like [music] a hippie in Marin. County. I was struggling with what I. believed and what I wanted to do. Like, do I want to give everything up or. do I want to go out, you know, and find. a boyfriend and have sex and. get a job. >> Just kind of new agey, but science fiction as as Sort of like. Star Trek meets uh Sherwood Forest, you. know. >> Aaron Greenberg grew up a wealthy kid on. Long Island. He was back from Vietnam.

living in a kind of commune. >> I was spiritual, but I wasn't religious. My dad used to have a saying that if. there's a god, he lives on Wall Street. >> He liked the idea of free spirits. camping under the stars. What's not to. like? >> [laughter]. >> They never said no sex, but if you're. with somebody and you're really. really attracted, have sex and then get. on with it. What do you say? Don't. linger at the river. What a crazy. adventure, let's check it out. >> I felt like, well, why shouldn't I check.

it out? >> These two curious young people did check. it out and decided to move on. But who were the other young people who. walked in the door to check it out? At the moment, ordinary vulnerability. leads you to surrender to someone with. certainty. A perfectionist disappointed in herself, the valedictorian Margaret Richter. That's her playing guitar. >> [music]. >> Margaret always had a sparkle,

especially when she was singing. She. would twinkle. >> So smart, she graduated college in 3. years, married her high school. sweetheart. The [music] marriage cracked. apart. >> She never failed at anything. It was. really hard on her. >> In a lonely moment, strangers reach out. >> There's help for anything. >> They lead Margaret Richter to her death. >> [music]. >> David Cabot Van Sinderen, the child of a. privileged family. His father a CEO who.

also taught at Yale. The son wanted to live simply in nature. >> Good job. Good job. Come on home, lots for you guys. >> To be with him was to be in the presence. of. magic. >> He meets strangers who also talk about. living simply [music] at a campground. He ends up giving them his trust fund. and his life.

In another meeting, a 26-year-old actor, singer, [music] model, Dick Joslin. >> As they wash up upon. the shore, find [music] a new. >> He looks back at the moment he walked in. with bruising memories from high school. >> [music]. >> I was in love with my best friend in. high school, totally unobtainable. I got. into college, fell in love with another. straight guy, totally unobtainable. I felt tossed around so much. >> It makes no difference at all. Asexual.

or homosexual or heterosexual. [music]. >> I thought, "Well, this is a way to take. control of my existence.". >> He thinks he's going out a kind of. retreat. He will be ensnared in Heaven's. Gate for 15 years. [music]. >> When people ask me, "Well, what kind of. person joins a cult?" There's one common. characteristic, it's idealism. >> We've spent months contacting leading. experts on cults from all around the. world. They say, "Remember, every one of. us craves belonging, a community. A cult.

is a community, but with a trapdoor inside.". >> Everyone. >> [music]. >> could be vulnerable if the right message. comes at the right or the very wrong. time in their lives. No one ever joins a. cult. No one ever says, "Oh, I'm going. to go and and give up my critical. thinking and sell my soul to someone. who's obviously trying to manipulate. me.". >> They're offering clarity. They're. offering a really a moral vision of the. world that's very important, too. In one.

case, the person actually said, "If. instead I'd met a bunch of young people. who were about to leave for Guatemala to. build schools, she would have abandoned her. middle-class life and gone off and done. that.". >> So, I think part of what we have to keep. in mind is that this is the extreme, but. that we all have the capacity to believe. in stepping out on faith. >> Like the faith of a little Catholic girl. who wanted to be a nun. She decided to come forward after all. these years. her name, Ananda Johnson.

>> The snag, the carrot, was do what was. done in the time of Jesus when he said. to his disciples, "Leave everything behind and follow me. and take this path.". >> She was an 18-year-old college student. when she walked in the door [music] and. heard a stranger offer a mystical. connection to something larger than. herself. >> And he puts being a caterpillar.

and he goes off into a chrysalis and he. becomes a butterfly. >> I'm going to sit right here and build a. cocoon and isolate myself from the world. and become. a new creature that can. move beyond this realm. >> It's the first time she's told her whole. story. >> Oh my goodness, yes. >> I'm trying to look at you and think what. what are you really feeling? >> I'm feeling a little protective of the.

experience. This is um. the first time that I've been asked. really about the story. >> The story of how she disappeared into a. cult for 17 years. Experts warn us all that sometimes what. seems like love is a disguise for. madness. Coming up, the followers are summoned to. a remote mountain in Wyoming. We find a tape unopened for 45 years.

showing us the moment the classic cult. tactics begin. [music]. For 45 years of reel of film sat. unopened in a storage facility. The can. labeled camp scenes, an undramatic title. for the dramatic moment so many innocent. people's lives are about to change.

>> [music]. >> For the first time, we see them. All the. hopeful young people in little chairs. like a backyard barbecue. [music]. In front of them, Marshall Herff. Applewhite in casual overalls. Next to. him, Bonnie Nettles. All those perfectionists, dreamers, [music]. idealists. Dick Joslyn there with his movie star. hair. Ananda there in the middle looking for. her mystical joy. And that valedictorian Margaret Richter.

with a small wrapped smile. The brother of that Star Trek heroine, Thomas Nichols, seems pensive. [music]. And here, another follower laughing not. knowing he's just taken the first. [music] step on a path to isolation, castration, and death. Led there [music] by the two leaders. filled with cracked certainties. >> They weren't trying to pull the wool. over anyone's eyes. They truly believed. that they were from the next level and. teachers [music]. of next level ways.

>> I think the the most dangerous con. artists are those who have conned. themselves first. >> We can see it begin with the warmth of a. common purpose. To buy food and camp. supplies, everyone pools their money. Including the large savings of a. successful businessman and a follower's. trust fund. They gather around the campfire. Yana Gibbons [music] was just 16 years. old and the youngest recruit at Heaven's. Gate.

>> Hello. Hi. >> The child of a volatile broken home, she. thought she was surrounded by love and. stability. >> Everyone had kind, beautiful energy. If. you took a group of people that all. wanted to be the very, very, very. finest, best [music] people that they. could possibly be. >> Next, conformity. They cut their hair to. be all the same like monks. Their. colorful, individual outfits exchanged.

for gray uniforms. >> Most people, if put into the right. circumstance, [music] will tend to. conform. >> Together they participate in the daily. rituals. Silent meditation, every 12. minutes stop for a reflection, a kind of. prayer. >> I learned to show up at a single spot. every 12 minutes and [music] concentrate. on being of service. >> You would consider yourself successful. if you spoke not one word in the whole. day. >> Slowly you drift into these ideas and as.

you're slowly drifting like the frog. boiling in the water, >> [music]. >> you're not really aware that they're all. that radical. >> The leaders give them a tuning fork and. say go high up in the mountains and make. a connection to the higher level. Sawyer, a musician, spent night after. [music] night hoping for a miracle. >> That was tuned to the 440 hertz, the A. tone. You would put it to your head and feel. the vibration of it and try to tune into. that vibration. >> [music].

>> Summer passes, then winter, then spring. No spaceship comes. All ties now cut off to their families. >> [music]. >> Complete isolation. Those families frantic about their loved. ones. >> They just disappeared off the map. >> I hired a private detective. >> [music]. >> The families are increasingly frantic. about their loved ones. A mother looking for her son, Nancy. Brown, starts a newsletter where. families can pool their facts, arrange. search parties, terrified they are lost. in a cult and it's already too late.

>> [music]. >> You can hear the anguish in an old audio. tape. A daughter missing for a year. In. a rare phone call her parents are trying. not to say the wrong thing as she seems. to be slipping away. >> So, what kind of group are you with? >> Oh, kind of kind of like bum. >> Oh, really? >> We're all together. >> Uh-huh. Oh, that's nice. >> Gail Mater had traveled with her. boyfriend to California to open a shop.

The shop failed, he leaves. >> That a vulnerable time. She had just. been through a breakup. Uh she was alone. out in California and. you know, they became her new family. >> This is a tape of that family cutting. her hair. >> Love you so much and I miss you awfully. Don't forget how much I love you. Come up and see us. I'll buy you a. ticket.

>> Her grandmother begs. >> Oh, no, Gale, you've got to come. >> I thought you'd say that. >> Oh, I want to see you so badly. >> Another plea. >> Oh, when are you coming home? >> I don't know, probably never. >> Coming up, the group moves into houses. where the leaders intensify control. >> Okay, we're rolling tape. >> Heaven's Gate was so extreme, a total.

attack on individuality, humanity, sexuality. >> They created one of the toughest. indoctrination programs I've encountered. in 30 some years of doing this. >> It's the classic culty cult. You had a. ring of power as in Tolkien's ring of. power where there's a person that had. total authority and everyone else. followed.

>> The sun goes down. Sometimes at night, secretly, silently, packed cars pull up to new houses, often. big ones. >> There might be 20, 30 people that would. move into this house and the neighbors. would be none the wiser. >> No, nobody knew. My guess is 3/4 of the. people never set foot out the door and I. was one of them. Ever. >> Ever? >> Right. And there probably wasn't even. any open windows. It was like a little spaceship.

>> One of the most extreme cults in America. is right next door. Rent has been paid in cash from the. pooled money, including the money of. that follower with a trust fund. Inside, the leaders are now saying they. are stuck here on Earth, that the UFOs. won't come until the followers are pure. enough to be taken to the next level. Which means purging themselves of. personal opinions. >> We had to have a structure, and that.

structure then immediately became an. infringement on doing what I want to do. when I want to do it. >> Literally, everything that you do. throughout the day, every day, day after. day is prescribed down to the minute. >> You say, "Good night. This is. structured.". And I love it. >> Wake up after a night of little sleep, no bed of your own. >> There was about 40 of us, and so we were.

divided into three shifts. Three people. shared a bed. >> [music]. >> Bathe in 6 minutes. The bathroom, a kind of carpool lane. >> You'd be in the bathroom with another. person. There'd be one person taking a. bath, on the other side of the curtain, another person doing their minute. >> Then the next level, everybody knows. when you go to the bathroom, you leave the door open for a lot of. awkwardness. if the crew you're working with doesn't. know everything that's going on.

>> How you brushed your teeth, how you used. the toilet, how you washed your body. >> They had rules about dressing, they had. rules about talking, [music] they had. rules about sex. Rules about how big to make the pancake, you know, it was rules upon rules upon. rules. >> To purify and clean their bodies, they. used enemas and fasts. >> We did water fasts, juice [music] fasts. What we were really testing was. liberating ourselves. >> Regularly, the followers are called to.

meetings so that Do can pass on. telepathic messages received from space, from the next level of existence. More. procedures and rules with narcissistic. abandon that can go on for hours and. hours. >> We're going to make an hour and a half. meeting out of this 10 minutes. >> These two who've been sitting here this. whole hour with me and haven't asked me. a blooming thing. >> [laughter]. >> These hours and hours of digressive. observations, and you think who sits through this?

>> Chemistry. >> This is right to be this is saying. because it. >> Talking that gobbledygook for hours on. end just kind of puts you in a trance. Your critical thinking has been shut. down. >> That study has difficult to be with the. vehicle that wants to go to sleep. >> Thank you so much. You're pretty sleepy. I think you better wake up if you. possible. >> Each follower [music] has a check. partner to monitor how faithfully they. follow the procedures. And at times the. leaders seem impatient the followers are. not measuring up. >> If I wouldn't pick any of you, then.

nobody else would. >> If I don't love procedures, I am. rebellious. >> Starting with any distrust of the. leaders and their message. Again, one of. the old audio tapes from meetings with. followers. >> We shouldn't be trying to convince. people to trust us. In my mind, they're they're in pretty. bad shape. >> We're not going to do it. >> trust us by now. We hope we have proven to you. that we are trustworthy. If we're not,

then that's your problem. >> The most egregious offense, a sexual. thought of any kind. >> If you're from my father's kingdom, you know that. Jesus. >> [music]. >> was not a sexual creature. >> And we can buy shirts that have double. pockets. You say, "Why double pockets?". Well, because it helps [clears throat]. take the emphasis off of shape, particularly like female vehicles. And.

the male in the same way, tight blue. jeans, tight belt, tight shirt, Mr. macho, you know, cowboy boots and. whatever it is. >> If you had a wet dream, you got up in. the night, you recorded it, you checked. out a washcloth, you cleaned yourself. up, and maybe you wrote a note. Did you. watch a TV program that night and focus. on a figure that turned you on? >> Those written confessions, called. slippages, will be discussed by the. whole group. We're to give you ideas on. how you should control yourself. [music].

>> The slippages have to stop. Do you know what I would do if I had. that problem? I would say tie my hands. to the side of the bed so that in half. sleep, half awake state, I wouldn't be. able to do such a thing. Because I want to overcome it. And. >> But we don't want you to tie people's. arms to the bed. >> But I mean, I wouldn't want to either. that or get boxing gloves. >> Former PhD candidates, powerful. businessmen, told the next level wants. them to be pure like children.

>> Become like an innocent child. >> Each is given a new last name. >> Checkodi, there's Destodi. [music]. >> A family name Odi, which they're told. means children of God. >> Look at the camera. You look great. >> Gary St. Louis, who had been an. engineer. >> Hi, where's your normal? There. Ah, good. >> [laughter]. >> If you can infantilize someone, then you. make them more dependent on you. >> Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree.

>> And as if they are kindergarten. children, the former music director. teaches them a little song. >> Laugh, Kookaburra. Laugh, Kookaburra. Gay your life must be. >> Coming up, who are the followers who. decide to break for freedom and send out. a warning to the whole world about cults. as the countdown toward castration and. death begins. >> Welcome to Beyond Human.

>> Get in your vehicle. Nora, get in your. vehicle. Alex, get in your vehicle. >> We'll leave these flesh bodies behind. >> Diane Sawyer reporting. [music]. >> How did you decide it was time for you. to leave? >> As they prepare for departure, can we. finally solve the mystery of Heaven's. Gate? These people who were laughing 24. or 48 hours later killed [music]. themselves with bags tied over their. heads. >> They were tired. They had been waiting. 20-some years for the damn UFO [music]. to come.

>> Your only chance is to leave with us. >> Bright young people looking for answers. >> Protesting the microphones. This is fun. >> And under extreme [music]. rules about food, sex, sleep, even their. thoughts. Now, the ones who walked away [music]. and lived to tell. >> If I stayed with this group, I was going. to sleep. >> And the single one chosen to share tapes. of their final hours.

>> See you sometime in the future. >> We just sat there and gasped as each one. of these members said their goodbyes. >> Couldn't be happier about what we're. about to do. >> They didn't have any free will. We need. to treat this as a homicide scene. There were 38 murders. and one suicide. >> Is there a lesson there for today? >> Whenever a society is in disarray, as we. certainly are, that's when cults can. recruit successfully. >> We'll see you in our next session.

>> [music]. >> The followers of Heaven's Gate are in. hiding, moving every few months to. dozens of houses, sometimes mansions in. the Southwest. 48 people sealed inside. And now there is a crisis. The large. trust fund they used for rent is. dwindling. Members have to go out into the world to. get jobs for money.

Panic. How do you work outside and keep. the secret of who you really are? >> We were making up names. We'd make up. social security numbers. We would never. use bank accounts. We would uh depart. for work at certain times in certain. cars and a specific route would be. taken. >> After work, straight back to the group. No tempting personal life. People are. suddenly exposed to humans, women. wearing skimpy clothes.

The obedient girl who had joined the. group when she was just 16 is now a. 21-year-old waitress. That's her in the. [music] picture. She's hearing the sound. of her own voice again. >> Luckily, we did start restaurant jobs at. the very end because I hadn't spoken. probably in 4 years. >> She starts to have a recurrent. nightmare. Everyone around her has. sleeping sickness. >> If I stayed it with this group, I was. going to sleep. [music] I made the. decision to leave. >> The leaders find out she's allowed to.

leave. They did not want anyone. spreading doubt in the house. >> They encouraged. >> [music]. >> people to leave. uh at certain points. We want people to. go forward who are [music] committed. >> Over the years, followers of Heaven's. Gate do leave, but in a kind of pattern. like sleeper cells, >> [music]. >> so many feel called back. >> Those members of our class who dropped. out, they couldn't deny [music] this. truth. >> Once you've already alienated yourself. from everyone, it becomes very hard to.

go back to your old community. It. becomes a lot harder to do that. >> Experts say it takes a lot of support to. stay out in the world. >> Returning to life does not undo the. programmed identity. In a moment of. stress, anxiety, some trigger can. happen. >> And look now, you can see what's. happening at the moment a former. follower is going to go back. An old. home video of computer whiz Gary St. Louis, 3 years out in the world, working. on big projects, a girlfriend, Shelly.

King. >> [music]. >> Blue blue eyes, happy eyes, alive. They. were just always [music] curious and. inquisitive. >> She knows he's going back in. She grabs. a camcorder. >> This is my Shelly haircut. Everybody looks at me and says, "Gosh, what happened?". >> She beseeches him not to be lured back, but his impatience seems to mean she's. already lost that fight. >> Do you have any questions, Shelly? Is. there anything I didn't cover? I know. it's kind of a quickie. >> No, we're just I just wanted I want I. wanted some some moving pictures of you.

Um. >> Um excuse the mess. The whole whole. house here is a mess. >> I don't know I don't know how long why I. wanted to tell them I'll keep this tape, but I thought that other people might. like to see you, too, and that's why I. wanted to do it. >> I begged him. >> If you all choose to think that I'm not, then so be it. That's your choice. Maybe. I am. >> Gary says Lewis says he was out in the. world, and here, 5 years later. >> Look at the cameras. Where's your normal. There. Ah.

>> [laughter]. >> And we also meet someone who remembers. the searing pain of being a little girl. abandoned by her parents not once, but. twice. In 1975, the mother who held her. and sang You Are My Sunshine. And her. artist father announced to their child. they'd been selected to live with Space. Angels. And even the Bible says. disciples can't bring children.

Kelly is just 10 years old. >> They both explained that they were going. to go with. this group to the next level, and. um they I could not come. >> What's the name of the feeling inside. you at that moment? >> Shock and. uh and I I couldn't believe that they. were going to do this. I didn't. understand how they.

thought. it would be okay for me to be left. behind. I really didn't. >> Did you ask to go with them? >> Yeah, and I and I tried to. talk them out of it uh several times, and um. they. just. didn't. >> Over the next 5 years, she lives with. her godmother and her grandparents. But. then on her 16th birthday, her parents. suddenly reappear. Then after 3 years, they leave again. It.

seems they can't get Doe's voice out of. their heads. >> They must weigh where their [music]. responsibility is. To their heavenly father. or to those children. >> [music]. >> A child has to suffer for the second. time. >> I just couldn't stop crying. And then that was it. They were gone.

>> And now at Heaven's Gate, things will. change dramatically. Change into. something much darker. Bonnie Nettles. diagnosed with melanoma in her eye. >> She had her glass eye. She always had. sunglasses on. >> The former nurse [music] knows she's. dying. >> Breaks my heart. to recall the experience. >> His old depression and confusion seem to. return. The 54-year-old man constantly in tears.

[music] and a hypochondriac sure he's. dying, too. >> He believed he was sick. All. psychosomatic, you know. >> He brings Dick Joslyn in to be his new. aid, but the old physical yearnings. arise. >> When I interviewed Dick Joslyn, he said, "One day, Doe takes me aside and says, you know, I hate to say this, but you. can't be my helper anymore. The problem. is my vehicle is becoming attracted to. your vehicle.".

>> Hard not [music] to think of that little. boy who once faced rejection. >> There's no sexuality. [music]. There's no sensuality. That is very. distasteful to us. >> Again, we warn our viewers what. Applewhite and his followers decide next. may be difficult to hear. >> If your eye offend you, pluck it out. If. you It's the same idea. >> And what will the leader do now since. Bonnie Lu Nettles did not fly off in a.

cloud of light, >> Worst thing that can happen for a. prophecy is the future. >> A UFO did not pick her up, and that's. when they begin to transform their. ideology that it isn't about you going. up in this body, it's that you may have. to leave this body behind. Inside a home with the curtains drawn, young men are battling their craving for. human touch and sexuality. The conversation turns to castration.

The surgery was practiced in ancient. civilizations by servants who wanted to. be unthreatening to the king. It's even. mentioned in the Bible. A former nurse in the group thinks she. knows enough to perform the surgery on. her own. In a rented warehouse, Heaven's Gate. hangs a little homemade sign on the door. that says hospital.

There are different versions of how much. Doe supported this experiment. We do. know that the first volunteer was Steven. Terry McCarter, age 35. He even competes. for the chance to do it in a coin toss. Doe comes to watch, so do other. followers, including Sawyer. >> And she gave him several injections that. would numb the area around the testicle. sack. I would got weak in the knees. Doe. was standing right next to me, and so.

she snipped the the cords that feed the. the testicles with the different fluids, and sewed them back up. >> Suddenly, horrifyingly, there is a. serious problem. >> And then all of a sudden he could see. that the testicle sack was getting. bigger. It was like inflating. >> They don't know what to do for the young. man moaning in pain. Doe panics [music]. at the line he has crossed. >> He said, "I I've taken it too far. I. need to go to the police." When he said. that, I was like, we all said, "No way.".

Which was unheard of for us to say to. Doe. about anything. >> They take the agonizing young follower. to the hospital where he uses a fake. [music] name and is treated. Eventually, they find doctors in Mexico. who agree to do the procedure or to. provide chemical castration drugs which. lower sexual hormones. At least seven followers get surgery. One of them, the youngest [music]. follower, 25 years old. And so does Marshall Herff Applewhite.

who said he suffered painful. complications. >> He had some problems. [music]. They made a few mistakes. >> But even before those surgeries took. place, a girl who followed Applewhite to. become a kind of butterfly was. despairing at the darkness descending. >> How did you decide it was time for you. to leave? >> Mhm. I was despondent and I think it. took me a couple of years to.

have the courage to. tell myself this that I'm. a failure at. this process and. um. >> Ananda says her fellow followers had. changed when a member broke her hip in a. bike accident and had to be taken to the. hospital, they reproached her. >> It made me so sad that she was. made to feel so guilty for jeopardizing. our security at the time. Doe changed a.

lot in my perception. >> How? >> That conversation had started if there. were alternative ways. Maybe we are. needing to. demonstrate that we're willing to do. whatever it takes to move on to the next. level. And then this whole conversation. of how to deal with this sexuality and. castration and like, okay, this is this. is definitely my. time to. make a a change.

I remember sitting down, writing the. note, and walking myself through this. You got to do this. You got to do this. You got to do this. Just do it. Do it. Do it. >> Nearly 17 years after she joined, Annanda walked out the door. And Dick Jocelyn also left the cult. >> [music]. >> and remembers the moment he woke up. >> It still raises up. It's like a little. plant [music] breaking through concrete.

The power of the. of the individual mind to say, "I'm sorry. I just can't buy this. anymore.". >> Afterwards, he wrote [music] a song. about the real world too beautiful to. ignore. >> You can get [music] enough doubts there. that one day that little shelf breaks. That might be a moment when they'll. think, "I've got to get out of here.". >> [music]. >> Come on, Mom. Are you glad to be here?

>> Very. >> And look at the joy in this mother's. face when her son, a follower of the. group, >> [music]. >> walks in the door. He is allowed to. visit home to let his family know he's. okay. and tell them they should stop looking. for [music] him. His mother's so excited she bakes a. birthday cake for the 12 years he's been. estranged from the family. >> There's 12 candles for 12 birthday. years. We're catching up all and I'm all right.

>> David's youngest brother was there, Brian Moore, now a physician. >> In the video where we're. planting those trees, you couldn't tell he was anything other. than just a normal guy doing stuff. >> Job well done, fellas. >> But there are worrying clues. >> [music]. >> And when the family conversation turns. to Heaven's Gate, his face signals stay. away. The family, a threat to his mission.

>> This is what I believe. >> It sounded something. >> Be weird, guys. >> He books an untraceable route out of. town. [music]. This is the last time Nancy Brown will. see her son. 10 years later, his death. >> And then, the worst of all things to. have your son die. as a parent. >> [music]. >> before yourselves.

>> Coming up inside Heaven's Gate, the. final countdown. Do ask followers to. make one more trip to see if more. vulnerable people will increase their. ranks for the day they die. >> [music]. >> Here we go. You ready for posters? >> Heaven's Gate is recruiting again, and. with a new marketing idea. [music] This.

time, they are kind of space crew, like. Star Trek. >> We sometimes use an analogy of Star. Trek. >> Star Trek. Star Trek. >> Star Trek. >> Star Trek. >> Nobody seems [music] to buy it. >> It just all seems very, very vague. >> How do you absolutely know that you are. not deluding yourself? >> Members out on the road feel little. response, little respect. [music]. So, they decide the internet is the. [music] answer. Some of the followers. are working for sophisticated online.

companies. One of them run by a man. whose ad they saw on TV. An unsuspecting Nick Matzorkis, who. thought he had hired dream employees. >> They were [music] intelligent, capable, warm, reliable. They, you know, had presented. [music] themselves as being part of a. new age monastery. >> Matzorkis had no idea 25 years ago he. would soon be smack in the middle of a. cult scandal. >> You're ready to roll. >> More than 20 years.

>> It's hard to believe that I was a part. of it in any way. You know, it's kind of. like a body experience. >> His quiet employees have been producing. videos for their superstar for his. comeback. >> Welcome to Beyond Human. >> Doe, 60 years old and looking excited. about his role of all-knowing space. creature with worshipful followers. planted in front of him. >> Who've been sitting here this whole hour. with me and haven't asked me a blooming. thing? >> In all, he talks on camera for 15 hours,

digressive monologues, his old hit list. >> Get in your vehicle. Nora, get in your. vehicle. Alex, get in your vehicle. >> Italian food, certain kind of wine, type. of a brain food, fruitarians. >> He now suggests that he is the second. coming of Christ, and the outside world. is a corrupt conspiracy. Lucifer, the. devil, everywhere outside of Heaven's. Gate. >> The kingpin. is the same old guy, Lucifer, Satan. >> He also says the millennium coming means.

the apocalypse. >> We'll title this tape Planet Earth. about to be recycled. Your only chance to evacuate is to leave. with us. >> There were a lot of apocalyptic groups. You have not just Waco movements, but. you have the Oklahoma City bombings. saying the world as we know it either is. going to end or has to come to an end. >> The reviews online for Heaven's Gate are. scathing.

But it was one click on the internet. that lured in the last new followers. Yvonne Hill, a beloved postal worker, mother of five including newborn twins. >> [music]. >> Her family says she was suffering from. postpartum depression. >> I remember the sense of care. um that [music] she had of us. specifically. >> We were the typical American family. fulfilling our life with our children. >> Her husband, a factory worker who liked. conspiracy sites and says he tapped in.

the word Lucifer, came up with a phone. number. The group offered to help with. his wife. >> She was suffering. >> The two of them booked a flight from. Ohio to California. >> [music]. >> and arrived at a house out of a dream. Yvonne gets a break from the burdens of. her life. >> We have three tennis courts. The. lifestyle of the rich and famous at you. know at its greatest. >> [music]. >> The husband Steven feels there's. something unnerving about the group and. begs his wife to leave with him. But the new family encircles her. She.

gives the leader her entire life. savings, $14,000. We are not sure if she knew everything. about the path on which the group. [music] has been heading. >> We'll leave these flesh bodies behind. >> Do said, "How would all of you feel if. you could just drink some pleasant. tasting liquid and lie down and go to. sleep and wake up at the next level?". >> I think what happened is they were. tired. They had been waiting 20 some.

years for the damn UFO [music] to come. >> At this moment a giant comet is blazing. past Earth. This is a real photo of that. huge comet called Hale-Bopp. >> Brightest comet to come along in. hundreds of years. >> And conspiracy radio shows keep. insisting there's a UFO right behind it. >> They immediately took that to mean that. was T, was Bonnie Nettles in a UFO behind the. comet coming to get them. >> Just as Bonnie Lu abandoned her body,

they have to do the same as well. >> The followers research and order. euthanasia drugs. They order matching. Nike shoes. They sew the matching space uniforms. with patches evoking Star Trek. >> Hold your patch. See, says Heaven's Gate. Away Team. >> The Pied Piper takes his followers on a. pilgrimage to tell them all his stories. about the [music] places he once visited.

with Nettles. And after all the years of fasting and. diets, ironically, [music] they race to. the donut shop before it closes. >> I think I'm going to stop here cuz we're. going to go back to the. donut place. >> A strange bucket list. A visit to SeaWorld. In Las Vegas, Cirque du Soleil. Chicken pot pie, cheesecake, spaghetti. at chain restaurants. All of it documented in the group's home. videos.

Back at the mansion, they canceled the. garbage pickup, the lawn service. And. out in the gardens, followers gather to. rehearse for a big moment on camera. These tapes have not been released. before. >> We want to see what the sound quality. sounds like. >> And for a brief window, we think we may. see glimpses of the people they once. were before Heaven's Gate. Sweetly. individual, self-conscious in front of. the camera, charming, wondering if.

they're doing it right. >> I'm talking in my normal voice. >> This is a test, volume, lighting, shadows, focus. >> We're testing the microphones. >> This is fun. >> See you sometime in the future, maybe. I don't know if that's right. >> [laughter]. >> Then, they sign out on the daily log as. they always do, but this will be the. last time. >> They wrote estimated time of return,

ETR. Some of them wrote slashes. Some of them wrote nothing. Some wrote. question marks. A few wrote bye. One wrote "Hasta la vista, baby.". "So long.". A few wrote "Never.". >> Coming up next, [music]. what are the secrets discovered inside. that crime scene? And why does one follower of Heaven's. Gate not sign out on the log?

We set out to find that anonymous. caller. >> [music]. >> A mysterious call from a pay phone in. suburban San Diego. >> Hello. Yes, um I need to uh report. an anonymous tip. This is regarding a. mass suicide.

>> I received a call, "Hey Don, I got a. report that several people were found. dead in a house in Rancho Santa Fe.". Kind of hung up the phone afterwards and. said, "Nah, that doesn't seem real.". Rancho Santa Fe is an exclusive. community with in the county of San. Diego, one of the wealthiest. concentration of millionaires in the. United States. >> Okay. >> Yep. >> Detective Rick Scully, scene one. >> Rick Scully was lead detective on the. investigation. >> We need to treat this as a homicide. scene, even though it's originally.

called a mass suicide. >> This is the audio of Detective Scully. heading into the site real time. >> Lights are off in the home. Okay, follow me. >> They move in the dark with flashlights, fearing the light switches have been. booby-trapped. >> It's just black. It looked like a black. tunnel, a. a black hole. >> That's Scully in the yellow jacket. >> Inside here are two sets of bunk beds. for a total of four beds and four. bodies.

We have a body on a mattress on the. floor. There's another bedroom and there. is four more in here. Black uniform and they all have [music]. dark Nike shoes with the white swoosh. stripe on the side. And they have the purple shroud. We found these red drinking cups. And there were containers with remnants. of chocolate pudding and applesauce. >> Investigators look for signs of.

coercion. >> We're looking for things that might have. been used to intimidate a person, to. bind a person, to muffle a person's. cries. >> Instead, they find vitamin pills in the. medicine cabinet and a lot of video. tapes of movies, everything from sci-fi. to three copies of The Sound of Music. >> There was no trash anywhere in the. house, no cigarette butts or anything. like that. There's no footprints. I. mean, everything was just immaculate.

>> By the side of each body, an identical. bag. Mysteriously, some members have. fortunes from fortune cookies, tubes of. lip balm, library cards. They have. coins, three quarters in case they need. them for payphones. They have IDs. [music] with their real names. Down the hall, a computer lab with a. flashing screen. >> Red alert Hellbot brings closure to. Heaven's Gate in graphics. >> Nearby, a piece of paper, a list of. meticulous instructions. Three groups of names. >> People from group two would assist.

people from group one. People from group. three would assist people from group. two. And they would consume this death. cocktail. >> Sedatives plus alcohol. A check mark. when they swallowed them, another mark. when they were confirmed dead. It's. estimated their deaths happened over the. course of three days. According to the document, in the first. group of 16 were valedictorian Margaret. Richter and mother Yvonne McCurdy Hill.

Fellow followers made sure the poison. would be effective by also putting. plastic bags over their heads. In the. second group of 14 people, former. cheerleader Denise Thurman. and David Van Sinderen. The third group lists eight people. It. includes Nancy Brown's son David Moore. And what about the last big bedroom down. the hall? In it, one last body. His shroud draped like a phoenix, a.

pillow under his knees. >> The master bedroom, one person on this. bed. You walk in, boom, big room, spacious. And there's actually pieces of. art on the walls in this room, which. was, you know, in the rest of the house, nothing. Everything was barren, stark. And uh I remember we walked in, we kind. of like made a semicircle around. No one. said a thing. We're all looking at this. guy and and we're thinking. this is the guy that's responsible for.

all these people. being dead. >> Applewhite would be among the last given. the poison by two aids who made sure he. died and then later swallowed the poison. themselves. One of them had an unused. gun in her bag. Was it just in case? >> We set up a 1-800 number and in the. first 12 hours we had almost a thousand. phone calls. Is there that many people.

that are in cults? >> The phone rang from the coroner's office. in San Diego. So [snorts] I knew immediately. >> [music]. >> why he called. All hope was lost. >> Heartbroken husband Steven Hill could. not persuade his wife to leave. >> Most devastating. part of my life. >> Shelly Kings hope of seeing her. boyfriend Gary St. Louis again now. crushed. >> I will never forget the first time I saw. the Nike sneakers.

and the legs [music] coming out from. underneath that purple shroud. It was. like you were underwater in this fog. And as soon as I knew, I started crying. >> [snorts]. >> It's very sad. It's very sad. >> So many loved ones all grappling for. some explanation in the insupportable. pain. >> David lived [music] his adult life doing. what he wanted to do with people he. loved and who loved him. And who's to say. whether this was a bad life.

>> On Larry King Live someone famous from. TV, Nichelle Nichols, talks about her. brother. >> [music]. >> I respect my brother's wishes and I. respect him as a human being. I respect him as an intelligent human. being. >> Kelly Cook [music] would become an. orphan. Her mother died when a 39. Then six and a half weeks later her. father became one of four former members. who take their own lives, too.

I cannot imagine. >> [snorts]. [sighs and gasps]. >> Kelly says she chose not to have. children. >> No, I felt like there was this. this trail of pain that I would bring to. a child somehow. I am a strong person, but there's a core of sadness in me. Some people laugh at all kinds of. things, right? Because they're just they. have a core of joy, right? Not me. I. don't have that.

>> Coming up next, what can that anonymous. caller tell us about the puzzle of. Heaven's Gate? >> Hello. >> Yes, uh I need to report a uh. >> Do you remember the anonymous caller? He. was hiding from [music] everyone. >> The information I have at this time is. that he was a member for 3 years. He's. 43 years old. >> 25 years ago, we went searching and.

found him. >> Tonight, the man who calls himself Rio. DiAngelo finally speaks on television. What is it you've come here to say? >> We weren't a crazy group of people that. some people with narrow minds might call. a cult. We lived like we were living in. a monastery. You know, we always had freedom of. choice. There was no. um. People call it brainwashing. >> His name is Rio DiAngelo. That's him in. the Heaven's Gate home video. He was a follower for 3 years. He had.

come from a broken family and says Doe. >> [music]. >> was like his dad. >> I loved these people. I loved Doe. And it meant everything to me. >> But listen again to the man who said. they all had freedom of choice when I. ask him some simple questions about. personal opinions. For instance, did he. like the big mansion in San Diego? >> The one in Rancho Santa Fe? Um hm, that's a good question. Um,

I'd have to think about that. I never. thought about it before. >> What was the most fun you had together? >> Oh, that's a good question. Boy, I'd. have to think about that. Hm, but can we come back to that cuz I. it'll. I hadn't even thought about that. >> He told me his mind was connected to. higher thoughts. >> The soul is the thing I identify with. >> But I have a soul, don't I have a soul? >> Well, I'm not sure, do you? >> I do. >> I would hope you did. >> He said he had been measured for one of.

those space suits and the Nike shoes. Doe wanted him to tell [music] their. story to the world. And that's how Rio DiAngelo received a. FedEx package from Heaven's [music] Gate. containing tapes and letters and took it. to his boss. Yes, his media-savvy boss, Nick Matzorkis, the owner of the. internet company. >> We are ready to roll. >> The same one we first saw reeling in. front of TV cameras long ago. Nick and his employee Rio take the.

letters and tapes to police. There's a. hush as they insert that video cassette. from the FedEx package into the machine. Doe, ever in search of getting the most. publicity, explains what they're about. to see. >> I've asked some students if they want to. to [music]. take our camera and see if they have. anything they want to say on camera that. they might leave behind for you to. observe. >> We just sat there and gasped as each one.

of these members said their goodbyes. >> The former army paratrooper. >> I I just wanted to say how thankful I am. to Doe and Ti for helping me and taking. me under their wing and and all my. classmates have been so great to me and. all the problems I've caused. >> The youngest member of the group age 25, the oldest at 71, a mother of three. >> My thoughts in these last hours are only. of joy and wonder. at the thought of going home.

>> Why am I here? What is the meaning of life? Since I've. been in the class, I've learned the. answers to all of those. >> And I couldn't be. happier about what we're about to do. >> [laughter]. >> But there's something you should know as. these people praise Doe and thank him. for showing them the way. On the other. side of the camera, Doe, there, listening. >> the. happiest day of my life.

>> [laughter]. >> Once you've said something in front of. somebody else, you're far less likely to. renege on that, right? Do you stand up. and say, "Oh, guess what? I changed my. mind." and run out of the yard? No, you. don't do that. >> For 10 dollars to endure what they've. endured for 22 years, it's just. unimaginable they'd go through that for. us. >> And most of them said things that were. mimicking almost word for word what. Applewhite had said. >> This world has become so corrupt. >> So corrupt. >> So corrupt.

>> So it really showed the dependency on. him. >> As long as I exist, I have free will. >> am doing this of my own free will. >> My own free will. >> My own free will. >> I say no, they didn't have any free. will. There were 38 murders. and one suicide. If he wanted to kill himself, fine. Go. ahead. Marshall Applewhite, you go. first. But no, he made sure they all died.

>> Did they have real choice? >> No, they have what I call bounded. choice. They live [music] in a in this. bounded reality. They live in a closed. world. >> Nick Matzorkis took calls from the. anguished families. He tried to help. >> I recall, like it was yesterday, the. quivering voices on the phone and how. deeply it [music] hurt them. >> Makes me want to cry. cuz I think, [music] "What a waste." All. of those 39 people, what a waste.

>> This sense of betrayal. >> [snorts]. >> It's devastating to this very day. >> I just wish [music] that she could have. found something worth living for him. >> Thank you. >> Everyone who was there [music] is is. gone. >> Thank you. >> It ends with the fade to black. >> Thank you very much. >> You're welcome. >> It ends also with. silence.

>> [music]. >> When we come back, where is that. anonymous caller today? >> Hello. >> We find him again. Tonight, again, a time of upheaval, a. search for answers. >> What first? >> Our street. >> Whenever a society is in disarray, as we. certainly are, that's when cults can. recruit successfully. I think there are. more groups than ever before. >> Really, that they're out there right. now? >> Yes, absolutely. And every day I learn.

of cults I've never heard of before. >> In times that prove to be very taxing to. the soul, whether it's a pandemic or. political unrest, people are searching. And to search, they will look in the. most unlikely places. >> When we think about how the internet is. being used by actors that are spreading. this sort of disinformation, these. conspiracy theories, they're very. deliberate in how they're manipulating. the online space. >> So, 25 years after Heaven's Gate, we.

wondered what would that anonymous. caller say tonight? >> [music]. >> We found Rio DiAngelo again. >> He says he lives a quiet life as a. retired art director. He asked to be in. shadow to protect [music] how much he's. changed in these decades. >> How are you? >> I'm doing great. How are you? >> He still maintains [music] the followers. of Heaven's Gate had free will. But all these years later, are Ti and Do. still in his head? >> I tried to raise my vibration enough to. get information from them if I could. Mostly it's just feeling.

I I don't get words, but mostly it's. just feeling. >> That they're there. Yes, oddly enough. >> Are you still the messenger? >> I know, I'm done with that. >> He wants us to know his life has changed. a lot since we first met. He's reunited. with his mother. He has a granddaughter. >> Do you have a person in your life, a. companion? >> Not at this moment, but I have. a few times since we've met. I'm a. regular guy. Just trying to be more of. myself and I'm a better person in every.

way I can. >> [music]. >> And what about the other former. followers of Heaven's Gate today? Leslie Light became [music] a therapist. Aaron Greenberg is still an adventurer. He has a grandson. >> I can't wait to. >> [laughter]. >> I can't wait to tell him the stories, you know. >> And to teach him to trust his. individuality. It's something we heard from experts, too. >> So much of what we do to children, I.

speak as as a mother, is to tell them to. conform and not trust themselves. >> Yana Gibbons teaches her daughter to. celebrate her questions. >> Come on. >> Every day there's something we're called. on to believe in on faith, and then you. have to decide, what am I going to. believe, what am I not going to believe? >> It's good to search. It's good to ask. questions. But to be very careful who you listen. to. >> Ananda Johnson says, remember you are. the caretaker of your singular soul.

She's married, a vegan chef and yoga. teacher at a Montana inner retreat. >> It's really clear to me that one of my. jobs now is to empower young women, pass. on. knowledge. >> Mostly happy days all the time? >> I love my life. >> [music]. >> And that's the final lesson in the songs. of the late Dick Joslin, who became an. environmental [music] and gay rights. activist. >> [singing]. [music].

[singing]. >> He writes about the power in finding. your community, when your [music]. community celebrates human love. and life. >> [singing]. [music and singing]. [singing].

[music]. >> I'm Diane Sawyer from all of us at. 20/20. Good night. >> You've been listening to the 20/20 True. Crime Vault. >> [music]. >> Friday nights at 9:00 on ABC, you can. also find all new broadcast episodes of. 20/20. Thanks for listening.