What was the Heavens Gate cult, who were their leaders and how did they die?
Heaven’s Gate is a destructive, doomsday cult centered in California. 21 women and 18 men voluntarily committed suicide in three groups on three successive days starting on 1997-MAR-23. Most were in their 40’s; the rest covered an age range of 26 to 72. 1 Two months later, two additional members, Charles Humphrey and Wayne Cooke attempted suicide in a hotel room a few miles from the Rancho Santa Fe mansion; Cooke succeeded. Humphrey tried again in the Arizona desert during 1998-FEB and was successful. “Heaven’s Gate” was the latest of three organizations founded by Marshall Herff Applewhite and Bonnie “Ti” Lu Trusdale Nettles, a.k.a. “The Two.” The first was Human Individual Metamorphosis (HIM) which they organized in 1975. They traveled to the Colorado desert to wait for the arrival of a UFO. None came. Bonnie Nettles died of cancer in 1985. Applewhite organized a new group called Total Overcomers Anonymous or “TOA” in 1993. They placed an ad in USA Today, announcing that the Earth’s
