Why would a cult leader choose death?
Generally because he or she is about to lose power over the group. Outside interference may threaten the leader, as it did Jim Jones. A number of cults have closed up shop because of massive defections. The leader’s impending personal death, real or imagined, may trigger the suicides as appears likely in Heaven’s Gate and Waco. The leaders are so self-absorbed that they cannot conceive of the group continuing on without them. Sometimes, they are also quite concerned about their place in history — trying to extend their power beyond death, as did David Koresh with his final apocalyptic writings.
