Cults Unpacked - Heaven’s Gate

It was a bad day for the family and friends of 39 Heaven’s Gate cult members, who learned that their loved ones had died in a mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, California, in a mass suicide. And it was a bad day for the marketing department at Nike, who had to deal with the reports that all 39 people were wearing identical pairs of Nike Decade sneakers when they took their own lives.

Heaven’s gate was started by Marshall Applewhite – a gently-spoken Texan with silver hair and a penetrating stare – and Bonnie Lu Marshall – a nurse with equally strong fascinations with the occult and The Sound of Music.