20/20
True Crime Vault: The Cult Next Door: The Mystery and Madness of Heaven's Gate
Wed, 20 Nov
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Decoding the mysteries behind Heaven's Gate cult; survivors speak for first time. Originally aired 3/11/22 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: What is the shocking story behind Heaven's Gate?
Hi, I'm Brad Milkey. I'm the host of The Crime Scene Weekly, a new show from ABC Audio about the latest headlines in true crime. This week, I'm talking about the shocking allegations against the Alexander Brothers, once the golden boys of luxury real estate, now facing serious sex crime charges. Listen to The Crime Scene Weekly on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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. 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 patch. Heaven's gate awaiting. 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 two years, we've unearthed tapes hidden for decades, tracked down former followers. This is the first time that I have been asked, really, about this story. And the loved ones left behind.
This sense of betrayal. Now, 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 videotape begins to flicker into view. Our first glimpse of a secret world. It is Christmas, and we see a kind of family 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.
A young man born into a prominent Connecticut family, his future filled with opportunity and wealth. 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 frequencies open, sir.
She is Lieutenant Uhura from Star Trek.
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Chapter 2: Who were the leaders of the Heaven's Gate cult?
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. Thank you. She goes, 39 to beam up. You know, and that, I think that just said it all. I felt so sorry for her. It can be the best thing ever. The mystery of Heaven's Gate begins. Yes, it is. It's the cult. I mean, it's the cult of cults. It's the cult of truth.
For more than two years, we've been poring over the decades of old documents, videotapes, 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 us about our central question.
How did wonderful people so much like our friends, our family, end 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 people they left behind. Parents, children, lovers desperate to find them.
My parents were in 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. 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 us start at the very beginning.
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Chapter 3: What drew followers to join Heaven's Gate?
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. It'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, former followers who might remember how young they once were.
I love that song.
My name is Leslie Light.
Just a young girl at a crossroads and a little uncertain.
I was like 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 well. Sort of like Star Trek meets 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.
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Chapter 4: How did Heaven's Gate indoctrinate its members?
I 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, Gary, you've got to come. I thought you'd say that. Oh, I want to see you so badly.
Another plea.
Oh, when you coming home? A little phone number.
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 three-quarters 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.
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Chapter 5: What led to the tragic end of Heaven's Gate?
It still raises up. It's like a little plant breaking through concrete. The power of the individual mind to say, I'm sorry, I just can't buy this anymore.
Afterwards, he wrote a song about the real world too beautiful to ignore. Then you go searching for more.
You can get 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. 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, 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 him. His mother, so excited, she bakes a birthday cake for the 12 years he's been estranged from the family.
Happy birthday to you. There's 12 candles for 12 birthday years. We're catching up. All right.
David's youngest brother was there, Brian Moore, now a physician.
In the video where we're playing those trees, you couldn't tell if he was anything other than just a normal guy doing stuff.
Job well done, fellas. But there are worrying clues. 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've been waiting for. See the sound of the trumpet. See you later, guys.
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