Cult leader Marshall Applewhite, whose group is the subject of "The Cult Next Door: The Mystery and Madness of Heaven's Gate," a "20/20" special that airs Friday, March 11. (Screenshot/YouTube)
Kristi Turnquist
The Oregonian/OregonLive
March 03, 2022
The bizarre-but-true story of the Heaven’s Gate cult, a group that came to a tragic end when members took their lives in a mass suicide event in 1997, is again explored in “The Cult Next Door: The Mystery and Madness of Heaven’s Gate,” a “20/20″ special airing March 11.
The ABC special isn’t the first one to take a look at the saga of what was known as the UFO Cult. In 2021, HBO aired “Heaven’s Gate: The Cult of Cults,” which chronicled how cult leaders Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles first gained national attention. In 1975, Applewhite and Nettles held a community meeting in Waldport, on the Oregon coast, in an attempt to recruit new members.
When about 20 people were reported missing after the meeting, the question of what happened to them became national news. And that was just the beginning of what turned into a ghastly story that involved members of the group engaging in castration, sharing a love of “Star Trek,” and ultimately dying by suicide -- all wearing Nike sneakers -- because they thought a UFO would take them to a next level of existence.
The bizarre-but-true story of the Heaven’s Gate cult, a group that came to a tragic end when members took their lives in a mass suicide event in 1997, is again explored in “The Cult Next Door: The Mystery and Madness of Heaven’s Gate,” a “20/20″ special airing March 11.
The ABC special isn’t the first one to take a look at the saga of what was known as the UFO Cult. In 2021, HBO aired “Heaven’s Gate: The Cult of Cults,” which chronicled how cult leaders Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles first gained national attention. In 1975, Applewhite and Nettles held a community meeting in Waldport, on the Oregon coast, in an attempt to recruit new members.
When about 20 people were reported missing after the meeting, the question of what happened to them became national news. And that was just the beginning of what turned into a ghastly story that involved members of the group engaging in castration, sharing a love of “Star Trek,” and ultimately dying by suicide -- all wearing Nike sneakers -- because they thought a UFO would take them to a next level of existence.
Stunning All-New Event: ‘The Cult Next Door: The Mystery and Madness of Heaven’s Gate.’
— 20/20 (@ABC2020) March 3, 2022
The extraordinary @DianeSawyer special premieres Friday, March 11th at 9/8c on @ABC. Stream on @Hulu. https://t.co/tGv31p704k pic.twitter.com/SfvRzWbklZ
According to the ABC News release, ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer hosts the two-hour “20/20″ special, “The Cult Next Door,” which promises to investigate the leaders of the cult, their backgrounds, and how they gained the loyalty of followers.
As the release says, in 1997 Sawyer interviewed Rio DiAngelo, a member of the group who had left it before the mass suicide. In the special, Sawyer again interviews DiAngelo. The program will also feature previously unseen tapes, along with audio recordings, interviews with former members of the cult, survivors of those who died, and authorities who worked on the case.
-- Kristi Turnquist
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