Mass Suicide May Have Comet Link
Mass Suicide May Have
Comet Link
By MICHELLE LOCKE
Associated Press Writer
Thursday, March 27, 1997 5:32 pm EST
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Self-styled monks in hip black shirts.
Buzz-cut computer nerds cashing in on the Internet craze.
doomsday cult fixated on the approach of comet Hale-Bopp.
The religious group Higher Source, whose members died in a
mass suicide, apparently were a combination of business savvy
and religious passion.
``They presented themselves as being part of a monastery and
saw themselves as being monks. Their behavior was not really all
that unusual,'' said Nick Matzorkis, a Beverly Hills Internet
businessman who employs a former member of Higher Source
known as Rio.
``They were kind of Christian-based, but they were also involved
with the universe,'' said Greg Hohertz, a former Matzorkis
employee who knows Rio and met other Higher Source members.
Hohertz described them as quiet and kind, savvy at the computer
but a little spacey away from it.
But none were prepared for how the 39 young men and women
ended their lives -- together, lying on their backs in an elegant
mansion, each body covered across the face and chest with a
triangular shroud of purple cloth.
``They said something significant was going to happen,'' Hohertz
said.
``I couldn't see them doing this actually,'' he said, characterizing
the group as ``very peaceful, kind of laid back. None of them
were depressed or upset or anything. They were always very
happy.''
Two videotapes purportedly sent to a former member suggest the
group planned to ``shed their containers,'' possibly to rendezvous
with a UFO they believed was traveling behind comet Hale-Bopp.
The word ``containers'' presumably meant their bodies.
Matzorkis said one of the female group members had mentioned
the comet several months ago.
``She told me they believed that there was a UFO following
behind this comet,'' Matzorkis said. ``Using the comet to shield
them from Earth, they felt that the ship was coming to pick them
up.''
``To me, they seemed like a group of Trekkie-type individuals,''
he said.
Sheriff's officials believed that the suicide was carried out with
some sort of drug and that the deaths occurred over a period of
days.
Several visitors to the home have said the inhabitants referred to
themselves as monks and treated the nine-bedroom mansion as a
temple, requiring outsiders to replace their shoes with booties
when they entered. They called each other ``brother'' and ``sister,''
and their apparent leader ``Father John.''
Other aspects of the case point to a strain of Christianity in their
beliefs: The suicides took place during or just before Holy Week,
the most sacred period in the Christian calendar; the bodies were
draped with purple shrouds, a color symbolic of the death and
resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday.
Hohertz said the group all had buzz cuts or very short hair and
lived a life of rules -- when to wake up, what to eat, how to cook.
``For instance, when they eat, they follow specific guidelines,'' he
said. ``For preparation, they'd follow the recipe exactly, no
deviation.''
But although their convictions were strong, they weren't bent on
proselytizing.
``You kind of had to bug 'em about it,'' to get details on their
beliefs, Hohertz said.
Whatever else they believed, the members of Higher Source were
serious about making money on the Internet.
Real estate agent Bob Dyson said a salesman from his office who
took clients through the $1.3 million dollar estate a week and a
half ago saw 18 to 20 men and women working on computers.
The group's Website lists numerous clients for whom they've
created Websites and touts a wide array of computer services for
sale.
Tom Goodspeed, director of the San Diego Polo Club, said he
hired Higher Source to build a Website for the club. Though he
looked askance at their image, he was happy with their work.
``They did a fantastic job for us,'' he said.
© Copyright 1997 The Associated Press
Comet Link
By MICHELLE LOCKE
Associated Press Writer
Thursday, March 27, 1997 5:32 pm EST
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Self-styled monks in hip black shirts.
Buzz-cut computer nerds cashing in on the Internet craze.
doomsday cult fixated on the approach of comet Hale-Bopp.
The religious group Higher Source, whose members died in a
mass suicide, apparently were a combination of business savvy
and religious passion.
``They presented themselves as being part of a monastery and
saw themselves as being monks. Their behavior was not really all
that unusual,'' said Nick Matzorkis, a Beverly Hills Internet
businessman who employs a former member of Higher Source
known as Rio.
``They were kind of Christian-based, but they were also involved
with the universe,'' said Greg Hohertz, a former Matzorkis
employee who knows Rio and met other Higher Source members.
Hohertz described them as quiet and kind, savvy at the computer
but a little spacey away from it.
But none were prepared for how the 39 young men and women
ended their lives -- together, lying on their backs in an elegant
mansion, each body covered across the face and chest with a
triangular shroud of purple cloth.
``They said something significant was going to happen,'' Hohertz
said.
``I couldn't see them doing this actually,'' he said, characterizing
the group as ``very peaceful, kind of laid back. None of them
were depressed or upset or anything. They were always very
happy.''
Two videotapes purportedly sent to a former member suggest the
group planned to ``shed their containers,'' possibly to rendezvous
with a UFO they believed was traveling behind comet Hale-Bopp.
The word ``containers'' presumably meant their bodies.
Matzorkis said one of the female group members had mentioned
the comet several months ago.
``She told me they believed that there was a UFO following
behind this comet,'' Matzorkis said. ``Using the comet to shield
them from Earth, they felt that the ship was coming to pick them
up.''
``To me, they seemed like a group of Trekkie-type individuals,''
he said.
Sheriff's officials believed that the suicide was carried out with
some sort of drug and that the deaths occurred over a period of
days.
Several visitors to the home have said the inhabitants referred to
themselves as monks and treated the nine-bedroom mansion as a
temple, requiring outsiders to replace their shoes with booties
when they entered. They called each other ``brother'' and ``sister,''
and their apparent leader ``Father John.''
Other aspects of the case point to a strain of Christianity in their
beliefs: The suicides took place during or just before Holy Week,
the most sacred period in the Christian calendar; the bodies were
draped with purple shrouds, a color symbolic of the death and
resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday.
Hohertz said the group all had buzz cuts or very short hair and
lived a life of rules -- when to wake up, what to eat, how to cook.
``For instance, when they eat, they follow specific guidelines,'' he
said. ``For preparation, they'd follow the recipe exactly, no
deviation.''
But although their convictions were strong, they weren't bent on
proselytizing.
``You kind of had to bug 'em about it,'' to get details on their
beliefs, Hohertz said.
Whatever else they believed, the members of Higher Source were
serious about making money on the Internet.
Real estate agent Bob Dyson said a salesman from his office who
took clients through the $1.3 million dollar estate a week and a
half ago saw 18 to 20 men and women working on computers.
The group's Website lists numerous clients for whom they've
created Websites and touts a wide array of computer services for
sale. Tom Goodspeed, director of the San Diego Polo Club, said he
hired Higher Source to build a Website for the club. Though he
looked askance at their image, he was happy with their work.
``They did a fantastic job for us,'' he said.
© Copyright 1997 The Associated Press