`A Jonestown' / Dozens of bodies found in California suicide
COMBINED NEWS SERVICES
Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. - The bodies of at least 39 young men, lying side by side in
matching dark pants and tennis shoes, were found scattered throughout a million-dollar
mansion yesterday in an apparent mass suicide. The men, all white and about 18 to 24
years old, were lying on their backs with their hands at their sides, said San Diego County
Sheriff's Cmdr. Alan Fulmer. There was no sign of survivors in the home, which neighbors
said had been occupied for months by members of a religious group.
District Attorney Paul Pfingst said the count was at least 39. "This is a Jonestown," Pfingst
said, referring to a mass suicide of more than 900 followers of the Rev. Jim Jones in 1978.
Two deputies searched the palatial home about 3:15 p.m. after an anonymous caller told
them to "check on the welfare of the residents." A deputy entered the home through a side
door and encountered at least 10 bodies.
Then, he and another deputy made a cursory search of the mansion, counting 39 bodies
clustered in various rooms, "appearing as if they had fallen asleep," Fulmer said.
The two deputies then left, and no one else had re-entered the home as of last night.
Authorities were waiting for a search warrant before proceeding.
Investigators believe the scene was a mass suicide "due to the number people involved, no
signs of struggle, no signs of trauma," sheriff's Lt. Gerald Lipscomb said.
The cause of death has not been determined, he said. There was a pungent odor, and the
two deputies were sent to the hospital for blood tests.
The rented hilltop mansion is owned by a man named Sam Koutchesfahani, who rented
the home in October to people from out of state, said Bill Strong, a next-door neighbor
who has seen 5 to 10 people living there recently.
Yesterday, the group had parked four vehicles, including a hotel courtesy van, a Ford
Econoline van, another van and a Ryder truck outside the estate.
Strong, whose home is about 100 feet away, said he never saw children or pets, and
never spoke to the tenants.
Other neighbors reported that the people living in the house dressed in black and called
themselves monks.
The mansion, built in 1983 on 3.11 acres lined with palm trees, has nine bedrooms, seven
bathrooms, a swimming pool and a tennis court. It was valued at $1.325 million in 1995.
KNBC-TV reported that a real estate agent said the home had been on the market for
quite some time. The agent complained that every time they tried to show the house, a
religious cult was having a meeting there.
Real estate agent Scott Warrenshowed the house last week and was greeted by about 20
men and women who referred to the mansion as "our temple," said his employer, Bob
Dyson.
"Everybody was met at each door. Shoes had to be taken off, and they were invited to
wear surgical booties or socks," Dyson said. Several rooms contained computers, and
occupants told Warren they were developing World Wide Web pages.
"It was very clean and neat," Dyson said. "A lot of bunk beds." He said the group
"referred to each other as brother and sister."
Shelby Strong, who lives next door, described the tenants as "very conservative." She told
the NBC station that she introduced herself to one man when they moved in, and he said
he was in a religious group.
"I made some kind of joke. It didn't go too well. He didn't seem to have a good sense of
humor," he said.
Koutchesfahani has an unlisted number and his lawyer didn't immediately return a phone
message.
The owner of Tan Trading and Consulting, he pleaded guilty last year to tax evasion and
fraud after admitting he took up to $350,000 from Middle Eastern students between 1989
and 1995. He is scheduled to be sentenced later this year.
Prosecutors said Koutchesfahani used the money to bribe college instructors at three San
Diego area colleges into illegally enrolling students into the schools and certifying them as
California residents.
A prominent San Diego criminal defense attorney, Milton Silverman Jr., called a local
radio station to say he represented Koutchesfahani. Silverman said his client had rented
the two-story home to a religious group several months ago and was trying to sell it for
$1.6 million.
Rancho Santa Fe is an exclusive community in northern San Diego County noted for its
gated estates, polo fields and million-dollar homes. It's been described as the Beverly Hills
of San Diego.
The grisly find echoes the weekend discovery by Canadian police of five charred bodies,
the remains of members of the notorious Solar Temple cult. The three women and two
men died in a house fire in a village southwest of Quebec City.
Canadian police said the five died in an apparent suicide pact, and that documents
indicated they were prepared for some sort of "departure." The Solar Temple believes
death by ritualized suicide leads to rebirth in a place called Sirius.
Police said the cult placed great importance on astronomical events. The spring equinox
occurred Friday.
Three teenagers whose parents were among the dead said they had chosen not to join the
suicide pact. They were found in a shed near the burned house.
In 1994 and 1995, 69 Solar Temple members died in fires in Quebec, France and
Switzerland.
"It sounds pretty damn bizarre," said San Diego Padres owner John Moores, a Rancho
Santa Fe resident who describes his community as "incredibly quiet."
"The reason we bought there is it's very, very peaceful. I'm unaware of any place like it in
anywhere in America. Every once in a while I can hear a neighbor," he said.
MASS DEATHS
March 22, 1997, in St. Casimir, Quebec: Five members of the Order of the Solar Temple
die in a fiery mass suicide. Cult devotees believe suicide transports them to a new life on a
planet called Sirius. Over the past three years, murder-suicides by Temple followers have
resulted in 74 deaths in Europe and Canada.
Dec. 13, 1990, in Tijuana, Mexico: 12 people die in a religious ritual, apparently after
drinking a poisoned sacrament. It was never clearly established if this was a suicide,
however, as authorities speculated the deaths might have been accidental. They said some
kind of industrial alcohol, perhaps rubbing alcohol, was poured into a fruit punch the
participants shared during the religious ceremony.
Nov. 18, 1978, in Jonestown, Guyana: Authorities found more than 900 dead. The Rev.
Jim Jones urged his disciples to drink cyanide-laced grape punch.
Jones, who was among those who died, led the Peoples Temple, which ran a free clinic
and a drug rehabilitation program and performed other charitable functions. Jones also
emerged as a political force, becoming chairman of the San Francisco Housing Authority
in 1976.
SOURCE: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
03/27
Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. - The bodies of at least 39 young men, lying side by side in
matching dark pants and tennis shoes, were found scattered throughout a million-dollar
mansion yesterday in an apparent mass suicide. The men, all white and about 18 to 24
years old, were lying on their backs with their hands at their sides, said San Diego County
Sheriff's Cmdr. Alan Fulmer. There was no sign of survivors in the home, which neighbors
said had been occupied for months by members of a religious group.
District Attorney Paul Pfingst said the count was at least 39. "This is a Jonestown," Pfingst
said, referring to a mass suicide of more than 900 followers of the Rev. Jim Jones in 1978.
Two deputies searched the palatial home about 3:15 p.m. after an anonymous caller told
them to "check on the welfare of the residents." A deputy entered the home through a side
door and encountered at least 10 bodies.
Then, he and another deputy made a cursory search of the mansion, counting 39 bodies
clustered in various rooms, "appearing as if they had fallen asleep," Fulmer said.
The two deputies then left, and no one else had re-entered the home as of last night.
Authorities were waiting for a search warrant before proceeding.
Investigators believe the scene was a mass suicide "due to the number people involved, no
signs of struggle, no signs of trauma," sheriff's Lt. Gerald Lipscomb said.
The cause of death has not been determined, he said. There was a pungent odor, and the
two deputies were sent to the hospital for blood tests.
The rented hilltop mansion is owned by a man named Sam Koutchesfahani, who rented
the home in October to people from out of state, said Bill Strong, a next-door neighbor
who has seen 5 to 10 people living there recently.
Yesterday, the group had parked four vehicles, including a hotel courtesy van, a Ford
Econoline van, another van and a Ryder truck outside the estate.
Strong, whose home is about 100 feet away, said he never saw children or pets, and
never spoke to the tenants.
Other neighbors reported that the people living in the house dressed in black and called
themselves monks.
The mansion, built in 1983 on 3.11 acres lined with palm trees, has nine bedrooms, seven
bathrooms, a swimming pool and a tennis court. It was valued at $1.325 million in 1995.
KNBC-TV reported that a real estate agent said the home had been on the market for
quite some time. The agent complained that every time they tried to show the house, a
religious cult was having a meeting there.
Real estate agent Scott Warrenshowed the house last week and was greeted by about 20
men and women who referred to the mansion as "our temple," said his employer, Bob
Dyson.
"Everybody was met at each door. Shoes had to be taken off, and they were invited to
wear surgical booties or socks," Dyson said. Several rooms contained computers, and
occupants told Warren they were developing World Wide Web pages.
"It was very clean and neat," Dyson said. "A lot of bunk beds." He said the group
"referred to each other as brother and sister."
Shelby Strong, who lives next door, described the tenants as "very conservative." She told
the NBC station that she introduced herself to one man when they moved in, and he said
he was in a religious group.
"I made some kind of joke. It didn't go too well. He didn't seem to have a good sense of
humor," he said.
Koutchesfahani has an unlisted number and his lawyer didn't immediately return a phone
message.
The owner of Tan Trading and Consulting, he pleaded guilty last year to tax evasion and
fraud after admitting he took up to $350,000 from Middle Eastern students between 1989
and 1995. He is scheduled to be sentenced later this year.
Prosecutors said Koutchesfahani used the money to bribe college instructors at three San
Diego area colleges into illegally enrolling students into the schools and certifying them as
California residents.
A prominent San Diego criminal defense attorney, Milton Silverman Jr., called a local
radio station to say he represented Koutchesfahani. Silverman said his client had rented
the two-story home to a religious group several months ago and was trying to sell it for
$1.6 million.
Rancho Santa Fe is an exclusive community in northern San Diego County noted for its
gated estates, polo fields and million-dollar homes. It's been described as the Beverly Hills
of San Diego.
The grisly find echoes the weekend discovery by Canadian police of five charred bodies,
the remains of members of the notorious Solar Temple cult. The three women and two
men died in a house fire in a village southwest of Quebec City.
Canadian police said the five died in an apparent suicide pact, and that documents
indicated they were prepared for some sort of "departure." The Solar Temple believes
death by ritualized suicide leads to rebirth in a place called Sirius.
Police said the cult placed great importance on astronomical events. The spring equinox
occurred Friday.
Three teenagers whose parents were among the dead said they had chosen not to join the
suicide pact. They were found in a shed near the burned house.
In 1994 and 1995, 69 Solar Temple members died in fires in Quebec, France and
Switzerland.
"It sounds pretty damn bizarre," said San Diego Padres owner John Moores, a Rancho
Santa Fe resident who describes his community as "incredibly quiet."
"The reason we bought there is it's very, very peaceful. I'm unaware of any place like it in
anywhere in America. Every once in a while I can hear a neighbor," he said.
MASS DEATHS
March 22, 1997, in St. Casimir, Quebec: Five members of the Order of the Solar Temple
die in a fiery mass suicide. Cult devotees believe suicide transports them to a new life on a
planet called Sirius. Over the past three years, murder-suicides by Temple followers have
resulted in 74 deaths in Europe and Canada.
Dec. 13, 1990, in Tijuana, Mexico: 12 people die in a religious ritual, apparently after
drinking a poisoned sacrament. It was never clearly established if this was a suicide,
however, as authorities speculated the deaths might have been accidental. They said some
kind of industrial alcohol, perhaps rubbing alcohol, was poured into a fruit punch the
participants shared during the religious ceremony.
Nov. 18, 1978, in Jonestown, Guyana: Authorities found more than 900 dead. The Rev.
Jim Jones urged his disciples to drink cyanide-laced grape punch.
Jones, who was among those who died, led the Peoples Temple, which ran a free clinic
and a drug rehabilitation program and performed other charitable functions. Jones also
emerged as a political force, becoming chairman of the San Francisco Housing Authority
in 1976.
SOURCE: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
03/27