1994 Solar Temple massacres

Common card · No. 296077

From 30 September to 5 October 1994, 53 members and former members of the Order of the Solar Temple died in a series of mass murders and suicides in Morin-Heights, Quebec, Canada, and in Cheiry and Salvan in Switzerland. The Solar Temple, or OTS, was founded in 1984, active in several Francophone countries. The group was led by Joseph Di Mambro with Luc Jouret as a second in command. The group had a theological doctrine that by committing suicide, one would not die, but "transit". They conceptualized the transit as a ritual involving magic fire, where they would undergo a spiritual voyage to the star Sirius where they would live on. Following several scandals and outside pressures the group faced, this idea became more prominent. They began to plan the "transit" and wrote a letter declaring their intents and purposes in the act, called The Testament. On 30 September 1994, the Dutoit family (former members) were ritualistically murdered in Morin-Heights, including their infant child, by...

Read on Wikipedia