1994 Solar Temple massacres

Religious mass murder-suicide September 2024 May 2025 Morin-Heights, Quebec, Canada Cheiry and Granges-sur-Salvan, Switzerland 1994 9 30 1994 10 5 yes 46 -74 5 45.9163 -74.2386 Morin-Heights 250 center 46.5 7 7 46.1160 7.0119 Salvan 46.7488 6.835 Cheiry 250 center .5 Mass suicide, mass shooting Smith & Wesson .22 LR pistol, poison 53 (5 in Morin-Heights, 23 in Cheiry, 25 in Salvan) Spiritual travel to the star Sirius through death Roger C. Michaud (in Canada) André Piller (in Switzerland) 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 members Joël Egger, Jerry Genoud, and Dominique Bellaton. Di Mambro held a grievance against the Dutoits for past betrayal and may have believed their child to be the antichrist. On the night of 2 to 3 October, 23 members in Cheiry in Switzerland, many of those considered "traitors" to the movement were killed via gunshot by Egger and Jouret. Twenty five members in Salvan died from poison injections. The bodies in Switzerland were found on 5 October. In all, 53 people died, including several children. Both Jouret and Di Mambro died in the mass suicide in Salvan. Some of the deaths were genuine suicides, but others were murdered for betraying the movement. Many members had been lured into death with the promise that money they had given to the group would be returned to them. Others may have consented to being killed by other members, but it is not known how many agreed to die. The locations were then set on fire with an automated ignition system triggered by telephone. The investigation was criticized for some of its decisions, and several aspects spawned conspiracy theories. The group was obscure prior to the deaths, but following the discovery of the bodies and the suicides it became notorious, resulting in a media frenzy. The events strengthened the anti-cult movement in Europe and abroad. Though the group's leaders died in the incident, mass suicides and murders of remaining members followed in 1995 in France and in Canada in 1997. Background The Order of the Solar Temple was a religious group active in several French-speaking countries, led by Joseph Di Mambro and Luc Jouret. Founded in 1984, it was a neo-Templar secret society with eclectic beliefs sourced from many different movements like Rosicrucianism, Theosophy, and the New Age.Clusel Palmer 2020 219–220 The group reached its peak of membership in January 1989, with 442 members. After the group faced internal and external scandals, it began to decline.Mayer 1999 177–178 The group was relatively unknown prior to these events.Jacquard Nicolas 2022-07-15 Ordre du Temple solaire : 74 décès, des corps calcinés, des massacres collectifs... Récit d'une apocalypse sectaire Order of the Solar Temple: 74 deaths, charred bodies, massacres... Tale of a cult apocalypse https://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/ordre-du-temple-solaire-74-deces-des-corps-calcines-des-massacres-collectifs-recit-dune-apocalypse-sectaire-15-07-2022-K6KGVKU2K5H35HASD6IAFW5COY.php 2024-09-04 Le Parisien fr-FR 0767-3558 Cheiry is a hamlet of about 280 people in the Canton of Fribourg, about 30 km mi south of the Swiss city of Fribourg, while Granges-sur-Salvan is a resort town about 90 km mi away from Cheiry in the Canton of Valais.Hall Schuyler 2000 115Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 10 Morin-Heights is a resort town near Montreal, Quebec, in the Laurentian Mountains, then with a population of 4,000.Hall Schuyler 2000 116Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 9 Jouret, Di Mambro, and Camille Pilet (a retired sales direct of the Piaget SA watch company) owned 3 villas in Granges-sur-Salvan, as well as a luxury condominium complex in Morin-Heights.Hall Schuyler 2000 115–116 The group owned a farm called fr La Rochette in Cheiry.Hall Schuyler 2000 115 The "transit" concept was first introduced by Di Mambro in 1990 or 1991. It was to mean a voluntary departure of the members to another dimension in space,Clusel Palmer 2020 228–229Mayer 1999 181–182 and they imagined the transit as a ritual involving magic fire, where they would undergo a spiritual voyage to the star Sirius.Clusel Palmer 2020 221 He told the members that they would be summoned on short notice, and would need to always be ready, as this could occur any day.Mayer 1999 181–182 Beginning in the late 1980s, several members began to doubt Di Mambro, with several scandals and issues disrupting its membership.Mayer 1998 7Walliss 2006 112 In March 1993, Jouret and several other members became embroiled in a gun scandal.Clusel Palmer 2020 226–228 Following the gun scandal, Jouret became very paranoid and concerned with purported injustice. He began speaking of the transit concept previously established by Di Mambro.Clusel Palmer 2020 228–229 Di Mambro believed his daughter Emmanuelle, the "cosmic child", to be under threat from the antichrist. He reportedly believed the antichrist was born to Antonio "Tony" and Suzanne "Nickie" Dutoit,Walliss 2006 112 though this interpretation has been disputed.Hall Schuyler 2000 145 Tony Dutoit, a Swiss citizen, was formerly very close to Di Mambro, to the point where he was considered his adopted son. Tony Dutoit was in charge of the ceremonial special effects secretly staged by the group.Hall Schuyler 2000 116Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 2000 392 After 1991, he distanced himself and had threatened to reveal that the effects were fake.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 2000 392 His wife Nicky Dutoit had been for some time responsible for educating Di Mambro's daughter.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 2000 393 Di Mambro had previously forbidden Nicky from having children following a miscarriage, but after she left the group, she and Antonio had a son, who they named Christopher Emmanuel.Walliss 2006 112 The Dutoits had invited Di Mambro to be the godfather of this child, but this deeply offended him.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 2000 213 Di Mambro was disturbed by the name similarity ('Emanuelle' versus 'Christopher Emmanuel') , the disobeying of his instructions, and that he had not been consulted in the naming of the infant.Walliss 2006 112 Planning Di Mambro and Jouret's original plan seemed to have been a mass suicide in early 1993; following Jouret's arrest that year, plans for a "transit" were found on his computer by the police. However, due to the esoteric language, the police failed to understand what the documents meant.Clusel Palmer 2020 229 This original transit was intended to take place at a luxury house in the village of Saint-Sauveur in the Laurentians in Canada, where the OTS had an underground ceremonial crypt. After the police raid Di Mambro ordered OTS members to destroy the crypt and empty the house, viewing it as having been ruined by the intrusion; the transit plans were then postponed and moved to Switzerland. An agent of the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) claimed that if this had gone according to plan there may have been anywhere from 60 to 80 dead.Clusel Palmer 2020 229Farnsworth Clyde H. 1994-11-20 Quebec Police Say Baby Was Target of Cult https://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/20/world/quebec-police-say-baby-was-target-of-cult.html 2021-03-17 The New York Times 19 en-US 0362-4331 According to another interpretation, however, this may have only sped up their plans.Hall Schuyler 2000 144 Di Mambro, according to former members, felt cornered; he was sick, with financial issues, and worried that his lies would be uncovered. In a tape likely dating to early 1994, Jouret and Di Mambro discussed the Waco siege, saying that the Branch Davidians had "beaten us to the punch", with Di Mambro telling Jouret that "what we'll do will be even more spectacular".Mayer 1999 172 In another tape from early 1994, Di Mambro stated:Wessinger 2000 225 We are rejected by the whole world. First by the people, the people can no longer withstand us. And our Earth, fortunately she rejects us. How would we leave [otherwise]? We also reject this planet. We wait for the day we can leave ... life for me is intolerable, intolerable, I can’t go on. So think about the dynamic that will get us to go elsewhere.Prior to the deaths, many members made comments seen as concerning by those around them: in July 1994 Jean-Pierre Vinet told Hermann Delorme, who had left the OTS by that point, that "I’m leaving definitely [...] You probably will never see me again. You don't have anything left to accomplish, but I do." Another told a relative that one day the members would depart to Venus, and that when they went there was no reason to be sad. Another member gave her daughter a will, telling her that "one never knows what might happen".Hall Schuyler 2000 146 Preparations To prepare for the transit, specific missions were given to the most faithful members.Michaud 1996 35 Towards the end of August, the Genouds left Switzerland and went to Canada; prior to this, Colette closed her bank account.Michaud 1996 30 They then bought the equipment that would be used in the Morin Heights ignition system.Michaud 1996 30 Bellaton arrived in Canada on 17 September.Michaud 1996 30 Di Mambro ordered two group members, Jerry Genoud and Joël Egger, to kill the Dutoit child. Egger, a former rock musician, had an adolescence full of problems, with a past of drug addiction and his father dying by suicide. When he met Jouret, he "[became] his God"; he was described as "completely under the spell" of the leaders. He was the group's handyman and occasionally Di Mambro's driver. A former member described him as "a petty criminal, willful, very easy to subjugate, very fanatical but without any spiritual scope".Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 2000 198Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 2000 393 Genoud was loyal to Jouret, having been a member of the Golden Way since 1979.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 2000 395–396 According to the SQ, they found a written ritual procedure outlining how the baby had to be killed.Hall Schuyler 2000 143 The drugs were acquired as well, stored in a cupboard, with Jouret writing a note on what drugs to use; he noted that children could be more resistant, so the dose of sedatives must be doubled.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 214 During the last meeting of the order, On 24 September 1994, the group was renamed as the Alliance Rose Croix (ARC), announced by Tabachnik. The group claimed the renaming was in order to reach "the irreversible stage of the return to the Father" and the "Vth Reign", which would lead to the abolition of hierarchies.Labelle 2006 162Tenoux Jean-Pierre 2006-08-15 Hécatombe à la secte Massacre at the cult https://www.lemonde.fr/ete-2007/article/2006/08/15/hecatombe-a-la-secte_803625_781732.html 2023-09-30 Le Monde Paris fr-FR 0395-2037 The group was told that the end was near and that the planets were in formation for Solomon's Leap, and that now they must prepare. Everyone who witnessed this ceremony would die in the mass suicide, barring Patrick Vuarnet, Jean Vuarnet's son.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 214 Vuarnet, when interviewed by police, claimed that while he had actually been shown a "testament from the Rosy-Cross" on video cassette during the Avignon meeting, he had not noticed any difference with the other messages since it was always about the world ending, and that they had not seen the full thing; in this video, the "transit" is discussed with little ambiguity.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 214–215 Vuarnet died in the next mass suicide of the group in the Vercors in 1995.Habel Robert Bédat Arnaud Arnaud Bédat David Marc Rochat Christian 1996-01-10 Ces quatorze mois où tout s'est joué: Comment la secte s'est reconstituée à Genève Those fourteen months where everything played out: How the cult was rebuilt in Geneva https://scriptorium.ch/zoom/196663/view?page=20 2024-09-05 L'Illustré Lausanne 20–23 fr-CH Scriptorium 1420-5165 On the 29th, many of the most faithful members gathered in Cheiry, apparently understanding what was to come. Patrick Vuarnet said that while he was not included, his mother Edith Vuarnet had attended and she described it as wonderful.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 215 One member, Joël Egger, was not included, as he was flying to Canada to execute a "mission" (to kill the Dutoits).Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 2000 212 Upon arriving in Canada, he met with Dominique Bellaton and Collette and Jerry Genoud in a chalet owned by Di Mambro in Morin-Heights.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 2000 212 On 30 September, Di Mambro had a meal with some followers near Montreux in Switzerland; according to an attendee (Vuarnet) Di Mambro had asked him to meet them, including Jouret and Pilet. They were joined shortly after by Daniel Jaton, who went off to speak with Jouret. The only two people besides Vuarnet at this meeting who did not die in the 1994 incident were Jean-Pierre Lardanchet and Patrick Rostan.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 217–218Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 2000 213 Both of them died in the following 1995 transit. The next day, Jouret was in Salvan, where records and eyewitness testimony place him on the phone, and was seen late in the day at a restaurant with others.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 2000 213Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 218 Several members were lured with the promise that they would get their money back.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 218–219 Di Mambro's son, Elie, told his coworkers that he was going to visit his father; he had previously been ideologically influenced by his father, but publicly expressed doubts and informed other members about the money issues, after which he was declared an enemy, but according to his sister still loved his father.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 222 Albert Giacobino and his friend Marie-Lou Rebaudo also went to Cheiry, on the promise that they would have money paid back to them. The same day, Daniel Jaton picked up his wife and children separately and brought them to Cheiry.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 219 At this time, Robert Falardeau (later to be killed as a "Traitor"), whom Jouret despised, was in Switzerland, having been called to sign papers with Di Mambro and get his money back, intending to return to Canada as soon as he could. He already booked a return flight, and had called his wife several times, seeming normal. His flight was delayed a single day; on 2 October, he called a friend and told them that "things are happening here" that he "[didn't] understand at all".Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 218Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 2000 213–214 The letters Di Mambro wrote four letters, known as The Testament, which contained messages of the order's beliefs.Clusel Palmer 2020 218, 231Palmer 1996 303 The four letters were titled "To All Those Who Can Still Understand the Voice of Wisdom ... We Address This Last Message", "The Rose+Croix", "Transit to the Future", and finally "To Lovers of Justice".Lewis 2006 Appendix 1 In these letters, the OTS termed the acts a "transit", which they described as "in no way a suicide in the human sense of the term".Hall Schuyler 2000 117 They declared that, upon death, they would acquire "solar bodies" on the star Sirius (though members also gave Jupiter or Venus as an alternative destination).Wessinger 2000 219Palmer 1996 303 One letter declared "We leave this Earth to rediscover, in complete lucidity and freedom, a Dimension of Truth and the Absolute, far from the hypocrisies and oppression of this world, with the end of producing the embryo of our future Generation."Hall Schuyler 2000 141 It encourages the members left behind to do the same thing, saying that they should also "transit".Clusel Palmer 2020 232 They also displayed a belief in the New World Order conspiracy theory, which they connected to the Order's supposed persecution.Walliss 2006 109 These letters divided the dead into three groups.Palmer 1996 303–304 "Traitors", who were to be murdered "Immortals", who had been "helped" in death (killed) by other members "Awakened", who had committed voluntary suicide The letters maintain a persecuted rhetoric,Hall Schuyler 2000 144 largely devoted to complaining about the treatment faced by Vinet and Jouret in Canada.Clusel Palmer 2020 231 In one letter, they harshly criticize the allegations the OTS had received in several countries (Australia, Switzerland, Martinique, Canada, and France) as "deceitful", but especially complain about the SQ and the Q-37 investigation. They blamed their wish to leave the earth on systematic government persecution (who they said were in league with Opus Dei and the Mafia).Hall Schuyler 2000 144Clusel Palmer 2020 231 In the "To Lovers of Justice" letter, they compared their treatment to the Branch Davidians and the Waco siege, calling this a "particularly troubling coincidence".Hall Schuyler 2000 117 A letter also claimed a mass suicide had occurred in Sydney on 6 January 1994. According to the New South Wales Police, this did not occur.1994-10-12 L'enquête sur les morts de L'Ordre du Temple solaire la piste australienne The investigation into the deaths of the Order of the Solar Temple the Australian trail https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1994/10/12/l-enquete-sur-les-morts-de-l-ordre-du-temple-solaire-la-piste-australienne_3848052_1819218.html subscription 2023-12-10 Le Monde Paris fr-FR 0395-20371994-10-09 Australia link with Swiss doomsday cult https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/118290274 2023-12-10 The Canberra Times 1–2 en-AU Trove 0157-6925 They say they may return one day, and that "The Rose+Croix has definitely not finished surprising you".Walliss 2006 116 Patrick Vuarnet was instructed by Di Mambro to mail the Testament letters to roughly 300 people, including to the media, other followers and a number of political and public figures, including Charles Pasqua and Bill Clinton.Serrill Michael S. 1994-10-24 Remains of the Day https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,981674,00.html 2023-08-15 TIME New York City 42 en-US 114 17 0040-781XBédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 20Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 214 This was to be done 5 October.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 214 These letters were also sent out to newspapers and the religious historian Jean-François Mayer.Palmer 1996 303Clusel Palmer 2020 231 They were postmarked from "D.Part" and "Tran Sit Corp", mailed from "33 Golden Strasse, 8011 ZURICH".Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 319Hall Schuyler 2000 117Allusions to various beliefs of the OTS. "Golden Strasse" refers to the Golden Way, 33 for the "33 Elder Brothers of the Rosicrucian Order". D. Part is a pun - "Depart". Zurich is where Di Mambro claimed to have met the "masters".Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 319 A fifth, shorter letter was also given to Vuarnet, printed in the same font as the others.Hall Schuyler 2000 146 This was also found in a search of Di Mambro's apartment, and read:Michaud 1996 32 Following the tragic Cheiry Transit, we wish to make it clear, on behalf of the Rosy Cross, that we deplore and totally disassociate ourselves from the barbaric, incompetent and aberrant behavior of Doctor Luc Jouret. Taking the decision to act on his own authority, against all our rules, he has transgressed our code of honor and is the cause of a veritable carnage that should have been a Transit carried out in Honor, Peace and Light. His departure does not correspond to the Ethics we represent and defend to posterity. Deaths Dutoit family murders On 30 September 1994, at about 5 p.m. the Dutoits were lured to the chalet in Morin-Heights, having been invited to dinner by Bellaton.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 215Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 2000 212Clusel Palmer 2020 229 According to the sequence of events by investigators, upon entering the house someone, likely Bellaton, lured Tony Dutoit to the basement bathroom.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 216 Waiting behind the door were Egger and Genoud, who knocked him unconscious with several dozen hits to the head with a baseball bat.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 215Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 2000 392Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 2000 213 He struggled, but was stabbed repeatedly and died.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 216 As ordered by Di Mambro, these murders were carried out in a ritualistic fashion.Clusel Palmer 2020 230 Nicky was stabbed eight times in the back, four times in the throat, and once in each breast (each number of symbolic importance), while her husband was stabbed fifty times in the back.Wessinger 2000 218Hall Schuyler 2000 116Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 217 She, likely knowing what had happened to her husband, did not resist.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 217 Their child was stabbed six times, both with a knife and a wooden stake through the heart.Clusel Palmer 2020 229Wessinger 2000 218Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 2000 392 The two adults died from multiple stab wounds and having their throats slit.Clusel Palmer 2020 229 Bellaton and Egger left for Switzerland at 10:10 p.m. the same day, using the Dutoits' car to drive to the airport.Michaud 1996 30Clusel Palmer 2020 230 The Genouds spent the next four days cleaning up the scene, removing the blood residue, and preparing for death.Hall Schuyler 2000 145Michaud 1996 30Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 217 On 4 October they set incendiary timers to go off and, while wearing robes and medals, laid out on a bed.Hall Schuyler 2000 145 The Genouds ingested soporifics, before dying of asphyxiation from smoke inhalation when the fires began. They jammed chairs under the doorknobs to prevent responders reaching them to interrupt their suicides.Clusel Palmer 2020 229 The bodies of the Dutoits were hidden in a storage closet by the Genouds, wrapped in blankets and a carpet and hidden in a cellar alcove. Their child's body was found hidden behind a water heater,Wessinger 2000 218Clusel Palmer 2020 229Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 217 inside a plastic bag with the stake.Hall Schuyler 2000 143 Antonio's body was also found with a plastic bag over his head.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 2000 392 According to telephone records, Di Mambro was informed of the success of the plan.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 217 Those who died in the incident were:Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 2000 385–413 Antonio Dutoit, 36 Suzanne Dutoit, 34 Christopher Dutoit, 3 months Jerry Genoud, 39 Colette Genoud, 63 Cheiry massacre During the night from 2 to 3 October 1994, 23 died in Cheiry.Clusel Palmer 2020 230Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 2000 214 Two victims, Albert Giacobino and Marie-Lou Rebaudo, were likely killed first, with Rebaudo being shot, the evidence showing she had tried to defend herself, and Giacobino being smothered. Their bodies were found far away from the others, indicating that someone may have tried to hide them.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 218 Some of the victims had died much earlier than the others, and following their deaths their bodies were moved.Hall Schuyler 2000 146 Some of the dead were shot more than three times in the head. Eight of the dead had plastic bags over their heads: this may have been done to burn their faces faster.Hall Schuyler 2000 146 20 of the dead had been shot with one gun;Hall Schuyler 2000 115 21 of them had died from gunshot wounds, previously drugged with sleeping pills, with another two dying of suffocation from plastic bags (Pilet and Pfaehler).Clusel Palmer 2020 231Hall Schuyler 2000 146 Several of the bodies in Cheiry showed signs of a struggle.Hall Schuyler 2000 146 8 of the bodies in Cheiry were arranged in a circle shape, with the bodies radiating out like wheel spokes; all were wearing silk capes of white, black or gold.Hall Schuyler 2000 115Clusel Palmer 2020 230 Some of the dead had their hands tied. The bodies were all located in a room beyond a corridor only accessible through a secret door, from a salon, itself hidden.Hall Schuyler 2000 115 This room was full of religious and esoteric symbolism, including a sword, crosses, chalices, and occult ritual items. Past that room was another smaller one, octagonal shaped with walls covered with mirrors, where 3 more bodies were located.Hall Schuyler 2000 115Wessinger 2000 218 In a room adjacent to this there was another body, which was by itself.Hall Schuyler 2000 115 The depot in the Cheiry crypt where the bodies were found had its doors held closed with a wire being put between the door handles and the frame.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 218 52 spent shells were found in Cheiry. In the hours before the deaths in Cheiry, Daniel Jaton repeatedly called Jouret, Di Mambro, and Egger on the phone, likely playing a significant role; under his body was found the same string used to tie two victims in Cheiry, and some of the substances used in the killings were found in his home.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 219–220 Victims had been killed with a Smith & Wesson .22 LR pistol, bought by Egger the previous year.Michaud 1996 31, 37 Egger also set up the ignition system used to burn the building down.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 2000 393 The ones who had killed the others in Cheiry were Egger and Jouret, though it is possible they were not the only ones.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 2000 214Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 220 Following the deaths in Cheiry, Jouret was recorded as calling Di Mambro, possibly to inform him that it had been a success, and shortly after so did Egger.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 220 At about 6 a.m. Jouret left Cheiry for Salvan.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 221 At about 8 a.m., the Cheiry mailman witnessed a red Ford Fiesta, containing 3 or 4 young men,According to Bédat et al., the police suspected that these men had been Egger, Lardanchet, Rostan, and Vuarnet, but this was never proven and they were all (minus Egger) released after questioning. The investigation never concluded who these men were.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 2000 214 Lardanchet, Rostan, and Vuarnet later died in the 1995 transit, which Lardanchet was one of the perpetrators of. As noted by Bédat et al. Lardanchet and Rostan's alibi is not possible.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 221 coming from the farm and heading down to the village. Soon after, he saw the same men near the cemetery near a car that belonged to Colette Genoud, where they found her will.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 2000 214Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 221 Salvan massacre At this time, Di Mambro was in Salvan; he, with several of the most faithful, were seen at a restaurant there on 3 October. They were noted to have an "absent and sad air" and barely ate.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 2000 215 By this time Di Mambro may have already had his son Elie killed as a "traitor", the first death in Salvan: his body was found alone, off to the side from the others.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 222 On 4 October at 6:30 a.m, Joselyne Di Mambro called the wife of Robert Falardeau, who, sensing that something was wrong, asked where her husband was. Joselyne told her that her husband was with Michel Tabachnik and not to worry (in reality, at this time Tabachnik was conducting an orchestra in Denmark and her husband was already dead).Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 2000 215 At 10 a.m., Jouret was seen in a grocery store buying garbage bags of different sizes, later used to cover the heads of the dead. The fires in Morin-Heights were discovered by the police at 1:40 p.m. in Swiss time.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 223 At 4 p.m., Jouret called a locksmith from the fr Les Roches de cristal chalet, pretending he had lost his keys.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 2000 215Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 223 According to Thierry Huguenin, Jouret and Di Mambro had planned for there to be exactly 54 dead, in connection with 54 Templars who had been burned at the stake in the fourteenth century. This was to allow an immediate magic contact with these departed Templars.Introvigne 2006 36 Huguenin had met with Di Mambro near Salvan that day, but became uncomfortable and sensed danger, smelling gasoline.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 2000 215 When the locksmith arrived and the door opened, Huguenin fled the scene at the last minute, which left the death toll at only 53.Lewis 2006 3Introvigne 2006 36Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 223 Vuarnet arrived and was given the transit letters by Di Mambro: he later said he did not notice anything strange, except that several members had a strange expression, especially Egger, who he said "wasn't in his right mind".Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 223 What happened after this is not known.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 2000 215Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 223 At 11:33 p.m., Di Mambro called Egger a final time, a 39-second call. Egger shortly after triggered the remote-control ignition system via telephone.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 2000 215Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 224 From 11:42 p.m. to 12:12 a.m. he called the Cheiry farm three times, triggering the ignition system, before doing the same to the group's hideout in Aubignan and one of Di Mambro's apartments in Territet. However while many of the OTS properties had been rigged to burn, several of the ignition systems failed, and only the Cheiry farm and two chalets in Salvan burned.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 2000 215 The fires were ignited with a sophisticated automatic ignition system, involving timers, phones, heating rods and plastic bags full of the chemicals gasoline and benzene.Clusel Palmer 2020 230 25 were found dead in Granges-sur-Salvan.Clusel Palmer 2020 230 The bodies were spread around two of the chalets, while one was empty.Hall Schuyler 2000 116Michaud 1996 10 Most of the bodies in Salvan were burned beyond recognition,Hall Schuyler 2000 116 and Jouret and Di Mambro's bodies had to be identified via dental records.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 23 The gun used in the Cheiry killings was found in Salvan. The dead had been injected with a curare, opioid and benzodiazepine-based poison.Michaud 1996 10 Among the opioids and benzodiazepines found were fentanyl, flunitrazepam, metoclopramide, and diazepam.Michaud 1996 28 According to the investigative report, it is likely that the fatal injections at Salvan were done by Line Lheureux (an anesthesiologist), with Annie Egger doing the same to the children. A note found on Di Mambro's body, written by him, declared: "Your Transit must be assured of total success, but that depends on you."Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 223–224 At some time during this period (investigators could never place exactly when)According to Bédat, the presence of the Ostiguys and Egger means it only could have happened on 1 October, before Cheiry, as after that Ostiguy died in Cheiry and Egger had only returned to Switzerland on 30 September.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 224 the members in Salvan recorded a final video tape, later discovered by investigators, showing about a dozen of the followers in their last meal, including Jouret, Di Mambro, Pilet, the Eggers, and several others. During the tape, the members sing The Knights of the Round Table; in another part, Pilet tries and fails to contact the "Masters". The members then drink something and fall asleep. The film ends showing two of the children, before moving to Di Mambro's wife, all already dead. This may have indicated that the dead were killed prior and others were moved to Cheiry, though this point was never raised by investigators.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 224–225 Those who died in the incident were:Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 2000 385–413 Cheiry 15em Françoise Belanger, 55 Guy Berenger, 60 Leopoldo Cabrera Gil, 39 Robert Falardeau, 47 Albert Giacobino, 72 Jocelyne Grand'Maison, 44 Daniel Jaton, 49 Madeleine Jaton, 47 Armelle Jaton, 16 Lionel Jaton, 18 Nicole Koymans, 66 Robert Ostiguy, 50 Françoise Ostiguy, 47 Fabienne Paulus, 40 Jean-Léon Paulus, 49 Christian Pechot, 49 Christine Pechot, 50 Sébastien Pechot, 12 Marie-Christine Pertue, 42 Renée Pfaehler, 79 Camille Pilet, 68 Marie-Louise Rebaudo, 52 Séverine Vullien, 23 Salvan 15em Dominique Bellaton, 36 Caroline Berenger, 4 Madeline Berenger, 38 Bernadette Bise, 58 Carole Cadorette, 39 Odile Dancet, 48 Siegfried "Elie" Di Mambro, 25 Emmanuelle Di Mambro, 12 Joselyne Di Mambro, 45 Joseph Di Mambro, 70 Joël Egger, 35 Annie Egger, 30 Martin Germain, 54 Cécile Germain, 53 Luc Jouret, 47 Josiane Kesseler, 43 Pauline Lemonde, 56 Jacques Levy, 37 Annie Levy, 42 Line Lheureux-Bod, 56 Vanina Lheureux-Bod, 10 Fabienne Noirjean, 35 Maryse Severino, 46 Aude Severino, 15 Jean-Pierre Vinet, 55 Most of those killed in Salvan were long time members, including both Di Mambro and Jouret, as well as Di Mambro's wife, mistresses, and daughter Emmanuelle. Also killed was his son Elie, who had previously distanced himself from the group.Hall Schuyler 2000 145 Both the killers of the Dutoits, Joël Egger and Dominique Bellaton, also died in Salvan.Hall Schuyler 2000 145 Vinet, Cadorette, and Lemonde (all dying in Salvan) were considered among the "Awakened".Clusel Palmer 2020 230 The "Immortals" all died at Salvan; according to academics Shannon Clusel and Susan J. Palmer it is not known how many of them consented to death prior, and how many were simply murdered,Clusel Palmer 2020 231 but according to journalist Arnaud Bédat everyone at Salvan likely agreed to die, with the exception of Elie.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 223 Many of the dead in Cheiry were among the "Traitors", except Pilet and Pfaehler, who were probably "Awakened"; also included among the "Traitors" were the Dutoits.Clusel Palmer 2020 231 Everyone in Cheiry was killed.Hall Schuyler 2000 147 Some of those who died in Cheiry were murdered for revenge, but others were still close to the group.Hall Schuyler 2000 146 Of the dead, seven were children, four of which were in Salvan and three in Cheiry.Hall Schuyler 2000 145 It is not known whether their parents all knowingly brought their children with them to die.Hall Schuyler 2000 145 There were 15 Awakened, 30 Immortals, and 8 Traitors.Lewis 2006 1 The members, including the dead, were noted to be, relative to other cults, high status and influential individuals. They included Jocelyne Grand’Maison, one of the business correspondents of the Canadian newspaper Le Journal de Québec, Robert Ostiguy, a wealthy businessman and the mayor of Richelieu, Quebec, Guy Berenger, a nuclear engineer from France, and Robert Falardeau, who was an official for the Government of Quebec.Hall Schuyler 2000 117–118 Jean-Pierre Vinet had been an official at Hydro-Québec, the state-operated power utility of Quebec.Hall Schuyler 2000 118 Discovery On 4 October 1994, the bodies of the Genouds were found in the burned out chalet; the next day the bodies of the Dutoits were found in the building's cellar.Clusel Palmer 2020 229 On 1 a.m. on 5 October, Swiss examining magistrate André Piller was called by the police to respond to a fire at Cheiry, arriving half an hour later.Hall Schuyler 2000 115 At the scene, firefighters attempted to save the house, while Piller and the responding police entered the nearby farmhouse; there, they found the body of Albert Giacobino with a plastic bag over his head, alongside an ignition system that had not gone off. They initially believed, upon discovering this, that it might be a suicide alongside the fire, but realized that the forensic evidence contradicted this. Continuing to search, they then found a hidden salon full of briefcases, in which they found papers mentioning the Order of the Solar Temple. At about 4 a.m., the investigators discovered the secret door within the salon, there finding the corridor that lead to the rooms with the bodies in them. Soon after this they heard news of the fire in Granges-sur-Salvan, of the three villas; when the fires there died down, they found the bodies in Salvan.Hall Schuyler 2000 115 These two fires were connected when a car belonging to Egger, who lived in the Cheiry house, was found parked outside the Salvan commune.Hall Schuyler 2000 116 The next day, the Canadian police realized that there was likely a connection between the Morin-Heights fire and the Swiss ones as the properties were owned by the same men.Hall Schuyler 2000 116 The day the affair was discovered, Piller invited small groups of journalists to the Cheiry scene to take pictures. That day he promoted the theory of mass suicide, despite the forensic evidence that could indicate otherwise; two days later he announced that the secret sanctuary beneath the Cheiry compound would be destroyed, saying that this was in order to not "shock believers or attract the curious". It was viewed unnecessary to keep since there were, in his view, no outside perpetrators and no need to search. This fueled conspiracy theories. Investigation Due to Swiss federalism and the different jurisdictions the OTS was active in, the case came under the jurisdiction of three cantons, and the investigation was headed by three different examining magistrates. Attempting to resolve this and centralize the investigation, they created a crisis unit entitled "Helios" to facilitate communicate between them, as well as the separate investigation in Canada. This was largely ineffective, with the three magistrates working largely independently while the investigators attempted to collaborate.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 14 In 1996, the 200 page fr Hélios report was submitted to the examining magistrates Piller, Jean-Pascal Jaquemet and Dumartheray, the summary of the investigation conducted by the cantonal police. It was partially released to the families of the dead, and was obtained by journalist Arnaud Bédat.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 219, 247, 347 The Canadian investigators later complained the Swiss investigators had "muzzled" them.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 14 The investigation of the Canton of Valais, headed by Jean-Pascal Jacquemet, was less high-profile than Piller's; however, they did not investigate thoroughly, and left behind many items that journalists would later find. Several months after the deaths, two journalists from France 2 visited the ruins of the Salvan chalet and found, in the kitchen garbage can, audio cassettes in excellent condition, recording telephone conversations between followers who had been spied on by Di Mambro.Lemasson Georgeault Ledu Bequet 1996 08:45–09:38 Extracts from the tapes were later broadcast and deemed to be in line with the order's beliefs and theses.Lemasson Georgeault Ledu Bequet 1996 09:49–10:08 The leadership of the OTS cared deeply about the group's legacy, and spent a large amount of time preemptively creating a "legend" through both the manifestos they mailed to various media and scholarly sources, and by destroying all evidence that would have conflicted with their own story. This plan was disrupted, as some of the ignition devices had failed. This failure left behind a large number of the Temple's written documents, some of which were found on the group's surviving computers, as well as audio and video cassettes, able to be looked through by investigators.Mayer 1999 172–174 Thanks to the documents found, the police were able to understand the workings of the community and recognize some of its members, including Michel Tabachnik.Morath Lemasson 2023b 11:00–11:50 As the bodies were so badly burned, it was not immediately realized that several members, including several of the main people involved like Jouret, Di Mambro, Pilet, Egger, and Bellaton were among the dead, resulting in an international manhunt as the Swiss police suspected they had escaped. When their bodies were identified, this was called off and the police instead began looking for other sources.Hall Schuyler 2000 118 The final body identifications were completed a month after the deaths.Hall Schuyler 2000 118 The autopsies were handled by the University of Lausanne's Institute for Legal Medicine. Despite some suspicions that Vuarnet, Lardanchet and Rostan were involved in the Cheiry transit (as the three men in the Ford Fiesta) they were released, and the police eventually concluded that there was no proof to establish that any of them had been at Cheiry. Vuarnet claimed that he had little memory of the day, while the two police officers claimed they had been with another OTS follower Ute Verona, and had driven to the TGV station. However the time range for this to have occurred is too short for the rest of their movement placements on that day.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 221 There is some disagreement on the antichrist motivation as to the Dutoit killings, as promoted by the SQ. Huguenin contests the theory, saying that while the group did believe there was an antichrist, it was not the Dutoit child and was still alive. Louis-Marie Belanger was skeptical over the entire account, arguing the stake had been placed there after the fact.Hall Schuyler 2000 143 According to sociologists John R. Hall and Philip Schuyler, the SQ's account of this should be taken with a grain of salt as, due to their personal involvement in the investigation and the complaints the OTS had lodged against them in their "transit" note, they would naturally prefer a theological interpretation of motive.Hall Schuyler 2000 143–144 According to Hall and Schuyler the Dutoit deaths were more likely vengeance for Tony's betrayal of the group.Hall Schuyler 2000 145 Aftermath Order of the Solar Temple#Aftermath On 6 October the OTS was officially banned in Quebec.Clusel Palmer 2020 232 Shortly after, the deaths were widely compared by the news media to both Jonestown and the more recent Waco siege.Hall Schuyler 2000 117 Due in part due to the difficulty of explaining many aspects of the OTS, conspiracy theories were common.Chryssides 2006 119 As described by Susan J. Palmer in 1996, "false or unverifiable trails have been laid: secondhand testimonies are traded by journalists, ghost-written apostate memoirs are in progress and conspiracy theories abound".Palmer 1996 304 The news, while it was still not known that the leaders had died along with the other members, initially portrayed the deaths as financially motivated as a kind of gang, who had gathered massive amounts of money, until the leaders were revealed to have died with the rest.Hall Schuyler 2000 118 Early stories put forward the idea that they had 93 million dollars in their accounts, due to a mistaken statement by police, but it eventually came out that they had little money left in their accounts.Laske Karl 1995-12-29 Les comptes à découvert du Temple solaire The Solar Temple's overdrawn accounts https://www.liberation.fr/france-archive/1995/12/29/les-comptes-a-decouvert-du-temple-solaire-supposee-richissime-la-secte-frolerait-la-deroute-financie_151183/ 2014-11-02 Libération Paris fr-FR 0335-1793 It was initially debated whether it was suicide or murder.Lallemand Alain Guillaume Alain Metdepenningen Marc 1994-10-06 Secte décimée: suicide ou assassinat collectif? Cult decimated: suicide or mass murder? https://www.lesoir.be/art/secte-decimee-suicide-ou-assassinat-collectif-luc-joure_t-19941006-Z08LV6.html subscription 2023-12-10 Le Soir Brussels fr-FR 1375-5668Riding Alan 1994-10-07 Swiss Examine Conflicting Signs in Cult Deaths https://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/07/world/swiss-examine-conflicting-signs-in-cult-deaths.html subscription 2023-12-10 The New York Times 1 en-US 0362-4331 In 1996, the Swiss magistrate investigating concluded that of the 53 deaths, only 15 could be confirmed as voluntary suicides. These 15 were the core "Awakened" members.Clusel Palmer 2020 230Wessinger 2000 219 It is not known for certain how many were actually voluntary. After the event, some other members declared their continued support for the group's ideas, and even regretted not having been chosen for the "transit".Morath Lemasson 2023c 12:20–13:00 One former member told Piller that:Hall Schuyler 2000 147 Listen. They all wanted the Transit, but they didn’t have the courage to go. I might not have had the courage either, and I would have been happy if someone had helped me. If it was necessary. Why not? The bodies of the Genouds were never claimed by their families, being buried in December 1994 in a communal plot in Quebec.Hall Schuyler 2000 145 Mostly in an attempt to discourage devoted former members from visiting their graves, the location of the graves of Jouret and Di Mambro were not officially released, with authorities describing it as "top secret". As neither of their families came to claim their bodies, they were both cremated following their autopsies. According to the three journalists Arnaud Bédat, Gilles Bouleau, and Bernard Nicolas, who investigated the case, as the canton where the death occurred has jurisdiction in Switzerland, they were buried secretly under an unmarked slab in a cemetery in Sion, Switzerland.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 1997 273 In the wake of the deaths, fear of cults took hold of the French and Swiss populations.Morath Lemasson 2023c 35:16–35:24Palmer 2011 9 The group immediately became well known.Palmer 2011 9 Many scholarly theories have been advanced as to what led to the group's actions, though the exact cause is not agreed upon.Mayer 1999 192 Though the group's leaders died in the incident, two other mass suicides/murders of remaining members followed in 1995 in France and in Canada in 1997, following up on the transit letter's call to do so.Bédat Bouleau Nicolas 2000 217Clusel Palmer 2020 231–232 Patrick Vuarnet, who had mailed the transit letters, died in the 1995 incident, as did Lardanchet and Rostan. A luxury chalet was built on top of the house in Salvan where the deaths occurred, which had been bought by a Dutch couple, 25 years later.Schurch Thomas 2019-10-04 Temple Solaire à Salvan : 25 ans après, un chalet de luxe sur les lieux du massacre Solar Temple in Salvan: 25 years later, a luxury chalet on the site of the massacre https://www.rhonefm.ch/valais/temple-solaire-a-salvan--25-ans-apres-un-chalet-de-luxe-sur-les-lieux-du-massacre-9058 2024-07-02 Rhône FM Sion fr-CH In the total of OTS deaths, including the later incidents, 74 people died. Only one member was ever put on trial, Michel Tabachnik, following the 1995 deaths in the Vercors, but he was declared innocent in two separate trials. Footnotes References 20em Works cited 20em Bédat Arnaud Arnaud Bédat L'Ordre du Temple Solaire: Enquête et révélations sur les chevaliers de l'apocalypse Les Chevaliers de la mort Bouleau Gilles Nicolas Bernard 1997 Libre Expression 978-2-89111-707-4 Montreal fr Gilles Bouleau Bédat Arnaud Arnaud Bédat L'Ordre du Temple solaire: Les Secrets d'une manipulation L'Ordre du Temple solaire: Les Secrets d'une manipulation Bouleau Gilles Gilles Bouleau Nicolas Bernard Flammarion 2000 978-2-08-067842-3 Paris fr Clusel Shannon The Mystical Geography of Quebec: Catholic Schisms and New Religious Movements The Mystical Geography of Quebec Palmer Susan J. Susan J. Palmer 2020 Palgrave Macmillan 978-3-030-33061-3 Palmer Susan J. Cham en The Solar Temple in Quebec and the Saint-Casimir "Transit" Geoffroy Martin Gareau Paul L. 217–245 Hall John R. John R. Hall (sociologist) Apocalypse Observed: Religious Movements and Violence in North America, Europe, and Japan Apocalypse Observed Schuyler Philip D. Routledge 2000 978-0-203-97766-8 New York en The Mystical Apocalypse of the Solar Temple 115–153 Soleil trompeur Envoyé spécial Envoyé spécial France 2 1996-03-21 244 Lemasson Eric Georgeault Eric Ledu Lionel Bequet Annie-Claude fr-FR The Order of the Solar Temple: The Temple of Death The Order of the Solar Temple: The Temple of Death Ashgate 2006 978-0-7546-5285-4 Lewis James R. James R. Lewis (scholar) Aldershot en Introvigne Massimo 2006 Lewis Ordeal by Fire: The Tragedy of the Solar Temple Massimo Introvigne Walliss John 2006 Lewis Crises of Charismatic Authority and Millenarian Violence: The Case of the Order of the Solar Temple Chryssides George D. 2006 Lewis Sources of Doctrine in the Solar Temple George D. Chryssides Labelle Marc 2006 Lewis The Ordre du Temple Solaire and the Quest for the Absolute Sun https://med.virginia.edu/ciag/wp-content/uploads/sites/313/2015/12/report_apocalyptic_millennialism_c1998.pdf Apocalyptic Millennialism in the West: The Case of the Solar Temple Mayer Jean-François 1998-11-13 Critical Incident Analysis Group at the University of Virginia en Jean-François Mayer 2023-08-15 Mayer Jean-François Jean-François Mayer "Our Terrestrial Journey is Coming to an End": The Last Voyage of the Solar Temple Nova Religio 2 2 172–196 April 1999 en Elijah Siegler Elijah Siegler 10.1525/nr.1999.2.2.172 1092-6690 Ordre du Temple solaire: rapport d'investigation du coroner au sujet des décès survenus à Morin Heights et en relation avec ceux survenus à Cheiry et à Salvan: liste des décès dans le Vercors (France) Michaud Roger C. June 1996 Bureau du coroner Montreal fr-CA La Fraternité Radio Télévision Suisse 2023-02-08 2 Morath Pierre Lemasson Éric fr-CH 2023b La Fraternité Radio Télévision Suisse 2023-02-15 3 Morath Pierre Lemasson Éric fr-CH 2023c Palmer Susan J. Susan J. Palmer October 1996 Purity and Danger in the Solar Temple Journal of Contemporary Religion en 11 3 303–318 10.1080/13537909608580777 1353-7903 Palmer Susan J. Susan J. Palmer The New Heretics of France: Minority Religions, la République, and the Government-Sponsored "War on Sects" The New Heretics of France Oxford University Press 2011 978-0-19-973521-1 New York en Wessinger Catherine Catherine Wessinger How the Millennium Comes Violently: From Jonestown to Heaven's Gate How the Millennium Comes Violently 2000 Seven Bridges Press 978-1-889119-24-3 New York 218–252 en Other Cases Briefly Considered: Solar Temple and Heaven's Gate Category:1990s murders in Switzerland Category:1994 in Quebec Category:1994 in Switzerland Category:1994 mass shootings in Europe Category:1990s murders in Canada Category:1994 crimes in Canada Category:1994 murders in North America Category:20th-century mass murders in Canada Category:Crime in Quebec Category:Deaths by firearm in Switzerland Category:Deaths by stabbing in Canada Category:Familicides in Canada Category:Mass murders in Switzerland Category:Mass shootings in Switzerland Category:Mass stabbings in Canada Category:Mass suicides Category:Massacres in 1994 Category:Massacres in Canada Category:Massacres in Switzerland Category:October 1994 crimes Category:Order of the Solar Temple Category:September 1994 crimes Category:September 1994 in Canada Category:Suicides in Quebec Category:Suicides in Switzerland Category:Murder–suicides in Switzerland Category:Murder–suicides in Canada Category:Crimes adapted into films