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Infamous Murders: Cult Killings
Tuesday 2 Dec 9.00AM
In 1978 cult leader Jim Jones forced almost 1000 followers of the 'People's Temple' to commit suicide, by drinking a mixture of Kool-Aid, valium and cyanide.
He had set up a camp, known as Jonestown, in the Guyanan jungle, with hundreds of American families. When a US congressman arrived with news reporters, Jones had them shot, before ordering the mass suicide and killing himself.
In March 1995, the Tokyo subway was contaminated by Sarin, a deadly nerve gas. Twelve people died and 5000 were affected by the gas.
The sinister Aum Shinriyko cult was responsible, under the leadership of Shoko Asahara. Sharp businessman Asahara made his cult hugely wealthy, with the aim of overthrowing the Japanese government. After the gas attacks, however, he was captured, and the trial is expected to last up to 30 years.
In 1994, 53 mysterious deaths were discovered in the burnt-out ruins of buildings in Switzerland and Canada. The dead all belonged to an obscure cult called the Order of the Solar Temple.
The cult had been founded by 46-year-old Luc Jouret in Geneva in 1984. Jouret's followers regarded him as the second Messiah, but the Solar temple appeared to be little more than an elaborate money-laundering operation. Jouret escaped justice by killing himself as part of a suicide ritual with his followers.
He had set up a camp, known as Jonestown, in the Guyanan jungle, with hundreds of American families. When a US congressman arrived with news reporters, Jones had them shot, before ordering the mass suicide and killing himself.
In March 1995, the Tokyo subway was contaminated by Sarin, a deadly nerve gas. Twelve people died and 5000 were affected by the gas.
The sinister Aum Shinriyko cult was responsible, under the leadership of Shoko Asahara. Sharp businessman Asahara made his cult hugely wealthy, with the aim of overthrowing the Japanese government. After the gas attacks, however, he was captured, and the trial is expected to last up to 30 years.
In 1994, 53 mysterious deaths were discovered in the burnt-out ruins of buildings in Switzerland and Canada. The dead all belonged to an obscure cult called the Order of the Solar Temple.
The cult had been founded by 46-year-old Luc Jouret in Geneva in 1984. Jouret's followers regarded him as the second Messiah, but the Solar temple appeared to be little more than an elaborate money-laundering operation. Jouret escaped justice by killing himself as part of a suicide ritual with his followers.
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