| 1994 Solar Temple massacres | |
|---|---|
| Location |
|
| Date | 30 September – 5 October 1994 |
Attack type | Mass suicide, mass murder, mass shooting |
| Weapons | Smith & Wesson .22 LR pistol, poison |
| Deaths |
|
| Perpetrators | Orchestrators Executioners
|
| Motive | Spiritual travel to the star Sirius through death |
| Coroner | Roger C. Michaud (in Canada) |
| Judge | André Piller |
From 30 September to 5 October 1994, 53 members or 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 continue their lives.
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. The members in Salvan, numbered 25, 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/murders of remaining members followed in 1995 in France and in Canada in 1997.