Their bodies were arranged in ritual fashion, arms at their sides, face and chest draped in diamond-shaped purple shrouds.Д¬ult members had told acquaintances that leader Marshall H. The cult members _ 21 women and 18 men _ apparently sedated themselves in groups, put bags over their heads and died peacefully. Causes of death have not been officially determined for any of them, Blackbourne said. Officials also released the names of the 30 dead whose relatives have been notified.

The test results were available on only five of the cult members by Friday afternoon, and of those only three had lethal levels of phenobarbital and alcohol in their systems, Blackbourne said.

Brian Blackbourne said castrationsвЂ™ healed incisions indicated the surgeries were done long before the 39 men and women methodically killed themselves in the belief that they would take a spaceship ride in a UFO trailing the Hale-Bopp comet.ДЄlso, toxicology results showed at least two of the victims took a less than lethal concoction of barbiturates and booze, meaning that they may have been suffocated with plastic bags placed over their heads, he said. SAN DIEGO (AP) _ The HeavenвЂ™s Gate suicide cult not only shunned sex, but some males in the group, including the aging leader, had been castrated in apparent pursuit of their ideal of androgynous immortality, the medical examiner revealed Friday.Дr.

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