CULTS: Death Was the Destination: The Order of the Solar Temple Pt.1

Hi everyone, it's Vanessa Richardson. Real quick before today's episode, I want to tell you about a show I host with forensic psychologist Dr. Tristan Engels. It's called serial killers and murderous minds. Every Monday and Thursday, we take you deep into the psychology of the most chilling murderers and uncover what drives them to kill. Follow serial killers and murderous minds, available wherever you listen to podcasts. This is Crime House. You might not have ever heard of this group, but you've probably heard of what they believe in. UFOs, past lives, medieval nights, and a messiah baby. Sounds like a movie, right? Or maybe a cult we might want to join, but in reality, it is one of the deadliest cults in modern history. Yes, built by two men, one who was a con artist, and the other, a charming doctor. Together, they built a religion, in quotes, that killed 74 people. And the deaths didn't stop, even after the leaders died. Welcome to crimes of cults. I'm Sabrina Deanna Rugga, I'm Karin Vien. And this season, we are diving into some of the world's most dangerous cults and the charismatic leaders who promised salvation, but instead led their followers to ruin. We're going to ask the chilling question of when does belief become control and how can you tell the difference between faith and manipulation and between hope and fear? If you're loving crimes of, please follow, rate, and review us wherever you listen. It helps us build this community, and we love hearing from you. To get early access and ad-free listening, subscribe to the Crime House Plus community on Apple podcasts. You can also catch us on YouTube where we include visuals that bring every case to life. Part one of the Order of the Solar Temple starts now. Okay, so I'm going to be honest, I had never heard of this cult prior to prepping for this episode. Me neither, and it's actually shocking because going through the research, I'm like, so many people died. How is this not one of the top cults that people talk about? And it also reminds me so much of heaven's gate, and was kind of happening around the same time. It's just really unbelievable how it all worked out. Yes. And there's parts that just make me feel so icky and so bummed that this is an actual case. So many of the cases we cover on this podcast. I guess that's really bummed us out. We don't want any of this to have happened. No. This one does include many people dying, so. Yes. So we're going to be talking about the Order of the Solar Temple. And once we started digging in and prepped for this episode, it was just shocking how massive this story and case is. And it's not just a small obscure fringe group. It was a four country operation with hundreds of members, real money, real power. And like, I keep saying far too many deaths. Yeah. Which is why we're making this episode a two-parter, because there are so many layers, so many people and stories to discuss here that we want to make sure we do the story justice. So today in part one, we're going to discuss the men behind this cult, how the Order of the Solar Temple worked, and then how it started to unravel. And then in part two, we will really dig into the fallout, the tragedies. Shall we begin? Yes. It's early morning in Salvon, Switzerland on October 5th, 1994. It feels calm, still quiet. It's the kind of quiet that only exists in small mountain towns, where it feels like the whole world is asleep. And then a call came in, a fire in a countryside home. Nothing about the call suggested what really waited inside the home that was being consumed by flames. Volunteer firefighters arrived to find the building already destroyed, barely standing, and what remained was charred black. The smoke was suffocating, curling up into the mountain air. They moved inside carefully, because despite the risk, this is their job. To assess, contain the fire and account for anyone inside. And there are people inside. But what they find is unlike anything they'd ever seen before, it is so jarring at hardly even registers. What they are looking at does not make sense. There are 14 bodies laid out in an impossible manner. These firefighters have seen tragedy, they have seen death, but it is almost always accompanied by an indication of attempted escape, panic, signs of struggle. But all of those are absent from the scene that's now before them. These 14 bodies appear to be laid out deliberately, like in a ritualistic manner. Like someone wanted them to be found exactly like this. The firefighters stand in the ash at a loss for words, they don't understand, none of them do. But they know one thing with absolute certainty. This was done with purpose. Before the day was over, investigators would find that this wasn't an isolated incident. They were more, more cellays, more fires, more bodies. 53 people dead across Switzerland and Canada in a single wave. I mean, it's absolutely horrible. And it's horrible that it didn't stop there. I. Oh, so much of this. It blows my mind. Yeah. This is not the end that Sabrina just painted for you. Not unfortunately. Yeah. But the story does end with tragedy, which I guess maybe is unsurprising given how much of the stories in the whole season do. But with most tragedies, this one did not start as one. It started with promise, with hope, and with people feeling like they were chosen, and they were special, which kind of is a common trait of cults, of people joining cults. It's like people are looking for purpose, they're looking to be seen and to fit in somewhere. But before we get into the weeds, we're going to start with a brief synopsis. The order of the solar temple was a cult. It was founded in 1984, and at its peak it had 442 members, spread across four countries, 187 members in France, 86 in Quebec, and the rest scattered across Switzerland in various other places in Europe. And of course, behind every cult is a cult leader, but in this case, there were two cult leaders working together. So we're going to go into more detail about them very soon. But their names were Joseph Demombro and Luke Jarray. We can't say for sure, but based on what we do know about them, I think it's safe to say that on their own, neither of them would have really created a substantial cult. But it was the combination of them working together that always seemed like a lethal pairing. Yeah. I feel like when Duos ends up, but there's always kind of one person who finds the other person at the right and wrong time. You found me. But I'm expecting, but it all works out in the end. This is not a tragedy. This is a romance. This is. But going back to these two very real cult leaders, Joseph Demombro is considered the architect of the cult. He designed the mythology, the rituals, the visual spectacle of OTS. Is that what we're going to call it? I guess. But then I was like, is it OTS or is it OST? Or did Tampel Solaire or something like that? Okay. This is different language. Even from the order, I also have been torturing you to the order. I like calling it the order. I call it the order. Yeah. Okay. That's easier. For me. Sorry. We're editing this cult. I feel like we keep doing that, too. We're like, actually, it would be better this way. Yeah. But Joseph and Tampemombro feel like this is kind of his role in the cult. So he really wasn't the kind of guy that could command a crowd, but he certainly could set up the system. He was pretty much a con man with very big ideas. Yeah. And then someone who had the charisma, the Joseph did not, was Luke Gere, who was 23 years younger than Joseph. He trained as a medical doctor before pivoting to homeopathy and motivational speaking, but he didn't have a ton of direction and like understand how to grow. Right. His career. Which is why the two of them together became lethal. Yes. I'm going to start by talking about who I'm calling Mr. Snake Oil salesman, Joseph, Joseph Demembro. And then Karen, you will talk about Dr. Luke Gere. Okay. So we learn a lot about Joseph from a few sources, including the order of the solar temple and the temple of death, which was edited by James R. Lewis, and also a documentary on the order of the solar temple directed by David Cohen and David Car Brown. So that's where we're getting our info from. Joseph was born on August 19th, 1924 in Paul Satt Esprit in the South of France. But his parents were Italian immigrants, so Italians in France. And that was a difficult part of his upbringing, like they were very much outsiders and he called up feeling like an outsider. And according to the order of the solar temple documentary, Joseph wasn't especially close to his dad, but he found a lot of comfort with his mom. He would stay up late with her and knit with her. Oh, that's so sweet. It sounds delightful, right? How could this man have this childhood? I don't know. And it was during one of those late night sessions that Joseph claimed something remarkable happen. And according to him, this is what he said. He said he was able to sense what he called his mother's rhythm, but he could read her emotions almost like a fortune teller could. - And he's like maybe having a spiritual awakening. - Sure, but like when I was thinking about this, my first, like, heard this part, I was like, okay, but as someone who's done so much therapy and like trauma work and trauma treatment, that sounds like a survival tactic where you have to pick up on other people's emotions in order to survive. - Yeah, you have to understand the room and fill around you because-- - And adapt. Alarm bells were ringing in this trauma brain here, but he believed it was a gift, like he believed it was a very special talent that he had, that I guess extended to other people as he grew in life, but he kept it to himself. Like this was his special talent that he kept to himself, but he was very aware of. - Which also like could we argue that perhaps he's just great at like pattern recognition in people? - I do think that part of-- - And it felt like a superpower, but really he's just able to read people well, which I think is part of hypervigilance, which is like what it's called when you're, you have to adapt and to survive, you pick up on people's. - Yes, it's also common in people with ADHD and autism. - There we go. - Anyway, we're not professionals. I just felt like that was something worth noting. - Yeah. - The point is Joseph grew up believing he had a psychic gift and maybe he was psychic. That also could be true. - Totally. - We are two paranormal enthusiasts. We believe in psychic abilities. When he was 16, Joseph became an apprentice for a local jeweler and watchmaker. And this was the height of World War II. So it's when France was occupied by Nazi Germany and things are very like volatile in this area. When the war ended in 1945, Joseph was 21 and he decided to open his own jewelry store, which wasn't exactly the best timing. Like post-World War II people aren't like, "Oh, let's buy fancy jewelry and watches." - I totally was not thinking about a fancy jewelry spot. I was smiling when you first said it 'cause I was like, "Oh, he went from knitting to beads." This guy loves the craft. - He's a crafty man. - Yeah. - But because it wasn't the most lucrative business, over time he did decide to pivot. And he pivoted to selling his services as a psychic medium. He started giving tarot card readings, one-on-one consultations and spiritual guidance for a fee, of course. But this seemed to be more lucrative than his jewelry business because he did it for like 12 plus years. - I was gonna say, it kind of feels like the time that that would be. 'Cause like people are looking for hope, they're looking for answers, they're looking for certainty of like any kind, because they just lived through something. - Right, unpredictable and horrific. - And a lot of people died. - Yes. - Agreed. - Business was fine, but not like booming, necessarily so in 1956, when Joseph was 32, he joined the Rose accrucians, which is a very woo-woo group, if you ask me, think secret society meets ancient mysticism. And this group still exists today, but I'll give like a very brief synopsis of what it is. They date back to the early 17th century. They are based on alternative interpretations of Christian theology and have elaborate rituals and a very strict hierarchy, which are important things to remember for when we talk about the order that they build. I wanna know how you get in, if you invite it. - I think you're probably a combination of like, you find them and then you get invited into the higher ranks. But yeah, to the say, it's very real ongoing organization. And they offered Joseph everything that his solo psychic practice didn't have. They offered him structure, community, status, and advancement. And Joseph was immediately hooked. He was a man who, always from like the time he was born, again, an Italian growing up in France, felt like an outsider. And now he was being brought into this group where he felt like he belonged. And within a couple of years of joining, he was head of the Rosacrucian Lodge in Neem, France. He stayed in the group for 14 years and during that time he got married, had kids, went on pilgrimage just to Egypt and Israel. He was saying busy, busy, busy. And then in 1970, he had to leave, not necessarily because he wanted to, but because this is where the snake oil salesman, Conman's stuff comes in. He was doing some shady business and he was about to get caught. So Joseph was writing bad checks. And so he had to leave the Rosacrucians, but within a year of leaving them, he was convicted and sentenced to six months in prison. But you know what? Six months of prison didn't sound like a good time to Joseph, which he should have thought about before writing bad checks, right? That's kind of a low sentence. I feel like six months, you can, for sure. But he was like, I don't want to, I don't even want to do anything. He doesn't even want to do it overnight. Yeah, maybe he should bribe the guards with one of his checks. Well, instead, he took his family and up and fled to Geneva, Switzerland, which was actually the perfect place for someone like him because Geneva was, he loves watches, 'cause he loves watches. And also it was an area where like new age spiritualism was very like alive. Geneva in the 1970s was a new age spiritualist hotspot. And it was partly due to traditional religion, losing its grip after the war. And partly because the baby boomers were coming of age and looking for something new. So by the time Joseph ended up in Geneva, there were already at least two groups in France and Switzerland, claiming to be modern incarnations of the Knights Templar with real followings. Which part really caused? Yeah, hello? Is everyone in this story okay? No, well, we know that they're not. That's wild. It does play a really big part in this story. So they were a medieval Christian military order the Knights Templar that was founded in the early 1100s during the Crusades. So not something that's happening in 1970s, Switzerland. It feels very game of thrones. Like, you know how I was actually thinking like, the Magic Treehouse, like, you know, you and me. Oh, yes. Maybe they did do that in one of the back to the Knights Templar. Yeah. Well, it makes me think of like today where we joke that men think about the Roman Empire all the time. I feel like their version back then was thinking of the Knights Templar. Yeah. Like men were thinking of the Knights Templar. So much so that they believe they were reincarnation. They took lurping too far. This is kind of like that. Yeah, yeah. Lurping supposed to be fun and not murderous. No, fake murder. Okay, but back in the 1100s, I keep questioning myself. I'm like, am I even saying that date, right? You are because it was a long time ago. I don't remember that time, okay? You weren't alive. Who's to say? Empire. I was thinking reincarnation, but sure. So there was a lot of looting going on at this time. The Knights became very rich and powerful and famously very secretive. They had their own banking system, their own ships, and of course, their own complicated rituals that nobody outside of the order understood. For two centuries, the Knights Templar was one of the most influential organizations in Europe, which did not really sit well with the establishment, as you can imagine, and in 1307, the King of France had them all arrested overnight on charges of heresy and other crimes. A few years later, dozens of their leaders were burned at the stake in Paris France, including 54 Templars in a single event. 54, remember that number. And with that kind of lore, you can see why every esoteric club in the 1970s Europe was claiming to be the modern inheritors of the Templar order. I mean, you can see, but also I still don't understand. But it all says it makes sense. Yeah, like what? So they're latching on to this legacy, immediately giving some street cred to themselves and other organizations, or at least that they're claiming that that's what's happening. Yeah. And yeah, they're basically like cosplaying as a martyr. Yep, giving larping a bad name. And Joseph loved this idea so much so that he adopted it into his own life and philosophies. And in 1973, he founded a small commune that he called the pyramid. It was not very big. It was mostly just teaching yoga and a cult philosophy to a handful of students in the countryside. But a few years later, he upgraded it into something called the Golden Way Foundation, where he was positioning himself as this like guru/life coach with new age undertones. So you can see he's like attempting, not necessarily to build like a cult. Like that's not what he was seeking to build, but he was trying to be a leader of a group. Yeah, I'm like good for him, you know? He like found some direction. He's trying to do something. Yeah, but it is through the Golden Way that he met two people that really changed the trajectory of his life and would eventually lead to the tragedies we are going to talk about. The first was a man named Michelle Tubotnik, a music conductor who was in his early 30s, who shared the same fascination that Joseph did with like the cult and rituals. And Joseph encouraged Michelle to write his philosophies down. And every single time you say Michelle, I can't picture anyone, except for Michelle from Gilmore Girls. So I'm picturing him in his suit and his like sassy remarks in the story. I wish that was him. But Michelle basically, by writing all these down, didn't realize that he was writing the blueprint for the horror that would come with the order. And then the second person that Joseph met during this time, and probably the most pivotal, was Dr. Luke Jereh, which Chris, you tell us about Luke and how did he end up in Geneva meeting Joseph in 1982? That is a great question, because his story is very different than Joseph's, which I think is one of the most interesting things, just about life in general, not even just this case, but like how people's paths connect, you know? Yeah, right. Like a thing something went together. I would I hate thinking it's fake because I don't want to believe that this was destined to happen but yeah People could have such vastly different upbringings and like grow up in different areas and then get connected I feel like oftentimes it happens at an uncertain or like low time in someone else's life where Someone else comes in and they can kind of be More easily swayed or just like Like try the relationships. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it extends outside of romantic partnerships, right? It can be business partners as well. Sabrina. I almost fit my drink bag into my mug Oh, I'm sweating. Tan me You're the leader the leader in the bully Four universities four deaths and four times the truth got buried under the institution that was supposed to protect it I'm Vanessa Richardson, and this is campus crimes a four-part bonus series on crime house 24/7 it starts in 1905 when Stanford's own co-founder is fatally poisoned and the school quietly recast it as natural causes a Biology professor denied a tenure opens fire in a faculty meeting a graduate student stabbed to death in a crowded library and a killer who simply vanishes and a college basketball player murdered by his own teammate while his coach schemes to smear the victim to save himself Every case asked the same question. What happens when an institution has more to protect than the truth Listen every Sunday in August on the crime house 24/7 feed or join crime house plus to get all four episodes right now Add free join on Apple podcasts or at crimehouse plus dot com So Luke he was born on October 18th 1947 in kick-wit the Belgian Congo and he was 23 years younger than Joseph Mm-hmm. So he was born into a middle-class family his parents are actually from Belgium, but they were living in Africa Colonizing which is a whole story on a dome, but that's not yep pertinent to this episode No, but they do eventually return back to Belgium where Luke focused on his studies He attended the free University of Brussels and graduated as a medical doctor in 1974 Oh, so that's kind of like where he thought his direction was gonna go at first He was studying medicine, but then he got very interested in Marxism around the same time So this was a very big thing in the late 60s and 70s Marxism, which was developed by Karl Marx They take a lot of inspiration everyone here is taking a lot of inspiration from people in history that are long dead and can't answer follow-up questions to like through the right But this became the foundation for many communist movements worldwide So for someone to get involved in Marxism during this time the Cold War era It was a little bit concerning to people as in very concerned Marxism was associated with Soviet communism and therefore considered a threat and actually When it was going through this research, I kind of had a flashback. So like one of my worst dates ever. What's your communist? His step-to-add was Like from Russia. Oh And I started to be like oh my god is this him because the guy was freaky. It was a 55 minute date because I had to Save save my still quite a long time run. Yeah. Yeah, I probably I feel like that could be a movie like fifth my 55 minute date with the With a communist. It was crazy. Like he said it was French Canadian But then as he kept drinking his accent completely changed as horrifying. It was really scary You see a spy a Russian spy. Well, he was a bad one Because why are you telling me all your secrets Don't drink that much vodka next time Okay, anyway, Luke became so radicalized that he actually ended up on a list and police were surveilling him So this was beyond him just being like interested in the idea. Right interesting After graduating Luke joined the Belgian army and trained as a paratrooper where he then went into active combat and rescued civilians So there are like two sides of Luke kind of fighting like there are many different sides It seems like he's like trying on different and granted like he's at that age where you're like in college and trying to figure out who you are Who are you? He's like doctor Marxist paratrooper. Which one fit pull leader? Well, that's what happens. So yeah, he wore many hats and I think the most pivotal moment in his history Is in regards to who he would become after the military So when he returned home Luke fell ill and he was so sick and no doctor could seem to help him And as someone who was trained in the medical field this kind of like broke his belief in his foundation This is in to Rajneesh. Yes He also couldn't find a cure for his illnesses totally and so basically this is what led Luke to kind of venture out into some unconventional medicine and he began his journey into homeopathy In 1977 Luke and his then girlfriend Christine traveled to India to connect with a spiritual organization called the world teacher trust Which combined esoteric philosophy and spiritual masters with homeopathic medicine again Like so many parts of these stories like leading up to it feel benign Yeah, and like almost like okay, that could be a really good thing. I grew up in Vermont I feel like the when people are like oh, and then they went and they searched for like Non-traditional medicine. I'm like that was half of my upbringing right exactly I go to the doctor for the checkup and then right after I go to go get my Raky and refluxology I mean, I just think a basic part is what so dangerous about it is like it just like slowly evolves does not start as this evil villain On the outside. Yeah, but I also feel like Luke kind of has the personality based on some of the things that he did in the past where he's when He's interested in something he throws his entire self into it. Mm-hmm. It's not just like Let me dip my toe right. He's like that's full plunge a full plunge, right? So and that's kind of what happened to Luke and Christine They became so invested in this program that they started to promote it across Europe And everything in Luke's life seemed to fall into place after joining this group. It was really great He and Christine got married in 1980 and then in 1981 they welcomed a baby boy into their lives. His name was Sebastian But unfortunately Sebastian Was born with a various serious heart defect and despite everything Luke knew about medicine despite everything that they were all the Hospitals and experts that they were surrounded with both conventional and otherwise. Yeah, there was nothing that they can do To help Sebastian in just four days after he was born in Sebastian passed away There's heartbreaking. Yeah. Oh, I can't even imagine. No losing a child is devastating and this is already like we know that Luke has cracks in his foundation. Right And this is it just shatters him totally yeah, so very soon after his marriage fell apart He spent his entire life kind of throwing himself into different things And then always coming up empty and this felt like the same sort of pattern And this was the emptiness he had ever felt in his life So remember that he's at the lowest of the low and in this moment he meets Joseph Demembra According to the story Joseph heard Luke deliver a lecture and was immediately struck by the charisma that Luke Jaree had And also like the hunger that he could probably see the emptiness and like the desperate desire to find somewhere to belong So in 1982 Joseph personally invited Luke Jaree to speak at the Golden Way Foundation Which again is like the organization mini cult That Joseph had founded in Geneva. Yeah, and according to people who knew Luke the moment he met Joseph Something in him shifted Joseph made Luke feel very special. He gave him a platform and audience and most importantly He made him believe that everything he had been through including the loss of his son Was all leading to this moment and from that moment on Luke and Joseph basically teamed up and they became partners in crime Within two years they founded the Order of the Solar Temple together and Joseph had the ideology He now had a frontman Luke the face. Yeah, the charismatic leader And Luke had a purpose, right? So like this felt like a perfect pairing for them Independently they wanted more and then together they could have that and That's what they did and neither of them ever looked back again Okay, so now we have Joseph the man bro and Luke Jaree teaming up a con man with a vision and a grieving doctor with nowhere to put his ambition By 1982 as fate would have it or horrors would have it They found each other and almost immediately got to work And you would think maybe like their first Order of Business would be like okay, let's sit down and nail down the philosophy and ideologies right You think but no their first Order of Business was corporate takeover Which sounds so bizarre, but it will make sense in a minute. It was very strategic. So essentially Joseph wanted followers that like how do you build a brand or a Whatever cult. I know it's not what he's calling it at the beginning, but without people who are following it That's it's essential you need that Marketing exactly marketing And so he thought what better way to get those followers, then take them from a pre-existing group that already has classic poaching. Yes. And he knew the perfect group. There was this group called the renewed order of the temple, which was led by a guy named Zulian or Aegis. And Zulian had money. He had power. He had a devoted membership. And so Joseph and Luke wanted all three of those things. And I know, like, you might, maybe, maybe some of you might be feeling bad for Zulian, but don't worry, he was a former Nazi collaborator who ran the renewed order was essentially a haven for racists and fascists. Yeah. We don't need to feel bad for anyone. No, I mean, why don't you put that in? Because my very first thought too was being like, oh, how shitty for him after all this comes out to be like, wow, I was targeted because of those things. He didn't actually care about me. No, there's not much care going around for anyone here. No, not exactly. If I were starting a cult, these are the type of people that I would necessarily want in my cult, but Luke and Joseph were like, works for us. So basically what they did was Joseph introduced Luke to Zulian and they became friends. Luke joined the renewed order because again, like Joseph knows that Luke is the charming one. He's like, if I go in there, I'm not going to get what I want. We're going to put Luke in the order, get him to smooth everyone, become really good friends of Zulian and that's a plant. He is plant and the plan was to buddy up to Zulian so much that when Zulian was retiring, which would be soon because he was getting older, that he would basically leave the entire order to Luke to run. And it pretty much worked. He's not wild. It's wild because in 1983, Luke was officially named as the successor in a very fancy cult like ritual. This freaks me out that things like this can happen. I know. Such a small scale version of it, but my brother and I were on a call with my parents, trust return. We were throwing hypotheticals to try to make sure everything was tight for hopefully my parents don't die for another 40 years. But one of the questions was I was like, okay, well, what if one parent surviving and I decide, oh, I'm going to be an evil sibling and I'm going to whisper in my mom's ear from some of the dumps the survivor. But I'm going to like, you know, oh, Christian doesn't need to be a part of the stress blah blah blah blah and like all this stuff. I'm like, what safety measures can be put in place? So like that doesn't happen in someone whose older like isn't getting manipulated and they're like, there is none. I know. Wow. Yeah. I love that. That's I just love that. That's what you're going through. It's an art. He's older. Like he's done all this work to create his own close for your own life that you're concerned that you're going to become the evil one to Christian. Well, I didn't want to have Christian be the evil one in my fake scenario. I love it. But no, I was just more like, how do you protect people when they're getting older so that they can keep the decisions that they made when they're of sound mind? And that's difficult. Okay. So Zulian died in August 1983 and his wife and daughter actually contested the succession because they were like, like you're saying, they're like, wait a second. No, no, no. It should be hours. And they actually do when they end up taking over and kicking Luke out. But by this point, Luke had already established himself in the organization and kind of made himself the leader and ingrained himself, ingratiated himself with so many of the followers that even though he got kicked out, a lot of the followers were like, hey, we're leaving with you. So their plan did work. The plan did work. And also like, it's kind of genius because the people that are leaving with you are going to be the most loyal loyal and kind of unhinged at the same time, which like you just weeded out the people that were like, not sure. Yeah, warm about it. So yeah, warm about Luke. Warm about Luke. And in 1984, I really appreciate that. That's my favorite type of joke. It was just sitting right there. It was. I had to say it. So in 1984, Joseph and Luke merged the followers who came with them, with the members of Joseph's The Golden Way to start a brand new organization, which they called order du tempah solar. That's my French. I see. I feel like if someone said something French to me, I was like, do you want to join? You would be like, hmm, okay. That's cool. What does it mean? I don't care actually. But that's what makes it more fun. It's the order of the solar temple. Yeah. So with their powers combined, they order quickly had more members than all of Joseph's previous projects ever had. So wild. And again, like Luke is the frontman, but he is slinging the philosophies that Joseph has created. Like this is Joseph's cult that he developed. And basically, it's just like, oh, you can be the face Luke. So from the outside, it does not look like a cult. Okay. It looks like a group of like-minded people. I did a new age spiritualist group. Yeah, totally. That's how so many cults start. Like you don't realize how dangerous it is until it's too late. But the entry point for most people was Luke and his lectures. He was super captivating. And by this point, he had been giving public talks for years, like far before he met Joseph. He gave talks on homeopathy, alternative medicine, environmentalism, personal development, so many different topics. You name it. He has given a lecture on it. And he was super compelling. So people felt very moved and empowered after going to one of his speeches or hearing one of his speeches. And his lectures started out totally normal, right? I'm like thinking of Ted Talks, right? This is kind of like Luke's jam. So someone would come and hear him talk about like love and biology or health and consciousness. And for the first 20 minutes or so, that is what they would hear. But then part way through, the tone would start to shift. Like once you're already hooked and like really in captured by his message, right? It shifted. It's a beat. It's very manipulative. And it makes sense for people who are like, he has the charisma and he understands how to kind of do that switch. So he would start lecturing on the world and how it was at the brink of a collapse. And basically like inciting fear and all of the people who were listening to him. But then he wouldn't just like leave them with fear. He'd be like, no, no, no, I have a solution. And it's a spiritual awakening. And the idea was that for some people, the right people, that they would be destined to be a part of this, destined to be a part of something great, which is so similar to like so many of the other cult we've talked about this season, that this leader is able to incite fear. And then say like, oh, but if you're special and like you can be special, let me show you the way. And like get you to dedicate yourself to a cause. It's so calculated. It totally is. It kind of reminds me of those talent scout things that go to different like malls or whatever. I definitely did those as a kid. I went with one of my friends one time. She wanted to go and I went and it was in like a hotel in Vermont. The the reason you're special, you will be the next Catniss Everdeen. This is how I knew it was a scam. I was so excited about it. And I like begged my mom to go to one of them. It was like a Disney thing, whatever. Because they take out the like radio commercials and you're like in your car going to middle school. Yeah, they're like, you hear. Yeah. The next Hannah Montana. And my mom was like, okay, let's go. But my brother was with me. So she was like, let's just have your brother do it too. And they gave both of us an offer to like join their program. And I was like, if Graham's invited Graham got invited, then this is definitely not real. Yeah, poor Graham. He didn't want to do it. But yeah, so this is kind of like how things were set up. And at the end of the lectures, a lot of people did want to know how to get involved. He was very charming. He was very convincing. And that is when he would invite them to the Amenta Club, which on the surface, totally normal, a group of people to discuss new age philosophies altogether. And these ideas would be shared in a more like intimate setting outside of his lecture. Like everyone can be more amongst like minded individuals and participate. So that sounds like somewhat normal. Right. But in reality, this was a filtering system for the order of the solar temple. And it helped Luke and Joseph weed out people who are most receptive and most hungry and most devoted. So this is all like there's manipulation from day one, for sure. Yeah. Like they're not just like floating around being like, let's have people come and join us like they're calculating. Yeah. One summer evening when she was 20 years old, something terrible happened to Vienna, Luke. I can't figure it out, but I do know that it was a violation. Then people started asking questions. What a creep. Who else knows about this? From CBCs, personally, this is Agent Leila. The story of how a victim went undercover. So bring it on. Let's go. Let's get a confession available now on CBC Listen or wherever you get your podcasts. And this is when people were invited to the next level. So basically the people who were the most devoted were then pulled to the next level. Yeah. Imagine being invited to a private ceremony. You have driven hours to get there. And when you do, you walk into a room that is mesmerizing. It's life changing. It's a red and white room with mirrors on every surface. There are candles everywhere. And you're surrounded by 30 some people standing around the room wearing identical all white capes with red crosses stitched around the chest. And then at the front of the room is this man in a gold cape. And his image is being reflected in all of the mirrors all around the like he looks like a frickin' king. Also, I'd be like, "Oh my God, am I being sacrificed? Like, did I just walk in?" They're being told that they're being invited to like an initiation. So they know there's some like ritual to it. Yeah. This is actually what I was kind of expecting with sorority initiations, because I feel like-- This is like-- Mine was. People. What? Yeah. Mine was like this. You were like reepy. Blindfolded and brought into like a pitch black room, and like everyone was holding candles. I think we were holding candles, but there was definitely not like blindfolding. And we just got filed in and like took a seat. Oh, we went like two by two. Like, you were in it with just two people. I mean, I'm not supposed to be outing my secrets. And then like, we drank out of a chalice. Like, it was a whole thing. Oh my God. Yeah. Here's just way scarier than mine. But it was like magical. But did you have people-- Like, you could have-- Like, some people had like sponsors for it. Like, if someone's aunt had been an apathy or whatever, they're aunt would be waiting in the room with them to like-- Yeah, I do think that. --give support. Yeah. So I think it made it less scary that there were, you know? Yeah. The older and the older. So not just a bunch of 20-year-olds being like-- My mom was mostly the young adult. Yeah. Ooh, you're just scary. Well, I thought it was beautiful. That's what a lot of people in this situation thought it was beautiful. They're walking into this room, and they see this like king-like, holy-like person of the front of the room, who's inviting them and welcoming them in. Is this there? Is that you? Yeah. And it's overwhelming, but it's intimidating in conjunction with being mesmerizing. Mm-hmm. And if you're not the only one going through it. Yeah, yeah. So this is the room that new members would be initiated in. And the man in the gold cape would tell the new recruit that, hey, you're actually not who you think you are. You're actually someone who has lived many lives before this, and he tells them who they were in a past life. And it's always someone who was so significant. We've gots on this. We absolutely do. He would basically say that what you did in your past life was more significant than anything they'd accomplished in this current life. Oh, well, then it's like, well, what am I doing here? It's like you're trying to serve the purpose of your past lives. You're trying to continue that work. And it gives you a goal, be as good as you were in your past life. And we're giving you the key to do so. It gives me pause when people are always like, oh, you were this king or this princess or this important person or this celebrity in your past life. Because it's like, come on. Was everyone someone incredibly important? Yeah, we can't all be Princess Diana. Right. But they're also weeding people out. So in my mind, I think if I really wanted to believe that I was Princess Diana, I might be like, well, of course, we went through a big process of elimination. Not everyone gets to be in this room like me today. Yeah. Very down at our call. Very anyone read that YA book. Love. But yeah, this is basically the thing. It's like they're pitching like you were chosen for a higher purpose and you have a bigger purpose. Right. So like in this initiation, the man in the gold cape, which I imagine it, I couldn't confirm the man in the gold cape. I believe it's Joseph. But I can't like, I couldn't find like for sure. But it's got to be one of the leaders. Anyway, he would go on to tell the new recruit that the outside world was dying. But they and the others inside this room were chosen. Chosen by none other than the Knights Templar themselves, these 1100 ancient guys, like we're murdered. But the Knights were waiting for them beyond the stars. This feels complicated. Yeah. Because in one part, I'm like, are they about to lead me into a bunker? And then we like live underground. But then it's like, but then there's the stars. And we previously talked about alien loving cults. There is UFO stuff in this, but that's part two. But okay, so he's leaning into this like you have a greater purpose, which actually brings us to the greater mythology of the order of the solar temple. Joseph claimed that they were the modern continuation of the Knights Templar. In similar to the Knights, they taught their followers at the universe followed a cosmic order, naturally one with a defined hierarchy. So, of course, the order is most important. Members were said to be reincarnations of prominent people from the Bible. Like depending on the day Joseph himself would claim to be the reincarnation of Moses or the Pharaoh Akhenaten, depending on the day. Interesting. And then you could learn who you were in a past life too. All you had to do was pay a fee, get initiated into that magical red and white room, and officially join the group's inner order. Yeah, very interesting, but that was not the end of this. No. The bar is constantly moving. And if you wanted to climb the ranks, every time you move up, you receive a fancier cape and divine knowledge. But there's always another level. You've never suffered for free merch. Like I feel like I would want that new cape. Yeah. You want your karate belt with a new color. For sure. Gotta get all the way to black. But that's the thing. It's like there was no end here, which I feel like happens a lot in a cult where it's like, just when you think you're going to hear the secret, just when you think that you're in that. One more step. Yeah, there's actually one more step. You're not in the inner circle yet. Kind of a bummer for all those people who I'm sure we're getting. Just conned left and right the whole time. Yeah. Yeah. So what did you have to do to rise the ranks? Money, money, money. Yeah. You have to pay. And surprise, surprise, Luke and Joseph targeted a lot of people with a lot of money to spare, which is kind of a risky move in a way because I feel like my association is people with money also have a lot of like, say and sway and power because they can like use their money against people. This is why they had their like process where it didn't just happen right away. Yeah. Like the right people out. One person is suddenly like, you know what, no, I'm a leader now and they can use money to just like kick them out. It didn't happen. Yeah. All hypothetical. But yeah. So they targeted quite a lot of people like this and one person, one man in specific. For example, his name is Kami Pele who joined the order in 1987. And he was a worldwide sales director for a luxury Swiss watch company. Piaget and this basically made him very rich, very connected. He was one of the orders most devoted members. And one day Joseph and Luke invited Kami into a private meeting. He sat him down. He told him something very serious. He was the reincarnation of Arimathea. This is a biblical figure who according to tradition donated his own tomb for the burial of Jesus. So they're already priming him about like, okay, this is give all of the things you have away. Yep. So Kami in order to receive his rightful place at the highest level in the order had to make all of his payments at once. He used to give up his entire tomb at once. And he did. He wrote the check. Yeah. It's basically like a good example of the kind of holds that Joseph, but really Luke had over everyone. And we'll talk about this a little bit more in part two. But the relationship Kami and Luke have, they like met prior to the order because of like Kami's health issues. And he like became so ingratiated with Luke that I feel like he almost felt like he had, he owed something to Luke. Yeah. He was a perfect victim for this makes me so sad. I know. But yeah, he thought he was doing something. He thought he was giving back to his community that like he was special and this was a special thing for him to do. Yeah. So the financial manipulation is just one of the many ways that Joseph and Luke controlled their members. There was a more disgusting in my opinion way, which they called the cosmic marriage system. According to Joseph, a lot of his followers, earthly relationships had run their course. And he said that everyone in the order had a soulmate that they were bonded to from a past life. And so he would tell them who their real partners were and order them to enter pre-assigned cosmic marriages with people he selected. Why is there so much matchmaking in cults? Don't you have something open to spend your time on? It's control. It's seeing how much you can push these people to do what you want them to do. He even partnered his 14 year old son, Ellie, to marry a woman who was more than twice his age because it was cosmically assigned. Which is like gross of his. It's so gross to do to his own. So he was grooming his child's son. Yeah. And while he was grooming his own son, he and Luke were also taking advantage of their positions to basically sexually assault multiple members of the cult. One of the followers Joseph assaulted was a woman named Dominique Bellaton and she got pregnant. And this was not someone he was cosmically assigned to. So he was like, well, now I need to spend this narrative. And he spun it heads up. It's sick. He started preaching about a divine infant, a second Messiah. So he was like, oh, Dominique's child is the second coming of Jesus, basically. Yeah. Interesting how many people believe that they're Jesus or some it's some gone. And so he spun it to say that Dominique's child was going to be the spiritual answer to. Everything the order of the solar temple was building towards. And to prove it, he held an elaborate ceremony. He gathered everyone in a chamber with Dominique in the center. And just a picture of this. Like you are so it you've bought in. You are part of this cult. You believe everything that Joseph and Luke are preaching to you. You are brought into this like again, very ceremonial, beautiful, ritualistic room with mirrors everywhere. And you watch the ceremony where your leader is proving to you that the baby is going to be the Messiah. all of a sudden, as they're doing a ritual, a masked cloaked figure appears out of nowhere. It hovers over Dominique and points a sword at Dominique's throat while a beam of light shines directly into her open mouth. This happens out of nowhere. It is the most like shocking, paranormal, higher being experience that you're seeing. - It's like things that are written in the Bible or are visited by like angels and things that, you're like, what the hell am I seeing? - And everyone believes that a spirit is visiting and proving that this is the Messiah. - It was actually a guy named Tony who was using some magic and visual effects to pretend to be this person or this messenger from another side. - Yeah. - But we're gonna talk about Tony later. The important part to know is that in this moment, everyone believed what they were seeing. They were bought in. - For all they knew, Dominique was giving birth to the second Messiah. And when Dominique went into labor, members of the order held an all-night vigil, they chanted, they prayed, all of it around her giving birth, which I've never given birth, but that sounds like absolute hell. - Yeah, I can't imagine that. - Leave me alone, please. - A baby girl was born and Joseph named her Emmanuel and declared her the Messiah and announced that her birth was the signal that the end of times was beginning. And see, this sounds worse. It's like the end of times. And only those loyal to the solar temple would survive the coming apocalypse. - This is awesome. I feel like this is kind of a dangerous way to set up your child's life. Being like, oh well, she brings the apocalypse. What if someone in the group is a little extra off on a particular day and tries to undo the apocalypse by doing harm to the infant? - Listen, they're not thinking with logic. They're not thinking with rational brains that you and I have. Not to say we're the most rational people, but, but I would like to consider ourselves a little bit more rational than this thinking. - Yeah, okay, so Luke and Joseph, they had been preaching the end of the world, but like the end of the world doesn't just end. So the nights were waiting for those in the order. So there's some sort of afterlife after this death. So it's not just like the fear of dying. They know that like together they go and they meet up with these nights who are having influenced the way that they are today. They'd always told the members to be prepared and that they would be summoned on a very short notice and a transit could occur any day. It was very vague about like what would happen when, but the messaging was very clear. And by this point in 1989, the order had 442 members across four countries. Joseph and Luke had accomplished exactly what they said out to do. They had a major apparatus full of devoted followers, a lot of money. And I would also say one of the things that I find impressive about this cult is that their members didn't just like live on a commune altogether isolated like people were spread. There were still a lot of outside influences. This was the biggest one. So the threat of the coming apocalypse is proving very lucrative for them, but Joseph had no idea that a very different kind of disaster was already underway. Not from the outside, but from inside his own family. Joseph's son, Ellie, was now 20 years old. In 1990, he had spent most of his life in the order, not by choice, but because he was forced to do it from his dad. And for years, Ellie had grown resentful. He saw what his father actually truly was, a monster. Yeah. His dad married him off when he was 14 crazy. He was sexually assaulted by this woman. And he watched as his dad preached about divinity, but sexually assaulted women and stole a ton of money. And he was like, okay, maybe other people in this group can't see it, but I very clearly see what others can't. He is an evil person. And so Ellie decides to write a letter to his father, calling him out for his horrible acts. Which is very, very brave. Yes, it is. And the hard to do as a, you know, you grow up thinking your parents know everything. You know what's best for you, but to like reject that and reject it publicly is a big deal. And reject a whole group that has some very powerful people in it that you've been a part of your whole life. Including your father and your wife. And again, it's not just like living on one commie and like people are spread. So it's all like you just leave the property and you can be safe. No. So it was very daring and it was very brave of Ellie to do. So he leaves, swearing he will never return. But then a year later, something shifts with an Ellie and he realizes he needs to go back. Not because he changed his mind, but because he needs to put an end to his father's trickery. A year after leaving, Ellie returns on a mission. He is going to go to the underground chamber where the order conducts most of its secretive rituals and down there in the dark. Ellie finds it. The projectors, the trick mirrors, the hidden wires, the props and tone. And tone. And Tony's been there for years. Stage makeup. Practicing in the mirror. Pulling the. Nah, nah. We had leather yellow. He was a Wizard of Oz, basically. Man by the curtain. Totally. So now he's like, I'm going to prove to the rest of the order that what they have been told is a lie. So with this proof, Ellie is like, I'm going to burn it all down and expose my father and put an end to the order. And maybe if Joseph, his father was not an unhindered man, things would have gone differently. Joseph de Mombro was not a man willing to accept defeat. He rather die than have anyone, even his son, take away everything that he had built. So what do you think happens when a man like Joseph feels cornered? Do you think he just walks away? No. He burns it all down. And in this case, we mean quite literally. And he took many innocent people with him, which we'll talk about in part two. Thank you so much for listening. We are your hosts Sabrina Deanna Roga and Corinne Vienn. Join us next Tuesday for part two of our series on the Order of the Solar Temple. And if there are any cases that you would like us to gather, please let us know in the comments. Here at Crime House, we want to thank each and every one of you for your support. If you like what you heard today, reach out on all social media at Crime House. And don't forget to rate, review, and follow Crime Zub wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback truly makes a difference. We love you all. Court is adjourned until next week. Or we're on recess. We're on recess. Because it's a two-parter snack break. He break. See you next week. What if everything you learned in history class was only half the story? I'm Dr. Harini Baat. I start as a clinical pharmacist. And somewhere along the way, I became obsessed with the mysteries that history never fully solved. That's exactly why I created Hidden History, a rewind student's original podcast powered by PAVE Studios. Every Monday, I go where history touches the unknown. Vanderstrivalizations, Doomsday prophecies, paranormal phenomena, and events that science still can't fully explain. I'll give you historical context. I'll break down the science. I'll even interrogate the supernatural. I treat these moments like open case files, not miss, not superstition, just incomplete explanations waiting for a closer look. And I'll ask the question, what if this happened today? Listen to and follow Hidden History available now wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to this episode from Crime House. 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