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Comet suicide cult auction
The death beds went for $115 each |
Personal belongings associated with the biggest mass suicide in US history have fetched thousands of dollars at auction.
The items belonged to the 39 members of the Heaven's Gate cult who killed themselves two years ago, hoping to join a spaceship trailing the Hale Bopp comet.
Their relatives will benefit from the $33,000 made by the auction in San Diego.
The bizarre sale included the 19 bunkbeds where the cultists were found wrapped in purple shrouds with plastic bags over their heads.
One dealer, who bought seven of the beds for around $115 each, hoped to sell them on an Internet auction site for around 20 times that amount.
The worst mass suicide in US history |
The cultists, who believed they would be picked up by a UFO as Hale Bopp passed over them, killed themselves in a San Diego house in March 1997 after consuming a mixture of apple sauce, vodka and barbiturates.
Conversation piece
Saturday's auction attracted around 300 people, many of them bargain hunters rather than collectors. The lots included such mundane household items as TVs, alarm clocks, chairs and clothes.
Every day items were up for sale |
A salesman, who bought one of the bunkbeds, said he planned to put it in a guest room. "I think it will make a good conversation piece when people stay over," he added.
Other items, including religious writings, artwork and arm patches with the Heaven's Gate logo, were sold earlier this year to surviving cult members.
The collection included a videotape left behind by the group explaining they were committing suicide to hitch a ride on the comet and reach a higher level of existence.
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