Behind what appeared to be an accidental house fire was a darker reality. In the middle of the Swiss Alps, and in the middle of the night, 23 dead bodies appeared. all dressed in white dresses and forming a semi-circle in front of an altar. The same night, October 5, 1994, in another very isolated town, they met 25 other bodies in identical circumstances.
As autopsies revealed, some of them were murdered, others poisoned, and still others committed suicide. They were all part of the Order of the Solar Templea sect which mixed religion, superstitions, the rebirth of the Templars and the promise of a new world. They had up to 500 followers between Switzerland, France and Canada.
Luc Jouret, a renowned Belgian homeopathic doctor with important connections was one of its founders. One of them, creator Paco Rabanne: “I met this Dr Jouret. He seemed like a very serious and normal person, very calm,” he said.
Suffocated by unpaid debts with Justice, Jouret and his companion imagine the final act: a transition to a new life, which meant his death and that of his disciples. Thus, 48 people, including him, died that night. Years later, more deaths linked to this sect occurred. A story as tragic and mysterious as it is real.
