Introducing: CONSPIRACY THEORIES, CULTS, AND CRIMES

0:00Hey, it's Sarah James McLaughlin. If you're enjoying our show and looking for your next listen, I've got just the thing. It's a brand new podcast from Crime House called Conspiracy Theories, Cults, and Crimes. Each week, Vanessa Richardson will uncover the true stories behind the world's most shocking crimes, deadly ideologies, and secret plots, from mass suicides and political assassinations to secret government experiments and UFO cults. If you love mystery, madness, and diving deep into the world's most unbelievable true stories, you won't want to miss this show. We have a clip here from the first episode about the Heaven's Gate cult, which is out now.

0:41If you like what you hear, don't forget to follow Conspiracy Theories, Cults, and Crimes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen. There are a few different versions of how Bonnie and Marshall met. We know it happened at the Houston Hospital where Bonnie worked, but it's not clear how Marshall ended up there. Some say he had a brush with death. Others say he had suffered a mental breakdown or was just visiting a friend. Regardless, as soon as Bonnie and Marshall locked eyes, the connection was instant. By then, Bonnie was already deep into astrology, and she offered to read Marshall's horoscope.

1:21He said yes. According to Bonnie's reading, she and Marshall had known each other in a previous life, And they'd been brought back together to perform a, quote, great task. So, listeners, I'd love to get your thoughts on this. Have you ever spoken to a psychic or done an astrological reading like this? What was that experience like? Let us know in the comments wherever you listen. Well, when it came to Marshall, Bonnie's explanation made perfect sense. Suddenly he understood why he'd felt so lost the last few years. It was because he was searching for her. And now that they'd found one another, they couldn't waste another second.

2:08Within months, Bonnie and Marshall left their jobs and families to open a spiritual center in Houston. They sold New Age books and held classes on meditation, astrology, and healing. But it turned out the center wasn't their great task after all. It failed after just a few months. So Bonnie and Marshall took their teachings out of the city and into rural Texas. They opened a spiritual wellness retreat called No Place, spelled K-N-O-W. That's where in July 1973, they had a revelation. They weren't just two middle-aged Texans searching for meaning. They were the two witnesses from the book of Revelation, destined to guide humanity into a higher realm of existence.

2:57As soon as Bonnie and Marshall had this epiphany, they abandoned the wellness retreat and traveled the country. At first, their purpose was hazy. They drove aimlessly through small towns and camped under the stars. They lived on the edge of poverty, surviving on odd jobs, donations from friends, and occasionally selling their blood at donation centers. Throughout it all, they continued to develop their spiritual vision. And it became increasingly dark. Vani and Marshall believed the Earth was on the brink of destruction. If someone wanted to be saved, they needed to leave all of their human attachments behind.

3:40Marriage, family, possessions, everything tying a person to this world had to be severed. Bonnie and Marshall saw themselves as messengers from a level above human, a heavenly realm accessible only to those willing to undergo total transformation. This was both a spiritual and a physical process, a literal change that would come over those who followed their teachings. Like in the biblical book of Revelation, they thought a rapture was coming and only the faithful would be swept up to heaven. But to Bonnie and Marshall, heaven was a real, physical place they'd travel to, and their mode of transportation would be a UFO.

4:28Thank you so much for listening. To catch the rest of this episode and so much more, search for conspiracy theories, cults, and Crimes wherever you get your podcasts. We'll also drop a link in the show notes.