<P> A few days later, Di Mambro and twelve followers performed a ritual Last Supper . A few days after that, apparent mass suicides and murders were conducted at Cheiry and Salvan, two villages in Western Switzerland, and at Morin Heights--15 inner circle members committed suicide with poison, 30 were killed by bullets or smothering, and 8 others were killed by other causes . In Switzerland, many of the victims were found in a secret underground chapel lined with mirrors and other items of Templar symbolism . The bodies were dressed in the order's ceremonial robes and were in a circle, feet together, heads outward, most with plastic bags tied over their heads; they had each been shot in the head . It is believed that the plastic bags were a symbol of the ecological disaster that would befall the human race after the OTS members moved on to Sirius . It is also believed that these bags were used as part of the OTS rituals, and that members would have voluntarily worn them without being placed under duress . There was also evidence that many of the victims in Switzerland were drugged before they were shot . Other victims were found in three ski chalets; several dead children were lying together . The tragedy was discovered when officers rushed to the sites to fight the fires that had been ignited by remote - control devices . Farewell letters left by the believers stated that they believed they were leaving to escape the "hypocrisies and oppression of this world ." </P> <P> A mayor, a journalist, a civil servant, and a sales manager were found among the dead in Switzerland . Records seized by the Quebec police showed that some members had personally donated over C $1 million to Di Mambro . Another attempted mass suicide of the remaining members was thwarted in the late 1990s . All the suicide / murders and attempts occurred around the dates of the equinoxes and solstices in some relation to the beliefs of the group . </P> <P> Another mass - death incident related to the OTS took place during the night between the 15 and 16 December 1995 . On 23 December 1995, 16 bodies were discovered in a star - formation in the Vercors mountains of France . It was found later that two of them shot the others and then committed suicide by firearm and immolation . One of the dead included Olympian Edith Bonlieu, who had competed in the women's downhill at the 1956 Winter Olympics . </P> <P> On the morning of 23 March 1997, five members of the OTS took their own lives in Saint - Casimir, Quebec . A small house erupted in flames, leaving behind five charred bodies for the police to pull from the rubble . Three teenagers, aged 13, 14 and 16, the children of one of the couples that died in the fire, were discovered in a shed behind the house, alive but heavily drugged . </P>

When did the order of the solar temple end