Toxicology tests on 39 members of the Heaven's Gate cult who committed mass suicide last week show a wide range of phenobarbital levels in their blood, a medical examiner's report released Friday said.
According to the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office report, which contained few surprises, the amounts of phenobarbital ranged from 28 to 164 micrograms per milliliter.More than 100 micrograms is considered lethal.
In addition, all but six of the cult members had alcohol in their blood.
Earlier reports by the San Diego County Sheriff's Department said cult leader Marshall Applewhite and 38 of his followers committed mass suicide by mixing phenobarbital with apple sauce or pudding before washing it down with vod-ka.
So far, sheriff's detectives have been unable to trace where the cult obtained the drug but believe the source was in Tijuana, Mexico. Most of the bodies found last week also had plastic bags over their heads.
Cult members believed they were sent to Earth to inhabit human bodies and had to shed them to attain a higher form so they could join with a UFO believed to be trailing the Hale-Bopp comet.
The report also said the bodies of four cult members showed between 0.05 and 1.3 micrograms of hyodrocodone, a pain killer and sedative. A range between 0.13 and 0.60 micrograms is enough to kill someone, the report said.
One body also contained the barbituate Butalbital, while six others contained Acetaminophen. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) tests on all the victims were negative, the report said.
The report does not conclude what caused the deaths. Medical Examiner Brian Blackbourne said individual causes of death will be released April 11.
While all the victims have been identified, only 11 bodies have been claimed by grieving family members. Blackbourne said unclaimed bodies will be cremated later at taxpayers' expense.