Episode 15: Murder Summer

Murder is in the air at Rajneeshpuram during the summer of 1985. We track the commune leaders’ audacious plots to assassinate the public officials and commune members they felt were enemies, including U.S. Attorney for Oregon, Charles Turner, and Bhagwan’s closest companion, Vivek. The events culminate in Sheela making a drastic decision.

Photos

Sources & Notes

Most of the information from this episode comes from investigative reports and interviews conducted in the wake of Sheela leaving the commune. In particular, Mayor Krishna Deva and Ma Ava provided days-long interviews to state and federal law enforcement authorities as part of immunity and plea deals. Under the terms of those deals, if they were found to have lied about or omitted any information, the deals would become void and they could be prosecuted for all their crimes — and prosecutors could use their interview statements against them in court. They both also provided sworn testimony at a criminal trial in the 1990s, along with other members of Sheela’s inner circle, that was consistent with their earlier statements.

I also relied on the memoir of Shanti B (Jane Stork), one of the few members of Sheela’s inner circle to speak publicly about the Jesus Grove plots in the years since the criminal investigation ended. It is called Breaking the Spell.

As I note in the episode, Sheela has long denied any involvement in murder plots at Rajneeshpuram, although she did ultimately plead guilty to certain crimes as part of a negotiated plea deal. (This will be covered in more detail in a future episode.)

Audio Sources

Oregon Historical Society, KGW Rajneeshpuram Video Archives

Audio from Master’s Day, July 6, 1985, comes from Sannyas Wiki, a fantastic resource for sannyasin music.

Music

Powerwalkin’ by Future Joust (closing credits)

All other music by Rusty King