In 1984, 751 people suffered food poisoning in
The Dalles
The Dalles is the largest city of Wasco County, Oregon, United States. The population was 16,010 at the 2020 census, and it is the largest city on the Oregon side of the Columbia River between the Portland Metropolitan Area, and Hermiston ...
,
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
, United States, due to the deliberate contamination of
salad bar
A salad bar is a buffet-style table or counter at a restaurant or food market on which salad components are provided for customers to assemble their own salad plates. Most salad bars provide lettuce, chopped tomatoes, assorted raw, sliced vegeta ...
s at ten local restaurants with ''
Salmonella
''Salmonella'' is a genus of rod-shaped (bacillus) Gram-negative bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae. The two species of ''Salmonella'' are ''Salmonella enterica'' and ''Salmonella bongori''. ''S. enterica'' is the type species and is fur ...
''. A group of prominent followers of
Rajneesh
Rajneesh (born Chandra Mohan Jain; 11 December 193119 January 1990), also known as Acharya Rajneesh, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, and later as Osho (), was an Indian Godman (India), godman, Mysticism, mystic, and founder of the Rajneesh movement. H ...
(later known as Osho) led by
Ma Anand Sheela
Ma Anand Sheela (born 28 December 1949 as Sheela Ambalal Patel in India, also known as Sheela Birnstiel and Sheela Silverman) is an Indian-Swiss woman who was the spokesperson of the Rajneesh movement (aka Osho movement). In 1986, she was convi ...
had hoped to incapacitate the voting population of the city so that their own candidates would win the 1984
Wasco County
Wasco County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,213. Its county seat is The Dalles. The county is named for a local tribe of Native Americans, the Wasco, a Chinook tribe w ...
elections.
The incident was the first and is still the single largest
bioterrorist
Bioterrorism is terrorism involving the intentional release or dissemination of biological agents. These agents are bacteria, viruses, insects, fungi, and/or toxins, and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form, in much the same ...
attack in U.S. history.
Rajneesh's followers had previously gained political control of
Antelope, Oregon
Antelope is a rural small town in Wasco County, Oregon, United States. Antelope had an estimated population of 47 people in 2012.
Overview
Antelope was originally a stage and freight wagon road stop on the old Dalles to Canyon City Trail. Howa ...
, as they were based in the nearby
intentional community
An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, ...
of
Rajneeshpuram
Rajneeshpuram was a religious intentional community in the northwest United States, located in Wasco County, Oregon. Incorporated as a city between 1981 and 1988, its population consisted entirely of Rajneeshees, followers of the spiritual tea ...
, and they now sought election to two of the three seats on the Wasco County Circuit Court that were up for election in November 1984. Some Rajneeshpuram officials feared that they would not get enough votes, so they decided to incapacitate voters in The Dalles, the largest population center in Wasco County. The chosen biological agent was ''
Salmonella enterica
''Salmonella enterica'' (formerly ''Salmonella choleraesuis'') is a rod-headed, flagellate, facultative anaerobic, Gram-negative bacterium and a species of the genus ''Salmonella''. A number of its serovars are serious human pathogens.
Epidemi ...
'' Typhimurium, which was first delivered through glasses of water to two county commissioners and then at salad bars and in salad dressing.
As a result of the attack, 751 people contracted
salmonellosis
Salmonellosis, more commonly known as food poisoning is a symptomatic infection caused by bacteria of the ''Salmonella'' type. It is also a food-borne disease and are defined as diseases, usually either infectious or toxic in nature, caused
by a ...
, 45 of whom were hospitalized, but none died. An initial investigation by the
Oregon Health Authority
The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) is a government agency in the U.S. state of Oregon. It was established by the passage of Oregon House Bill 2009 by the 75th Oregon Legislative Assembly, and split off from Oregon Department of Human Services, O ...
and the
Centers for Disease Control
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...
did not rule out deliberate contamination, and the agents and contamination were confirmed a year later, on February 28, 1985. Congressman
James H. Weaver gave a speech in the
U.S. House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
in which he "accused the Rajneeshees of sprinkling ''Salmonella'' culture on salad bar ingredients in eight restaurants".
At a press conference in September 1985, Rajneesh accused several of his followers of participation in this and other crimes, including an
aborted plan in 1985 to assassinate an
United States Attorney
United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...
, and he asked state and federal authorities to investigate.
Oregon Attorney General
The Oregon Attorney General is a statutory office within the executive branch of the state of Oregon, and serves as the chief legal officer of the state, heading its Department of Justice with its six operating divisions. The attorney general is ch ...
David B. Frohnmayer set up an inter-agency task force composed of
Oregon State Police
The Oregon State Police (OSP) is a law enforcement agency of the U.S. state of Oregon. The OSP enforces all of Oregon's criminal laws and assists local law enforcement agencies. Terri Davie has served as Superintendent since November 1, 2020.
The ...
and the
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
, and executed search warrants in Rajneeshpuram. A sample of bacteria was found in a Rajneeshpuram medical laboratory which matched the contaminant that had sickened the town residents. Two leading Rajneeshpuram officials were convicted on charges of
attempted murder
Attempted murder is a crime of attempt in various jurisdictions.
Canada
Section 239 of the ''Criminal Code'' makes attempted murder punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment. If a gun is used, the minimum sentence is four, five or seven ye ...
and served 29 months of 20-year sentences in a minimum-security federal prison.
Planning
In 1981, several thousand of
Rajneesh
Rajneesh (born Chandra Mohan Jain; 11 December 193119 January 1990), also known as Acharya Rajneesh, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, and later as Osho (), was an Indian Godman (India), godman, Mysticism, mystic, and founder of the Rajneesh movement. H ...
's followers had moved onto the "Big Muddy Ranch" in rural
Wasco County
Wasco County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,213. Its county seat is The Dalles. The county is named for a local tribe of Native Americans, the Wasco, a Chinook tribe w ...
,
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
, where they later incorporated as an
intentional community
An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, ...
called "
Rajneeshpuram
Rajneeshpuram was a religious intentional community in the northwest United States, located in Wasco County, Oregon. Incorporated as a city between 1981 and 1988, its population consisted entirely of Rajneeshees, followers of the spiritual tea ...
".
They had taken political control of the small nearby town of
Antelope, Oregon
Antelope is a rural small town in Wasco County, Oregon, United States. Antelope had an estimated population of 47 people in 2012.
Overview
Antelope was originally a stage and freight wagon road stop on the old Dalles to Canyon City Trail. Howa ...
(population 75), the name of which they changed to "Rajneesh".
The group had started on friendly terms with the local population, but relations soon degraded because of land-use conflicts and the commune's dramatic expansion.
After being denied building permits for Rajneeshpuram, the commune leadership sought to gain political control over the rest of the county by influencing the November 1984 county election.
Their goal was to win two of three seats on the Wasco county commission, as well as the sheriff's office.
Their attempts to influence the election included the "Share-a-Home" program, in which they transported thousands of homeless people to Rajneeshpuram and attempted to register them to vote to inflate the constituency of voters for the group's candidates.
The Wasco County clerk countered this attempt by enforcing a regulation that required all new voters to submit their qualifications when registering to vote.
The commune leadership planned to sicken and incapacitate voters in
The Dalles
The Dalles is the largest city of Wasco County, Oregon, United States. The population was 16,010 at the 2020 census, and it is the largest city on the Oregon side of the Columbia River between the Portland Metropolitan Area, and Hermiston ...
, where most of the county's voters resided, to sway the election.
Approximately twelve people were involved in the plots to employ
biological agent
A biological agent (also called bio-agent, biological threat agent, biological warfare agent, biological weapon, or bioweapon) is a bacterium, virus, protozoan, parasite, fungus, or toxin that can be used purposefully as a weapon in bioterroris ...
s, and at least eleven were involved in planning them. No more than four appear to have been involved in development at the Rajneeshpuram medical laboratory; not all of those were necessarily aware of the objectives of their work. At least eight individuals helped spread the bacteria.
The main planners of the attack included Sheela Silverman (
Ma Anand Sheela
Ma Anand Sheela (born 28 December 1949 as Sheela Ambalal Patel in India, also known as Sheela Birnstiel and Sheela Silverman) is an Indian-Swiss woman who was the spokesperson of the Rajneesh movement (aka Osho movement). In 1986, she was convi ...
), Rajneesh's chief lieutenant, and Diane Yvonne Onang (Ma Anand Puja), a nurse practitioner and secretary-treasurer of the Rajneesh Medical Corporation.
They purchased ''
Salmonella
''Salmonella'' is a genus of rod-shaped (bacillus) Gram-negative bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae. The two species of ''Salmonella'' are ''Salmonella enterica'' and ''Salmonella bongori''. ''S. enterica'' is the type species and is fur ...
'' bacteria from a medical supply company in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
,
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, and staff cultured it in labs within the commune.
They contaminated the produce at the
salad bar
A salad bar is a buffet-style table or counter at a restaurant or food market on which salad components are provided for customers to assemble their own salad plates. Most salad bars provide lettuce, chopped tomatoes, assorted raw, sliced vegeta ...
s as a "trial run".
The group also tried to introduce
pathogen
In biology, a pathogen ( el, πάθος, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of") in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a germ ...
s into The Dalles' water system.
If successful, they planned to use the same techniques closer to
Election Day
Election day or polling day is the day on which general elections are held. In many countries, general elections are always held on a Saturday or Sunday, to enable as many voters as possible to participate; while in other countries elections ar ...
. They did not carry out the second part of the plan. The commune decided to boycott the election when it became clear that those brought in through the "Share-a-Home" program would not be allowed to vote.
Two visiting Wasco County commissioners were infected via glasses of water containing ''Salmonella'' bacteria during a visit to Rajneeshpuram on August 29, 1984. Both men fell ill and one was hospitalized. Afterward, members of Sheela's team spread ''Salmonella'' on
produce
Produce is a generalized term for many farm-produced crops, including fruits and vegetables (grains, oats, etc. are also sometimes considered ''produce''). More specifically, the term ''produce'' often implies that the products are fresh and g ...
in grocery stores and on doorknobs and
urinal
A urinal (, ) is a sanitary plumbing fixture for urination only. Urinals are often provided in public toilets for male users in Western countries (less so in Muslim countries). They are usually used in a standing position. Urinals can be with ...
handles in the county courthouse, but these actions did not produce the desired effects.
In September and October 1984, they contaminated the salad bars of ten local restaurants with ''Salmonella'', infecting 751 people.
Forty-five people received hospital treatment; all survived.
The primary delivery tactic involved one member concealing a plastic bag containing a light-brown liquid with the ''Salmonella'' bacteria (referred to by the perpetrators as "salsa"
), and either spreading it over the food at a salad bar, or pouring it into salad dressing.
By September 24, 1984, more than 150 people were violently ill. By the end of September, 751 cases of acute
gastroenteritis
Gastroenteritis, also known as infectious diarrhea and gastro, is an inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract including the stomach and intestine. Symptoms may include diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Fever, lack of energy, and dehydra ...
were documented; lab testing determined that all of the victims were infected with ''
Salmonella enterica
''Salmonella enterica'' (formerly ''Salmonella choleraesuis'') is a rod-headed, flagellate, facultative anaerobic, Gram-negative bacterium and a species of the genus ''Salmonella''. A number of its serovars are serious human pathogens.
Epidemi ...
'' Typhimurium.
Symptoms included
diarrhea
Diarrhea, also spelled diarrhoea, is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements each day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration due to fluid loss. Signs of dehydration often begin wi ...
,
fever
Fever, also referred to as pyrexia, is defined as having a body temperature, temperature above the human body temperature, normal range due to an increase in the body's temperature Human body temperature#Fever, set point. There is not a single ...
,
chills,
nausea
Nausea is a diffuse sensation of unease and discomfort, sometimes perceived as an urge to vomit. While not painful, it can be a debilitating symptom if prolonged and has been described as placing discomfort on the chest, abdomen, or back of the ...
,
vomiting
Vomiting (also known as emesis and throwing up) is the involuntary, forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the Human nose, nose.
Vomiting can be the result of ailments like Food-poisoning, foo ...
, headaches, abdominal pain, and bloody
stools.
Victims ranged in age from an infant, born two days after his mother's infection and initially given a five percent chance of survival,
to an 87-year-old.
Local residents suspected that Rajneesh's followers were behind the poisonings. They turned out in droves on Election Day to prevent the cult from winning any county positions, thus rendering the plot unsuccessful.
The Rajneeshees eventually withdrew their candidate from the November 1984 ballot.
Only 239 of the commune's 7,000 residents voted; most were not U.S. citizens and could not vote.
The outbreak cost local restaurants hundreds of thousands of dollars and health officials shut down the salad bars of the affected establishments.
Some residents feared further attacks and stayed at home.
One resident said: "People were so horrified and scared. People wouldn't go out, they wouldn't go out alone. People were becoming prisoners."
Investigation
Officials and investigators from a number of different state and federal agencies investigated the outbreak.
Michael Skeels, director of the Oregon State Public Health Laboratory at the time, said that the incident provoked such a large public health investigation because "it was the largest food-related outbreak in the U.S. in 1984".
The investigation identified the bacteria as ''Salmonella enterica'' Typhimurium and initially concluded that the outbreak had been due to food handlers' poor personal hygiene. Workers preparing food at the affected restaurants had fallen ill before most patrons had.
Oregon
Democratic Congressman
James H. Weaver continued to investigate because he believed that the officials' conclusion did not adequately explain the facts.
He contacted physicians at the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...
(CDC) and other agencies and urged them to investigate Rajneeshpuram.
According to Lewis F. Carter's book ''Charisma and Control in Rajneeshpuram'', "many treated his concern" as paranoid or as an example of "Rajneeshee bashing".
On February 28, 1985, Weaver gave a speech at the
U.S. House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
in which he accused the Rajneeshees of contaminating salad bar ingredients in eight restaurants.
As events later showed, Weaver had presented a well-reasoned, if only circumstantial, case; these circumstantial elements were confirmed by evidence found after investigators gained access to Rajneeshpuram several months later.
Months later, starting on September 16, 1985, Rajneesh, who had recently emerged from a four-year period of public silence and self-imposed isolation (although he had continued to meet with his assistant) at the commune,
convened press conferences: he stated that Sheela and nineteen other commune leaders, including Puja, had left Rajneeshpuram over the weekend and gone to Europe.
He said that he had received information from commune residents that Sheela and her team had committed a number of serious crimes.
Calling them a "gang of
fascists
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and th ...
", he said they had tried to poison his doctor and Rajneesh's female companion, as well as the
Jefferson County district attorney
In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...
and the water system in The Dalles. Rajneesh voiced suspicions that they had poisoned a county commissioner and Judge William Hulse, and that they may have been responsible for the salmonellosis outbreak in The Dalles.
He invited state and federal law enforcement officials to Rajneeshpuram to investigate.
His allegations were initially greeted with skepticism by outside observers.
Oregon Attorney General
The Oregon Attorney General is a statutory office within the executive branch of the state of Oregon, and serves as the chief legal officer of the state, heading its Department of Justice with its six operating divisions. The attorney general is ch ...
David B. Frohnmayer established a task force among the Wasco County Sheriff's office, the
Oregon State Police
The Oregon State Police (OSP) is a law enforcement agency of the U.S. state of Oregon. The OSP enforces all of Oregon's criminal laws and assists local law enforcement agencies. Terri Davie has served as Superintendent since November 1, 2020.
The ...
, the
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
(FBI), the
Immigration and Naturalization Service
The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was an agency of the U.S. Department of Labor from 1933 to 1940 and the U.S. Department of Justice from 1940 to 2003.
Referred to by some as former INS and by others as legacy INS, ...
(INS) and the
National Guard
National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards.
Nat ...
that set up headquarters at Rajneeshpuram to investigate the allegations. They obtained
search warrant
A search warrant is a court order that a magistrate or judge issues to authorize law enforcement officers to conduct a search of a person, location, or vehicle for evidence of a crime and to confiscate any evidence they find. In most countries, ...
s and subpoenas; 50 investigators entered the ranch on October 2, 1985. Skeels found glass vials containing ''Salmonella'' "
bactrol disks" in the laboratory of a Rajneeshpuram medical clinic. Analysis by the CDC lab in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
confirmed that the bacteria from the Rajneesh laboratory were an exact match to those that sickened individuals who had eaten at local restaurants.
The investigation also revealed experimentation at Rajneeshpuram with poisons, chemicals and bacteria which had been carried out during 1984 and 1985.
Skeels described the scene at the Rajneesh laboratory as "a bacteriological freezer-dryer for large-scale production" of microbes.
Investigators found a copy of ''
The Anarchist Cookbook
''The Anarchist Cookbook'', first published in 1971, is a book containing instructions for the manufacture of explosives, rudimentary telecommunications phreaking devices, and related weapons, as well as instructions for the home manufacture o ...
'', and literature on the manufacture and usage of
explosive
An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...
s and military
bio-warfare.
Investigators believed that the commune had previously carried out similar attacks in
Salem,
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
and other cities in Oregon.
According to court testimony, the plotters boasted that they had attacked a nursing home and a salad bar at the
Mid-Columbia Medical Center, but no such attempts were ever proven in court.
As a result of the
bioterrorism
Bioterrorism is terrorism involving the intentional release or dissemination of biological agents. These agents are bacteria, viruses, insects, fungi, and/or toxins, and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form, in much the same ...
investigation, law enforcement officials discovered that there had been an
aborted plot by Rajneeshees to murder
Charles Turner, a former
United States Attorney
United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...
for Oregon.
An
invoice
An invoice, bill or tab is a commerce, commercial document issued by a sales, seller to a buyer relating to a sale transaction and indicating the product (business), products, quantities, and agreed-upon prices for products or Service (economic ...
dated September 25, 1984, from the
American Type Culture Collection
ATCC or the American Type Culture Collection is a nonprofit organization which collects, stores, and distributes standard reference microorganisms, cell lines and other materials for research and development. Established in 1925 to serve as a nati ...
of microbes was discovered, showing an order received by the Rajneeshpuram laboratory for
''Salmonella'' ''typhi'', the bacterium that causes the life-threatening illness
typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...
.
Prosecution
The mayor of Rajneeshpuram,
David Berry Knapp
David Berry Knapp, also known as Krishna Deva (born 1948), is an American former businessman and disciple of Rajneesh who was the mayor of Rajneeshpuram from August 11, 1982 to September 15, 1985.
Early life and education
Knapp was raised in Ch ...
(Swami Krishna Deva; also known as KD),
turned state's evidence and gave an account of his knowledge of the ''Salmonella'' attack to the FBI. He claimed that Sheela said "she had talked with
ajneeshabout the plot to decrease voter turnout in The Dalles by making people sick. Sheela said that
ajneeshcommented that it was best not to hurt people, but if a few died not to worry."
In Miller's ''
Germs: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War'', this statement is attributed to Sheela.
According to KD's testimony, she played doubters a tape of Rajneesh's muffled voice saying, "if it was necessary to do things to preserve
isvision, then do it," and interpreted this to mean that murder in his name was fine, telling doubters "not to worry" if a few people had to die.
According to the account of Satya Bharti Franklin, when writing about theories about tapes Sheela claimed to have, "As many of us knew, she'd had a wide variety of Bhagwan's discourse tapes edited over the years until they said only what she wanted them to say, while ashram/ranch videos and films had been judiously spliced and edited, rewriting history. It was a process many of us, including me, had been involved with in one way or another. Whatever tapes she had in her possession proved nothing."
John Jay Shelfer (Swami Prem Jayananda), Sheela's husband at Rajneeshpuram, recalled in 2020 that "Sheela was very good at framing the issues in a way that would invite Osho's approval of whatever she approved to do. She might ask a general, broad question, get an answer, and then, she would go back and use that as Osho authorising whatever it was that she wanted to do. She would provide and limit information as it would help support what she wanted."
According to a 1994 study published in the journal ''Sociology of Religion'', "
st
sannyasins indicated that they believed that
ajneeshknew about Ma Anand Sheela's illegal activities."
Frances FitzGerald writes in ''Cities on a Hill'' that most of Rajneesh's followers "believed
imincapable of doing, or willing, violence against another person", and that almost all thought the responsibility for the criminality was Sheela's—according to FitzGerald, the followers believed the guru had not known anything about it.
Carus writes in ''Toxic Terror'' that "There is no way to know to what extent
ajneeshparticipated in actual decision-making. His followers believed he was involved in every important decision that Sheela made, but those allegations were never proven."
Rajneesh insisted that Sheela, who he said was his only source of information during his period of isolation, used her position to impose "a fascist state" on the commune.
He acknowledged that the key to her actions was his silence.
Rajneesh left Oregon by plane on October 27, 1985, and was
arrested
An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody (legal protection or control), usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be questi ...
when he landed in
Charlotte
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
,
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
, and charged with 35 counts of deliberate
violations of immigration laws.
As part of a
plea agreement
A plea bargain (also plea agreement or plea deal) is an agreement in criminal law proceedings, whereby the prosecutor provides a concession to the defendant in exchange for a plea of guilt or '' nolo contendere.'' This may mean that the defendan ...
, he pleaded guilty to two counts of
making false statements
Making false statements () is the common name for the United States federal process crime laid out in Section 1001 of Title 18 of the United States Code, which generally prohibits knowingly and willfully making false or fraudulent statements, or ...
to immigration officials.
Rajneesh received a ten-year suspended sentence and a fine of US$400,000, and was
deported
Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...
and barred from reentering the U.S. for a period of five years.
He was never
prosecuted
A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal trial ...
for crimes related to the ''Salmonella'' attack.
Sheela and Puja were arrested in
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
on October 28, 1985.
After protracted negotiations between the two governments, they were
extradited
Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdi ...
to the U.S., reaching Portland on February 6, 1986.
They were charged with attempting to murder Rajneesh's personal physician, first-degree
assault
An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...
for poisoning Judge William Hulse, second-degree assault for poisoning The Dalles Commissioner Raymond Matthews, and
product tampering Tampering can refer to many forms of sabotage but the term is often used to mean intentional modification of products in a way that would make them harmful to the consumer. This threat has prompted manufacturers to make products that are either di ...
for the poisonings in The Dalles, as well as
wiretap
Telephone tapping (also wire tapping or wiretapping in American English) is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitorin ...
ping and immigration offenses.
The U.S. Attorney's office handled the prosecution of the poisoning cases related to the ten restaurants, and the Oregon Attorney General's office prosecuted the poisoning cases of Commissioner Matthews and Judge Hulse.
On July 22, 1986, both women entered
Alford plea
In United States law, an Alford plea, also called a Kennedy plea in West Virginia, an Alford guilty plea, and the Alford doctrine, is a guilty plea in criminal court, whereby a defendant in a criminal case does not admit to the criminal act and ...
s for the ''Salmonella'' attack and the other charges, and received sentences ranging from three to twenty years, to be served concurrently. Sheela received 20 years for the attempted murder of Rajneesh's physician, 20 years for first-degree assault in the poisoning of Judge Hulse, ten years for second-degree assault in the poisoning of Commissioner Matthews, four-and-a-half years for her role in the attack, four-and-a-half years for the wiretapping conspiracy, and five years'
probation
Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration.
In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...
for immigration fraud; Puja received fifteen, fifteen, seven-and-a-half, and four-and-a-half years, respectively, for her role in the first four of these crimes, as well as three years' probation for the wiretapping conspiracy.
Both Sheela and Puja were released on
parole
Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...
early for good behavior, after serving twenty-nine months of their sentences in a minimum-security
federal prison
A federal prison is operated under the jurisdiction of a federal government as opposed to a state or provincial body. Federal prisons are used for convicts who violated federal law (U.S., Mexico), inmates considered dangerous (Brazil), or those s ...
.
Sheela's
green card
A green card, known officially as a permanent resident card, is an identity document which shows that a person has permanent residency in the United States. ("The term 'lawfully admitted for permanent residence' means the status of having been ...
was revoked; she moved to Switzerland. She remarried there and went on to run two
nursing home
A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to in ...
s.
Aftermath
''
The Oregonian
''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...
'' ran a 20-part series on Rajneesh's movement, beginning in June 1985, which included an investigation into the ''Salmonella'' incident. As a result of a follow-up investigation, ''The Oregonian'' learned that Leslie L. Zaitz, one of their
investigative journalists
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years rese ...
, had been placed as number three on a top-ten hit list by Sheela's group.
Frohnmayer commented on the poisoning incident and other acts perpetrated by the group, stating: "The Rajneeshees committed the most significant crimes of their kind in the history of the United States ... The largest single incident of fraudulent marriages, the most massive scheme of wiretapping and bugging, and the largest mass poisoning."
Looking back on the incident, Skeels stated, "We lost our innocence over this ... We really learned to be more suspicious ... The first significant biological attack on a U.S. community was not carried out by foreign terrorists smuggled into New York, but by legal residents of a U.S. community. The next time it happens it could be with more lethal agents ... We in public health are really not ready to deal with that."
Milton Leitenberg noted in the 2005 work ''Assessing the Biological Weapons and Bioterrorism Threat'', "there is apparently no other 'terrorist' group that is known to have successfully cultured any pathogen."
Federal and state investigators requested that details of the incident not be published in the ''
Journal of the American Medical Association
''The Journal of the American Medical Association'' (''JAMA'') is a peer-reviewed medical journal published 48 times a year by the American Medical Association. It publishes original research, reviews, and editorials covering all aspects of bio ...
'' (JAMA) for twelve years, for they feared a description of the events could spark
copycat crime
A copycat crime is a criminal act that is modelled after or inspired by a previous crime. It notably occurs after exposure to media content depicted said crimes, and/or a live criminal model.
Copycat effect
The copycat effect is the alleged tende ...
s, and ''JAMA'' complied.
No repeat attacks or
hoax
A hoax is a widely publicized falsehood so fashioned as to invite reflexive, unthinking acceptance by the greatest number of people of the most varied social identities and of the highest possible social pretensions to gull its victims into pu ...
es subsequently occurred, and a detailed account of the incident and investigation was published in ''JAMA'' in 1997.
A 1999 empirical analysis in the journal ''Emerging Infectious Diseases'' published by the CDC described six motivational factors associated with bioterrorism, including:
charismatic leadership, no outside constituency, apocalyptic ideology, loner or splinter group, sense of paranoia and grandiosity, and defensive aggression.
According to the article, the "Rajneesh Cult" satisfied all motivational factors except for an "apocalyptic ideology".
An analysis in the book ''Cults, Religion and Violence'' disputes the link to charismatic leadership, pointing out that in this and other cases, it was organizational lieutenants who played a pivotal role in the initiation of violence. Arguing for a contextual rather than decisive view of charisma, the authors state that the attribution of outcomes to the personality of a single individual, even a charismatic leader, usually camouflages a far more complex field of social relationships.
U.S. media revisited the incident during the
2001 anthrax attacks.
The 2001 publication of
Judith Miller
Judith Miller (born January 2, 1948) is an American journalist and commentator known for her coverage of Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) program both before and after the 2003 invasion, which was later discovered to have been based on ...
's ''Germs: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War'', which contained an analysis and detailed description of the events, also brought discussion of the incident back into the news.
Residents of The Dalles commented that they have an understanding of how bioterrorism can occur in the United States.
The incident had spread fear in the community, and drained the local economy.
All but one of the restaurants affected went out of business.
In 2005, the
Oregon State Land Board The Department of State Lands (DSL), one of the oldest agencies of government of the U.S. state of Oregon, is principally responsible for the management of lands under state ownership, as its name implies. Unlike most other department-level state a ...
agreed to sell of Wasco County, including Rajneeshpuram, to the Colorado-based youth ministry
Young Life
Young Life is an evangelical Christian organization based in Colorado Springs, Colorado which focuses on young people in middle school, high school, and college.
Week-long Summer camps are a major focus, and these have a definite evangelizing asp ...
.
On February 18, 2005,
Court TV
Court TV is an American digital broadcast network and former cable television channel. It was originally launched in 1991 with a focus on crime-themed programs such as true crime documentary series, legal analysis talk shows, and live news cove ...
aired an episode of ''
Forensic Files
''Forensic Files'', originally known as ''Medical Detectives'', is an American documentary television program that reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and outbreaks of illness. The show was origi ...
'' about the incident, "'Bio-Attack' – Oregon Cult Poisonings".
The salmonellosis outbreak was also discussed in the media within the context of the
2006 North American E. coli outbreak
In 2006, there were several outbreaks of foodborne illness from spinach and lettuce contaminated by E. coli O157:H7, ''E. coli'' O157:H7.
Spinach
The initial outbreak occurred in September 2006 and its probable origin was an Angus cattle ranch t ...
.
The book ''Emerging Infectious Diseases: Trends and Issues'' cites the 1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack, along with the ''
Aum Shinrikyo
, formerly , is a Japanese doomsday cult founded by Shoko Asahara in 1987. It carried out the deadly Tokyo subway sarin attack in 1995 and was found to have been responsible for the Matsumoto sarin attack the previous year.
The group says ...
'' group's attempts to use
anthrax
Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The sk ...
and other agents, as exceptions to the belief "that only foreign-state supported groups have the resources to execute a credible bioterrorism event".
According to ''Deadly Cultures: Biological Weapons Since 1945'', these are the only two confirmed uses of biological weapons for
terrorist
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
purposes to harm humans.
The incident was the single largest bioterrorist attack in U.S. history.
In the chapter "Influencing An Election: America's First Modern Bioterrorist Attack" in his 2006 book ''Terrorism on American Soil: A Concise History of Plots and Perpetrators from the Famous to the Forgotten'', author Joseph T. McCann concludes: "In every respect, the ''Salmonella'' attack carried out by the cult members was a major bioterrorist attack that fortunately failed to achieve its ultimate goal and resulted in no fatalities."
See also
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1985 Rajneeshee assassination plot
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2001 anthrax attacks
*
List of terrorist incidents
The following is a list of terrorist incidents that have not been carried out by a state or its forces (see state terrorism and state-sponsored terrorism). Assassinations are listed at List of assassinated people.
Definitions of terroris ...
*
Terrorism in the United States
References
Further reading
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rajneeshee Bioterror Attack
1984 health disasters
Rajneeshee Bioterror Attack, 1984
Adulteration
Bioterrorism
Crime in Oregon
Health disasters in the United States
Mass poisoning
Rajneesh movement
Religiously motivated violence in the United States
Salmonellosis
Scandals in Oregon
Terrorist incidents in Oregon
Wasco County, Oregon
Terrorist incidents in the United States in 1984