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Les Chevaliers de la mort
	Cover of the French edition
Author	Arnaud Bédat; Gilles Bouleau; Bernard Nicolas;
Language	French
Subject	Order of the Solar Temple
Publisher	TF1 Éditions/L'Illustré
Publication date	December 1996
Pages	350
ISBN	2-89111-707-7
OCLC	237730152
Dewey Decimal	289.9
LC Class	BP605.O77 B43 1997 (Canadian ed.)

Les Chevaliers de la mort: Enquête et révélations sur l'Ordre du Temple Solaire (published as L'Ordre du Temple Solaire: Enquête et révélations sur les Chevaliers de l'Apocalypse in Canada)^[a] is a book by journalists Arnaud Bédat, Gilles Bouleau and Bernard Nicolas, covering the Order of the Solar Temple, notorious for the mass murder-suicides committed by the group in the 1990s. It was co-published in December 1996 by L'Illustré and TF1 Éditions, and published in Canada by Libre Expression [fr] the next month.

The book gives a background on the group's history, including the lives of its two leaders and the events leading up to the deaths. It further discusses the investigation itself, which it criticizes. The book was a bestseller in French speaking Switzerland, and was praised as a comprehensive work on the case. The book's ideas, noted as going against the official narrative, received mixed reviews, with praise for it by some commentators but also criticism for being overly speculative.

Background

The Order of the Solar Temple was a religious group active in several French speaking countries, notoriously responsible for several mass suicides and murders in the 1990s. It was led by Joseph Di Mambro and Luc Jouret.^[1]^[2] Arnaud Bédat was a Swiss journalist, an employee of L'Illustré, while Gilles Bouleau and Bernard Nicolas were French journalists for TF1.^[1]^[2]^[3] Bédat stated in an interview that it was "unimaginable" that the case had occurred in Switzerland, where "where there hasn't been as spectacular a crime story in a long, long time, perhaps ever." He was personally sent to Quebec by his boss to investigate the case the day after it broke.^[3]

In writing the book, Bédat stated the intention of the authors was not to critically analyze the documents of the OTS, but instead to "start from scratch, trace all the leads and follow all the key players in this drama." He especially noted the background of the OTS's two leaders as areas they had viewed as neglected by other works and the official investigation.^[3]

The book opens with a quote from each of the leaders of the group: "Man has no reason to exist. Let us all die now, the sun will not stop shining" (Jouret) and "We should have left six months before Waco. But what we will do will be more spectacular" (Di Mambro).^[1] The book then includes a prologue that covers the initial shock and discovery of the crime scene; it follows this with a chapter covering the initial investigation and the "mystery" of the initial 53 deaths.

Then, two chapters describing the prior lives of Di Mambro and Jouret, before tracing the history of the group, starting with its origins and the factors that lead to the deaths. The chapter on Di Mambro, titled "the master sorcerer", covers his esoteric and criminal background, while the chapter on Jouret, "the wounded child", presents his beginning involvement in homeopathy. It also follows his publicity in the media, noting that except for the magazine L'actualité (which had refused to publish an interview with him) most of the media were charmed by him and in their view complicit in his rise.^[3]^[4] The book theorizes that Di Mambro and Jouret may be tied to a criminal conspiracy involving a far-right international organization, who they argue had suppressed the OTS after they began to make the news, and portrays them as having been "protected" by other forces, who had abandoned them after the fall of the USSR.

It concludes with an "autopsy of an investigation", where the authors discuss the investigation itself. The authors said they were surprised at how poorly protected the crime scenes were during their investigation, stating that they had entered "without problem" the house where the Dutoit family had been murdered by the group, and that they had simply entered the chalets left behind and found evidence that had not been examined.^[5] The book criticizes how journalists were treated in Salvan and what the authors perceive as the silence of Judge Jaquemet,^[1] and also criticizes religious scholars who in their view failed to intervene in the group to prevent the second massacre.^[3] Then follows several annexes, including several documents related to the OTS and its leaders, as well as a list of all the victims of the organization.

Publication

The book was co-published in December 1996 by L'Illustre and TF1 Éditions.^[1] It sold 3,000 copies in one month and made it onto the French Swiss bestsellers list.^[6] It was published in Canada In January 1997 under the name L'Ordre du Temple Solaire: Enquête et révélations sur les Chevaliers de l'Apocalypse by Libre Expression [fr].^[3]^[5] A second book on the OTS was written by the same three authors in 2000, L'Ordre du Temple Solaire: les secrets d'une manipulation, published by Flammarion.^[7]

Following the book's publication in Quebec, Bédat spoke publicly warning about how he believed a third massacre by the group was a possibility, stating: "We really can't rule out that they are preparing a third massacre. The fact that the first and second have left legitimizes their faith, suggests that there is indeed an afterlife as they imagined. How far will these convinced followers go? The worst is still possible..."^[3]^[8] Only a few weeks after it had been published in Quebec, a third mass suicide by the group occurred there. A few days before the killings, Bédat had sent a fax warning a former member who lived in Canada to be careful, especially of members Bruno Klaus and Didier Quèze (who both orchestrated the third massacre); Klaus was once quoted in Les Chevaliers de la mort.^[8]

Reception

La Liberté described the book's arguments as "quite different" from the official "minimalist" narrative. They praised it as the "most comprehensive" work on the OTS, and said the book's conclusions were more logical than the official ones, which they called "embarrassing".^[2] A review in Le Nouvelliste (the Swiss newspaper) described the book as of an "uneven quality" that varied by subject, and criticized the book for speculating too much about the "political-mafia" connection. The review described the book as harshly criticizing the Swiss justice system and said it did not bring new information to the Valais aspect of the case.^[1] Le Devoir, reviewing the Canadian edition, criticized its lack of adaptions for a Quebec audience, but overall described it as a "model work",^[3] while La Tribune described it as a work that would "fascinate everyone".^[9]

Following the third mass suicide, the book, and Bédat's statements discussing the possibility of another massacre, were discussed by several news outlets.^[8]^[10]^[11] In a listing of books about the OTS in the aftermath, journalist Éric Clément described it as the "most researched, the best documented" of works on the OTS, and praised it for "going further than the facts".^[10] Le Nouvelliste (the Canadian newspaper) described the book in the aftermath as giving a "complete and gripping" portrait of the OTS, noting its usage of previously unpublished testimonies and documents, though said it was "nonetheless European" and said Canadians may instead prefer the book Crois et meurs dans l'Ordre du temple solaire, a book written by a former member of the OTS. They described Les Chevaliers de la mort's conclusions as "far from allaying concerns" about the group.^[11]

Notes

^ lit. 'The Knights of Death: Investigation and Revelations on the Order of the Solar Temple' and lit. 'The Order of the Solar Temple: Investigation and Revelations on the Knights of the Apocalypse'

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Pellegrini, Vincent (7 December 1996). "L'histoire sans fin: Un nouveau livre sur le drame de l'Ordre du temple solaire..." [The never-ending story: A new book on the tragedy of the Order of the Solar Temple...]. Le Nouvelliste (in Swiss French). No. 284. Sion. p. 9. Retrieved 28 June 2024 – via e-newspaperarchives.ch.
^ ^a ^b ^c Kolb, Pierre (15 December 1996). "L'affaire du Temple solaire reste un noeud d'obscurité" [The Solar Temple affair remains a knot of obscurity]. La Liberté (in Swiss French). No. 64. Fribourg. p. 11. Retrieved 28 June 2024 – via e-newspaperarchives.ch.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Baillargeon, Stéphane (27 January 1997). "Voyage au bout de l'enfer" [Journey to the edge of hell]. Le Devoir (in Canadian French). Vol. LXXXVIII, no. 15. Montreal. p. B6. Retrieved 28 June 2024 – via BAnQ numérique.
^ Clément, Éric (20 January 1997). "Nouvelles révélations étonnantes sur l'Ordre du temple solaire" [Astonishing new revelations about the Order of the Solar Temple]. La Presse (in Canadian French). No. 89. Montreal. p. A9. Retrieved 28 June 2024 – via BAnQ numérique.
^ ^a ^b Clément, Éric (11 January 1997). "Autopsie d'une enquête bâclée" [Autopsy of a botched investigation]. La Presse (in Canadian French). No. 80. Montreal. p. B6. Retrieved 28 June 2024 – via BAnQ numérique.
^ Triverio, Philippe (3 January 1997). "Les exploits d'Erhard Loretan passent devant le Goncourt" [Erhard Loretan's exploits beat the Goncourt]. La Liberté (in Swiss French). No. 77. Fribourg. ATS. p. 7. Retrieved 28 June 2024 – via e-newspaperarchives.ch.
^ Habel, Robert (15 March 2000). "OTS: le livre qui fait des vagues" [OTS: the book that's making waves]. Le Matin (in Swiss French). No. 75. Lausanne. p. 5. Retrieved 24 July 2024 – via Scriptorium.
^ ^a ^b ^c Baillargeon, Stéphane (24 March 1997). "Carnage, prise trois: Chronique d'un nouveau massacre annoncé" [Carnage, take three: Chronicle of a massacre foretold]. Le Devoir (in Canadian French). Vol. XXXVIII, no. 64. Montreal. p. B6. Retrieved 28 June 2024 – via BAnQ numérique.
^ R., P. (1 February 1997). "Un autre pan de voile" [Another side to the veil]. La Tribune (in Canadian French). No. 291. Sherbrooke. p. 4. Retrieved 28 June 2024 – via BAnQ numérique.
^ ^a ^b Clément, Éric (30 March 1997). "Pour en savoir plus sur l'Ordre du Temple solaire" [Find out more about the Order of the Solar Temple]. La Presse (in Canadian French). No. 157. Montreal. p. B6. Retrieved 28 June 2024 – via BAnQ numérique.
^ ^a ^b "L'OTS démystifié par quelques ouvrages" [The OTS demystified by a few books]. Le Nouvelliste (in Canadian French). No. 126. Trois-Rivières. 29 March 1997. p. 6. Retrieved 28 June 2024 – via BAnQ numérique.