JASPER, Ark. -- Two religious fanatics hijacked a bus, then begged police to kill them and finally turned their guns on themselves Saturday as part of a bizarre cult ceremony in which both hijackers were killed on a remote mountain highway bridge.

Fifteen other people aboard the Continental Trailways bus were freed unharmed before the explosion of gunfire that wound up the four-hour ordeal.


The hijackers -- a man and his wife -- both were wounded by police bullets as they advanced on their knees toward state troopers who ringed the bridge spanning the Little Buffalo River in Jasper, a tiny community of 400 residents in the Ozark mountains of Northwest Arkansas.

The hijackers, identified as Keith Haigler and his wife, Kate, had begged police to kill them -- vowing they would be resurrected in three days. When police fire only wounded them, they turned their guns on each other, witnesses said.

Haigler's .22-caliber pistol misfired. Mrs. Haigler then put her .38-caliber pistol to her husband's head and fired once, killing him. Finally, she fired a single shot through her own eye, the witnesses said.

Mrs. Haigler was rushed to a nearby hospital, where a spokesman said she died.

Police said the two may have had explosives on the bus. Officers removed a brown paper bag with what appeared to be several sticks of dynamite wrapped in black tape and threw it into the river below the bridge.


The Haiglers boarded the bus in Little Rock and ordered the driver to drive them to Jasper, police said. They first threatened to kill their hostages, but released them when a television reporter pledged to give them and their religious beliefs nationwide coverage.

The couple said from the outset they wanted to draw attention to their religious beliefs.

Haigler, who called himself 'Baby Fou,' and his wife said they worshiped Fou, 53, a Jasper man known to residents as Emory Lamb. They said they believed that if they died they would be resurrected in three days.

A radio reporter on the scene said the couple at first refused to leave the bus and begged police to kill them. When police refused, they stepped off the vehicle and began walking toward the line of heavily-armed police.

They fell to their knees -- apparently to reduce the chance that they might be wounded but not killed -- and continued advancing toward the police line.

'We're going to shoot to hurt you,' a state police officer said as he knelt and aimed his gun. 'This is your last warning. We're going to shoot.'

'You have it in your hands, do it that way,' Haigler shouted back. 'If you want us to suffer -- if you want to blow our legs off and stuff -- you can bet your sweet ass I'll keep this gun in my hands because I've got it strapped to my wrist, and I'll try to pick off everyone I can.


'But I'm going to save one and she's going to save one and if it comes down to that then we'll put it through our hearts and we'll go that way,' Haigler said.

Haigler fired two shots in the direction of the police, and Mrs. Haigler fired another, witnesses said.

Police fired about 12 rounds toward the couple, wounding both, before the Haiglers turned their weapons on each other.

The couple told police and reporters before the shooting they believed Fou was Jesus Christ and said they hijacked the bus to draw attention to their religion.

Also before the shooting, Lamb said he beleived he would be resurrected if he died -- but he was not sure about the Haiglers. Lamb said he considered the couple his children. The Haiglers even were identified by some local residents as Keith and Kate Lamb.

Lamb said after the shooting he had mixed emotions about the death of Haigler.

'In my mind, he is still well,' Lamb told United Press International. 'I know that he isn't going to walk in the door there and say, 'Hi, dad.' But he's all right.'

Haigler said he and his wife had no control over the day's events and must die.

'We didn't make this plan up,' Haigler told reporters on the bus. Haigler said he spent $2,000 traveling around the county to publicize the religion and tried unsuccessfully to appear on an NBC news and the 'Real People' television programs.

Early in the hijacking, Haigler and his wife demanded to talk to a Springfield, Mo., television reporter and threatened to begin killing the passengers if police refused.


Reporter Jim Caldwell and a camera crew flew the 90 miles by helicopter to Jasper. Eight hostages were released before Caldwell boarded the bus. After Caldwell agreed to air their story on nationwide news, the other seven were released.

The freed passengers later were put on another bus bound for their original destination, Harrison, Ark.