Ma Anand Sheela and three other Rajneesh followers traveled to New York in the spring of 1985 to acquire false identification . According to a federal indictment , the perpetrators of the assassination plot used a false birth certificate to purchase guns . Two members of the group then traveled to Texas to purchase handguns . Caldwell stated she and Catherine Jane Stork flew to Texas to purchase guns there . They purchased five guns in Texas , but encountered difficulty purchasing handguns in Texas with out @-@ of @-@ state identification and traveled to New Mexico instead . Caldwell said they called back to the commune but the women were instructed " not to come back without no guns " .