IN WHAT IS NOW KNOWN AS THE WACO SEGMENT, 82 persons were slain between February 28 and April 19, 1993.
The deceased belonged to the cult founded by David Koresh and known as the Branch Davidians.
Who was David Koresh?
Cult leader David Koresh was born on August 17, 1959, to a 15-year-old girl and a single mother in Houston, Texas.
According to Frontline on PBS, he did not have a relationship with his father and was raised by his grandparents.
Prior to his passing, he frequently spoke of how lonely his upbringing had been. He was also apparently a poor student who dropped out of high school.
However he frequently excelled in music and grew to have a “strong interest” in the bible.
He joined his mother’s church, the Church of Seventh Day Adventists, when he was 20 years old. Nevertheless, he was later ejected for “having a terrible impact on the young people,” which prompted him to go to Hollywood in an effort to become a rock star, as reported by PBS’ Frontline.
His singing career finally failed to take off, so in 1981 he made the decision to relocate to Waco, Texas, and join the Branch Davidians, a sect and offshoot of the Davidian Seventh-Day Adventists, which was established in 1934 by Victor Houteff.
He quickly rose to the position of leader and frequently asserted that he was the group’s last prophet.
What was David Koresh’s cause of death?
Many Branch Davidians felt that their leader was on a mission from God and that only he was qualified to interpret the bible and its real meanings.
“His message changed over the years because he was always looking for the next big thing to teach that would shock people into listening to him,” former Davidian David Bunds told ABC News.
“It was important for David Koresh… to isolate the group from the world because the world is an influence that is constantly pulling and distracting you from the message.”
According to his former followers, Koresh was frequently tough with them and displayed discipline that was always enforced.
Koresh’s rule finally came to an end in 1993 following the Waco Siege, a 51-day siege.
The standoff started on February 28, 1993, when the Branch Davidians’ complex was raided by the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.
According to History.com, the siege ended on April 19, 1993, after fires destroyed the facility and killed at least 75 individuals, including 25 children.
According to The New York Times, Koresh was one of the victims discovered, but it was later discovered that he had died from a gunshot wound to the head.
It is unclear at this time if he
Rachel Jones, being 14 years old, was wed to Koresh in 1984.
She belonged to the core family of the compound and was related to a number of ardent followers, according to The Washington Post.
“She was polite and pleasant and very quiet,” Houston lawyer Jack Zimmermann recalled.
“She acted like a wife whose husband was conducting business at home, and she was carefully letting him do his business.”
Cyrus, 8, and Starr, 6, were born to the couple after their marriage, but they all perished during the Waco Siege.
Jones’ brother David, age 38, her younger sister Michelle, age 18, and Michelle’s two children, Serenity Sea Jones, age 4, and Bobby Lane, age 16, who were also conceived by Koresh, were also killed during the Siege, according to The Washington Post.
