American religious fanatic and psychopath. He was a high school dropout and rock musician before becoming the polygamist preacher of the Davidian Sect. He built his church on a simple message: “If the Bible is true, then I’m Christ.”
The son of a single mother, Vernon Howell grew up in the Dallas area, an indifferent student but an avid Bible reader who prayed for hours and memorized Scriptures. A member of the Seventh-day Adventists Church, he became an avid follower of an off-shoot of the church, the Davidians, a congregation headed by George Roden. Howell joined them in 1984 and defeated Roden in a power-struggle, becoming the undisputed leader and completing a transformation of the group from congregation to cult. In 1990 he changed his name legally to Koresh. His apocalyptic theology converged with secular survivalist, with its programs for hunkering down amid stockpiles of food and ammo to endure a nuclear holocaust or social collapse. Under his direction, the Sect of more than a hundred followers built an armed fortress near Waco, Texas in which to wait for the end of the world.
The Waco settlement, over 78 acres of scrub pasture and woods, was consolidated into a compact fort the size of a city block. His followers were schooled in war drills, living on a strict vegetarian diet, with TV and festivities forbidden. Men and women lived separately in celibacy. The rules did not apply to Koresh himself, who had TV, beer, meat and air conditioning – plus the women of the compound. Two of the kids in the compound, perhaps more, were fathered by Koresh, and he had a sexual preference for young girls, some as young as 11 or 12.
By 1991, he had established an outside residence in La Verne, California where he had 18 “wives” housed, including one who was age 12.
Federal and state cops were aware that he was stockpiling weapons and laid plans for a raid of the compound. The stalemate began on 28 February 1993 at 9:30 AM. As agents moved toward the fortress, a gun battle began. Four FBI agents and two cult members were killed during the day. Between March 1st and April 5th, 37 people, including 21 under the age of 18, left the fort. By Koresh’s count, 96 were still inside. A siege was set up while Koresh awaited orders from God. On April 14th, he said the siege would end when he completed his manuscript on the seven seals of the biblical apocalypse.
On the morning of Day 51, 19 April 1993, the FBI closed in, throwing tear gas into the building. When the attack began, fires broke out in several locations and the wooden buildings quickly became an inferno. On the news, Janet Reno announced that the fires started about 11:45 AM and were started by cult members. Some 90 died, including 17 children. Koresh’s body was identified several days later, dead from a gunshot to the head.
(Another person who died in the fire is James Loyal Riddle, Jr, born 18 April 1960. Two others in the hospital with severe burns are unnamed 52-year-old male born 24 February 1941, and a 20-year-old female born 24 April 1963.)
Link to Wikipedia biography