David Koresh

Four documentary films have been made about the siege, including different versions of Waco: The Rules of Engagement, Waco: A New Revelation, Waco: The Big Lie, and Waco: Madman or Messiah. In 2018, BBC Radio 5 live created a radio podcast End of Days about the death and life of Koresh, his involvement in the Waco Siege and the recruitment of people in Nottingham, Manchester and London into the Branch Davidians. The Court TV (now TruTV) television series Mugshots released an episode about Koresh.

Koresh is portrayed by Taylor Kitsch in the 2018 miniseries Waco. He was also one of the sources of inspiration used to create the fictional cult leader Joseph Seed in the 2018 action-adventure video game Far Cry 5.

On January 23, 2009, Koresh's mother, Bonnie Clark Haldeman, was stabbed to death in Chandler, Texas; her sister, Beverly Clark, was charged with murder.

"Vernon Wayne Howell aka David Koresh". Branch Davidians Religious Leader. Find a Grave. July 16, 2002. Retrieved June 26, 2012 .

Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols cited the Waco Siege as motivation for the Oklahoma City bombing of April 19, 1995, timed to coincide with the second anniversary of the Waco assault.

Koresh is buried at Memorial Park Cemetery, Tyler, Texas in the "Last Supper" section. Several of his albums were released, including Voice of Fire, in 1994. In 2004, Koresh's 1968 Chevrolet Camaro, which had been damaged during the raid, sold for $37,000 at auction. It is now owned by Ghost Adventures host Zak Bagans.

The allegations of child abuse stem largely from detractors and ex-members. The 1993 Justice Department report cites allegations of child sexual and physical abuse. Legal scholars point out that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) had no legal jurisdiction in the matter of child protection and it appears that these accounts were inserted by the ATF to inflame the case against Koresh. For example, the account of former Branch Davidian Jeannine Bunds is reproduced in an ATF affidavit. She claimed that Koresh had fathered at least fifteen children with various women and girls and that she had personally delivered seven of these infants. Bunds also claims that Koresh would annul all marriages of couples who joined the group and had exclusive sexual access to the women and girls.

In his book, James Tabor states that Koresh acknowledged on a videotape sent out of the compound during the siege that he had fathered more than twelve children by several "wives". On March 3, 1993, during negotiations to secure the release of the remaining children, Koresh advised hostage negotiators that: "My children are different than those others,” referring to his direct lineage versus those children previously released.

The Waco siege began on February 28, 1993, when the ATF raided Mount Carmel Center. The ensuing gun battle resulted in the deaths of four ATF agents and six Branch Davidians. Shortly after the initial raid, the FBI Hostage Rescue Team took command of the federal operation, because the FBI has jurisdiction over incidents involving the deaths of federal agents. The negotiating team established contact with Koresh inside the compound. Communication over the next fifty-one days included telephone exchanges with various FBI negotiators.

The siege of Mount Carmel Center ended on April 19, 1993, when U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno approved recommendations of FBI officials to proceed with a final advance in which the Branch Davidians were to be removed from the Mount Carmel Center by force. In an attempt to flush Koresh from the stronghold, the FBI resorted to pumping CS gas from a M728 Combat Engineer Vehicle with battering ram into the compound. In the course of the advance, the Mount Carmel Center caught fire in circumstances that are still disputed. Barricaded inside the building, 79 Branch Davidians perished in the ensuing blaze; 21 of these victims were children under the age of 16.

A six-month investigation of sexual abuse allegations by the Texas Child Protection Services in 1992 failed to turn up any evidence, possibly because the Branch Davidians concealed the spiritual marriage of Koresh to Michelle, assigning a surrogate husband (David Thibodeau) to the girl for the sake of appearances. Regarding the allegations of physical abuse, the evidence is less certain. In one widely reported incident, ex-members claimed that Koresh became irritated with the cries of his son Cyrus and spanked the child severely for several minutes on three consecutive visits to the child's bedroom. In a second report, a man involved in a custody battle visited the Mount Carmel Center and claimed to have seen the beating of a young boy with a stick.

The founder of the Davidian movement, Victor Houteff, wanted to be God's implement and establish the Davidic kingdom in Palestine. Koresh also wanted to be God's tool and set up the Davidic kingdom in Jerusalem. At least until 1990, he believed the place of his martyrdom might be in Israel, but by 1991 he was convinced that his martyrdom would be in the U.S. Instead of Israel, he said the prophecies of Daniel would be fulfilled in Waco and that the Mount Carmel Center was the Davidic kingdom.

Vernon Howell filed a petition in California State Superior Court in Ponoma on May 15, 1990, to legally change his name "for publicity and business purposes" to David Koresh. On August 28, 1990, Judge Robert Martinez granted the petition.

In 1989, Roden murdered Wayman Dale Adair with an axe blow to the skull after Adair stated his belief that he (Adair) was the true messiah. Roden was judged insane and confined to a psychiatric hospital at Big Spring, Texas. Since Roden owed thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes on the Mount Carmel Center, Koresh and his followers were able to raise the money and reclaim the property. Roden continued to harass the Koresh faction by filing legal papers while imprisoned. When Koresh and his followers reclaimed the Mount Carmel Center, they discovered that tenants who had rented from Roden had left behind a meth lab, which Koresh reported to the local police department and asked to have removed.

After being exiled to the Palestine camp, Koresh and his followers eked out a primitive existence. When Lois died in 1986, the exiled Branch Davidians wondered if they would ever be able to return to the Mount Carmel Center. But despite the displacement, "Koresh now enjoyed the loyalty of the majority of the [Branch Davidian] community". By late 1987, Roden's support was in steep decline. To regain it, he challenged Koresh to a contest to raise the dead, going so far as to exhume a corpse to demonstrate his spiritual supremacy. Koresh went to authorities to file charges against Roden for illegally exhuming a corpse, but was told he would have to show proof (such as a photograph of the corpse).

In 1983, Koresh began claiming the gift of prophecy. It is speculated by David Thibodeau in his 1999 book, A Place Called Waco, that he had a sexual relationship with Lois Roden, the widow of Benjamin Roden and leader of the cult, who was then in her late-sixties. Koresh eventually began to claim that God had chosen him to father a child with Lois, who would be the Chosen One. In 1983, Lois allowed Koresh to begin teaching his own message, called "The Serpent's Root," which caused controversy in the group. Lois's son George Roden intended to be the cult's next leader and considered Koresh an interloper.

In 1981, Koresh moved to Waco, Texas, where he joined the Branch Davidians (not to be confused with the original Davidian Seventh-Day Adventist Church). Benjamin Roden, who died in 1978, originated the Branch group in 1955 with new teachings that were not connected with the original Davidians. Koresh played guitar and sang in church services at the Mount Carmel Center, the sect's headquarters outside Waco.

Scottish electronic music duo Boards of Canada themed an EP around the Branch Davidians and the Waco retreat called In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country. Their track "1969" from their second LP Geogaddi also makes reference to the sect with the vocal sample "Although not a follower of hseroK divaD" (David Koresh, reversed), "she's a devoted Branch Davidian".

David Koresh (/k ə ˈ r ɛ ʃ / ; born Vernon Wayne Howell; August 17, 1959 – April 19, 1993) was an American cult leader and musician who played a central role in the Waco siege of 1993. As the head of the Branch Davidians sect, an offshoot of the Davidian Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Koresh claimed to be its final prophet.

David Koresh was born Vernon Wayne Howell on August 17, 1959, in Houston, Texas, to a 14-year-old single mother, Bonnie Sue Clark (1944–2009) and father Bobby Wayne Howell (1939–2008). Before Koresh was born, his father met another teenage girl and abandoned Bonnie Sue. Koresh never met his father, and his mother began cohabitating with a violent alcoholic. In 1963, Koresh's mother left with her boyfriend and placed her four-year-old son in the care of his maternal grandmother, Earline Clark. His mother returned when he was seven, after her marriage to a carpenter named Roy Haldeman. Bonnie Sue and Haldeman had a son together named Roger, who was born in 1966.