David Koresh

David Koresh (born Vernon Wayne Howell) was an American cult leader who played a central role in the Waco siege of 1993. As the head of the Branch Davidians sect, Koresh claimed to be its final prophet.

Coming from a dysfunctional background, Koresh was a member and later a leader of the Branch Davidians, a movement led by Benjamin Roden that splintered off from the Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Church, also known as the Shepherd's Rods, based at the Mount Carmel Center outside Waco, Texas. Here Koresh competed for dominance with another leader named George Roden, until Roden was jailed for murdering another rival.

The serving of arrest and search warrants by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) as part of an investigation into illegal possession of firearms and explosives provoked the initial raid on the Mount Carmel Center.[8] Four ATF agents and six Davidians were killed during the initial two-hour firefight, both sides claiming the other side fired first. The subsequent siege by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of almost two months ended when the compound caught fire in disputed circumstances. Koresh and 79 others were found dead after the conflagration. (Wikipedia)

Sources

• Wikipedia
• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Apr 23 2018, 1:32:19 UTC