Marcus Wesson, cult leader and alleged nine-count child killer and rapist
Posted on 01/24/2005 6:05:38 PM PST by TFFKAMM
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday in the trial of a man charged with the shooting deaths of nine of his children.
Marcus Wesson, a domineering patriarch who allegedly controlled his family with religious teachings, incest and threats of mass suicide, could be put to death if convicted.
About 2,200 potential jurors have been summoned to appear in Fresno County Superior Court for a process that is expected to take about a month.
"I'll be looking for jurors who will refuse to lower the burden of proof in the face of enormous publicity and community sentiment," Wesson's public defender, Pete Jones, said last week.
Wesson, 57, is charged with shooting nine of his children, ages 1 to 25, on March 12, 2004. Officers were called to his home by two women who were trying to retrieve their children from inside the household.
Wesson is also accused of 13 sex crimes, including rape, with each of the victims believed to be family members...
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Marcus Wesson, cult leader and alleged nine-count child killer and rapist
Just put a bullet in him and be done with it.
Almost a year later, and trial is just getting underway? Gad.....
Let's hear HIS side of the story.....maybe the kids were acting up..... or getting snotty. It's not easy raising children in an incestuous, abusive, delusional fambly.
"An accident waiting to happen"....if only!
Wesson reportedly did not physically kill anyone. One of his "family" members apparently did the killing and then turned the gun on herself.
The local DA will attempt to prove Wesson's household was a cult, everyone in the household was under Wesson's "control" and therefore Wesson is responsible.
An interesting tale full of perversion, lust, secrecy and death, all under the nose of a relatively conservative, parochial community.
Sounds like an echo of the Manson case. At any rate, should be an interesting trial. For some reason, cult-related crimes always fascinate me.
And how's the DA going to prove that? It seems all those who could testify to the facts are dead. If DNA tests can prove that he was having sex with his daughters and producing children, they can get him on that, but I'm just not sure they can get him on the murders from what I've seen.
Give the mutant a quick death - give him the rope.
My guess is that the county will prevail, even without proof in the eyes of a "prudent" juror.
Wesson's appearance and historical societal defiance simply stirs up too many stereotypical fears and closely held taboos of our society. No one on the DA's staff or the local McClatchy rag will have the nerve to say so but they'll both paint that picture with broad strokes.
"He may not technically have done it but this monster deserves to die" will be on the tip of many tongues.
Hey hey slow down, isn't there a presumption of innocence anymore? I'm currently reading about the Waco siege and I recognise some similarities here. First off a slightly unusual religion which is automatically classed as a 'cult', then the claims of sex abuse and incest all avidly swallowed by the media without anyone getting to hear the other side of the story. It seems to be standard operating procedure for the federales to accuse religions they don't like of being child molestors. Maybe it's all true but the guy is entitled to give out his side of the story before he gets the rope, after all the government never lies to us about these things do they?
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