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9 dead in Fresno home

Bodies of seven children age 8 and younger are discovered after Marcus Wesson, 57, surrenders and is arrested after a 2-hour standoff.

Saturday, March 13, 2004

At a small home near Roeding Park where authorities found a stack of nine bodies in one room and 10 caskets in another, Fresno police on Friday arrested a man suspected of fathering some of the victims and murdering them all.

Police arrested Marcus Wesson, 57, on suspicion of homicide after a two-hour standoff in an established neighborhood near Olive Avenue and Golden State Boulevard.

Authorities relayed a twisted scene of death at the house, with the bodies of young women and small children intertwined with clothing and stacked together in a back bedroom.

The bodies were so entangled that it took hours for police to confirm the number of dead. Police Chief Jerry Dyer said: "There may have been some kind of ritual involved, but we have to make that determination."

In a scene that began shortly after 10 p.m. and was expected to continue into the early morning, authorities began removing the bodies of two women and seven children, including infants. Some bodies were so small that they were carried out in white body bags, cradled in the arms of officials.

The majority of victims were female - one in her 20s, one about 17 and children ranging from 1 to 8. Authorities did not release the identities of the victims or causes of death. They did not know whether they were killed in the house or elsewhere. Police believed Wesson had blood on his shirt when he surrendered.

A man who identified himself only as Mike and who said he was Wesson's brother-in-law said Wesson "thought he was God."

Police acknowledged that they were investigating a possible cult angle.

Several neighbors reported hearing gunshots. One police officer said some of the victims appeared to have been shot. Police responded to a child-custody dispute at the home at 761 W. Hammond Ave. about 2:30 p.m. Two women told officers they had given custody of their children to Wesson and wanted them back. Wesson allegedly refused.

Other women have said they left their children in Wesson's custody, authorities said.

Neighbor Linda Morales, 44, said she heard two to three gunshots, followed by screaming, between 2:30 and 3 p.m. Friday.

"I started shaking because I have two girls at home with me," she said. "I just got a jingling in me. It could have been my girls. It's just too close."

When police arrived, Wesson ran into the house and locked himself inside. Authorities called in the SWAT team and, after about two hours, Wesson walked outside and surrendered.

Distraught at the news, some relatives of the dead collapsed near the house. At least one woman was taken away by ambulance. Dyer said later that four women who gathered outside the house were the mothers of some of the victims and Wesson was the father.

Dozens of people gathered outside the house during the afternoon and into the evening. A young man who identified himself only as a relative of a victim leaned against a brick wall, not far from the police tape blocking the house. Head bowed and crying, he ignored questions and attempted to get into a parked, green Chevrolet Cavalier. Another man had to help him into the car. They did not drive away, but sat in the car.

Another man, standing about 15 feet from the young man, also identified himself only as a family member of the victims. He said: "Nobody is going to be talking about this. Right now, everybody is pretty upset."

He cried as he spoke.

The bodies were found in a roughly 1,000-square-foot, one-story home built in 1966. State property records show the house was sold to Rosa Solorio last September for $100,000. Neighbors said Wesson moved in about six to eight months ago.

Police said they found 10 unused caskets in a front room of the house. A friend of Wesson's children said they had been in the home for a long time; a relative said Wesson intended to use the wood for furniture. Lawyer Frank Muna said he saw the caskets in an antique shop several years ago. They were unique, he said, hand-carved in rich wood and larger than normal. The shop owner told Muna he sold them to Wesson, who had purchased property from Muna a few years ago.

Muna said he always saw several women with Wesson, but the relationships were unclear. He also didn't know what Wesson did for a living, but he said the man had the same school bus at the time he knew him. That school bus was parked alongside the Hammond house Friday evening. Neighbors said they saw and heard Wesson in the bus only after sunset and well past midnight. Sometimes children would hold a flashlight so that he could work; one neighbor said he thought there was a whirlpool spa in the bus.

Neighbor Christina Morales, 22, said she saw three adult women who wore black dresses working on the bus with Wesson. If they walked away, she said, he would pull them back by their shoulders or hair.

Mike, the man who identified himself as Wesson's brother-in-law, said Wesson was a Vietnam veteran originally from San Jose.

Kenny Isaac, 35, who has lived in the neighborhood for 13 years, described the home's residents - including up to six women - as "weird."

"I only saw the older women," he said. "They would drive by, and they would glance down. They did not want to look at you."

One neighbor said the women typically wore black skirts, white or gray blouses and black, high-heeled shoes.

Lupa Montejano, 38, and Laticia Juarez, 24, live on Hammond Avenue. Juarez said: "They were quiet people. You wouldn't expect this to happen."

Barbara Alec, 61, who lives near the house, said she noticed people arriving for what seemed to be a gathering at the house Friday afternoon. She then heard a woman yell from the direction of the house: "It wasn't supposed to happen this way."

She also said residents of the home cooked something with a particularly foul odor two or three times a week: "It smelled real ugly. Everybody complained, but we never thought anything about it."

Alec said she was shaken by the killings: "I'm so scared now."

After 9 p.m., police were beginning a search of the home and also were planning to search the school bus. At 10:30 p.m., coroners began to wheel bodies out on gurneys.

Investigators waited several hours before beginning a close examination of the house and the bus. The delay allowed authorities to get the proper search warrants.

Police closed off about a square quarter-mile around the house during the standoff. Traffic was snarled on Olive Avenue. The area was sealed off until about 6:30 p.m.

After the streets reopened, people started gathering and milling on the street. Yellow police tape circled roughly 200 feet around the house.

The police planned to work through the night, gathering evidence. There were still bodies inside the house as of midnight, and Dyer said it would probably take another three hours before all bodies were removed.

Mayor Alan Autry arrived just before 11:30 p.m., telling reporters: "This is obviously a terrible, horrific tragedy. It appears we have the perpetrator in custody. The only thing we can do now is mourn. We mourn for the kids. We mourn for the police who had to be out here. We mourn for the community."

Dyer said he will appear on the "Today" show at 4:30 a.m., or 7:30 on the East Coast.

"I hesitated whether or not to do that," Dyer said. "I think it's important for the people of America to know that this is an aberration [for Fresno]."

The nine deaths represent the largest mass killing in Fresno since 1993, when seven people were killed in the Carrillo's Club murders in rural Fresno.

Dad Guilty Of Killing His 9 Kids

Domineering Father Of Large, Incestuous Clan Found Guilty Of Murder

June 17, 2005

CBS News

FRESNO, Calif. - Marcus Wesson, the domineering patriarch of a large and incestuous clan, was convicted Friday of murdering nine of his children, whose bodies were found in a bloody pile last year at the end of a police standoff.

Wesson, 58, could get the death penalty.

The jury took more than two weeks to find Wesson guilty on nine counts of first-degree murder. He was also convicted on all 14 counts of raping and molesting seven of his underage daughters and nieces.

The defense had argued that Sebhrenah Wesson, 25 - the oldest to die - killed herself as well as her siblings and the 1-year-old son she had with her father. Prosecutors said Marcus Wesson was the triggerman, but they also argued that even if Sebhrenah did the shooting, her father should still be found guilty if he encouraged her to kill.

The jurors accepted the prosecution's second theory: They found Wesson guilty even though they decided the government did not prove he pulled the trigger.

Several witnesses had testified that Wesson had repeatedly coached the children to be ready to kill each other and themselves if authorities ever threatened to break up the clan.

Many of Wesson's surviving family members still support him, and stifled sobs as a clerk read the verdicts. Wesson remained quiet and still.

The jury will return on Wednesday for the penalty phase.

The slayings were the worst murder case ever seen in this agricultural town in the heart of California's Central Valley.

Officers were summoned to Wesson's rundown home on March 12, 2004, after two Wesson nieces who had escaped from the home went back to try to get their children.

Wesson talked with officers at the front door, then went into the back bedroom and shut the door. About an hour and 20 minutes later, he emerged, blood on his clothing, and turned himself in.

In the bedroom was a bloody pile of corpses, each shot through the eye. Officers pulled out the bodies of Sebhrenah Wesson and the eight others, ranging in age from 1 to 17.

No fingerprints or gunshot residue indicated who fired the murder weapon. But Wesson's surviving children testified that he wielded a high degree of control over his large clan: He preached to the family daily, weaving a dogma of polygamy and incest from his interpretations of the Bible and Seventh Day Adventist beliefs.

He was particularly severe with the young women, who testified they were home-schooled and had almost no contact with anyone outside the family.

Wesson beat them for speaking with men, and molested them from age 7 or 8. He also took any money they earned and dictated what they could eat.

  

The Crime the Media Chose to Ignore

Mass murder, incest, rape — and media silence.

by Ian Jobling

During 2004 and 2005, Americans were fixated on Scott Peterson’s murder of his wife and unborn son. News channels reported breathlessly on the smallest developments in the investigation and trial, and scrutinized Mr. Peterson, his mistress Amber Frey, and the lawyers’ performances.

The national media has virtually ignored another case that is even stranger and more shocking: Marcus Wesson’s murder of nine of his own children in Fresno, California. Not only were there more victims, but the circumstances were much stranger. Mr. Wesson carried on incestuous relations with several of his daughters and nieces for years, brainwashed the family into believing he was a Messiah, and made a murder-suicide pact with them. The media silence must certainly be due to the fact that Mr. Wesson is black. The media soft-pedal news about black crime because editors do not want to show non-whites in an unflattering light.

People who have known Marcus Wesson say he is highly eccentric and moderately intelligent. He has a large vocabulary and expresses himself in flowery language. He undoubtedly has an unusual influence on others.

In 1968, Mr. Wesson left the army, which had sent him to Europe as a medical orderly, and moved to San Jose, California. Then in his 20s, he moved in with a Hispanic woman, Rosemary Maytorena, who was in her 30s; the two had one son. In 1974, Mr. Wesson married Miss Maytorena’s daughter Elizabeth, who was 15 at the time. Over the next 16 years, he had ten children with her. His wife Elizabeth had a sister named Rosemary Solorio, who also appears to have been under Mr. Wesson’s spell. In 1986, she sent her seven children to live with the Wessons. The children had been molested in their own home and were reportedly happy to make the change. The result was a household of considerable size.

Mr. Wesson could not keep a steady job, and got most of his income from welfare. The family drifted from place to place, and some of its living arrangements were inventive. At one time the family lived in a 26-foot boat moored in Santa Cruz harbor. Mr. Wesson sometimes scavanged hamburgers out of a McDonald’s dumpster for his family to eat. The boat got him in trouble, however: He failed to list it as an asset on his welfare forms, and went to jail for welfare fraud in 1990. In the mid- and late 1990s, the family lived in a trailer and large army tent in the Santa Cruz mountains, on land with no running water. The Wessons also lived for a time in a decaying 63-foot tugboat off the shore of Marin County, California. Sometimes they lived in a school bus. By the late 1990s, the children of Marcus and Elizabeth Wesson were old enough to work, and Mr. Wesson used their money to buy the Fresno building in which the murders took place.

None of the children ever went to school. Mr. Wesson taught them at home, using flash-cards, school textbooks, and his own weird brand of Christianity. He became fascinated with David Koresh during the siege at Waco, Texas, in 1993, and made his family into his own personal cult. He described himself as Jesus Christ and police officers as Satan. When the family watched television coverage of the Branch Davidian siege, Mr. Wesson told the children, “This is how the world is attacking God’s people. This man is just like me. He is making children for the Lord. That’s what we should be doing, making children for the Lord.”

Mr. Wesson taught his family to be prepared to die if anyone ever tried to break up the household. He told his niece, Rosa Solorio, and his daughter, Sebhrenah Wesson, they were “strong soldiers,” who would hunt down and kill family members who betrayed him, and who might have to kill the family and themselves to prevent a break-up. Possibly in anticipation of such a massacre, Mr. Wesson bought ten coffins from an antique dealer.

Mr. Wesson was also fascinated by vampires, and gave himself and his daughters and nieces vampire names. His name for himself was Jevammarcsuspire, a mixture of Jesus, Marcus and Vampire.

Mr. Wesson began sleeping with his daughters and nieces after he got out of jail in 1990. According to trial testimony of Ruby Ortiz, née Solorio, one of the nieces sent to live with the Wessons, Mr. Wesson began molesting her when she was eight. Mrs. Ortiz testified that she loved Mr. Wesson at the time and at age 13 enthusiastically agreed to “marry” him. The marriage ceremony consisted of the couple putting their hands on the Bible and reciting marriage vows. Mr. Wesson “married” three of his nieces and two of daughters this way and had children by all of them. Mrs. Wesson fully approved of these incestuous unions. In fact, when Ruby Solorio ran away from home as a teenager, Mrs. Wesson persuaded her to come back to the house to take care of her son by Mr. Wesson. Mrs. Ortiz testified that Mr. Wesson could be cruel and jealous. He isolated his children from the outside world and beat her with a stick or baseball bat when she talked to boys or did not learn her lessons.

Despite this abuse, many in the family fondly remember their days with Mr. Wesson. He devised entertainments for the family, such as plays, concerts, and “ugly” contests, in which the children would dress up to be as ugly as possible.

The Wessons spooked their neighbors. Mr. Wesson weighs about 400 pounds, and one neighbor in Fresno described his hair as “one big, long greasy dreadlock. It was just caked in dirt and oil.” When Mr. Wesson would go out with the family, the women wore dark robes and walked behind him in silence with their eyes downcast. When the Wessons lived on the tugboat, the girls would row Mr. Wesson to shore and back. “They rowed him like they were slaves … ,” says one neighbor. “I had him pegged as some sort of Jonestown cult.”

All of the boys in the family moved out of the house when they were old enough, as did most of the girls. However, two of the daughters, Sebhrenah Wesson and Elizabeth Breani Wesson, and one of the nieces, Rosa Solorio, stayed with their father into adulthood, supporting the family. There were also several young children still in the house.

In 2003, the Wessons bought a house in Fresno that had been an office building. City authorities moved to evict the family because it was a non-residential building.

The prospect of eviction may have played some part in precipitating the murders. Mr. Wesson probably saw it as part of a plot against him and his family. But the primary trigger for the murders was a March 12, 2004 visit from Ruby Ortiz and Sofina Solorio, two nieces who had moved out of the household, and wanted Mr. Wesson to give them their daughters. He refused, and the family shouted curses at the two women, calling them “Judas,” “whore,” and “Lucifer.”

The two women left without their children, and returned with the police. Officers ordered Mr. Wesson to come out, but he fled inside the building. The police called the city attorney, who told them they had no legal right to go inside. Then Rosa Solorio and Mrs. Wesson came out of the building and reported Mr. Wesson had a gun. Police back-up and a SWAT team arrived. Just as they were taking positions around the house, Mr. Wesson emerged covered in blood and surrendered. Relatives of the victims blame police for not taking action sooner.

What the police found inside was so horrific that some of them went on administrative leave or into counseling. The nine bodies of Mr. Wesson’s children, who were all shot through one eye, were tangled up in a bloody pile of clothing. The victims ranged in age from one to 25. Two were Mr. Wesson’s daughters; the other seven were children of his daughters and nieces, all of them under eight years of age. The ten coffins Mr. Wesson had bought lined the wall of one of the rooms. That night six police chaplains reported to the building to soothe the detectives gathering evidence. The mayor of Fresno said the city would never be the same again after the largest mass-killing in its history.

It is possible that Mr. Wesson did not commit the murders. His lawyers say it was “strong soldier” Sebhrenah Wesson who shot the others and then killed herself. She was on top of the pile of bodies, and the gun was underneath her. Police found no gun residue on Mr. Wesson. Even if he did not fire the weapon, however, prosecutors say he could still get the death penalty for conspiracy to commit murder, and aiding and abetting murder.

  

Mass Murder in Fresno: Marcus Wesson – Still in Control

Misty.angelcities.com

Fresno means “Ash Tree” and reminiscent of many cities in California began under Mexican rule. As the city emerged into a rich blend of metropolitan life mixed with small town living, this culturally diverse city has grown to a population surpassing 400,000 people with 90 different nationalities.

Fresno climate is moderate and the town is located near three of America’s national parks: Yosemite National Park, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. The city is home to many famous racing drivers, including well known Bill Vukovich.

Fresno reported 42 homicides and 3,780 total violent crimes in 2002. There were 36 murders in Fresno last year, down 14% from the year before. In the first two and one half months of 2004, the city had seen only three murders, the fewest in more than three decades a California paper reported. Those statistics drastically changed on March 12, 2004.

Responding to a child custody dispute on Friday afternoon at a small home at 761 W. Hammon Avenue near Roeding Park, Fresno police found nine bodies stacked in a bedroom entwined in a pile of clothes. Ruby Sanchez and Sofina Solorio had went to the house in an attempt to take their two children, Aviv Dominique Wesson (mother—Ruby Sanchez) and Johnathon St. Charles Wesson (mother--Sofina Solorio). The children were living with Marcus Wesson.

Wesson initially ignored instructions by law enforcement to come out of the house and ran into a back bedroom as two women, who were unharmed, fled the house. After a two-hour standoff, Marcus Wesson, 57, was arrested on suspicion of murder.

Officer Jerry Dyer, a police officer for 25 years, said about the scene: “…I’ve never experienced anything of this nature.” (The Fresno Bee, 3/13/04) The crime was so gruesome many of the officers were placed on administrative leave and counseling.

The victims were seven children from 1 to 8, a 20-year-old woman and a 17-year-old girl. It was thought that all were children of the suspect, Marcus Wesson.

As police attempted to piece together this grizzly puzzle, Wesson, who remained in custody with bail set at $9 million, remained calm and cooperated with police. Law enforcement spent hours at the crime scene gathering evidence. Identifying the bodies was difficult since some of the women involved were afraid to come forward. As new information was unveiled, it became clear that the sorted details leading up to the tragic ending of nine lifes was laced with words like polygamy, incest, rituals, and cults.

Friends and neighbors describe the family as odd and were suspicious of Wesson. There may be as many as six different mothers involved and the household seemed to operate as a commune. The women worked to support Wesson and lived by strict rules made by Wesson. Their lifestyle included home schooling, modest clothing and rejecting America’s “normal” way of life. (Los Angeles Times, March 15, 2004) Law enforcement was looking into the possibility that Wesson was involved in a cult. However, two of his sons said they were raised as Seventh-Day Adventists.

Over the years Wesson led his clan from a squatter’s camp in the mountains to a dilapidated sailboat and finally to inland California where he hauled the family around in an old school bus. (CBS News, 3/17/04) A neighbor, Diana Wohnoutka, who lived by Wesson and his family in the 80s said, “He was definitely strange. He believed he didn’t have to work. God would take care of him. That’s how he always preached to us.” (CBS News, 3/17/04)

He bought dozens of mahogany caskets from antique stores in Fresno. According to Lois Dugovic, a shop owner, Wesson planned on using the wood to repair a boat. He left the caskets at the store for nearly a year and when he came to pick them up, the girls dutifully loaded each of the caskets into a yellow school bus. Police removed the caskets as evidence on Monday, the 15th.

Arraignment is set for Wednesday, March 17th at 1:30 p.m. Fresno police Chief Jerry Dyer said that authorities were not ruling out that more than one person was involved. (CNN, 3/15/04) Toxicology tests to see whether the victims were drugged were pending on the victims. Law enforcement was investigating all angles including whether Wesson was involved in a cult. Certainly, the lifestyle they chose and the fact that Wesson fathered most of the victims leads anyone to wonder about this dysfunctional family structure.

As stories continue to surface about this family, it is probably safe to profile Marcus Wesson as domineering, manipulative, charismatic and one who ruled his family with an ironclad fist, isolating them from human contact and requiring from each of them their total devotion. He told more than one person he was God. Two of his sons claimed he was a good father and they were raised as Seventh-Day Adventists but this religion was quick to wash their hands of Wesson, answering in length the allegations that Wesson was a member.

Caron Oswald, Director of Communication for the Central California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists said that as far as they could tell Marcus Wesson was never a member of this religious organization although Wesson had had sporadic contact with Adventist churches and his parents were members of the Seventh-day Adventist church. He was a janitor at the Soquel campgrounds in the 80s and early 90s and on occasion, brought his children to church services. Several of his extended family--Sebhrenah Wesson, Kiana Wesson, Sofina Solorio and Ruby Sanchez--were members of the church. (Frequently Asked Questions about Marcus Wesson)

The picture of Marcus Wesson that is emerging is one of a psychopath similar to David Koresh, or Charles Manson. He manipulated the people he chose to be bound within his inner circle and used his religious faith to help foster his world. Anyone can take a religious theme and distort it for his/her own perverted ideals. This appears to be what Wesson has done with the sole intent of establishing control.

Marcus Wesson’s oldest son, 29-year-old Dorian Wesson of Santa Cruz offered support to his father and said, “It just doesn’t seem like him to do it,” he told reporters. “I can’t give you an intelligent answer. I just don’t think he’s entirely responsible.” He added that if he thought his father was capable of killing children he would have stopped it. He talked about the family and said his sisters had had artificial inseminations. He said his father was related to five of the dead children, but the other two were from another family. (Fresno Bee, 3/22/04)

But, a sister-in-law of the suspected murderer said he’s evil and controlling. She believes he killed the children because he didn’t want them taken away from him. Teresa Solorio said, “That was the ultimate control of their life – whether they live or die.” (Fresno Bee, 3/20/04) She said that Ruby and Sofiana were raised by Marcus and Elizabeth and that their lives were filled sexual abuse. Ruby and Sofiana were able to break free from Marcus’ strong hold, but left their children.

Carrie Wesson, the mother of Marcus Wesson, also spoke out. “The Marcus Wesson on TV I don’t recognize. That’s not my son.” “…This is a Christian family. This is not a cult.” (KFSN News, 3/21/04) She described Marcus as a bright, intelligent child who loved animals. He and his family avoided dances, dressed modestly and were vegetarians.

Authorities are using DNA to identify the victims. The coroner said that it doesn’t appear as though any of the victims struggled and the bodies were not multilated. At an afternoon news conference on March 22nd, Fresno Police Chief Dyer stated, “The cause of death for each individual is unique and consistent.” Death certificates were filed with the Fresno County Department of Health for:

1. Sebhrenah April Wesson, 25; (mother—Elizabeth)

2. Elizabeth Breani Kina Wesson, 17; (mother—Elizabeth)

3. Illabelle Carrie Wesson, 8; (mother—Kiani Wesson)

4. Ethan St. Laurent Wesson, 4; (mother Rosie Solorio)

5. Sedona Vadra Wesson, 11/2; (mother Rosie Solorio)

6. Marshey St. Christopher Wesson, 11/2; (mother--Sabhrenah)

7. Jeva St. Vladensvspry Wesson, 1. (mother—Kiani Wesson)

The death certificates for Aviv Dominique Wesson (mother—Ruby Sanchez) and Johnathon St. Charles Wesson (mother –Sofina Solorio), both 7, have not yet been filed. (Fresno Bee, 3/22/04)

Cause of death was determined to be immediate "perforation of brain" caused by a gunshot wound to the face; Illabelle died of a "contusion of the brain" after being shot in the face. (Fresno Bee, 3/22/04)

All nine victims were fathered by Wesson, even his daughters Sebhrenah and Kiani and three of his nieces -- Sofina Solorio, Ruby Sanchez and Rosie Solorio -- a source close to the investigation said. (Fresno Bee, 3/22/04)

They will be cremated Wednesday at Belmont Memorial Park in Fresno and their ashes returned to their families. Community support has been overwhelming with donations directed toward the victims’ families and a large memorial outside the crime scene.

Meanwhile, Wesson has delayed his arraignment twice insisting that he does not want a public defender, but wants to hire his own lawyers – David Mugridge and Gary Harvey. However, it was unclear whether Wesson could afford his own attorney. According to a jail report, guards have to watch March 24 hours a day and he is to have no contact with any of his family. It has been rumored that a suicide pact exists between March and his extended family. “He doesn’t want to leave behind any evidence of incest or polygamy,” said a source close to the case. (KFSN, 3/23/04)

On Wednesday, April 7, 33 more charges of sexual abuse were filed against Wesson. Evidence collected at the scene includes a gun. Gun powder residue tests were conducted on Wesson and at least one of the victims, and fingerprint tests were collected from the gun itself.

Letters written by Marcus Wesson 15 years ago to a judge in Santa Cruz County after his conviction of perjury and welfare fraud were obtained by Action News. (KSBW-TV, 4/6/04) These letters, nearly 80 pages, show a man who felt the system was against him. In one letter, Wesson says, “I knew the Welfare Department illegally obtained the information because I, posing as the actor Richard Widmark, called the tax office … because I wanted to find out why the boat was in my name instead of my wife’s.” (KSBW-TV, 4/6/04) Ironically, the actor, Richard Widmark, portrayed a murdering psychopath in the “Kiss of Death.”

At Wesson’s preliminary hearing, he plead not guilty and Wesson’s public defense lawyer, Pete Jones, said he didn’t do it. At the hearing Jones questioned police officers regarding the .22 caliber gun and hunting knife found at the scene under the oldest victim’s body, 25-year-old Sabhrenah. The bullet found in Sabhrenah had entered the eye in an upward direction and her body was found on top of the others. In other words, Sabhrenah killed the others and then committed suicide. (ABC News, 4/12/04)

This theory coincides with the suicide pact the family had devised some years ago. If authorities tried to break the family up, the children would kill each. According to one of Wesson’s surviving daughters, “…the older ones would kill the children and then commit suicide.” (ABC News, 4/12/04)

Prosecutors, on the other hand, claim Wesson shot all victims and that the evidence speaks for itself. Judge Lawrence Jones ruled that there is sufficient evidence for Wesson to stand trial on charges he killed nine of his children. If convicted, he could receive the death penalty.

Other testimony at the hearing included allegations of sexual and physical abuse by Wesson. It was claimed that Wesson starting molesting his daughters when they were as young a 5-years-old. When one of the girls became pregnant she was told by Wesson to say that she had been artificially inseminated.

In another bizarre twist, Wesson sent a letter to the Fresno Bee telling them about a biographical book he had written. The book, "In the Night, of the Light, for the Dark," was rejected in 2002 by a New York publishing company.

Wesson is due back in court on April 27 when a trial date will be set. He is charged with nine counts of murder and 13 sex counts, including rape and molestation of girls younger than 14. Judge R.L. Putnam has been assigned the case.

Wesson returned to court on April 27 and appears determined to get the trial underway. He would not waive his rights for a speedy trial and again plead not guilty to charges stemming from the murders. A trial date of June 21 was set. Wesson faces nine charges of murder and seven rape charges (five counts of continued sexual abuse and two counts of forced oral copulation).

A May 18 hearing was also set regarding release of four search warrants. Search warrants are considered public information unless information contained within the documents would jeopardize the case if released.

It has not be determined whether Wesson will face the death penalty if found guilty. Two of his sons were present in the courtroom. (Fresno Bee, 4/27/04)

UPDATE: Attorneys for Marcus Wesson, Peter Jones and Garrick Byers, filed a motion on Wednesday, May 19th, to dismiss murder charges against Wesson. They claim they have evidence that substantiates the fact that Sebhrenah Wesson, 25, died last. In their motion, they state that Sebhrenah’s body was on top of the other children and that the gun used was under her along with a knife. Further, they state that her wounds were consistent with suicide. According to their scenario, she allegedly killed the other eight children and then herself. (Associated Press, 5/13/04)

Wesson Guilty on All 23 Counts!

Fri Jun 17, 2005 - Fresno.com

Associated Press

Marcus Wesson, the domineering patriarch of a clan bred through incest, was convicted Friday of murdering nine of his children, whose bodies were found in a bloody pile last year at the end of a police standoff.

Wesson's conviction on nine counts of first-degree murder makes him eligible for the death penalty. He also was found guilty on all 14 counts of raping and molesting seven of his underage daughters and nieces.

The jurors started deliberations on June 2, ultimately deciding that Wesson himself pulled the trigger.

The defense had argued that Sebhrenah Wesson, 25 - the oldest to die - killed herself as well as her siblings and the 1-year-old son she had with her father.

Many of Wesson's surviving family members still support him, and stifled sobs as a clerk read the verdicts. Wesson himself remained quiet and still.

Several witnesses testified that Wesson had repeatedly coached the children to be ready to kill each other and themselves if authorities ever threatened to break up the clan.

The prosecution said Wesson had plenty of time to shoot his children during the 80-minute standoff with police on March 12, 2004. He had closed himself in a back bedroom with the victims, keeping out mothers whose attempt to get their children out of the home had prompted the police standoff.

Prosecutor Lisa Gamoian said in closing arguments that even if Sebhrenah Wesson did pull the trigger, Marcus Wesson should still be found guilty if he encouraged her to kill them, or was part of a conspiracy that led to their slaughter.

The verdict read by the court clerk said the panelists concluded he fired the murder weapon.