Marcus Wesson
9 Dead In Fresno, California

Why is it every guy who claims to be God
Does such horrible things?
No one claiming to be god ever works for peace
they always seem to kill, entice others to kill
or have sex with children...sometimes all three

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 female victims were 24, 17, 8, 7 and two 1-year-olds. The boys were 7, 4 and 1.  In a twisted tale of both incest and polygamy, Wesson was both the father and grandfather of two of the nine victims. Four of the female victims were reportedly, wives of Marcus.

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.

A man who identified himself only as Mike and who said he was Wesson's brother-in-law said Wesson "thought he was God." He also said Wesson was a Vietnam veteran originally from San Jose.

Police acknowledged that they were investigating a possible cult angle.

House of Ten Coffins
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.

Members of Wesson's family bought the burned-out, once-stately home at Maroa and Cambridge Avenues, a few blocks north of Fresno City College, in the spring of 1999.  Muna said he sold the house to Ruby Sanchez, Sofina Solorio, Kiani Wesson and Sebhrenah Wesson. The latter two are reportedly Marcus Wesson's daughters. The relationship of Sanchez and Solorio to Wesson is unclear.

Muna said they made payments, but their checks started to bounce after a year or so: "They ran out of money." So Muna sued them.

Muna said he met several times with Wesson and the four women and that the women wore black or dark gray dresses and head coverings. Of Wesson's relationship to the women, Muna said: "I don't think it was so much as a cult behavior. It was more like commune behavior."

As the group's dealing with Muna soured, so did their relations with neighbors at Maroa and Cambridge. Some of the women moved into a tool shed in the back yard while the main house was being rebuilt, according to neighbor Sharii Rey. Neighbors were upset because the tool shed had no plumbing and they thought it was unsanitary for the women to live there, she said.

A petition was circulated, and the residents eventually moved out of the tool shed. Rey believed only some of the women were living there. Muna said Wesson was, too.

Then the group parked a yellow school bus in front of the house and lived in it. "I guess that showed us," Rey said.

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.

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."

Wesson offered one public comment Saturday. After talking with detectives most of the day, he was led from police headquarters with his hands handcuffed behind his back. A reporter asked him if he had anything to say. Wesson looked at the row of reporters and photographers and said, "I love you."

"He was a good father. He wasn't abusive at all,
"He belongs to the Seventh-day Adventist Church and writes books too."
"I don't want to believe it. I want to give him the benefit of the doubt, but they're all dead."
Dorian Wesson, Son of God, er I mean Marcus Wesson

Bringing Out The Dead

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