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03/05/93
Agents say `positive' ties forged; But FBI doesn't hint standoff is almost over
By Al Brumley and Lee Hancock / The Dallas Morning News
WACO-Federal agents surrounding a fortified religious compound said Thursday they've forged a "very, very positive' relationship with its Scripture-quoting leader.
But the FBI offered no indication that David Koresh-who has said he's awaiting further instruction from God-is any closer to ending the impasse now in its sixth day.
As the standoff between federal agents and members of Branch Davidian wore on, another child was set free and the body of an unidentified man clutching a pistol was recovered outside the sect's headquarters.
In periodic telephone calls to and from the compound, "the constant theme is, "When are you coming out?' ' said Jeffrey Jamar, the FBI agent in charge at the scene.
"His stance is still that he's been told to wait, and when he gets the message to stop waiting, then (we'll) proceed from there. He's still saying that he's going to come out.'
Meanwhile, The Dallas Morning News learned Thursday that the Internal Revenue Service is investigating allegations that the sect engaged in money laundering. The inquiry is said to have begun as an offshoot of a months-old investigation by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms into possible arms violations by the apocalyptic sect.
Among the unanswered questions, a federal investigator said, is how the group has financially maintained its living compound and surrounding 77 acres; stockpiled an extensive and sophisticated arsenal; and financed Mr. Koresh's frequent trips to destinations including California, Hawaii, Australia, Great Britain and Israel.
Converts from Israel, Australia and Britian are among those still holed up with Mr. Koresh. He has told authorities that 47 women, 43 men and 18 children remain in the fortress.
Before seizing control of their present quarters after a 1987 shootout with a rival leader, Mr. Koresh and his disciples lived in rundown shacks and tents in the woods near Palestine, Texas, said Gary Coker, a Waco lawyer who once represented members of the group.
A McLennan County official said Thursday that property taxes have not been paid on the sect's compound since 1990, and $3,275 is due for 1991 and 1992. Two acres of the parcel, exempt from taxes because it's classified as church land, were valued last year at $57,442. The surrounding acreage, which is taxable, was valued at $64,638.
The Branch Davidian compound, 10 miles east of Waco, became a besieged fortress Sunday after a gunbattle left four ATF agents and an undetermined number of sect members dead.
Since then, Mr. Koresh-a 33-year-old rock guitarist who believes that he is a latter-day Christ-has freed 20 children and two adults.
A boy was released Thursday morning, a day after another boy was set free carrying a box of 12 puppies. The dogs' mother was killed in the gunfight.
During a news conference in Waco, officials said federal agents in a helicopter spotted the body of a man Wednesday about 350 yards behind the compound. FBI and ATF agents, accompanied by state law enforcement officials, used Bradley tanks to recover the body Thursday, said Agent Jamar.
The man, clutching a semi-automatic pistol, had been killed by gunfire and had been at that spot at least since Sunday, said Dan Conroy, deputy associate director of the ATF. But he would not say whether the man was a member of the sect or whether he was killed during the raid.
Agent Jamar credited the bureau's negotiating team with securing the release of the children and preventing renewed violence.
He said the negotiators-three teams working almost round the clock-have established something close to rapport with Mr. Koresh and other sect members, engaging them in amiable conversation about theology and events of the day.
"There're long discussions regarding religion, long readings of the Scriptures,' he said, adding that the FBI has sought the counsel of biblical scholars to keep dialogue flowing.
"We have people who are helping us interpret it so we can understand,' he said. "The idea is to understand what they are saying and be able to respond to it.'
In addition, he said, Mr. Koresh has shown keen interest in news coverage of the siege. The compound has a televison satellite dish.
"There's reaction to this, to our interaction here,' the FBI agent said, referrring to the daily news briefings.
The negotiators, he said, "are very, very positive about' the relationship they've established with the sect leader-even if it has yet to yield the desired end.
Agent Jamar confirmed that sect members are "very, very self-sufficient'' and could continue their holdout for a long while.
Those inside the compound are believed to have vast stores of canned and dry foods and military-type rations. Water also seems plentiful, Agent Jamar said.
The routine of life under siege, as best it could be inferred from the agent's comments, seemed spartan but not intolerable-especially for a group not unaccustomed to the ascetic.
"Those people never lived under pleasant circumstances in any case,' said one federal official. "What they have right now is in effect what they (always) had.'
They get their water from wells. "The women are required to go out each morning, get the water and pour it into this cistern-type system that brings the water into the house,' Agent Jamar said.
"I understand the shower's outside. They have to take waste outside and dispose of it, bury it, whatever they do with it.'
He said the children's living quarters are separated from those of adults, and the women separated from the men.
In addition, the compound has large meeting and prayer rooms. "It's quite a complex,' he said.
The children were educated, if at all, at home. Stanley Harris, superintendent of the nearby Axtell Independent School District, said children from the compound stopped coming to class about two years ago. When he inquired about them, he said, he was told they were being home-schooled.
"They dressed the same,' he recalled of the 8 to 10 youngsters, who ranged from second-graders to high school sophomores. "They were generally pretty well-behaved.'
Agent Jamar refused to say whether authorities plan to shut off electricity to the compound but added, "That option is always open to us.'
Dan Hartnett, ATF's associate director, acknowledged that surveillance of Mr. Koresh had not been continual in the weeks before the raid.
A day earlier the ATF official, attempting to defuse criticism of the agency, said it was necessary to storm the compound to arrest Mr. Koresh because the sect leader had not ventured outside in months.
But some residents have told reporters that the sect leader had been seen outside as recently as mid-February.
Mr. Conroy of ATF emphatically challenged assertions that faulty planning for the raid had left agents hopelessly outgunned.
"I want to for once and for all unequivocally state that a raid plan was submitted, resources and equipment for that raid to carry it out were submitted, and it was granted 100 percent by headquarters,' he said.
Mr. Hartnett said the remaining wounded ATF agents were being released Thursday from Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center.
A hospital spokesman said four agents had remained hospitalized Thursday morning, seven had been admitted after the first battle and six others treated and released. A spokesman at Providence Hospital said one agent remained there Thursday afternoon.
Mr. Hartnett said officials continue their inquiry into a telephone call to the compound Sunday morning that they believe was a tip about the raid. By the time agents arrived, he said, some sect members were dressed in black, combat-style clothing, apparently in ready for the raid.
He said the sect's telephones had not been tapped before the raid.
Agent Jamar reiterated that federal officials are prepared to wait
as long as necessary to get Mr. Koresh and his followers out of the complex without violence, regardless of the expense. He would not say how much the operation is costing the government.
In Washington, Acting Attorney General Stuart Gerson said: "The most important thing now is quietly, patiently and definitely resolving the situation.'
The siege has exacted its toll not just on agents and Branch Davidians.
Karen Kubitza, a grade school teacher who moved to the countryside 15 years ago, said that when she drove up to the police barricades and flashing lights Sunday night, it was as if she'd come upon a freeway pileup.
"This is sort of a shock,' she said of the tumult that has supplanted tranquility. "We're used to hearing birds out here instead of the roar of generators.'
She echoed a nearly universal view when she said:
"I'm ready for it to be over with, but peacefully.'
This report was prepared by staff writers Al Brumley in Waco and
Lee Hancock in Dallas. Staff writers Diane Jennings, Bruce Tomaso and Nancy St. Pierre contributed to the report.
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