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03/12/93
Koresh preached violence, officials, ex-follower say; Names of sect members in compound released
By Terrence Stutz / The Dallas Morning News
WACO-Federal officials and a young ex-cult member said Thursday that cult leader David Koresh promoted violence-even suicide-among his followers.
Meanwhile, Mr. Koresh and most members of the Branch Davidian sect remained in an armed standoff with federal authorities for the 12th day.
The FBI said three men were expected to leave the compound, but there were no signs that any had done so by late Thursday. The anticipated release apparently was approved by Mr. Koresh, who, complaining of a headache, has not talked with federal authorities since Tuesday.
FBI agents also released a list of 48 cult members who remain in the compound-most of whom have spoken with negotiators by phone since a Feb. 28 shootout. That battle between the cult and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms left four ATF agents and an undetermined number of cult members dead.
One of the women believed to remain in the compound is Sherri Jewell. Thursday her 12-year-old daughter, Kiri, who said she spent four years with her mother among the Branch Davidians, discussed life in the compound on the Donahue show.
While there, she said, she was taught to put a gun in her mouth and instructed how to commit suicide by taking cyanide. Kiri said she now fears that Mr. Koresh's followers will kill themselves rather than surrender.
She called on law officers to end the stalemate by invading the compound. "Better a few people die than all of them,' she said of the cult members.
Appearing on the talk show with her father, David Jewell of Niles, Mich., who won custody of her last year, the girl said she remembers seeing many guns in the compound and enough food to feed cult members for "weeks and weeks and weeks.'
Mr. Jewell said his daughter had told him about being paddled by Mr. Koresh because she didn't learn a Bible passage fast enough.
In California, federal agents seized audiotapes and videotapes that indicate "evidence of violence' by Mr. Koresh and his followers, ATF spokesman John D'Angelo said Thursday.
He said the tapes were obtained Tuesday from Mr. Koresh's former residence in La Verne, Calif., a Los Angeles suburb. Mr. Koresh lived there until about four years ago.
Mr. D'Angelo declined to elaborate on the contents of the tapes, saying the search warrant was still under court seal.
Also Thursday, U.S. District Judge Walter Smith in Waco denied a motion from lawyers with the Cause Foundation, which describes itself as a civil rights organization, seeking access to Mr. Koresh and his followers.
Judge Smith had the government response to the motion sealed.
David Hollaway, a director of the foundation, said the request was
made to allow cult members access to legal counsel and to keep law enforcement authorities "from using excessive force causing them irreparable damage or injury.'
The foundation may appeal the decision, Mr. Hollaway said, pending the outcome of another motion filed by Mr. Koresh's mother, Bonnie Haldeman, which seeks her son's release from the federal siege at the compound.
Mrs. Haldeman and prominent criminal lawyer Dick DeGuerin of Houston, who has agreed to represent Mr. Koresh free of charge, tried to enter the compound through the main checkpoint Thursday.
"I'm only here because David Koresh's mother has asked me to be,' Mr. DeGuerin said. "I think that he needs some independent counsel that he can trust. '
No contact
During a briefing Thursday, FBI spokesman Dick Swensen disclosed that Mr. Koresh had not had any telephone conversations with FBI negotiators since Tuesday evening.
Mr. Swensen said the cult leader, complaining of a severe headache, was leaving the negotiations to five cult members.
Member Steve Schneider told federal agents that "he expected three adult males to come out of the compound today,' Mr. Swensen said.
"He stated that these individuals had discussed their desire to leave with Mr. Koresh, and that he-Koresh-had agreed to let them.'
One of those wanting to leave was identified as Oliver Gyarfas, 19, an Australian. The FBI said it had no information on the other two.
No cult members have left since March 5. A total of 21 children and two adults-both elderly women-have left the compound since the siege began.
As of Thursday, 107 people were believed to remain in the compound, including 17 children, based on estimates provided by those inside.
"We are very optimistic, hoping that this is a big indication today if three people come out,' Mr. Swensen said.
On the other hand, he said, if Mr. Koresh decides not to let any more Branch Davidians leave, it would be a "backward step' in the standoff.
Mr. Swensen said he did not know why the three wanted to leave, nor could he say what would happen to them once they did leave.
"It depends on who they are and if there are any charges,' he said.
Dan Conroy, deputy assistant director of the ATF, said an arrest
warrant has been issued for cult member Paul G. Fatta, who is wanted for conspiracy to illegally manufacture and possess machine guns. Mr. Fatta was away from the compound during the gunbattle but has been interviewed several times by reporters since then.
Mr. Conroy also said his agency is continuing to investigate whether word of the ATF raid on the Branch Davidian compound was leaked to cult members or the media. He "absolutely and categorically' denied that any ATF agents tipped the media in advance about the raid.
The first list of cult members in the compound released on Thursday showed that most are either American or British. Of the 48 cult members who were named, 19 were Americans, 14 were British and five were Australians. One member marked a birthday last week.
The nationalities of seven were unknown, and one member each was from Israel, New Zealand and the Philippines.
Mr. Koresh and other cult leaders had recruited members during visits to several countries.
Mr. Swensen said negotiations would continue in an effort to end the siege. "We still remain optimistic that this situation can be resolved in a peaceful manner without further loss of life,' he said.
Since the siege began, Mr. Swensen said, federal agents, who patrol outside the compound, have not gotten any closer than 175-200 yards of the facility.
"There has been no attempt to provoke anything,' he said.
He reiterated that no one but law enforcement officials will be
allowed near the compound.
"We're not having anybody go into that compound,' the FBI spokesman said.
That didn't stop people from trying, however. The main checkpoint set up by federal authorities outside the compound attracted a variety of people Thursday.
Other visitors
Among the newspeople crowded around the same spot was Louis Beam, former Ku Klux Klan leader in Houston. Mr. Beam spent five months on the "Most Wanted List' in the late '80s before being arrested for conspiring to overthrow the federal government, charges of which he was later acquitted.
One of his attorneys in that case was Kirk Lyons, executive director of the Cause Foundation.
Mr. Beam, 46, said he now lives in Austin and is writing for a California-based Christian magazine called Jubilee.
Another man identified himself as the Rev. James E. Threadgill of Carmel Baptist Church in Tyler.
He also tried to get in, saying he represented a group of ministers who wanted to "have a prayer with them, see if we could help get the kids out.' He said the authorities told him: "Not a chance.'
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