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04/20/93
Vow of kids' safety Koresh's `final lie';Agent says children died despite pledge
By Rachel Boehm and Lee Hancock / The Dallas Morning News
Moments before David Koresh gave orders to set fire to the Branch Davidian compound, he told some of his surviving followers that the children would be safe, the FBI said Monday.
Mr. Koresh said the children were tucked away in a buried bus that served as the group's bunker, FBI Special Agent Bob Ricks said.
But after the blaze devastated the wooden compound, authorities discovered that Mr. Koresh once again had lied: The children, Mr. Ricks said, died inside the living quarters on the second floor of the compound.
"It was his final lie,' Agent Ricks said. He said some of the cultists who escaped the fire said Mr. Koresh ordered it set, apparently killing him and dozens of his followers, the FBI said.
Throughout the 51-day standoff, Mr. Koresh went back on his word more than once. He repeatedly had promised authorities and even his attorneys that suicide wasn't "in the cards.' At one point early in the standoff, he promised to surrender if his taped sermon was aired.
He said he was shot in the initial raid but then had a "miraculous' recovery, the FBI said.
But beneath the broken promises, there always was the prophecy of violence.
"From the very beginning, he said that the people in there were going to be killed, and they were going to do it with an armed conflict with law enforcement,' Agent Ricks said.
"It was to our benefit that we were able to prevent the second part of his prophecy from being realized, and that's to take as many law enforcement people as possible,' he said.
No law enforcement officials suffered serious injuries in Monday's confrontation and, despite early sporadic fire from within the compound, federal agents didn't return fire, Agent Ricks said.
"We had concerns early on with regard to possible suicide,' he said.
But he said FBI negotiators asked the cult leader on at least four occasions to promise that he would not lead a mass suicide, and he gave his word.
When his attorneys also pressed the issue, Agent Ricks said, "He promised them that suicide was never in the cards.'
But that's what authorities believe he did Monday. Federal officials said two cult members set fire to the compound.
The orders came shortly after tear gas began to enter the cinder-block bunker where Mr. Koresh was holed up with his "leadership,' said to include aide Steve Schneider and wife Judy Schneider.
Mr. Koresh's assurances Monday that the children were safe and his promises that he wouldn't lead a mass suicide were not the only times the self-professed prophet broke his word.
On March 2, he agreed to surrender if a taped sermon was broadcast on radio and TV. The sermon was aired, but when it was all over, no one left the compound.
On Monday, Agent Ricks related details of what went on inside the compound the day Mr. Koresh's message aired.
"On the day he was supposed to surrender, on March 2, the plan was, he was going to walk out,' the FBI agent said. "He had grenades. When the FBI approached him, he was going to pull the grenade pins and was going to kill himself. Everyone knew that this was the plan.'
On the day of Mr. Koresh's broadcast, group members convened in the compound's chapel, Agent Ricks said.
"David Koresh kissed the kids goodbye. He was going to go outside and commit suicide in front of the TV cameras. And the last second, he chickened out.'
The day after the broadcast, authorities from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms announced that Mr. Koresh said he would surrender when he received "further instruction from God.'
For the next month and a half, the standoff continued. Some children were released, and cult members used banners to communicate with those outside the compound. Mr. Koresh's mother hired a Houston lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, to represent her son.
Then came Passover. Federal officials said they hoped that the end of the religious holiday, which they said was significant to cult members, would bring with it an end to the impasse. But cult leaders later indicated that there was no plan to surrender when the holiday was over.
Last Wednesday, Mr. Koresh sent out word that he would surrender after he finished a manuscript in which he would reveal the contents of the seven seals in the Bible's Book of Revelation.
His attorney, Mr. DeGuerin, said that when it came time to surrender, Mr. Koresh, in fact, would be the first to walk out.
Monday, as the remains of the compound were smoldering, Mr.DeGuerin, noting there were "a bunch of kids in there,' was critical of the FBI's plan to use armored vehicles to knock holes in the compound and flood it with tear gas.
"When we left it,' Mr. DeGuerin said, "David said he was coming out as soon as he finished writing about the seven seals.'
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