WDT Seal

Seal for the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas (WDT).

On August 6, 1993, twelve of the surviving Branch Davidians were indicted for murder and other charges arising from the death of the four ATF agents on February 28, 1993. Those indicted were:

  1. Norman Washington Allison, aka Delroy Nash
  2. Renos Avraam
  3. Brad Branch
  4. Jaime Castillo
  5. Graeme Craddock
  6. Clive Doyle
  7. Livingstone Fagan
  8. Paul Fatta
  9. Woodrow Kendrick, aka Bob Kendrick
  10. Ruth Riddle
  11. Kathryn Schroeder
  12. Kevin Whitecliff
    (Source: Dept. of Justice, October 8, 1993, "Prosecutions": Source; Cache)

The charges were:

  1. Count One: Conspiracy to Murder Federal Officers. All twelve defendants were charged with being part of a conspiracy to arm the Davidians during 1993 and early 1993 in preparation for an armed confrontation with law enforcement. The two shootouts with ATF on February 28, 1993 were charged as part of the conspiracy.
  2. Count Two: Aiding and Abetting the Murder of Federal Officers. All twelve defendants were charged with aiding and abetting the murders of the four ATF agents on February 28, 1993.
  3. Count Three: Using a Firearm Durin4 a Crime of Violence. Schroeder, Branch, Whitecliff, Castillo, Fagan, Fatta, Craddock, Avraam and Riddle were charged with using a firearm during a crime of violence in connection with the first ATF shootout on February 28, 1993.
  4. Count Four: Aiding and Abetting the Attempted Murder of a Federal Officer. Allison and Kendrick were charged with aiding and abetting the attempted murder of an ATF agent during the second shootout on February 28.
  5. Count Five: Using a Firearm During a Crime of Violence. Kendrick was charged with using two firearms in connection with the second ATF shootout on February 28.
  6. Count Six: Using a Firearm During a crime of violence. Allison was charged with using a firearm during the second ATF shootout on February 28.
  7. Count Seven: Possession of an Unregistered Destructive Device. Craddock was charged with possessing an explosive grenade on April 19, 1993.
  8. Count Eight: Conspiracy to Possess an Unregistered Destructive Device. Craddock was charged with conspiring with Koresh to possess an explosive grenade during the 51-day standoff.
  9. Count Nine: Conspiracy to Possess and Unlawfully Manufacture Machine Guns. Fatta was charged with conspiring to manufacture and possess machine guns during 1992 and early 1993.
  10. Count Ten: Aiding and Abetting the Unlawful Possession of Machine Guns
    Fatta was charged with aiding and abetting Koresh in the unlawful possession of machine guns during 1992 and early 1993.
    (Source: Dept. of Justice, October 8, 1993, "Prosecutions": Source; Cache)

In September, 1994, Kathryn Schroeder entered a plea deal to testify against the others.  Ruth Riddle also entered a plea in exchange for testifying in favor of the prosecution.

… five were convicted of voluntary manslaughter and weapons charges and three were convicted on weapons charges. A 12th Davidian pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and testified against the others; she was sentenced to three years and was released in 1996. (Source: Fox News, April 19, 2006, "Six Branch Davidians Due for Release 13 Years After Waco Inferno", archived, cached)

Though the government alleged the Davidians shot each other and started the fire that allegedly killed so many, none were charged with arson or with murdering each other or the children.  For example:

(Source: Rosen & Kovach, PLLC, cached)

A surviving Davidian, Clive Doyle, had accelerants on his coat sleeves as well as burn wounds on his hands that the forensic pathologist retained by the Office of Special Counsel believes to be consistent with wounds that could have occurred when his accelerant-soaked hands came in contact with a flame. (Source: John C. Danforth, November 8, 2000, "Final Report to the Deputy Attorney General Concerning the 1993 Confrontation at the Mt. Carmel Complex", pg. 15, archived, cached)

Jury Foreman, Sarah Bain, Speaks

After the acquittal, the jury foreman, Sarah Bain, issued a statement saying:

'We said from the beginning that we had the wrong people on trial,' Bain said. 'The ones who should have been on trial are those who planned the raid and insisted on going ahead with it.' (Source: UPI, April 19, 1995, "Fiery end of Waco siege remembered": Source; Cache

Despite their acquittal for murder, a number of the accused were convicted of lesser charges, and some were sentenced to as much as 40 years in prison. On August 5, 1996, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Draconian sentences.

According to that 2006 Fox News article, all but one of the Davidian prisoners were due for release in 2006, and the last prisoner would be released in 2007.  They were to spend the next five years on supervised release, forbidden to communicate with each other. (Fox News, April 19, 2006, "Six Branch Davidians Due for Release 13 Years After Waco Inferno", cached)