http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82~1865~2017386,00.html

Family, acquaintances paint strange portrait

By Mark Arax, Los Angeles Times

FRESNO -- The son hadn't seen the father in nearly a year.

On Saturday afternoon, he stood in the sunlight outside the house where the father allegedly killed nine family members and tried to recall the man who raised him.

"He was a good father. He wasn't abusive at all," said Dorian Wesson, 29, who lives in Santa Cruz. "He was born in Kansas, lived in San Jose and moved to Fresno to buy and sell houses. He belongs to the Seventh-day Adventist and writes books, too."

He tried to fit that image to the man arrested Friday in the murder of seven of his children and two of his grandchildren. Their bodies were stacked in a back bedroom while 10 ornatecaskets purchased by his father, Marcus Wesson, from a local antique store filled the living room.

"I don't want to believe it. I want to give him the benefit of the doubt," Dorian Wesson said. "But they're all dead." Police are calling the crime the worst mass murder in Fresno history. The night before, as the smallest bodies were carried out of the house, the police chief and the mayor fought back tears.

"This is not Fresno," Mayor Alan Autry insisted. "This is an aberration."

On Saturday, as the national media descended on the working class neighborhood, Fresno residents were still trying to absorb the shock and many were driving past the house to leave flowers and stuffed animals, and ask questions that still couldn't be answered.

"Was this a ritual killing," one resident asked? "A cult?"

As the Fresno County coroner performed autopsies on the nine victims -- seven children ages 8 and younger, one teenager and one young adult -- neighbors and business associates pieced together a portrait of Marcus Wesson, the 57-year-old murder suspect.

He was an odd man whose behavior had grown even more bizarre over the past year, they said. Besides a dozen or so biological children, he surrounded himself with four women who acted as wives and practiced an absolute fealty to him. They were like a "small commune," one said, the older women dressed in flowing black gowns and head scarves. They almost always stood behind him, eyes cast down and mute, as he led them from one housing renovation project to another across Fresno.

"He was real stern with them, and he expected them to do exactly what he said -- and right now," said Frank Muna, a criminal defense attorney who sold a historic brick house in central Fresno to Wesson in 1999. "Over the past year or two, I noticed his thoughts became more rambling and incoherent. He was off the wall."

Wesson and the women often worked late into the night to renovate the house gutted by fire, Muna said, but the city eventually declared it uninhabitable and forced them to move. At the time, Wesson and the women were living in a small backyard tool shed with several children. His salt-and-pepper hair had grown into a lion's mane, Muna recalled, tangled and filthy. He had put on considerable weight.

"He just seemed to break down physically and mentally," Muna said.

Police were called to the house about 2:30 p.m. Friday. They were responding to a child-custody dispute. As they arrived, two women told them they had given custody of their children to Wesson, and now they wanted them back. Wesson allegedly refused.

Wesson ran into the house and locked the door, police said. The SWAT team was called and a two-hour standoff followed. Neighbors said they heard repeated gunshots and questioned why the SWAT team didn't move in. Police said they were still investigating when, where and how the victims were killed. Because the bodies were intertwined, police said, some of the victims may have been killed earlier and placed together.

When Wesson finally walked outside and surrendered, his clothes were spotted with blood, police said.

Authorities still have not publicly identified the victims or the cause of death. At a news conference late Saturday in which they released few details, police described the victims as six females, ages 24, 17, 8, 7, 1 and 1; and three males, ages 7, 4 and 1. Police believe that the two dead grandchildren were also fathered by Wesson in an incestuous relationship with one of his deceased daughters. They say DNA testing will be used to confirm their belief.


Tony Collazo, who lives next door, said Wesson was easy with a wave and a hello, but it never got deeper than that. Most evenings, he'd stand over the barbecue cooking meats that often smelled foul. "It was pretty bad," he said.

The neighbors didn't recall many glimpses of the younger children. Mostly, they said, Wesson and the women worked late into the night fixing an old school bus. It was his pride and joy, they said. He had painted it a clean yellow and embroidered it in fresh chrome. Behind the back seats, he had built a spa.

On Saturday, strips of chrome and tools -- a heavy duty band saw, a pop rivet gun and a -inch drill -- lay scattered in the driveway. Inside the bus were the colorful overnight bags of the children. A small jar stuffed with twigs and leaves and five small ladybugs sat on the front grill.


Inside the house -- a small law office Wesson had converted into living quarters -- sat the 10 coffins. They were hand carved in Malaysia, Muna said, and Wesson had bought them two or three years ago for more than $10,000. What he intended to do with them, Muna wasn't sure.

Lot of thoughts racing in my mind..

I am hesitant to post them...

It would be interesting to have a confirmation from Fresno that he was a member there.

Stan,

Jerry Page is conference Pres there.
There are several churches in Fresno.

This is the Central Calif Conference link

http://ccc.adventist.org/

SOURCE FOX http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,114154,00.html

FRESNO, Calif. — A man suspected of killing nine of his family members lived a bizarre life of polygamy  and incest , even fathering two of his victims with his own daughters, police said.

Marcus Wesson (search), 57, was arrested Friday after emerging blood-covered from his home, where authorities found nine bodies in a back room tangled and intertwined with clothing. His demeanor was described by officers as "very calm."

Wesson was cooperating with authorities, who planned to charge him with nine counts of murder, said police Chief Jerry Dyer.

"If this does not qualify for the death sentence, then there is no case that would," Dyer said.

The grisly tale of polygamy, incest and murder stunned not only police but also Wesson's 29-year-old son, Dorian.

"He was a good father. He wasn't abusive at all," Dorian Wesson told the Los Angeles Times in Sunday's editions. "He belongs to the Seventh-day Adventist (Church) and writes books too."

Dorian Wesson, who hadn't seen his father in about a year, was still trying to come to grips with the allegations.

"I don't want to believe it. I want to give him the benefit of the doubt," he said. "But they're all dead."


Investigators said Saturday the victims included six females and three males, ranging in age from 1 to 24 and probably Wesson's children and grandchildren.

Six coroners, triple the typical weekend staff, worked Saturday to determine how the victims died. Police said believe they know the cause of death but would not release that information.

"I can tell you that there were no mutilations," the police chief said. "The bodies were intact."

Police planned to serve another search warrant but Dyer would not say where, adding, "We have not ruled out the involvement of any other suspects."

Officers were called to the home Friday afternoon for a child custody dispute. What they found inside was ghastly: bodies so entangled that it took hours for investigators to reach a final count and 10 wooden caskets lining a wall of a front room.

Some of the first officers into the house were placed on administrative leave and received counseling Friday night. Six police chaplains were at the house throughout the evening as detectives continued to gather evidence.

The department's cult (search) expert is helping with the investigation. Dyer said no motive had been determined.

Wesson had children with at least four women, including two of his daughters, and authorities are investigating whether he had other female sexual partners as well.


Wesson had once lived with five women and appeared to have a romantic relationship with each, said Frank Muna, an acquaintance. The women seemed to be under Wesson's control, walking behind him and not speaking when he was present, Muna said.


"The neighbors felt there was some weird kind of polygamy commune thing going on," said Muna, a defense lawyer who sold the remains of his burned-out house to Wesson and the women in 1999. Wesson moved to a different house about eight months ago, in part because of neighbors' complaints, Muna said.


Neighbors described seeing many women at the house, dressed in long dresses and sometimes with veils covering their faces, Dyer said.


Dyer said two women who called authorities to the home Friday told officers they had given custody of their children to Wesson two years ago and came to retrieve them.


Neighbors said they knew little about Wesson or the single-story house where a large yellow bus was parked in the driveway. On the sidewalk Saturday were stuffed animals, balloons and flowers left by passers-by.

Wesson's behavior had become more bizarre and his appearance more disheveled in the last three years, said Muna, the acquaintance.

"A lot of what he was saying wasn't relevant to what we were discussing," he said. "He grew that one big, long, nasty dreadlock. It was just caked with dirt and oil."

Dyer said police had not determined why the caskets were in the home, but said they had not been taken as evidence.

Wesson bought the hand-carved mahogany caskets about five years ago from an antique store in town, saying he planned to use the wood to repair a houseboat, said Lois Dugovic, owner of the store.

Dugovic said Wesson seemed aware people were scared of him and that made him laugh. Dugovic herself was at first frightened by Wesson's appearance.

"He sure didn't look the part of a normal person," she said.

The nine deaths represent the largest mass killing ever in Fresno, a city of 440,000 about 190 miles southeast of San Francisco. Seven people were killed in rural Fresno in 1993.

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Lot of thoughts racing in my mind..

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Other than reactions to the tragedy this is, the thought going through my mind is that this man was displaying increasingly erratic behaviour over a long time and nothing was done to assess him. That is not a criticism of his neighbours or the local authorities, it could also be possible here. To me it says a lot about our modern way of life, afraid of intruding into others lives.

It also says a lot about how isolated is the experience of the mentally ill. How terrible to be descending into hell on earth and no one intervenes.

Been there, done that. Well not the murder, but the descent.

This case is an extreme example of how the family's hands are tied by the laws (in California, at least) prohibiting commitment of the mentally ill against their wishes. This man (in the good old days) would have long ago been committed to a State Mental Hospital, where he would have been safe, well treated, fed regular meals; and where the family and community would have been safe from him.

Recently "patients' rights advocates" have gone to court to lobby against involuntary commitment. Now the pendulum has swung to the side of letting the patient decide whether or not he wants to be treated. It truly has become a case of "letting the inmates run the asymlum" -- except there's no asylum, so most of them are sleeping on the streets.

It is the families of the mentally ill who really suffer the most. Their hands are tied.

And this case also demonstrates that even being an Adventist does not grant one immunity from mental illness.

Ever since a dingo ran away with a child in Australia Seventh-day Adventist have had doubt cast over their heads. The use of the word 'cult' appears in many stories about this Fresno incident. One report read, Adventists continue to kill their kids. And Waco is still vivid in some memories. May we be able to show the love and compassion and sense of justice that our Lord has instilled on His special last-day people. Much prayer is needed, for all involved, and for all who pass judgment.

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This case is an extreme example of how the family's hands are tied by the laws (in California, at least) prohibiting commitment of the mentally ill against their wishes.

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That is not quite right. There is a competency requirement. Anyone can request the police detain someone as posing a danger to themselves or to others, and (provided there is reasonable evidence) the police can detain that person for a few days and get a properly qualified assessment made.

Indeed, as an EMT, there are times when I am required to detain a person against their will (for which purpose I will usually and gladly request police assistance).

However, there are many of us (myself included) who think that the competency line is to close to the totally-insane end of the spectrum...

/Bevin

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One report read, Adventists continue to kill their kids

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Where is that? I can not locate it.

Thanks

Stan

Quote:

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Where is that? I can not locate it.

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Stan--I got several e-mails on this that I have deleted. It was not a newspaper report, but a talk-show in that area. If I get more I will surely forward them to you.
I was visiting a friend in a cardiac ward in the hospital today and the word 'cult' was used over and over in describing this fellow's church association. It was on Fox news, CNN, among others.

It is kind of interesting how they like to throw around the SDA name when it happens to "one of ours", isn't it? I don't see the same thing being done when the perpetrator in question is a Baptist or Methodist or Pentecostal or Jew. Is that an oversight on my part, or do they just not bandy it about so much in those cases?

Police traumatized by Fresno murder scene

CTV.ca News Staff

It was a crime scene so gruesome even veteran officers were reduced to tears -- and the man accused of committing the killings is also suspected of polygamy and incest.

Police responding to a child custody dispute in Fresno, California on Friday afternoon discovered nine bodies intertwined in a pile of clothes and 10 coffins stacked along a wall.

"This is obviously the worst mass murder in the history of our city," said Fresno police chief Jerry Dyer.

He added: "If this does not qualify for the death sentence, then there is no case that would." 

Some of the police who came on the original crime scene are already seeking counseling.

A 57-year-old man, Marcus Wesson, surrendered to police after a brief standoff. Wesson walked out of the house covered in what appeared to be blood.

He will be charged with nine murders.

"Right now my family are distraught.  My dad is, like, the coolest guy," said Dorian Wesson, who identified himself as Wesson's son.

"I'm finding it hard to believe because he's the best dad anyone could ever have," added Serafino Wesson, another son.

The nine victims -- who ranged in age from one to 24, with six females and three males -- were thought to be Wesson's children.

Seven of the dead were children aged one to eight. The victims also included a 17-year-old girl and a 20-year-old woman.

He is both father and grandfather to two of them.

"We are exploring the possibility that there were other women he was involved with, either sexually or in some sort of polygamist relationship," Dyer said.

Police are trying to determine whether some ritual was involved in the slaughter.

Dyer cried as his officers carried the bodies from the home, cradling the youngest ones in their arms.

Six police chaplains were also called to the house.

The bodies were so entangled in a pile of clothing that it took hours for investigators to reach a final count, police said.

The situation began Friday afternoon when police were called to the home by two women who said a man had their children and would not release them.

The man ignored initial orders to leave the house and ran into a back bedroom as two other women fled unharmed.

Wesson is suspected of fathering the children with the four women. None of the women or the children have been identified.

Dyer said the women who called authorities told them they had given custody of their children to Wesson two years ago and now wanted them back.

A neighbour, Chris Tognazzini, reported hearing two gunshots moments before police arrived.


Other neighbours said they knew little about Wesson or the house, which had a large yellow bus parked in the driveway.

"He never said 'Hi,'" said Linda Morales. "I'd drive by and he'd make a point to turn his face."

Fresno, a city of 440,000 located almost 320 kilometres southeast of San Francisco, had seen only three murders in the past two and half months, the fewest over that period in more than three decades.

"The only thing we can do now is mourn. We mourn for the kids, we mourn for the police," said Mayor Alan Autry. "We will never be the same again."

Based on a report by CTV's Matt Cowan

Yes, this really is a sticky area in terms of sorting individual rights out from the legitimate needs not only of the individual but of the family and society. The real tragedy is that options themselves are limited and leave so much to be desired. Turning people too sick to survive on their own out on the streets with a bottle of pills which their own illness will conspire against their taking is definitely not a solution.

What a sad story. What on earth happened to this man, these people?

Uggh! The horrible word, "cult", strikes again!

I became a baptized member of the Seventh-day Adventist church near the same time the Waco incident happened. For a while, I was scared that perhaps I'd made the wrong decision; that perhaps, I had unwittingly joined a cult.

It helped to strengthen my understanding of the Seventh-day Adventist church and I was certain that I had made the right choice--even after all the times I'd read that we were a "cult."

It is amazing to me how quickly the media latches on to the Seventh-day Adventist wrong-doers. It would be interesting to me to see the statistics on all the various religions of wrong-doers.

Certainly our prisons and rehabilitation institutions are not over-flowing with current or past members of the Seventh-day Adventist church.

Why is it then, when we read and watch the news that each wrong-doing incident isn't immediately labeled "another Catholic assault and battery," or, "there goes those @#%^ Lutherans again," or, "how many times do we have to hear about another murder."

Then again, perhaps I'm simply more attuned to the outcries against Seventh-day Adventism. Perhaps the media, does indeed label each man according to his faith.

I think what gave this murder story a religious spin was what the women wore and the relationship circumstances...so it is ripe for exposing what was the religious affiliation.

Just a reminder...

There still is not solid confirmation that he is or is not an adventist.

While it hasn't been confirmed whether he was or wasn't, why should it make any difference?

Not one of us, and I might add not a single religion, is above imperfection.

I can understand better why the media has latched onto this. Yes, the women involved and their actions do appear "cult-worthy".

However, there are numerous men in this world who have more than one sexual partner and more than one mother of their children. As well as numerous men who abuse their wives, their girl-friends, their children, etc. We see these sort of cases in the news every single day. But, we don't often hear the religious slant. Non-mainstream religions take the blame for so much while most of the unlawful behaviors take place amongst those in mainstream religions.

Statistically speaking, it would seem probable that the religions of the majority would have equally proportional majority of the crimes.

I wonder about the same things myself. Reading your post this morning, Chrys, I suddenly remembered something we talked about in our study group last Thursday night that seems apropos to this point. There is a verse in scripture -- let me see if I can find it ...

15 Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: 16 The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; 17 but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.
-- Philippians 1:15-18.

And there is also this: Romans 8:28:
"For we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."

The point being, I guess, that as it is commonly stated, there is no such thing as "bad publicity". Even something that appears to "smear" our church or its name may make others curious about who we are and what we really believe, and that always gives us an opportunity to share with them the truth about our Lord and Saviour.

We can also take this as an encouragement and a wake-up call. An encouragement to draw even closer to the Lord and seek Him, to reflect His glory, and a wake-up call to pay closer attention to our brothers and sisters, to be available to reach out when we see any of them in distress, spiritually, emotionally, financially, whatever. Sure, it might turn out this guy was never an SDA. Certainly if he was, at some point he drifted from the faith into his own confusion and it resulted in tragedy. No one falls away in a vaccuum; there are always circumstances involved and there is always a story to be told, and there are always opportunities where even one kind word, one word of encouragement, rightly timed -- a shoulder to lean on, an ear to hear someone else's troubles without passing judgment, a caring hand to grasp another and pray with them -- could have made all the difference in the world.

Or not -- but we have to at least do our part, and try.

FROM http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/8190050.htm

Slaying suspect led nomadic life
FRESNO MAN, FAMILY MOVED AMONG SEVERAL LOCALES
By Crystal Carreon, Lisa Fernandez and Brandon Bailey
Mercury News

FRESNO - Mass murder suspect Marcus Wesson, the intimidating patriarch of a large and allegedly incestuous clan, lived an erratic, nomadic lifestyle on the fringes of society for more than 15 years.

While some family members defended Wesson as a loving father, others who encountered him over the years described him Sunday as controlling and stern. One neighbor said she heard Wesson lay down a chilling ultimatum on the afternoon that nine members of his extended family were found dead in his home.


``I'd rather kill them before I give them back to you,'' Linda Morales said she heard Wesson shout Friday, shortly before two women called police to say he was refusing to let them take their children from the house.


Wesson and his family had moved several times in recent years, from a small boat anchored at the Santa Cruz harbor, to a squatter's haven in the mountains outside Watsonville, before settling at the site of what Fresno police are calling the worst massacre in their city's history.


The scene inside that house, where bodies lay intertwined in a pile, was so ghastly that some of the first arriving officers have been placed on leave and given counseling, authorities said. Wesson, 57, is being held on suspicion of murder in the Fresno County Jail, with bail set at $9 million.


After announcing Saturday that Wesson had fathered two of the youngest victims by impregnating his own daughters, police had no more to say Sunday about what led to the killings.


But some acquaintances said Wesson's mental condition and physical appearance had begun to deteriorate in recent years.


``We would be talking about the roof,'' said Frank Muna, who sold a home to members of Wesson's family, ``and he would go off on a tangent about a social issue, like the system was bent against him.''


Muna also recalled complaints from neighbors that Wesson lived a polygamist lifestyle with four adult women, who dressed in black from head to toe and were always quiet in front of the older man.


``It was very clear that they were subservient to him,'' said Muna, who also came to believe that Wesson had a physically intimate relationship with the women. Wesson told Muna that two of the women were his nieces.


``They would walk behind him and look down,'' Muna added. ``Whatever he said, they would do. It was clear he was the one in control.''


Family members have denied allegations that Wesson committed incest. Police have said they are looking into the possibility of his having sexual relations with other family members in addition to his two daughters. Eliza Whitney, a longtime acquaintance and neighbor of Wesson's mother-in-law, said he had also impregnated two of his nieces and had a prior relationship with his wife's mother.


Wesson met his wife, Elizabeth, when his family lived near hers in East San Jose during the 1960s, according to Elizabeth's sister, Rosemary Solorio. In a brief interview, she described her sister's husband as religious, loving and a good provider for his family. Relatives say Wesson is a Seventh-day Adventist. In a press release issued Sunday, the Adventist church said it had no record of Wesson being a member.


Others who knew him over the years said Wesson appeared to be struggling to support his extended family.


In the early 1990s, Wesson apparently lived at the Santa Cruz harbor with a handful of young children in a battered, 26-foot sailboat that had no toilet or bathing facilities. Veteran harbor worker Tim Morely said he never saw the children's mother, but he distinctly remembers the kids scavenging cans and bottles for recycling.


Though Wesson was known as something of a ``character,'' Morely said, he was ``pretty mellow and easygoing. He's not somebody I ever thought would do anything violent in any way.''

Wesson was often behind in paying his slip rental fee, however. And the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported that he was briefly jailed on a conviction for welfare fraud in 1990.

In the mid-1990s, sometime after Wesson and his family left the harbor, residents in a remote area of the Santa Cruz Mountains recall that Wesson, his wife and 14 children began living in a deeply secluded patch of woods.

Neighbors believe the family was squatting illegally on the property, living in a vehicle or a trailer of some kind, according to Jennifer Wuthers, whose house is about a mile down an unpaved road from the site.

It's not unusual for drifters and even fugitives to camp out in the area, Wuthers said, and no one felt the need to notify authorities. But she said the family was memorable because Elizabeth Wesson seemed extremely quiet and was apparently schooling the children at home.

A few years later, Wesson surfaced in Fresno, where he first approached Muna as an ``adviser'' to four women who ultimately purchased a historic but dilapidated house that Muna owned.

Though he initially found Wesson to be intelligent and well-spoken, Muna said, he became frustrated because the group fell behind on a promise to restore the house and neighbors complained that they were living on the property in a tool shed that lacked plumbing.

It was about a year ago that Wesson and several members of his family moved to another house in Fresno, on Hammond Street. Neighbors say there were several children. The boys were allowed to play outdoors, but the girls were kept inside.

Two weeks ago, one of the women who lived with Wesson came to neighbor Linda Morales' home and pleaded to use her phone. Morales said Wesson came over a short time later and yelled at the woman, telling her to come home with him. The woman stayed until dawn before returning home.

Then on Friday, neighbors say, a number of adults drove up to the house where Wesson lived. There was shouting, followed shortly after by gunshots.

A coroner's official told Fresno television station KFSM that all the victims appeared to have been shot, and that authorities are still investigating the possibility that one victim may have also fired shots

Statistically speaking, it would seem probable that the religions of the majority would have equally proportional majority of the crimes.

I think a Church like the Adventist church would have a higher percentage of wife/husband/etc kind of abuse?

WHY?

Typically, unless thinks have changed since I went to University a zillion years ago, that type of abuse in more in middle/upper class families. We are one of the highest, if not the highest, average educated Church there is. ou get A Church full of middle class people you are gonna get middle class problems.

However, I do not think this guy (Marcus Wesso) fits that profile.

Even so, come Lord Jesus come.

Good morning and may all of us enjoy the blessings that our Lord is pouring out on His today. And may we pray to be humble, and bold, and loving, and kind, and compassionate and in His will today.
At 7 am this morning, from a Cleveland, Ohio, NBC tv newscast, I heard the Wesson son declare that his father was a Seventh-day Adventist. And for the next few minutes heard how this fellow was a 'cult' member, and had this 'cult' like lifestyle. We have a talk-show program here where I live in Akron, Ohio called the talk of Akron, which reaches a population of 3 million. This whole thing is the juicy story of the day, with my church being bantied about like we are disciples of Satan.
I pray that our lives are in so fined tune with our Lord that our witness illuminates the light of heaven, and by this truth a great light shines through this darkness.

So as to appreciate His work on this planet..His experiences are to be our experiences...

He was the victim of prejudice, sterotyping, and misinformation....
"can anything good come out of Nazareth?"

Here is a question, that crosses my mind when things like this happen,

Should the adventist church step in and offer to do the funerals for the victims?

I think that should be left to whomever arranges for the victims' funerals. I think the church should do them if asked.

This kind of thing is totally out of my depth; I have no idea what would be the right thing for the church or its leaders to do in this kind of situation. I don't even know if we should stay "quiet" or give a response; get "involved" or keep out ... I can only pray God will give those who will make those decisions much wisdom, compassion and grace.

Stay quiet or get involved...

I guess simply by talking about this with our family and friends we are "getting involved."

I like what you wrote earlier about there being no such thing as bad press. It is an opportunity for us all to witness even more.

Yeah, well, that one came from the Lord! It's not too difficult to see the difference between His thoughts ... and my own ... !!

SOURCE http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/8190050.htm

Slaying suspect led nomadic life
FRESNO MAN, FAMILY MOVED AMONG SEVERAL LOCALES
By Crystal Carreon, Lisa Fernandez and Brandon Bailey
Mercury News

FRESNO - Mass murder suspect Marcus Wesson, the intimidating patriarch of a large and allegedly incestuous clan, lived an erratic, nomadic lifestyle on the fringes of society for more than 15 years.

While some family members defended Wesson as a loving father, others who encountered him over the years described him Sunday as controlling and stern. One neighbor said she heard Wesson lay down a chilling ultimatum on the afternoon that nine members of his extended family were found dead in his home.

``I'd rather kill them before I give them back to you,'' Linda Morales said she heard Wesson shout Friday, shortly before two women called police to say he was refusing to let them take their children from the house.

Wesson and his family had moved several times in recent years, from a small boat anchored at the Santa Cruz harbor, to a squatter's haven in the mountains outside Watsonville, before settling at the site of what Fresno police are calling the worst massacre in their city's history.

The scene inside that house, where bodies lay intertwined in a pile, was so ghastly that some of the first arriving officers have been placed on leave and given counseling, authorities said. Wesson, 57, is being held on suspicion of murder in the Fresno County Jail, with bail set at $9 million.

After announcing Saturday that Wesson had fathered two of the youngest victims by impregnating his own daughters, police had no more to say Sunday about what led to the killings.

But some acquaintances said Wesson's mental condition and physical appearance had begun to deteriorate in recent years.

``We would be talking about the roof,'' said Frank Muna, who sold a home to members of Wesson's family, ``and he would go off on a tangent about a social issue, like the system was bent against him.''

Muna also recalled complaints from neighbors that Wesson lived a polygamist lifestyle with four adult women, who dressed in black from head to toe and were always quiet in front of the older man.

``It was very clear that they were subservient to him,'' said Muna, who also came to believe that Wesson had a physically intimate relationship with the women. Wesson told Muna that two of the women were his nieces.

``They would walk behind him and look down,'' Muna added. ``Whatever he said, they would do. It was clear he was the one in control.''

Family members have denied allegations that Wesson committed incest. Police have said they are looking into the possibility of his having sexual relations with other family members in addition to his two daughters. Eliza Whitney, a longtime acquaintance and neighbor of Wesson's mother-in-law, said he had also impregnated two of his nieces and had a prior relationship with his wife's mother.

Wesson met his wife, Elizabeth, when his family lived near hers in East San Jose during the 1960s, according to Elizabeth's sister, Rosemary Solorio. In a brief interview, she described her sister's husband as religious, loving and a good provider for his family. Relatives say Wesson is a Seventh-day Adventist. In a press release issued Sunday, the Adventist church said it had no record of Wesson being a member.

Others who knew him over the years said Wesson appeared to be struggling to support his extended family.

In the early 1990s, Wesson apparently lived at the Santa Cruz harbor with a handful of young children in a battered, 26-foot sailboat that had no toilet or bathing facilities. Veteran harbor worker Tim Morely said he never saw the children's mother, but he distinctly remembers the kids scavenging cans and bottles for recycling.

Though Wesson was known as something of a ``character,'' Morely said, he was ``pretty mellow and easygoing. He's not somebody I ever thought would do anything violent in any way.''

Wesson was often behind in paying his slip rental fee, however. And the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported that he was briefly jailed on a conviction for welfare fraud in 1990.

In the mid-1990s, sometime after Wesson and his family left the harbor, residents in a remote area of the Santa Cruz Mountains recall that Wesson, his wife and 14 children began living in a deeply secluded patch of woods.

Neighbors believe the family was squatting illegally on the property, living in a vehicle or a trailer of some kind, according to Jennifer Wuthers, whose house is about a mile down an unpaved road from the site.

It's not unusual for drifters and even fugitives to camp out in the area, Wuthers said, and no one felt the need to notify authorities. But she said the family was memorable because Elizabeth Wesson seemed extremely quiet and was apparently schooling the children at home.


A few years later, Wesson surfaced in Fresno, where he first approached Muna as an ``adviser'' to four women who ultimately purchased a historic but dilapidated house that Muna owned.


Though he initially found Wesson to be intelligent and well-spoken, Muna said, he became frustrated because the group fell behind on a promise to restore the house and neighbors complained that they were living on the property in a tool shed that lacked plumbing.

It was about a year ago that Wesson and several members of his family moved to another house in Fresno, on Hammond Street. Neighbors say there were several children. The boys were allowed to play outdoors, but the girls were kept inside.

Two weeks ago, one of the women who lived with Wesson came to neighbor Linda Morales' home and pleaded to use her phone. Morales said Wesson came over a short time later and yelled at the woman, telling her to come home with him. The woman stayed until dawn before returning home.

Then on Friday, neighbors say, a number of adults drove up to the house where Wesson lived. There was shouting, followed shortly after by gunshots.

A coroner's official told Fresno television station KFSM that all the victims appeared to have been shot, and that authorities are still investigating the possibility that one victim may have also fired shots.

Paul Harvey, who was raised in an Adventist home, in his noon news program did not mention the Wesson case by name. But instead, he quoted from the sermon of Pastor Charles White of the Phoenix, Ar. church from last Sabbath's service about being like migrating geese. It was very positive and shed marvelous light on Adventists and their teachings. Good for him, good for all of us.

SOURCE http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D81B281G1

Six of Nine Fresno Victims Were Shot
By JULIANA BARBASSA Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press - 03/15/2004

FRESNO, Calif.

At least six of the nine family members discovered slain in a Fresno home over the Weekend had been shot to death, the coroner's office said Monday.

Investigators were still working to determine the cause of deaths of the three others. The victims were found tangled in a pile of clothes when police went to the home about a child custody dispute Friday.

Marcus Wesson, thought to be the father and grandfather of the victims, walked out of the home covered in blood and was booked on suspicion of nine counts of murder.

Police said Wesson, 57, may have been involved in polygamy and is thought to have fathered children with at least four women, including two of his own daughters.

Police said Wesson has cooperated with the investigation, but no motive had been determined.

Wesson's arraignment was scheduled for Wednesday, and bail was set at $9 million.

Authorities expected to complete the autopsies later Monday and release the names of the victims: a 24-year-old woman and eight children ranging in age from 1 to 17.

Coroner Loralee Cervantes told the Fresno Bee that police conducted tests to determine if there was gunshot residue on the hands of one of the victims, indicating Wesson may have had help with the shootings. Police Lt. Herman Silva said that checking for residue is standard practice.

Acquaintances said Wesson and his family appeared to live a nomadic, insular existence. The family moved several times in recent years, from a small boat anchored off Santa Cruz to the mountains outside Watsonville, before settling in Fresno.

In the early 1990s, Wesson lived with a few children on a battered, 26-foot sailboat that had no toilet or bathing facilities.


During that time, he was jailed briefly after being convicted of welfare fraud, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported. Wesson failed to list his boat as an asset on welfare forms. He also was frequently delinquent with his slip fees, the newspaper said.

Others acquaintances said Wesson appeared with women and children who seemed to be under his control. Frank Muna, a lawyer who once sold the murder suspect a house, said the women wore dark robes and scarves, walked behind Wesson and did not speak when he was present.

The children were home-schooled because Wesson did not trust public education, his sons said, and Wesson, who did not work, was supported by the women.

His sons, Dorian, 29, who lives in Santa Cruz, and Serafino, 19, who lived at the Fresno house, could not say whether he was married or how many children he has fathered, the Fresno Bee reported. They said the family belonged to the Seventh-day Adventist church.


Associated Press Writers Brian Melley and Brian Skoloff contributed to this report.

For me..it is always on a case by case basis.

I have had people think I was a Mormon or Jehovah Witness..
There are all different levels of personal knowledge out there.
In case a family member asks...I will respond depending on the words and tone of the question.

As far as the knee jerk emotion/reaction..to the news that Wesson was SDA...it was sort of like when a Marine heard that Lee Harvey Oswald was a former Marine...

SOURCE http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/8193849.htm

Coroner: All 9 Fresno victims were shot

By JULIANA BARBASSA

Associated Press

FRESNO, Calif. - All nine family members discovered slain in a Fresno home over the weekend had been shot to death, the coroner's office said Monday.


Investigators were still working to determine the relationships among the victims, who were found tangled in a pile of clothes when police went to the home about a child custody dispute Friday.


Marcus Wesson, thought to be the father and grandfather of the victims, walked out of the home covered in blood and was booked on suspicion of nine counts of murder.


Police said Wesson, 57, may have been involved in polygamy and is thought to have fathered children with at least four women, including two of his own daughters.


Police said Wesson has cooperated with the investigation, but no motive had been determined.


Wesson's arraignment was scheduled for Wednesday; bail was set at $9 million.


Authorities expected to release the names of the victims later: a 24-year-old woman and eight children ranging in age from 1 to 17.


Coroner Loralee Cervantes told the Fresno Bee that police conducted tests to determine if there was gunshot residue on the hands of one of the victims, indicating Wesson may have had help with the shootings. Police Lt. Herman Silva said checking for residue is standard practice.


The victims, who had six different mothers, showed no signs of physical or sexual abuse, Cervantes said Monday.


Acquaintances said Wesson and his family appeared to live a nomadic, insular existence. The family moved several times in recent years, from a small boat anchored off Santa Cruz to the mountains outside Watsonville, before settling in Fresno.


In the early 1990s, Wesson lived with a few children on a battered, 26-foot sailboat that had no toilet or bathing facilities.


During that time, he was jailed briefly after being convicted of welfare fraud, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported. Wesson failed to list his boat as an asset on welfare forms. He also was frequently delinquent with his slip fees, the newspaper said.


Other acquaintances said Wesson appeared with women and children who seemed to be under his control. Frank Muna, a lawyer who once sold the murder suspect a house, said the women wore dark robes and scarves, walked behind Wesson and did not speak when he was present.


Muna said Monday police interviewing him said Wesson killed his children because he didn't want them taken away from him.


"He really thinks what he did was right," Muna said.


Silva, the police spokesman, refused to confirm Muna's account, saying only, "We're looking at every possible motive and not dismissing anything."


The children were home-schooled because Wesson did not trust public education, his sons said, and Wesson, who did not work, was supported by the women.


Police Chief Jerry Dyer said investigators will likely need DNA testing to determine the biological parents of all the victims. "We're in the very early stages of a very complex investigation," he said.


Wesson's sons, Dorian, 29, who lives in Santa Cruz, and Serafino, 19, who lived at the Fresno house, could not say whether he was married or how many children he has fathered, the Fresno Bee reported. They said the family belonged to the Seventh-day Adventist church. A church spokeswoman said Monday there's no record of Wesson's membership.


(Associated Press Writers Brian Melley and Brian Skoloff contributed to this report.)

I could not click on your link. I clicked it, but it did not work. I then noticed that the whole web address was not part of the link. I had to manually type in ,2933,114154,00.html

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,114154,00.html

I pasted it here to see if it works. Maybe the problem is with my computer but just in case it isn't I posted this message.

FoxNews does someting different, they use commas, never seen that done before and it switches you back to the main page.

here it is

SOURCE http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fresno19mar19,1,3161849.story?coll=la-home-local

CALIFORNIA
Family Tries to Fathom Killings in Fresno


FRESNO CA
MASS MURDERS
POLYGAMY
CALIFORNIA
FRESNO CA MASS MURDERS FAMILIES POLYGAMY
FAMILIES

By Mark Arax, Times Staff Writer


FRESNO — The man accused of killing nine of his children and grandchildren in a mass murder involving polygamy and incest grew up in a sheltered world shaped by two hard-working parents and the strict ways of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

People searching for clues to Marcus Wesson's alleged crimes need not look at his childhood, his elderly mother said Thursday.

"The Marcus Wesson on TV I don't recognize. That's not my son," Carrie Wesson told The Times from her home in Washington state. "The Marcus Wesson I raised was a brilliant, loving, God-fearing child."

One week after the worst mass murder in Fresno's history, as the image of the stout man with a face full of bushy hair and dreadlocks to his knees found its way across the globe, members of his family tried to fathom what forces might have pushed him over the edge.

His mother said he had called her two days before last Friday's killings to inquire about his father, who is fighting cancer. He sounded upbeat, she recalled, saying he was hard at work converting another school bus into a gleaming motor home so his younger children could see the country.

"He was so concerned about his father. He ended every conversation with 'I love you, Dad. I love you, Mom.' He never forgot our birthdays. Never forgot Mother's Day. And he felt the same way about those kids.

"To make him do this, there must have been some big trauma. Something that pushed him over," she said. "My son was not an animal. My son was loved."

Relatives said they remained baffled over a possible motive. Wesson never told them he felt cornered, that he was facing eviction from yet another house or that the estranged mothers of his young children were demanding custody.

"If Marcus is guilty, I would really feel disappointed in my country if it didn't make him face the penalty," his mother said. "But I'm a biblical person too, and I don't believe in capital punishment.

"What I would like for Marcus to do is sit in prison and think about what he's done and read the Bible. I think he will come back. Spiritually he will come back. Because I want to see my son in heaven someday," she said, sobbing.

Members of his family recalled the boy born in Kansas who could put together intricate puzzles that confounded adults, who constructed go-carts and electric cars out of parts picked up at flea markets and passed on this love of building to his children.

"My dad wanted his children to make something out of nothing," said his oldest son, Dorian Wesson, 29. "If I wanted a toy, he'd buy the wood and supplies and tell me to use my imagination and create what I wanted.

"He didn't trust the outside world. Public schools, kids taking drugs, gangbanging, computers and TV. That was considered corrupt. He wanted something better for us. I grew up feeling free."

Marcus Wesson lived an odd life, they acknowledged, fathering two sets of children — 16 altogether — in different parts of California. There was Dorian and an older group of sons and daughters who ranged in age from 17 to 29 and were raised by one mother. They grew up following their father as he moved from one renovation project to another, houses in San Jose, Santa Cruz and Fresno and boats in Marin County.

And there was a second group of children ages 8 and younger who were born to different mothers and lived with Wesson in a small house in a working-class neighborhood of central Fresno. Those children are now all dead.

His mother and oldest son said they were never aware that Wesson had a sexual relationship with two of his own daughters and that two of the deceased children were products of incest.

"I thought it was strange that my sisters had these babies and they never said who the fathers were," Dorian Wesson recalled. "They told me the kids came from artificial insemination, and I believed them."

As perverse as the family dynamic became, they said, Wesson held on to some of the core values he grew up with. He loved his children and tried to safeguard them from the more negatives aspects of American culture. Despite media speculation, they said, he