Wesson convicted of murdering nine children

[XemaSab]

The patriarch of a family whom authorities called an incestuous polygamist was convicted in Fresno today of slaughtering nine of his children during a police standoff last year.

Jurors in Fresno County Superior Court found Marcus Wesson guilty of nine counts of murder and 14 counts of molesting and raping seven of his underage nieces and daughters. He faces the possibility of the death penalty.

Wesson had such control over his family, prosecutors said, that some of the young women he fathered still defend him. His daughter Kiani Wesson testified that there was nothing wrong with sexual contact between a father and daughter, and she defended Wesson even though her children were killed in the standoff.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/06/17/MNwesson17.DTL

[maddezmom]

1. link?

:)

[XemaSab]

3. Oops.

Done.

[applegrove]

2. I thought you meant the corporations. Yes - perhaps testing will

find freaks such as this before they abuse. You can always hope!

[Up2Late]

20. Look for the the Wesson Oil Company to file suite on Monday

for that headline. Way to go SFGate. :evilgrin:

[Shallah Kali]

4. An article on yahoo

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050617/ap_on_re_us/fresno_murders_7

Those poor brainwashed tortured children.

[KarenS]

5. Usually, I oppose the Death Penalty, however,

this guy falls into the "exception" category for me.

[jaysunb]

6. Please reconsider...

this guy falls into the category of " criminally insane . "
He should be removed from society, even at this late date, but to kill him only diminishes each of us who permitted his insanity to grow and cause the things he's accused of.

Please don't compromise your principles.

[anotherdrew]

9. honestly, life in prison seems worse to me

specify he get very limited visitation and NO conjugal visits

[MaineDem]

7. BBC article: US father murdered nine children

A US court has convicted a man who ran his family like a cult of killing nine of his children, many of whom he had fathered through incest.

Marcus Wesson, a 58-year-old religious zealot, could face the death penalty.

He was arrested last year after police found nine bodies with identical bullet wounds at his home - a massacre that shocked the Californian town of Fresno.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4106038.stm

[BrendaStarr]

8. Considered himself a preacher

Just picking out one of the facts in the report.

My group has been following reports of sins of pastors for the last couple of months

The number of sex crimes by Protestant Pastors would amaze you.

I suppose incest with a consenting adult isn't a crime.

Fresno is a very right wing Religious area.

(Rush Limbaugh worked in Fresno for a while IIRC, and many of the people at Free Republic come from the area.)

In 1980, I know from seeing them, the KKK held marches there(in their robes and with their weapons at their sides). I don't know if that still goes on.

[anarchy1999]

10. I just got ill and my heart skipped several beats. Oh my God. Way too

familiar manipulation over a child. Damn, just damned it all!!

[Algorem]

11. His neighbors say they thought he seemed a little oily but didn't suspect

anything like this.

[Up2Late]

12. US father (convicted) murdered nine children BBC News

(And he looks like such a Normal Guy?):sarcasm:

Saturday, 18 June, 2005, 02:49 GMT 03:49 UK

US father murdered nine children

A US court has convicted a man of killing nine of his children, many of whom he had fathered through incest.

Marcus Wesson, a 58-year-old religious zealot who ran his family like a cult, could face the death penalty. He was arrested last year after police found nine bodies with identical bullet wounds at his home - a massacre that shocked the Californian town of Fresno.

Wesson's lawyers had argued that eight of the victims were shot dead by his daughter, who then killed herself. The victims ages ranged from one to 25 years old. The jury took two weeks to convict Wesson on all nine counts of murder. It also found him guilty of 14 counts of raping and molesting seven of his daughters and nieces.

Distressed police

Mr Wesson fathered children with at least four women, two of whom were his own daughters. His trial heard how he exercised a tyrannical control over his family, forbidding the women from contact with the outside world and presenting himself as a divinely-inspired preacher. He told his family they needed to have "babies for the Lord".

The shoot-out appeared to have been sparked when two women to whom Mr Wesson had once been married went to his house to collect the children, but he refused to allow them access. It took investigators hours to establish the exact number of dead because the bodies were piled up and entangled in a pile of clothing.

[Nomad559]

13. I live about a mile

away from where the murders happened.

News Video of the Wesson Murders

[Up2Late]

15. Glad he's in Prison, he's one twisted individual. n/t

[Crunchy Frog]

14. But he's a man of GOD!!!

How can they persecute him just for following his religion?:puke:

[Up2Late]

16. I'm sure he and Charley Manson will have a lot to talk about.

:evilgrin:

[Crunchy Frog]

18. Hope so.

They look like the sort that would get along well together.:evilgrin:

I'm just waiting for Focus on the Family to start standing up for his freedom to practice his religion as he sees fit. God was talking to him after all.

[izzie]

17. I am so glad I missed reading about this 'thing'

They will love him in prison.

[mdelaguna2000]

19. I was thinking the same thing - he's toast in prison. n/t