David Koresh

American religious fanatic and psychopath. He was a high school dropout and rock musician before becoming the polygamist preacher of the Davidian Sect. He built his church on a simple message: "If the Bible is true, then I'm Christ."

The son of a single mother, Vernon Howell grew up in the Dallas area, an indifferent student but an avid Bible reader who prayed for hours and memorized Scriptures. A member of the Seventh-day Adventists Church, he became an avid follower of an off-shoot of the church, the Davidians, a congregation headed by George Roden. Howell joined them in 1984 and defeated Roden in a power-struggle, becoming the undisputed leader and completing a transformation of the group from congregation to cult. In 1990 he changed his name legally to Koresh. His apocalyptic theology converged with secular survivalist, with its programs for hunkering down amid stockpiles of food and ammo to endure a nuclear holocaust or social collapse. Under his direction, the Sect of more than a hundred followers built an armed fortress near Waco, Texas in which to wait for the end of the world.

The Waco settlement, over 78 acres of scrub pasture and woods, was consolidated into a compact fort the size of a city block. His followers were schooled in war drills, living on a strict vegetarian diet, with TV and festivities forbidden. Men and women lived separately in celibacy. The rules did not apply to Koresh himself, who had TV, beer, meat and air conditioning - plus the women of the compound. Two of the kids in the compound, perhaps more, were fathered by Koresh, and he had a sexual preference for young girls, some as young as 11 or 12.

By 1991, he had established an outside residence in La Verne, California where he had 18 "wives" housed, including one who was age 12.

Federal and state cops were aware that he was stockpiling weapons and laid plans for a raid of the compound. The stalemate began on 28 February 1993 at 9:30 AM.