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9 Dead, 10 Coffins Found in Fresno Home
BRIAN SKOLOFF
Associated Press March 13
FRESNO, Calif. - Police discovered nine bodies intertwined in a pile of clothes at a Fresno home and 10 coffins stacked along a wall, and were trying to determine if some ritual was involved in the slaughter.
A 57-year-old man surrendered to police after walking out of the house covered in what appeared to be blood.
The victims were seven children ranging in age from 1 to 8, a 20-year-old woman and a 17-year-old girl. All were thought to be the children of Marcus Wesson, whom police handcuffed following a brief standoff.
Authorities said Saturday that Wesson had been arrested on suspicion of killing the victims, but wouldn't comment until an afternoon news conference on what charges prosecutors might file.
The grim scene caused even veteran officers to weep.
Police Chief Jerry Dyer wiped tears from his eyes as officers carried the bodies from the home, cradling the youngest ones in their arms.
"I've been with the Fresno Police Department for 25 years, and I've never experienced anything of this nature," he said.
Dyer said the victims probably were Wesson's children. "There may have been some type of ritual involved," he said.
Officers were originally called to the scene Friday afternoon for a child custody dispute.
Ten coffins lined a wall inside the home's front room. The bodies were so entangled in a pile of clothing that it took hours for investigators to reach a final count, police said.
The police chief declined to say how the victims died, but the scene was so gruesome some of the first officers into the house were placed on administrative leave and were being counseled Friday night.
Six police chaplains were at the house throughout the evening as detectives continued to gather evidence.
Officers were called to the home Friday afternoon by two women who said a man had their children and would not release them.
The man initially ignored orders to come out, running into a back bedroom as two other women fled the house. They were unharmed.
Police believe the suspect fathered the victims with the four women. They did not identify the women or the victims.
A neighbor, Chris Tognazzini, said he heard two gunshots moments before police arrived.
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.
The slayings shocked authorities in Fresno, a city of 440,000 about 190 miles southeast of San Francisco. Dyer said the city had seen three murders in the last 2 1/2 months, the fewest number for a 10-week period in more than three decades.
The nine deaths represent the largest mass killing in this San Joaquin Valley city since 1993, when seven people were killed in rural Fresno.
"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."
Wesson had a strong influence on his sons, said Florian Tan, who in 2001 took over the martial arts school where three of the sons attended classes.
Each boy had to earn a black belt in aikido in order to leave home when he reached manhood, Tan said.
"They said they had to go through his program," which included martial arts training, Tan said. He added that two of the sons, now in their twenties, earned black belts and a teenage boy is still enrolled at the school.
Neighbors who milled around outside said they knew little about Wesson or the house where a large yellow bus was 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."
Another neighbor, Johnny Rios, said that on many nights he heard loud banging coming from the house, as though the people inside were building something.
"There was something up over there," Rios said.
Posted on Sun, Mar. 14, 2004
Man accused of killing nine may have fathered grandkids
By David E. Early and Rodney Foo
SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS
FRESNO - The gruesome scene inside a Fresno building that had been converted into a family home was so horrific that a police official, hardened by nearly three decades of work, was shaken to tears.
"I've been with the Fresno Police Department for 25 years, and I've never experienced anything of this nature," said Chief Jerry Dyer, wiping his eyes while recalling a nightmarish bedroom where stacked corpses, mostly of children, were snared in a mass of clothing.
Charged with responsibility for the worst mass slaying in the city's history was Marcus Wesson, 57. Initially investigators estimated seven bodies, but after hours of untangling the horror, it turned out to be two females, ages 24 and 17, and seven children from ages 1 to 8.
The primary question that authorities could not answer: Was there something that the first officers on the scene could have done to prevent the apparent mass killing?
"We don't know if the deaths occurred before the officers arrived or after the officers arrived," said Dyer, obviously frustrated by the confusion hanging over the incident.
The question results from reports that police were called to a family disturbance shortly after 2 p.m. and were met by two women who said their four children were being held inside by Wesson. The police knocked and spoke with Wesson, who then returned to the house and barricaded himself in a bedroom.
At least one neighbor told the Associated Press he heard two gunshots moments before police arrived, but the officers on the scene didn't hear anything.
The two women warned officers Wesson had weapons, so not wanting to "inflame" a situation where children were at risk, the officers called for a SWAT team and hostage negotiators who came immediately and set up outside the house. An hour passed and suddenly Wesson calmly walked out and surrendered.
This time, unlike the first time officers saw him, Wesson was covered in blood. Inside police found the nine bodies and another oddity: 10 caskets stacked along a wall.
When asked how the victims were killed, the chief would only say, "the cause of death is unique and consistent." Past 10 p.m. Friday, bodies were still being removed. Robert Hensel, Fresno's chief deputy coroner, said his office was having trouble identifying some of the victims "because some of them are so young, we have no fingerprints." He said confirmed identities probably won't be available until Monday.
Authorities said several Fresno-area funeral homes have offered their services free of charge.
Dyer said the investigation was in too early a stage to determine what happened in the house, when it happened and what role the two original officers on the scene could have played in the outcome.
The chief said early indications are that Wesson carried on a maze of complex and unorthodox physical relationships with his family. Dyer said Wesson may have fathered two grandchildren with his daughters -- two of the 1-year-old victims. Police intend to perform myriad DNA tests to clarify such questions, and they will interrogate 10 to 12 relatives and others who might have been at the house before police were summoned. As for the caskets, Dyer said they didn't seem to play any role in the incident and that the officers, whose names were not released, have been put under the care of a police chaplain and psychologist.
Meanwhile, Wesson is expected to be charged with nine counts of first-degree murder. Dyer said that in one night Fresno's homicide rate quadrupled from three to 12.
"We have not ruled out any other suspects in this case," the chief said. "We haven't determined if this is a cult, a sect or a different belief system."
According to neighbors, Wesson lived at 761 Hammond Ave. for about eight months. He was described as aloof, tall and bulky. He wore thick cords of graying dreadlocks so long they dangled below his waist.
"He's a type who could see right through your skin, your body, clothes," said a shaken neighbor, Barbara Alec, 61, about Wesson, who has lived in Fresno, police say, for about three years. Alec said Wesson and his large family, at least twice a week, would burn items in the yard behind the home that would produce an indescribable stench.
"What are they burning?" she wondered all those days.
But on Friday night, she knew exactly why she felt so upset.
"Now I'm very scared," she said. "It's very spooky and weird knowing it was right at my back yard."
Dyer described Wesson as "intelligent, very articulate, very well-spoken." He said Wesson, who has no visible source of income, was calm and cooperative during questioning. The four adult women who live in the house were all employed and gave their money to Wesson to manage. The chief would not comment on what jobs the women held.
Records indicate Wesson was married in 1974 in Santa Clara County. His bride, Elizabeth Solorio, was 15 years old at the time. Wesson lived in East San Jose in the mid-1990s. Neighbors indicated that the house was a Victory Outreach drug and alcohol recovery facility around the same time.
Marcus and Elizabeth Wesson at one point also lived in Watsonville, according to records.
Parked close to the front door of the Wesson home in Fresno is a school bus that had its rear ceiling cut away to resemble a porch.
Neighbors said Wesson and his common-law wife and their two young adult daughters often could be heard at 1 or 2 a.m. drilling, hammering and sawing as they added chrome striping to the bus. The women were always seen wearing large black blouses, long black dresses or loose-fitting slacks.
"He never said 'Hi,'" said Linda Morales, another neighbor. "I'd drive by and he'd make a point to turn his face."
Same Story as Above -- Dated March 14 but saved several days later
Fresno massacre's grisly puzzle
EX-S.J. RESIDENT HELD IN DEATHS FATHERED ALL NINE VICTIMS
By David E. Early and Rodney Foo
Mercury News
FRESNO - Marcus Wesson, the Fresno man and former San Jose resident who allegedly slaughtered nine people, including seven children, fathered all of the victims, two of them perhaps with two of his daughters.
Police on Saturday were furiously trying to unravel what appears to be a maze of incest and polygamy. Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said two 1-year-old victims may be Wesson's sons -- and grandsons.
Myriad DNA tests are planned, and police intend to interrogate 10 to 12 relatives and others who might have been at the Fresno house where stacked corpses, mostly children, were found Friday snared in a mass of clothing.
Investigators say the victims are two females ages 24 and 17 and seven children from ages 1 to 8. And charged with responsibility for the worst mass slaying in the city's history is 57-year-old Wesson.
The primary question that authorities could not answer: Was there something that the first officers on the scene could have done to prevent the killings?
``We don't know if the deaths occurred before the officers arrived or after,'' said Dyer, frustrated by the confusion hanging over the incident.
The question results from reports that police were called to a family disturbance shortly after 2 p.m. and were met by two women who said their four children were being held inside by Wesson. The police knocked and spoke with Wesson, who then returned to the house and barricaded himself in a bedroom.
At least one neighbor told the Associated Press he heard two gunshots moments before police arrived, but the officers on the scene didn't hear anything.
Waited for SWAT team
The two women warned officers Wesson had weapons, so not wanting to ``inflame'' a situation where children were at risk, the officers called for a SWAT team and hostage negotiators who came immediately and set up outside the house. An hour passed and suddenly Wesson calmly walked out and surrendered.
This time, unlike the first time officers saw him, Wesson was covered in blood. Inside police found the nine bodies and another oddity: 10 caskets stacked along a wall.
When asked how the victims were killed, Dyer would only say, ``the cause of death is unique and consistent.'' Past 10 p.m. Friday, bodies were still being removed. Robert Hensel, Fresno's chief deputy coroner, said his office was having trouble identifying some of the victims ``because some of them are so young, we have no fingerprints.'' He said confirmed identities probably won't be available until Monday.
One of Wesson's sons said he didn't believe his father was responsible for the killings.
``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 Adventists and writes books, too.''
Authorities said several Fresno-area mortuaries have offered their services free of charge.
Dyer said the investigation was in too early a stage to determine what happened in the house, when it happened and what role the two original officers on the scene could have played in the outcome.
Dyer said the caskets didn't seem to play any role in the incident and that the officers, whose names were not released, are under the care of a police chaplain and psychologist.
Wesson, who is being held at the Fresno County Jail, is expected to be charged with nine counts of first-degree murder. Dyer said that in one night Fresno's homicide rate quadrupled from three to 12.
``We have not ruled out any other suspects in this case,'' the chief said. ``We haven't determined if this is a cult, a sect or a different belief system.''
`Right through your skin'
According to neighbors, Wesson lived at 761 Hammond Ave. for about eight months. He was described as aloof, tall and bulky. He wore thick cords of graying dreadlocks so long they dangled below his waist.
``He's a type who could see right through your skin, your body, clothes,'' said a shaken neighbor, Barbara Alec, 61, about Wesson, who has lived in Fresno, police say, for about three years. Alec said Wesson and his large family, at least twice a week, would burn items in the yard behind the home that would produce an indescribable stench.
``What are they burning?'' she wondered all those days. But Friday night, she knew exactly why she felt so upset. ``Now I'm very scared,'' she said. ``It's very spooky and weird knowing it was right at my back yard.''
Dyer described Wesson as ``intelligent, very articulate, very well-spoken.'' He said Wesson, who has no visible source of income, was calm and cooperative during questioning. The four adult women living in the house were employed and gave their money to Wesson to manage. The chief would not comment on their jobs.
Records indicate Wesson, three days from his 28th birthday, was married in 1974 in Santa Clara County. His bride, Elizabeth Solorio, was 15 years old at the time. Wesson lived in East San Jose in the mid-1990s. Neighbors indicated that the house was a Victory Outreach drug and alcohol recovery facility around the same time.
Marcus and Elizabeth Wesson at one point also lived in Watsonville, according to records.
Parked close to the front door of the Wesson home in Fresno is a school bus that had its rear ceiling cut away to resemble a porch.
Neighbors said Wesson and his common-law wife and their two young adult daughters often could be heard at 1 or 2 a.m. drilling, hammering and sawing as they added chrome striping to the bus. The women were always seen wearing large black blouses, long black dresses or loose-fitting slacks.