28 Facts About David Koresh

David Koresh was an American cult leader who played a central role in the Waco siege of 1993.

David Koresh was born Vernon Wayne Howell on August 17,1959, in Houston, Texas, to a 14-year-old single mother, Bonnie Sue Clark, and 20-year-old father Bobby Wayne Howell.

In 1963, David Koresh's mother left with her boyfriend and placed her four-year-old son in the care of his maternal grandmother, Earline Clark.

David Koresh's mother returned when he was seven, after her marriage to a carpenter named Roy Haldeman.

David Koresh dropped out of Garland High School in his junior year.

David Koresh claimed to have become a born-again Christian in the Southern Baptist Church and soon joined his mother's denomination, the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

In 1981, when he was 22, Koresh moved to Waco, Texas, where he joined the Branch Davidians.

David Koresh played guitar and sang in church services at the Mount Carmel Center, the sect's headquarters outside Waco.

David Koresh eventually began to claim that God had chosen him to father a child by Lois, who would be the Chosen One.

In 1983, Lois allowed David Koresh to begin teaching his own message, called "The Serpent's Root", which caused controversy in the group.

When David Koresh announced that God had instructed him to marry Rachel Jones, a period of calm ensued at the Mount Carmel Center, but it proved only temporary.

David Koresh said the prophecies of Daniel would be fulfilled in Waco and that the Mount Carmel Center was the Davidic kingdom.

Roden said he was just moving the cemetery, while David Koresh claimed that Roden had issued a challenge to resurrect the body.

David Koresh went to authorities to file charges against Roden for illegally exhuming a corpse, but was told he would have to show proof.

David Koresh seized the opportunity to seek criminal prosecution of Roden by returning to the Mount Carmel Center with seven armed followers, allegedly attempting to get photographic proof of the exhumation.

David Koresh's group was discovered by Roden, and a gunfight broke out.

At the trial, David Koresh explained that he went to the Mount Carmel Center to uncover evidence of criminal disturbance of a corpse by Roden.

David Koresh's followers were acquitted, and in David Koresh's case, a mistrial was declared.

Roden claimed the man was sent by David Koresh to kill him.

David Koresh was judged insane and confined to a psychiatric hospital at Big Spring, Texas.

David Koresh is the Biblical name of Cyrus the Great, a Persian king who is named a messiah for freeing Jews during the Babylonian captivity.

In one widely reported incident, ex-members claimed that David Koresh became irritated with the cries of his son Cyrus and spanked the child severely for several minutes on three consecutive visits to the child's bedroom.

Finally, the FBI's justification for forcing an end to the 51-day stand-off was predicated on the charge that David Koresh was abusing children inside the Mount Carmel Center.

David Koresh claimed that Koresh had fathered at least 15 children with various women and girls, and that she had personally delivered seven of these infants.

On March 3,1993, during negotiations to secure the release of the remaining children, David Koresh advised hostage negotiators that: "My children are different than those others," referring to his direct lineage versus those children whom he had previously released.

David Koresh is buried at Memorial Park Cemetery, Tyler, Texas, in the "Last Supper" section.

David Koresh is portrayed by Taylor Kitsch in the 2018 miniseries Waco.

David Koresh was one of the sources of inspiration used to create the fictional cult leader Joseph Seed in the 2018 action-adventure video game Far Cry 5.