16 Facts About George Roden

George Buchanan Roden was an American leader of the Branch Davidian sect, a Seventh-day Adventist splinter group.

George Roden was later confined in a Texas mental hospital for a 1989 murder until his own death in 1998.

George Roden was the presumed successor to his mother Lois Roden, who had become president of the Branch Davidians in 1978, when her husband and group leader Benjamin Roden had died.

George Roden felt that his position of leadership was threatened and was deeply offended by Koresh's relationship with his mother.

George Roden said Koresh started the fire, but Koresh replied that "no man set that fire" and that it was a judgment of God.

George Roden, claiming to have the support of the majority of the cult, forced Koresh and his group off the property at gunpoint.

George Roden told the press he had exhumed a body only because he had been moving the community cemetery.

George Roden fled the property with wounds to his hand and chest.

In March 1988, George Roden was put in jail for a total of nine months under contempt of court charges, first because of his use of foul language in court pleadings, and then for living on the property after being ordered to neither live on the property nor call himself the leader of the religious group in a 1979 case.

In October 1989, George Roden killed Wayman Dale Adair in Odessa, Texas by shooting him; Adair was struck on the head with a hatchet.

However, Marc Breault describes Adair as just a person who came to George Roden's home to share a divine revelation that he, Adair, was a messiah.

On September 30,1993, George Roden walked away from the Big Spring State Hospital and went missing for four days.

George Roden was captured in Abilene, Texas, and returned to Big Spring State Hospital by the Taylor County sheriff's department.

At the time, George Roden's son was allegedly living in Israel and George Roden's father is described as having Jewish roots.

George Roden, who claimed to be Jewish, said hitmen trained by the Palestine Liberation Organization were trying to kill him.

On December 8,1998, George Roden again escaped and was found dead of a heart attack on the grounds of Big Spring State Hospital, where he was confined at the time.