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Jeff Miller
Fleet Admiral
Joined: 22 Nov 2001
Posts: 23947
Location: Mental Ward for the Mentaly Unstable 6th floor, Saint John's 1615 Delaware Longview Washington 98632
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 Mon Mar 15, 2004 12:15 pm Mass Killing in Calif. Puzzles Officials |
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| Quote: | FRESNO, Calif. (AP) -- A makeshift memorial of stuffed animals, balloons and flowers grew on the sidewalk in front of a home where a man is accused of killing nine of his family members, some that police said may have been the product of incest with his own daughters.
Six coroners, triple the typical weekend staff, worked in shifts Sunday to identify the nine people who authorities believe were shot to death by Marcus Wesson. It is the largest mass killing ever in Fresno, a city of 440,000 people about 190 miles southeast of San Francisco.
Wesson, 57, emerged blood-covered from his home Friday night after police were called there because of a child custody dispute. In a back room, police found a tangle of bodies and clothing, a sight so gruesome it reduced some veteran officers to tears.
Police needed hours to sort through the bodies, but eventually determined there were six females and three males ranging in age from 1 to 24. Authorities say they were probably all Wesson's children and grandchildren.
Wesson was jailed on nine murder charges, and bail was set at $9 million. Coroner's officials said the victims' names might be made public Monday.
"It's just very complicated," Deputy Fresno County Coroner Amy Hance said Sunday. "Who do you make notification to if eventually some of the victims are other victims' relatives?"
Coroner Loralee Cervantes told The Fresno Bee that each of the victims was shot at least once, and that six autopsies conducted so far found that a gunshot was the fatal wound. The remaining autopsies were expected to be completed Monday.
She said police are investigating whether Wesson had help in committing the killings, perhaps even by one of the victims. Police conducted tests to determine if there was gunshot residue on the hands of one of the victims.
She also said there was no sign the victims tried to struggle or escape.
Police Chief Jerry Dyer said police are trying to explore all possibilities.
"In all of our dealings with him, he's been very articulate," Dyer told "Good Morning America." Asked if Wesson had confessed, he said, "He has been cooperative and we're continuing with the investigation."
A memorial swelled in front of the single-story house over the weekend. A steady flow of people came by with more cards and teddy bears. A bouquet of flowers had a card that read: "A community that cared."
After their initial investigation officers left the house and removed the police tape, but Sunday they once again cordoned off the home's perimeter, and later carried away several boxes of material.
Dyer said authorities had yet to determine a motive for the killings, but Dyer and others described bizarre aspects to Wesson's life and family.
Police said Wesson had fathered children with at least four women, two of them his own daughters, and Dyer said authorities were investigating the possibility of the suspect's involvement with other women in a polygamous relationship.
Frank Muna, a lawyer who once sold Wesson a house, said Wesson had lived with five women and "the neighbors felt there was some weird kind of polygamy commune thing going on." The women seemed to be under Wesson's control, walking behind him and not speaking when he was present, Muna said.
Antique store owner Lois Dugovic, who sold Wesson several hand-carved mahogany coffins about five years ago, said he seemed to hold unusual sway over his daughters, who sometimes came with him on his monthly visits to the store. Though clean and well-dressed, the girls were quiet and avoided eye contact, leading Dugovic to think their father had tight control over them.
Police found 12 wooden coffins in Wesson's house. Dugovic said he told her he planned to use the wood to repair a houseboat.
Authorities told the Bee that each of the victims was shot in the same place on the body, although they would not say where.
"When you have a number of victims and the pattern in which they were killed is consistent, it becomes more unusual," Cervantes said. The grisly discovery stunned not only police and residents, but also Wesson's 29-year-old son, Dorian.
"I don't want to believe it," said Dorian Wesson, adding that he hadn't seen his father in about a year. "I want to give him the benefit of the doubt. But they're all dead." |
Makes you wonder about your neighbors huh?
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Leo Wyatt
Sweetest Angel
Joined: 25 Feb 2004
Posts: 19045
Location: Investigating A Crime Scene. What did Quark do this time?
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| Mon Mar 15, 2004 12:51 pm |
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Yes it does makes you wonder. Good God! This world has gone from bad to worse. Got some freaks out there.
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