In a very bizarre story, incestuous polygamist Marcus Wesson was sentenced to death by a California jury for his role in the death of his nine children. He was also convicted of 14 counts of forcible rape, oral copulation and continuous sexual abuse of his daughters and nieces.
Wesson has been described as a “controlling patriarch” who twisted Biblical scripture to justify polygamy and conceived seven children though daughters and nieces “for the Lord.” Wesson taught his family that he was Jesus Christ, a twisted theology that included vampire admiration.
All of his 16 of his children were home schooled to protect them from a world full of sin and danger. Sadly, though, it was his own home that was dangerous, as the clan/cult leader used sexual and physical abuse to control his family, and used a twisted religious ideology for support.
Nine of his children were conceived with his original wife. He fathered the other seven children by his eldest daughters and nieces. Molestations often began as early as eight-years old, the prosecution stated, and led to sexual intercourse a short time later, even with grand daughters.
A custody dispute involving two of Wesson’s nieces, whom he had “married” in informal ceremonies at home, led to an 80-minute standoff with police on March 12, 2004. At the end of the horrific ordeal, Wesson, a Vietnam vet and former Army medic, emerged from his home covered in blood.
Police discovered nine of Wesson’s children dead, stacked from youngest to oldest in a back room. The victims, ages 1 to 25, had all been shot in the right eye.
It was later argued that it was most likely Wesson’s 25-year-old daughter, Sebhrenah Wesson, who actually killed the children and then herself last in a murder-suicide pact. Marcus Wesson’s fingerprints and DNA were not found on the murder weapon, nor was gun residue found on his hand. Fingerprints and DNA from Sebhrenah were found on the weapon as well as gun residue on her hand. DNA tests confirmed that all nine children belonged to Marcus.
Trial testimony revealed that Sebhrenah had a fascination with weapons and carried gun cartages and knives in her purse.
Though the prosecution could not produce evidence in the three-month trial that Wesson actually pulled the trigger, the jury convicted him on nine counts of murder anyway. Prosecutor Lisa Gamoian argued effectively that due to his stronghold on the family, his cult-like leadership, the sexual and physical abuse, and the murder-suicide pact that was formed, Wesson was guilty of his children’s slayings whether he pulled the trigger or not.
The defense did not dispute polygamy, incest, and abuse charges but denied that Wesson was a murderer. The jury saw it otherwise.
Sebhrenah’s own 18-month-old son, Marshey St. Christopher Wesson, was second in the pile of nine children shot in the right eye socket. The children were Jeva St. Vladensvspry Wesson, 1; Sedona Vadra Wesson, 18 months; Ethan St. Laurent Wesson, 4; Jonathan St. Charles Wesson, 7; Aviv Dominique Wesson, 7; and Illabelle Carrie Wesson, 8, and Elizabeth Wesson, 17.
The coroner determined that the younger children were killed one to two hours before their eldest sisters.
