1. Prologue 1. This tape is to the branches in the field. This is Vernon speaking, and I'm hoping that everyone is doing okay. We're having a lot of difficulties over here in America, but that is the fire which we are to glorify the Lord in according to the prophecies. Vernon Howell June 14th 1986 On April 19th 1993, 76 Branch Davidians led by David Koresh, a.k.a. Vernon Howell, died in a fire at Mount Carmel Center near Waco, Texas, after having been under siege from law enforcement for 51 days. On the morning of Sunday, February 28, 1993, agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the ATF, attempted to serve an arrest warrant for Vernon Howell, also known as David Koresh, and a search warrant at the Branch Davidian compound. The arrest warrant charged Koresh with unlawful possession of a destructive device in violation of United States Code Title 26 Section 5845F. A gunfight broke out, wounding several ATF agents and Davidians, including David Koresh. Six Davidians and four ATF agents died during the shootout. Subsequently, the Federal Bureau of Investigations took command of Mount Carmel. Other government agencies present included U.S. Customs, the Waco Police Department, the McLennan County Sheriff's Office, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the United States Army, and the Texas National Guard. 6. the United States Army, and the Texas National Guard. Negotiations led to the release of 21 children and 61 adults in March. Further negotiations failed. Tanks breached the walls of Mount Carmel Center on the early morning of April 19th, injecting tear gas in a last attempt to end the siege. 8. Fire devours before them, and behind them a flame blazes. Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning? Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire? 2. Revelation 9. The beginning of the end the revelation of christ which god gave unto him to show unto his servants Flames on a pool of blood if she is a wall, and all the walls come crumbling down if she is a door. No mercy for the old unfriendly world. Eleven. The term destructive device means, one, any explosive, incendiary, or poison gas. explosive, incendiary, or poison gas. Two, any type of weapon by whatever name known which will or which may be readily converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive or other propellant. So, incline your ear to my tongue. Federal agents are going to come. Thirteen. Federal agents are going to come Then the good guys win after them Cause they get up to angels And burn the bad guys The carmine curtains open The carmine curtains close Eyes are bathed in milk And we've got to hold up the blood-stained banner Got to hold it up until we die. David Koresh declared he was the Lamb of God starting in 1989. He claimed he would open the seven seals of the Book of Revelation and preached the apocalyptic battle with Babylon was imminent. The Davidians also stockpiled weapons. was imminent. The Davidians also stockpiled weapons. 300 guns and assault rifles were found in the remains of Mount Carmel after April 19th. 3. Abuse. Vernon Howe was both physically and sexually abusive, using theology to justify polygamy and statutory rape. All marriages within the community were effectively annulled starting in 1989. All men except Howell were to be celibate while he was to father 24 children who would grow up to be 24 elders who will rule the world in the coming kingdom of God. ATF Special Agent Davy Aguilera wrote the following about his interview with former Branch Davidian Janine Bunz in an affidavit dated February 25, 1993. Ms. Bunz told me that Howell had fathered at least 15 children, with various women and young girls at the compound. Some of the girls who had babies fathered by Howell were as young as 12 years old. She had personally delivered seven of these children. In 1996, Branch Davidian survivor Jamie Castillo wrote about the abuse in a letter to writer Carol Moore. David was a polygamist. Although David had married his wife Rachel when she was 14, consented marriage with her father and mother's approval, the other girls, such as Aisha and Michelle, were likewise consented by both parents. Now for someone not familiar with our position of faith and beliefs, this would probably sound odd, but keeping this issue in mind, I can only give the reader my point of view, where I wasn't particularly bothered by this marital arrangement. When I first met Michelle Jones in 1988, I think she was only 12 or 13. She was a little bit overweight at the time and just as tall as I was. She was a big girl for a 12-year-old girl and didn't have the little girl mentality. Aisha Giarfus was the same situation. When I first saw Aisha, she was taller than me and had a unique attraction. Although she wasn't my type, she did have a nice bodily shape, slim with curves and beautiful long brownish hair with blonde highlights. Both her and Michelle were very mature girls and big for their ages. It's amazing how people find such a marital status as an ordinary. When I was growing up in the early 80s, I knew plenty of girls who were only 12 and 13 and sexually active. Based on my experiences, I could see why some men preferred younger women. But in David's case, his position was marriage, which is how it should be. But in David's case, his position was marriage, which is how it should be. 21. During the 1995 congressional hearings in Waco, then 14-year-old Kiri Jewell gave testimony detailing sexual abuse by Howell. Castillo responded to her claims, saying, With regards to Kiri Jewell, the first time I'd heard anything about her supposed accusation with David was during the recent congressional or senate hearings in Waco. I was not aware that she had supposedly been fondled by David. I find it unbelievable that from the time she left in 1991 to 92 until 95, four years later, that all of a sudden she remembers such an occurrence. It was quite obvious that the issue of David having sex with minors was used to prejudice and demonize David's character for the government to justify their actions at Waco. Now that I think about it, these issues aren't even worth writing about. Curie's mother, Sherry Jewell, died in the fire on April 19th, as did Rachel Howell, also known as Rachel Koresh, Michelle Jones, and Aisha Giarfis-Somas. Sherry Jewel's autopsy report cites smoke inhalation, thermal burns, global charring, and somatic fragmentation as the cause of death. She was 43 at the time. The autopsy of Rachel Howell, 23 at the time of her death, cites suffocation due to overlay and barrel and structural collapse as the cause of death. Michelle Jones, 18 at the time of her death, side suffocation due to overlay and barrel and structural collapse as the cause of death. Michelle Jones, 18 at the time of her death, died of smoke inhalation, carbon monoxide inhalation, and focal charring. Aisha Ghar for Summers died at 17 from a gunshot wound and asphyxiation due to smoke and carbon monoxide inhalation. She was pregnant at the time. due to smoking carbon monoxide inhalation. She was pregnant at the time. The cause of death of the near-term fetus was intrauterine fetal demise due to maternal death. 4. Isolation 23. Conflict within the FBI increased as the standoff continued. The negotiation team struggled at appearing trustworthy to the Davidians as the hostage rescue team became increasingly aggressive. Toward the end of March, they started trying to disrupt our sleep. They shone bright lights into the building all night long and blasted stuff over the loudspeakers. Reveille, Tibetan monks chanting, Nancy Sinatra singing These Boots Are Made For Walking, even some Christmas carols. They slowed songs down and then sped them up so they sounded distorted. They played telephones ringing and babies crying and rabbits being slaughtered. Once they made a recording of a helicopter that had been buzzing the building the day before. They played that over and over and I kept instinctively flinching and ducking my head down, even though I knew the helicopter wasn't actually there. Branch Davidian survivor Clive Doyle 25 On March 26, a man going by the name Jesse Amin breached a perimeter set up by law enforcement, riding a horse to the compound's front door. He left Mount Carmel Center on the 4th of April. 26 On April 16, the Davidians displayed a sign outside a window Mount Carmel Center on the 4th of April. Twenty-six. On April 16th, the Davidians displayed a sign outside a window on the east or red side of the complex that said, The flames await. I say on chapter 13. Raise a banner on a bare hilltop. Shout to them. Beckon to them. To enter the shut-up gates. Twenty-seven gates. 27. Bright lights, no power, and no running water. Music and the sound of rabbits being slaughtered. 28. And the first seal has a man on a white horse. And there was a white horse. There was a voice like thunder. The metal on the chariots flashed. The day of the Lord is coming, a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it I mean, you know, whenever you're telling one person who tells another person who tells another person, you know what I'm saying? By the time it's like that, it's not even close to what happened. It's an old Texas saying, you know, the horse's mouth. The horse's mouth is the person that was there. And you were there. David was there. And I think that, you know, needs to be told directly. It will be. It will be as it should be and that's that's going to happen so you know just remember that your day in court will come and your day with the media will come and these things I used to, you know, think about What if, you know, just personal, personal lifestyle What if someone broke in my house And, you know, I mean it happens all the time You have people break into someone's home And they, they'll, you know, try to rob you or rape you or whatever I used to think about those kinds of things And, you know, like what if, you know Cause this is a wicked world And a lot of things happen out there, you know? What if someone, you know, I had that concern, as far as being, you know, molested, or raped by someone out there, that was just to break in, you know? Rachel Howe Koresh, 4th of March 32 The people that want to protect innocent people on the outside. Rachel Howe Koresh, 4th of March. 32. The people that want to protect innocent people on the outside. The people that have sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States. Those are the people. What you don't understand is that there are hundreds of onlookers and media people, not that far away, that they're all trying to get their story right. They're all curious to see what's going on, and we have a sworn obligation to protect those people, and to protect you, and to protect the other people in there. You can't imagine how many people are contacting and saying they would like to come up here and straighten this thing out, and that's wrong. That's not right. We've got a system of laws in this country, and we're all responsible for it. You, me, and everyone else are answerable. FBI agent John Cox, March 7th. I wish I had some hindsight, you know, to where I could have actually seen, you know, how cynical you guys really are. You know, while you're, while you're wounded and dead laying around here, you're so interested in all that. And then, you know, while you're wounded and dead are laying around here, you're so interested in all that. And then, you know, when we find our people, you know, then all of a sudden you just don't give a damn. Like I say, you're going to be punished, you know, you're going to be punished. Your reasoning, your controlled oration, you know, your discernment, unconcernment for the situation. You're a cold heart, you know, you're just a freezer. You know what I'm saying? for the situation. You're a cold heart. You know, you're just a freezer. You know what I'm saying? Like I said, you know, you remind me of like my dad, my stepdad. All talk, you know? Like it's like someone puts their quarter in a slot, you know, and you operate. Vernon Howell, 8th of March. 34. The problem with a bullet wound is that the bullet crushes tissue. So that tissue then is dead and acts as food for the bacteria. And as long as there's that dead tissue, the infection will keep going. I'm sure from the way your finger is, it's deformed actually, that you broke the bone on the bottom of your finger. That plus the infection is a real danger, because if the infection gets to the bone, then the bone dissolves, so that means it doesn't even, there's nothing, no bone left for it to heal. What needs to happen is, the break itself needs to be x-rayed, to see how it needs to be fixed, and then the dead tissue needs to be removed. The finger or the hand gets put to sleep, and then they cut away the tissue, so there's nothing left for the bacteria to eat. It's been almost two weeks, so the infection is well established now. If we don't do that, so the infection is well established now. If we don't do that, then the infection gets in the bone. You, first of all, you'd end up never being able to use that finger, or ultimately that hand. You may have to be left-handed. Well, I mean, you got to make a choice. If you remember, you know, the old western days, that's what people died of. It's your decision. It's your hand. Dr. John Hackman, 12th of March. 35. They came to hear this man. I've spent my life with theologians and very highly educated human beings, and there's been no one that's had the consistency of answers when it comes to sciences and religion and health and all the other subjects that there are. You know, if you ever have the opportunity, try to nail him down on any topic. It's quite phenomenal. The man has only got a ninth grade education, but you know, these people have come to hear him. He doesn't have to go pull out a book or say, I learned it from this doctor, this professor, or this is my own education. It didn't come like that by him. He says he's divinely inspired. Pictures are shown to him. I mean, that can be a bunch of nonsense, or maybe it's true. You know, I mean, the prophets of old, they either ate pizza late at night and had bad dreams and wrote them down, and people are believing them to this day, or, and I mean, everybody's got to decide that. Davidian Steve Schneider, March 21st. 36. If you feel you're Christ, then say it. But if not, then I have a personal relationship with the Lord and I don't feel that relationship is with you. FBI Agent Clinton Van Zandt, 15th of April. FBI Agent Clinton Van Zandt, 15th of April. 6. Other bodies burn. 37. And there was a voice in the Texas air saying, Now will I arise. Now will I be exalted, now will I be lifted up. 38. You conceive chafe, you give birth to straw, and you keep playing what you should not be playing. 39. Your breath is fire that consumes you, and you keep thinking that you will never get burned. Fire devours before you, and behind you a flame blazes. Before you, the land is like the Garden of Eden, but behind you a desert waste. 41. People will be burned to ashes. Like cut thornberry bushes they will be set ablaze. You who are far away, hear what I have done. You who are near, acknowledge my power. 42. are near, acknowledge my power. The sinners in Zion are terrified, and trembling grips the godless. Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning? Flames dance on a pool of blood. The walls come crumbling down. A draught of wind through carmine curtains. No mercy for the old and unfriendly world. 7. Epilogue 44. No man in heaven or in earth could break the seals, open the book, or look inside it. Name. Vernon Howell, also known as David Koresh. Approximate age, 33 years. Sex, male. Height, 52 inches residual. Weight, 124 pounds residual. Identified by dental comparison. 45. I wept much, because no man in heaven or in earth could break the seals, open the book, or look inside it. Then one of the elders said unto me, Weep not, the root of David hath prevailed, to open the book and its seven seals. 46 Findings I beheld in the midst of the throne, and in the midst of the elders, stood a lamb, as though it had been slain. 1. Entry gunshot wound of the mid-forehead. A. Significant amounts of barium, antimony, and lead around the entrance defect. B. Collapsed calvarium with multiple fractures. C. Absence of brain matter. D. Exit gunshot wound of occipital region. Seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth. When he had taken the book, the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, and they sang a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, to open its seals, for Thou wast slain, and redeemed us to God by Thy blood, and hast made us kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth. 48 2. Old healing gunshot wound of left innominate bone I beheld and heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands and thousands of them saying with a loud voice worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing three inhalation of smoke and carbon monoxide with a. blood clot carbon monoxide saturation of 24% b. tracheobronchial mucosal slip deposition Every creature that is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea heard I saying blessing and honor and glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the lamb for ever and ever charring with extensive body mutilation, and the twenty-four elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever. Cause of death, massive cranioscerebral trauma due to gunshot wound of mid-forehead. And now we see the final meaning, the pending judgment of the king. This tape is to the branches in the field. I'm hoping that everyone is doing okay.