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04/26/93
Mailman tied to tip on cult is first victim identified
By David McLemore and Lee Hancock / The Dallas Morning News
WACO-A mailman who David Koresh's lawyer said was tipped by a TV photographer to an imminent federal raid was the first cult member identified from the Branch Davidian compound.
David Jones, 38, was killed by a gunshot blast in the right side of his face, McLennan County Justice of the Peace David Pareya said Sunday. Mr. Jones' body was among 44 recovered since the compound was destroyed in a massive fire April 19.
A federal affidavit unsealed last week stated that Mr. Jones learned the compound would be raided and told the cult leader, who then was overheard by a federal undercover agent exclaiming that federal agents were coming to get him.
The mailman, a brother-in-law of Mr. Koresh, was one of of 86 people believed killed when fire swept through the compound as federal authorities tried to force cult members out with a tear gas assault.
Federal officials and Mr. Koresh's lawyer say Mr. Jones is one recipient of tips that alerted the cult to a Feb. 28 raid, allowing them time to prepare an ambush for 90 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents who were trying to arrest Mr. Koresh and search the compound.
The TV photographer, a member of a KWTX (Channel 10) news crew, has acknowledged being among a number of Waco media representatives who staked out the compound Feb. 28 and witnessed the gunbattle that left four ATF agents dead and 16 wounded.
KWTX station executive, Tom Pears refused to comment Sunday. "Reach me at the office tomorrow,' he said before abruptly hanging up on a reporter.
Houston lawyer Dick DeGuerin, who represented Mr. Koresh, told The Associated Press that he spoke with Mr. Jones about the tip when he visited the compound during the 51-day siege.
Mr. DeGuerin said Mr. Jones told him he had been driving a car with U.S. Postal service markings near the compound when he encountered a TV photographer who appeared lost.
"The guy, looking nervous, said, "Are you really a mailman?' ' Mr.
DeGuerin said. Once Mr. Jones confirmed that he was, Mr. DeGuerin said, the photographer warned Mr. Jones.
"He said "There's going to be a big gunfight with these religious nuts over here. You better get out of here,' ' the attorney told the news service.
A federal affidavit states that Mr. Jones "arrived at the compound after learning that the compound might be raided that day' and warned cult members to prepare for what followed.
Law enforcement officials have said that Texas Rangers investigating the source of the tips also are examining a series of calls to the compound from telephones owned by the Waco Tribune-Herald in the hours before the raid.
The newspaper began a scathing series of stories one day before the raid detailing allegations of child abuse and other wrongdoing in the cult.
One of 16 ATF agents injured in the raid has sued the newspaper, alleging that they were the source of the tip. The newspaper has denied the allegation.
Law enforcement officials said that it may be impossible to determine whether anyone who tipped the cult committed a crime; without information from the cult, the officials said, proving a tipster's intent may be impossible.
Meanwhile, investigators continued to rake through the rubble of the fire-ravaged Branch Davidian compound, searching for clues.
Efforts to retrieve additional bodies were slowed while authorities sprayed for flies and arranged to clean up rotting food left when numbers of large cans of food exploded in the intense heat of the fire that swept through the compound.
In the afternoon, Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Laureen Chernow said the Texas Rangers continued to gather evidence and remove debris from the charred ruins of the compound.
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