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03/03/93
Drama takes unusual twists: Sect's ex-leader denounces Koresh; movie agent pitches deal
By Bruce Tomaso / The Dallas Morning News
It was hard to imagine things getting much stranger Tuesday than they were already in the tense standoff between law enforcement agents and end-of-the-world cultists outside of Waco.
Then the sect's leader, David Koresh, delivered a rambling 58-minute radio address in which he spoke of lambs, psalms and seals and promised to surrender himself and his followers.
The sect's former leader called a news conference from the state psychiatric hospital where he's confined to denounce Mr. Koresh as a madman.
And at least one Hollywood agent phoned Waco to talk about a movie deal.
George Roden, who lost control of the Branch Davidian sect during a 1987 shoot-out with Mr. Koresh, said he warned the FBI long ago that his rival was dangerous.
"They didn't believe me then,' said the patient at the Vernon State Hospital in North Texas. "I think they do now.'
Mr. Roden has accused Mr. Koresh of crimes ranging from arson and rape to embezzlement of church funds. He said Mr. Koresh uses sleep deprivation and other intimidating tactics on sect members and ignores rules of discipline that he imposes on others, such as his ban against meat and liquor.
"He converted the leadership to Nazism,' said Mr. Roden, who spoke for an hour with reporters. "That's why I find myself in here at this time.'
The 55-year-old Mr. Roden was committed to the state hospital in 1991 after he was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the 1989 slaying of an Odessa man. But he blames Mr. Koresh for his being committed to the state hospital, saying his rival sent the Odessa man to kill him.
The sect's power struggle began in the mid-1980s after Mr. Roden's mother, Lois, took over leadership upon the death of his father, Ben. Mr. Koresh then challenged the younger Roden for control of the cult.
In 1987, Mr. Roden filed a $200 million lawsuit against Mr. Koresh, contending that Mr. Koresh had torched a church building.
Later, a federal court threw out the lawsuit. In response, Mr.
Roden said he had his attorney file a court motion asking God to inflict AIDS and herpes on judges.
Tuesday, he said of Mr. Koresh's claims to be Christ:
"I believe he's deluded about himself.'
In 1990, when Mr. Koresh legally changed his name from Vernon Howell, he reportedly told friends that it was to further his fledgling career as a rock musician.
Some scholastic speculation on possible meanings of the new name:
David was the second king of ancient Israel, who rose from herding sheep to become a musician and warrior in King Saul's court. He became king of Judah, conquering neighboring tribes and extending the empire to its greatest size in history.
According to Jewish tradition, the Messiah will be a descendent of David. Christians believe that Jesus, of the house of David, was the Messiah.
Koresh is the Hebrew name for Cyrus, king of Persia from 559 B.C. to 529 B.C. Cyrus freed the Jews from their decades-long exile in Babylon, allowing them to return to their homeland.
Cyrus is referred to repeatedly in the Bible. The book of Isaiah describes him as God's annointed.
One of Mr. Koresh's many children by one of his many "wives' is named Cyrus.
Bruce and Lisa Gent, former members of Branch Davidian, described for the Waco Tribune-Herald the time five years ago when Mr. Koresh showed up at their home in Melbourne, Australia, to lay claim to their 19-year-old daughter, Nicole. The way Mr. Koresh saw it, God intended her as a gift to him.
He wooed her round-the-clock with Scripture, they said, until the young woman came to her parents and said: "Vernon wants me to be his teddy bear for the night. Will you give me your permission?'
The Gents consented.
"Nicole had spent four days with him being convinced of the
message,' said Mr. Gent. "It wasn't for me to say yes or no. . . . She was going to have children for the Lord.
"I shudder when I say that now.'
Added his wife: "It's like he cooks women. He prepares them for the
fire by the way he gives his studies. It's mind manipulation.'
Gary Coker, a Waco attorney who defended Mr. Koresh and seven other sect members on attempted murder charges stemming from the shoot-out with Mr. Roden, said he phoned sect member Wayne Martin inside the compound Monday morning. His purpose: to relay a movie offer from a California producer.
Reminiscing about the 1987 trial, Mr. Coker said the shoot-out erupted when the Koresh faction tried to obtain evidence for its contention that Mr. Roden was keeping an unburied corpse, which he planned to resurrect. When the case came to trial, Mr. Coker said, he tried to enter the coffin and corpse into evidence, but the judge would not allow it.
There was no word late Tuesday on the status of the movie deal.
Staff writer Aline McKenzie and The Associated Press contributed to
this report.
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