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04/21/93
Grandmom defends Koresh
By Diane Jennings / The Dallas Morning News
David Koresh's grandmother complained Tuesday night that authorities have kept her from going to the ruins of the burned Branch Davidian compound to see for herself whether her grandson died in the inferno.
"God could have brought him right on out of there,' said Jean Holub of Houston.
If he is dead, she said, "I do have a right to go to his bones, don't I?'
Mrs. Holub, who also lost great-grandchildren in the fire, expressed gratitude for well-wishers' expressions of sympathy and concern over federal officials' actions.
"Everybody from all over the world has come by and told me how sorry they (federal officials) done,' she said.
Mrs. Holub, fresh from taping a segment of television's Montel Williams Show outside the compound Tuesday, staunchly defended Mr. Koresh.
She said he never talked about suicide or dying by fire. And she denied reports that he abused children.
Mrs. Holub blamed federal authorities for the blaze at the compound.
"I knew they was gonna get him one way or the other,' she said.
Mrs. Holub said that although she is not a follower of the Branch
Davidians, she respected them.
"I respect them, I certainly did,' she said, "and I respected my grandson. You've got a right to believe what you want to, and I know he studied the Bible.'
Mrs. Holub was accompanied by the wife of jailed cultist Woodrow Kendrick.
Mrs. Kendrick said the world has not seen the last of David Koresh.
"He's coming back. He's coming back right here,' she said. "Not in
the flesh he left in, but he's coming back. As himself. You'll have to study your Bible. He's coming.'
But Mrs. Kendrick said Mr. Koresh was not Jesus.
"He never claimed to be Christ,' she said. "He claimed to have the
same spirit that Christ had, not to be Christ. I never heard him say that.'
She also said she doubted that Mr. Koresh ordered the compound torched, adding, "I think the truth of all this will come out.'
Mrs. Kendrick said she thinks an earthquake will break the Lake Waco dam as Mr. Koresh prophesied and cause a flood.
"I expect it to happen,' she said. "It's going to be a natural disaster.'
But she said God will give humanity a chance to be saved before the end of the world.
"This is what I call the beginning of the end,' she said. "It's going to take a period of time. . . . I believe God's going to give everyone a chance to get prepared.'
Mrs. Kendrick, still wearing the Star of David necklace she has had for 20 years, said that she remains a Branch Davidian and that the sect will go on.
She said she planned to stay in Waco, where her husband remains in jail.
"All the people in the group are going to be here in Waco,' she said. "I'm going to stay with them.'
And Mrs. Kendrick said she is as committed as ever.
"You'd better believe it,' she said. "And I'm not crazy, and I'm not brainwashed.'
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