Marcus Delon Wesson (born August 22, 1946) is an American mass murderer and child rapist, convicted of nine counts of first-degree

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

and 14 sex crimes, including the

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...

and molestation of his underage daughters. His victims were his children, fathered through

incest Incest ( ) is sexual intercourse, sex between kinship, close relatives, for example a brother, sister, or parent. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by lineag ...

uous sexual abuse of his daughters and nieces, as well as his wife's children.

Early life and education

Marcus Wesson was born in

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

, the eldest of four children of Benjamin and Carrie Wesson. His mother raised him in the

Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sa ...

. Wesson claimed that his mother was a religious fanatic. His father was an alcoholic child abuser who abandoned his family when Wesson was a child. After dropping out of high school, Wesson joined the U.S. Army, serving from 1966 to 1968 as an ambulance driver, which included a deployment in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

.The Many Portraits of Marcus Wesson - Those who know the accused killer draw starkly conflicting views of him. (April 18, 2004). ''The Fresno Bee.''

Abuse

Shortly after leaving the military, Wesson moved in with an older woman, Rosemary Solorio, and her eight children in San Jose, California. In 1971, Solorio gave birth to Wesson's son. In 1974, Wesson began sexually abusing Solorio's eight-year-old daughter Elizabeth. Wesson married Elizabeth when she turned 14 and he was 34. Four months later, she gave birth to her first child. Eventually, the couple had 10 children together, including one infant who died. One of Elizabeth's younger sisters left her own seven children with them, claiming that her drug problem made her unable to care for them. Wesson never held a steady job; he lived off welfare and forced his working adult children to give him all their earnings. In 1989, Wesson was convicted of welfare fraud and perjury. The family often lived in run-down shacks, boats, and vacant houses. Wesson was abusive towards his wife and children. He prevented Elizabeth from participating in the children's upbringing. He homeschooled the children and taught them from his own handwritten Bible that focused on

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

being a

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

. He told the children that he was God and had them refer to him as "Master" or "Lord." He taught the children to be prepared for Armageddon and said that the girls were destined to become Wesson's future wives. Wesson's school "curriculum" involved teaching girls oral sex as young as 8 or 9. Their domestic responsibilities included washing Wesson's dreads and scratching his armpits and head. The girls were not allowed to talk to their male siblings or their mother. Both male and female children were physically abused. Wesson raped two daughters and three nieces beginning at age eight; all five girls became pregnant.

Murders

Before March 12, 2004, Wesson had declared his intention to relocate his daughters and their children to Washington state, where Wesson's parents lived. On March 12, 2004, several members of Wesson's extended family, along with two nieces who rebelled against him, converged on his family compound demanding the release of their children. Fresno police were summoned to what was described as a

child custody Child custody is a legal term regarding '' guardianship'' which is used to describe the legal and practical relationship between a parent or guardian and a child in that person's care. Child custody consists of ''legal custody'', which is the ri ...

issue, and a standoff ensued. Wesson told the police to wait at the door and disappeared into the home. When he came back to the door, his clothes were bloodied. Fresno police testified they did not hear gunshots being fired shortly after, though other witnesses at the standoff testified they did hear gunshots fired at that time.Child brides and vampire names: Bizarre the norm in mass murder trial
By Harriet Ryan, Court TV via CNN.com, Thursday, May 19, 2005, In the aftermath, police discovered nine bodies, including two of Wesson's daughters and a total of seven of their children, in a bedroom filled with antique coffins. Each victim had been fatally shot through the eye. Wesson's other children, who were not present inside the house, survived the incident.

Victims

* Sebhrenah April Wesson (age 25): Daughter * Elizabeth Breahi Kina Wesson (age 17): Daughter * Illabelle Carrie Wesson (age 8): Daughter/Granddaughter * Aviv Dominique Wesson (age 7): Daughter/Grand-niece * Johnathon St Charles Wesson (age 7): Son/Grand-nephew * Ethan St Laurent Wesson (age 4): Son/Grand-nephew * Marshey St Christopher Wesson (age 1): Son/Grandson * Jeva St Vladensvspry Wesson (age 1): daughter/granddaughter * Sedona Vadra Wesson (age 1): Daughter/Grand-niece

Trial

At Wesson's trial, the prosecutor was Chief Deputy District Attorney Lisa Gamoian. Wesson was represented by public defenders Peter Jones and Ralph Torres. They presented the

defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

that his 25-year-old daughter Sebhrenah committed all the murders, including of her son Marshey, and then committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

.i The murder weapon, a .22 caliber

handgun A handgun is a firearm designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun, long barreled gun (i.e., carbine, rifle, shotgun, submachine gun, or machine gun) which typically is intended to be held by both hands and br ...

, was found with her body, and Sebhrenah's

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

was found on the gun, which lent credence to Wesson's claim. There was also no gunpowder residue on Wesson's hands at the time of his arrest. The jury declined to find that Wesson fired the fatal shots but convicted him of murder anyway, presumably finding that he had pressured his children into entering a suicide pact.

Conviction and sentence

Wesson was convicted of nine counts of first-degree murder on June 17, 2005, and also found guilty on 14 counts of forcible rape and the sexual molestation of seven of his daughters and nieces. Wesson was sentenced to

death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

on June 27, 2005, and is currently in San Quentin Rehabilitation Center. The house that the murders took place in was later demolished.

References

External links

Fresno police chief: 'Horrific' scene at home
at CNN.com * Scheeres, Julia

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