Seven children among nine bodies in Fresno home
Posted: Sat Mar 13, 2004 2:17 pm
Sorry Lovechild...I know you post the news but I had to get this one out....
FRESNO, California (CNN) -- Police found a pile of nine bodies -- seven of them children -- in the Fresno, California, home of a man police believe is the father of the victims.
Fresno police were responding to a domestic disturbance call Friday afternoon when they found the bodies.
They said Marcus Wesson, 57, who lived at the house, was taken into police custody Friday afternoon after a short standoff.
Wesson is the chief suspect, according to police, but as of late Friday he had not been charged.
Ten empty wooden caskets stacked one on top of the other were found at the front of the house, Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said.
Police were still on the scene early Saturday. Dyer said his officers had interviewed neighbors and four women who they think are the mothers of some of the victims.
"We're in the preliminary phases," he said. "Some of the information that we have gleaned so far is that he was involved in relationships with four different women. I don't know if he considered those to be marriages or not, but they did mother his children."
The motive for the killings is unknown. Dyer said it might have been a ritual killing and Fresno Mayor Alan Autry said it appeared to be a domestic situation.
Authorities were called to the home around 2:15 p.m. (5:15 p.m. ET), after two women told police they were trying to get custody of children they had turned over to Wesson.
When Wesson opened the door to the police, they saw four or five adults sitting in the front part of the house, Fresno Police Sgt. Greg Sanders said.
Wesson then barricaded himself in the rear bedroom and police took the people they saw in the front of the house outside.
Police called in a SWAT team, but before they arrived Wesson came out of the back room wearing what appeared to be blood-stained clothes, Dyer said.
After arresting Wesson, police discovered seven bodies. Friday night, police found two more victims entangled with the others in the back bedroom, where Wesson had barricaded himself hours earlier.
"I'm hoping this is the last victim that we find, quite frankly," the chief said, after announcing the discovery of the ninth body.
The nine victims include one adult, a teenager, and the other seven "appeared to be infants or toddlers" ranging in age from one to 8 years old, Dyer said. The majority of the victims are female, he said.
Most of the bodies were "intertwined and stacked on top of each other," Dyer said. The victims' clothing was wrapped around the bodies, and scattered around the bedroom where the victims were found, complicating the identification process, he said.
The Fresno County Coroner's Office tested the bodies to determine the time of death and cause. He said police did not hear gunshots while they were at the house.
The victims have different mothers, four of whom have been cooperating with investigators, Dyer said.
Distraught officers placed on leave
Several of the police officers who discovered the bodies were so distraught they were placed on paid administrative leave, Dyer said.
"Anytime you have multiple victims of a homicide it's a horrific scene," Dyer said. "The fact that you have children involved and they're helpless is something that none of us could predict.
"It is horrific," he said, "something that you hope you would never see in your career, something that you face here, and we're trying to do the best we can with a horrible situation."
Mayor Autry came to the crime scene late Friday.
"This is our home, and when something like this happens, we all feel the loss," he said. "It cuts to the core of our collective heart as a city, as a community."
Fresno is in central California, about three hours southeast of San Francisco.
CNN Radio's Ninette Sosa contributed to this report
FRESNO, California (CNN) -- Police found a pile of nine bodies -- seven of them children -- in the Fresno, California, home of a man police believe is the father of the victims.
Fresno police were responding to a domestic disturbance call Friday afternoon when they found the bodies.
They said Marcus Wesson, 57, who lived at the house, was taken into police custody Friday afternoon after a short standoff.
Wesson is the chief suspect, according to police, but as of late Friday he had not been charged.
Ten empty wooden caskets stacked one on top of the other were found at the front of the house, Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said.
Police were still on the scene early Saturday. Dyer said his officers had interviewed neighbors and four women who they think are the mothers of some of the victims.
"We're in the preliminary phases," he said. "Some of the information that we have gleaned so far is that he was involved in relationships with four different women. I don't know if he considered those to be marriages or not, but they did mother his children."
The motive for the killings is unknown. Dyer said it might have been a ritual killing and Fresno Mayor Alan Autry said it appeared to be a domestic situation.
Authorities were called to the home around 2:15 p.m. (5:15 p.m. ET), after two women told police they were trying to get custody of children they had turned over to Wesson.
When Wesson opened the door to the police, they saw four or five adults sitting in the front part of the house, Fresno Police Sgt. Greg Sanders said.
Wesson then barricaded himself in the rear bedroom and police took the people they saw in the front of the house outside.
Police called in a SWAT team, but before they arrived Wesson came out of the back room wearing what appeared to be blood-stained clothes, Dyer said.
After arresting Wesson, police discovered seven bodies. Friday night, police found two more victims entangled with the others in the back bedroom, where Wesson had barricaded himself hours earlier.
"I'm hoping this is the last victim that we find, quite frankly," the chief said, after announcing the discovery of the ninth body.
The nine victims include one adult, a teenager, and the other seven "appeared to be infants or toddlers" ranging in age from one to 8 years old, Dyer said. The majority of the victims are female, he said.
Most of the bodies were "intertwined and stacked on top of each other," Dyer said. The victims' clothing was wrapped around the bodies, and scattered around the bedroom where the victims were found, complicating the identification process, he said.
The Fresno County Coroner's Office tested the bodies to determine the time of death and cause. He said police did not hear gunshots while they were at the house.
The victims have different mothers, four of whom have been cooperating with investigators, Dyer said.
Distraught officers placed on leave
Several of the police officers who discovered the bodies were so distraught they were placed on paid administrative leave, Dyer said.
"Anytime you have multiple victims of a homicide it's a horrific scene," Dyer said. "The fact that you have children involved and they're helpless is something that none of us could predict.
"It is horrific," he said, "something that you hope you would never see in your career, something that you face here, and we're trying to do the best we can with a horrible situation."
Mayor Autry came to the crime scene late Friday.
"This is our home, and when something like this happens, we all feel the loss," he said. "It cuts to the core of our collective heart as a city, as a community."
Fresno is in central California, about three hours southeast of San Francisco.
CNN Radio's Ninette Sosa contributed to this report
This is turning out to be a long running freak show.