GUILTY CA - Sebhrenah Wesson, 25, & 8 children murdered, Fresno, 12 March 2004

[ThoughtFox]

I am just sickened by the depths to which humanity can sink. This was beyond depraved!!! And I really want to know whether the "custody" this animal had of these poor babies was legal or "casual" - in other words, did the mothers of these children abandon them to their fate? It just makes me furious!!!

I am really wondering about the involvement of Frank Muna, the attorney who was involved in the Peterson case - he told the world that his client Corey Carrol knew something about a "deal" at a strip club between Scott Peterson and two guys named "Dirty" and "Skeeter." Now he turns up talking about his relationship to a mass murderer/cult leader. OMG!

If he was so involved with them - enough to sue them!?? - then why didn't he turn them in for child abuse or neglect? I guess all he wanted was his money.

http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/8278017p-9120625c.html

Members of Wesson's family bought a burned-out, once-stately home at Maroa and Cambridge avenues, a few blocks north of Fresno City College, in the spring of 1999. Lawyer Frank Muna said he sold the house to Ruby Sanchez, Sofina Solorio, Kiani Wesson and Sebhrenah Wesson. The latter two are reportedly Marcus Wesson's daughters. The relationship of Sanchez and Solorio to Wesson is unclear.

Muna said they made payments, but their checks started to bounce after a year or so: "They ran out of money." So Muna sued them.

Muna said he met several times with Wesson and the four women and that the women wore black or dark gray dresses and head coverings. Of Wesson's relationship to the women, Muna said: "I don't think it was so much as a cult behavior. It was more like commune behavior."

As the group's dealing with Muna soured, so did their relations with neighbors at Maroa and Cambridge. Some of the women moved into a tool shed in the back yard while the main house was being rebuilt, according to neighbor Sharii Rey. Neighbors were upset because the tool shed had no plumbing and they thought it was unsanitary for the women to live there, she said.

A petition was circulated, and the residents eventually moved out of the tool shed. Rey believed only some of the women were living there. Muna said Wesson was, too.

 

[SieSie]

Snip about neighbors not seeing children:

--Sharii Rey: Did not see any children.
--Concepcion Altero, who has lived in the Hammond neighborhood for about four years, .... said she never saw any young children at Wesson's home but would see him sometimes accompanied by two young women.

Source: http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/8278017p-9120625c.html

 

[WhiteWolf]

Click on "Suspect in Fresno slayings has local history" at the link below:

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2004/March/14/



March 14, 2004
Suspect in Fresno slayings has local history
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

SANTA CRUZ — A man suspected of murdering nine of his family members in Fresno this weekend has a criminal history that traces back to a life with his many children on a small sailboat in the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor.

Harbor Police officer Steve Redfield remembers Marcus Wesson, 57, as a harbor tenant just more than 10 years ago who was frequently delinquent with his monthly slip fees. He also remembers Wesson being hauled off to County Jail after being convicted of welfare fraud.

But Redfield, though saying Wesson had some odd behaviors like parking an old, yellow school bus at the harbor, doesn't remember the large man with dreads as someone prone to violence.

Snip...

While living in Santa Cruz, Wesson was found guilty of fraud for failure to list his sailboat as an asset on his welfare forms and trying to hide ownership of it in 1990.

Park Cuseo, the chief of investigations for welfare fraud in Santa Cruz County, said Wesson, despite his conviction, was, "a very docile guy, very religious and very cooperative."

Cuseo said Wesson served less than six months in the county jail.

"He was not what I would call a hard-core criminal," Cuseo said.

 

[LovelyPigeon]

From today's LA Times:

Cervantes also told the paper that each of the victims was shot at least once, and that six autopsies conducted so far found that a gunshot was the fatal wound. The remaining autopsies were expected to be completed Monday.

Police are also investigating whether one of the victims participated in the killing--checking for gunshot residue on the hands.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationw...p_us11mar15,1,6885084.story?coll=sns-ap-topus

 

[WhiteWolf]

This sad story is getting worse every day....



Posted on Mon, Mar. 15, 2004


Slaying suspect led nomadic life

FRESNO MAN, FAMILY MOVED AMONG SEVERAL LOCALES

By Crystal Carreon, Lisa
Fernandez and Brandon Bailey

Mercury News

FRESNO - Mass murder suspect Marcus Wesson, the intimidating patriarch of a large and allegedly incestuous clan, lived an erratic, nomadic lifestyle on the fringes of society for more than 15 years.

While some family members defended Wesson as a loving father, others who encountered him over the years described him Sunday as controlling and stern.

One neighbor said she heard Wesson lay down a chilling ultimatum on the afternoon that nine members of his extended family were found dead in his home.

``I´d rather kill them before I give them back to you,´´ Linda Morales said she heard Wesson shout Friday, shortly before two women called police to say he was refusing to let them take their children from the house.

Wesson and his family had moved several times in recent years, from a small boat anchored at the Santa Cruz harbor, to a squatter's haven in the mountains outside Watsonville, before settling at the site of what Fresno police are calling the worst massacre in their city's history.

Snip.....

Family members have denied allegations that Wesson committed incest.

Police have said they are looking into the possibility of his having sexual relations with other family members in addition to his two daughters. Eliza Whitney, a longtime acquaintance and neighbor of Wesson's mother-in-law, said he had also impregnated two of his nieces and had a prior relationship with his wife's mother.

Wesson met his wife, Elizabeth, when his family lived near hers in East San Jose during the 1960s, according to Elizabeth's sister, Rosemary Solorio. In a brief interview, she described her sister's husband as religious, loving and a good provider for his family. Relatives say Wesson is a Seventh-day Adventist.

In a press release issued Sunday, the Adventist church said it had no record of Wesson being a member.


The rest of the long article at the link below.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/8190050.htm

 

[WhiteWolf]

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20040315-0040-ca-fresnoslayings.html

Police check whether victim helped killer, coroner says
********
By Brian Skoloff
ASSOCIATED PRESS
12:40 a.m. March 15, 2004
Associated Press

In the red glow of a police car light, Felix Enriquez tearfully holds close his 2-year-old son, Moses Enriquez, as a crowd gathers Sunday evening, March 14, 2004, for a memorial outside the Fresno home of Marcus Wesson.

Wesson, 57, covered with blood but described by police as "very calm," was arrested Friday when he emerged from his home, where authorities found nine bodies tangled in a pile of clothing in a back room.

Police are trying to determine if a man suspected of killing nine of his family members may have been helped by one of his victims, according to the county coroner.

Fresno County Coroner Loralee Cervantes told the Fresno Bee on Sunday that police conducted tests to determine if there was gunshot residue on the hands of one of the victims, who were found Friday in a tangle of clothing and bodies in the house of Marcus Wesson.

Snip......


Cervantes also told the paper that each of the victims was shot at least once, and that six autopsies conducted so far found that in those cases, the gunshot was the fatal wound. The remaining autopsies were expected to be completed Monday.

Authorities also told the Bee that each of the victims was shot in the same place on the body, although they would not say where.


More at the link above....

 

[13th Juror]

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20040315-0040-ca-fresnoslayings.html

<1st portion snipped> ......

Cervantes also told the paper that each of the victims was shot at least once, and that six autopsies conducted so far found that in those cases, the gunshot was the fatal wound. The remaining autopsies were expected to be completed Monday.

Authorities also told the Bee that each of the victims was shot in the same place on the body, although they would not say where.

In another article it states that the authorities were initially unable to determine the gender of the murdered victims.

Could that possibly have had something to do with the 'body location' of where these victims were shot?

This whole case is just too gruesome & horrifying to even comprehend.

13th Juror

 

[ThoughtFox]

I wasn't expecting this. I was looking through some of the most recent articles, and came across this from KPIX news. They think the one who might have helped with the shooting was a female! What if she shot her own child? OMG!

http://beta.kpix.com/news/local/2004/03/15/Fresno_Family_Shot,_With_No_Sign_of_Struggle.html

The apparent father of the victims, Marcus Wesson, was being held on a bail of $9 million. Investigators think that Wesson may have been the grandfather of some of the children, as well, due to incest. Police also were trying to figure out if the oldest female victim assisted in the murders before killing herself.

 

[River]

www.foxnews.com
Fresno man accused of killing family may have had daughter's help.
That's the headline on the front page of Fox News. CNN takes too long for my browser to pull up, they may have more information.

Can you believe that the daughter, who was also dead, may have HELPED in this crime? The police announced today that at least 7 of the victims were shot to death.

Did anyone hear that CPS had been called last year and everything was OK? That may be just a rumor.

 

[LP Moderator]

Riv, they're thinking he may have forced her to shoot the others and then he shot her. He may not have had the guts to do them all himself!! :behindbar :behindbar :behindbar :behindbar

 

[LovelyPigeon]

Rumors on "help with the shootings" may be much ado about nothing:

Coroner Loralee Cervantes told the Fresno Bee Sunday that police also conducted tests to determine if there was gunshot residue on the hands of one of the victims, indicating Wesson may have had help with the shootings. Police Lt. Herman Silva said Monday that checking for residue was "standard practice."

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20040315-1214-ca-fresnoslayings.html

 

[mindys]

Riv, they're thinking he may have forced her to shoot the others and then he shot her. He may not have had the guts to do them all himself!! :behindbar :behindbar :behindbar :behindbar

Or he wanted someone else, one of his daughters/wives (sick!), to take the fall/blame.

 

[Pepper]

My friend's brother was not on duty when the crime was discovered, even though it is his shift and territory. It was his day off.

Bet this guy Wesson uses the insanity defense. This whole case is just too ugly to stomach. That man is so ugly he could scare the fur off a cat. I can't imagine anyone wanting to sleep with him. Yuck!!

 

[LovelyPigeon]

I wonder if the deadline was part of this needless tragedy:

Wesson and his family were violating city codes by living in the building where the shootings occurred, which was zoned for commercial use, the Fresno Bee reported Tuesday. They were given a citation March 1, calling for a $100 fine, and ordered to leave the building or acquire a special permit.

"The day of the murder was the day they had to comply with the administrative order," Fresno Planning Director Nick Yovino told the newspaper. "As far as we're concerned, that was a coincidence."

 

[Toth]

He has the money to buy ten caskets but doesn't have the money to apply for the special conditional use permit???

 

[Toth]

These shootings apparently took place while a number of police officers were present on the scene.

The police decided to call for a swat team and a negotiator rather than enter the premises in response to a custody dispute complaint.

There apparently had been no gunfire at the time and relatives were urging police to make entry into the premises.

It seems that two police officers who were present at the time have expressed doubts as to the wisdom of remaining at the perimeter and calling for a negotiator rather than entering the premises promptly.

 

[Toth]

Note: The Chief of Police in Fresno has not formally acknowledged that his officers were on the scene prior to the shootings, but it seems that he has acknowledged the "possibility" and it seems that two officers who were actually there have stated that police did in fact arrive prior to the shootings.

 

[LovelyPigeon]

I know I read one account that police were in the front doorway of the home yet heard no shots.

It will probably take a while to sort all the facts from the fiction in this case.

 

[LovelyPigeon]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,114487,00.html

Officers second guessed

It would further explain some of the officers needing grief counseling if they feel they should have done more after hearing shots...

 

[Toth]

>I read one account that police were in the front doorway of the home yet heard no shots.
.....Yet a housewife across the street apparently did hear shots and only heard them after the police had arrived.

>It will probably take a while to sort all the facts from the fiction in this case.
From what is emerging now, it appears that right from the start reports were rather artfully worded to avoid certain facts from becoming known.