Ashes of Waco

4/19 Memorial Service

On Sunday, April 19, Kurt and I drove to Waco to attend the annual memorial service led by Mt. Carmel survivor Clive Doyle. Starting in 1995, until 2005, I think, a service has been held on 4/19 at the Mt. Carmel site (a 1994 service was held in June). After Clive was pushed off the property by Charles Pace in early 2006, Clive has kept the 4/19 services for survivors and their friends and acquaintances going off-site in Waco. He has organized and led almost every one of these gatherings, I believe. He also has kept people up-to-date through the years with the Mt. Carmel Survivors Newsletter.

This year, the 16th Annual Mt. Carmel Survivors' Memorial was held in the small conference room of the Country Inn & Suites along IH-35 in Waco. From the look of the photos, I'd say around twenty-two people were in attendance. Kurt and I brought an audio recorder and took a few photos as well. We may be including the recording of the whole service in the online exhibit, but I wanted to share a portion of it here in the meantime.

Clive spoke for the first twenty minutes or so and that's what I want to highlight here, because he gives a thorough (and sometimes emotional) account of what all has happened in the past year especially, and in the years since April 19, 1993 generally. He discusses, most notably, the passing of David Koresh's father last June, Jaime Castillo last December, and Koresh's mother Bonnie in January.

Download Clive doyle memorial talk

Later in the service individuals got up to share their thoughts with the group, and at noon, as he does every year (since that was about the time the 4/19 fire started), Clive movingly read the names of those who died on February 28 and April 19, 1993. Here is one of the photos I took, featuring Matthew Wittmer speaking and Clive Doyle looking on. Matthew is a good friend of and advocate for the Mt. Carmel survivors, and he's been incredibly helpful to me with this project. You might recognize him from a previous photo in this blog.

Goodbye, Kurt & Hello, Aniket

Kurt's last day here was May 1, but he stopped in today to say goodbye to the Wittliff Collections crew. He's off to Ohio, then to West Virginia for the summer and plans to be back in the area in September. We're going to miss him around here but hope to see him again soon. Thanks for all your hard work on the Ashes of Waco Project, Kurt! 

By the way, per the very slight chance anyone reading this blog needs to hire--or know someone who needs to hire--an a/v preservation specialist, Kurt is your man! 

Today was also Aniket Kulkarni's first day as our Web Design Intern. He's going to work 20 hours a week for the remainder of the grant period. This is the last leg, the home stretch--time to turn the records that Kurt created in CONTENTdm into a vibrant and interactive website. Stay tuned!

Sarah Bain's Memo to the Senate Judiciary Committee

Sarah Bain was the jury foreman in the first Branch Davidian trial. Click the link below to read her memo to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

A Juror's View

Here is the letter she wrote to District Court Judge Walter S. Smith, Jr., who presided over the trial:

Dear Judge Smith:

Following the "erroneous" action on Count Three [use of firearms in commission of a crime] by the jury in the trial of the eleven Branch Davidians, it is with some chagrin that I ask the Court to consider some of our discussions as the Court determines the sentencing for the defendants involved in Count Three and also Count Two.

Generally, I feel that it is necessary to address the jury's considerations in bringing guilty verdicts, and specifically, I feel it is necessary to address our deliberations on the involvement of certain defendants.

The jury asked the Court for clarification of what seemed to be a discrepancy in the use of "and" and "or" in Charge Three as it pertains to "using and carrying" versus "using or carrying firearms. . ." The Court advised that the Government would have proven its case if it proved beyond a reasonable doubt that a defendant had "used or carried a firearm . . ." With those instructions we found seven of the defendants guilty.

At the time, the jury questioned among ourselves how sentencing could be carried out fairly since there surely must be a more serious penalty for "using" as opposed to "carrying" a firearm, and since we were not charged to identify which defendants, if any, should be found guilty of actually "using" the firearms. To each other, we voiced our desires that perhaps the simple act of "carrying" a firearm might serve to diminish the penalty associated with "using a firearm.

I now understand that the "sentencing guidelines" stipulate a penalty of from five to thirty years in prison. I am incredulous!

Since the crime that the "carrying/using" took place was that of aiding and abetting a voluntary manslaughter and not conspiracy to murder or aiding and abetting murder (all defendants were found not guilty of these charges), there surely must be a different set of sentencing guidelines that can be followed. After we had delivered our verdict to the Court and prior to its being presented to the public, we jurors discussed what most of us felt was the possibility that with the consideration of time already served by the defendants, none would be facing severe penalties. Even five years is to severe a penalty for what we believed to be a minor charge. All of us agreed that Kathryn Schroeder probably would be serving a lesser charge if she had remained a part of the case!

Specifically, I am most concerned with the sentences that are facing two defendants on Count Three and five defendants on Count Two (part two).

Regarding Count Three and the charges faced by Ruth Ottman Riddle and Graem Leonard Craddock:

Graem Craddock was found guilty of Count Three for only one reason: For Count Seven, it had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt that he had been in possession of a hand grenade. But further in Count Eight, it was proven that he was not guilty of conspiracy to posses such a device. However, since "carrying a firearm . . ." created a guilty verdict in Count Three, we felt we had no choice but to find him guilty in Count Three. We even discussed whether or not this was not a type of double jeopardy -- not of being tried twice for the same crime but of being punished twice for the same crime: possession of a hand grenade. Again, we felt we had no choice.

In the case of Ruth Ottman Riddle, we debated whether "carrying" was to be taken literally, as "moving around transporting a firearm"; or whether it was to be taken figuratively, as "being, even briefly, in possession of a firearm." We were in agreement that Ruth Riddle had, upon her request, retrieved a "long gun" (rifle? shotgun?) from under her bed and had passed it downstairs. It is unfathomable that for this act she is facing even five years, much less thirty years, in prison. Are there no other sentencing guidelines that can be brought to bear? If we had interpreted "carrying" literally, she would be totally free since there was no proof beyond a reasonable doubt that she even walked to the window of her room while in possession of a firearm!

For these two individuals I beg the Court's utmost leniency.

Further, on Count Two (part two): the five individuals found guilty: Brad Eugene Branch, Kevin A. Whitecliff, Jaime Castillo, Livingston Fagan, and Renos Avraam, were not found guilty of voluntary manslaughter but of aiding and abetting voluntary manslaughter. I implore the Court to recognize that the jury never believed these individuals themselves committed the crime of voluntary manslaughter. Further, we did believe, and the charge to the jury gave credence to the belief that aiding and abetting was "a lesser charge.''

For these five individuals, I beg the Court's utmost leniency.

Finally, regarding what was deemed an error on the part of the jury: finding certain defendants guilty on Count Three after having found all defendants not guilty of Count One [conspiracy to murder federal agents]: In our defense I submit that we determined that certain defendants did "use and (?) carry a firearm during and in relation to the commission of a crime of violence which may be prosecuted in a court of the United States." We further interpreted the following portion of that statement, "to wit: conspiracy to murder federal agents," to mean "for example, conspiracy to murder federal agents" -- with "conspiracy to murder" being but one example of a crime that could be prosecuted in a federal court. On that basis, we began our deliberations on Count Three. We certainly had no knowledge that the penalty for a guilty verdict would be tied to a conspiracy charge as alleged in Count One!

On a more personal note: I cannot explain the honor and responsibility I felt when I was chosen to serve on this jury. It was the most intense forty-eight days (my thoughts did not take a break on weekends and holidays!) of my life. If justice is served in the end, I and my fellow jurors did our duty. It is now in the Court's hands to assure that our intentions are not belied.

Sincerely, Sarah L. Bain Juror #16, Foreman Branch Davidian Trial

Failure Analysis and an Interview with Dick J. Reavis

At the end of last year, Joel visited Dick Reavis, the author of The Ashes of Waco, at his home in North Carolina. Together they recorded an interview that lasted for several hours. A complete transcript will be available when our website goes up, and we will post excerpts here from time to time. In this installment, Reavis describes how he met Branch Davidians after the siege and how he came to write the book:

DR: After it burned, you could walk on the site. I was there within a week afterwards. My wife and I walked around it.

JM: After the Texas Rangers had done their investigation?

DR: I say within a week. It seems to me it was. At some point, it was put off limits for sanitary reasons, but there was a gap.

JM: Cause people were taking souvenirs?

DR: Yeah, people were doing that. My wife and I walked the grounds. You have to understand, she is a South American. We were walking through all this charred stuff. I’m trying to think why I was down there. I think I know, but anyway. I said, “What do you think of this?” I didn’t know what to think of it. She said, “I never thought I would get a chance to see what your country did to the Indians.” And I thought, “What the heck is this? What do the Indians got to do with this?” And she said, “The Indians had a different religion. They had different marriage customs. And they had guns. So, you wiped them out.” And I thought, “Oh my gosh! Revelation to me.” And I’ll tell you why I was down there. After this place burned, I looked for two or three days for the stories that would tell me the other side of the story, and I didn’t see a one. Meaning, the press didn’t interview the people who came out of jail. And I thought, “That ain’t right.” And then I got a call. I’m pretty sure it was from Jim Pace at Soldier of Fortune, who told me that all of the people who had gotten out of jail and all of the other assorted Koresh followers who had never been put in, or whatever, and the children, were all in one hotel in Waco. He called and told me that. And I said, “Well Jesus, they’ve been wanting me to do a story about this and I’ve been refusing cause I couldn’t get the other side.” Well I went to my editor and I said, “Let me check into that hotel for a week.” And it was probably at the end of that week that I brought my wife to Mt. Carmel.  I went down there for a week or so… a week or ten days.  Checked into the hotel.  It was pretty obvious who the Koresh followers were.  I’d seen some of them on TV as they were arrested.  And they wouldn’t talk to me.  And I said what am I going to do -- this happens to reporters.  And I said:  I’m gonna sit here in the lobby and see what I can learn.  Sitting in the lobby, I heard one of them, Ruth Riddle, call her insurance company to file a claim on her car and they said, “What happened to your car?” Tanks ran over it. “Do you have a title?” No. It burned up in the fire. And I saw they didn’t have cars anymore. That’s why she was making the call. Taxis were showing up. Well, I had a car. I said, “If I just sit here in this lobby long enough, somebody’s gonna need a ride. And on the second or third day, somebody did. And the next thing you know, I was taxi service for the survivors. I didn’t charge them nothing. And while I drove them places, I asked them questions. They couldn’t refuse. Three or four days of that, and I had made friends with them.

JM: Did you tell them you were a reporter?

DR: Oh yeah. I told them I was a reporter. When I say they’re not talking, they might have talked to me if I had said I’m a member of the Seventh Day Adventist church at Podunk, Texas. But I told them up front I was a reporter. So they wouldn’t talk to me until they needed a ride. So that’s how I began to get into the story, was a taxi guy to them. Little by little, they’d start inviting me to lunch and stuff. There was a restaurant where they all went, cause they could eat cheap. One day at the restaurant, I said, “Look, ya’ll have seen me smoking and stuff and nobody yet has asked me when I’m gonna accept Jesus as my lord and savior. What kind of religious group are you?” And they said, “We don’t do those kind of things.” And I said, “Why not?” “Because it would take us more than 15 minutes to explain our religion.” Well I decided as long as 15 minutes never came, I’d be willing to talk to them and I began to hear things from them that contrasted greatly from what I had read in the press. And some of them were black and I began to think, “There’s a story here.” I went to my editor and I said, “Look. This is like the Kennedy assassination. It’s gonna take a year after it happens to figure out what happened. Put me on it.” He said talk to Lacey. Lacey said no. Lacey had to attend a conference of alternative weeklies in Austin and I went down there. I said, “Look. You gotta let me spend at least six months figuring out what happened.” And he said no, again. I mean, he said it to my face. And I said, “Why not?” And he said it’s not a Dallas story. And I said yeah well neither was the Kennedy assassination. And besides, in Dallas at that time, there was a great movement of gun rights, patriot, constitutionalism, militia people. They held monthly meetings at which six and eight hundred people showed up. And I had readers. Everything I had written about Waco, we got letters from. So it was a hot topic, just inside of Dallas, and then nationally it seemed to me of some import. He told me no and I said, “I’m going to have to write a book about this to get to the bottom of it. And if I write the book, I’m gonna have to quit my job.” So I wrote a letter to my agent, proposing a book. When I got the contract, I quit my job.

____________________________

Next we have the opening minutes of a video made by Failure Analysis Associates and commissioned by the National Rifle Associatation. The tape uses computer models to take the viewer through the various gas attacks that occurred on April 19. The physical origins and development of the fire are also covered, as well as the causes of death and distribution within the building of those who perished that day. Click on the link below.

Failure Analysis Excerpt

Miles and Miles of Texas

Last Thursday Joel and I left work early, rented a car, and headed north to Lubbock. Eight hours spent on smaller highways, mostly in the dark. We awoke in a foreign landscape, made it through the hotel's free continental breakfast, and paid a visit to Texas Tech University's Southwest Collection before heading over to the George & Helen Mahon Public Library, the site of this year's Annual Meeting of the Texas Heritage Digitization Initiative. Here, Joel presented a brief overview of our project, which is funded by a THDI grant. The presentation was a success, although it seemed that our project's subject matter might have cast a slight shadow over the proceedings. We did not have much time to socialize, though, as we had an appointment in Waco.

We arrived at about 9 pm, and, after a meeting place mix-up, finally had the pleasure of meeting Sheila Martin, Catherine Matteson, Matthew Wittmer and Holly Jerger. Matthew, a California-based librarian, artist, and Mt. Carmel scholar who has been of great help to us (Thanks!), was visiting Waco with his wife Holly. He introduced us to Sheila and Catherine, two of the Mt. Carmel survivors. It was a profound and meaningful experience, listening to their memories of life at Mt. Carmel and life since the siege, but it was also just simply nice to relax over dinner with such friendly and welcoming people. Joel and I are both very grateful that they agreed to meet with us at such an odd hour, and we hope to return to Waco for a longer visit soon.

As an aside, if you ever decide to visit Waco, don't drink the water or anything made with the water (fountain drinks, tea, coffee, etc.) unless, like me, you have an indwelling imp of the perverse. Please see:

http://www.wacotrib.com/sports/content/sports/stories/2009/02/15/02152009wacnafe.html

Anyway, we said farewell at around 11:30. Joel and I hopped back in the rental car and stopped for gas on the way out of town. Perhaps it was fatigue, but I had already forgotten the lesson taught to me by dinner's iced tea--I bought coffee. Apart from that, the remainder of the trip passed uneventfully as we coasted south along I-35, singing along deliriously to the satellite radio. An amazing day and a half.

Here is a picture, taken by Holly, that Matthew kindly forwarded to us. From left to right we have: yours truly, Joel, Catherine, Sheila, and Matthew.

A Slice of Life Inside Mt. Carmel

Here is an excerpt from a tape that was sent out of Mt. Carmel during the siege. In this clip, Steve Schneider interviews several of the girls about how they were getting along during the ordeal. To view, click the link at the end of this posting.

Multiple tapes were sent out to the FBI over the course of the standoff. Dick Reavis, in The Ashes of Waco, has this to say:

Whatever disagreements one might have with the residents of Mt. Carmel, the film humanizes its subjects. In their post-April 19 investigation of the Waco affair, Justice Department investigators reported: "The negotiator's log shows that when the tape was reviewed there was concern that if the tape was released to the media, Koresh would gain much sympathy." Though the document was news, and would have been ideal for television, it wouldn't have served the agency's public relations goals. Instead of presenting it to the press, the Bureau sat on the videotape[s]. (pp. 228-29)

The girls seen here are, in order of appearance, Lisa Martin (13), Audrey Martinez (13), Rachel Sylvia (13), Abigail Martinez (11), and Sheila Martin (15). All five of them perished on April 19th.

Watch this excerpt

The Lonely Man

It is well known that David Koresh was an ambitious musician, but recordings of him singing and playing guitar are very rare. A couple of songs, along with a sermon, were compiled and released as "Voice of Fire" by the Junior's Motel label in 1994, and in 1996 survivor Clive Doyle and Koresh's mother Bonnie Haldeman released, on cassette, an audio letter that Koresh had recorded for his grandfather, the proceeds of which benefited the Mt. Carmel Survival Fund. Along with music, "Songs to Grandpa" contains lengthy spoken sections featuring thoughts, prayers, memories, and introductions. At one point, Koresh talks to his son Cyrus. "Songs to Grandpa" is cataloged in the Reavis Papers as RA058.

Entry RA152 is an unassuming cassette with pencil-written labels that say only "undated sermon DK?" on side A and "music DK?" on side B. We can confirm that it is Koresh on this tape. Many of the songs on side B also appear on "Songs to Grandpa", but they are interpreted differently here. In addition, Koresh plays an electric guitar on this tape while "Songs to Grandpa" features an effects-laden acoustic. Click on the link at the end of this entry to hear 'The Lonely Man' from RA152. Koresh used an old, off-brand tape, and we don't know what kind of recording equipment he used, so please overlook the low quality of the file. The song title was gleaned from "Songs to Grandpa", where an alternate version can be heard along with introductory remarks such as:

"Who am I to preach to someone what they must do to be saved when I myself have not yet known? We're saved by hope and that through faith...The spirit of God moves upon our hearts, and it's not a feeling, it's an acknowledgement, it's an admittance that we're wrong. This song came to me after I realized that, even after being a Christian for many years, that I am still far away from what God would have me to be. I realized that I had been a bad example to many people who were looking to me...the more I learn about Christ the more I realize that I have many, many apologies that I must give people--my own family members, people I've met in times past--but even though I have to apologize for being a misrepresentative of Christ, God still loves me, and because I know that, and I've seen that, I can tell my brethren and everyone else that God still loves them, too."

Listen to "The Lonely Man"

Very Sad News

We are very upset to report the tragic and untimely death of Bonnie Haldeman, David Koresh's mother. All reports we've found thus far are vague (and contain disagreements regarding Mrs. Haldeman's age and even the spelling of her name), but it appears that she was stabbed to death by her sister Beverly Clark last Friday (Jan. 23). Most reports indicate that they were alone at the time, but it is possible that their mother was also present in the house. We will be following this story closely.

We are also greatly saddened by the news that April 19 survivor Jaime Castillo passed away in late December of last year. In the late 80s Mr. Castillo, a drummer, answered an ad placed by Koresh, who was looking for musicians to play with. Over time Castillo became more and more involved with the Branch Davidian community and theology. He had been working as a personal trainer in Sylmar, California since his release from prison in 2006. Mr. Castillo died of liver failure brought about by hepatitis C. He was 40. 

Our heartfelt sympathies and condolences go out to their families and friends. 

Messiah Productions

For a time, the Branch Davidians maintained two houses in California, which became a base for recruiting new members. California was also a place where Koresh tried to further his musical ambitions. These business cards were passed out to promising contacts; a similar card was given to future member David Thibodeau in a music store.

Interview with the author

Last Tuesday, December 30, I had the opportunity to interview Dick J. Reavis in his office on the campus of North Carolina State University, in Raleigh, NC. This was the third time that I've had the pleasure of spending time with Dick and discussing Waco (as well as a variety of other topics) but the first time I've had to officially interview him. From the time I started processing his papers, over three years ago, to the current grant project, he has been very helpful and forthcoming with information, and this occasion was no exception.

My visit was over the winter break, so the NC State campus was quiet and almost empty. We ate lunch at El Rodeo, a Mexican place across the street from campus, and talked a lot about Dick's planned book on day laborers in America. After that we walked over to his office in the English building and started the interview. I started the interview asking him to talk about where he was at the time of the siege, and he took it from there, providing valuable insight into the press' involvement (or un-involvement) with the Branch Davidians, and sharing his personal experiences, from the time of the Feb. 28 raid up to his testimony before Congress over two years later, as the book was about to be published. 

Dick also shared his thoughts on the Constitutionalists and other right-wing groups he had an unlikely involvement with at the time. He talked about the government's behavior at Mt. Carmel and what they seem to have learned from it, regardless of whether they ever admit that their approach was wrong. And he gave the incident historical, international, and current-event context that was very engaging for me as a listener and an interviewer. 

After over three hours, we shut the recorder off and called it a day, not being out of topics to discuss but out of time to discuss them. The plan now is to get the interview transcribed by a student in late January and select portions to post on the blog as well as the online exhibit. I am hoping this will be the first of at least two interviews with Reavis, the second one taking place after the exhibit goes up and being about specific materials we have on display.