Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 11, 1993 TAG: 9304110030
SECTION: NATL/INLTL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WACO, TEXAS LENGTH: Medium
CULT LETTER MAY SIGNAL SHOWDOWN
An angry, threatening letter written by cult leader David Koresh as if he were God could be the divine message Koresh says he needs before ending a six-week-old siege, the FBI said Saturday."The letter is threatening and cites six Biblical passages," said FBI agent Bob Ricks. "The gist of the letter, like the Biblical passages, conveys messages of a powerful, angry God empowering his chosen people to punish and harm those who oppose them."
Koresh's letter was delivered to the FBI by his deputy, Steven Schneider, when he emerged from the cult compound Friday afternoon to light incense canisters in observance of Good Friday, Ricks said.
The four-page letter is written in the first person and signed "Yahweh Koresh," which Koresh says is the true name of God, Ricks said. Federal agents were trying to confirm with other cult members whether the letter is their expected message from God, he said.
Koresh, a self-described doomsday prophet, repeatedly has said he is awaiting God's word before leading his Branch Davidian followers from the group's heavily armed home outside Waco.
Koresh and 95 others, including 17 children, have remained in the fortress since a bloody Feb. 28 shootout with agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Four agents were slain and 16 were wounded. Koresh has said six cultists died.
Saturday was the 42nd day of the standoff, with no immediate signs it would end. The cult reportedly considers Easter a pagan holiday and does not plan to observe it.
Ricks would not elaborate on the threats contained in Koresh's message and said FBI experts were trying to decipher it.
"If it is the message from God, then we have to know what the heck the message is," said Ricks.
The FBI still is operating under earlier indications from lawyers that the siege could end this week at the conclusion of the Branch Davidians' Passover observance, Ricks said.
Houston lawyers Dick DeGuerin and Jack Zimmermann, who represent Koresh and Schneider, may be allowed to talk with their clients early this week but won't be permitted in the compound until the standoff is ending, Ricks said.
Federal agents Saturday were repairing phone lines into the compound and erecting wire around the buildings to stop cultists from coming out to "test the control of our perimeter," Ricks said. The wire also is to help control the large group when the siege ends, he added.
Also, ATF intelligence chief David Troy announced Saturday that his agency, which has battled constant criticism since the raid, would no longer participate regularly in a daily press briefing.