'''David Koresh''', egentligen ''Vernon Wayne Howell'', född Houston, Waco, Texas, USA, var ledare för den kristna sekten ''Davidianerna'' 1986-1993.

Den unge Vernon Howell brukade besöka sjundedagsadventisternas kyrka i Tyler, Texas i slutet av 1970-talet. Genom en vän lärde han känna Davidianerna, och 1981 började han att arbeta som diversearbetare vid sektens Mount Carmel Center, beläget på landsbygden utanför Waco. Howell fick med tiden inflytande över Davidianerna, mycket tack vare sin bibelkunskap. Efter en intern maktkamp stod han som ledare 1986.

1987 började Howell ta sig ”andliga hustrur” bland de unga och ogifta kvinnorna i gruppen. Med tiden utsträckte han relationerna också till de manliga medlemmarnas hustrur. Somliga vägrade att gå med på dessa krav och lämnade gruppen. Howell tillkännagav sin kontroversiella ''New Light doctrine'' 1989. Han förklarade att han som Messias var den fullkomliga partnern för alla kvinnliga anhängare. En del av hans mission var att skapa en ny ätt av Guds barn från sin egen säd. Dessa barn skulle slutligen styra världen. ''New Light doctrine'' gjorde alla kvinnliga medlemmar till Howells andliga hustrur, och han påstod att manliga anhängare skulle förenas med sina fullkomliga partners i himlen.

1990 antog Howell lagligen namnet ''David Koresh''. ”Koresh” är den hebreiska namnformen för Kyros, perserkungen som besegrade babylonierna på 500-talet f.Kr. I sin bibliska kontext är Koresh ''en'' messias snarare än Messias; han är utsedd att genomföra ett särskilt uppdrag från Gud. Genom att ta ”David” som sitt förnamn gjorde han anspråk på en andlig förbindelse med den bibliske kung David. 1992 drog Koresh efter hand slutsatsen att de apokalyptiska händelserna skulle äga rum i USA och inte i Israel, och gruppen började att inrikta sig på överlevnad. De lade upp stora lager av livsmedel, vapen, ammunition och bränsle, och Koresh gav Mount Carmel Center det nya namnet ''Ranch Apocalypse''.

{{Infobox Celebrity
| name        = David Koresh
| image       = Cm_cults-koresh_ho.jpg
| image_size   = 200px
| caption     = 
| birth_date  =  
| birth_place = U.S. 
| death_date  = 
| death_place = U.S. 
| occupation  = Religious leader of Branch Davidians
| salary      = 
| networth    = 
| spouse      = 
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| website     = 
| footnotes   = 
}}
'''David Koresh''' (religious sect, believing himself to be the final 1993 raid by the U.S. subsequent siege by the Branch Davidian ranch. Koresh, 54 adults and 21 children were found dead after the fire, though the time of death is in dispute.

==Early life==
He was born ''Vernon Wayne Howell'' in Houston, Texas, to a 18-year-old single mother, Bonnie Sue Clark.<ref name="wilson">{{Harvard reference
| Surname=Wilson
| Given=Colin
| authorlink=Colin Wilson
| Title=The Devil's Party
| Publisher=Virgin Books
| Place=London
| Year=2000
| URL=
| ISBN=1-85227-843-9}}</ref> His father was a 20-year-old carpenter named Bobby Howell. The pair remained unmarried. Two years later his father met another woman and left.<ref name="samuelson">{{Harvard reference
| Surname=Samuelson
| Given=Eric
| Title=Subject: Initial Waco Chronology (Part 1/2)
| Place=Austin, Texas
|Year=1993
|URL=http://www.skepticfiles.org/waco/batf.htm }}</ref> 
He never met his father and was raised by "a cruel stepfather."<ref name="wilson"/> Koresh described his early childhood as lonely, and it has been alleged that he was once raped by older boys.<ref name="wilson"/> A poor student diagnosed with dyslexia, Koresh dropped out of Garland high school. Due to his poor study skills, he was nicknamed "Mister Retardo" by his classmates,<ref>[http://www.biography.com/listings/episode_details.do?episodeid=264991&airingid=266793 Final 24 Episode on David Koresh]</ref> but by the age of 12, he had memorized the entire New Testament.<ref name="wilson"/>

When he was 19, Koresh had an affair with a 16-year-old girl who became pregnant.<ref name="wilson"/> He claimed to have become a born-again Christian in the Isaiah 34, stating that none should want for a mate; convinced this was a sign from God, he approached the pastor and told him that God wanted him to have his daughter for a wife. The pastor threw him out, and when he continued to persist with his pursuit of the daughter he was expelled from the congregation.<ref name="wilson"/> A member of the congregation is reported to have said that he never "thought above his belt buckle."<ref name="wilson"/>

In 1981 he moved to Waco, Texas, where he joined the Branch Davidians, a religious group originating from a schism in the 1950s from the Shepherd's Rod, themselves disfellowshipped members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the 1930s. They had established their headquarters at a ranch about 10 miles out of Waco, which they called the Mount Carmel Center (after the Biblical Mount Carmel), in 1955.

==Ascent to leadership of the Branch Davidians==

In 1983 he began claiming the gift of prophecy. Koresh then had a sexual relationship with Lois Roden, the prophetess and leader of the sect who was then in her late seventies, eventually claiming that God had chosen him to father a child with her, who would be the Chosen One.<ref name="wilson"/> In 1983, Roden allowed Koresh to begin teaching his own message which caused controversy in the group. Lois Roden's son George Roden intended to be the group's next leader and considered Koresh an interloper. When Koresh announced that God had instructed him to marry Rachel Jones, there was a short period of calm at Mount Carmel, but it proved only temporary. In the ensuing power struggle, George Roden, claiming to have the support of the majority of the group, forced Koresh and his group off the property at gunpoint. Disturbed by the events and the move away from the philosophy of the community's founders, a further splinter group led by Charles Joseph Pace moved out of Mount Carmel and set up home in Gadsden, Alabama.

Koresh and around 25 followers set up camp at Palestine, 90 miles from Waco, where they lived rough for the next two years, during which time Koresh undertook recruitment of new followers in California, the United Kingdom, Israel and Australia. In 1985 Koresh traveled to Israel and it was there that he had a vision that he was the modern day Cyrus. The founder of the Davidian movement, Victor Houteff, wanted to be God's implement and establish the Davidic kingdom in Palestine, Israel. Koresh also wanted to be God's tool and set up the Davidic kingdom in Jerusalem. At least until 1990, he believed the place of his martyrdom might be in Israel, but by 1991 he was convinced that his martyrdom would be in the United States. Instead of Israel, he said the prophecies of Daniel would be fulfilled in Waco and that the Mount Carmel center was the Davidic kingdom.<ref name="valentine">{{Harvard reference
| Surname=Valentine
| Given=Carol A.
| Title=David Koresh and The Cuckoo's Egg - pt. 3
| Publisher= 
| Place= 
| Year=2001 
| URL=http://www.public-action.com/SkyWriter/WacoMuseum/burial/page/b_kce3.html
| ISBN= }}</ref>

At the Palestine, Texas, camp, Koresh "worked it so that everyone was forced to rely on him, and him alone. All previous bonds and attachments, family or otherwise, meant nothing. His rationale was if they had no one to depend on, they had to depend on him, and that made them
vulnerable."<ref name="samuelson"/> By this time, he had already begun to give the message of his own "Christhood," proclaiming that he was "the Son of God, the Lamb who could open the Seven Seals."<ref name="valentine"/>

Lois Roden died in 1986. Up until then Koresh had been teaching that monogamy was the only way to live, but suddenly announced that polygamy was allowed for him. In March 1986, Koresh first slept with Karen Doyle, aged 14.<ref name="mann">{{Harvard reference
| Surname=Mann
| Given=John
| Title=Discussion with David Bunds Part 1 - David Bunds to John Mann 29 June 1999
| Publisher= 
| Place= 
| Year=1999 
| URL=http://www.btinternet.com/~fountain/koresh/bunds.html
| ISBN= }}</ref> He claimed her as his second wife. In August 1986, Koresh began secretly sleeping with Michele Jones, his wife's younger 12-year-old sister. In September 1986 Koresh began to preach that he was entitled to 140 wives, 60 women as his "queens" and 80 as concubines, which he based upon his interpretation of the Biblical Song of Solomon.<ref name="samuelson"/> Koresh then built up an entirely new theology around his "marriage" to Doyle. This theology was called the "New Light," with a doctrine of polygamy for himself, which he called "The House of David." According to this doctrine, Doyle was supposed to have a daughter named Shoshanna who would then be married to Koresh's firstborn son Cyrus. However, Doyle failed to conceive, so Koresh then transferred his attention to his wife's sister. Former Davidian David Bunds said that Koresh's doctrine of polygamy "rose out of his deep desire to have sex with young girls. Once he was able to convince himself that it was God's will then he was able to be free of guilt and have sex with as many young girls as he could get his hands on."<ref name="mann"/>

By late 1987, George Roden's support had withered. To regain it, he challenged Koresh to a contest to raise the dead, even digging up one corpse to practice on it. Koresh returned to Mount Carmel in camouflage, with seven armed followers. All but one - who managed to escape - were arrested by the local police, who had been alerted by the sound of gunfire.<ref name="wilson"/>  When deputy sheriffs arrived and ended the shoot-out, they found Koresh and six followers firing their rifles at Roden, who had already suffered a minor gunshot wound and was pinned down behind a tree at the Compound.<ref name="report">{{Harvard reference
| Surname=Secretary Of The Treasury
| Given=
| Title=Report of The Department Of The Treasury on the Bureau Of Alcohol, Tobacco, And Firearms Investigation of Vernon Wayne Howell also known as David Koresh
| Publisher=Department of the Treasury
| Place=Washington D.C.
| Year=1993
| URL=http://carolmoore.whatwouldgandhido.net/waco/waco-treasury-report1.html
| ISBN=0-16-042025-3 }}</ref> As a result of the incident, Koresh and his followers were charged with attempted murder. At the trial, Koresh testified that he went to Mount Carmel to uncover evidence of corpse abuse by George Roden. Koresh's followers were acquitted, and in Koresh's case a mistrial was declared.

In 1988 Roden murdered Dale Adair with an axe blow to the skull after Adair stated his belief that Koresh was the Messiah. Roden was convicted of murder and, as he owed thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes, Mount Carmel was placed for sale. Koresh and his followers raised the money and purchased the property, which he subsequently renamed "Ranch Apocalypse."<ref name="wilson"/> A methamphetamine laboratory was discovered on the property, which Koresh reported to the local police department and asked to have removed.<ref name="thibodeau">{{Harvard reference
| Surname=Thibodeau
| Given=David
| Title=The truth about Waco
| Publisher=
| Place=
| Year=1999
| URL=http://www.salon.com/news/feature/1999/09/09/waco/
| ISBN= }}</ref>

==Name change==
Though no one knows for sure what a person thinks, Koresh allegedly believed himself to be a modern-day Cyrus the Great, who had permitted the Jews to return to Judea upon liberating them from Babylonian rule.  In the documentation involved in his legal change of name, Koresh stated that the change was for "publicity and business purposes." Some critics say the switch arose from his alleged belief that he was now head of the biblical house of Cyrus, the Persian king who allowed the Jews who had been dispersed throughout Nebuchadnezzar to return to their homelands. He chose the names "David," and allegedly, "Koresh" evinced his belief that he was an anointed one, a belief that stemmed from a vision he claimed to have received from God in 1985 during his trip to Israel. During the siege, Koresh would explain to the FBI negotiators that (in Koresh's mind at least) "koresh" had a deeper meaning:<blockquote>Koresh: "What is Christ revealed as, according to the fourth seal?"<br>
FBI: "Pale... a rider on a pale horse."<br>
Koresh: "And his name is what?"<br>
FBI: "Death."<br>
Koresh: "Now, do you know what the name Koresh means?"<br>
FBI: "Go ahead..."<br>
Koresh: "It means death."<ref>Excerpt from transcript of conversation between Koresh and an FBI negotiator (John #4) discussing the Book of Revelation, 7 March 1993, early evening</ref></blockquote>

Texas Death Records list his name as Vernon Howell, despite the legal change to David Koresh.

==Accusations of child abuse and statutory rape==
Koresh himself denied all allegations of polygamy and child abuse in public interviews. The popular media, disaffected Davidians, and spokespersons for the US government, however, tell sordid tales of Koresh's personal life.

Allegedly, Koresh advocated polygamy for himself, and asserted that he was married to several female residents of the small community.<ref name="wilson"/><ref name="report"/> Some former members of the cult also alleged that Koresh felt he could claim any of the females in the compound as his.<ref name="wilson"/><ref name="report"/> Allegedly, he fathered at least a dozen children by the harem.<ref name="ross">{{Harvard reference
| Surname=Ross
| Given=Rick
| Title=The children of David Koresh
| Publisher=
| Place
| Year=2003
| URL=http://www.cultnews.com/archives/000498.html }}</ref><ref name="report"/> Allegedly, his harem included girls as young as age 12.<ref name="england_mccormick">{{Harvard reference
| Surname1=England
| Given1=Mark
| Surname2=McCormick
| Given2=Darlene
| Title=The Sinful Messiah
| Publisher=Waco Tribune-Herald
| Place=Waco, Texas
| Year=1993
| URL=http://www.rickross.com/reference/waco/waco9.html }}</ref><ref name="report"/> The other adults at the compound were told by Koresh not to tell anyone else about this "because they wouldn't understand."<ref name="hannaford">{{cite news
| last = Hannaford
| first = Alex
| coauthors =
| title = Return to Waco
| work = The Guardian
| pages =
| language =
| publisher = Guardian Media Group, London
| date = 2003-10-08
| url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1072291,00.html
| accessdate = 2007-02-05 }}</ref>

The 1993 U.S. Department of Justice report sets out detailed evidence of historical child sexual and physical abuse. ATF Special Agent David Aguilera had interviewed former Branch Davidian Jeannine Bunds, who claimed that Koresh had fathered at least fifteen children with various women and young girls at the compound. Some of the girls who had babies fathered by Koresh were as young as 12 years old. She said she had personally delivered 7 of these children. 
According to Ms. Bunds, Koresh would annul all marriages of couples who joined his cult. He then had exclusive sexual access to the women. According to Mrs. Bunds, he had regular sexual relations with young girls, who ranged in age from 11 upwards.<ref name="dpmt_justice">{{Harvard reference
| Surname=U.S. Department of Justice
| Given=
| Year= 1993
| Chapter= Evidence of Historical Child Sexual and Physical Abuse
| Editor=
| Title=Report to the Deputy Attorney General on the Events at Waco, Texas February 28 to April 19, 1993 (From ATF Affidavit in Support of Arrest of Koresh, taken from ATF Special Agent Aguilera's interview of former compound resident Jeannine Bunds, included in Agent Aguilera's affidavit in support of the Koresh arrest warrant "Davy Aguilera, Special Agent Bureau of ATF, Subscribed and sworn to before me this 25th day of February 1993 Dennis G. Green United States Magistrate Judge Western District of Texas - Waco"
| Edition= Redacted
| Publisher= U.S.DoJ
| Place= Washington, D.C.
| URL= http://www.usdoj.gov/05publications/waco/wacotocpg.htm#toc
| Access-date= 2007-02-04 }}</ref>  In his book, James Tabor states that Koresh acknowledged on a videotape sent out of the compound during the standoff that he had fathered more than 12 children by several "wives," some of whom were as young as 12 or 13 when they became pregnant.<ref name="tabor">{{Harvard reference
| Surname1= Tabor
| Given1= James D.
| Surname2= Gallagher
| Given2= Eugene V.
| Title= Why Waco?: Cults & the Battle for Religious Freedom in America
| Publisher= University of California Press
| Place= Berkeley, California
| Year= 1997
| URL=
| ISBN= 9780520208995 }}</ref> DNA testing of the women and children in the video who died in the subsequent fire confirmed that the children were his.<ref> On minor to marry was 14, as was the age for consent to engage in sexual relations. Kiri Jewell, daughter of Branch Davidian Sherri Jewell, claimed in testimony before Congress in 1995 that she was sexually molested at the age of 10 by Koresh, who then read to her from the Bible.<ref>{{cite news
| last = Editorial
| first =
| coauthors =
| title = Waco Testimony Provides A Timely Reminder Koresh Was The Villain
| work = The Virginian Pilot
| pages =
| language =
| publisher = Landmark Communications Inc.
| date =1995-07-21
| url = http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1995/vp950721/07210030.htm
| accessdate = 2007-02-03 }}</ref> She originally related the incident in a 1992 custody battle, and the judge ordered that she be kept away from Koresh and Mount Carmel.<ref>{{cite news
| last = Smith
| first =J.B.
| coauthors =
| title = Youthful Nightmares - Children of Mount Carmel haunted by Davidian days
| work =Waco Tribune-Herald
| pages =
| language =
| publisher =
| date = 2003-04-07
| url =
| accessdate = }}</ref> While conceding that Jewell's testimony may be "100 percent true," Schneider's attorney expressed doubts about her veracity<!--Shouldn't this read "reliability"? -->.  

Twenty-one children, aged from 5 months to 12 years, were released from Mount Carmel over a 3-day period at the beginning of the siege. These children were placed in the custody of the Child Protective Services and housed together in a single cottage. Over the next two months, these children were in the constant care of a multidisciplinary treatment team consisting of child care and mental health professionals from a variety of institutions and organizations, who carried out extensive evaluation and assessment. They concluded that the children had been raised in an abusive setting, and that Koresh's regime at Mount Carmel was clearly "a psychologically destructive environment for children."<ref name="perry_appendix">{{Harvard reference
| Surname=Perry
| Given=Bruce D.
| Year= 1993
| Chapter=Appendix VIII
| Editor=
| Title=Preliminary Statement: Congressional Hearings on Waco - Appendix VIII
Issues Relating to Physical, Sexual and Emotional Abuse and Neglect in the Koreshian Children
| Edition=
| Publisher=This is Appendix VIII to Dr. B.D. Perry's testimony before the Subcommittee on National Security, International Affairs, and Criminal Justice of the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight and the Subcommittee on Crime of the Committee on the Judiciary at the Oversight Hearings on Federal Law Enforcement Conduct in Relation to the Branch Davidian Compound near Waco, Texas, and appended documents, Congressional Record, July, 1995.
| Place=
| URL=http://www.childtrauma.org/ctamaterials/appendix8.asp
| Access-date= February 5, 2007 }}</ref>  Koresh deliberately undermined the traditional parent-child relationship and replaced it with a dependence upon a central figure, himself. The children related at various times that they had been instructed to call their natural parents "dogs" and to call Koresh "father." Children who were not biologically Koresh's or 'adopted' by Koresh were called "bastards." Koresh continuously undermined all relationships within the Branch Davidian community, including sibling relationships, husband and wife relationships, and friendships. Any attachment judged by Koresh to be more important to an individual than the dependence upon him or God was not tolerated. By 1992 the children were being taught to view Koresh as their father, and soon after they were taught that he ''was'' God.<ref name="perry_main">{{Harvard reference
| Surname= Perry
| Given= Bruce D.
| Year= 1993
| Chapter=
| Editor=
| Title= Preliminary Statement: Congressional Hearings on Waco - Abusive Childrearing Practices At Ranch Apocalypse
| Edition=
| Publisher= Congressional Record, July, 1995.
| Place=
| URL=http://www.childtrauma.org/ctamaterials/cong.asp
| Access-date= 2007-02-05 }}</ref> 