Father convicted of killing 9 children

FRESNO, Calif. — Police officer Eloy Escareno walked into the back bedroom in the rundown home and was horrified by what he saw: nine bodies, most of them children, entwined in a bloody pile. Each had a gunshot wound through the eye.

Escareno rushed to the bodies and began grabbing small wrists, feeling for a pulse. Finding none, he began to cry.

On Friday, more than a year after Escareno’s shocking discovery, a jury convicted the father of the nine victims of first-degree murder. Marcus Wesson, 58, could get the death penalty.

Wesson, the domineering patriarch of a large clan he bred through incest, was also found guilty on all 14 counts of raping and molesting seven of his underage daughters and nieces. DNA showed that Wesson had fathered their slain children.

Many of Wesson’s surviving family members still support him, and stifled sobs as a clerk read the verdicts. Wesson remained quiet and still.

Calls to defense attorneys were not immediately answered. The Fresno County District Attorney’s office issued a brief statement saying prosecutors would seek the death penalty.

The jury will return on Wednesday for the penalty phase.

The defense had argued that Sebhrenah Wesson, 25 — the oldest to die — killed herself as well as her siblings and the 1-year-old son she had with her father. Prosecutors said Marcus Wesson was the triggerman, but they also argued that even if Sebhrenah did the shooting, her father should still be found guilty if he encouraged her to kill.

The jurors accepted the prosecution’s second theory: They found Wesson guilty even though they decided the government did not prove he pulled the trigger. Several witnesses had testified that Wesson repeatedly coached the children to be ready to kill each other and themselves if authorities ever threatened to break up the clan.

It was the worst murder case ever seen in this agricultural town in the heart of California’s Central Valley.

After the verdict, the home’s front yard stood barren behind green-and-black tape — a stark contrast to the mounds of teddy bears, statuettes and flowers left immediately after the murders.

Neighbors said they were glad to see Wesson held responsible.

“He was in that house when shots were fired. He’s still living, all of them are dead,” said Linda Morales, who lives across the street. “If he didn’t pull that trigger, he certainly didn’t do anything to prevent it.”

Officers were summoned to Wesson’s rundown home on March 12, 2004, after two Wesson nieces who had escaped from the home went back to try to get their children.

Wesson talked with officers at the front door, then stepped backward and disappeared into the back bedroom as the nieces screamed, begging officers to intervene and save their children. About an hour and 20 minutes later, he emerged, blood on his clothing, and turned himself in.