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Waco Survivor: 'I Could Hear Rushing, Screaming, Crying'
By Sherri Chunn
Associated Press Writer
WACO, Texas (AP) - A survivor of the government's 1993 raid on the Branch Davidian complex testified Monday about a chaotic scene as fire enveloped the sect's compound.
"I could hear rushing, screaming, crying, people praying," Marjorie Thomas said. "You could hear the flames really roaring, things popping. It was noisy."
Thomas jumped from a window and was one of nine cult members who survived the end of the 51-day standoff in 1993, although she suffered third-degree burns over half of her body. Eighty others died.
Branch Davidian survivors and family members are seeking $675 million in damages from the government. Thomas' testimony came at the start of the trial's second week.
The soft-spoken woman, who now lives in Great Britain, also testified that sect members never planned to start a fire or commit suicide.
But during cross-examination, U.S. Attorney Michael Bradford pointed out that in her 1993 deposition Thomas recalled that sect leader David Koresh talked more than once about suicide plans. The 1993 deposition was used in the 1994 criminal trial of five Davidians, who were convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the deaths of four federal agents.
Jurors last week relived the deadly Feb. 28, 1993, raid - via a taped 911 call - that started the standoff at the group's compound. Testimony also touched on the April 19, 1993, fire's origins and the absence of firefighting equipment at the scene.
Thomas testified Monday that she remembered seeing an approaching helicopter and someone leaning out and firing a gun Feb. 28 as federal agents tried to serve search and arrest warrants on Koresh.
"I could see the gun from the helicopter and when it fired, the bullet came through the other window in the room, not the window I was looking out of. We all got down on the floor," she said. "By this time some more of the bullets were coming through the sheet rock and going across the room."
Under cross-examination, she told Bradford that she was not sure if the bullet actually came from the helicopter.
But in her 1993 deposition, Thomas said she could not tell if the bullets that hit the window of her room came from the helicopter or somewhere else.
Bradford also referred to her 1993 interview with the Texas Rangers, where she said some male Davidians bragged about shooting agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
But Monday, Thomas said she could not remember making such statements.
She remembered tanks ramming into the building on the final day of the siege, lifting the roof off the building. "With the building being made of sheet-rock, it didn't take long for it to give in," she said.
Thomas described the scene just before her escape as "black and dark."
"I could feel the jacket I was wearing melting, and I was finding it difficult to move myself," she said. "I thought it's either I live or die. I put my hand on my head and leaned on the window, and I was out of the building."
Earlier in the day, U.S. District Judge Walter Smith said a second juror had been excused because of illness, bringing the remaining pool to five. Another juror was excused last week for personal reasons.
Among other things, plaintiffs contend government agents fired indiscriminately during the raid; violated a plan approved by Attorney General Janet Reno when they punched holes into the building during the tear-gassing operation; contributed to or caused at least some of the three blazes that ultimately engulfed the compound; and failed to have firefighting equipment at the scene if a fire broke out.
The jury will act only as an advisory panel to Smith, who will deliver the verdict. Separately, Smith will consider the question of whether federal agents shot at Davidians during the siege's fiery end.
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Slowpoke Rodrigo...he pack a gon...
"That which binds us together is infinitely greater than that on which we disagree" - Neal Knox
Waco Survivor: 'I Could Hear Rushing, Screaming, Crying'
By Sherri Chunn
Associated Press Writer
WACO, Texas (AP) - A survivor of the government's 1993 raid on the Branch Davidian complex testified Monday about a chaotic scene as fire enveloped the sect's compound.
"I could hear rushing, screaming, crying, people praying," Marjorie Thomas said. "You could hear the flames really roaring, things popping. It was noisy."
Thomas jumped from a window and was one of nine cult members who survived the end of the 51-day standoff in 1993, although she suffered third-degree burns over half of her body. Eighty others died.
Branch Davidian survivors and family members are seeking $675 million in damages from the government. Thomas' testimony came at the start of the trial's second week.
The soft-spoken woman, who now lives in Great Britain, also testified that sect members never planned to start a fire or commit suicide.
But during cross-examination, U.S. Attorney Michael Bradford pointed out that in her 1993 deposition Thomas recalled that sect leader David Koresh talked more than once about suicide plans. The 1993 deposition was used in the 1994 criminal trial of five Davidians, who were convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the deaths of four federal agents.
Jurors last week relived the deadly Feb. 28, 1993, raid - via a taped 911 call - that started the standoff at the group's compound. Testimony also touched on the April 19, 1993, fire's origins and the absence of firefighting equipment at the scene.
Thomas testified Monday that she remembered seeing an approaching helicopter and someone leaning out and firing a gun Feb. 28 as federal agents tried to serve search and arrest warrants on Koresh.
"I could see the gun from the helicopter and when it fired, the bullet came through the other window in the room, not the window I was looking out of. We all got down on the floor," she said. "By this time some more of the bullets were coming through the sheet rock and going across the room."
Under cross-examination, she told Bradford that she was not sure if the bullet actually came from the helicopter.
But in her 1993 deposition, Thomas said she could not tell if the bullets that hit the window of her room came from the helicopter or somewhere else.
Bradford also referred to her 1993 interview with the Texas Rangers, where she said some male Davidians bragged about shooting agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
But Monday, Thomas said she could not remember making such statements.
She remembered tanks ramming into the building on the final day of the siege, lifting the roof off the building. "With the building being made of sheet-rock, it didn't take long for it to give in," she said.
Thomas described the scene just before her escape as "black and dark."
"I could feel the jacket I was wearing melting, and I was finding it difficult to move myself," she said. "I thought it's either I live or die. I put my hand on my head and leaned on the window, and I was out of the building."
Earlier in the day, U.S. District Judge Walter Smith said a second juror had been excused because of illness, bringing the remaining pool to five. Another juror was excused last week for personal reasons.
Among other things, plaintiffs contend government agents fired indiscriminately during the raid; violated a plan approved by Attorney General Janet Reno when they punched holes into the building during the tear-gassing operation; contributed to or caused at least some of the three blazes that ultimately engulfed the compound; and failed to have firefighting equipment at the scene if a fire broke out.
The jury will act only as an advisory panel to Smith, who will deliver the verdict. Separately, Smith will consider the question of whether federal agents shot at Davidians during the siege's fiery end.
------------------
Slowpoke Rodrigo...he pack a gon...
"That which binds us together is infinitely greater than that on which we disagree" - Neal Knox