Fresno Man Held in 9 Deaths

FRESNO —  Nine people, including seven children, were found dead in a home Friday. A blood-covered man who police said was the father of some or all of the children was arrested after a brief standoff, authorities said.

The victims were found intertwined together in a bedroom, Police Chief Jerry Dyer said. They included a woman in her mid-20s, a 17-year-old girl and seven children between ages 1 and 8, he said.

It was the worst mass killing in the city’s history, police said.

“I’ve been with the Fresno Police Department for 25 years ... and this certainly is the most tragic thing I’ve ever experienced,” Dyer said. “This is horrific.”

Dyer said the suspect, Marcus Wesson, 57, had fathered children by four women. Referring to the slain children, Dyer said, “We believe he is the father of the majority of the children, and possibly all of the children. We don’t know if he had legal custody or if the mothers just turned over the children to him.

“This is obviously very unique, and there may have been some type of ritual involved,” the chief said.

Police were looking for other children Wesson may have fathered and who were unaccounted for.

Officers were called to the 700 block of West Hammond Avenue about a family disturbance at 2:15 p.m., authorities said.

Outside the building, two women told officers that they had gone to get their children, who were in the custody of Wesson, but that he refused to give them to the mothers.

Officers knocked on the door, but Wesson wouldn’t open it, police said. Officers said they could see what looked like several people sitting in the front portion of the building.

Wesson eventually said he would return the children, but did not, said Police Sgt. Gregg Sanders.

Officers then watched as Wesson went to the rear of the house. Then, they said, someone began yelling that he had a handgun.

Wesson reportedly then barricaded himself in a bedroom, and officers summoned a SWAT team. Police evacuated people in the front portion of the house, and Wesson finally walked out the back and was taken into custody, ending a three-hour standoff.

“He had blood on his clothing,” Sanders said. The victims were all found in a bedroom. “They found them all lying close together,” Sanders said.

Officers said they recovered no weapons during a sweep of the house and didn’t hear gunshots.

At least one neighbor, however, said that he had heard gunshots.

“I definitely heard two pops,” said Christopher Tognazzini, who lives across the street. “It woke me up.”

Sanders said police were still determining the manner of deaths.

Police discovered 10 caskets in a living room as well.

“I have no idea why there were caskets inside the location,” Dyer said.

One neighborhood resident said that Wesson moved into the office-like building with several adults fewer than three months ago. A school bus with a portion of its rear roof removed was parked in front of the building and attracted the attention of neighbors, he said.

“They would just kind of sit there and fix their bus,” said Carlos Vazquez, who lives two doors down. “They really didn’t talk to anybody. It looked like a lot of people lived there.”

Vazquez said that every evening about 6 or 7 he would watch adults at the residence walk to the bus, pick up sleeping bags and return to the house. Vazquez said he was surprised to hear about children at the residence. “I never saw any children there,” he said. “I would only see him and a couple women over there. They would never go out walking.”

Neighbors described Wesson as a heavy-set man with dreadlocks. They said they often saw him sitting in a chair outside, directing a number of women in various tasks.

Neighbors said the women wore long skirts and veils.

Tognazzini said that he never spoke with Wesson or the other residents, but that they were often the focus of attention in the neighborhood.

“The whole thing looked real strange,” Tognazzini said. “They would be doing stuff in the middle of the night, and I could never tell what it was.”

Police were still combing the house near midnight.

“I’m hoping this is the last victim we find,” Dyer said after the late discovery of the ninth body.

Asked if it was a “cult-like situation,” Dyer said police were investigating that possibility.