Cult Reports It Lost 6 in Raid, FBI Says

A key spokesman for the Branch Davidians holed up inside a fortified compound said six cult members were killed during an aborted federal raid at the complex on Feb. 28, the FBI said Friday.

The names of five men and one woman allegedly killed in the gun battle were given to FBI negotiators over the telephone by Steve Schneider, cult leader David Koresh’s second-in-command, FBI Agent Richard Schwein said.

Schneider, who provided no details about the six, said none of the children in the compound had been injured during the confrontation that erupted when federal agents attempted to serve arrest and search warrants against Koresh for weapons violations, Schwein said.

Federal authorities would not release the names or contact the alleged victims’ next of kin because they had no way of verifying Schneider’s claim.

“I don’t know whether they are lying or not lying,” Schwein said. “But we can’t publicy announce that someone is dead without being able to verify it. That would be a terrible thing to tell a family.”

Asked to explain why Schneider would lie about such a thing, Schwein said, “Because he is where he is and with the man he’s with.”

“He (Schneider) will say anything that man (Koresh) tells him to say,” he said. “We have no reason to think they ever tell us the truth.”

So far, federal authorities have confirmed the death of one cult member, Michael Schroeder, who was killed in the skirmish with U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents at the 77-acre compound.

Schroeder’s wife, Kathryn Schroeder, emerged from the compound on March 12 and has been charged with conspiracy to attempt to kill federal agents during the shootout that left four agents dead and 16 wounded.

In the meantime, the standoff entered its 42nd day with no sign of when it might be resolved.

Schwein said that Koresh and Schneider had reneged on an earlier promise to walk out of the compound shortly after the annual religious observance of Passover, which ends on Tuesday.

Schneider “reiterated that neither he nor Koresh ever agreed to leave the compound by Passover’s end,” Schwein said. Koresh, he added, was still awaiting “word from God” about the best time to surrender.

Federal authorities, however, are running out of patience with Koresh and the 95 men, women and children still believed to be inside the compound, which has been barraged nightly with brilliant spotlights and amplified sounds of babies crying, whistles and music.

“We are going to get them out of there and they are going to go before the bar of justice to answer for the murder of federal agents,” Schwein said. “We hope they come to their senses. Surely, someone in there must realize that the end is coming and it is in their best interests to get out.”