US: Waco cult leader's mother killed, aunt charged
By Michael Graczyk25 Jan 2009 8:26 AM
Eds: Adds that sister held on charge of murder
HOUSTON, Texas, Jan 24 AP - The mother of infamous Branch Davidian sect leader David Koresh has been stabbed to death, and Koresh's aunt is in custody on a murder charge.
Bonnie Clark Halderman, 60, was found on Friday afternoon at the home of her sister, Beverly Clark, in a rural area near Chandler, Texas, Henderson County Sheriff Ray Nutt said.
Chandler is about 282km north of Houston.
"It's still under investigation, and we really don't know what the motive was or what caused this to happen," Nutt said.
He said deputies were called to the home on Friday and the two women were the only people in the house when deputies arrived. A knife believed to be the murder weapon was found.
Clark, 54, was being held without bail pending a court appearance.
Halderman wrote a 2007 autobiography, Memories of the Branch Davidians: The Autobiography of David Koresh's Mother, that described how her son, Vernon Howell, became David Koresh, leader of the Branch Davidian cult.
In 1993, agents of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms tried to arrest Koresh for allegedly stockpiling weapons and explosives at the Branch Davidians' ranch compound outside Waco.
The confrontation led to a 51-day standoff that ended when the complex caught fire and burned to the ground on April 19, 1993, killing Koresh and nearly 80 of his followers.
About two dozen children were among the victims.
The government claimed the Davidians committed suicide by setting the fire and shooting themselves.
Survivors said the blaze was started by tear gas rounds fired into the compound.
A 10-month independent investigation concluded in 2000 that Koresh was solely to blame.
