Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, April 25, 1993                   TAG: 9304250149
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: FORT WORTH, TEXAS                                LENGTH: Medium

GUNSHOTS KILLED 2 IN CULT, MEDICAL EXAMINER SAYS

Dr. Nizam Peerwani, the Tarrant County medical examiner whose office is handling the autopsies of the victims, did not elaborate on the wounds.

Peerwani said in a news conference Saturday that six autopsies had been performed and no identifications had been made. Forty-four bodies were at the Tarrant County medical examiner's office and four more have been located at the compound and will be retrieved this morning, he said.

The fire that ended the 51-day standoff between the Branch Davidians and authorities is thought to have killed leader David Koresh and 85 of his followers.

Three victims died of smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning, and the cause of death of one victim was still undetermined pending a toxicology report, Peerwani said.

"Two of those bodies had gunshot wounds to the head. We had a white male. We don't know his age yet. He had a single gunshot wound to the head and that was his cause of death," he said. "Next to this person we had a white female, adult also, she also had a gunshot wound to the head and that was her cause of death."

Dr. Rodney Crow, a forensic dental investigator, said he had made 14 dental comparisons with the bodies but no positive identifications. He said Koresh's dental records date to his teen years.

Last week, Justice Department spokesman Carl Stern said an FBI agent saw that three people had been shot, adding that those with bullet wounds could have been suicides, homicides or victims of exploding ammunition.

On Saturday, Peerwani declined to theorize whether they were suicides or homicides.

Previously, Peerwani said he had seen no evidence of shootings, and Houston lawyer Jack Zimmerman, who has talked to six survivors, said, "No one was shot because they wanted to leave."

Most forensic investigators left the compound Saturday so that thousands of of bullets and other weapons, including grenades and mortar shells, could be removed.

The cult built a $200,000 weapons cache that agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were attempting to seize during a failed Feb. 28 raid. Four agents died and 16 were injured in shootouts with cult members.

Once the site is clear, investigators hope to continue removing bodies, beginning with at least the four more that have been spotted, said Mike Cox, spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, which is overseeing the cleanup.

Cox said one of the recovered bodies was of a woman who appeared to be clutching a 3- or 4-year-old child.

Cox said at least 13 bodies have been found near a concrete structure in the center of what had been a city-block-sized complex.

The chamber is where Koresh is believed to have hid most of his cache of weapons and where he took shelter from FBI tear gas bombardments used to try to coax him into surrendering Monday.

Keywords:
FATALITY