2024-01-17 16:23:51
Doomsday cult leader Paul McKenzie and 30 of his followers appeared before a Kenyan court in the coastal town of Malindi on Wednesday to face charges of killing 191 children.
McKenzie and the other suspects did not enter any pleas as High Court Judge Muguri Thandi granted prosecutors’ request that they undergo mental evaluations and return to court on February 6.
The remains of 180 out of 191 children were not identified, according to the indictment presented by the prosecution.
Mackenzie and some of his followers were accused of killing 429 members of the International Church of the Good News, many of whom starved themselves believing that they would meet Jesus Christ before the end of the world.
The bodies were discovered in dozens of shallow graves on an 800-acre (320-hectare) farm in a remote area known as Shakahola Forest in coastal Kilifi county.
The discovery of the graves came following police rescued 15 emaciated church members who told investigators that Mackenzie had ordered them to fast to death before the end of the world.
Four of the fifteen died following being taken to hospital.
An autopsy of some of the bodies found in the graves showed that they died of starvation, strangulation, or suffocation.
Kenya’s public prosecutor said Monday that 95 people will be charged with murder, cruelty, child torture and other crimes.
For several months, since the defendants were arrested last April, prosecutors have asked a court in Kilifi for permission to continue detaining them while the investigation continues. But last week, Principal Magistrate Yusuf Shikanda rejected their latest request to detain the suspects for an additional 60 days, saying prosecutors had been given enough time to complete the investigation.
McKenzie is serving a separate one-year prison sentence following being convicted of running a film studio and producing preaching films without a valid license.
McKenzie allegedly encouraged church members to move to the Shakahola Forest to prepare for the end of the world.
A Senate committee report said McKenzie chose the area because of its remoteness.
“Once inside the villages established by Mackenzie, their followers were not allowed to leave the area or interact within themselves,” the report said.
“The followers were asked to destroy documents, including national ID cards, birth certificates, property ownership certificates, academic certificates, and marriage certificates,” the report said, creating problems in identifying the dead.
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