The Misery Machine - The Case of Marcus Wesson

Starting point is 00:00:00 Marcus Dilan Wesson was born on August 22nd, 1946 in Kansas. He was the first child of Benjamin and Carrie Wesson, who had suffered a stillbirth just a few years prior. After Marcus, Benjamin and Carrie welcomed three more children. The family were devout Christians and followers of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Carrie Wesson described her and her husband as hardworking parents who raised brilliant, loving, God-fearing children. However, Marcus claimed his mother was a religious fanatic and that his father was an alcoholic and a child beater who abandoned his children when they were young. In the early 1960s, the Wessons said goodbye to Kansas and moved to San Bernardino, California. The Wesson children were raised to dress modestly, eat a vegetarian diet, and worship every Saturday as members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Starting point is 00:00:54 Marcus attended Fremont Jr. High from 1960 to 1961. in San Bernardino High School from 1961 to 1964. He never went to any proms or school dances as they were forbidden by his religion. Although he was over six feet tall and had the build of a football player, Marcus was a typical nerd. He sported a close-cropped haircut and dressed in slacks, a white shirt and a tie, in a classroom full of kids and jeans and t-shirts.

Starting point is 00:01:22 In his free time, he studied, sang in the school choir, and played with his electric toy trains. It should be noted that Marcus was obsessed with trains. His childhood friend Charles H. Cox remembers that they would watch freight trains pass through town and trade H.O. model trains. Marcus had shown signs of high intelligence from an early age. At just two years old, he had memorized the location of every song in his mother's huge stack of gospel records. Two years later, he was able to put together intricate puzzles that confused adults. The young boy, he rescued and cared for injured animals.

Starting point is 00:01:57 found out and about. On one occasion, he found what appeared to be a dead dog in a trash can. His mother said the dog was dead. Marcus refused to listen. Lacing his ear against the animal's chest, he shouted, Mama, I can hear a faint heartbeat. He then took the dog home and nursed it back to health by feeding it milk day and night. As a teenager, Marcus was able to build go-carts and electric cars without any instruction. His construction work even caught the eye of an engineering professor at Stanford, who asked Marcus where he trained to be built like he did, which Marcus replied that he had no training, he was just a gift from God. While Marcus was intelligent, he never achieved enough credits to graduate high school. He dropped out early and enlisted in the U.S. Army in June 22nd,

Starting point is 00:02:42 1966. Records show he spent 10 weeks receiving medical corpsmen training at Fort Sam Houston in Texas before working as an ambulance orderly and driver of the 695 medical ambulance company. He was mostly stationed in Europe where he was based from November 27, 1966, to February 6, 1968. It was deployed in Vietnam at some point. On June 2nd, 1968, he returned to the United States and spent four years in the inactive reserves. He lived in San Jose, California, and moved in with Rosemary Solorio, a middle-aged divorcee living with her young children, including 8-year-old Elizabeth Solorio. Rosemary had just gotten out of an abuse of marriage and said she grew fond of Marcus because

Starting point is 00:03:23 he was kind and friendly, and he helped her look after her kids. While living with the Solorios, Marcus traveled to San Francisco a lot. Details of these visits are unknown, and his cousin, Morgan Wesson, always thought they were strange because Marcus was a homebody who didn't smoke, drink, or do drugs. He was also unemployed and had very little money. He noticed to Rosemary, Marcus was becoming extremely close with her young daughter, Elizabeth. Oring to a neighbor in 1971, Elizabeth gave birth to Marcus' son.

Starting point is 00:03:53 She was just 12 years old and he was 25. His unknown whether the baby died or was given up for adoption. Three years later in 1974, Marcus and Elizabeth got married. She was 15 and he was 27. They both listed their occupations as students. Marcus would tell Elizabeth that she belonged to him, that the Lord knew she was destined to become his wife. A couple relocated to Santa Clara County after the ceremony

Starting point is 00:04:18 and four months later their son Dorian was born. By the end of the 1970, the couple had three more children, Adrian, Keani, and Sabrina. In the 1980s, Marcus and Elizabeth welcomed six more children, Alme, Marcus Jr., Elizabeth, Serafino, Gypsy, and Donovan, who sadly died at six months old from spinal meningitis. Marcus also had four nieces from his wife's side of the family, Sophia Solorio, Rosie Solorio, Ruby Sanchez, and Ruby Ortiz. Marcus worked as a janitor to support his family, but never made enough money to put a decent roof over their heads. The Wessons had multiple homes, like a converted school bus,

Starting point is 00:04:59 a sailboat anchored at Moss Landing in Monterey County, and a trailer in the mountains. Marcus made several welfare claims over the years because of his living conditions. In 1981, he finally bought a house using a $60,000 loan. It was small, run down, and at the corner of Hammond and Weber Avenues. The house was infested with weeds and toy freight trains would rumble around the home, weaving in and out of weeks old trash that had piled up. Marcus and his family still kept ties with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the family started attending a 10-day spiritual retreat in Sokwell. The Weston family spent a lot of time at the Santa Cruz Beach and Harbor. The kids loved playing on the beach, and Marcus had been renting a

Starting point is 00:05:46 permanent slip at the harbor for his small boat since September of 1984. In 1924, in 19, Marcus took his kids to the beach one day and met a Stanford University student named Steve Sobrado. The two began to talk and Marcus boasted about raising his children with a Christian upbringing, homeschooling them and keeping them away from what he described as corporate America. He also spun up a story about being a top bank executive who gave it all up to raise children. Steve praised the Wesson children for being so polite, quiet, and smart, and Marcus invited him for dinner on the boat. He remembers that day specifically because Marcus had served hamburgers from the dumpster at the back of the McDonald's.

Starting point is 00:06:28 In 1989, Marcus was criminally charged with perjury and welfare fraud related to the sailboat he owned at Moss Landing. It was viewed as excess property and county authorities said he was overpaid by more than $20,000 in benefits and food stamps. He appealed to the courts claiming all the money was spent on shelter and food for his family. Marcus disliked his defense lawyer Jim McMillan and thought of himself as a better legal layman. As a result, he filed a series of motions independently, one of which was dismissed by the judge as gibberish. After that, Marcus started to believe the welfare department was conspiring against him. In one court document, he wrote that the welfare department felt, in their opinion, the suspect had simply been on welfare too long and is able-bodied

Starting point is 00:07:14 and is using his educational background to stay on welfare. Marcus was convicted of welfare fraud in perjury in 1990 and sentenced to five years probation, 180 days in jail, and several fines. He was ordered to find a job and sell his boat to pay overdue bills at the harbor. Marcus appealed his conviction, but the court rejected the motion in 1992. After that, he was caught failing to follow the terms of his probation. In a letter to the court, Marcus described himself as old, unemployed, homeless, unskilled with no work history. However, his defense lawyer, Jim McMillan described Marcus as an eccentric but fairer. intelligent, a man who seemed to have a full-time job simply managing his family. Jim visited

Starting point is 00:07:56 the sailboat in the Wesson camp in the Santa Cruz Hills, noting it wasn't like they were living lifestyles of the rich and famous. Keani Wesson remembers her father fondly, recalling how the family enjoyed weekends at the beach in Monterey and Santa Cruz and how they all went on trips to Fresno and Washington State. During these trips, Marcus would play tapes the family had mixed in recording sessions. The tapes packaged rock with Depeche Mode and Spanish language music. Gianni also asserted Marcus was a devoted father who taught his children how to fish, swim, sail, and build a skateboard. He also took his kids to Woodward Park a lot, where they would ride bicycles, skateboard, and play in the water. Back at home, the children acted out plays, concerts, and beauty and ugly contests, where the boys would dress up in rags and the girls would wear pretty dresses.

Starting point is 00:08:45 The kids also had competitions to see who could stay awake the long. longest. Sometimes Marcus would toss handfuls of change into the living room, setting off a scramble among the children. Elizabeth Weston described her husband as very imaginative, loving husband and father who saw his children as the most precious things in the world. Now, as we mentioned, Marcus homeschooled all of his children. He used flashcards to teach them to read and do math and would assign them homework every week. The older children were also expected to teach their younger siblings. At Christmas time, the family celebrated the 12 days of Christmas with different food themes.

Starting point is 00:09:22 Gingerbread Man Day, Spaghetti Day, Lobster Day, Trade Jobs Day, and even Dad Cook's Day. Keani described those days as the best times of her and her siblings' lives. However, other members of the Wesson family remember a far more sinister story. Several children say discipline in the house was administered with a duct tape switch. When Marcus beat them, he would always say, well, you know I love it. you still, and the only reason I'm doing this is to make you a better person. He also forced boys and girls to live separately, so brothers and sisters hardly even knew each other. Relatives who began living with Marcus and his family in a rundown house and duplex on the southern

Starting point is 00:10:04 edge of the Tower District in Fresno claim they saw Marcus essaying six young girls. They also said they saw him preach messages with extremely dark themes. Family loyalty meant a lot to Marcus, and he always stressed the importance of it, telling his children that they should remove themselves from this earth if CPS ever came to take them away. He would even ask them, if the time came, are you ready? Marcus also made his children believe that he was Jesus Christ incarnate, and that all police officers were Satan. Marcus liked to interpret passages from the King James Bible as justification

Starting point is 00:10:43 for his plan to impregnate his young nieces and his daughter. For example, in Genesis 1930 through 38, after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Lott's daughters get him drunk on two consecutive nights and have relations with him in order to preserve the family line. In Genesis 2012, Abraham says of his wife Sarah, and yet indeed she is my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. Marcus's nieces Ruby Ortiz, Sophena, Sophena, Sle, Salaro and Rosie Solaro were all sent to live with him when they were young girls. He pulled them out of public school and never taught them to read or write.

Starting point is 00:11:27 Instead, they were taught a subject that Marcus called Loving. He would teach the girls how to please their future husbands and make them clean his locks, scratch his armpits, and sit on his lap. All three nieces testified that their uncle essayed them for a number of years. From as young as eight, Marcus would fondle them through their clothes. As they became older, he moved on to oral and then finally intercourse. Ruby said her uncle had reassured her that this was a father's way to show affection to his daughter. By the time Ruby was 13, Marcus informed her that she was the perfect age to marry him

Starting point is 00:12:07 and that God wants a man to have more than one wife. He also emphasized that God's people are becoming extinct. We need to preserve God's children. We need to have more children for the Lord. Marcus married his nieces, Ruby, Rosie, and Sophina, and his daughter's Keani and Sabrina in a private wedding ceremony at home. By the mid-1990s, pregnancies were already starting to arise in the family. Ruby gave birth to a daughter, Aviv Dominique Wesson. Sofina gave birth to a son, Jonathan St. Charles Wesson, and Rosie gave birth to two children, Sedona Vodra Wesson, and Ethan St. Laurent Wesson.

Starting point is 00:12:47 Marcus also fathered children with his own daughters. Sabrina gave birth to Marci St. Christopher Wesson and Keani bore two children, Java St. Vladin Vespere Wesson, and Illa Bell Carey Wesson. When the pregnancies were questioned by neighbors, Marcus and the girls would always claim the pregnancies occurred through artificial insemination.

Starting point is 00:13:10 Kiani and Rosie insisted it was all consensual, noting, in the home was by agreement and talk. It was totally by choice. We had a democratic family. Both girls testified that all the young women had agreed to be surrogate mothers for Marcus, whose wife Elizabeth was no longer able to bear children. However, Ruby and Sophia both ran away from the household shortly after giving birth. Marcus continued to expand his unconventional collection of properties in the mid to late 1990s. He purchased two boats in Marshall, a town in Marin County, One of these boats was a dilapidated 63-foot tugboat where the family occasionally lived.

Starting point is 00:13:51 Presidents of Marshall recalled Marcus's plans to refurbish the boat and sail around the world with his children. In the rugged hills of Santa Cruz, Marcus maintained a large army tent. In 1997, he reached out to his friend Alex Wheeler to discuss the campsite. Alex had inherited the property from his father, AJ Wheeler, a former IBM computer programmer. Marcus claimed to have a rent-to-own agreement with Alex's father for a quick. quarter acre of land, though he couldn't provide any documentation. By 1998, the Western Family Encampment had grown to include a large canvas tent, motorhome, a trailer, various appliances, and scrap metal.

Starting point is 00:14:29 Pipes, stoves, stainless steel sinks, bins, and tanks were scattered across the grounds. Although there was no running water, Marcus had constructed a makeshift bathroom with a shower and toilet in front of the motor home. Despite Alex's friendly conversations with Marcus, who was articulate and well-futable. spoken, he never received a straight answer regarding the property's clearance. Marcus once described himself as an indigent derelict, which left Alex puzzled and quite uneasy. By the turn of the millennium, Marcus and Elizabeth Wesson's children were teenagers or young adults, many working at places like McDonald's before moving on to jobs at the Radisson Hotel in downtown Fresno.

Starting point is 00:15:10 Marcus managed the family's finances with Keani Wesson recalling he was our financial advice. He was our financial advisor. He could take $20 and make it seem like we had $200. While other people R.H had no assets, no home nothing, we gave our money to Marcus to invest. Meanwhile, Marcus's religious delusions became more bizarre as years went by. He started writing his own Bible, believing that he was a vampire Jesus Christ who held the link to eternal life. In this Bible, he wrote that drinking blood was the key to immortality. Marcus would also make his kids sit and watch vampire movies instead of homeschooling them like he should have. He also became a vehement supporter of Branch David Devidian leader David Koresh, who had multiple wives and children. Many of those wives were little girls.

Starting point is 00:15:58 David and nearly 80 followers died in a fire at their Waco, Texas complex, ending a 51-day siege by federal agents in 1993. While watching the news report of the siege, Marcus turned to his children, and said, this is how the world is attacking God's people. This man is just like me. He is making children for the Lord. That's what we should be doing, making children for the Lord. In 2000, the family's assets include a historic two-story tutor home near Fresno City College. Built in 1935, the house was sold by lawyer Frank Muna to Keani Wesson, Sabrina Wesson, Sophia Slorio, and Ruby Sanchez. Frank remembered the buyers leaving a note at the fire damage house expressing interest in purchasing it.

Starting point is 00:16:45 Met with Marcus and several young women to discuss the necessary repairs. At first, Marcus claimed he wasn't related to the women, but later stated he was the uncle of two of the buyers. Although Marcus's name was not on the title, he contacted contractor Larry Prock after seeing his advertisement in the thrifty nickel. Larry represented the owners in a city hall hearing arguing against the house's demolition. Larry wasn't hired for the extensive remodeling job, though he estimated it at $80,000 and spent hours on the phone with Marcus, who was always cordial and polite.

Starting point is 00:17:18 Marcus often discussed his family, boat, and views on homeschooling, even mentioning that he lived on a boat most of the time. However, the Cambridge Avenue House had numerous code enforcement issues. City complained about the lack of progress in refurbishing the home and noted that someone was living in an old shed behind the main house. Keani and Sabrina Weston handled most of the code enforcement complaints, while officials who encountered Marcus at the house, described him as a workman. In May 2001, Frank Munas sued the women for failing to pay the full price for the home. He noticed a close relationship between Marcus and the women, often seen one with her hand in Weston's back pocket or giving him a goodbye kiss on the lips. Frank also saw two coffins on the property, one of which seemed to be used as a crib for a baby. Enrique Reed, who worked for a

Starting point is 00:18:05 Fresno funeral home, recalled Marcus buying several caskets from an antique store, claiming they were used for making furniture. Enrique encountered Marcus again at a yard sale where he offered to buy the caskets, but Enrique refused. During this visit, Marcus was accompanied by three young women, one of whom appeared to be pregnant. In December of 2002, Marcus submitted a manuscript about his life to Vantage Press, a New York publishing company, but it was rejected for being incoherent, big surprise. Meanwhile, the Cambridge Avenue House continued to face code enforcement battles. Inspectors noticed a large school bus in an enclosed utility trailer parked in the driveway, issuing citations for illegal storage of the vehicles.

Starting point is 00:18:49 Most legal disputes dissipated when the house was sold a few weeks later, but the Wesson family, now larger and more complex, didn't move far. In September, Rosie purchased a new home near Roding Park, and the Wesson settled into the neighborhood. Despite their new residents, the family was still spotted around Marshall, often seen in the oceanfront town on their anchored boat. Residents of Marshall reported that authorities had evicted Marcus and his family from their boat due to several noise complaints. The family also faced conflicts with the city officials at their new Fresno home located at 760 on West Hammond Avenue.

Starting point is 00:19:28 Authorities claimed the family violated city codes by living in a building zoned for commercial, not residential use. Additionally, the converted school bus parked in the residential. area drew further citations. Inspectors issued a citation and set a deadline for the family to either vacate the premises or obtain a special permit to stay. The deadline was March 12th, 2004. At approximately 2 p.m. that day, Sophia Solorio and Ruby Sanchez returned to the Western House, wanting to reclaim their children because Marcus was planning to move to Washington State with them. They stood in the front yard shouting for Marcus to release their children. He stood in the doorway insisting the children remain with him until they were at least seven or eight.

Starting point is 00:20:13 Boring to court testimonies, this was to ensure he had ample time to mold them in his image. Taking matters into her own hands, Sophia barged her way into the house and grabbed her son by the hand, but Marcus snatched him back and pushed Sofina back outside. Gianni, Sabrina, Rosie, and Elizabeth then started shouting Judas at Sofina, and Sabrina called Ruby an adulterer for leaving the household. The yelling in tears resulted in neighbor. calling the Fresno Police Department at 2.20 p.m. Police arrived at the scene thinking they were just dealing with a child custody dispute.

Starting point is 00:20:46 They were met with one of the worst homicides in Fresno's history. When Marcus saw the police officers, he slammed the door shut and locked it. Moments later, a series of gunshots pierced the air. Police surrounded the area and Marcus calmly reemerged from the house covered in blood. After an 80-minute standoff, he was handcuffed and ushered into a police car. Officers entered the home, they found nine bodies stacked up in the back bedroom, with Sabrina lying at the top of the pile. Each person had been shot once in the right eye using a 22-caliber handgun, except Sabrina's son Marci who had been shot in the left eye. The gun was also found underneath

Starting point is 00:21:26 Sabrina's body as well as a knife. The bodies of the victims were removed from the property in the caskets Marcus had previously purchased. An officer at the scene said he had never seen anything like it in his 40 years of law enforcement, noting, when you see children, small infants, who are being brought out of the house, who are in caskets, little coffins, will forever cause you to believe and think that there is evil in this world.

Starting point is 00:21:52 Marcus Wesson is an evil person. While Marcus awaited trial, relatives sided with him and blamed the two young mothers for causing the tragic events of that day. His childhood friend, Charles H. Cox, also said he couldn't imagine Marcus killing anyone, because he just wasn't that kind of guy, not that people don't change or snap.

Starting point is 00:22:15 I would just like to give him the benefit of the doubt. Family and friends dismiss allegations of a murder self-cancel pact, but Marcus himself remained silent, offering no explanation for what went down in that back bedroom on March 12th. Keani and Rosie both blamed Sabrina. They claimed that the woman had become verbally informed. physically abused as soon as the police arrived. She then coerced seven of the children and her sister Elizabeth into the back bedroom. Rosie said she saw Sabrina take out the gun from her bag before closing the door and killing

Starting point is 00:22:49 everyone inside. The trial started in March of 2005 and lasted three months. Marcus pled not guilty, testifying that his daughter Sabrina had shot the children for removing herself from the earth. He claimed she was so fond of guns, she carried cartridges in her purse. and liked to play Army, painting her face green and black like camouflage. During the defense, Sabrina held the 22-caliber Ruger Mark 2 pistol to the eye of each child and squeezed the trigger before killing her sister Elizabeth, and then finally herself.

Starting point is 00:23:22 There is some evidence for this as her DNA was found on the murder weapon while Marcus's was not. However, the coroner's report stated the two sisters died an hour or two after the younger victims. The jury could neither confirm nor deny that. that Marcus had fired the shots. However, the prosecutor, Chief Deputy District Attorney Lisa Gamoian, argued that if Marcus never pulled the trigger, he was still responsible for the murders as he manipulated his family. Prosecutor Gamoian was noted saying, in this family, he was Christ himself, the ultimate authority figure who determined life and death.

Starting point is 00:23:57 Before his pact, for his teachings, none of this would have happened. As many as 50 witnesses took the stand, including Rosie and Keani. Guiani read from her diary and said, I love you, my daddy, always know that. I am deeply in love with you. I will never leave you. Rosie wore a gold wedding ring Marcus had given her and said that she still loved him and was happy to have been his wife.

Starting point is 00:24:22 She also told the court that Marcus only bought the casket so he could use the wood for a renovation project. Marcus's son, Serafino Wesson, also testified in support of his father, telling the courtroom, he's the best dad anybody could ever have. He expressed his disbelief that his father was the killer, stating, He looks really dangerous, but he's such a gentle guy. I can't believe he did it.

Starting point is 00:24:45 Marcus refused to take the stand. However, jurors were able to hear some of his words when transcripts of jailhouse conversations with his family were read out. In one, he tries to explain the electrical sounds in his head and was quoted saying, I said, Lord, what is that? And then he said that I had an angelic brain. I started laughing so hard I was losing faith in him. The trial ended on June 17th, 2005, with Marcus being found guilty on nine counts of first-degree murder, 14 counts of forcible essay of his nieces and seven of his daughters.

Starting point is 00:25:16 He was sentenced to death and put on death row at San Quentin State Prison. Six years after the verdict, Marcus appealed his death sentence. His attorney, Mark Cutler, has represented dozens of death row inmates and has slowed down the death penalty process for all of them, keeping them alive for decades. It says Marcus Wesson's case will also last decades. long enough for the 64-year-old to die of natural causes as opposed to execution. As of the date of this recording, June of 2024, Marcus Wesson is 77 years old and is still sitting on death row. The Wesson family massacre horrified the community of Fresno, understandably so, and donations started to pour in to support the remaining children.

Starting point is 00:25:57 A large memorial filled with flowers, balloons, and teddy bears was left outside the Wesson home in memory of the victims who lost their lives. lives. Sabrina, Elizabeth, Marci, Java, Illebel, Jonathan, Aviv, Sedona, and Ethan were all cremated on Wednesday, March 24th, 2004 at Belmont Memorial Park in Fresno. Their ashes were kept by family members. Rosie sold 761 West Hammon Avenue in 2005 to TFS investments. TFS investments tore the property down in 2006 and sold it to the city's redevelopment agent's in 2010. In 2012, the city approved the sale of the property for a new AutoZone store for $580,000, but the plan never went ahead. In 2016, the property was sold to the state of California for its high-speed rail project for $46,000. Marcus Wesson is regarded as one of Fresno's worst mass murderers, has been nicknamed the Vampire King of Fresno. Primetime launched a one-hour

Starting point is 00:27:03 special surrounding the case called Family Secrets. In this documentary, Elizabeth Solario revealed she had divorced her husband of more than 30 years. She described the divorce as a symbolic closure from a man who controlled her entire life since she was eight years old. Five of Marcus Wesson's surviving children appeared in the documentary and shared the pain they had endured under the constant control of their father. As part of the special, the family also returned to places where they lived with Marcus, who kept them isolated from the rest of the world. Elizabeth says the journey reminded her of the emotional scars that she and her children will carry for the rest of their lives.

The Misery Machine - The Case of Marcus Wesson

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