Kenya: Cult leader guilty of murdering 190 children, 1 adult

Kenyan court finds cult leader and 28 associates guilty of murdering 190 children and one adult.

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A court in Mombasa, Kenya, has found self-proclaimed preacher Paul Mackenzie and 28 associates guilty of murdering 190 children and one adult as part of a notorious Christian starvation cult. The cult, known as the Good News International Church, was established by Mackenzie in 2003 and claimed the end of the world was imminent. The court heard that Mackenzie incited his followers to starve themselves to death in order to "meet Jesus."

The prosecution had said Mackenzie "initiated and directed" extreme fasting at his 800-acre (325 hectare) ranch in Shakahola Forest, claiming there was a "structured hierarchy of death" which said children should die first, followed by teenagers, women, and then men. Post-mortems and police reports revealed that the children mostly died from starvation, but also from "asphyxia, neck compression and traumatic head injury," prosecutors said.

The court in Mombasa also heard that, in some cases, children were isolated and denied food while their parents watched. The case has been dubbed the "Shakahola Forest Massacre."

The discovery of mass graves in the Shakahola Forest has led to the recovery of over 400 bodies, with many severely decomposed and only 26 able to be identified. Investigations into the other deaths are continuing.