Reno’s “the buck stops here” performance earned her quick praise on the Hill. In effect, Reno played good cop to Stephen E. Higgins’s bad cop. Higgins, the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), antagonized committee members with his continued evasiveness. In a public statement last week, Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen signaled that Higgins would probably step down.
By the weekend, investigators seemed to have as many questions as answers about what actually happened inside the compound. Some remaining mysteries:
Koresh had said there were 95 adults and children at the compound on April 19, the day of the fire. Nine of them escaped. The Rangers have found the remains of 72 people and are still looking for the five who died in the initial raid. Officials believe that Koresh inflated the number of cultists in the compound, but acknowledge they may never know the true count-the fire was so intense, it may have completely incinerated some of the victims.
Pathologists have performed autopsies on 28 of the fire victims and positively identified six. To date, they’ve found gunshot wounds in at least seven bodies. Investigators are still waiting for toxicology reports, which would show whether some of the cultists took poison.
Local folks are spreading the rumor that Koresh crawled to safety through his underground warren of tunnels. But at the weekend, a state official confirmed that investigators believe that they’ve found his remains. Livingston Fagan, a Branch Davidian now in custody, told NEWSWEEK the tunnel system “is not extensive enough for someone to crawl several hundred yards to escape.”
While surviving Davidians insist the FBI ignited the flames, the Feds claim new proof the cultists did it themselves. A senior FBI official said that secret infrared photographs taken by surveillance aircraft show fires starting simultaneously at three separate locations at the compound. Prosecutors preparing their case against surviving Davidians are likely to use the photos to rebut the cultists’ expected defense that the Feds acted irresponsibly throughout the 51-day siege and were to blame for its fiery end.
Reno will almost certainly be around to oversee any government case-after last week’s star turn, she’s unlikely to lose her job. During the hearings, the new A.G. said she would not “engage in recrimination.” But with Treasury and Justice investigations scheduled to start this month, the mutual accusations seem unavoidable.
How would you rate the way the FBI handled its operation against the cult compound near Waco?
19% Excellent 34% Good 20% Only fair 23% Poor
From the NEWSWEEK Poll of April 29-30, 1993
