David Koresh / Retro Style Design Tapestry

David Koresh (/kəˈrɛʃ/; born Vernon Wayne Howell; August 17, 1959 – April 19, 1993) was the American leader of the Branch Davidians sect, claiming to be its final prophet. Koresh came from a dysfunctional family background and was a member, and later a leader, of the Shepherd's Rod, a reform movement led by Victor Houteff that splintered off from the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Koresh joined a spiritual group that was based at the Mount Carmel Center outside Waco, Texas, where the group took the name "Branch Davidians". Here he competed for dominance with another leader named George Roden, until Roden was jailed for murdering another rival.