Jenn and Joe began November by unpacking the horrific Jonestown massacre of 1978 and Ti West’s mumblegore recreation The Sacrament. Now we’re headed to Waco, TX for a similarly upsetting story. On February 28, 1993, the US ATF raided Mount Carmel, home of David Koresh and his group of bible students who would come to be known as the Branch Davidians. 

Attempting to serve a search warrant for illegal firearms, the doomed raid led to a 51 day standoff that would eventually take the lives of 82 people—28 of them children. Many of us remember watching the compound burn on national TV and the resulting backlash against the government agency responsible for the doomed mission. But what about the years leading up to this violent event? How did we go from a small group of dedicated believers to stalled negotiations and families trapped inside a blazing building? 

In the newest episode of Bloody FM’s Murder Made Fiction podcast, Jenn walks Joe through this uniquely American tragedy beginning with Koresh’s violent ascent to power, disturbing allegations of child abuse, a bungled surveillance mission, and an ATF desperate to improve their public image. 

And if you want even more Murder Made Fiction, be sure to check out the pod’s Patreon feed, where Jenn and Joe have more than 13 hours of bonus content.

This month, we’re tackling the Menendez Murders with a full primer and episode by episode coverage of Ryan Murphy’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story as well as Alejandro Hartmann’s Netflix documentary The Menendez Brothers.