PRINT THIS PAGE | E-MAIL THIS PAGE

Tuesday, December 8, 1998

Former Branch Davidian leader Roden found dead

BIG SPRING, Texas (AP) -- Former Branch Davidian leader George Roden, who had been in state care since he was declared insane in 1989, turned up dead Monday outside the mental institution he was trying to escape.

An employee at the Big Spring State Hospital discovered Roden's body on the north side of the grounds around 7:30 a.m. He escaped the hospital, about 60 miles northeast of Odessa, Saturday night. It was the third time he'd fled a state mental institution since 1993.

A news release from the hospital said Big Spring police were investigating the cause of death.

Roden was driven from the religious group in 1987 in a gun battle with David Koresh.

Two years later, he was institutionalized after being found innocent by reason of insanity in the killing of his Odessa roommate. Since then, he had been shuffled between a maximum-security unit in Vernon and the Big Spring hospital.

Roden's first escape was in September 1993, when he eluded authorities for four days before being captured in Abilene.

In February 1995, the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation's Dangerous Review Board declared Roden "not manifestly dangerous." Seven months later, he fled Big Spring for three days before being caught outside the Israeli consulate in New York City, where he reportedly caused a disturbance after being denied a visa to Israel. Roden, who claimed to be Jewish, said PLO-trained hitmen were trying to kill him.

Roden's mother owned the 77-acre site of the Branch Davidian compound near Waco known as Mount Carmel. She named Koresh as trustee of her will.

Roden fought Koresh for control of the group, then moved to Odessa after a gun battle that led to attempted murder charges against Koresh and seven others. Koresh's case was declared a mistrial; the followers were acquitted.

Koresh and 78 followers died in a fire at Mount Carmel on April 19, 1993, ending a 51-day standoff with federal authorities.