Cult Leader Gets 200-Year Sentence for Starvation Deaths of 190 Children
Kenyan court convicts Paul Mackenzie for causing deaths through starvation and violence.
The Brief
- Mackenzie sentenced to 200 years for starvation deaths of 190 children.
- 100 years for murder by starvation, 100 for direct homicide.
- 28 accomplices received sentences from 10 to 160 years.
A Kenyan court on Friday sentenced cult leader Paul Mackenzie to 200 years in prison for the starvation deaths of 190 children, effectively a life term.
The sentence includes 100 years for murder by starvation and an additional 100 years for direct homicide, according to Reuters.
Mackenzie led the Good News International Church in the Shakahola Forest, near the Indian Ocean in eastern Kenya. He instructed followers that to reach heaven before the world ended, they must starve themselves and their children.
Followers who ate food were threatened or beaten by Mackenzie's accomplices, Reuters reported. Justice Diana Kavedza described how children watched siblings die after enduring hunger for days.
Police exhumed bodies of Mackenzie's followers in 2023, finding many in shallow graves. Investigators concluded the deaths were due to starvation, with some children showing signs of suffocation or being buried alive.
Mackenzie faces another case alleging 52 people were killed in a nearby village. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges.
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