A Kenyan court has sentenced doomsday cult leader Paul Mackenzie to 200 years in prison for the murders of 191 individuals, the vast majority of whom were children.
Mackenzie, along with 27 accomplices, was convicted of orchestrating the deaths by instructing followers to starve their children to death in an attempt to “meet Jesus.”
The self-proclaimed pastor was apprehended in 2023 following the discovery of over 400 bodies in shallow graves within the Shakahola forest near the Kenyan coast. The massive investigation into the massacre sent shockwaves throughout Kenya and garnered significant international attention.
Prior to the sentencing, prosecutors in the Mombasa court had advocated for the death penalty, citing the extreme severity of the crimes.
Prosecutors also emphasized Mackenzie’s apparent lack of remorse and requested life sentences for his co-defendants.
Before Friday’s proceedings, Francis Wanje, who lost eight relatives in the Shakahola forest including two grandchildren, expressed to the BBC’s Newsday programme his hope for “a sentence which will match [Mackenzie’s] deeds in the forest.”
Mackenzie and the other accused individuals formally petitioned the court for mercy and leniency.
Prior to their conviction on October 19, all defendants had maintained their innocence, repeatedly claiming that no one was forced to die.
During her eight-hour judgment delivered last month, Justice Diana Mochache noted that Mackenzie’s followers believed he acted as the “mouthpiece of Jesus.”
The court also heard that those who resisted Mackenzie’s doctrines were beaten to death.
One co-defendant admitted to instructing followers that anyone who “resisted the directive to fast must be forced to go to heaven through kicks and blows.”
The judge noted that burials within the forest cult base were referred to as “weddings,” and the deceased were “celebrated as having wedded with Jesus.”
The court concluded that the deaths were the result of a highly organized system involving religious teachings and directives that coerced followers into lethal fasting protocols.
Post-mortem examinations indicated that most victims died of starvation, while others succumbed to suffocation, strangulation, or head trauma.
In some instances, causes of death could not be definitively established due to advanced decomposition, while other victims died shortly after being rescued due to extreme emaciation.