Kenyan cult leader found guilty on 191 murder charges

Warning: This story contains details of child abuse and death which audiences may find distressing.

Kenya’s high court has found cult leader Paul Mackenzie and 28 others guilty of murder over the deaths of 190 children and one adult in one of the world’s worst cult-related disasters in recent history.

Mackenzie was arrested in 2023 after police received a tip-off, and soon began uncovering shallow graves in the Shakahola Forest in southeastern Kenya.

Prosecutors say Mackenzie and his Good News International Church organised a Christian doomsday sect and ordered followers to starve themselves and their children to death so they could go to heaven.

Mackenzie denied murder charges, saying he did not force the victims to starve, and his lawyer told reporters outside the court that they intend to appeal the verdict.

In total, more than 400 bodies have been recovered from the Shakahola Forest. This judgement covered 191 deaths, while investigations into the other deaths are ongoing.

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