On the 9th Nightmare Before Christmas... On the afternoon of March 12, 2004, a quiet Fresno street exploded with panic. Twenty-five-year-old Sofina Solorio stood outside the boarded-up home where she’d once lived, screaming for Marcus Wesson to release her children. Her cousin, Ruby Ortiz, shouted beside her. Both women had grown up under Wesson’s rule. Both had borne him children. Now they wanted them back. Relatives crowded the curb, furious and ready to force their way in. Inside, Wesson’s family gathered at the windows, shouting back with a strange, fevered devotion. “Judas! Judas!” “Bow down to your master!” When Fresno police arrived, the chaos only deepened. At the center stood Marcus Wesson, fifty-seven, nearly 300 pounds, his graying dreadlocks hanging to his knees. He was eerily calm, answering questions in a soft, measured voice. Officers believed they were dealing with a tense custody dispute. Then Wesson asked for one thing: to say goodbye to the children. He closed the door behind him. Join Cam and Jen on this episode of Our True Crime Podcast entitled "Innocence Destroyed: The Wesson Family Horror." Thank you to our fantastic team: Listener discretion by Edward October @octoberpodVHS. Executive Producer/Music @theinkypawprint. Sources:  https://www.crimelibrary.org/noto rious_murders/family/marcus_wesson/13.html https://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/04/22/wesson/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/many-questions-in-fresno-slayings/ https://web.archive.org/web/20190827142254/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-jun-30-me-wesson30-story.html https://abc30.com/post/marcus-wesson-mass-murder-children-killed-convicted-murderer/14518182/ https://abc7.com/archive/7540458/ https://www.amazon.com/Marcus-Wesson-Horrific-Fresnos-Murderer/dp/1703797760 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jury-gives-death-to-killer-dad/ https://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/04/22/wesson/ https://www.foxnews.com/politics/will-jerry-brown-commute-sentences-of-every-death-row-inmate-in-one-of-his-last-acts-as-california-governor https://www.nydailynews.com/news/justice-story/justice-story-vampire-king-article-1.1621606 http://www.cbsnews.com/news/dad-guilty-of-killing-his-9-kids/ http://www.daily-journal.com/life/wesson-massacre-largely-forgotten/article_389f9b7f-4237-511d-a6b7-b003bddc088a.html https://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/marcus-wesson-mass-murder-surviving-family-speaks-abuse/story?id=11089648 https://abc30.com/marcus-wesson-mass-murder-children-killed-convicted-murderer/14518182 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices