Kenyan court sentences starvation cult leader to 200 years

Mombasa, Kenya (AP) — The leader of the Kenyan doomsday cult, Pastor Paul Mackenzie, was sentenced to 200 years in prison for the murders of 191 people. The High Court in Mombasa's coastal city handed down the sentence on Friday. According to prosecutors, Mackenzie was convicted of killing 190 children and one adult after ordering his followers to starve themselves to death in hopes of meeting Jesus.

Justice Diana Kavedza stated that Mackenzie bore the "primary criminal culpability" for moving his followers to a remote location and instructing them to fast to death. The cult leader was charged alongside 28 other members, including guards who enforced the fasting orders and gravediggers who helped conceal the mass graves. All 29 accused pleaded not guilty, with the exception of one individual who confessed and requested leniency.

The court found the 29 individuals guilty of the murders on October 19. In 2023, over 400 bodies were found buried in shallow graves on the 800-acre Chakama Ranch, the cult's property in Kenya.