Chilling cult case: He led a hunger strike, more than 400 people died

Hundreds of corpses were unearthed in the incident known as the "Shakahola Forest Massacre" since 2023 at a sect base in the town of Malindi in Kenya.

Self-proclaimed preacher Paul Mackenzie allegedly encouraged his followers to starve to death in order to “meet Jesus.”

Mackenzie and his accomplices pleaded not guilty to all 191 murder charges against them in 2024. He also denied manslaughter and terrorism charges brought against him in separate cases.

In the three years since this grisly discovery, more bodies, including children, have been unearthed, bringing the total to well over 400.

RELEASED TWICE

Mackenzie appeared expressionless when he arrived at the Mombasa Magistrates' Court on Monday along with 29 other defendants. The defendants got off a bus with bars and windows, handcuffed in groups of two.

There have been calls for tougher regulations on religious organizations in Kenya after it was revealed that Mackenzie had been arrested and released twice in the past.

INHUMAN 'HIERARCHY OF DEATH'

Prosecutors allege Mackenzie “initiated and directed” the practice of extreme fasting on his 800-acre farm in the Shakahola Forest. He also suggests that there is a “structured hierarchy of death” that states that children should die first, then teenagers, women, and men last.

Prosecutors said, based on autopsy reports and police records, that the children mostly died of starvation, but some also died of "drowning, neck compression and traumatic head injuries."

Mackenzie's lawyers said that the case was "largely based on circumstantial evidence, hearsay, and inconclusive forensic findings."

Mackenzie was arrested in April 2023 after a human rights organization tipped off authorities and some followers were rescued.

MORE THAN 400 BODIES WERE FOUND

The subsequent police operation uncovered hundreds of shallow mass graves, and the death toll was so high that excavations had to be suspended because local morgues ran out of space.

Kenya National Human Rights Commission announced that the death toll in 2024 is 429. Some of the victims have not yet been identified.