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He himself had done so with a loaded gun.

According to Mark, Koresh had told them that if anyone attempted to enter the property, they should shoot to kill.

During one conversation, Koresh had disparaged gun laws as ludicrous because, quote, "...an individual could easily acquire a firearm and the necessary parts to convert it to a machine gun.

But if a person had the gun and the parts together, they would be in violation of the law."

This was significant as it was an open admission that Koresh knew he was breaking the law by converting firearms.

Another witness who'd left the Branch Davidians in June 1992 said that Koresh's arsenal had grown even larger in recent months.

This individual had seen a .50 calibre weapon so large that it was mounted on a tactical bipod and had heard of other similar firearms on the property.

There were also around 15 AR-15s, 25 AK-47s, several pistols, and three street sweepers, a 12-gauge, 12-shot shotgun with a spring-driven drum magazine and folding buttstock.

Each time a street sweeper's trigger was released after firing a shot, the magazine rotated to position the next shot for firing.

Agent Aguilera also spoke to one of Koresh's former wives, Robin Bunce, her brother, and her mother, Janine, who had also slept with Koresh with the intention of conceiving a child.

They told the agent that Koresh had screened violent movies about the Vietnam War and told his followers they were training films.

Branch Davidians armed with guns took turns standing guard around the building and there were sometimes shooting drills with AK-47s.

The Buns also told Aguilera that there were foreigners at Mount Carmel who had overstayed their visas and that Koresh had fathered more than a dozen children with various women and girls.

They explained that no men other than Koresh were permitted to engage in sexual activity.

Janine Bunz told the agent that she had personally delivered some of the babies born to female Branch Davidians.

The youngest mother had been just 11 years old.

Although the sexual abuse of minors and immigration violations did not fall under the ATF's jurisdiction, these other alleged crimes strengthened Aguilera's case, especially as it was against federal law for illegal aliens to receive a firearm.

Upon performing background checks on the Branch Davidians, Agent Aguilera found that more than 40 were foreign nationals, many of whom were there illegally.

Several others had been arrested, convicted, or were under investigation for various crimes, ranging from fraud to smuggling and narcotics offences.

Agent Aguilera had enough to obtain the search warrant he needed to raid Mount Carmel.