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Two months after the conclusion of the siege, Agent Aguilera was informed on Monday November 2 that his request to search Mount Carmel had been denied.

The denial of Agent Aguilera's request didn't mean the case was closed, it just meant that Aguilera had to keep digging for more evidence.

Understaffing at the ATF meant that he was mostly working solo, with occasional help here and there.

He'd managed to track down multiple arms dealers who'd sold to Koresh, and established that the Branch Davidians possessed enough firearms, conversion kits and munitions to suggest they were likely involved in illegal sales.

But Aguilera hadn't found any actual evidence that proved criminal activity.

In December 1992, he began focusing more on interviewing individuals who might have witnessed illegal activity.

Agent Aguilera spoke to Child Protective Services worker Joyce Sparks about her investigation into the Branch Davidians.

Amongst her general recollections of what she'd seen at Mount Carmel, Joyce described how a little boy there had told her that all of the adults had guns and practiced using them a lot.

Joyce had asked David Koresh if she could see the guns kept at the compound.

After a 30 minute wait, Koresh escorted Joyce to an old yellow school bus that lay next to the compound.

It was mostly buried under the ground.

At one end of the bus was a refrigerator marked with bullet holes.

Three rifles lay on the floor.

Koresh explained that he did his target practice there as the bus muffled the sound and didn't disturb the neighbours.

Joyce also related how Koresh had given an ominous warning, stating, ''My time is coming.

When I reveal myself as the messenger and my time comes, what happens will make the riots in LA pale in comparison.''

He was referring to the 1992 Los Angeles riots, which saw a series of violent riots and civil disturbances across Los Angeles County during May and April of that year.

In total, 63 people had been killed and 2,383 were injured.

Agent Aguilera interviewed some ex-Branch Davidians, including Mark Brough, who was living in Australia and had started a campaign against Koresh after becoming disillusioned with his former mentor.

Mark described how he had participated in shooting practice alongside Koresh and said that Branch Davidians took it in turns to stand guard around the building while armed.