Deadly Devotion

by Alysia Sofios, Caitlin Rother

For decades, the family of Marcus Wesson—his wife, Elizabeth, and seventeen children—lived sequestered in a social and emotional prison, enduring his tyrannical reign of physical, sexual, and mental abuse. Then came the terrible day when a family confrontation erupted into a harrowing with police and SWAT teams descending on a small blue house in central Fresno, Marcus Wesson murdered nine of his children.

Television reporter Alysia Sofios got the first tip about Wesson’s arrest and was witness to every twist and turn of the horrific case through to Wesson’s trial. Risking her job and her life to offer friendship and support to the traumatized family members—scarred by memories and guilt, reviled for having the Wesson name—Sofios chronicles the case that shocked the nation, and gives voice to their astounding stories of survival. This is a stunning account of healing from one man’s unimaginable acts, and how each, in time, learned to break free from a deadly devotion.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime, Biography Memoir

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 3, 2009

About the author

Alysia Sofios is an award-winning journalist who is known in the Fresno area for her exclusive stories about the Marcus Wesson murders. She was the first reporter to hear about the story from police and the only reporter to obtain interviews with most of Wesson's family.

Sofios majored in journalism at Michigan State University. In 2000, she became a reporter and anchor at Fox affiliate WSYM in Lansing, Michigan. She was recognized by the Michigan Association of Broadcasters for her work covering the local impact of the Iraq War. She later accepted a reporting position at Fox affiliate KMPH in Fresno, California, where she remains as a reporter. She has covered the Scott Peterson and Marcus Wesson trials. Several of her stories have appeared on Fox News and CNN.

Reviews

[Fishface · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read on a fascinating subject: the long-term recovery of a family from the effects of years of brainwashing, sexual abuse, a cultlike level of isolation from the larger world, serious religious weirdness and finally the murder of 9 children in the family in a single day. It's a great object lesson in not being too quick to judge people based on what you read in the newspaper.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so surprised by how much I loved this book. I absolutely loved the characters...though not characters, they are real people. I saw them on Dr. Phil. I was pulling for each one of them and hoping the best for them. It was moving and sickening and in the end hopeful.

[SouthWestZippy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Marcus Wesson murdered nine children on March 12, 2004. Television reporter Alysia Sofios not only get the first tip that Wesson has been arrested but she allows the surviving female family to move in with her. Very raw and open look into the dynamics of the family.

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An unbelievable story of tragedy and hope and how one fine lady opened her home and her life to help a family in great need. Definitely a page turner! I couldn't put it down. Alysia Sofios did an excellent job writing this book. Highly recommend!

[Rachel]

Very interesting subject matter. I'm glad the Wesson family members are getting their lives on track. I don't really care much for Alysia's writing style though.

[Micky Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very disturbing man a very good read

[Jason P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where Hope Begins gets a full 5 out of 5 stars from me. The book is powerful and moving. It’s one of those true stories that stays with you long after you finish. I was pulled in right away by how honest and intense everything felt, from the difficult moments to the hope that slowly builds as the family tries to heal. Sofios does a great job showing both the pain and the bravery it takes to start over, and I appreciated how real all the emotions came across. Even though some parts are hard to read, it’s inspiring and worth it if you want a book that’s both heartbreaking and full of hope.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Survivors of Marcus Wesson murders speak out and tell their story to the author how they were sexually, physically and mentally abused. He fathered 17 children and murdered 9 of them in a stand off.
“The kids were brainwashed young and into adulthood.

[Judy Boucher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disturbing story, I don't recommend unless you can hande true crime.

[Carol Goodwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read

[Eva-Marie Nevarez · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have about ten books to review, some from months ago, that I should have reviewed right away. This is one of them.
This is unique because the author, Sofios, is a reporter/journalist who befriended the family/surviving victims of this crime. It feels honest - I think Sofios wrote this with honesty.
I'd have liked to have seen more photos. Normally the amount included would be the average amount but with a family of this size, and so many victims, the photos are small in number.
There are things I want to know that Sofios can't tell me. How did this go undetected for so long? Why do people put up with this in the beginning? I get the whole 'brainwashed' thing. I even believe it in some cases. I don't know if I entirely believe it here. The kids? Probably. The wife? No dice.
No one can make me believe that the girls in the family, who were not even allowed to talk to their brothers and spent tremendous amounts of "alone time" with their monster "father" got pregnant and the mother didn't think it suspicious. A normal family the suspicion would fall on a boyfriend, lover, one night stand, etc. This family? No. By all accounts these girls were allowed to do nothing but worship this piece of shit. How would they get pregnant any other way?
The "mother" says often - and Sofios seems to buy it - that she "didn't know". "I just didn't know that Alysia." How? Why didn't you know?
IMO, 'not knowing' and 'not wanting to know' are two different things. A part of me hates to say this - I could never even dream of the pain this woman has gone through. But at the same time, it's me being honest.
I do applaud Sofios for coming to their aid because if it's true, the state was only caring for those members of the family who agreed to side with the prosecution. As much as I wouldn't want to see any family members in this circumstance side with the defense, is that really a reason to leave them out in the cold? If you have the ability to care for the one side you have the ability to care for the others as well. To expand on that a little, I would think they'd have a better chance of making the family members "see the light" if they did open some sort of dialogue.
It bothered me on page 310 when the author mentions seeing on the news that Wesson's dirty ass dreads were hacked off. Hack the hair off. That's fine with me. They could hack his head off and I wouldn't care. It's what was done with it that bothered me.
According to the news report and Alysia the disgusting things were sent to Locks of Love. So, in the authors words, now they were allowing a 'bunch of little kids to run around with a mass murderer's hair on their heads.' And that's not even o mention how they cleaned it. I saw pictures and I'm here to say I doubt it could be done. That crap wouldn't touch my child.
There are other questions too - how did the officers outside the house not hear the shots? Is there a gun that quiet? Neighbors supposedly head shots, why didn't the people who were in the very yard of the house where these people were murdered?
I don't have much, if any, sympathy for Sebhrenah. I feel like I should but I don't. Other kids got out. Other kids saw that this wasn't right. How could she turn a gun on babies? On her own babies at that? All on the word of one single "human".
I don't have enough sympathy inside to have any left for her. I certainly have none for Wesson. I feel for the kids and babies who were brutally murdered and left in some sort of horrid pile. And I do feel for the remaining family members. Not for the two responsible for this atrociousness.
All in all it's written well. It doesn't have that journalist ring to it that makes books so hard to read for some people. The crime is unique enough to make it interesting for those looking for that also.

[sylvia corley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Change my mind

I shoulda read Hands of my father last because, this book made me feel a little different about this family,especially Mrs Wesson,it seems if thought they were prisoners of war.I was angry at first and couldn't understand how could they stand by that evil man side for so long,but reading this book I got a different understanding some what. If that's all they new, and that evil man kelp them in dark all those years,feeding that garbage about his make up religion,it so sad. Poor Elizabeth, I judge her so wrongly,he had a hold on her since she was eight years old. Her mother should be charged with something,how you let your child have a relationship with a grown asss man and when she turns up pregnant at 15 you sign for her to get married,its unbelievable. This was mess up family from the beginning. Let's not get into this homeschooling,we're there anybody checking that. This was a invisible family and nobody cared until it was to late.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This true story begins with a flashback to the day that Marcus Wesson murdered nine of his children. The author, a report in California, overcame her journalist training and instinct to help three of the women from Wesson's family get back on their feet and try to find a "normal" life in the aftermath of the murders.

Sofios is a remarkable woman, both in her ability to act to help out the people that had no one else to help them and in her continued optimism. I was interested in her story and the Wesson family's story, but I find it difficult to believe that she could always be so positive. I also think that she does not really address the culpability of the law enforcement officials who ignored the family's plea for help before the fatal day and hesitated to act on the day the children were murdered.

I found myself wanting to skim more than read.

[Lureta Whitewing-Porter · Rating 5 out of 5]

First Rate

The perspective of a reporter who befriends a family following one of the most horrific mass murders I have ever read about. The psychological power this man had over his wife and children was astounding. I could only come close to comparing what a child in the jihad ( raised to become soldiers and suicide bombers), as to the extent of brain washing they were exposed too. The father, Marcus Wesson is a psychopath and mentally abhorrent in ways one cannot fathom. As a reader of true crime, and as Professional, who has worked in child protective services I have never encountered sexual, physical , spiritual and emotional abuse to this degree. If one is to believe a person is possessed with a demon this man is a testament . The uplifting aspect is that families can heal..at least in this case the scars may be less visible.

[Sarah Reidy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full disclosure: I'm publicizing this book. On that note, it really is amazing. I read it in 24 hours. It is horrifying, disturbing, and hopeful, all rolled into one. This is the true story behind the Wesson family murders (the largest mass murder in Fresno, CA history) in which patriarch Marcus Wesson killed nine of his seventeen children (some of which are also his grandchildren - yeah, I know). But it is also the story of what happened to the surviving members of the family afterwards, and the unlikely bond they formed with a reporter who had been assigned to the case. I KNOW it sounds cheesy, but if you try it, you probably won't be able to put it down.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderfully and compassionately written, Alysia Sofios, a news reporter from Fresno, CA reports on the devastation that Marcus Wesson causes his family. A religious fanatic, physical & mental abuser of all of his 18 children (6 of which were conceived by his own daughters and niece), Wesson ends up on CA death row, where he remains today. After the "God" ordered slaying of 9 of the children, Ms. Sofios takes in the remaining members of the family and strives to learn how they had survived to this point and the journey to life without Wesson. A definite inspiration of love and "eternal hope".

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was bittersweet to read. Bitter because of what this family had to endure for years and years. Sweet, because they overcame. I can not imagine living my life the way they had to. I wish them a whole lifetime of happiness and joy. They deserve it!!
Also, a standing ovation for the author, Alysia for having the compassion and courage to take this family into her home, when they had no where to go. I would hope I would do the same, but don't know that I would have the courage she did.

[Barbara Powers · Rating 4 out of 5]

The family perspective was fascinating in this book, although I was frustrated with the family loyalty to a very sick man. The fact that is was non fiction, I couldn't fault the author for the storyline, because the story couldnt be told any other way. So many lessons in this book, of humanity and compassion on the part of the author in following her heart despite the risks, and how the behavior of 1 person and his treatment of others can play such a huge role in their belief in theirselves and reality. I was hooked from page 1. I would love an update on how the family is doing today.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intriguing and sad, this true story tells about the family of a convicted mass murderer. It gives some insight into what happened in his very dysfunctional family, and it portrays his grown children as the victims they truly were. After reading this book, I think it would be impossible not to feel sympathy and compassion for this family and admiration for the reporter who became such an important part of their lives.

[Gina Sandoval · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tough book to read just because of content but def put you in touch with more of the families feelings and background. I was slightly put off by the fact that it was written by a reporter who happened to befriend and house some of the family when they had no where else to go. I felt like she was exploiting the family in my opinion but then again she probably got their ok to write book.

[DAISY READS HORROR · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very sad story. Marcus is a disgusting pig. He shouldn't even still be breathing after molesting his daughters and nieces. & Elizabeth is also to blame for turning the other eye. I will never understand why women allow this when they live in the United States. We are not in the 1700's or the Middle East where a woman can't speak up. Come on now stand up for your kids! It really makes me angry!

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazing, heartwarming, tragic story that everyone should read. It is amazing that a family can live like the Wessons did and not even know it was morally and lawfully wrong. It is sad that so many people had to die to finally put this filthy animal behind bars.

[Marni · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a wonderful book of hope surviving tragedy. A tragic story and the path of the family of survivors and the reporter who helped them find their way. I came away from the book unexpectedly feeling hope and happiness for the victims who were given a new life.

[Sherry Scheffer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very sad but very gripping story of how a father can treat his family. Amazing to me is the involvement the journalist had with this family. It seems quite real from her prospective. Would have been nice to see more pictures.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The topic of this book is disturbing but written well.

[Kristen Doherty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't believe a father would do that to his kids...I hope the kids that survived are not under his controlling spell anymore and I am glad that Marcus is on death row.

[Juanita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating, but could have been written better; probably not fault of the author--would have liked to have gotten into the mind of Marcus, but appears he wasn't willing.

[Debbie James · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have an amazing story behind this book and author....

[Adrienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing read and shocking. I finished it in a week. To think that one can control their family was shocking, but real. A must read.

[Johann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm from the area that this mass murder took place so I was drawn to this story. It was interesting to read how these women lived before and after this horrible tragedy.