A Kenyan court has sentenced doomsday cult leader Paul Mackenzie to 200 years in prison following the mass starvation deaths of 190 children and one adult. The sentencing, handed down on Friday, follows a ruling two weeks prior in which a court in the coastal city of Mombasa found Mackenzie guilty of the killings.
According to court findings, Mackenzie ordered his followers to starve themselves and their families to death so they could "meet Jesus." The victims were among hundreds of suspected followers discovered buried in shallow graves across a remote forest in what is considered one of the deadliest cult disasters in modern history.
The total 200-year prison term is split evenly, consisting of 100 years for murder by starvation and another 100 years for direct homicide. Authorities previously recovered approximately 500 bodies connected to the sect's compound, marking an unprecedented tragedy that shocked the nation and triggered renewed scrutiny over the regulation of religious organizations in Kenya.
