By: Rod Swift
Re: More Christanic Terror

06:47 PM ET 02/28/97

Polygamous cult leader guilty in murder scheme


            HOUSTON (Reuter) - The head of the Lamb of God  religious
cult was found guilty Friday of murder for hire for
orchestrating the killings of three former members shot to death
in Texas in 1988.

            Aaron LeBaron, 28, also was found guilty of racketeering and
infringing on the religious beliefs of the slain Lamb of God
members. He faces up to 50 years in federal prison.

            LeBaron was charged with ordering the deaths of Mark
Chynoweth and his brother, Duane Chynoweth, in Houston, and the
nearly simultaneous killing of Edward Marston in Irving. Duane
Chynoweth's 8-year-old daughter, Jenny Chynoweth, also was
killed after witnessing her father's execution.

            Defense attorneys during the trial contended the murders
were ordered by one of Aaron LeBaron's brothers, Hebert, who  --
along with three other family members -- was sentenced to life
in prison for his role in the killings.

            ``God knows there is a mountain of evidence in this case,
but the government is very thin in proving it up and applying it
to Aaron LeBaron in this case,'' defense attorney Todd Bennett
said in closing arguments late Thursday.

            Following the teachings of founder Ervil LeBaron, who wrote
the sect's 510-page creed while in prison in Utah, Lamb of God
members believed anyone leaving the sect had to be killed before
believers could inherit God's kingdom on earth.

            The elder LeBaron, a self-proclaimed messenger of God,
married 13 times and fathered 54 children. He died in prison in
1981.

            Aaron LeBaron, who became the sect's high priest upon his
father's death, was captured last year near the cult's colony in
northern Mexico.

            Prosecutors were searching for Tarsa LeBaron, the final
family member alleged to have participated in the
murder-for-hire scheme.

            ``This case is not over until Tarsa LeBaron is proven to be
dead or she is sitting in this courtroom,'' prosecutor Mike
Shelby said.
         ^REUTER@