Shanzu court heard that Paul Mackenzie exploited religion to lure hundreds into Shakahola forest before massacring them.
According to a witness under protection, Mackenzie used technology and social media to lure victims into the secluded forest before indoctrinating them with religious extremism and radicalization ideologies.
Mackenzie also promised his victims plenty of farmland within Shakahola forest on which they will farm and build homes.
Senior Principal Magistrate Leah Juma heard that the future of men, women and children shut down like a rat trap once they are inside the forest.
Further, the court heard that victims were cut off from the rest of the world and their lives were brutally snuffed out as days passed.
The court heard that Mackenzie opened a social media account to mobilize people from far and wide.
One by one, people of different walks of life streamed into the forest situated about 200 kilometers from the Shanzu court room that started hearing the case on Monday.
Men and women, some married, arrived with their children after Mackenzie assured them of abundant land with the forest.
Each arrival was gifted with some few acres of land sold to them at a throw away price to put up their homesteads.
The villages were christened biblical names like Bethlehem, Judea and Jericho, among others.
The court heard the land was a bait to lure the victims into the forest and some lost their portion for defying Mackenzie’s radical teachings including travelling to Babel (Malindi town) without his permission.
The court heard Mackenzie had a cabinet which he chaired regularly to plot the massacre of unsuspected individuals he deceitfully led them into his trap.
Once inside the villages, the victims were indoctrinated into his radical teachings anchored on doomsday under strict supervision of the armed militia tasked to deal with any escapee.
The armed militia disguised as Good News International Ministries (GNIM) church followers, secluded families, who had brainwashed with teachings including discarding worldly affairs and loathing the state system.
The brainwashed parents were informed that taking their children to schools and hospitals were ungodly acts and any non-biblical literatures were destroyed.
Later, Mackenzie ordered parents with children to starve them to death to let them enter heaven, something they implemented under strict supervision of his armed militia.
The witness who managed to escape described the deaths of children as harrowing and heartbreaking that still haunts him.
