Doomsday cult leader sentenced to 200 years in prison for murders of 190 children, 1 adult in Kenya

CBS News · Agence France-Presse · 2026-11-06 13:17 UTC

Paul Mackenzie was convicted of murdering 190 children and one adult after he ordered his followers to starve themselves to death in order to meet Jesus.

The leader of a Kenyan doomsday cult linked to the deaths of more than 400 people was sentenced on Friday to 200 years in prison for the murders of 191 people.

The High Court in Kenya's coastal city of Mombasa issued the sentence for Pastor Paul Mackenzie. He was convicted of murdering 190 children and one adult after he ordered his followers to starve themselves to death in order to meet Jesus.

Justice Diana Kavedza said that Mackenzie, leader of the Good News International Church, bore the "primary criminal culpability" for relocating his followers to a remote location and ordering them to fast to death.

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