By Their Father's Hand: The True Story of the Wesson Family Massacre

Written by Monte Francis

Narrated by John Glouchevitch

Neighbors were unaware of what went on behind the tightly closed doors of a house in Fresno, California-the home of an imposing, 300-pound Marcus Wesson, his wife, children, nieces, and grandchildren. But on March 12, 2004, gunshots were heard inside the Wesson home, and police officers responding to what they believed was a routine domestic disturbance were horrified by the senseless carnage they discovered when they entered.

By Their Father's Hand is a chilling true story of incest, abuse, madness, and murder, and one family's terrible and ultimately fatal ordeal at the hands of a powerful, manipulative man-a cultist who envisioned vengeful gods and vampires, and totally controlled those closest to him before their world came to a brutal and bloody halt.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Jan 25, 2017
• ISBN: 9781515987154

Monte Francis

Monte Francis is a journalist and writer who has covered several high-profile murder trials. He has received two Emmy Awards for his television news reports and several awards for his news writing from the Associated Press. This is his first book.

Reviews for By Their Father's Hand

[Jennifer Pester · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very sad story. The author told this story very well.

[relativelybooktastic · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The true story of a tragic massacre that happened in my hometown of Fresno, Ca. The written style was not my favorite part of the book but it does pack on the emotional punches. This book I had to read in parts as it triggered areas of my life that were unfortunate. But saying that I am glad that I was able to get thru the book. This book shows you what a taboo life we live in where no one said anything and everyone ignored what was behind closed doors.

[marlene9nl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

January 24 2012: Hmm I see I gave it 4 stars but I wonder if that is correct. I remember that I thought the story was interesting but that the book was not that good. Must go check . see if I wrote a review somewhere else.

Aha I found it on bookcrossing.

Wrote this on Saturday, April 26, 2008:

I had never heard of these killings. Good book but you end up with more questions. I think Marcus Wesson got what he deserved but I do believe he did not do all the killing himself.
I am so disgusted with his wife Elizabeth. It is terrible that she is walking free. Of course she knew what was happening in that house. Plus I feel the same of some of the daughters who played a key role in the murder but still lived and blamed Ruby and Sofara.
Going to see if I can find more info online. (I gave it 8 out of 10)

[bellafoxx · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The True Story of the Wesson Family MassacreMarcus Wesson had complete control over his household, he controlled how his daughters dressed, what they ate, where they worked and who they talked to. When he started to lose that control, when two of his daughters realized what he was doing to them was wrong and tried to leave, taking their children with them he took drastic action.He was the father of the nine children killed that day, the mothers were his wife, his daughters and his nieces. Although it is possible he didn’t pull the trigger, prosecutors believed that he was ultimately responsible for the deaths.This book takes us through the events of the day, the history of the family and the trial. It is horrifying and detailed, you can tell that there was extensive research done. Something that I also appreciate is Mr. Francis tells us how he arrived at conversations reported in the book. Whether through interviews he conducted or testimony from the trail about what was said. The book in detailed about what happened, but not sensationalized, it reads more like a newspaper account then a novel. The author did not inject himself into the account by including what he felt or thought, he does report interviews he did with family members and his attempts to keep in touch, to let them know that somebody cared about what happened.I gave this book 3 stars and recommend it to True Crime fans.

[rob8larson · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book was hard to read at times, due to the subject matter, however it is a wonderful effort by a first time author. I would recommend it to those interested in true crime. The family tree is very complicated, but there is a guide in the front to help explain the complications arising from this man who, first of all, had a child (or children) with his future mother-in-law, then her daughter, then THEIR own daughters, plus a few of his neices for good measure! An amazing story!

[bookswithoutborders · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was looking for something more like Kathryn Harrison's books and was sorely disappointed with this one. This is a story that will definitely appeal to many true crime readers, especially those who have taken an interest in some of the recent polygamist sect/family controversies of which there are clear psychological and physical similarities to. However, I felt that a personal connection was missing. It's obviously a tragic story, and it is told in great graphic detail, but the author failed to relate the victims (or anyone for that matter!) back to either herself or someone the average person could relate to. The killer is one-dimensional and the surviving victims seem to be mostly without relatable characteristics.So I suggest picking up Harrison's While They Slept instead.