Mad messiah David Koresh escaped the fiery furnace of his cult compound — and may even be alive today!<br /><br />That’s the stunning revelation of a Branch Davidian cult member — who claimed both he and Koresh escaped through the same secret tunnel beneath the building in Waco, Texas.<br /><br />Koresh ordered the compound torched during an FBI raid on April 19, 1993 — a horrific tragedy now the subject of the TV series Waco.<br /><br />But the cultist swore the leader faked his death by trading places with a lieutenant who had shot himself before the raid.<br /><br />PHOTOS: Warren Jeffs’ Sick Cult: Three Parents Tried For Giving Him ‘Child Brides’</a><br /><br />“Everything was swapped — clothing, jewelry, you name it,” survivor James Marshall said. “Koresh even put his dental bridge work in the guy’s mouth. Incredibly, it fit!”<br /><br />“That’s why any reports that they’d found teeth to match his dental records would be a joke,” he noted.<br /><br />Marshall said when the first FBI tank pounded the walls, Koresh fled for a concrete bunker, where he planned to direct the defense.<br /><br />“I ran toward the bunker, saw the door ajar and made a dive for it,” Marshall said.<br /><br />PHOTOS: Charles Manson ‘Son’ Rushes To Cult Leader’s Deathbed</a><br /><br />“Then I heard moaning coming from behind a big grenade locker, and spotted a foot sticking out from under a trapdoor.”<br /><br />Marshall pried the door open — only to find Koresh.<br /><br />“He’d cut his hair, had a tooth missing and was wearing different clothes. Still, there wasn’t a shred of doubt it was David,” claimed Marshall.<br /><br />The cult leader disappeared into a tunnel. Marshall followed, and crawled through it until he reached the outside.<br /><br />PHOTOS: No Justice For Sharon Tate? Charles Manson Family Member Up For Parole</a><br /><br />“I saw car tracks in the sand. I figure David had someone waiting,” he said.<br /><br />Later, at Koresh’s funeral, his mother, Bonnie Haldeman, hinted her son had escaped the inferno.<br /><br />“I didn’t get to see the body, and I’m not even positive that is David there,” she said.<br /><br />We pay for juicy info! Do you have a story for RadarOnline.com? Email us at tips@radaronline.com, or call us at (866) ON-RADAR (667-2327) any time, day or night.
