Mr. Retardo

After the call, Rodriguez scolded his comrades at the undercover house for sticking the lenses of their surveillance cameras too near to open windows: the devices were obvious to passersby, he said. Then he ran back to his pickup and barreled toward the command center, hoping to stop the assault by collaring his superiors. "I was upset," Rodriguez would later say, "...because I knew what was going to happen."

When Rodriguez reached the command post, a few minutes later, it was too late: everybody had left. The raid was underway.

Editor's note: Dallas writer Dick J. Reavis wrote two cover stories about the Branch Davidians while an Observer staff writer from 1992 to 1993. This article is excerpted from his new book, The Ashes of Waco, Copyright ©1995 by Dick J. Reavis. reprinted by permission of Simon & Schuster, Inc.