Retired Rep. Bill Zeliff, who probed Waco siege, dies at 85

By MICHAEL CASEY
Associated Press

Retired U.S. Rep. Bill Zeliff has died at age 85 after a career in which he helped lead the investigation of the disastrous siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Texas in 1993. A funeral home and Zeliff’s wife say the Republican died Monday in Florida after declining health. Zeliff was co-chair in 1995 of the congressional panel investigating the siege that led to the deaths of cult leader David Koresh and nearly 80 followers. Zeliff suggested that then-President Bill Clinton had made the decision to mount the tear gas attack that preceded the deaths. Attorney General Janet Reno insisted it was her decision.