Jeffrey Don Lundgren, Prophet of Death

Many people still wonder why twelve intelligent, religious individuals chose to follow a prophet whose bizarre revelations finally led them to the gruesome murder of a family of five fellow members.

In the last 20 years alone, dozens of murders throughout the United States have been linked to authoritarian self-styled prophets who broke from the Mormon Church and quoted Brigham Young and Joseph Smith as the source of their doctrine.

One researcher, Dr. Carl Raschke, a professor of religion at the University of Denver, Colorado, explains:

"Mormonism has its own mythology with its origins in secret, buried treasure and all. My hunch is that this (cult) combined a distorted form of the Mormon belief, and in keeping with a variety of popular occult and New Age teachings, a leader who'd gotten into his own revelations, packaged it all together to create this mystique."

As a Cleveland newspaper explained: "The Kirtland slayings, coupled with the reports of violence out of Utah, have caused soul-searching among many Mormons, who want an explanation for the violence and cult activities that have been associated with their faith."

The cold stare of a
killer, Jeff Lundgren
(Duncan Scott, The
News Herald)

Giving as one possible answer, the article quoted Sandra Tanner, great-great granddaughter of Brigham Young and a former Mormon, as saying: "Once you accept that the man you are following speaks for God, then you are left at his mercy.... When you give that kind of authority to a man, you are also open to the possibility of abuse."

Despite Lundgren's crimes and the negative publicity they generated, the RLDS World Church remains opposed to the death penalty.