The Mormon Cult Murders
Mind Control in Kirtland, Ohio:
Attorney Ties Murders to Young's "Blood Atonement"
By James Walker

Jeffrey Lundgren, Alice Lungren
 

The ritualistic murders of a family of five in Kirtland, Ohio belonging to a cult led by Jeffrey Don Lundgren may be linked to the written teachings of early Mormon prophets according to arrested cult member Gregory S. Winship.

Winship's attorney, John P. O'Connor, said that, "He learned from his client that the Averys might have been killed because they were about to leave the cult. He said Winship told him the cult believed a member who abandoned Lundgren could achieve salvation only be being killed in accordance with teachings on blood atonement," (The Plain Dealer, Jan. 22, 1990, p. 6-A).

Ohio's largest newspaper, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, citied O'Connor in a front page story that, "...cult member Winship said the Averys were about to abandon the cult and may have been killed because Lundgren believed in the Mormon `Doctrine of Blood Atonement.'"

According to the article, "That doctrine, preached by Mormon leader Brigham Young, holds that the penalty for abandoning the faith is the shedding of the sinner's blood," (Ibid, Jan. 14, 1990, p. 14-A).

Lundgren, along with twelve other followers arrested in connection with the killings, are former members of the Independence, Missouri, based Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS).

Brigham Young was the second President and Prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (called "Mormon" or LDS) headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The RLDS Church and the 7 million member LDS Church are the two largest of over 100 different churches claiming to be the only true followers of founder Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon.

Lundgren, an RLDS lay minister, and many of his members became disenchanted with the perceived liberal drift of the RLDS Church - especially its 1985 doctrinal change allowing women into the Priesthood.

This desire to return to the fundamentals of the Mormon faith led Lundgren and his group to break from the RLDS Church and adopt a number of discontinued early Mormon teachings including communal living, blood atonement, and polygamy.

Daniel Kraft, Greg Winship

The "Sword of Laban" Connection

The Plain Dealer articles, picked up by Associated Press, also quote law enforcement officials saying that, "...Lundgren and his followers sacrificed the Avery family so the group could search for the `Sword of Laban.'"

Although discounted by RLDS Church leaders, the article made a connection between the Book of Mormon story and the murders saying, "Experts on Mormon theology said Lundgren could have used the story of the murder of Laban in the Book of Mormon to justify killing the Averys," (Jan. 22, p. 6-A).

The story, found in 1 Nephi 4 (1 Nephi 1: 107-120 RLDS Ed.), tells how the Book of Mormon hero, Nephi, is commanded by the Spirit of the Lord to kill Laban and steal the sacred brass plates containing engraved writings.

According to the story, Nephi cut off Laban's head using Laban's own gold and steel sword and under God's instructions immediately left Jerusalem with his family to come to the American continent.

Similarly, right after murdering the Averys, officials believe Lundgren and his followers left Kirtland for Chilhowee, West Virginia, on a religious pilgrimage in search of a "Golden Sword" thought by Lundgren to be resting with the golden plates from which Joseph Smith is believed to have translated the Book of Mormon (Kansas City Star, Jan. 7, 1990, p. 15A).

Deborah Olivarez

Return to Polygamy

Lundgren's twisted path to the roots of his faith evidently led him to also adopt the early Mormon practice of polygamy.

Joseph Smith received a revelation in 1843 in Nauvoo, Illinois, concerning polygamy in which he received a "new and everlasting covenant" in which a man could receive "ten virgins" or more as wives and be "justified," (Doctrine and Covenants, Section 132).

The revelation taught that it was obedience to the law of polygamy that "was accounted to him [Abraham] as righteousness" and because he was obedient to this and other laws he and additional men in the Bible "entered into their exaltation" and became "gods," (Ibid, vs. 37; compare Romans 4:3).

According to Smith, Jesus said this was to be, "...an everlasting covenant and if ye abide not that covenant then are ye damned," (Ibid, vs. 4).

Lundgren may have used this revelation as justification for taking a second wife, Kathryn R. Johnson, a 36-year-old follower who is being held on lesser charges in connection with the murders.

Johnson's brother Dan Hubbard said that "...he and others thought that his sister had been having an affair with Lundgren," (Plain Dealer, Jan. 14, p. 13-A).

However later reports elaborated saying, "The exact nature of Lundgren's beliefs remains unclear. But it appears that he borrowed heavily from the fundamentalist doctrine of the Utah church, including teachings on polygamy, to justify actions with his cult.

"Bonnie Olivarez, the 13-year-old daughter of Kirtland cult member Deborah Olivarez, has told reporters that Lundgren matched at least three couples in the commune, based on `visions'.... Other sources with ties to the cult have said that Lundgren took cult member Kathryn R. Johnson `as a second wife.'" (Plain Dealer, Jan. 22, p. 6-A).

Johnson and another Lundgren follower, former Nauvoo, Illinois, resident Daniel D. Kraft, Jr., were the last of thirteen cult members apprehended by authorities.

For the record, the RLDS Church has never practiced polygamy, traditionally rejecting historical evidence and documents linking Joseph Smith to the "plural wife" doctrine.

Polygamy was discontinued by the Utah-based church through an official declaration in 1890, although U.S. Senate documents indicate that some of the LDS "General Authorities," including Prophet Joseph F. Smith (6th LDS President), continued in "illegal co-habitation" into this century (U.S. Senate Reed Smoot Case).

Damon Lundgren