The Kirtland massacre

By Cynthia Stalter Sassé

Subjects: Case studies, Cults, True Crime, Mormons, Murder, Murder, texas

Description: When members of the Reorganized Church of the Latter Day Saints moved into the run-down farmhouse being rented by Jeffrey Lundgren and his family, citizens of the rural community of Kirtland, Ohio, believed that Lundgren had begun a Mormon commune. Little did they realize what really transpired in this seemingly idyllic setting. Co-authored by an assistant prosecutor of the case, this is an incisive look at Jeffrey Lundgren, a self-proclaimed prophet of a deviant death cult, loosely based on the Book of the Mormon, who drove his followers to commit atrocious crimes--including the "blood sacrifice" murder of an innocent family.