The Kirtland Temple sat atop its hill in Ohio, the first great house of worship built by Joseph Smith and his followers. By the mid-1980s it was the focal point of a quiet rural town, and it was there that a tour guide named Jeffrey Lundgren began to gather a following. Lundgren had memorized the Book of Mormon and engaged in what he called scriptural warfare, debating anyone in the church by citing scripture alone. He attracted people who were searching for direct words from God.
He told them he was a seer, a revelator, a prophet of the Lord. He claimed he could talk to God and hear his voice. Lundgren came into immediate conflict with the minister of the church. He was suspected of stealing forty thousand dollars in donations from the temple, and when the theft was discovered, he was kicked out.
He moved his followers to a farm on Route 6 in Kirtland, roughly twenty acres with a large white house, the first ever built in the town, and a huge red barn. Around twenty-seven to thirty people came to live there, feeling it was the place of the kingdom. They sold their houses and their cars and laid the proceeds at the prophet’s feet. They became isolated, believing they were separating themselves from the wicked in preparation for Christ’s return.
Slowly, the nightly classes shifted toward a military aspect. Lundgren taught that before Christ could reappear, they had to purify the area around the temple. That meant killing all the Gentiles and evil people within a five-mile radius of the church. He called it cleansing the vineyard.
He was serious about taking over the Kirtland Temple and killing church officials in the surrounding houses. The plan was to capture the minister, murder his wife and three children in front of him inside the temple, and then the church would rise up on a giant mountain and Christ would appear. The followers were issued weapons. One woman received an AR-100 semi-automatic rifle from Lundgren himself.
The women were trained to identify different types of ammunition in the dark by feel so they could load clips quickly. The temple takeover was planned for May 3rd, Lundgren’s birthday. But the FBI had become involved. An informant named Kevin Curry had told the bureau about the cult, and the Kirtland police began watching the farm closely.
One night, a police lieutenant pulled Lundgren over. In the back of his truck were cardboard boxes that appeared to hold canning jars; the lieutenant glanced at them and walked away. He later learned the truck bed was full of firearms. The cult members had seen the police pull their leader over, and Lundgren told them, “See, God’s on my side.
” But he knew he had been tipped off. He went up on the mountain and came back with a new prophecy. Taking over the temple was not what they were supposed to do. There was sin in their own group.
May 3rd came, and nothing happened. The sin, Lundgren said, lay with Dennis and Cheryl Avery and their three daughters. Trina was the oldest, Rebecca the middle child, and Karen the youngest, only seven years old. The Averys were no longer giving the amount of money Lundgren wanted.
He had told one follower that he kept them around “so I could have their money. ” The scripture said no unclean thing could enter the kingdom, and everyone in the group knew the Averys were slated for their demise. Nobody would have fought for them. Everyone was convinced the Averys were worthless.
In the barn, a hole was dug. The barn was chosen because it was red, and Lundgren explained it as Pharaoh’s army coming against them at the Red Sea, swallowed in the depths and covered over. Placing the Averys in a pit and covering them fulfilled the definition of the word. The hole was prepared in less than a week.
The Averys had the opportunity to repent, but Lundgren said they would not. On the evening of April 17th, 1989, Lundgren had the Averys come over for the Last Supper. The whole group was there, and everyone knew what was about to happen. The Averys believed they were going into the wilderness together.
After the meal, Lundgren said, “Okay, let’s go out to the barn. ” A stun gun had been purchased. One of the followers was ordered to tape Dennis Avery’s mouth, tape his hands in front of him, and wrap tape around his ankles. His eyes were left uncovered because he was supposed to see Lundgren eye to eye while the execution took place.
The women were to have their eyes taped so they would not see anything. A follower went into the house and told Dennis he was needed in the barn. When Dennis walked through the door, the follower lifted his shirt and tried to use the stun gun. Dennis struggled and did not pass out; it only caused him a great deal of pain.
He said, “What are you doing? This isn’t necessary. ” He was bound and carried into the room where the hole was, where Lundgren was already waiting. They put him in the pit.
Lundgren fired a . 45. One follower ran to the door to get out as the shooting began and heard the gunshot, then the door was slammed back in his face. Another follower held the door shut, yelling to keep it closed.
Two or three more shots were fired. Outside, a man was running a chainsaw to muffle the sound of the gun. The follower went back into the house and told Cheryl that Dennis needed her outside. She did not struggle.
She was taken to the ground, and one man told her, “Don’t struggle. It’ll be easier for you this way. ” She was carried into the room where her husband had been killed and placed in the pit. The chainsaw ran again.
She was shot in the back of the head. The only thoughts that went through one follower’s mind were that this was God’s will and that he was a sinner and next. Trina, the oldest daughter, was told her mother needed her in the barn. One follower told her they were going to play a game.
Her eyes and mouth were taped. She was placed in the hole, and one shot was fired; he heard an “ouch” and a cry. Becky was brought out and placed in the pit, sitting on her mother’s legs. Lundgren shot her.
Karen, the youngest, was carried out on Ron’s back for a piggyback ride because she was going to go see the horses. One witness knew she was not. Her feet, hands, eyes, and mouth were taped. Ron picked her up and took her into the room.
A witness saw him point the gun and shoot. All he saw was the top of a little girl’s head. Then he left the room. Lundgren said, “Fill in the hole.
” They poured lime over the bodies and made a layer of rocks, following the Deuteronomy prescription that the condemned be thrown down and stones cast upon them. About twenty minutes later, Lundgren came in and said, “We’re having class. ” The women were crying. Lundgren told them they were not to cry.
That was God’s will, and to cry was sinning. He said their sin was gone and they could enter the wilderness and see the Lord. The next morning, the ATF, the FBI, and the Kirtland police showed up at the farm. They had no idea the Averys were lying dead in the barn.
Everyone was questioned about the conspiracy to take over the Kirtland Temple. No one asked about the Averys. The cult members quickly realized the authorities knew nothing about the murders, and no one said anything. That night, they left the farm and vanished.
They ended up in Davis, West Virginia, using the Book of Mormon for directions. But the group began to fall apart. Lundgren decided he was entitled to any woman he wanted. He announced that all of the men had sinned and the only way they could bring back Christ was if the women came into his tent, stripped naked, and danced seductively for an hour while he watched.
One woman agreed because she feared for her daughter’s safety and her own. Lundgren took another man’s wife and daughter, claiming the man’s sin placed them in jeopardy. He pointed a . 45 at one man and said, “If I hear any rebellion from this side, I will dispose of it.
” One woman who had tried to kill herself was not allowed to stay at her mother’s house because he was afraid she would talk. Then Kathy Johnson, the wife of one of his longtime friends, volunteered to dance a second time. Alice, Lundgren’s wife, was furious. Lundgren decided to abandon the group and go to California to start over.
Keith Johnson, whose wife had run off to California with Lundgren, contacted the ATF and said there were bodies buried in the barn. He provided a map. On January 3rd, 1990, the Kirtland police and the fire department went to the barn. The room was stacked three or four feet high with household items.
They pulled everything away, and the ground was spongy. They started digging. At 9:07 p. m.
, they discovered the left torso of Dennis Avery. The Avery family was found under four feet of clay and debris. By January 7th, all of them were arrested. Lundgren was taken into custody without incident at a motel in California, where police found rifles, knives, and gas masks.
Five other cult members who waived extradition boarded a Greyhound bus for Ohio. One of them, Ronald Luff, would face murder charges. The others faced charges of conspiracy to commit murder. A local official said of them, “These people aren’t insane.
They are the coolest, most inhuman people that this county has ever seen. ” Everyone was sentenced to some term in prison. Many remained in fear of Lundgren, believing he could break through the walls and kill them. At trial, Lundgren was represented by the public defender’s office, which admitted guilt.
Then Lundgren took the opportunity to preach to the jury for a full day. He said he was God’s chosen one, a prophet of God, even more than a prophet. He admitted he had put Mr. Avery to death because Avery sought to lead people to false gods.
He said he could not say he was sorry for doing what God commanded him to do. The jury took two and a half hours to reach a recommendation. They found the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating factors and recommended the sentence of death. Jeffrey Lundgren appealed his death sentence for sixteen years.
The United States Supreme Court denied the appeal, and clemency was denied. On the morning of his execution, his attorney called him to tell him the execution was set. At 10:17 a. m.
at Lucasville Prison, the execution team put Lundgren on the gurney and began the lethal injection. The official time of death was 10:26 a. m.