By Jerald and Sandra Tanner
In the last issue of the Messenger we told how Daniel and Ronald Lafferty murdered their brother’s wife and daughter by cutting their throats. We pointed out that the Laffertys had been excommunicated from the Mormon Church. They had become what is known as “Mormon fundamentalists”—i.e., believers in polygamy and other doctrines taught by the early leaders of the Church. The Laffertys seem to have been influenced by Brigham Young’s doctrine of “blood atonement”:
Will you love your brothers or sisters likewise, when they have committed a sin that cannot be atoned for without the shedding of their blood? Will you love that man or woman well enough to shed their blood? . . . I have known a great many men who left this church for whom there is no chance whatever for exaltation, but if their blood had been spilled, it would have been better for them, . . . (Deseret News, February 18, 1857)
[Bold in quotations is added for emphasis and does not appear in originals.]
On page 11 of the March 1985 issue of the Messenger, we pointed out that the Laffertys “could have worked hand in hand with Brigham Young as he put his blood atonement doctrine into practice. Orrin Porter Rockwell, Bill Hickman, John D. Lee and a number of other men caused a great deal of blood to flow in early Utah (see Mormonism—Shadow or Reality? pages 444-450, 493-515).
In the same issue of the Messenger we printed part of a revelation in which Ronald Lafferty claimed God commanded the murder of his “brother’s wife Brenda and her baby.” We had not seen the complete revelation at that time, but it was printed in the Salt Lake Tribune on April 29, 1985. The complete text lends support to our observation that the Laffertys “could have worked hand in hand” with people like Orrin Porter Rockwell—one of Brigham Young’s “destroying angels.” The revelation states that the Lord had raised up “my servant Todd” to perform the murders and then asked this question concerning Todd: “. . . and is he not like unto my servant Porter Rockwell?”
At the time that we printed the March newsletter, only Daniel Lafferty had been convicted of the murders. On May 8, 1985, the Salt Lake Tribune reported that Ronald Lafferty was “sentenced to die for the throat slashing murders.” He chose death by a firing squad instead of lethal injection. His lawyer pointed out that his client “chose the firing squad ‘because of blood atonement.’ ”
Originally appeared in:
Jerald and Sandra Tanner, “Blood Atonement Chosen,” Salt Lake City Messenger, no. 57, June 1985, 24.