The brand new FX/Hulu restricted sequence “Underneath the Banner of Heaven” relies on the 2003 true-crime bestselling guide of the identical identify by Jon Krakauer. It follows the investigation into the 1984 murders of Brenda Wright Lafferty and her daughter, Erica Lafferty, and its relation to the historical past of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that shocked the Mormon neighborhood. The guide, and now the present, dive into how faith performed a job within the murders.
How Was Brenda Lafferty Murdered?
On July 24, 1984, Brenda Lafferty was discovered lifeless by her husband on the ground of their house, her throat slashed, in response to courtroom paperwork (through Justia Regulation). Her toddler daughter, Erica, was additionally murdered in her crib. Notably, the homicide befell on Pioneer Day, an official vacation in Utah that commemorates the primary group of Mormon pioneers settling in Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847.
Who Killed Brenda Lafferty?
Brenda Lafferty was killed by Ron and Dan Lafferty, the older brothers of her husband, Allen Lafferty. In response to courtroom paperwork, the brothers had been a part of the College of the Prophets, which is a small, extremist sect of Mormonism they joined after they had been excommunicated from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1983 for his or her more and more excessive fundamentalist views — together with polygamy.
Why Did Ron and Dan Lafferty Kill Brenda Lafferty?
Dan and Ron Lafferty claimed they killed Brenda as a result of God informed them to, in response to KSLTV.
Brenda was immune to her husband, Allen, becoming a member of the College of the Prophets, which Ron and Dan noticed as her making an attempt to separate up the household. Later, Ron’s spouse, Diana, unwilling to apply polygamy, divorced him and moved their six children to Florida. For this, Ron additionally blamed Brenda. In March 1984, Ron wrote down what he claimed was a divine revelation that’s now known as “the elimination revelation,” which stated Brenda and her daughter, who he believed would develop as much as be simply as “despicable” as her mom, in response to courtroom paperwork (through The New York Occasions), had been “obstacles in his path” and wanted to be killed. When he shared the notice with the College of the Prophets, nevertheless, additionally they excommunicated the brothers.
4 months later, on Pioneer Day, Dan and Ron Lafferty carried out the homicide of Brenda and Erica. In response to courtroom paperwork, Ron and Dan deliberate to homicide two different members of the LDS church Ron blamed for the disillusion of his marriage, however their plans fell by way of as a result of one particular person wasn’t house, and so they acquired misplaced whereas looking for the fourth particular person’s home.
The place Are Dan and Ron Lafferty Now?
In response to Time, after the homicide of Brenda and Erica, Ron and Dan fled from Utah to Nevada, the place Ron and Dan had been caught in a on line casino buffet line in Reno and arrested.
The brothers had been convicted in 1985 in two completely different trials. In response to KSLTV, Dan was given a life sentence, whereas Ron was given a demise sentence.
In 1991, Ron’s verdict was overturned and a brand new trial was ordered as a result of the US Courtroom of Appeals dominated the authorized normal the courtroom used to evaluate his psychological competence was fallacious. Whereas in 1992, he was deemed mentally unfit to face trial, he was later deemed competent to face trial in 1994. By 1996, Ron was tried once more, at which level his unique conviction of the demise penalty was upheld, in response to The New York Occasions.
Ron Lafferty spent 34 years on demise row and died in 2019 on the age of 78 of pure causes. Dan Lafferty is at the moment serving a life sentence at Utah State Jail.
