Finished Mo 12/14/21
This is one of my ancient hardbacks and I first completed it 'early morning' on Thanksgiving, 1997.
The story of Jeffrey Lundgren, a preacher and self proclaimed prophet in the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He believed that he was called by god to murder a husband, wife, and their three children.
Lundgren was able to convince his wife and several church members that this was what god wanted.
For his whole life this guy thought nothing of the law or what other people thought. He would constantly steal and then coverup his crimes.
He was also a sexual freak and was attracted to coprophilia- sexual arousal and pleasure from feces.
His wife, Alice believed, even as a teenager that she would marry a man who was destined for spiritual greatness.
An interesting take-away: "For two hundred thousand devout adherents, the spiritual center of world Mormonism is not Salt Lake City but independence, Missouri." Lundgren got his start there, but the killings occured in Kirtland, Ohio which is where Joseph Smith, Jrl, established his ministry and built the first Mormon temple. This antique temple is where Lundgren gathered a circle of followers who fell under the spell of his oratory and his 'reform movement'. Part of the church wanted to allow women to become priests, but Lundgren and the conservatives felt that this was against god's law.
I thought that I had thrown away all of my True Crime books, but I'm glad I got a chance to reread this interesting non-fiction book.
Jeffery Lundgren was executed in Ohio in 2006 and his wife got five life sentences.
Lundgren's page at Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Lundgren
No comments:
Post a Comment