May 3, 1950 - Jeffrey Lundgren
Lundgren operated at the intersection of religious authority and coercion, using self-styled scriptural interpretation to consolidate control over a small but devoted following. The 1989 killing of the Avery family — including three children — was carried out by Lundgren and his followers as a calculated act within the group's internal logic, making it a case where cultic belief systems produced direct, organized violence. His story remains notable as an example of how charismatic religious leadership, even at a small scale, can generate lethal outcomes.
From Wikipedia
Jeffrey Don Lundgren (May 3, 1950 – October 24, 2006) was an American self-proclaimed prophet, cult leader, and mass murderer who, on April 17, 1989, killed a family of five in Kirtland, Ohio. Lundgren led a Latter Day Saint movement-based cult and interpreted scripture using an unconventional version of chiasmus, which involved searching a text for recurring patterns.
In 1989 Lundgren and several of his followers murdered the Avery family, fellow members of his cult, for which he was convicted and sentenced to death. He was executed in 2006.
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