In its immediate aftermath, the 1984 murder of Brenda Lafferty and her baby daughter had their community asking “why?”  But once the investigation was under way, law enforcement began to look closely at the family Brenda Lafferty had married into. Brenda was a devout Mormon, but she disagreed with the extreme religious beliefs of her brothers-in-law, Ron and Dan Lafferty, who had embraced fundamentalist views and were excommunicated from the LDS church.

Join us at the quiet end for Blood Atonement. Brenda has been described as a young woman who was dedicated to her husband Allen, her daughter, and the church. But Brenda had been raised in a much more liberal Mormon family and she wasn’t afraid to openly disagree with her in-law’s fundamentalist views, which included polygamy. Following their excommunication, Dan and Ron Lafferty had become more and more fanatical in their beliefs. And they blamed Brenda when Allen refused to join them.

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Sources

Band of Brothers, American Monster, Investigation Discovery, S3, E5

Exclusive: The Real Brenda Lafferty is lost in ‘Under the Banner of Heaven’ series, Deseret News, Katie McKellar, 5/11/2022

Killer Dan Lafferty says his ideas influenced Strack family suicide, Chris Jones, 1/30/2015

Meet The Real Lafferty Family From Under the Banner of Heaven, Bustle, Morgan Leigh Davies, 4/30/2022

State v. Lafferty, Utah Supreme Court, 2/23/2001

Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer, 2003

Under the Banner of Heaven, Hulu miniseries, 4/28/2022

Why Brenda Lafferty Was Murdered by Her Husband’s Fundamentalist Family, A&E Blog, Jacquelyn Gray. 2/23/2023

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