The Kirtland Cult Killings: Part 1 & 2

Who Killed...?

Bill Huffman

True Crime, Society & Culture, History

3.8 • 595 Ratings

🗓️ 3 February 2023

⏱️ 78 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On today’s episode we are going to start a look into the Kirtland Cult Killings from 1989 in Kirtland, Ohio. Located in Lake County and only a 25 minute drive east of Cleveland the small town became a national story in January 1990. After moving to town, Lundgren became a lay minister in Kirtland for the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Dale Luffman, president of the northeast Ohio chapter of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, said Lundgren worked from 1985 to 1987 at a church temple in Kirtland. Lundgren conducted tours for the public of the church's 153-year-old temple in Kirtland when he moved from Kansas City, Mo. SOURCES: https://www.news-herald.com/2014/12/30/kirtland-cult-killings-looking-back-at-lake-countys-worst-mass-murder-25-years-later/ https://web.archive.org/web/20080828040940/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/24/ap/national/mainD8KV5DV80.shtml https://www.news-herald.com/2014/12/30/kirtland-cult-killings-time-has-healed-the-city-of-faith-and-beauty/ https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna14500204 https://web.archive.org/web/20061019025800/http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/10/18/bc.na.gen.us.cultleader.ap/index.html https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kirtland-cult-killings_n_7088210 https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/ohio/cleveland/kirtland-cult-cle/ https://fox8.com/news/true-crime-in-cleveland-kirtland-cult-murders/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZJso4RfdCg http://www2.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=68347 https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88389254/ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88389475/ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88390405/ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88391008/ https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/history/topics/kirtland-ohio?lang=eng&abVersion=V02&abName=GLOB88 caselaw.findlaw.com https://www.news-herald.com/news/ohio/kirtland-cult-killings-timeline-of-events/article_d13876c8-f5bb-5134-8ee3-3f0df58ed99f.html https://youtu.be/OZJso4RfdCg Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Slow Burn Media, Evergreen Podcast, presents Who Killed?
0:10.0	A podcast that provides a voice for the voiceless.
0:13.0	There is some confusion over the exact number of bodies that have been found in a common grave in the basement of this barn along Route 6. Police, firemen, and federal alcohol, tobacco, and firearms agents spent the entire
0:25.5	day sifting through the grave. The body of a man was found last night, two or three others this
0:31.1	afternoon. And the search goes on at this hour. Now, here's what we know. 17 members of a religious
0:36.9	cult headed by Jeff Lundgren left the church about two years ago.
0:41.1	Lundgren was a lay minister and volunteer tour guide at the Kirtland Temple.
0:45.7	Dale Luffman is president of the local church.
0:48.2	He saw himself as the spiritual leader and from the reports we've received from persons who kind of picked up from things that members of that community referred to him, they referred to him as their prophet.
1:03.0	Lundgren left the church with his followers after he was threatened with excommunication because of his teachings.
1:08.0	Police sources tell me Lengren and his cult then planned to take over the temple using automatic weapons and taking
1:14.6	hostages that they had to. Lundgren reportedly wanted to hold onto the temple
1:18.6	until the second coming of Christ. We're in very close
1:22.6	discussion with the law authorities and they helped us to understand that we needed to be careful about
1:30.3	our own personal activities.
1:32.3	Then back last April, FBI agents and police surrounded the farmhouse and questioned the
1:37.3	group. That's when the plot fell apart. Dennis and Cheryl Avery wanted out. I'm told that's
1:42.3	when the Avery's and their three little girls were
1:44.8	executed, their bodies buried in the barn. The cold left Kirtland, and I'm told it broke up
1:49.8	just last month. And informant told federal authorities in Kansas City last week exactly where the bodies
1:55.7	were buried. Hello and welcome to episode 140 of Who Killed.
2:03.9	I am your host Bill Huffman and this is a slow burn media and evergreen podcast production.
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