On today’s episode, we will dive into the Kirtland Cult Killings that took place in Kirtland, Ohio. This small town, situated in Lake County and only a 25-minute drive east of Cleveland, became a national headline in January 1990. After moving to Kirtland, Lundgren established himself as a lay minister for the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Dale Luffman, the president of the northeast Ohio chapter of the Reorganized Church, confirmed that Lundgren served at the church temple in Kirtland from 1985 to 1987. During this period, he took charge of guiding tours of the church's 153-year-old temple for the public after relocating from Kansas City, Missouri.

The victims were the Dennis Avery family: Dennis, Cheryl, and their three daughters—Trina (15), Rebecca (13), and Karen (7). They had moved from Missouri to join Lundgren’s group around 1987. On April 17, 1989, Lundgren invited the Averys to his farm in Kirtland for a “last supper”-type gathering. One by one, they were taken to a barn behind the house, where they were bound, gagged with duct tape, and shot to death. Reports indicate that a chainsaw was used to muffle the sound of the gunshots.

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

35th Anniversary of the Kirtland Cult Killings