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.