Dan Lafferty
Murderer of Erica and Brenda Lafferty who is currently serving a life sentence. Dan grew up in Salem, Utah, in a Mormon household. He admired his violent father and describes his childhood in idyllic terms. Dan spearheaded the Lafferty brothers' fundamentalist turn after finding the Peace Maker pamphlet, and eventually joined the School of the Prophets. He sincerely believed that his brother Ron received a message from God to kill Brenda and Erica, and Dan felt personally called to fulfill the revelation, taking the lives of his niece and sister-in-law. He admits to feeling no remorse for the murders and professes that he is the prophet Elijah, reincarnated to announce the second coming of Christ.
Ron Lafferty
Eldest Lafferty brother, who claimed to receive a command from God to murder Brenda, Erica, Chloe Low, and Richard Stowe. Before his conversion to fundamentalism, Ron was a counselor to his LDS bishop and enjoyed a strong marriage with his wife Dianna and a good relationship with his six children. After he joined the School of the Prophets, Ron began abusing his family and bringing them to the brink of financial ruin. Dianna consequently divorced him, and he began receiving revelations and engaging in self-destructive behavior. Ron was sentenced to death by firing squad, but was later retried after his mental stability was questioned. He died while awaiting execution.
Brenda Lafferty
Wife of Allen Lafferty and mother of Erica Lafferty who was murdered by her brothers-in-law. Brenda was vivacious, intelligent, and strong-willed; she was the only one of the Lafferty wives who adamantly refused to submit to fundamentalism. She encouraged the other wives to do the same, and forbade Allen from engaging in fundamentalist activity with his brothers. An academically accomplished woman, Brenda wanted to pursue a career in broadcast journalism but gave up the dream when Allen pushed for her to become a housewife, and she became pregnant with Erica.
Allen Lafferty
Husband to Brenda Lafferty and father of Erica Lafferty. Allen was the youngest brother and also a fundamentalist member of the School of the Prophets.
Dianna Lafferty
Wife of Ron Lafferty and mother of six children. After enduring Ron's abuse and fanaticism, Dianna courageously filed for divorce and left the state, despite having no experience living independently.
Robert Crossfield (Prophet Onias)
Founder of the School of the Prophets who wrote The Second Book of Commandments, a compilation of 205 revelations he received from God. Crossfield is a polygamist fundamentalist who converted at age nineteen after reading the Book of Mormon while recovering from tuberculosis.
Chip Carnes and Richard Knapp
Chip Carnes was a hitchhiker Dan and Ron Lafferty picked up while traveling cross-country, who became an accomplice to Brenda and Erica's murders. Richard Knapp was the other accomplice to the murders.
Watson Lafferty, Sr
The father of the Lafferty brothers. Watson Sr. was a World War II veteran, a hardline conservative, anti-communist, and a conspiracy theorist who beat his children and wife. He also beat the family dog to death with a baseball bat while the children watched. Watson Sr. was a chiropractor, and he mistrusted modern medicine and refused treatment for diabetes, which ultimately caused his death.
Bernard Brady
A fundamentalist member of the School of Prophets who introduced the Prophet Onias to the Lafferty brothers in 1983. Brady wrote and notarized an affidavit that Ron intended to kill, instead of going to the police.
Rulon Jeffs
Prophet of the FLDS community who took dozens of wives, many of them underage, all the way through his eighties. Rulon was known for his doomsday preaching and harsh, punitive regulations over his community. Despite claiming to be immortal, Jeffs died in 2002.
Ray Blackmore
Charismatic prophet of the Bountiful fundamentalist community in Canada.
Thomas Arthur Green
A notorious polygamist who infamously married several girls in their early teens, including his stepdaughters. He was later prosecuted by David Leavitt and found guilty of bigamy.
Brian David Mitchell
A convert to the Fundamentalist Mormon faith who independently practiced polygamy and infamously kidnapped Elizabeth Smart. Mitchell was noted for his religious zealotry and his performances as Satan in religious skits. He claimed to have received a revelation from God to take seven wives, wrote a manifesto, and demanded to be called Immanuel.
Debbie Oler Blackmore Ralston Palmer
A former FLDS member who was raised in the Bountiful community in Canada. Debbie was sexually, physically, verbally, emotionally, and spiritually abused by the various men in her life, including her father and various husbands. Debbie survived a mental health crisis and multiple suicide attempts. After Debbie's husband, Michael, molested Debbie's daughter Sharon, Debbie became increasingly assertive with patriarchs in the community, disobeying their orders and arguing with them. After questioning her faith, Debbie intentionally set her house on fire to facilitate an escape from Bountiful.
Elizabeth Smart
A mainstream Mormon girl who was kidnapped at age fourteen by Brian David Mitchell to become his second wife. Elizabeth was sexually abused and psychologically manipulated during the nine months she spent in Mitchell's captivity. Eventually, she was recognized in public and returned to her family.
Matilda Loomis
A divorced mother of two daughters who became Dan Lafferty's first wife after they met during Dan's mission trip to Scotland. Dan and Matilda both claimed that they received revelations from God that they should be married.
Ruby Jessop
A fourteen-year-old FLDS girl who was married to an older, abusive relative after she was caught kissing a boy. Jessop attempted to escape from Colorado City but was caught several times. In 2013, Jessop and her six children escaped, and she wrote a book about her experiences.
Ruth Stubbs
The wife of Rodney Holm, she took legal action against the FLDS community after she was coerced into marriage at sixteen. Ruth later refused to testify and disappeared.
Howard Pyle
Governor of Arizona who called for the raid of Colorado City. Pyle's raid ultimately backfired and he was voted out of office. Popular support for the fundamentalists came after media coverage portrayed the raid as an act of religious persecution.
David Leavitt
The attorney who prosecuted Thomas Arthur Green. David Leavitt grew up around polygamist families and initially defended plural marriage before learning about Green's child brides.
Mark Hoffman
Dan Lafferty's cellmate, a former Latter Day Saint who, after losing his faith, created several convincing forged documents that discredited the historical narrative of the Mormon Church. Hoffman attempted to hide his crimes by detonating pipe bombs, killing multiple people.
Joseph Smith
The founder of the Mormon Church who claimed to have received the hidden history of the Americas from the angel Moroni. Smith, a controversial figure, practiced polygamy in secret and was eventually killed by an angry mob.
Brigham Young
Joseph Smith's close friend and successor who established the church in Utah. Young was notoriously ruthless and was likely responsible for the Mountain Meadows Massacre. He also officially affirmed polygamy as a church doctrine.
John Hyrum Koyle
A Mormon who predicted events such as the 1929 stock market crash and the end of World War II. In 1894, Koyle claimed to receive a message from the Angel Moroni that a mine in Provo, New York, was filled with gold gathered by the Nephites, which the faithful could unearth during the end of days. Koyle was excommunicated from the mainstream church for his involvement with Dream Mine but maintained followers even after his death.
Emma Hale
Joseph Smith's first wife, whom he claimed God instructed him to marry. Emma hated polygamy and tried to convince Smith to abandon the doctrine.
Porter Rockwell
Follower of Joseph Smith who allegedly attempted to assassinate Governor Boggs to fulfill Smith's prophecy. Rockwell, a prominent figure in the early church, also assassinated Lieutenant Frank Worrell of the Carthage Greys.
Martin Harris
Joseph Smith's first scribe, and ardent follower, who later footed the bill for printing the Book of Mormon after Smith announced that God had commanded Harris to pay the printer's debt.
Sally Chase
Joseph Smith's neighbor who provided him with the "seer stone" he allegedly used to find the Book of Mormon.
Udney Hay Jacob
Author of The Peace Maker pamphlet that inspired Dan Lafferty to embrace polygamy.
William Law
Close friend of Joseph and Emma Smith, Law established the Reformed Mormon Church when Smith attempted to seduce Law's wife.
John W. Bryant
Leader of a polygamist colony near Woodburn, Oregon. Bryant had established multiple polygamist colonies and advocated for "experimentation with drugs and group sex—homosexual as well as heterosexual." Ron Lafferty visited Bryant's commune after his divorce.
William Dame and John D. Lee
The men who carried out the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Lee, Brigham Young's adopted son, wrote Mormonism Unveiled while awaiting execution.
