Summary
In the prologue, Krakauer sets the stage for the text by summarizing the central case study crime: the 1984 murder of Erica and Brenda Lafferty by Dan and Ron Lafferty. The text describes the day of the murder, giving quotations from police reports and interviews with neighbors of the Laffertys.
The prologue then profiles Dan and Ron Lafferty, extremist adherents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, otherwise known as the Mormon Church, though the mainstream Church excommunicated the brothers and denied that they had any affiliation with their religion. Krakauer describes Dan Lafferty as a man who intimately entwined his religion with his politics, and who saw himself as specially chosen by God to bear witness to divine truth. Dan was tried for his crimes and found guilty, though he did not receive the death penalty like his brother Ron.
The text transitions into information pulled from later interviews with Dan Lafferty, who is serving a life sentence. Lafferty maintains his religious zealotry and attempts to stay out of prison politics as much as possible. However, he is not ashamed to admit he still engages in violence, which he believes is justified. Lafferty expresses gratitude for his cellmate, Mark Hoffman, a former LDS member who successfully sold several forged historical documents to discredit the mainstream LDS Church and its historical narrative, and then murdered two people with pipe bombs.
Chapter 1 opens with a quotation from Deuteronomy 14:2 that establishes the people of Israel as God's chosen people, who are exalted "above all the nations that are upon the earth," and a quotation from Joseph Smith's The Doctrine and Covenants in which God promises to send a true prophet. The chapter then traces events in modern Mormonism, specifically how Mormonism initially embraced plural marriage as one of its central tenants and then distanced itself from the practice for political expediency after being persecuted by government authorities. The author then explains the distinction between FLDS (Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints) and mainstream Saints. Neither party believes the other is authentically following the religion put forward by Joseph Smith; the FLDS maintain the practice of polygamy, and the LDS do not.
Chapter 2 opens with a quotation from Philip Jenkins' book, Mystics and Messiahs, in which Jenkins proclaims that extremism and doomsday thinking are fundamental attributes of American religious identity that have led several groups to separate from society and proclaim that their community is above the law.
Chapter 2 then describes the FLDS community in Colorado City, led by the now-deceased Rulon Jeffs. The community is notoriously strict and controlling, with an ignominious, documented history of performing marriages between elderly men and child brides. The author gives examples of Jeffs' more unusual rules, such as prohibitions on outside media, interracial relationships, and the keeping of dogs within city limits. Threaded into interviews and exposition, Krakauer remarks on the unbroken lineages of patriarchs such as Rulon Jeffs and Deloy Bateman.
Krakauer meticulously describes the various ways the Colorado City–Hildale community, despite teaching that the government is satanic, funds itself almost exclusively through governmental assistance. Community members brag about receiving millions in public funds for "single mothers" (sister-wives), public schools, paving roads, and infrastructure. Krakauer also documents the community's more egregious spending habits, such as purchasing a plane for the Prophet despite a considerable percentage of the community qualifying for food stamps.
The chapter then describes Arizona Governor Howard Pyle's raid on the FLDS community, which resulted in the relocation of over one hundred children into foster homes. The raid was met with massive media attention and support for the FLDS community on the grounds of religious persecution, and Arizona consequently voted Pyle out of office.
The chapter also establishes trends of violence within various FLDS communities, including the Kingston Clan and the family of Thomas Arthur Green. Like the Colorado City–Hildale community, these families were notorious for coercing underage girls into plural marriages with older men. Tom Green, like Rulon Jeffs, utilized media coverage to legitimize his lifestyle. David Leavitt, an attorney raised near polygamous communities, decided to prosecute Green after hearing the patriarch boast about marrying girls as young as thirteen. The court gave leniency to Tom Green, who received minimum sentencing for his bigamy charges. Like Pyle, Leavitt was ousted from his public role.
Chapter 3 opens with a quotation from the Salt Lake Tribune on February 15, 1885, that officially denounced polygamy. The chapter then describes Bountiful, a fundamentalist, polygamist community in Canada with close ties to Colorado City-Hildale. Bountiful has engaged in trafficking young girls across the border to become brides.
The text describes the patriarchal nature of Mormonism and its Old Testament basis, particularly the faith's emphasis on obedience, then transitions into an interview with Debbie Palmer, a former child bride in the Bountiful community. Quoted directly, Palmer recounts disturbing memories of sexual assault and pedophilia, her multiple marriages to older, abusive men, her drug addiction, and her multiple suicide attempts.
The author also makes a point of tracing complex lineages of Debbie and her peers; for example, through marriage, Debbie became the stepmother of her own stepmother.
When leadership ordered Debbie Palmer's daughter to move in with a man who molested her, Palmer began to defy the FLDS leadership by disobeying orders and disputing their theology. She received threats of physical violence and spiritual damnation but still adamantly refused her daughter's reassignment. After questioning her faith and the legitimacy of the ecumenical hierarchy, Debbie burned down her own home to facilitate her and her children's escape.
Chapter 4 opens with a quotation from Shakespeare's Richard III, in which Richard admits to manipulating holy scriptures to control his subjects. The author then recounts the story of Elizabeth Smart, a young girl kidnapped at knifepoint by Brian David Mitchell, an excommunicated Mormon fundamentalist. After claiming to receive a command from God to take on seven additional wives, Mitchell distanced himself from the mainstream church and society at large. He also wrote a manifesto, called himself Immanuel, and wore only white robes.
The fourteen-year-old Elizabeth returned home nine months after her kidnapping, though she suffered Stockholm Syndrome and defended her captor's actions, as Mitchell had psychologically manipulated Elizabeth by invoking the rhetoric of Mormonism. Dan Lafferty followed the kidnapping with great interest, though he applauded Mitchell, viewing the kidnapping as a positive experience in Elizabeth's life and the development of her faith.
The chapter then relates the story of Ruby Jessop, a fourteen-year-old girl in Colorado City–Hildale. Church leadership caught Ruby innocently kissing a boy and then forced her to marry an older, cruel relative. After being violently sexually assaulted, Jessop ran away from the marriage. She was then found by members of the FLDS leadership and brought to her stepfather's home.
Ruby's older sister, Flora, a victim of child marriage herself, attempted to find Ruby, who the FLDS leadership moved around constantly. The local police were unhelpful, but Flora eventually secured an interview with Child and Family Services, who met with Ruby. However, one of Ruby's captors was present during the interview, and the girl stated that "everything was fine," causing the authorities to drop the investigation. When Under the Banner of Heaven was published, Ruby was neither seen nor heard from in years. In 2013, however, Ruby and her six children escaped Colorado City and publicly denounced the FLDS.
Analysis
By opening the book directly with a journalistic account of the Lafferty murders, rather than setting the scene within a broader context, author Jon Krakauer dramatically establishes the grim tone of the text. When describing the crime scene, he does not shy away from vividly describing the gruesome details of the murder, such as the copious amounts of blood surrounding Brenda and Erica and smeared on "the living room walls, the floor, the doors, the curtains."
Throughout the prologue, the text incorporates direct quotes from the victims' neighbors, friends, and family, as well as excerpts from police reports and newspaper headlines. These references firmly establish the eerie reality of the crime and its emotional weight. Though in later chapters, the writing style verges on academic, the prologue uses casual diction and colloquialisms. For example, Krakauer writes: "the cops took Allen down to the American Fork police station and grilled him throughout the night." This tone demonstrates that the Lafferty murders, though on their surface unusual, could have happened anywhere. As Krakauer later argues, violence stemming from religiously motivated violence has existed "ever since mankind began believing in deities, and extremists exist within all religions."
The prologue contrasts Allen Lafferty's experience of the murders with an in-depth profile of Dan and Ron Lafferty. Dan's complete lack of remorse when recounting the murders, coupled with vivid descriptions of his unsettling physical appearance and references to his fringe political beliefs, establishes the theme of exceptionalism throughout the text. Lafferty firmly believes God commanded him to commit the murders and, therefore, takes no personal responsibility for the murders or the subsequent violence he engaged in during his time in prison.
The text opens each chapter with a thematically relevant quotation. Pulling from diverse sources ranging from Shakespeare to ecumenical documents to academic analyses, Krakauer emphasizes the religious motivation for crime and violence. Rifts in the Mormon church between mainstream believers and the FLDS stem from a fundamental difference in interpretations of the sacred texts. Therefore, by invoking various texts for the reader to interpret, Krakauer frames his own writing as a text with the power to influence a reader's perspective.
The content of these quotations is as substantive as their presence in the text. The quote from Deuteronomy, a book in the Old Testament, establishes the people of Israel as separate from the rest of humankind and beholden only to the laws of God. Likewise, the quotation pulled from the Salt Lake Tribune affirms that the LDS Church draws its authority from its divinely-ordained hierarchy and is not subject to state or cultural rules. Including these quotations evidences the philosophical framework that emboldened the Lafferty brothers to commit their murders, despite the crime violating the most basic of laws and human morality.
The allusion to Richard III that opens Chapter 4 overtly states that those in power intentionally manipulate the words of holy scriptures to justify actions they know are immoral. By including this quotation, Krakauer affirms that the leaders of the FLDS communities and independent actors, like the Lafferty brothers, Tom Green, and Brian David Mitchell, are entirely accountable for their actions and consciously used religion as a tool for evil.
The text examines detailed accounts of violence within FLDS communities to contextualize the conditions that created religiously motivated criminals like Dan and Ron Lafferty. Former FLDS members, such as Debbie Palmer, describe conditions of complete control, sexual repression, and rampant spiritual, emotional, and verbal abuse. Within the communities, sexual violence went unacknowledged. These trends demonstrate how ostensibly "normal" people like Dan and Ron Lafferty could be seduced into extremist thinking and presume their actions would go unpunished.
Krakauer also highlights several examples of inept authorities, miscarriages of justice, and the inappropriate intertwining between politics and religion. For instance, in the story of Elizabeth Smart, the local police gave up the search once they had apprehended a suspect. In the case of Tom Green, though he was convicted of bigamy and admitted to statutory rape, he received the minimum sentencing and resumed his illegal activities after leaving prison.
By explaining how Tom Green's sentencing was lenient, the author demonstrates that, in a culture where politics and religion are inseparable, the government and the public dismiss religious violence as "religious freedom." The Jessop sisters, Elizabeth Smart, and Debbie Palmer, were threatened with physical violence and eternal damnation for disobeying church patriarchs. Although Howard Pyle and David Leavitt were not church members, they lost their positions and reputations for challenging the legality and morality of FLDS practices.
The text also makes a point of highlighting the complex lineages that result from plural marriages. For example, Ruby Jessop's husband was also her brother-in-law, second cousin, and step-brother, and Debbie Palmer became her stepmother's stepmother through marriage. Contrasted with remarks on Rulon Jeffs' "unbroken" line of authority, the text highlights the importance of family heritage within the FLDS community and the lengths authorities will go to preserve it.
