IT was an unforgivable crime that shocked America – the slaying of a young mum and her baby daughter by a Mormon claiming to be carrying out God’s work.
Now the murders of 24-year-old Brenda Lafferty and 15-month old Erica in 1984 have inspired diver Tom Daley’s husband to write a grisly drama series about the faith he escaped from in his teens.
Oscar-winning writer and producer Dustin Lance Black has created a Disney Plus true crime called Under the Banner of Heaven starring Andrew Garfield as the cop investigating the slayings.
Brenda, who is portrayed by Normal People’s Daisy Edgar Jones, had the misfortune to marry a man whose five brothers were all part of a fundamentalist Mormon sect in the state of Utah.
She tried to dissuade her husband Allen from getting involved with the sinister School of the Prophets, which was led by his brother Ron Lafferty.
Brenda did not accept the view held by some Mormons that men could have several wives, setting her on a fatal collision course with the brothers.
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Chilling vow for 'blood atonement'
Both Ron and his brother Dan believed that wives should be “subservient” to their husbands and that a punishment of death was justified for those that disagreed.
They are both said to have followed the doctrine of Mormon extremist Ervil LeBaron, which deemed that certain 'crimes' against their strict faith were deserving of “blood atonement.”
No one was safe from the warped principal of 'killing for God'. Ervil himself had even assassinated his own brother, Joel, in 1972 in a string of murders as he sought to consolidate control of his church.
Six years later, in one of the most shocking Mormon deaths, Rachel David and her seven children plunged from an 11th floor balcony in Salt Lake City, after claiming she'd received a revelation.
Ron and Dan's extremist principals meant they were thrown out of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint, which is the proper name for the Mormon faith.
As they descended further into religious fundamentalism, the brothers turned their anger towards Brenda, who they thought was determined to split the family.
“Brenda stood up to those Lafferty boys," Brenda's mother, LaRae Wright, later said.
"She told [Allen] in no uncertain terms that she didn’t want him doing things with his brothers. And the brothers blamed her for that, for keeping their family apart. The Lafferty boys didn’t like Brenda, because she got in their way.”
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'Cold-blooded murder of the worst kind'
On July 24, 1984, Dan broke into Brenda's home in American Fork, chased her down, beat her up and slashed her throat with a ten-inch knife.
Then he headed to the crib where helpless baby Erica was screaming, killing her as well.
It was a horrifying double murder for which Lafferty showed no remorse when he was found guilty in January 1985.
He told the court: "I believe that a revelation has been received. I am not a criminal. I have made a commitment to myself to try and do what's right. Because of that, I do have a clear conscience.''
The judge sentenced Dan Lafferty to two consecutive life terms in prison, rather than handing down the death penalty.
Prosecutor Wayne Watson described Dan as a "cold-blooded murderer, the worst of all kinds, the kind that can walk up to a baby's crib while that baby is screaming, ‘Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!' and slit her throat.''
Ron was accused of holding Brenda while his brother carried out the murder.
There were many hearings to decide if the man who claimed to be a prophet from God was mentally competent to stand trial.
When the case finally took place in 1996, Allen Lafferty told how Ron had accused Brenda of "meddling in their affairs” and that God had ordered that they should both be “removed.”
Ron was found guilty of murder but during proceedings to decide if he should face the death penalty, he told his lawyer to sit down because he thought God’s powers would fail if he relied on others.
He was sentenced to death but died in jail in November 2019, at the age of 78, before the execution could be carried out.
Mother's courage in last moments
The murders formed the basis of Jon Krakauer’s 2003 non-fiction book Under the Banner of Heaven, which Dustin adapted into the television series.
But Dustin was determined not to simply rely on the book, he wanted to hear the story from those involved, including Dan Lafferty.
He visited the murderer in jail to ask him how Brenda had reacted to his brutal assault.
The producer, who was in a mainstream part of the Mormon Church into his teens, said: “I pressed Dan Lafferty pretty hard in prison to tell me what those last moments were like outside of the murder itself.
“He wanted to talk about bloodshed. I did not. I wanted to understand who she was in those moments. And he did share with me that she was not a victim in that moment.
“At a certain point she tried to escape. I understood that she showed courage in those last moments.”
Dustin added: “She understood in that moment that they were about to enter into a different kind of hell for the rest of their lives.”
The TV series, which airs on Disney Plus at the end of this month, has received glowing reviews in the United States where it is already streaming.
Andrew Garfield said: “Dustin had such a personal connection to the material, being an ex-Mormon himself.
“It was very heartfelt and personal in the way that it honoured Brenda Lafferty and her daughter Erica, who were murdered so brutally.”
Dustin’s script does change some names and events for dramatic effect. Detective Jeb Pyre, played by Garfield, is fictional.
But it does appear to be accurate in its depiction of Dan Lafferty as a woman-hater who used religion as an excuse for his violence.
Dan’s daughter Rebecca told a 2015 documentary called American Monster that she also suffered at his hand and said: “My father is a monster to me really.”
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She concluded: “My father started out wanting to be Christlike, then evolved into wanting to become Godlike.”
Under the Banner of Heaven streams on Disney Plus from July 27.
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