a body. the body is found underneath an abandoned barn on the farm where lundgren s cult used to reside. experts are quickly brought in from departments across the county to aid in the excavation and search for clues. i sat down with him before we started this and said, what do we know? the main part they knew is that they had been bound with duct tape. the process takes an emotional and physical toll on everyone involved. they had deteriorated badly enough that we just used white sheets in the ambulances and brought them up carefully so they remained in tact as much as possible for the coroner to examine later on. i went home and i burned the clothing i was wearing because it stunk so bad. i cleaned out the inside of my nose with alcohol because the odor is there.
the taste of death is really there. it s not your imagination. it takes two days and dozens of people to excavate two adults and three children buried under the barn. all five victims are found bound with duct tape and shot several times. during the excavation, police estimate the youngest victim to be 6 years old. there were three little kids, golly, that this is it s so tragic and bad. it s two generations wiped out, because that s the human part of it. anybody who would carry a little girl to her death has to be the grim reaper. police quickly identify the victims as the avery family. they are also members of lundgren s group. i don t see how it could be much worse when you re talking about the murder of five family
as ron luff and his wife become more enmeshed in the cult, they begin to lose sight of reality. luff is captivated by the teachings of the group s leader, jeffrey lundgren. and like all the group s members, is a devoted follower. you never considered yourself a cult. in fact, i don t think the idea ever came to mind, the whole notion of a cult, which i knew nothing about anyway, was never mentioned. how many would have been in the group at this point? about 20 people. when did the requests or dictates become even more unorthodox or more, i guess, would be opposed from traditional church? it s hard to break down steps because there s so many of them,
morphing into a cult. so where does this fellow, lungren, come in? my faith was very much everything and i m looking to a lot of answers to questions. i decide that i want to go to kirtland temple and just visit the place. i d never been there. pray, meditate, and see if i can, you know, if god will touch me in any way or let me know anything that he wants in my life, a direction in my life. okay. and so i ve never heard of jeff lungren before that day. that was where we first met. we spent about six hours after that tour talking with him and his wife and some of the things going on in the church and so forth. we met some of the other people that were there. what there seemed to be is a
i accept where i m at and i understand these circumstances. my only just like with this, my only point is to maybe help it not happen again. but i understand and accept where i m at. i understand that. i have a hard time admitting to it, because i never desired the avery s death, i never planned their death and i never physically caused their death, but i m responsible because i participated in their death. right. so, yeah. part of me says yes, but part of me says yes, but. and so you believe lungren, the fellow who pulled the trigger i think that he had a desire to take human life. and he found a way to act it out. you sit here today, and i think anyone listening to you speak, and i m sure you re not surprised to hear this, you seem