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Lafferty murders

Also known as: Murders of Brenda and Erica Lafferty

Active
1984–1984
Region
American Fork, Utah, USA
States
NV, UT
Kind
Single
Status
Convicted
Victims
2

On July 24, 1984, brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty killed their sister-in-law Brenda Wright Lafferty, 24, and her 15-month-old daughter, Erica, at her home in American Fork, Utah. Ron, who had been excommunicated from the LDS Church in 1983, claimed a divine "removal revelation" had directed the killings. The brothers were arrested weeks later in Reno, Nevada. Dan was convicted in 1985 and sentenced to life without parole; Ron was sentenced to death, had his conviction overturned on competency grounds in 1991, was convicted again in 1996 and died on death row in 2019. The case is the center of Jon Krakauer's book Under the Banner of Heaven.

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Victims

We remember the people whose lives were taken.

Timeline of locations

  1. July 24, 1984
    Lafferty home, American Fork (Crime scene, approximate area)

    Brenda and Erica Lafferty were killed in their home in American Fork, about 30 miles south of Salt Lake City.

  2. August 1984
    Reno, Nevada (arrest) (Arrest, approximate area)

    The brothers were arrested in Reno weeks after the killings and soon confessed.

  3. 1985
    4th District Court, Provo (Court / trial, approximate area)

    Both brothers were convicted in separate trials in 1985. Ron's conviction was overturned in 1991; at his 1996 retrial before Judge Steven L. Hansen he was convicted again and sentenced to death.

  4. 1985
    Utah State Prison, Draper (Prison, approximate area)

    Ron Lafferty died of natural causes on death row at the state prison in Draper on November 11, 2019.

Watch, listen, read

Watch

  • Under the Banner of Heaven (series, 2022, Dustin Lance Black (FX on Hulu))

Read

  • Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith (2003, Jon Krakauer (Doubleday))

Sources

Each location also lists its own sources in the data file.