Jeffrey Don Lundgren (May 3, 1950 – October 24, 2006) was an American self-proclaimed prophet, cult leader, and mass murderer who, on April 17, 1989, killed a family of five in Kirtland, Ohio. Lundgren led a Latter Day Saint movement-based cult and interpreted scripture using an unconventional method that he described as "chiastic", which involved searching text for recurring patterns. He and several of his followers murdered the Avery family, fellow members of his cult, for which he was convicted and sentenced to death. Lundgren was executed in 2006. Background Jeffrey Lundgren was born on May 3, 1950, in Independence, Missouri, and grew up as a member of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS Church). According to Lundgren, as well as some of his former neighbors, he was severely abused as a child, particularly by his father. Lundgren was, by most accounts, a loner when he was in middle and high school. He became an expert hunter when he began to spend time with his father as a teenager, becoming knowledgeable in the use and maintenance of firearms. Lundgren enrolled at Central Missouri State University and spent time at a house that was specially built for RLDS youth. While at the house, he became friends with Alice Keeler and Keith Johnson. Keeler, who had also been abused by her father, quickly bonded with Lundgren, and the couple married in 1970. On December 2, 1970, the couple's first child, a boy, was born. By 1974, Keeler was pregnant for the second time. Lundgren enlisted in the United States Navy the same year as his marriage. Prior to receiving an honorable discharge at the end of his first term of duty, he sought an early release arguing that his presence was necessary for the sustenance of his family. He was denied an early release for reasons that were non-necessary according to military recommendations. Lundgren received an honorable discharge days before his four-year enlistment was completed. His second son was born soon afterward. Lundgren and his new family settled in San Diego, California, after his discharge, but economic problems forced the Lundgrens to move back to Missouri. In 1979, Keeler gave birth to a third child, a daughter. People close to the couple claim that Lundgren seemed frustrated by the family's money problems and generally tired of his wife; he allegedly became abusive after the birth of his