but every now and then, Utah papers record murders with uniquely Mormon flavoring (death by temple-sanctioned methods, for example), and the word that goes out on the Latter-day grapevine is Danite. In her book American Massacre, Sally Denton claims that the Danites and "blood atonement" played a prominent role in 19th century Utah society. Denton attributes the creation of the Danites to Joseph Smith and believes that he considered them to be his “secret group of loyalists.” She also suggests that they became “one of the most legendarily feared bands in frontier America.” According to Denton, this “consecrated, clandestine unit of divinely inspired assassins” introduced “the ritualized form of murder called blood atonement-providing the victim with eternal salvation by slitting his throat.” Denton claims that “blood atonement” was one of the doctrines Mormons held “most sacred” and “[t]hose who dared to flee Zion were hunted down and killed.” Denton implies that large numbers of such “atonements” occurred during the Mormon reformation of 1856, although “none of the crimes were ever reported in the Deseret News," and the “bloody regime...ended with [Jedediah] Grant’s sudden death, on December 1, 1856.” Blood atonement has been a part of works such as Levi S. Peterson's The Backslider (1986) and Richard Dutcher's "Expiation" (2013). See also Blood libel Blood ritual Capital punishment Christianity and capital punishment Christianity and violence Christian terrorism Execution by firing squad Gladdenites (Attempted move to Utah) Honor killing Human sacrifice Mormonism and violence Religion and capital punishment Religious terrorism Religious violence Utah v. Lafferty Notes References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . See also: History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . . . . . See also: The King Follett Sermon . . . . . . . . . . . . External links Utah Lighthouse Ministry, Blood Atonement Section Bruce R. McConkie letter on Blood Atonement cited above Unforgivable sin and blood atonement (MormonWiki.org - evangelical wiki on Mormonism) Atonement Brigham Young Capital punishment in Utah Christianity and capital punishment Latter Day Saint belief and doctrine Latter Day Saint terms Mormon fundamentalism Mormonism and violence Mormonism-related controversies Mormonism and death