Ronald Luff News Today

In January 1990, paramilitary religious cult leader Jeffrey Lundgren and 12 of his followers were indicted in Lake County Common Pleas Court in connection with the execution-style murders in April 1989 of Dennis Avery, his wife Cheryl and their daughters Trina, Rebecca and Karen.The office of Lake County Prosecuting Attorney Steven LaTourette secured convictions against […]

>> as they begin the search for suspect, they receive a surprising phone call. ronald luff has turned himself into authorities. he incomes them that lundgrens cult is responsible for the killings. >> a suspect in another murder case tonight, jeffrey lundgren, the leader of a fanatic religious group, tonight he and four of his followers are wanted by police. >> luff as professes to be a leading figure in the murder of the avery family. >> i want to reiterate, you have the right to stop this quest...

Members, including three children. i dont see how it could be much more atrocious, much worse, much more violent. >> as kirtland investigators begin the search for suspects, they receive a surprising phone call. ronald luff has turned himself in to authorities. he informs then that lungrens cult is responsible for the killings. >> a suspect in another murder case tonight, jeffrey lungren, the leader of a fanatic religious group. tonight he and four of his followers are wanted by police. >> luff ...

To their informant, draw a diagram and fax it to us so we knew exactly where these bodies were located. >> the informant is a former member of the local religious group that used to reside on the farm. he draws a precise grid of the barn to show the kirtland police where the bodies are located. >> once clear and the dirt floor was exposed, you could tell the ground was very spongy, like somebody had been digging there. so we started digging that night. 9:07 p.m. we found the first body of an adu...

Children. i dont see how it could be much more atrocious, much worse, much more violent. >> as kirtland investigators begin the search for suspects, they receive a surprising phone call. ronald luff has turned himself in to authorities. he informs then that lungrens cult is responsible for the killings. >> a suspect in another murder case tonight, jeffrey lungren, the leader of a fanatic religious group. tonight he and four of his followers are wanted by police. >> luff also professes to be a le...

Would die. >> were you afraid, living in this context? was it a joyful experience? >> you become desperate. >> desperate. >> you become desperate to bring these things about because this is what it has to be, its the only access to life that there is. >> to control his followers, lundgren also uses guilt as a manipulation tactic. luff is told the sins of the world rests on his shoulders. it is a burden that is almost too much for luff to bear. >> the whole ethiopian famine was personally attribu...

Temple on a pilgrimage with his wife and two children. there, he meets a local tour guide. luff becomes enraptured by this mans passion for religion. his maim is jeffrey lungren. >> there were people saying this guy, jeffrey lundgren really knows it and is a special one. he taught sunday school classes there. >> a disagreement with church elders over his teaching practices pushes 37-year-old lundgren out of the temple. he moves his small group of followers to a nearby farm. >> it was roughly in ...

Would be opposed from traditional church? >> its hard to break down steps because theres so many of them, and theyre gradual. >> lundgrens behavior becomes bizarre and even cruel. >> now i say go on to jerusalem. >> he tests his followers devotion by holding bible class from morning until 2:00 or later. and he challenges their will power by insisting that they fast while he eats a lavish lobster dinner in front of them. luff follows lundgrens demands without hesitation. >> did any part of you ev...

Whether i could continue any farther because god had gotten too ugly, just plain too ugly to follow anymore. that grew eventually into serious doubts about whether or not what we did was right and then eventually to a conviction and it was wrong. >> luffs growing realization he participated in a terrible crime prompts him to turn himself in to authorities. it is a step that initiates the end of jeffrey lundgrens cult. coming up -- >> you sit here today, i think anyone listening to you speak wo...

Working out together, just the two of us out in the barn, and he says, i just want you to know one thing, were not bringing friends this time. >> lundgren approaches luff and tells him to dig a large pit in the barn. it is another command luff follows without question. >> you knew something bad would happen? >> i would say within a few days, at least, beforehand, we certainly -- i mean, those of us who had prepared the pit in the barn understood that someone could die. >> a tip from a former mem...