Ervil LeBaron: Polygamist cult leader whose family was involved in 25 murders 'used fear to manipulate people'
It was not until a 1977 murder of a small-town doctor in Utah that resulted in the discovery of an extremely bloody and violent conflict between Mormon polygamist groups. Polygamist church leader Ervil LeBaron did not show up on the police radar until the murder of Dr Rulon Allred, who had a small practice in the town of Murray, multiple wives, and 48 children.
Two young women who wore wigs and disguises entered Rulon's clinic and shot him to death, Oxygen's documentary 'Deadly Cults' reveals. The police had linked the murder to Allred's faith after finding pamphlets from the Church of the Lamb of God. The Church of the Lamb of God is an extreme offshoot of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One of the pamphlets read, "Repent or be destroyed". It was found that the church was lead by Ervil LeBaron who believed he was a prophet.
Cult leader Ervil LeBaron
Ervil's Lamb of God sect had been driven by strange and warped doctrines that also include their belief of blood atonement. He used the doctrine as his main motive to order the murder of his brother Joel LeBaron. Joel had been the leader of the sect but the two did not get along and had very different visions for their family in 1970. As a result, Ervil began to plot to have his brother killed, Ruth Wariner, one of Joel's 42 children, shared. In 1972, Ervil's followers carried out his wishes and murdered Joel after luring him to a house, beating him, and then shooting him to death.
The murders
Besides ordering the murder of his brother Joel, Ervil also tried to unsuccessfully kill the youngest LeBaron. Back in 1974, Ervil was tried for his brother Joel's murder but the ruling was overturned due to a technicality. Ervil also focused on eliminating rival polygamous leaders and in 1975, he ordered the killing of Bob Simons, who was a polygamous Mormon. It was Ervil's 10th wife Vonda White who would carry out her husband's murder requests, as per murderpedia.org.
She also reportedly killed Noemi Zarate who was the wife of Ervil's close associates who had become skeptical of his practices. She also murdered one of Ervil's henchman, Dean Grover Vest, who tried to leave the church. She was sentenced to life in prison. In 1977, Ervil ordered the killing of Rulon who was murdered by his 13th wife Rena Chynoweth. Rena was later tried and acquitted. In 1979, Ervil was apprehended by police in Mexico and extradited to the US where he was sentenced to life in prison in 1980 and died a year later.
The hit list
During his time in prison, Ervil wrote a 400-page 'bible' which he called 'The Book of the New Covenants' which also included a commandment to kill and get rid of disobedient church members. Three of these 'hits' were carried out on the same day in 1988 where a grandson of Ervil and his 8-year-old daughter were shot. Another grandson of Ervil was shot multiple times in his home. It is believed that around 25 people who were killed as a result of Ervil's prison cell orders.
Polygamy and survival
Ervil had 13 wives and more than 50 children, as per Oxygen. One of Ervil's children, Anna LeBaron, shared, "We were taught that we were celestial children, having been born from the prophet Ervil LeBaron. And we believed it. Even though we were treated so poorly we still believed we were celestial children," as per a BBC report in 2017. "It wasn't until after he died that it kind of started to break up and that power was lost. However, even from the grave, he was able to control people and their actions and that is just mind-blowing –– that from the grave he was able to do that," Anna said.
While speaking to BBC, Anna revealed, "He used fear to manipulate and control people. We were absolutely afraid of not doing what we were told. And we didn't have a voice." She also spoke about how girls were at the lowest in the cult's pecking order. "It was a patriarchy, for sure. And the young girls were groomed to become wives of polygamist men that already had wives. We were groomed to accept that and to know that that's where we were headed, when we became of marriageable age."
'Deadly Cults' airs on Sundays at 7 pm ET/PT on Oxygen.