102 Sermon Illustrations on Murder

Ervil Morerel LeBaron, the "Mormon Manson," died in a Utah prison in 1981 but his reach extends beyond the grave. Six murders were ordered by him before he died. FBI agent calls him a "voice from the dust." LeBaron led a polygamy cult, believed he was God on earth. He believed in Mormon doctrine of "blood atonement." (Sinners should shed their blood to save their souls.) LeBaron developed a corollary - the "Law of Liberty" - false prophets, traitors and children who did not obey would be killed. Most victims were the leaders of rival polygamist sects. He also executed 2 brothers, 3 wives and a daughter. Prosecutor - "He was insane with the lust of power." His prison death list is called the "Book of New Covenants." There are as many as 30,000 practicing polygamists in Utah today.

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Newsweek (page 29), And Coshocton Tribune newspaper (Ohio), Jan 29, 1988

The Singers of Marion, Utah, a polygamist clan, hold off police. Patriarch John was killed by police in 1979 when he resisted arrest for refusing to send his children to school. Raised as a Hitler youth in Nazi Germany. Wife Vickie sued state for $110 million, lost. Family bombed Mormon church, holed up in home (six adults and nine children) to wait for the resurrection of John, who will herald the Second Coming. Police tried psycho tactics, then sneaked up on son-in-law as he came out to shoot out loudspeakers. Police dog handler shot to death, son-in-law wounded.

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Version used in sermon on 10/3/93:

Ervil LeBaron was very religious. He grew up Mormon and accepted many of their teachings. In time he split with the Mormon church, gathered a polygamous cult around him and declared himself God. One Mormon teaching he accepted is called “blood atonement.” It means sinners should shed their blood to save their souls. (This is a partial reason why Utah and Idaho used to execute by firing squad.)

LeBaron added his own twist to blood atonement - traitors and children who did not obey him would be killed. Most victims were the leaders of rival polygamist sects. He also executed 2 brothers, 3 wives and a daughter. LeBaron ended up in prison and died in 1981, but his religious influence did not end. Six murders were ordered by him before he died. He called the death list the “Book of New Covenants.” Since then, several of the murders have been carried out.

___________

On March 29, 2002 I received the following email [just as he wrote it]:

I am a Lebaron and distantly related to the "Ervil LeBaron" I

was looking up who he was when I came across your site. You

gave an in accurate definition to "blood atonement" I didn't

know if you were aware of that but I felt it my christian duty

to help out a little. IAs a mormon I will explain to you what

I have been taught about the blood atonement. Christ gave a

blood atonement the last and ultimate. That is were a remision

of my sins come from. His blood atonement not mine or any

others man. It is true that in the old testemant they did

blood sacrifices or atonements. But since Christ that has been

done away with. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is

taken away in Christ and his sacrifice. So I hope you will

better portrait the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of

Latter Day Saints now thta you have this information. Ervil

LeBaron was an Evil man. His ideal and twisted beliefs were a

choice and in no way reflects upon the true nature of the

mormon faith. I have been on a mission and taught people my

beliefs not once portraing this type of evil. I love my fellow

men and believe the atonement of Christ to be free to all men.

Mormon or not. I hope that you view the atonement of Christ

with the same or even higher regard. THhankyou and I hope this

has helped clear up any misunderstanding of what is taught

about blood atonement and how it is taught and believed.

Sincerely

(name withheld)

I had first heard about individual "blood atonement" when Gary Gillmore was executed by a Utah firing squad many years ago. The doctrine derives from Numbers 25:5-13 where the priest Phinehas brings atonement on the Israelites by executing a sinner. In my research on the internet I found this material at http://www.watchman.org/lds/bldaton2.htm :

While Christians have long been concerned about cultic

teachings which lead to spiritual death, some cultic teachings

have posed danger to spiritual and physical life. One graphic

example is the Mormon doctrine of individual Blood Atonement.

The biblical teaching on blood atonement is that the shedding

of blood is required for forgiveness of sin. (Hebrews 9:22) The

Bible teaches that the blood of Christ cleanses from "all sin."

(1 John 1:7) Early Mormon theology, however, teaches that for

certain sins the blood of Christ alone would not avail and the

persons own blood must be shed for atonement.

Under the section, "Blood Atonement," of the book, Mormon

Doctrine, LDS Apostle Bruce R. McConkie wrote, "...there are

some serious sins for which the cleansing of Christ does not

operate, and the law of God is that men must then have their

own blood shed to atone for their sins," (2nd ed. 1979, p.92).

In the same article McConkie quoted his father-in-law, who was

the tenth Mormon Prophet, Joseph Fielding Smith, as saying:

"Man may commit certain grievous sins... that will

place him beyond the reach of the atoning blood of

Christ.... If these offenses are committed, then the

blood of Christ will not cleanse them from their sins

even though they repent. Therefore their only hope is

to have their own blood shed to atone... (Doctrine of

Salvation, Vol. 1, pp. 133-138)" (Ibid).

McConkie went own to explain that the Mormon blood atonement,

"...doctrine can only be practiced in its fullness in a day

when the civil and ecclesiastical laws are administered in the

same hands," in other words, when Church and State are one, an

obvious reference to a future in which the government will be

controlled by the LDS Church, a Mormon Theocracy.

Apostle McConkie laments that this doctrine cannot be practiced

"in this dispensation" hinting that its only evidence outside

of ancient Israel, is that, "...persons who understood its

provisions could and did use their influence to get a form of

capital punishment written into the laws of the various states

of the union so that the blood of murderers could be shed,"

(Ibid).

He refers here to a little known law in Utah and Idaho which

allows a condemned criminal to choose a firing squad for

execution rather than the gas chamber or electric chair --

neither of which "shed blood." However one can find evidence of

Mormonism's deadly blood atonement doctrine being practiced "in

this dispensation."

In the 1800's the government and the church were for all

practical purposes "administered in the same hands" and those

hands were Brigham Young's, who was Prophet, Seer, and

Revelator of the Mormon Church while at the same time was

Governor of Utah. On the subject of "Blood Atonement", Brigham

Young stated: "There are sins that men commit for which they

cannot receive forgiveness... and if they had their eyes open

to see their true condition, they would be perfectly willing to

have their blood spilt upon the ground... as an offering for

their sins; and the smoking incense would atone for their

sins," (Journal of Discoursesœ, Vol 4, p. 53).

To carry out his blood atonement ministry, Brigham Young had at

his disposal a secret band of men who were reported to have

conducted a number of "blood atonements" at the orders of

President Young and other LDS leaders. Brigham Young may have

been referring to this secret group, known as the Danites when

he said:

"And if the Gentiles wish to see a few tricks, we have

`Mormons' that can perform them. We have the meanest

devils on the earth in our midst, and we intend to

keep them for WE HAVE USE FOR THEM; and if the Devil

does not look sharp, we will cheat him out of them at

the last, for they will reform and go to heaven with

us," (Ibid, Vol. 6: 176; emphasis added).

Because of the secretive nature of the group, little primary

information is available but there is ample evidence that these

"meanest devils" were responsible for a number of deaths

apparently on Brigham Young's orders or with his knowledge.

Among those who have been named as Danites are William Hickman,

Orrin Porter Rockwell, and John D. Lee. A partial list of

murder victims in connection with these three men are Ike

Hatch, the Aiken party, and an entire wagon train of men, women

and children killed in what became called the Mountain Meadows

massacre.

by James Walker

(For a more complete discussion see related chapters in

MORMONISM: SHADOW OR REALITY, by Jerald and Sandra Tanner).

I sent this page to the writer and got the following response:

Thank you for sharing that with me. I am however dissapointed

that you would go to a source that clearly is out to exploit

the beliefs of others. Hence the title "the expositor." I know

those writings I have myself read them. The articles you sent

are meant to be vauge. There design after all is meant to

detour people from investigating further into the mormon faith.

The bottom line is that the only sin that the men of the church

were refering to are one murder of innocent blood and the other

the dening of the Holy Ghost or spirit of god. Like the example

of Cain. Those are the only two sins. I know I have read all of

those sources given. THe idea that one could possibly atone for

his own sins is absured considering the fact that it could only

be done by a sinless man. If one murders he is there for nomore

sinless. As an example of the anguish a soul would be in for

such a sin, a man would jump at the chance if it were possible

that is what was meant. But I tell you it is not possible and

that is the doctorine of Christ. The doctorine taught by the

church of Jesus Christ of LDS. I don't believe in personal

blood atonement and niether did the men that spoke of such a

thing. You may believe anything you want. You will not believe

a mormon who lives and breathes the faith but you will believe

a group whos sole purpose is to darken the world and slander

those whos right it i to worship how when or what they may. All

religions that don't agree with them. What a waste of time. Let

the good in the world remain good I say. I hope you believe me

if not it doesn't matter. I know what I am taught and I

understand it

Sincerely

[name withheld again]

P.S. If you really want to know what we believe ask God after

all he knows all. And God won't lie as men do.

The postscript is a very common comeback by Mormons (I first heard it at the Hill Cumorah dramatization of the discovery of the "golden plates" in New York State). I am not sure how "expositor" indicates "exploit" - it means to explain or explicate. Blood atonement may not be a mainline Mormon doctrine anymore but I think it is historically attested and I stand by my statement in the sermon.

Rod Matthews, 15, killed a classmate "to know what it was like." He chose an overweight high school freshman (Shaun Ouillette, 14) relatively new to the school because he felt he would not be missed. After luring him into the woods, he hit him in the head 3 times with a baseball bat, then considered cutting off his arms and legs. He had told his friends previously he wanted to kill somebody. He took friends to see the body. Police found the body 3 weeks later, after one of the friends sent them an anonymous letter. Matthews claims he decided to kill someone after seeing the videotape "Faces of Death," which shows animal and human deaths. He has been sentenced to life in prison (youngest person in Mass. prisons). He had a history of emotional problems. He mother thinks the sentence is too stiff.

(Details, picture in article)

Jerry Falwell's father, Carey, killed his brother Garland in self-defense. Garland had been an alcoholic and on drugs. Garland thought Carey had set him up for police, when actually Carey had bailed him out on numerous occasions.

#238

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Story about example of euthanasia - it shocks us, but in short order the act may become unquestionable. Public debate leads to public acceptance. Another example is homosexuality.

Mark Branch, 18, from Greenfield, Massachusetts, was obsessed with the killer Jason in "Friday the 13th" movies. He slashed Sharon Gregory, 19. Many stab wounds, gruesome scene. She had hid in kitchen. Town is terrified.

Campolo asked an army colonel, Do you think Jesus would drop a bomb? Of course he wouldn't. Campolo - so why should Christians? OT laws limit retribution; NT goes further. Jesus has a "new" law of love, even for enemies. Non-violent resistance of Gandhi. How it worked against Nazis in Denmark.

Matt 25:40 - we meet Jesus in the person of every one we meet. War and capital punishment become wrong.

Story of monk [Telemachus] given [see #3078], who went to Rome, was appalled at gladiators in coliseum, stepped down among them and shouted, "In the name of God, stop!" They ran him through, then were horrified. One by one the spectators left, and gladiator fights ended. Our age needs the same command - "In the name of God, stop!" [used by Jimmy Hull on September 23, 1990]

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Version in Leadership, Fall 1983, "Courage," Randy Roth, Portland, Oregon:

President Reagan recently retold the story of Telemachus, the fourth-century Christian whose boldness has been recounted in Charles Colson's "Loving God."

The Asian hermit lived in a remote village, tending his garden and spending much of his time in prayer. One day he thought he heard the voice of God telling him to go to Rome, so he obeyed, setting out on foot. Weary weeks later, he arrived in the city at the time of a great festival. The little monk followed the crowd surging down the streets into the Coliseum. He saw the gladiators stand before the emperor and say, "We who are about to die salute you." Then he realized these men were going to fight to the death for the entertainment of the crowd. He cried out, "In the name of Christ, stop!"

As the games began, he pushed his way through the crowd, climbed over the wall, and dropped to the floor of the arena. When the crowd saw this tiny figure rushing to the gladiators saying, "In the name of Christ, stop!" they thought it was part of the show and began laughing.

When they realized it wasn't, the laughter turned to anger. As he was pleading with the gladiators to stop, one of them plunged a sword into his body. He fell to the sand. As he was dying, his last words were, "In the name of Christ, stop!"

Then a strange thing happened. The gladiators stood looking at the tiny figure lying there. A hush fell over the Coliseum. Way up in the upper rows, a man stood and made his way to the exit. Other began to follow. In dead silence, everyone left the Coliseum.

The year was A.D. 391, and that was the last battle to the death between gladiators in the Roman Coliseum. Never again in the great stadium did men kill each other for the entertainment of the crowd, all because of one tiny voice - one life - that spoke the truth in God's name.

[see also Charles Swindoll, "Living on the Ragged Edge," pp. 109-110.]

[see also #3078]

Supernatural evil in the life of Jesus.

1. There is a resurgence of interest in the occult.

2. Much is hype, much seems to be real.

a. Examples of pranks and hideous crimes in Morris county, NJ, and U.S.

3. Jesus and Satan.

a. A main theme of his message.

b. Satan's involvement in key events in Jesus' life.

4. Satan's power.

5. Our attitude toward the supernatural.

6. Evil is real and personal.

a. Satan wants to trip up believers.

b. Jesus is more powerful than Satan.

Newspaper account of murder of John T. Roberts by adopted sons, with speculation as to their motive. Some said they were abused, others did not.

#614

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Society excludes certain groups from the need to be treated with any respect. Convicted murderers are on the moral boundary, but Bundy fell beyond the line. An analysis of why students cheered at his execution.

Adolfo de Jesus Constanzo, 26, and his girlfriend Sara Villareal Aldrete are accused of ritually murdering 13 men in Mexico. They taught their followers (drug runners) that they would be protected from the police.

#806

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Peggy Railey lies near death because someone strangled her in April 1987. Attacker is suspected to be her husband, Rev. Walker Railey, who was the popular pastor of a large influential church in Dallas (staff of 65). $100,000 salary, car. Liberal in racial and justice matters. Railey was having an affair with another woman, confessed that he was tormented by demons. But he never confessed to murder, saying it was someone else. Note was typed on church typewriter. When he became a suspect he attempted suicide, leaving a note which said in part,

"There is a demon inside my soul. For almost 40 years God has been

struggling with my demons. My demon has finally gotten the upper hand.

I am the baddest of the bad. I am the lowest of the low."

He resigned the ministry and moved to California. Family is suing for damages but he is broke. Mother-in-law lays blame at his ambition.

VERSION IN SERMON

=================

Many people have been mightily used by God, only to be rejected. Even when good flows from our lives, we can be in danger. Rev. Walker Railey was until 1989 one of the most powerful preachers in Dallas, Texas. His salary was $100,000 a year and he was provided with all the trimmings, including a new car. Railey's Methodist church had 5,300 members, a $2 million budget and a staff of 65. He was only 33 years old, five years younger than me. Railey was a fantastic preacher and was not afraid to tackle difficult issues like racism and social justice. He began getting threatening notes from extremists, but also positive coverage from the local press.

In April 1987 an intruder came up to his wife Peggy and strangled her outside their home. She did not die, but went into a deep coma where she remains to this day. The doctors say she is little more than a vegetable.

The police did a thorough investigation and came up with some disturbing evidence. They found that the threatening letters were written by Rev. Railey himself on a church typewriter. The message he left on their home answering machine made it sound like he was in another city at the time, but it was faked. And for the last year he had been having an affair with a psychologist. When they confronted him with the evidence, he denied it.

But Walker Railey had inner compulsions that no one understood. The next day he locked himself in his room and took an overdose of drugs. He left a note which read:

"There is a demon inside my soul. For almost 40 years God has been

struggling with my demons. My demon has finally gotten the upper hand.

I am the baddest of the bad. I am the lowest of the low."

Railey did not die from the overdose, and there has not been enough evidence to convict him. He left the ministry, his lover abandoned him and he moved to California. His family is suing him for damages but he claims he is bankrupt.

Being used by God is not enough. To receive the blessing, we must do God's work, God's way.

Henry Lee Lucas killed for the first time when he was 23.

He stabbed and strangled his 74-year-old mother.

After 6 years in an institution for the criminally insane and

8 more yars in pjrison, Lucas was released.

He began drifting around the country.

Over the next 11 years he murdered at least 188 people in 24 states.

He claims to have killed at least 360.

At his trial for the murder of a hitchhiker, Lucas boasted that he

had crucified some victims and fileted others like fish.

He said, "I had nothing but pure hatred. Killing someone is just

like walking outdoors. If I wanted a victim, I'd just go get one."

[Police officials now doubt many of Lucas' confessions and think he was motivated by a desire to humiliate law enforcement, and get special treatment while being interrogated. However, they are certain he committed at least three murders, including his mother. For more detail see http://crimemagazine.com/lucas.htm]

*

Lawrence DeLisle, 28, drove his family into the Detroit River, faking it as an accident. He intended to kill his wife and 4 kids, but she survived. He broke down under questioning and admitted he wanted “to get rid of his present burdens: his wife and his children.” He owed $13,000 in bills.

A major article on Satan. (Also see p. 15 editorial) [outline below]

Ritual murder by two Missouri boys done in Satanic rite.

1. Satan's kingdom.

2. Demons on the loose.

3. What did the cross accomplish?

4. Are believers immune?

5. Discerning the demonic.

6. Engaging in spiritual warfare.

7. What does the future hold?

Sidebar on missions and the demonic.

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Full outline:

Rev. David Holwick Baptist Youth Fellowship

November 23, 1997

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GIVING THE DEVIL HIS DUE

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I. Examples of Satanism.

A. Ritual murder of Steve Newberry by buddies in 1987.

1) Influenced by heavy metal, horror movies, drugs.

B. Recent murderous rampage in Alabama.

C. Nationally noted crimes: Night Stalker; Mexico drug cult.

D. Overkill - repressed memories of satanic ritual abuse.

II. Where Satan comes from.

A. His origin is not given.

B. The ancient world universally believed in evil spiritual forces,

which Christians attributed to Satan.

C. Evil spirits have a hierarchy. Eph 2:2

D. They do not have bodies, but use humans like Judas. John 13:27

E. They can gang up on people. Mark 5:1-20

III. What evil spirits do.

A. They oppose God's purposes and seek to destroy.

1) Violence is a key feature. John 8:44

2) They seek to tempt people. 1 Th 3:5

3) Also to turn them away from Jesus. 2 Cor 4:4

4) Lies are a characteristic. John 8:44; Rev 20:10

B. Demonization describes a high level of control.

1) Even nations can be under demonic influence. Dan 10:13,21

2) Satan is the "ruler of this world." John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11

3) Paul believed powers of darkness are active in

non-Christian religions.

a) Satan works especially hard to pervert true doctrine.

2 Cor 10:4; 6:14-17; Col 2:8

IV. What the Cross accomplished.

A. Jesus' death and resurrection is a victory over Satan.

Eph 1:20-22; Phil 2:9-11; Heb 2:14; 1 Jn 3:8

1) Ironically, the powers of evil instigated the cross. Col 2:15

B. However, spiritual warfare continues, but on a different level.

1) Believers can be influences by evil forces, but not possessed.

2) It's possible for us to "give a place to the devil." Eph 4:27

C. Remember that Jesus is more powerful. Col 2:10

V. Seeing Satanism.

A. Bizarre behavior can be a sign, as can a person's claim.

1) Satanism can also be more subtle.

2) It can also be phony - Mike Warnke was a fake Satanist.

a) Many accounts of Satanist activity are myths, not real.

B. All believers are engaged in "spiritual warfare." Eph 6:12

1) The primary focus is Christian conduct, not exorcisms.

a) Resist the devil getting rid of moral vices.

b) Take offense against him by spreading the gospel.

2) Christians need to support and pray for one another.

3) God's armies are fighting for us. 2 Kings 6:17

VI. Satan will be vanquished in the end.

A. Eternal fire is waiting for him. Matt 25:41; Rev 19:20, 20:10

B. He will be defeated by a single word. 2 Th 2:8

Three bizarre murders will probably be made into TV movies:

New Hampshire. Pamela Smart, a 23-year-old high school instructor in Derry, seduced 15-year-old William Flynn and got him and two friends to murder her husband Greg. She told the boys to lock the dog in the cellar so it would not have to watch the dastardly deed.

Texas. Wanda Webb Holloway, organist at the local Baptist church, tried to murder Amber Heath's mother so she would be too distraught to win a spot on the freshman cheerleading squad, and Wanda's eighth-grade daughter Shanna Harper would win instead. Wanda's ex-brother-in-law told police she toyed with the idea of killing both mother and daughter, but couldn't afford the $7,500 fee. The previous year she got her daughter disqualified when she showed up at school and handed out promotional pencils and rulers imprinted "Shanna Harper Cheerleader." [She was convicted but due to a bad jury it was declared a mistrial.]

The school principal, James M. Barker said, "After all, it's the American way. We all want our children to achieve. There is a part of Wanda Holloway in all of us."

Florida. Pepper-haired, bespectacled genius George James Trepal fed rat poison to the family next door because he considered them bad neighbors. He got tired of their loud music and barking dogs. He left a death threat, then laced their Coke bottles with thallium nitrite. Peggy Carr died three months later. When police questioned Trepal, a member of Mensa, he said someone poisoned them because they wouldn't move out. At the annual Mensa murder weekend he wrote in a booklet, "When a death threat appears on the doorstep, prudent people throw out all their food and watch what they eat." A small vial in the garage contained traces of thallium. How could a genius be so dumb?

[I believe the first two became TV movies - Holwick]

Capital punishment is no deterrent for crime, but it quenches society’s thirst for blood. Revenge is generally the least-discussed rationale for capital punishment in a society claiming to be civilized but it is probably the one held by most people, since it addresses our emotions. An execution may provide closure to distraught family members and friends left in the wake of a painful, heinous crime. There are those who savor revenge -as barbaric as the thought may be. Revenge also allows for the expulsion and ventilation of harbored anger.

Less emotional reasons given for capital punishment:

1. It deters crime.

(but only applies to first deg murder)

2. It is cheaper than imprisonment.

(but not with endless court appeals)

3. It is only certain penalty.

(but too certain if innocent killed)

According to a recent Gallup poll, 79% of adult population favors capital punishment for murder. In 1990, 36 states plus the federal government have capital punishment laws. In that year, 11 states executed 23 prisoners, bringing the total number of executions to 143 since 1976, the year the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty. Across the nation 2,356 prisoners await execution.

The first death in the Bible came as a "solution" to a problem. The sons of Adam and Eve quarreled and Cain "resolved" it by slaying his brother Abel. Death is still used today as a final solution. In thought and deed.

A decision is not agreed with and angry yells erupt: "Kill the umpire!" Property or life is threatened and someone shouts: "Shoot 'em!" A failing body suffers in an intensive care ward and a relative whispers: "Pull the plug!"

One nation feels threatened by another and a soldier says: "Nuke 'em!" An egregious crime is committed and an outraged community shouts: "Give him the chair!" or "String em up!"

Are we getting too cozy with death? Too chummy with the Grim Reaper? Death was the worldly solution to Jesus: "Crucify him! Crucify him!" Easter is the heavenly answer: "Vivit! Vivit! He lives! He lives!"

#2443

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Some conversions are hard to accept, but show the mercy of God:

Westley Allan Dodd was executed by hanging at the Washington State Penitentiary earlier this year. Moments before the sentence was carried out, the convicted serial child killer was given the customary opportunity for last words. Here was a man who had viciously abused and mutilated three young boys. He was a man who said he would do it again, who said there was no hope he would ever be released from the hideous darkness within his soul. He final words came as a shock: "I was wrong when I said there was no hope, no peace. There is hope. There is peace. "I have found both in the Lord Jesus Christ."

According to an eyewitness, the father of two of the boys murdered by Dodd "hissed quietly" when Dodd invoked the name of Jesus. No one can fault this father for his contempt and skepticism. Until then, Dodd had shown no remorse. He would mutilate and murder again, he said, if not put to death.

Hearing that a notorious criminal has professed to find forgiveness, hope, and peace in Jesus Christ should not surprise us. Instead, it should cause us to rejoice, as we reconsider the miracle of God's mercy and grace - wide and deep enough to cover everyone's sin, mine especially.

Personal disaster that can be caused by gossip:

In a small town in North Dakota there was a young family. They were happy, even though the mother had not been entirely well since the birth of their second baby. But everyone in town knew there was warmth there because of the way they treated each other.

Then one day the town gossip started a rumor that the husband was being unfaithful. It wasn’t true, but the story spread. Eventually it reached the ears of the young wife.

It must have been more than she could bear. That night when the husband came home, he knew something was wrong. No one greeted him, and the whole house was silent. Down in the basement he found the three of them, hanging from a beam. In despair, the sick young mother had taken the lives of her two children and then her own.

Story of Delmar Dennis, a Methodist minister in the KKK in 1964 in Mississippi. After the local Klan killed three young civil rights workers, a massive manhunt began, codenamed “Mississippi Burning” by the FBI. Eventually one klansman revealed the location of the graves but no one would step forward to give evidence on who did it. Delmar knew as a Christian that murder was wrong, of whites or blacks, and became an informer for the FBI. Its local director called his testimony absolutely crucial. Delmar heard klansmen describing exactly how the killings were conducted (a deputy sheriff was the ringleader) and testified against them in federal court where 8 of them were convicted of violating the worker’s civil rights. They have never been tried for murder. Delmar Dennis was protected before the trial so they could not kill him, and now runs a restaurant. He still fears the Klan may try to take his life.

=====================

More on Dennis from http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/price&bowers/Dennis.htm

Delmar Dennis was a young Methodist minister and Klan member who became a vital witness for the government in the Mississippi Burning trial.

Dennis was a “handsome, strapping twenty-four-year-old” when he joined the Lauderdale County Klan and became the klavern’s kludd, or chaplain. Dennis tried without success to impose some Christian discipline on the group by setting a scale of fines for members who cursed, but cursing continued unabated and his efforts to collect were ignored.

In an authorized biography about Dennis, “Klandestine,” he claims that he was tricked into joining the Klan, but there is reason to doubt his story. (Dennis also claimed to have called Schwerner to warn him of the Klan plot against him, but that Schwerner hung up on him.) He did, however, appear to FBI investigators to be a somewhat reluctant Klansman and a possible weak link in the conspiracy of silence. Wallace Miller, the FBI’s first Klan informant, reported that Dennis had refused to buy the required gun when he joined the Klan and members had to take up a collection to get him a “.38.” Also of interest to the FBI was Miller’s report that Dennis, who attended a June 16 meeting that discussed the planned trip to Mount Zion Church in which the Klan hoped to find and kill Schwerner, declined to go along.

The FBI invested considerable effort in cultivating a friendship with Dennis, who proved much more articulate and intelligent than the average Klan member. Hours were spent discussing God, patriotism, and the races. Investigators told Dennis that he had the choice of being either a witness or a defendant in the trial that they said would inevitably come. Motivated perhaps more by self-interest than remorse, Dennis chose to cooperate. On the day of his decision to talk, agents compiled forty pages of notes on the conspiracy. Meetings between FBI agents and Dennis were held in Meridian cemeteries and at the naval air station.

In his trial testimony, Dennis described the June 16, 1964, Klan meeting in an abandoned school building in which the plan to murder Schwerner was discussed. He also described and explained a coded letter by Sam Bowers to Klan members urging silence in the face of the FBI investigation of the killings. Finally, Dennis may have sealed Bowers’s conviction by quoting a remark he made following the murders: “It was the first time that Christians had planned and carried out the execution of a Jew.”

John List’s neighbors in suburban Westfield, New Jersey, liked him well enough, even though he was standoffish and a little odd. It was his habit, for instance, to wear a business suit when he mowed the lawn surrounding the huge, shabby mansion where he lived with his wife, Helen, their three children, and his aging mother. In November 1971 he told the neighbors that he was going to tend to a sick relative in North Carolina. He never returned.

A month later police entered the darkened house. Nothing had prepared them for what they found. Funereal organ music was coming from a central sound system, and in the mansion’s ballroom the decomposing bodies of 45-year-old Helen List, Patricia, 16, John junior, 15, and Frederick, 13, were laid out neatly on the floor. Alma List, John’s 85-year-old mother, was discovered upstairs. All five victims had been shot in the head.

A letter addressed to List’s Lutheran minister was taped to a filing cabinet in the house. “I know what has been done is wrong from all that I have been taught and that any reasons I give will not make it right,” the letter began. “I wasn’t earning anywhere near enough to support us. Everything I tried seemed to fall to pieces.”

The letter cataloged a series of family disasters, from heavy debt to his wife’s lingering illness. He had lost one job after another. His daughter Patricia had turned into a rebellious teenager, fascinated by the occult and intent on a career in theater. Her interests, List wrote, would interfere with her “continuing to be a Christian.” He professed to see a positive spiritual benefit in the murders, noting that “at least I’m certain that all have gone to heaven now.”

Eighteen years went by without a sign of List. Then in 1989 the television program “America’s Most Wanted” profiled the case and presented a plaster bust of what he would look like now. Immediately a co-worker in Virginia called the police. He was arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced to five consecutive life terms.

Was there any merit in John List’s intent to solve his troubles in this way? Ironically, List had been unaware of owning a treasure that could have solved his financial problems. In the ceiling of the ballroom where he’d shot his wife and children was a stained-glass skylight made by the renowned turn-of-the-century glass artisan Louis Comfort Tiffany. At the time of the murders the skylight was worth at least $100,000 - twice what List had paid for the house.

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Update: It turns out this story is a rumor that started in the 1970s.

Sermon in Ten Commandments series. "You shall not kill." Exod 20:13

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THE CULTURE OF DEATH

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I. A basic commandment.

A. The prohibition of murder is universal in humanity.

B. Not all killing, but murder in view here.

C. There is still a need for the sixth commandment.

II. Culture of death in modern world.

A. A child's perspective.

B. Death is a solution to society's problems.

C. Killing solves things, but it doesn't honor God.

III. Areas where the sixth commandment applies.

A. Abortion. Psalm 139:13

B. Capital Punishment. Genesis 9:6

C. Euthanasia and Suicide.

D. War. 1 Chron 22:8

IV. Killing and communion.

A. Jesus allowed himself to be killed so we could live.

B. How we can affirm life.

C. Overcome evil with good, not evil.

#3192

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Comment by Cardinal John O'Connor following abortion clinic murders:

"If anyone has an urge to kill an abortionist, let him kill me instead. That's about as clearly as I can renounce such madness."

One day in March 1980, a 12-year-old boy named Frank borrowed a friend's motorized minibike and rode it out from behind a Dumpster and into the path of a car driven by John Favara, a neighbor. There had been friendship between the families and the kids had often slept over at each other's houses. The setting sun was shining into Favara's eyes when his car hit Frank. The boy was killed.

The death was ruled accidental, and no charges were filed, but the boy's family, frantic with grief and fury, didn't see it that way. The days after the boy's death were followed by a series of threats against Favara. At one point the epithet "MURDERER" was spray-painted on his car. Favara was a stolid, mild-mannered man, not easily excited or frightened, but the succession of threats rattled him. Especially considering who they came from - Frank's father was John Gotti.

Favara asked a friend, who happened to be a member of the Castellano Mafia family, what he should do. The friend advised him to get rid of the death car. The sight of it enraged Victoria Gotti - so much that in May, two months after the accident, she attacked Favara with a baseball bat. He went to a hospital for treatment of his injuries but refused to press charges. Nevertheless, Favara followed a second piece of advice from his friend: He put his house up for sale.

Toward the end of July, John Gotti decided to take Victoria off for a week's vacation in Florida. "My wife is still mourning my son and I took her down there to get her mind off things," he would later say. "She's still on medication."

On July 28 John Favara came out of his factory and headed for his car. He'd nearly reached it when a stocky man rushed him, clubbed him with a two-by-four, seized him by his belt, and heaved him into the back of a van. "Our friend is sick," the stocky man explained to a witness who wondered what was happening. "We're taking him home." The van disappeared down the road. Another man got into Favara's station wagon and drove it way after the van. John Favara would never be seen again.

Several days later the Gottis returned from their holiday in Florida. When Queens police asked John Gotti about his neighbor's disappearance, the bereaved father replied: "I don't know what happened. I'm not sorry if something did happen. He killed my kid."

Soon after, an informant told the FBI that "the individual responsible for Frank Gotti's death was killed recently at Gotti's direction, and Gotti wanted a solid alibi of not even being in New York at the time." Another told a New York cop that Favara was kept alive until Gotti's return from Florida so that Gotti could kill him himself. The informant claimed that Gotti cut Favara in half with a chain saw and had his body crushed in a compactor along with his car.

According to Jesus, Christians should handle grief more constructively.

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January , 2009: Court documents disclose that Favara was forced into a van, shot in the legs and killed. His body was then submerged in a 55-gallon drum of acid and dissolved.

An urban legend from South Africa has patients mysteriously dying. A cleaning woman is implicated when it is found she unplugs their respirators so she can plug in her floor polisher. (It is untrue, and has several parallel stories.)

Jewish scholars debating the acceptability of taking people off life support and allowing them to die naturally. The broadly accepted view is that, while one is not obliged to place someone on life support and can allow them to die naturally if there is little hope of saving them, the picture changes once someone is actually on life support. According to the argument, it is unacceptable for any human being to cut off the life support machine - intentionally - regardless of how hopeless the situation may be, since a decision to end a life may only be taken by God. However, and this is exactly as it was put to Goldstuck by one scholar, should "a cleaner accidentally unplug the machine to plug in a cleaning machine, you are not obliged to switch the machine back on again."