Overview

What makes a son help his father commit murder? What transforms devoted believers into executioners?In April 1989, five people disappeared without a trace from a quiet Ohio town. Dennis and Cheryl Avery, along with their three daughters-fifteen-year-old Trina, thirteen-year-old Rebecca, and six-year-old Karen-vanished after accepting a dinner invitation from their religious community. For eight months, they lay buried beneath a barn floor while life continued above them. No one reported them missing. No one came looking. And the people who knew what happened remained silent. For thirty-five years, the perpetrators refused to speak. Until now. Bloodline and Blind Faith takes you inside one of America's most chilling cult murders through unprecedented first-time interviews with the two men at the center of the tragedy: Damon Lundgren, the prophet's eldest son who participated in the killings at age nineteen, and Danny Kraft, the most loyal follower who believed he was serving God. This is not just another true crime story. This is a psychological investigation into how ordinary people become capable of extraordinary evil. How does a father convince his own son to become an accomplice to murder? How does faith become a weapon? How does a family dinner invitation become a death sentence? Through meticulous research drawing from court documents, investigative reports, and exclusive interviews conducted in 2025-2026, this book reveals the disturbing mechanics of cult manipulation. You'll witness Jeffrey Lundgren's transformation from devoted church member to self-proclaimed prophet. You'll walk through the Kirtland Temple where his obsession took root. You'll meet the Avery family before tragedy struck, understanding them as real people with hopes and dreams, not just statistics. Most powerfully, you'll hear directly from those who participated in the murders-men who have spent decades in prison grappling with what they did and why. Their accounts provide chilling insights into how systematic psychological manipulation can override moral judgment, how isolation destroys critical thinking, and how charismatic authority can convince people to commit acts they would have considered unthinkable. The questions this book answers are uncomfortable but essential: How do you recognize a dangerous cult before violence occurs? What warning signs did the Avery family miss? Could this happen to your family, your community, your church? Why did it take thirty-five years for the full truth to emerge? This book examines the complete arc of the tragedy-from Jeffrey Lundgren's childhood through the brutal murders, the investigation that unearthed five bodies, the trials that sent thirteen people to prison, and the 2026 documentary that finally broke decades of silence. It explores uncomfortable parallels between cult dynamics and modern movements where followers surrender critical thinking to charismatic leaders. Bloodline and Blind Faith is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand how manipulation functions, how families can protect themselves from predatory leaders, and how ordinary faith can be twisted into justification for unspeakable acts. The barn has given up its secrets. The silence has been broken. The lessons demand to be learned. Based on the groundbreaking 2026 documentary featuring never-before-seen interviews with convicted murderers Damon Lundgren and Danny Kraft, this book provides the most comprehensive examination ever published of the Kirtland cult killings and their devastating aftermath. Some truths are too important to remain buried.

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