Killer Dan Lafferty Claims Influence on Strack Family Suicide
Dan Lafferty, one of Utah's most notorious murderers, believes his ideas influenced a Springville couple to take their own lives, along with possibly three of their children. In 1984, Dan and his brother Ron murdered their sister-in-law Brenda and her 15-month-old daughter after she refused to join their extremist polygamist group.
Contact and Relationship with the Strack Family
Speaking from Utah State Prison, Lafferty told Associated Press reporter Lindsay Whitehurst that Kristy Strack and her husband Benjamin first contacted him about a decade ago. The Stracks died by suicide last September in their home, and police indicate the couple had a bleak, apocalyptic worldview.
The relationship between Lafferty and the Stracks began after Kristy read the contentious book Under the Banner Of Heaven, which covers the murders committed by the Lafferty brothers. According to Whitehurst's conversation with Lafferty:
“He says this was all started about 10 years ago and that she reached out to him, kind of wrote him a letter and they struck up a relationship.”
Lafferty added that all three—Kristy, Benjamin, and himself—became very close, with the Stracks visiting him about three times a month when allowed.
Lafferty’s Account of His Relationship with Kristy Strack
Lafferty claims that he and Kristy Strack were in love, while Benjamin was aware of these feelings but reportedly did not mind.
“He says that Kristy and he were in love, and that Ben was aware of the affections but was not bothered by it.”
Summary
Dan Lafferty suggests his extremist beliefs and personal connection with the Stracks contributed to their tragic suicides, highlighting complex dynamics within this unusual relationship.