happily confessed to participating in the slaughters.
All but Sara Aldrete admitted to their own involvement. She however, claimed that she had been a victim. Her lengthy protestations gave her away though, and instead of clearing her of guilt, they exposed the knowledge she had had of the secret and brutal rituals of the cult. She received a sentence of 62 years from the Mexican courts, and should she ever be released from prison there, then the US authorities are ready to try her for the murder of Mark Kilroy. Over 20 other members of Adolfo’s cult were brought to justice – the longest sentence passed was 67 years.
Yet Mexico is still not breathing easy. Many suspicious crimes cannot be explained, and some ritual murders remain unsolved. Former members of Adolfo’s cult, including Sara Aldrete, claim that their religion has not reached its conclusion and that Adolfo’s practices continue. Mexican authorities believe that Adolfo de Jesus Constanzo was responsible for the majority of the crimes, even some for which they cannot posthumously convict him. They fear though that he didn’t commit them all, but that somebody else, who has yet to be identified, did.
The Kirtland Killings
Jeffrey don lundgren was born on May 3, 1950 in the city of Independence, Missouri. The Lundgrens seemed like an average American family in many ways, Jeffrey’s father Don went to work whilst his mother, Lois, stayed at home to look after him and his younger brother and keep the house looking presentable.
The family were avid church goers, and like many Independence residents, were part of the local Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints (RLDS) congregation, which is an off-shoot in between Christianity and Mormonism. The vision statement of the RLDS reads as follows:
We believe that the future belongs to God and that the promise of God's kingdom shall be fulfiled. We have a vision of that kingdom where the name of Jesus Christ is truly honoured, where God's will is done on earth, where the hungry are fed, poverty is alleviated, sinners are repentant, and sin is forgiven. We believe that love is the proper foundation of our relationship with others, that opportunity to grow in the likeness of Christ should be fostered, and that the resources of the world can be managed to respect and preserve their creation and purpose. We have a vision of a time when all evil is overcome and peace prevails. Impelled by this vision, we will be an international community of prophetic vision, faithful to the risen Christ, empowered by hope, spending ourselves courageously in the pursuit of peace and justice.
Although there was nothing extremely unusual about the Lundgrens, and they did try their best to raise a respectable family, it was noted on many occasions that Don Lundgren was an overly authoritative father with many strict rules. He would often severely punish both Jeffrey and his brother for childish pranks that they did not deserve such reprimand for. In comparison Lois Lundgren was quite a distant mother who did not give her sons much maternal love, she was a stand-offish, unapproachable woman whose main priority in her role as the housewife was definitely the home rather than the children.
Jeffrey Lundgren went to a local school and was seen by the majority of his peers as a loner with a pretentious streak. Throughout school nothing much really kept his attention, but through his father he found one hobby that kept his interest – shooting guns. Don had had this pastime for years and when Jeffrey got to his teens Don thought he should share his hobby with his son. They would spend hours together practising target shooting as well as gun maintenance and also hunting and wilderness survival, these were all skills that Don Lundgren thought any respectable American male should have.
Jeffrey managed to graduate from high school, and was accepted on an electrical engineering course at the Central Missouri State University. In his first year at University he met some students that he was able to befriend at the RLDS student house; one person in particular would prove to have a life changing effect on him. This person was Alice Keeler.
A SUITABLE PARTNER
Alice was born on January 21, 1951 in a small town about 20 miles outside of Independence, called Macks Creek. She possessed many similarities to Jeffrey whilst growing up, preferring her local church group to her school and peers. She was the eldest of four siblings and had a relatively happy childhood up until the age of 12 when her father found out he had multiple sclerosis. As her father got weaker so did the family. He was no longer able to provide for them so Alice’s mother had to get a job as a secretary at a local firm. This meant that as the oldest child, Alice instinctively took on her mother’s role as carer for her three siblings and her infirm father. This misfortune caused her to become even more introverted at school but she managed to stay on top of things with the help of the church youth group which continued to take precedence over school activities. When everything else had crumbled around her, her faith had kept her going.
Despite her problems at home and school, Alice graduated from high school and gained a place at the Central Missouri State University where again she became an active member of the student church youth group. It was here that Jeffrey and Alice first met and it was not long before they became an item.
Alice fell pregnant to Jeffrey in 1969, and to the disappointment of both sets of parents, they dropped out of their university courses. Jeffrey’s parents were so enraged by their son’s behaviour that they refused to go to the wedding when the couple married the following spring.
Jeffrey needed to start providing for his new family so he signed up to the Navy and was enlisted to serve as an electrical technician. He served four years in this position and by the time he came out on honourable discharge his second son had been born.
The family of four settled in San Diego, California and rekindled their interest in the RLDS. Before long they were strong members of the congregation who spent a lot of their spare time organising and participating in the churches events and making a conscious effort to enlist new members, trying especially hard to convert any friends, old and new, who were of different beliefs.
Things started to take a turn for the worse in the late ’70s. Ever since he had left the US Navy, Jeffrey had found it extremely difficult to find a job that would bring in a big enough income to support his ever growing family. He decided to relocate his family back to Independence hoping that finding a job would be easier there, but the job market did not seem to be the problem as whenever Jeffrey did manage to get a job he could not hold it down due to his dream-like, irresponsible personality.
VIOLENT STREAK
When the Lundgrens’ third child, Kirsten, was born in 1979 Jeffrey seemed to switch from being annoyingly irresponsible to downright aggressive, and started to abuse his wife and children. It is reported that Alice even needed surgery once after Jeffrey pushed her down a flight of stairs.
In the September of 1980, Alice gave birth to the Lundgrens’ fourth child – family and friends have speculated that she became pregnant in order to try and save her rapidly crumbling marriage; to stop the abuse and curb Jeffrey’s roaming eye.
TOO LIBERAL
Around this time, in the early ’80s, the RLDS was having a spring clean and started to change some of their archaic rules. When, in 1985, they announced that they were going to start allowing women to become ordained as priests, Jeffrey knew it was time to move onto something new. Jeffrey felt disenchanted with these liberal ideologies, and the lay minister desired to return to the fundamentals of the Mormon faith, which among other things, taught women to be submissive to men.
Jeffrey believed that the truth lay somewhere in the Scriptures and even though the RLDS was not going to help him, he would still find the answers. It was not long before a Mormon splinter group had formed, with Jeffrey Lundgren in command and other disillusioned RLDS members as his followers.
Bible teachings and study groups were held regularly at the Lundgren house and soon many of his friends and family moved away from the RLDS and into his arms.
Even though as a boy, Jeffrey had been quite a loner, over the years he had learnt how to come across as confident and this side of his personality was what shone at this time of his life. He had a real way with people and it did not take long for his followers to become convinced that he had uncovered the true meaning of the Scriptures. The strange effect that he had started to have on people even caused some followers to donate money for the
