Jeffrey Lundgren: Ohio Supreme Court Changes Execution Date for Cult Leader Convicted of Murder

COLUMBUS, Ohio–The Ohio Supreme Court announced Friday it had moved back the execution of a cult leader convicted of murdering a family of five, a change aimed at accomodating the governor’s travel schedule.

Jeffrey Lundgren will be put to death on Oct. 24 instead of Oct. 10, the court said. The change came as Gov. Bob Taft is scheduled to be on a trade mission to Mexico on the original execution date, which was announced Thursday.

Lundgren, 56, was convicted of shooting to death a man, his wife and three daughters who had moved from Missouri in 1987 to follow Lundgren’s teachings. He referred to the killings as “pruning the vineyard.”

He formed a religious cult after he was dismissed in 1987 as a lay minister of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He had attracted a following, and several people moved with him to a rented farm house in suburban Cleveland, where they called him “Dad” and contributed money for group expenses.

On April 17, 1989, the Avery family was invited to dinner, then led to the barn where they were bound and placed into the pit, where Lundgren shot each one. The pit was covered with dirt.

A jury found him guilty of five counts of aggravated murder with each count containing two death penalty specifications and five counts of kidnapping.

He has no appeals pending.

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