[soft dramatic music]
♪ ♪
[insects chirring]
[bird calling]
♪ ♪
[bird calling]
[Deniece Williams' "Let's Hear It for the Boy" playing over speakers]
♪ ♪
DENIECE: ♪ My baby, he don't ♪
ANNIE: Dad! Come on! JEB: Yeah?
ANNIE: Lasso me! JEB: [laughs]
- Dad!
- I-I gotta mow the lawn, sugar.
ANNIE: You said that an hour ago.
- [exhales sharply]
Oh, the sad face, huh?
Yeah, every time.
Works every time.
You're a smart girl, I'll give you that.
Ah, let's see.
♪ ♪
DENIECE: ♪ 'Cause every time he pulls me near ♪
- [shrieks] JEB: [laughs]
[dramatic music]
All right. Oh, she's wild.
All right, totem pole, Annie.
Yo-ho-ho-ho! Got her.
I got her. I got me a calf.
I got me a little calf.
[laughs]
♪ ♪
- Totem pole, totem pole!
JEB: [chuckles]
♪ ♪
You guys wanna braid grass?
ANNIE: My friend knows how.
JEB: [snarls]
[phone rings faintly]
- Jeb?
- Huh? REBECCA: Phone.
- [whispering] I gotta go in. REBECCA: It's the station.
ANNIE: Mm...blech! JEB: Pfft!
Okay.
Take care of my hat.
[grunts]
- It sounded urgent. JEB: All right.
ANNIE: What about the fireworks?
REBECCA: They do fireworks every year on Pioneer Day,
so we'll just see 'em next year.
JEB: Slow down. Slow down. Slow down.
REBECCA: Annie. Annie, he's on the phone.
ANNIE: Why do you have to go to work?
REBECCA: Annie, I said-- - Listen to your mom.
REBECCA: I said out of your costume and into--
- Give me the address there? Sorry.
Yeah, I'll be right there.
Where's Mom?
- Asleep still. Do you want me to...
JEB: Uh... - Wake her up?
- [whispering] I'll grab her. - Okay.
- Mom.
Mom?
Hey.
We--we have to do evening prayer fast tonight, Mom.
I've been called in to work.
JOSIE: Oh. - It's all right.
JOSIE: Yes.
REBECCA: Remember the church?
Okay, let's open the doors. JEB: Hey, Annie?
REBECCA: There are all the people.
JEB: It's time.
[indistinct chatter]
Okay. Let's see here.
CAROLINE: Can I do it tonight?
JEB: Yeah.
But we don't need a wish list, Caroline.
That's not what-- - Dear heavenly Father,
please bless the missionaries serving around the world
and our prophet, President Kimball.
And keep Grandpa in heaven
from being lonely until we get there.
JOSIE: Your grandfather's not in heaven, dear.
He's in the bathroom.
CAROLINE: And thank you for helping Dad fix my bike.
And for our birthdays,
may I please have an Easy-Bake Oven
and the skates I wanted for Christmas
but didn't get? - Caroline. Caroline, enough.
Close your eyes.
Heavenly Father,
and to help fix what we find broken.
And please take care of my family while I'm away.
They are my love and my life for all eternity.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
ALL: Amen.
REBECCA: Good job, honey.
Okay, come on. Are we doing bedtime stories?
CAROLINE: Yeah.
- [whispering] It's all right.
Promise.
[uneasy music]
[indistinct chatter]
♪ ♪
[siren wailing]
♪ ♪
SPORTSCASTER: A stretch,
and a fastball misses high and away.
Ball four. [continues indistinctly]
[somber music]
♪ ♪
[sportscaster continues indistinctly]
♪ ♪
[sportscaster continues indistinctly]
♪ ♪
[hinges creaking]
♪ ♪
- [gagging softly]
♪ ♪
E-evil.
♪ ♪
[baby babbles]
♪ ♪
No.
[sniffles]
No.
♪ ♪
[sniffling]
[siren wails]
All right, we need to stand up.
Come on.
And I need you to get Morris to bring the print kit
and, um, a video camera.
I need you both to record every single corner in that house.
- I don't think I can go back in.
- Gather yourself.
For their sake.
Come on.
[tense music]
Stay right there. Stay right there!
Hands up! [person screams]
Hands in the air!
♪ ♪
Don't move!
Stay right there, right now!
♪ ♪
[dark music]
♪ ♪
[gags softly]
♪ ♪
DESK COP: So he's covered in blood
and was hiding in a neighbor's house.
JEB: His own phone line was cut, so he said
he was using his neighbor's line to call 911.
Just find me next of kin of the deceased, please.
OFFICER: He's yours now. JEB: Thank you.
Hey, you going back to the house?
OFFICER: Yeah, right away. JEB: Great.
OFFICER: Did we, uh, interrupt your date
with Sister Moonshine, Detective?
- The kid's a Lafferty, as in--
- Denney.
Evening.
BILL: Evening, sir. JEB: [clears throat]
Female's 24. The child is 15 months.
Suspect's the husband from a big LDS family,
as in...highly regarded.
- [chuckles]
Identify a motive, turn it into a confession,
we wrap it up.
- How about I take the lead with him,
Mormon to Mormon?
- He's all yours.
- Need a minute?
- Right behind ya.
ALLEN: [crying softly]
- Allen, it's Officer Pyre.
[door clicks shut]
Gonna take the cuffs off,
if that's all right with you.
Thank you.
That one too.
ALLEN: [crying softly]
JEB: All right.
This is my partner, uh, Detective Taba.
You know, we just gotta ask you
just a couple more questions, if that's all right.
Okay, great.
When's the last time you saw your wife and daughter alive?
- I-I-I-I didn't do this.
JEB: You shared that.
Now, c-can you tell me when you saw them last?
- Um...
yeah, uh...this morning
before the sun came up.
- Okay, great. ALLEN: Before I left for work.
- And what kind of work do you do?
- Uh, I work in, um, construction...
uh, tiling.
JEB: Can I give your boss a ring
just to get the time confirmed?
- I-I work for myself.
- Ah. Okay, I see.
- You know what, son?
You could just make this real simple.
JEB: It's all right, Allen. You know, people work alone.
People work alone. - Sure.
JEB: Right. Um...
so where was the-- this job of yours?
- Um, up I-15 to--to Sandy.
JEB: Great. You got an address?
- I-I don't know. Um...
[sniffles] I can't--I can't--
I can't--I can't think straight right now.
[sniffling]
Can I change my clothes, please?
[crying]
Please?
- No. Sorry, not--not quite yet.
- Please--please find the rest of my family.
M-my brothers and their wives and kids.
- Why would I have to find them all?
- I-if there's someone out hunting my family
then, you know,
they could--they could be in trouble too.
JEB: Give us addresses.
We'll do safety checks right now.
ALLEN: I don't know their addresses.
JEB: You don't know where your own brothers live?
- [sniffles] No, they moved.
Sam moved.
Uh, Robin moved.
I'm--I'm not--I'm not lying to you, sir, please.
- And who'd want to hunt them down?
ALLEN: Well, um...
For the past year or-- or more, um...
Men--peculiar men--
were taken with my family.
They--they had, uh, beards, long beards.
JEB: Like vagrants? - [sighs] You know how often
the old "vagrants killed my wife" story pans out, Allen?
- Not--not vagrants.
Like...Bible or--or...
Book of Mormon prophets.
Please help me find the rest of my family.
[crickets chirping]
[eerie music]
DESK COP: Detective?
The only number he knew by heart
was for his eldest brother, Ron,
but no one's picking up.
- Well, it is well past Mormon bedtime.
- No, no, we'd pick up, especially after 10:00 p.m.
Oh, sorry.
Ron isn't the kind to let his phone just ring,
so let's--let's get officers to his house
once you get an address,
and the same goes for the rest of his family.
- Got it, sir. JEB: Thank you.
BILL: We are not falling for
the "bearded strangers" story, are we?
JEB: I don't doubt you saw plenty of beards
when you were in Vegas,
but here the church vigorously discourages them,
so it could be meaningful.
Were--were these outsiders, and if so, from where?
- What it means is that he's trying to distract us
with his clean shave.
When a wife shows up dead,
who's always suspect number one?
The husband. And why?
Because it's always him. We both goddamn know that.
- Language, please.
- Right.
Look, everything I see here points to guilt.
And no offense to your secret LDS handshakes,
but it looks to me that he prefers my company
to Mormon to Mormon.
Give me ten minutes alone with him.
I'll get a confession.
JEB: I was in their family's ward for a time.
[lively music playing, indistinct chatter]
None of this makes sense.
BILL: No, I'll make it quick and painless.
- Fine.
BILL: Right.
Did you see your brother Ron today?
- No.
No, I...haven't seen Ron for--
for a-about a year.
Why?
BILL: He's not answering his phone,
but I can send some officers to his home
if you remember his address.
ALLEN: I think he moved, too,
since I saw him last.
BILL: Mm. Listen.
I was married to a beautiful woman once too.
She broke my heart wide open. She cheated on me.
Some nights, I just wanted to wring her neck
for all the pain she caused.
Was your wife seeing someone?
Or was it you...
That had someone on the side?
Listen, my partner's not here.
Your bishop's not here.
It's just us guys.
Are you LDS, sir?
BILL: No, never was.
Is that a problem?
- If you wanna find who's responsible for this,
look to them...
the Mormons, their saints.
- Aren't you and your wife LDS?
- We were.
She was still... [sniffles]
Seven days a week.
[tense music]
♪ ♪
JEB: Thou shalt love thy wife with all thy heart
and shall cleave unto her and none else.
Doctrine and Covenants 42:22.
Allen, did you love your wife with all your heart?
- What are you doing? JEB: Shh, shh.
ALLEN: Yes. - Did you kneel together
in the temple and make covenants together?
Do you still have a temple recommend?
Simple questions, Allen. These are simple questions.
BILL: It's not admissible.
- I don't care that it's not admissible.
Thank you.
Hands on the table.
♪ ♪
If you've turned your back on heavenly Father,
I'm confident that forensics will have proved your guilt
by tomorrow morning.
- I met with her in the temple.
I brought her to church with my family.
You look at these as signs of innocence, but they aren't.
- Did you break your covenant...
so she threatened to leave you?
Is that what happened?
I can imagine the fights.
That why you killed her?
- [huffs] No.
JEB: Or did she turn away from the Gospel too?
- No, it's the opposite.
Her testimony was unbreakable.
The perfect Mormon girl.
- ♪ Some say love ♪
♪ It is a river ♪
- She was perfect.
BRENDA: ♪ That drowns ♪
♪ The tender reef ♪
♪ Some say love ♪
♪ It is a razor ♪
♪ That leaves ♪
♪ Your soul to bleed ♪
♪ Some say love ♪
♪ It is a hunger ♪
♪ An endless ♪
♪ Aching need ♪
♪ I say love ♪
♪ It is a flower ♪
♪ And you ♪
♪ Its only seed ♪
[applause]
It--it's a good thing I didn't win.
[upbeat music playing over radio]
As runner-up, I still get $450.
That's only $50 less than the winner.
And I don't have to stay in Twin Falls
for grocery store openings like she does.
- JIM: [chuckles] - I'm a free woman.
- Well, good-- good for you, honey.
That's good.
BRENDA: And if I'm going to give myself
the best chance of getting on TV, I mean...
I need to be in a big city.
JIM: Well, you know, Princess,
New York and Chicago aren't half as nice
as in the movies say.
Just be patient, okay?
The Lord has a divine plan for all His daughters, right?
BRENDA: Well, of course His plan
isn't for me to move to Chicago or New York
with all the rats and, like, Democrats and crazies.
- [chuckles] BRENDA: I'll go to a big city
with values. - That's good.
- Salt Lake City. JIM: Well, we're not gonna
want you to go anywhere until you finish school.
- I think our Savior would much prefer me
to finish school at BYU.
I mean, their broadcast journalism department
is respected all over.
- Why don't we think on it, hmm?
Pray on it?
Make sure this isn't a real big reaction
to a tough little day, huh?
- Every time I have an idea, it's too much or too far.
- Yeah, that's right.
[both chuckle]
- I'm going to Salt Lake City.
I'm going to Brigham Young University.
And I'm going to be on television.
- Hey, kids, who wants Brenda's room if she leaves?
- Me! Me! BROTHER: Oh, I do! I do!
[indistinct chatter]
JIM: Who gets the big room?
SISTER: No, I do! BROTHER: Me!
- Thanks, Dad.
[soft music]
♪ ♪
ALLEN: She came here to Utah
to help build up Zion.
♪ ♪
Now I think I'm responsible for this.
- Responsible for what?
- Reeling her in.
Keeping her in it.
I bet you think your testimony is bulletproof,
that you know our history,
the Gospel,
all our...truth.
Let me tell you this.
If you feel certain,
that certain...
[dark music]
You don't know a thing, sir.
My only regret
is that I didn't drive her out of Zion
to save her from our people.
To get her as far away from all of this as I could.
♪ ♪
- Po
Could be one person. Could be more.
Salt Lake's labs should know by morning.
JEB: I just wanna know who opened that nursery door,
did what they did to that baby girl.
If it's Allen, we charge him, get him to Draper
and in front of a firing squad. [knock at door]
- I've only found two numbers for his five brothers.
One's out of service, and the other just rings.
Ron's last known address is empty.
The realtor says it's been up for sale nearly a year.
- The victim's father's here. I'll go ahead and notify him.
- No, we're not doing that yet.
- That's what we do. JEB: It's not what we do here.
First we locate the rest of Allen's family
so I got every question at the ready.
Small town. Let's go.
Shut the door, please. BILL: [sighs]
[phone rings]
REBECCA: She--she had a nightmare.
Took me an hour to get her to stop screaming.
- [sucks teeth] Shoot.
I'm sorry, honey.
- I-I think it might be time. JEB: No, no.
I don't wanna put her on medications.
You know what they'll do to her.
- Okay. Yeah.
JEB: I know this is hard,
but I think this is a-a test for us.
- Hey, the girls' party tomorrow,
um, do you think you-- JEB: Yeah, of course.
You know I'm gonna be there.
You can't flip an upside-down cake to save your life.
heavenly Father knows.
and it's gonna end up on your feet. - Thank you.
JEB: It's gonna end up on your shoes.
So I'm gonna be there.
[both chuckle]
Honey, I need your help.
Um, remember the Laffertys?
Dad was a chiropractor
and his son was Ron, Lafferty Construction?
REBECCA: Yeah, yeah. Uh, Ron and Dianna?
- Yeah, right. So, um...
Um, so we--we have two deceased.
- Oh, my gosh. Are you at the ER?
JEB: No. It wasn't an accident, sweetie.
- Oh. Um...
JEB: Just wondering, do we have
any of the addresses, uh, for any of the Laffertys,
maybe from an old church directory or something?
- Yeah. I'll check--I'll check for you.
- Thanks. And, um, I love you.
- Um, I love you. JEB: Okay. Bye.
- Okay.
- [exhales heavily]
[door clicks open]
No forced entry.
There's no items of value taken.
BILL: Except for the two lives.
JEB: Just...invading Old Testament prophets.
If you're innocent,
just give us something.
Give us a name, give us an affair,
a grudge, anyone who had their eyes on her--
anything.
- Everyone.
They all wanted her to--
They all wanted to find fault in her
or for her to save them...
Sometimes both at once.
[mellow guitar music]
♪ ♪
- Whoo!
♪ ♪
[no audible dialogue]
ALLEN: I just gotta get this thing away.
My dad can't stand it. BRENDA: No, no, no.
Don't you dare leave me here.
ALLEN: Uh, all right.
Just, less is more when it comes to talking, all right?
- What do you mean?
- Huh? DOREEN: Hi!
[laughs] BRENDA: Hi there.
ALLEN: Mom, uh, Dad, this is Brenda.
AMMON: Well, it's a pleasure to meet you finally.
Took him long enough to get up the nerve.
BRENDA: Nerve?
- He's never brought a girl home before.
AMMON: Never. - Really?
- The one and only. AMMON: Mm-hmm.
And this is my one and only, Doreen.
I'm Ammon. - Hi.
- I know. I know. I've heard so much about you.
- Oh! All the way up in Idaho? - And from Allen.
- Oh, gossip is the devil's playground.
Well, I heard you--
you left college in Idaho with no degree to speak of.
- Oh, well, um, sir,
President Kimball said, "Stand ye in holy places"...
AMMON: Yes, he did.
while they threw up from all the booze
in the Idaho school, so...
[chuckles nervously] AMMON: Hmm.
- BYU is a far better fit
for those who wanna live Gospel standards.
AMMON: It is, indeed.
- How high can your standards be
if you're hanging around with the runt?
- [laughs]
ALLEN: This is, uh, my brother Sam. Brenda.
DOREEN: Jacob, Robin, come say hello.
ALLEN: This is Brenda. - Uh, this is my wife, Sara.
- Hi. - Our kids--where are ya?
Junior, Joseph, Jared, Jenny.
- Great to meet you Jacob, Jared,
Joseph, Junior, and Jenny.
- Wow. [laughter]
- Allen, I believe you now.
He just kept going on about how pretty you are,
and I didn't believe him, but now I do.
- Hi. ROBIN: Sorry, I'm Robin.
This is my wife, Lynn...
- Hi. BRENDA: Hi!
- And our brood-- or some of it, anyway.
- Hi. Hi! And you must be Jacob.
- Yeah. [chuckles]
- Oh, gosh. Is that everybody?
SAM: No, it's a regular Lafferty factory around here.
I can't even keep up. AMMON: Samuel.
You have a barbecue to mind.
Don't forget that.
BRENDA: Hey, Samuel?
I'll just be here with the runt of the bunch
till you're all done cooking my dinner.
[scattered chuckles]
AMMON: Are all Idaho girls like you?
BRENDA: Oh, no, sir. [giggles]
The rest are sweet, soft-spoken,
and properly pretty, sir.
- Well, you are plenty pretty.
[clears throat]
Smell that? Smells like dinner.
ROBIN: Hope you're hungry.
- Please, join us. BRENDA: Oh, okay.
- Welcome. ALLEN: I got to, uh...
BRENDA: Allen. Oh.
[chuckles]
Are you all just gonna stare at me
like I'm some kind of space alien?
CHILD: Yes.
- Yes? Okay.
[chuckles]
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- Wait, how could you tell that she was attracted to Ron?
- Everybody was always attracted to Ron.
BILL: Must have made you jealous, though.
ALLEN: No.
I was used to it.
She and I, we didn't have secrets back then.
But it wasn't just Ron
who couldn't keep his eyes off her.
- Oh!
- Who else?
ALLEN: Well, there was my brother Dan.
- It was making a home in your hair.
BRENDA: Oh, gosh. Sorry.
- No, don't be sorry. They're good luck.
Thank you for bringing her to us, Brenda.
- I brought you, um, lemonade. - Oh!
- Unless you don't like fancy lemonade.
I didn't even ask you. - No, no, no, I do.
DAN: This is my wife, Matilda.
These are our girls. - I'm Matilda. He's Dan.
These are our girls, my girls, our--
well, our girls. - Our--our girls.
[laughter]
- But it was--you know, it was playful, innocuous.
He was just teasing me, I suppose, and, um...
- Can I ask you a question? MATILDA: Oh, gosh.
- Oh, yeah. Sure.
- Um, do you all abide by the-- the Word of Wisdom at BYU?
The reason I ask is 'cause I've met a few BYU girls,
and I'm not so sure that they were obedient
to heavenly Father when the professors weren't looking.
- Oh, well, we don't smoke or drink coffee
or anything horrible like that.
I'm sure that's all you mean. - Oh, don't be so sure.
He's a right queerhawk.
You pervert! - I mean Pepsi-Cola.
I mean, the caffeine, the sugar,
that'll kill a cute little BYU thing very quickly.
What's important is--is--is natural energy.
Fresh lawn clippings--
if--if you extract this down to a juice, okay,
it is like drinking heavenly Father's love.
- I-I can't tell if you're kidding.
[laughter] - Me neither.
But I drink it anyway, don't I?
It turns my pee green.
- [laughs] [knock at on door]
DIANNA: Oh. Hello.
- Sister Lafferty.
They've come for me.
Please, w-will you help me?
- Well, you know I don't actually live here.
ELDERLY PERSON: I need your family's help.
[soft dramatic music]
- Gosh, well, um...
okay, just come in.
♪ ♪
[indistinct chatter]
[people cheering]
[indistinct chatter]
DIANNA: I'm so sorry. I just let somebody in.
It's really bad. RON: It's okay. It's okay.
I-I'll take care of it. Make sure they sit next to us.
DIANNA: Okay.
ALLEN: Hey, Brenda.
I-I got us good chairs. You--you ready?
- Brenda, why don't you come over here and we can, uh--
we can, uh, sit together.
We can get to know each other. ALLEN: No, Dan. Dan, no.
- We split couples up sometimes to sit together, Allen.
- Brenda, I'm Dianna, Ron's wife.
We've saved two seats for you over here.
You don't mind, do you, Dan? Of course not.
DAN: Of course not, Dianna. - You want the chair?
DAN: Yes, I'll have the chair. BRENDA: So nice to meet you!
DIANNA: Have you met everyone? BRENDA: Uh, gosh.
I think so. DIANNA: It's impossible.
There's so many people, and just when you think
you've got them all, there's more.
Honestly, I'm not-- ALLEN: Uh, let me get that.
DIANNA: Oh, sorry.
[laughter]
RON: Welcome to Utah, Miss Potato Head.
DIANNA: Oh! - You're from Idaho, right?
BRENDA: Are you poking fun? - Here, take that for me.
Just a little bit, okay?
- Well, you'd be surprised how much math and science
goes into a good potato, mister.
- Really? How much? - I-I don't know.
'cause for your information, I'm not going into soil science
like my very smart father. RON: Okay.
- Yeah, I'm going into television.
DIANNA: Wow! RON: By the way you look,
you must be an actress.
- Oh, gosh. No. No. - No?
- No, I, um--I-I read the news.
DIANNA: How exciting.
- Well, I-I'd like to one day.
Till I start a family, of course, and, you know,
then I'll take a little break.
Nothing wrong with having it all, now, is there?
- Don't listen to him. He's just teasing.
He's just in construction. ALLEN: No.
He started the best construction company in Utah.
- Of course. I'm sorry.
- Actually, we saw your new place, uh, on the way here.
- What'd you think? - Yeah, it's great. Isn't it?
- Oh, yeah. [laughs]
- Uh, Ron, uh, sits on the city council.
Uh, he's the first counselor in his bishopric, and...
- Keep going. You're making me sound impressive.
[laughter]
- Uh, Brenda's Potato Head dad is a bishop.
- Is that right?
- Oh, yeah, well,
he's not on any city council
and doesn't build fourplexes, so...
How do you make time for it all and family?
- Oh, there's plenty of time later.
You know, eternity lasts forever.
- Oh, my gosh. You sound just like my dad.
- I gotta--I'm--I'm gonna be back in a minute.
- All right. - Okay? Sorry.
- He's cute, isn't he?
- [laughs] - I have the oldest,
and you grab the youngest,
and then we can compare notes.
- I hear you met our Allen in--oh, sorry.
I hate it when I do that.
Um, I hear you met our Allen in--in church.
BRENDA: Oh, yeah, yeah. - I met my Dan in church, too,
when he was on his mission in Scotland.
- Oh! Oh, I didn't think you're allowed
to marry your missionary.
MATILDA: Whoo-ee.
- I think I need some lemonade.
- What?
What?
- Mm. - Oh.
You two, he was your--
[laughter]
Oh. [laughs]
- But me and Dan did no such thing.
My girls have a-a different daddy,
and Dan gave me a second shot at life,
saved me from all my shame.
ALLEN: No shame in divorce if he divorced a Catholic,
right, Matilda?
- [laughs] Well, Dan actually fancied my sister first,
not me.
He even gave her the holy dunk.
Who knows what else he gave her?
No, no.
Sorry, I shouldn't have said that.
Um, who knows what they got up to?
Just prayers, lots of prayers.
ALLEN: Could I-- - Yes.
DIANNA: Don't worry. You're the star here tonight.
Enjoy every moment.
Matilda just gets excited.
[both chuckle]
How are you?
[suspenseful music]
♪ ♪
- Here's the roast. - Ah.
Thank you. It's ready.
♪ ♪
Oh. Suppertime.
[applause]
PERSON: Whoo! Wow.
♪ ♪
[indistinct chatter]
- Everything okay?
Thank you.
AMMON: Don't you look a dream?
[laughter]
RON: Yeah! [laughter and applause]
And as much as we'd all love to, uh--
well, to make a late night of it, we cannot.
We have been called to service
for our brother.
Now, yes, our old neighbor and I have had our feuds,
earthly and spiritual.
With no family left to call on,
he's come asking for forgiveness and deliverance.
And I told him forgiveness is not mine to give...
but deliverance, well...
We are Laffertys.
And much of his land remains filled with stones,
but he's been notified
or the federal government will take what is rightfully his
to build a highway.
Yes, the Lord's saints may disagree with one another,
but when we are attacked by outsiders,
do we allow our brothers to be eaten alive?
Never.
PERSON: Never.
[applause]
- The Lord's elect must never allow anyone
to take what is rightfully ours.
- So two days, then, sir, to--
to clear all the rest of his land.
AMMON: No, Robin, one day.
As we do not labor on Sundays,
all of it tomorrow.
There's a reason families 50 miles round
have heard the Lafferty name.
Because together...
ALL: We can do anything.
[applause]
- Robin, you'll say the blessing.
- Yes, sir.
[sighs, laughs]
Our dear heavenly Father, we thank Thee.
We thank Thee for this glorious day,
for this--this opportunity to serve our fellow man
in his hour of need.
ALLEN: She saw herself as just--
you know, as faithful as they come.
And in Idaho, in her family, maybe, but--
but in Utah, in ours...
ROBIN: If we put our faith in each other and in Thee,
we ask Thee that Thou may be with us with Thy Holy Spirit
and make our labor light.
ALLEN: It was my father who caught it first.
You know, the fact that she
didn't see the rules like he did...
as unbending.
He judged her for that.
- How would you have preferred her?
- Hey, listen, listen.
My--my opinions did not get us here.
Why don't you tell me?
LDS women are--are...
taught to--to be obedient,
to serve their husband,
to obey.
And okay, Brenda wasn't that.
Did that make her deserving of this?
And--and my baby girl?
- No...
Allen.
- Then you might not be as good a Mormon as you think.
ALLEN: Good Mormons, we--
they like to think of themselves as one big family,
that together, we can do anything.
But aren't we also taught there can only be
one prophet, one leader?
[indistinct chatter]
- Come on, drink. Drink!
Come on, it's hot out here. Drink!
[laughter, indistinct chatter]
[light music]
- All right, listen up.
"When the brethren show a unity of purpose,
"our labor, our toil, and anxiety are diminished.
Our yoke is made easy and our burden light."
- Listen, drink up. Listen, everybody.
No one is allowed to pee until we've cleared the entire field.
You hear me? Not a soul.
Not even you, little one.
- Oh, come on, now!
[indistinct chatter]
♪ ♪
[indistinct chatter]
♪ ♪
RON: Got all day. Come on!
♪ ♪
- Come on.
♪ ♪
[indistinct chatter]
- What is she doing?
BRENDA: I got one!
CHILD: Big one! RON: All right!
CHILD: Big one! [people cheering]
♪ ♪
[indistinct chatter]
♪ ♪
[urine trickling]
- [shudders]
- Allen, I just wanna say you did a great job today
driving the tractor.
ALLEN: What the heck? Dan! [laughter]
It's not funny.
AMMON: I am so proud...
Of my family today.
Look at what you have done.
[laughter]
Mm.
Yes.
Now I feel I can share our news.
Your mother and I have been called by the prophet...
On a senior mission.
[scattered laughter]
It is a great honor.
But we've never left you
or our business unattended,
let alone for two years.
And, boys...[clears throat]
Unattended property can grow busy with weeds.
No matter how pretty our property may be,
our property must be vigilantly maintained.
And with challenging economic conditions,
it is not an ideal time.
Someone must stand in my shoes while we're away.
I prayed for wisdom,
and the Holy Spirit answered.
Dan has never been singularly focused on anything.
[laughter]
But he's graduated from chiropractic school now.
He is my eldest son to follow in my footsteps.
I'm moved by that.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
We will all put our faith
in Dan...
To head our family and our family business
in my absence.
Robin, you will be
Dan's right hand.
- Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
- Jacob, Sam...
I want to see our home in better condition
than how I leave it.
Hmm?
And, Allen...
You seem to have your hands quite full.
Keep working on that.
- Yes, sir.
♪ ♪
AMMON: Hmm.
Dan, you say the prayer.
- Dear heavenly Father, I'd like to thank Thee
for having faith in me
and for choosing me.
I'd like to ask for-- for guidance
while our parents are away.
ALLEN: And I mean, as much as they had their eyes on her,
she had hers on us.
♪ ♪
- Thank you.
DOREEN: It's you.
You're the fulfillment of heavenly Father's promise...
That He would send one mighty and strong
to set things in order.
I mean, he sent me six mighty and strong, but...
[whispering] You're my one.
You'll lead this family one-- - Shh.
- So don't let your father sway you
from that righteous calling.
It's yours.
[chuckles]
[knock at door] - Yeah.
- Sir, your wife gave me an address.
JEB: Whose? - Robin Lafferty's, sir.
- I'll check it out.
- May your heavenly Father be with him.
[singer vocalizing]
- So when you stopped going to church,
is that about the time you stopped seeing
your family and your brothers?
- I mean...
Yeah, that sounds about right.
- You ever miss the church?
- Yes.
- Which parts?
- What we learned as boys...
Our larger LDS family...
The idea that we had each other's backs.
And most of all, uh, what I miss...
are the days when I
still believed our God was love.
"If any of you lack wisdom,
let him ask of God, and it shall be given Him."
And when Joseph asked about his salvation...
JOSEPH SMITH: Two personages
whose brightness defy description
stood above me.
So I asked...
which church is true?
And the Lord said..."None."
ALLEN: Joseph Smith, at only 15 years old,
set forth to create his one true church.
Why?
What drove him?
It was love.
- A light filled my room.
A messenger told me God has a work for me,
that there's a book buried in the ground
where the fullness of His Gospel
is written on golden plates.
- And the Holy Spirit told him to marry Emma,
that with her love,
God would share His most sacred truths.
- If our God is love...
Then He fills my heart... with you.
ALLEN: That is the church I miss.
[alarm beeping]
ALLEN: But that's not where our history ends, is it?
[knocking]
Mountain Meadows, 1859.
Do you know what Major Carlton found there?
What was ordered done to those innocent Gentiles
and their children in the name of God?
[alarm beeping]
[suspenseful music]
♪ ♪
I asked you a question. JEB: Uh, that's enough.
You're just throwing up dust, Allen.
I don't need to hear any more stories.
- I wish they'd... - Hey--
- Ask her bishop, but he--
he probably doesn't know either.
♪ ♪
They've hidden our truth
with their secret combinations.
If you really still believe your God is love,
then you don't know who you are...brother.
This faith...our faith,
breeds dangerous men.
♪ ♪
[phone rings] - [clears throat]
This is Jeb. BILL: Yeah, just checking.
Well, good Mormons don't leave for Disneyland
with a fire burning in their backyard,
food left to rot in the kitchen trash.
- This is starting to feel bigger
than a domestic to me, Bill.
You know, that house is only 20 minutes away from Allen's.
No doubt the rest of his kin are just as close.
- Listen, don't complicate things
before we have hard evidence.
I'll dust for prints, see if your suspect there
was even in this house tonight.
- [sighs]
BILL: You need to trust me on this.
I've walked this road before.
- Good.
See you soon.
[dark music]
♪ ♪
[line rings]
PERSON: Hello?
- Mr. Wright?
Detective Taba from East Rockwell, Utah.
I'm so sorry to notify you of this, sir.
But we found your daughter
and her child earlier this evening.
- Hey, just got off the phone with Kimberly, Idaho Police.
You notify the victim's father without my go-ahead?
BILL: How many homicides have you processed before?
I've seen more than I can count.
And I thought it was high time that we start following
a normal order of operations.
- I was waiting till I had every question at the ready
so I didn't have to call him twice.
I asked you to knock on doors and find me Laffertys
and that's all.
- There's ten new Laffertys at every split
of their damn family tree. - Welcome to Mormondom!
You're not in Vegas anymore, pal,
and you are not in charge here.
- Detective, I'm well aware of my skin.
It's darker than most in this valley.
- What? BILL: And I'm very well aware
that's not smiled upon in a 99% LDS town.
JEB: Oh, come on. - But I know cases like this
a hell of a lot better than you do.
- Right now, we have four prints,
and we have one suspect in custody.
- Four partial handprints.
I could make four partials with my two hands,
and so could your boy in there.
- And it's a lot easier with four hands.
- Fair enough,
but we only have 18 officers,
and most of them have never even seen a dead body.
So before I wasted one more of your men
on wake-up calls in a town that's asleep by 9:00,
I thought it was smart to talk to one actual source.
And guess what.
You're welcome.
- Your father-in-law just told us
that Brenda took her sister out for ice cream
a few months back and that she said
that she was afraid of you because you...
beat on her.
So who am I supposed to believe,
her bishop dad or you and your tales of romance?
- Well, I-I did not beat on her.
- Of course you didn't. So her father is lying?
- That's not what I'm saying.
Uh, we got in--in one fight...
and I regret that.
But I can say that I'm not the first man in history
to not be well-liked by his father-in-law.
Isaac Hale...
He was Emma's father.
He thought Joseph was a con man.
- Allen, what are you doing?
- So when Joseph asked Emma to marry him...
EMMA: Tell me, who is the higher power,
my father or God?
- If Joseph had put her father's words above God's,
would you have your one true church?
No.
When I met my wife, my testimony was strong.
So I refused to let her father's opinion sway me.
That does not make me a killer.
- Yeah, well, cutting the cord off your vacuum cleaner
and tying it around your wife's neck
before you sliced her throat
and beheaded your own 15-month-old daughter
does, you fucking piece of shit.
JEB: Hey.
In the few instances we've had an innocent man,
an actual innocent man, sat where you are,
they've been jumping up and down.
They've been naming people.
Instead you sit there and you tell us that you're concerned
about your brothers
who couldn't keep their eyes off of her,
and your father thought she was no good.
And you know what? If I were you, I would--
I would rather find that kind of family dead
rather than safe and sound.
Did you harm your brothers tonight too, Allen?
- No, I did not.
And I will say it until you hear me.
Men with beards corrupted my family.
And every second you waste in here with me,
your--your Holy Spirit is out there
persuading more men of God to spill more blood!
JEB AND BILL: Sit down!
- And I'm sorry...
sir.
If you insist on believing in a Mormon God,
then go.
Go and pray to Him,
like Joseph taught you to.
Ask Him for wisdom.
♪ ♪
[knock at door]
BILL: Oh, I'm sorry.
I was, uh, just putting the APB out,
missing persons, on Robin and his family.
Should I put one out for bearded vagrants as well?
- Yeah. - All right.
BILL: Autopsies are scheduled for 9:00 a.m.
Blood and prints should be ready by then too.
Keep pushing the kid or wait?
- Uh, you know, out in Florida,
Henry Lee Lucas claimed he killed 60 people
once he started telling the truth,
all satanic ritual slaughter.
- Savage.
Where'd you go on your mission?
- Denver.
BILL: Well, maybe Denver gets the stray satanist
but not Salt Lake City suburbs.
JEB: Well...
Two years ago, a man named Arthur Bishop,
he lures five boys away from their families
right here in Utah.
And out where my folks' farm is,
young girl was kidnapped.
Found her body in a stream, and a week later,
someone had left black roses on her grave
with a letter with an inverted cross.
Devil worship, satanic panic, whatever you wanna call it,
Allen has already admitted that he's lost his faith, and, um--
BILL: Well, if a lack of LDS faith
gets a man convicted,
whole lot of people heading to Draper prison,
me included. JEB: I'm not saying that.
I'm saying leaving the church,
that would have created a lot of grief in his family.
They would have put a lot of pressure on him to...
return, to--
to save themselves the humiliation
of a wayward son.
- [chuckles] Good thing I voted for Nixon.
JEB: But what if--what if--
what if he cracked?
He cracked under all their pressure
and he killed his whole family,
he saved his wife and daughter for last,
and he walks across the street,
lets someone know his deed was done?
They wanna be caught, right?
The credit, the attention, sociopath handbook 101.
- We deal in what is, not ifs.
Let's say you're right.
If we don't charge him in the next 36 hours,
he can walk just right out of here.
And when the chief comes back--
- Well, the chief's not due back from Yellowstone
for another week, so...
- Listen, things like this,
they don't stay under wraps for very long.
If this kid's family is as well-liked as you say,
when the chief, the DA, or the press gets wind of it,
they're gonna demand answers and a suspect.
And if you don't wanna look like a couple of screwups,
you wanna keep panic from ripping through this town,
we need a suspect.
JEB: [sighs]
BILL: It's eating you alive, isn't it?
- What?
BILL: All you gotta do is ask nice, Jeb.
"Can I have some fries, Bill?"
- [chortles]
Bill, those things are gonna kill you.
- Well, let's die happy.
Mmm.
It's our little secret.
JEB: You're a bad influence, Bill.
- [sighs] Thank you. JEB: [chuckles]
DESK COP: Detective?
[tense music]
♪ ♪
- Detective Taba.
MANAGER: I'm looking at him now in my lot.
Oh, he fits the APB I heard off my scanner.
- Does he have a beard? MANAGER: Yeah.
And black, like soot, on his hands.
- What's your location?
♪ ♪
Sorry to disturb you.
Detective Taba from East Rockwell Police.
Is it just you and your kids alone here, ma'am?
LYNN: Is there a problem? - No husband?
- We had an electrical problem at home.
- Excuse me. LYNN: Hey.
Come here. Come here, guys. Together.
You're okay. I got you.
BILL: Out the back. Go! Go, go!
♪ ♪
JEB: Freeze!
♪ ♪
Stop right there!
Hands on your head! [person praying indistinctly]
Put your hands on your head right now!
[praying continues]
Don't be stupid. Put your hands on your head.
- And show these men
that they are not in line with Thy Gospel.
Show these men that they are the wickedness of the state.
BILL: Put your hands on your head,
or I will kick the shit out of you.
- In Jesus Christ's name, we pray.
Amen.
BILL: State your name.
- My name is Robin Lafferty.
♪ ♪
BILL: Officer Denney,
escort our new friend to my car.
Detective.
You once went to church with these boys.
They may know your face, your family.
Go home. Make sure they're safe.
I'll handle this from here.
- [breathing heavily]
- Jeb. - Hey!
JOSIE: Oh! Oh! JEB: Shoot.
- I'm so sorry. - No.
Hi, Mom. Hi.
JOSIE: Just wanted to be a nice surprise.
- It was a lovely surprise.
- [chuckles] Oh, my sweetheart.
- Sit down. I'll get you some milk.
Sit down.
JOSIE: Sit down, he tells me.
[chuckles]
Oh, nothing's right.
It's all so broken.
JEB: Remember what you told us all about, uh,
the broken things in life?
How they're all just tests for the next?
Remember?
- Yes. JEB: You do?
- Mm-hmm.
- And that you said, um,
in heaven,
everything's gonna be perfect,
our bodies...and our minds,
and we're gonna get to be with our whole family
and with Dad, all together for eternity.
- Yes.
He's gone, isn't he?
Your dad?
- Yeah, Mom.
I'm sorry. He died ten years ago.
- I wanna be with him,
and--and I wanna go now, Jeb,
where things are right.
[dramatic music]
[shower running]
♪ ♪
[scratchy electric guitar riff]
♪ ♪
JOSEPH: "For behold,
"I have refined thee.
I have chosen thee."
- I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
Ah, this case...
What if it's not just a husband
whose heart turned against his wife?
JOSEPH: "I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction."
♪ ♪
EMMA: "For behold, I have refined thee.
"I have chosen thee
in the furnace of affliction."
♪ ♪
- What if it's not some outside evil,
some outside force...
That's found its way here?
♪ ♪
What if tonight is just the first edge
of a bone that's--
♪ ♪
That's finally working its way out of our own desert's floor?
♪ ♪
Backup. Backup.
Calling County for backup.
One of the suspects
used a term:
blood atonement.
It all sounds pretty crazy
if you ask me.
But he didn't ask you.
An evil presence
is in his family.
And this isn't
the murder weapon.
It's a threat.
You leave the things
you do not understand
on a shelf.
Is the multiple wives thing
mandatory cause...
If you want to get to the
celestial kingdom it is.
Don't you ever come back!
You're not safe here.
I'm going to put an end
to this wickedness.
A wrong turn here
and a lot more people die.