Joel Franklin LeBaron (June 9, 1923 – August 20, 1972) was a

Mormon fundamentalist Mormon fundamentalism (also called fundamentalist Mormonism) is a belief in the validity of selected fundamental aspects of Mormonism as taught and practiced in the nineteenth century, particularly during the administrations of Joseph Smith, ...

leader in northern

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. He was murdered by a member or members of a rival church which was headed by his brother

Ervil LeBaron Ervil Morrell LeBaron (February 22, 1925 – August 15, 1981) was the leader of a polygamous Mormon fundamentalist group who ordered the killings of many of his opponents, using the religious doctrine of blood atonement to justify the murders ...

Early life

LeBaron was born in La Verkin,

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, the eighth of 13 children born to Alma Dayer LeBaron, Sr. and Maude Lucinda McDonald. At the time of Joel's birth, the LeBaron family were members of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS Church). Joel was

baptized Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

into the LDS Church in 1931 in Colonia Juárez, Chihuahua,

, where the LeBarons had moved when Joel was an infant. Beginning in 1936, the LeBaron family became close to

Joseph White Musser Joseph White Musser (March 8, 1872 – March 29, 1954) was a Mormon fundamentalist leader. Musser was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Amos Milton Musser (an assistant LDS Church historian) and Mary E. White. He is known for his Mormon fundame ...

, a leader of the young

movement in Mexico. In 1944, the family was excommunicated from the LDS Church for teaching and practicing

plural marriage Polygamy (called plural marriage by Latter-day Saints in the 19th century or the Principle by modern fundamentalist practitioners of polygamy) was practiced by leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) for more tha ...

. For the next 11 years, the family were members of

Rulon C. Allred Rulon Clark Allred (March 29, 1906 – May 10, 1977) was a homeopath and chiropractor in Salt Lake City and the leader of what is now the Apostolic United Brethren, a breakaway sect of polygamous Mormon fundamentalists in Utah, Colorado, and ...

's Apostolic United Brethren.

Church leadership

In 1955, Joel LeBaron and two of his brothers established the Church of the Firstborn of the Fulness of Times in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

with Joel as

President of the Church In the Latter Day Saint movement, the President of the Church is generally considered to be the highest office of the church. It was the office held by Joseph Smith, founder of the movement, and the office assumed by many of Smith's claimed succe ...

. Upon returning to northern Mexico, their parents and most of the members of the LeBaron family joined the new church. In 1967, Joel's brother

was removed from leadership in the church when he began to preach that he, and not Joel, was the proper leader of the church.

Murder

In 1972, Ervil LeBaron established the rival

Church of the Lamb of God Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

and began teaching his followers that in accordance with the doctrine of

blood atonement Blood atonement is a disputed doctrine in the history of Mormonism, under which the atonement of Jesus does not redeem an eternal sin. To atone for an eternal sin, the sinner should be killed in a way that allows his blood to be shed upon the gr ...

, Joel had to be executed for his sins. On 20 August 1972, in Ensenada,

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

, Mexico, one of Ervil's followers, Daniel Jordan (who was married to one of their nieces), shot Joel LeBaron in the head while Joel's young son was asleep in a car in the driveway. Ervil was tried and convicted in Mexico for Joel's murder, but the conviction was overturned. Ervil LeBaron was eventually convicted in Utah for ordering the killing of rival Mormon fundamentalist leader

. Joel LeBaron was succeeded as president of the church by his brother

Verlan () is a type of argot in the French language, featuring inversion of syllables in a word, and is common in slang and youth language. It rests on a long French tradition of transposing syllables of individual words to create slang words. The wor ...

References

* Janet Bennion (2004). ''Desert Patriarchy: Mormon and Mennonite Communities in the Chihuahua Valley'' (Tucson: University of Arizona Press) *

Ben Bradlee Jr. Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee Jr. (born August 7, 1948) is an American journalist and writer. He was a reporter and editor at ''The Boston Globe'' for 25 years, including a period when he supervised the Pulitzer Prize–winning investigation i ...

and

Dale Van Atta Dale Van Atta (born 1951) is a speaker, novelist, and journalist. He was a personal friend of and co-author with fellow journalist Jack Anderson and borrowed money to help him when he was in financial trouble. In 2008 his book ''With Honor'' ...

(1981). ''Prophet of Blood: The Untold Story of Ervil Lebaron and the Lambs of God'' (New York: Putnam), *Brian C. Hales (2006). ''Modern Polygamy and Mormon Fundamentalism: The Generations After the Manifesto'' (Salt Lake City, Utah: Greg Kofford Books) * D. Michael Quinn, "Plural Marriage and Mormon Fundamentalism", '' Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought'', vol. 31, no. 2 (Summer 1998) pp. 1–68 at pp. 16–18, 23 *Steven L. Shields (1990, 4th ed.). ''Divergent Paths of the Restoration'' (Independence, Mo.: Herald House) *Lyle O. Wright (1963)
''Origins and Development of the Church of the Firstborn of the Fulness of Times''
(M.S. thesis:

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lebaron, Joel American Latter Day Saint leaders Mexican Latter Day Saints Mormon fundamentalist leaders 1923 births 1972 deaths American people murdered abroad Assassinated American people Assassinated religious leaders Deaths by firearm in Mexico Latter Day Saint martyrs People excommunicated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints People from Colonia Juárez, Chihuahua People from Washington County, Utah People murdered in Mexico Religiously motivated violence in Mexico

Joel Joel or Yoel is a name meaning "Yahweh Is God" and may refer to: * Joel (given name), origin of the name including a list of people with the first name. * Joel (surname), a surname * Joel (footballer, born 1904), Joel de Oliveira Monteiro, Brazili ...