SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The deaths of a Utah couple who overdosed on drugs along with their three children came after an obsession with a murderer who sees himself as a prophet.
Police say Kristi and Benjamin Strack visited Dan Lafferty in prison for years, developing a close friendship as part of an increasingly bizarre mindset that culminated with a belief the apocalypse was near.
Both Stracks became close to the man who calls himself the biblical prophet Elijah and is serving life in prison for the 1984 deaths of his sister-in-law and her baby.
Police say the Stracks committed suicide in September with a combination of drugs, including methadone and cold medicine.
Police didn't find any writings to show exactly what they believed when they died, but they often talked with family and friends about wanting to escape what they saw as a growing evil in the world.
