Ryan Reeder
History 490
William Hamblin
January 20, 2001
After doing some more research today, I've been able to focus my topic and craft my thesis. I only know of cases of eleven Mormon Missionary Murders on seven occasions. The two events I'm looking at in the nineteenth century have previously been researched and studied, though some primary sources appear to be unavailable at present in the Harold B. Lee Library. Recently, a book was printed on the 1974 Texas murders. Beyond periodicals and primary sources, there is little information on the five South American murders on three occasions, or the 1998 Russian murder. Somewhat over a year ago, I conducted some research on the South American murders, consisting of approximately one page of text in a regional history of the Church in the Andean nations of Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador.
With the available information, I plan to select two cases-perhaps the 1884 Tennessee Massacre and the 1989 Bolivian Slaying-and compare the motives of their assailants, widely separated in time and space. I expect my topic and thesis to be further honed after additional research.
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