SPRINGVILLE, Utah — A Utah couple and their three children who were found dead in their home last fall overdosed on drugs after the parents told friends they were concerned about a pending apocalypse, authorities said Tuesday.
Police also found old letters from the mother to a Utah man in prison for killing family members in the name of God, murders that were chronicled in the 2003 John Krakauer book “Under the Banner of Heaven.”
Benjamin and Kristi Strack and three of their four children — ages 11, 12 and 14 — were found dead in September in a locked bedroom of their Springville home. All five were in a bed, with the kids tucked into the covers around their parents.
At a news conference Tuesday, Springville Police Chief J. Scott Finlayson said investigators have concluded their probe and determined the family members died from “drug toxicity” from either methadone, heroin or a combination of drugs.
Authorities determined the parents committed suicide. The younger two children’s deaths were ruled homicides, although Finlayson said there were no signs of a struggle.
The manner of death for the 14-year-old, Benson Strack, was undetermined.
Police said Benson left a goodbye letter bequeathing some of his belongings to his best friend. The only other recent writing the family left behind was a notebook containing handwritten to-do lists about feeding the pets and other chores.
Finlayson said interviews with people who knew the Stracks indicated the parents were concerned with evil in the world and wanted to escape from “impending doom.”
“There seemed to be a concern about a pending apocalypse that the parents bought into,” Finlayson said. “While some friends though that suicide might have been, or could have been, included in their plans, others believed they were going to move somewhere and live off the grid.”
The methadone used in the deaths was prescribed to Kristi Strack, police said.
Court records show Benjamin and Kristi Strack had a history of legal and financial problems, and had gone through court-ordered drug treatment several years ago. But Benjamin Strack’s boss has said it appeared those troubles were behind them.
