Movie about the Lillelid murders, did not know this existed...
by CaptainSchmideo 7 Replies latest jw friends
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CaptainSchmideo
The author of this movies also has a book about violent children, called "the Scarred Heart" and it is available as a .pdf download for free.
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Doubtfully Yours
Sad. Didn't know this happened. Could've happened to just about anyone, just a coincidence that they happened to be JWs. Very sad.
DY
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tnangel73
I remember when this happened since it was just up the road. I had cousins who attended the same congregation as the Lillelid's. It was big in the news here for a long time. They said that the father had "witnessed" to some of the teenagers at this reststop and that is why they were killed by them. Personally, even then, I was a pioneer at the time, I thought that these teenagers just had murder on their minds and it didn't matter who they talked to or who they had seen, that they were out for blood. IMO.
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Honesty
Unfortunately, some of the blame lies with the WTBTS because they do not properly train their followers to be aware of the surroundings and demeanor of prospects like other evangelical groups. The Lillelid family was returning to Powell, TN from a JW Circuit Assembly in Johnson City, TN when they stopped at a rest are on I-81 along with several other JW families who they were traveling with as a group. Vidar and Delphina were very sincere and enthusiastic JW's who were always looking for an opportunity to witness to people. They saw the group of young people from Kentucky at the rest area and approached them. Other members of their car group had not approached these same people due to their 'Gothic' appearance. One sister interrupted Vidar and Delphina and asked them to continue on with the car group. Vidar essentially ignored her as he continued witnessing to the young people in the group. After a few minutes the car group loaded up and drove off towards Knoxville leaving Vidar, Delphina and their two children, Tabitha and Peter with the people from Kentucky. They pretended to be interested in learning more about the WatchTower magazines Vidar always carried in his van and he invited them to the vehicle to see the magazines. When they got to the car a gun was brandished and the family was abducted.
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AlmostAtheist
I remember that there was a custody battle over the only surviving member of the family, Peter. He was maybe 3 at the time.
Whatever happened to him? If I recall, he was moved to the Netherlands to live with a JW uncle, or something on that order. So he's like 10-13 now, eh?
Dave
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Honesty
I remember that there was a custody battle over the only surviving member of the family, Peter. He was maybe 3 at the time.Whatever happened to him? If I recall, he was moved to the Netherlands to live with a JW uncle, or something on that order. So he's like 10-13 now, eh? Dave
Vidar's sister lives outside Stockholm with her husband Odd and 2 girls. She and Odd are JW's. Delphina was from Honduras and her mother lives in Miami. She is not a JW(catholic). Delphina also has a non-JW (catholic) sister who is an attorney in New York City. The Knox County, TN court awarded custody to Vidar's sister and BIL soley based on their religious affiliation which was seen by most local JW's as a great victory over Satan. I was about 2 years from starting my unsuccessful fade and believed the Satan twist just like all the other brain-dead WT cultists.
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CaptainSchmideo
When I first read about this case a few years back, it really tore my heart up. I have two children, and to read about such a thoughtless, pointless, ugly murder such as this just made me sick.
The book that I referenced in the second link devotes an entire chapter to this case. The author goes into some detail about Witness beliefs, about Vidar's life as a busboy/Pioneer (god, that's depressing), and the kids involved. I had to giggle that she defined an Elder as "an older,wiser member in the Congregation" when we have seen how "old and wise" some of these guys are. She also thinks Vidar's actions were not prudent. "If it were me, I would have been out of there like a shot" as she puts it.
I don't think these kids killed the Lillelids specifically because they were Witnesses, per se. I think it was an anger at anything religious or having anything to do with a benevolent God that set them off.
You know, once upon a time, rest stops were a place where you could take a family for a bathroom break, picnic, stretch your legs. Now, if you can find one even in good condition or regularly maintained, take a picture and set it to Ripley's. We had a couple in my state on a major corridor that had to be shut down because of drugs and prostitution. And Michael Jordan's dad was shot and killed at a rest stop in Florida a few years back. It get's pretty discouraging, makes you think the animals are taking over...