Plot summary
In 1984, in the fictional city of East Rockwell, Utah, LDS Detective Jeb Pyre and Paiute Detective Bill Taba investigate the brutal murder of Brenda Wright Lafferty, an LDS woman, and her baby daughter, Erica. Brenda's husband, Allen Lafferty, is arrested but claims men with beards committed the murders. He says he's no longer part of the LDS Church, which upsets the devout Pyre. Flashbacks show Brenda was the vivacious daughter of an Idaho bishop, and she met Allen while attending Brigham Young University. The Lafferty family is a highly respected and conservative LDS family.
Allen recalls that when his parents (Ammon and Doreen) were assigned a two-year-long mission, Ammon chose middle sons Dan and Robin to oversee the family and run his chiropractic business; he purposely snubbed his eldest son, Ron. Another set of flashbacks portrays Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, having a religious revelation and proposing to Emma Hale. In the present, police arrest a bearded Robin Lafferty at a motel.
Credits
Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, Under the Banner of Heaven (miniseries). Series, exact episode number and English title matched. Paragraphs formatted; references and illustrations omitted.