Rachal David

Rachal David, born Margit Briggita Ericsson in 1939, was a Swedish national who moved to the United States and later became involved with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). While attending Brigham Young University, the flagship institution of the LDS Church in Utah, she met her future husband, Charles Bruce Longo, an American convert and former missionary who would later rename himself Immanuel David.

Immanuel had been introduced to Mormonism while serving in the U.S. Army and later served as a missionary in Uruguay. Following his excommunication from the LDS Church in June 1969—reportedly due to doctrinal divergence and behavior issues—he began cultivating his own religious group called the Family of David. His followers considered him a divine being or prophet.

On the morning of August 3, 1978, Rachal David, now a widow and fully immersed in her husband’s apocalyptic and self-proclaimed divine narrative, led her seven children—six girls and one boy—to the balcony of their suite on the 11th floor of the International Dunes Hotel in Salt Lake City. The hotel is now known as a Holiday Inn (as of 2014).

In an act of familicide, Rachal pushed some of the children off the balcony herself and coerced the older children into jumping, reportedly under the belief that they were joining their father in the afterlife. Witnesses and reports from the time indicate that this was a deliberate and methodical act, likely motivated by religious delusion and maternal loyalty to Immanuel’s perceived divine plan.

All seven children fell from the hotel balcony. Six died instantly or shortly after the fall. Miraculously, one child—a 15-year-old daughter—survived the fall but was critically injured. She spent nearly a year in the hospital, underwent extensive surgeries, and was left paralyzed. In later years, she would attempt suicide multiple times, reflecting the deep trauma inflicted by the event.

Rachal jumped to her death last, following her children off the edge. The entire incident unfolded quickly and left emergency responders and the public in shock. The Salt Lake City police described the scene as one of the most horrifying in local memory.

Authorities quickly linked the familicide to the recent suicide of Immanuel David and the family's intense religious indoctrination. Investigations revealed that Rachal likely believed she was performing a sacrificial and loyal act by reuniting her family in death. The Family of David teachings emphasized Immanuel's supposed divinity and a vision of unity in the afterlife.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, public and religious communities in Utah wrestled with the implications of spiritual extremism, psychological control, and parental coercion. Despite the overwhelming evidence of delusion and manipulation, a small number of Immanuel’s followers continued the Family of David beliefs. As late as 2000, some reported still awaiting Immanuel's return, including the surviving daughter, who remained physically and emotionally scarred.