Rebecca David

Case record: Rebecca David

Status

Rebecca David committed suicide the same day.

The offence

Rebecca David took her seven children to the eleventh floor balcony of the International Dune Hotel in Salt Lake City, Utah. The older children began to willingly jump off of the balcony. Rebecca threw the younger children off. One of the younger children grabbed the railing and fought, but Rebecca pulled him loose and threw him off. When all of the children were on the ground, onlookers yelled “Jump! Jump.” Rebecca then jumped to her death.

Police and witnesses said at least three older children “jumped of their own volition” and Rebecca pushed some of the children as they screamed and struggled to hold onto a railing.

Victims and survivors

Rebecca David was a mother of seven children. Six of the children died when the family plunged from the balcony; one child survived.

The dead children were identified as Rybeca, 5, David, 6, Joseph, 8, Debbra, 9, Joshaha, 10, and Rachal, 14. The surviving child was Elizbeth, 13.

Rachel David, fifteen at the time, sustained severe injuries that confined her to a wheelchair. A 15-year-old girl survived and was in critical condition.

Investigation and authorities’ account

Authorities said the deaths were an apparent act of religious zealotry. Police said the incident occurred four days after Immanuel David committed suicide by inhaling carbon monoxide. Police said authorities believed the family decided to “join the father.”

Police Lt. Nick Paloukos said:

“All indications are they were religious fanatics and decided to join the father,”

Police Sgt. Brent Davis said:

“He believed he was the Holy Ghost, Jesus Christ and God - all three at same time,” He also said he was a personal friend of David.

Authorities said the family plunged from the balcony of their “$90-a-day suite” at the International Dunes hotel. Some jumped from chairs stacked on the balcony. Hotel manager Jim Bradley said:

“Those older children were too old to be thrown out. They could have restrained the lady easily,”

Police Lt. Roger Kinnersley said the children’s names were provided by a family friend and that it was at first thought Rachal was the one who lived.

Three stacks of hotel chairs were found on the balcony, and Kinnersley said at least three of the older children used them to climb up to the railing for the jump.

Dr. Terry Clemmer of LDS Hospital said Elizbeth was in surgery most of the day Thursday and:

“I have great reservations about her chances for survival,”

Arrest

No arrest is described.

Trial

No trial is described.

Sentencing

No sentencing is described.

Aftermath

Hotel employees said the family had lived in the International Dunes suite for more than a year, paying the bill each day in cash, and that David was not apparently employed. Police did not know how she or he was able to afford the hotel bill, which would have been more than $30,000 over the past year.

Police said Mrs. David learned about his death Wednesday and told police she couldn’t pay for the burial.

Hotel employees said the children did not speak to anyone without their father’s permission, did not use the hotel swimming pool, and remained mostly in their suite. They said the children were taught in the room by their parents and did not attend the school.

A 1993 interview described Rachel David as the sole survivor. Rachel David said she still believed her father was God and would return to Earth, and said:

“I remember my father said he will be back. I know he will,”
and “My father never lied,”

The interview said she continued to try to follow the suicide order and had attempted to kill herself several times. It also said Rachel was confined to a wheelchair, lived with an uncle, Lennart Eriksson, and her location was not disclosed.

Timeline

• Aug. 3, 1978 — Rebecca David and seven children plunged 11 floors from the balcony of the International Dune/International Dunes Hotel in Salt Lake City, Utah; onlookers witnessed children jumping and Rebecca jumping after her children.
• Four days before the August 1978 account — Police said Immanuel David committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning.
• Wednesday before the August 4, 1978 account — Police said Mrs. David learned about his death and told police she couldn’t pay for the burial.
• Aug. 4, 1978 — A survivor was reported as in critical condition, and multiple children were reported dead.
• Tuesday — Police said Immanuel David was found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning in a borrowed van at the top of a nearby canyon.
• April 10, 1993 — Rachel David gave an interview stating she believed her father would return to Earth and that she had continued attempts to follow the suicide order.

Other details

The incident included witness descriptions of onlookers shouting “No,” “Stop,” and yelling for her to jump after all the children had jumped or been thrown off.

Felix Palacios, a delivery truck driver, said he saw the woman throw two children over de balcony. Jason Maxfield, 16, of Salt Lake City, described the horror of the incident becoming apparent when a young girl landed in the gutter and was still alive when ambulance attendants picked her up minutes later.

Irvin Rose of Falls Church, Va. said:

“The people here on the street were furious,” and also that several people yelled obscenities and yelled for her to jump after all the children had jumped or been thrown off.

Authorities said David was found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning in a borrowed van at the top of a nearby canyon Tuesday, and described David as over 6-foot-4 and weighing more than 300 pounds, wearing a beard and braided hair. David had changed his name from Charles Bruce Longo to Immanuel David and claimed to be a descendant of the House of David. Police said David led a small cult made up mostly of his immediate family.

Mormon officials told police David frequently tried to warn them of what he believed to be impending calamities and had demanded a share of church revenues. Police said David had been excommunicated from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) several years earlier.

The FBI said David was under investigation for wire fraud, and spokesman Robert Davenport would not specify any alleged schemes. Davenport said a follower, Matthias David, was convicted of wire fraud earlier that year for soliciting contributions by telling people his stepdaughter was seriously injured in an automobile accident.

In the 1978 account, the mother was identified as Rachel David, 38, and the surviving child was identified as Elizbeth, 13. In the case summary narrative, Rachel David was described as fifteen at the time and as Rebecca David’s child with severe injuries that confined her to a wheelchair.