That John D. Lee was deeply involved in the Mountain Meadows massacre, there is no doubt. The extent of his participation may be, however. The most damning account is the story of his involvement in the slaying of two teenage girls, repeated by Jacob Hamblin at Lee’s trial. Although Hamblin said Lee told him of his part in the killing of the girls shortly after the massacre, it is a fact that Lee and Hamblin were not on friendly terms at this time and after this story surfaced, Lee would refer to his fellow Saint as “dirty fingered Jake”, or the “old fiend of hell”. The facts may never be known but because of Hamblin’s reputation for integrity, his testimony as a prosecution witness in 1876 was key evidence in Lee’s guilty verdict.
Brooks, The Mountain Meadows Massacre, p. 107.
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