Joseph Smith was killed in cold blood
You might be surprised to learn that one of the interesting facts about Joseph Smith, the founder and spiritual leader of the Latter Day Saint movement, is that on June 27, 1844, while they were detained in the local jail awaiting trial, they were shot and killed by a mob in Carthage, Illinois, in the United States.
A group of non-Mormons and others who had left the church founded the Nauvoo Expositor, a newly established newspaper, and Joseph Smith, as mayor of the city of Nauvoo, Illinois, had directed its destruction. Smith and other church leaders were harshly criticized in the newspaper's first (and only) issue, which claimed Smith was engaging in polygamy and intended to establish himself as a theocratic king. The Nauvoo City Council then voted to label the newspaper a public nuisance, and Smith subsequently gave the order to have its press destroyed.
Following public outrage over the destruction of the press, the Smith brothers and other Nauvoo City Council members were accused of inciting a riot. Courts in Nauvoo dismissed arrest warrants for Smith. Smith proclaimed martial law there and requested assistance from the Nauvoo Legion to defend the city. Smith briefly left Illinois before coming back, at which point the brothers voluntarily went to the county seat in Carthage to face the charges. The brothers were charged with treason against Illinois for imposing martial law after turning themselves in to the authorities.
When an armed mob of about 200 men stormed the building while their faces were painted black with wet gunpowder, the brothers were in the Carthage Jail awaiting trial. Hyrum shouted, "I'm a dead man, Joseph!" as he fell and was shot in the face, killing him almost instantly. Joseph was shot multiple times while attempting to jump from a second-story window to safety after emptying the pistol he had used to defend himself. He died as he fell from the window.
