Page "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" Paragraph 9

On June 27, 1844, Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were murdered by a mob in Carthage, Illinois, while being held on charges of treason.

Because Hyrum was Joseph's successor, their deaths caused a succession crisis, and Brigham Young assumed leadership over the majority of Saints.

Young had been a close associate of Smith's and was senior apostle of the Quorum of the Twelve.

Other splinter groups, excommunicated from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, followed other leaders in their own interpretation of the Latter Day Saint movement.