The Nephite promise of the land is not specifically invoked, but it is the underlying assumption of Limhi’s discussion. They are under bondage because they have sinned against Jehovah’s law. Note that Limhi says: “if this people had not fallen into transgression the Lord would not have suffered this great evil should come upon them.” The promise of the land is protection and prosperity upon being faithful to that covenant, but the negative aspect of the promise is that a cursing would fall upon the people were they to breach the covenant. Limhi lists some of the important ways in which they have breached their covenant.
The most important of these transgressions was the killing of a prophet. This refers to Abinadi, whose story is yet to come. At this point, Limhi mentions that fact without any explanation, just as he should. At this point in their story, the people were well aware of what he meant and did not need an explanation. Mormon thought that the explanation was very important, and so he will add that information as a flashback, using different sources.
It is important that Limhi mentioned that the problem with the here unnamed prophet is that he preached that the Messiah was Jehovah in a mortal mission. This had been a Nephite teaching, but one that was most frequently challenged by apostates. The evidence that we will see for Noah’s reign is that this was also denied by Noah’s priests.