Rhetorical: In verse 25 Limhi creates an interesting shift. He is dealing with a people who are in bondage, but who are to have faith that they may be removed from bondage. He must therefore be careful in the way he describes their situation, for he must show it to be just according to God, but redeemable according to their faith. To do this, he makes a shift between "this people" and "they": "25 For if this people had not fallen into transgression the Lord would not have suffered that this great evil should come upon them. But behold, they would not hearken unto his words;…"
The implication of the shift is that "this people" bear the responsibility of the sins of those others of their people who committed the acts he delineates. God is just in punishing a people for the murder of a prophet. However, it was not specifically those present who were responsible, but they - or Noah and his chief priests (Alma excepted, of course). By making this subtle distinction, Limhi can see a justified God through their current afflictions, but since the ultimate true culpability lay with Noah and the priests, this current people may have hope in their current faith for deliverance.