The amazing thing about this chapter is that the murder of one man resulted in the downfall of a whole civilization. The murder was committed by the secret band who were relatives of those who had executed the prophets of God.
The Nephite civilization was so fragile that the murder of Lachoneus II was enough to frighten the people into seeking out their relatives and dividing the whole nation into clans of kindred and friends. So what started out as a conspiracy to set up a king resulted in the fragmenting of the entire Nephite people.