The timing of Christ's death is not specified in Mormon's abridgement of Samuel's prophecy, but Samuel apparently prophesied the approximate lifespan of Christ. This is evidenced by the fact that the people in AD 34 began to look for the sign of his death, the thirty and third year had passed away; And the people began to look with great earnestness for the sign which had been given by the prophet Samuel, the Lamanite, yea for the time that there should be darkness for the space of three days over the face of the land (3 Nephi 8:3). It is truly remarkable that the Lord allowed Samuel to give the exact timing of such an apocalyptic event. What is even more remarkable is that the people did not repent in preparation. Rather, they continued in their wickedness arguing about what those signs were to mean until it was too late and they were destroyed.