He absolutely believed the Holy Ghost protected the righteous, and that if something happened it was because the HG had withdrawn his protection because of unrighteousness. In the case of missionaries, that usually meant masturbation or not following the rules 110 percent.
If the scriptures (and LDS Church History) taught me anything, it was that the righteous take it in the shorts more than anyone else. whenever I hear some faithful mormon or Christian promising that evil only falls on the unrighteous, I shake my head. They must have a whole different set of scriptures than I did.
The shield and protection of the Garment of the Holy Priesthood only works up to the point until your work is finished here on the earth. Evidently, he was finished. Pretty sad, actually.
I'm surprised non of you mentioned he only got killed because the lds church believes that all dark skinned people are cursed, so how could any cursed race be protected or even righteous? I'm not saying that personal because I think it's total bullshit, but the MORmONS believe that. That's sad that he happened to be in cross fire though. It has nothing to do with righteousness either. It has everything to do with receiving senses, common sense, warnings of not so good feelings in different situations, which has saved my butt many times. Also just being at the wrong place at the wrong time. My heart and prayers go out to the family during this tragic event. I hope one way or another they will find comfort and strength to hold it together during this rough patch in their lives. It's never easy for anyone to lose a loved pone.