Cain, a son of Adam and Eve, is named in the Book of Mormon as “a murderer from the beginning” and the origin of the secret oaths and covenants handed down among later conspirators (Ether 8:15). According to the Nephite record, the adversary plotted with Cain that if he murdered his brother Abel it would not be known to the world, and continued to plot with Cain and his followers from that time forward (Helaman 6:27).
These same secret oaths and covenants did not reach Gadianton from any written record but were put into his heart by that same being who tempted Adam and Eve, around 50 BC (Helaman 6:26-27). Among the Jaredites, Akish administered to his followers the oaths given of old, which had been handed down from Cain (Ether 8:15).