| FLDS church selling land in Hildale Outsiders say land deals signal leaders' plan to leave Southern Utah; 60 more acres obtained in Colorado | |
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By Rachel Olsen The Spectrum | |
ST. GEORGE -- The financial arm of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints recently sold land in Hildale and people outside the church think they know why. The sale and purchase of land reinforced what some outside the church have believed -- that the FLDS leaders and elite will leave followers behind in the land they called sacred. The United Effort Plan and Trust is the financial arm of the church, which is based in the twin communities of Hildale and Colorado City, often referred to as Short Creek. Polygamy is a basic tenet of the church, led by Warren Jeffs, the self-proclaimed prophet. Rod Parker, an attorney for the FLDS church, said the sale or transfer of property is not an uncommon practice for an entity. In the past he said a move to land purchased in Texas was partly because of pressures from Utah authorities. Over the course of more than a year, an agent for the FLDS church, David Allred, purchased approximately 120 acres in Montezuma County, Colo. Investigators discovered a plot of that land, about 60 acres, which was purchased around the same time by the same man who bought property in Schliecher County, Texas, where FLDS leaders are building homes. The same agent for the church also purchased another 60 acres in Montezuma County this month, just one parcel over from the 60 acres purchased in July 2003, according to the Montezuma County Assessor's Office. Although a business, Sherwood Management, is listed as the buying agency of the second 60 acres, Allred's name appears on the deed. Allred reportedly told authorities both properties in Colorado and Texas would be a corporate hunting retreat. Authorities later discovered, and Parker recognized in May, that the Texas ranch was really a refuge for FLDS faithful from the pressures of the attorney general in Utah. Sam Brower, a private investigator hired to find Jeffs, went to the Colorado property and said he saw construction equipment and, to him, it appeared a fence was being constructed around the property. Jon Krakauer, author of "Under the Banner of Heaven," who also researches the FLDS church, has investigated the property acquisition and doesn't believe the property in Colorado will be the same as that in Texas. With fewer homes and less land in the remote Colorado location surrounded by National Forest, it will become more of a retreat for Jeffs and those close to him, he said. "I think it's pretty clear to one degree or another ... that Warren (Jeffs) is turning his back on Short Creek," Krakauer said. Brower said he believed the land purchased in Colorado and other places to be financed by the hard work of FLDS members in the Hildale/Colorado City area. Members' tithing and the selling of UEP land are going to support the extravagance of one man, Brower said. Brower feels the faithful members in the Short Creek area have been left in the dark about purchases and transferring of property. "These are hard-working, sincere people -- who put their trust in a truly bad man. He's ruined so many lives, but they see it as the will of God," Krakauer said. Some of the land transferred within the last two months, and allegedly for sale, was deeded from the trust to Aspen Management Investments, which, according to a Web site, has a Hildale mailing address. On the Web site, more than 1,300 acres are listed for sale. However, upon calling the contacts listed on the Web site, no sale of property or location of the property was confirmed and The Spectrum was informed that the contacts only wanted to talk to interested buyers. "The victims here are Warren's (Jeffs) followers, no one else is suffering except them and it makes me sad," Krakauer said. The deeding of the properties comes at a time when the UEP and FLDS church are named as defendants in lawsuits brought by boys allegedly expelled from the community and another who alleged he was abused as a child by Jeffs. However, Roger Hoole, who is one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs of the lawsuits, said the transfer of the land makes no difference to his clients whose "objectives are to be reunited with their families in their own homes without the FLDS church domination over their lives and property." Further attempts to reach Parker on Thursday were unsuccessful. The FLDS church traces its roots to Joseph Smith, founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Since 1890, the LDS church officially abolished plural marriage and members practicing polygamy have been excommunicated and barred from LDS temples. | |
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TheSpectrum.com Originally published Friday, October 29, 2004 | |
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