Polygamist husband in Jeffs trial turns self in on rape charges
 
Reported by Brent Hunsaker
ABC 4 News
Warren Jeffs

ST. GEORGE, Utah (ABC 4 News) - Allen Steed was 19. Elissa Wall was 14. They were married by Warren Jeffs and told to "go forth and multiply". Wall testified she pleaded with Warren not to force her to marry Steed. And when he went ahead and did it anyway, she said she pleaded with her new husband not to consummate the marriage. But he did anyway.

Last month a jury found that Wall was raped and Warren Jeffs was guilty of being an accomplice to that rape. Now Steed has been arrested for the rape itself.

Steed was arrested Wednesday evening on a felony warrant issued two weeks ago. On the surface it would seem unremarkable. A cop did his duty. A suspect is booked into jail and then makes bail.

Below the surface, there are several oddities. Sources close to the case say these oddities seem to show that Warren Jeffs is still pulling all the strings in the polygamous communities of Hildale and Colorado City:
  • The arrest is made by Helaman Barlow, a fellow believer in Warren Jeffs and a town marshal.

  • Timing is everything. Barlow could have picked up Steed immediately after the judge signed the warrant. He did not. Instead, Barlow waited two weeks until Steed’s attorney convinced a judge to drastically reduce his bail from $50,000 to $5,000.

  • That money was "pre-paid" before Steed even got to the Purgatory Jail to be booked.

  • Barlow not only drove Steed to the Purgatory Jail (a 30 minute trip) but also drove him home at 3:00 a.m. after he was booked and released.

  • Sources don't believe that Steed or his immediate family have the financial resources to come up with the $5,000 cash – let alone pay for his Salt Lake City-based defense team. They say the money has to be coming from Jeffs through his lieutenants.
They claim it is important for Jeffs to keep Steed "in the fold" because he may again to be called to testify in another trial pending in Kingman, Arizona.
 
ABC4.com
Originally broadcast October 4, 2007
 
Back