Just Who's In Control?




Just Who's In Control?
Things have certainly changed in the FLDS "Kingdom of God" in the past few years! First, life became more restrictive for the "faithful followers" and common possessions became "contraband". Then in September 2002, the elderly prophet, Rulon Jeffs, died and much turmoil began. There was a fierce power struggle for who would control the church, the followers, the communities and the vast amount of money and land. In November 2002, Rulon's son Warren Jeffs took control of the Utah/Arizona group. Warren then stripped control of the Canadian "sister-sect" from Winston Blackmore and began ruling both the Utah/Arizona and the British Columbia colonies. On January 11, 2004, Warren wielded complete control again, by ousting 20 of the most prominent and powerful members of the clan in Colorado City. Warren claimed that the men were "disobedient" and that they had to leave the enclave and would not be able to take their wives and children with them. One of the men was the Colorado City Mayor for the past 20 years, and 4 of the men are Warren's own brothers! Then, long time Bishop "Uncle" Fred Jessop, who disappeared in December 2003, was reported as "missing" and he later died in a Denver suburb hospital. DENVER???? Why was "Uncle" Fred taken from his home in Hildale in the middle of the night and whisked off to live (and die) in the Denver area? In June 2005, Warren Jeffs lost control of the multi-million dollar Church Trust - the UEP - when a court removed him and the other trustees for failing to uphold their fiduciary duties. And the saga continued when an arrest warrant was issued for Warren Jeffs. On June 10, 2005 Warren became a WANTED MAN on charges of arranging a marriage between a 28-year-old (already married) man and a 16-year-old girl. On June 27, 2005 Warren Jeffs became a fugitive wanted by the FBI and $60,000 in reward money was offered for his capture. On April 6, 2006 Washington County Attorney Brock Belnap charged Warren Jeffs with two counts of rape as an accomplice, a first-degree felony. Fifth District Court Judge James E. Shumate signed a $500,000 cash-only warrant for Jeffs’ arrest. Warren was picked up by a Nevada Highway Patrolman on August 28, 2006 and was sent to Purgatory (the Purgatory Correctional Facility in Hurricane, Utah.) Warren was still sending out edicts from his jail cell in Purgatory. He was still calling the shots in the FLDS and told the brethren that there was to be no more church-run schools or home schooling for the children. In January 2007 he told his brother, Nephi, that he was "not the prophet and had never been the prophet". Warren was convicted in Utah on 2 counts of Rape as an Accomplice on September 25, 2007 and was sentenced to 2 consecutive terms of 5 years to life at the Utah State Prison on November 20, 2007. Today, he sits in a jail cell in Kingman, Arizona awaiting another trial there for charges brought for his forcing little girls to get married, against their will. Rumors have been circulating that Merrill Jessop (head of the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado, Texas) is now running things or that the Bishop, William T. Jessop, is running things. But then a Deed of Trust was signed between the YFZ Land LLC and John C. Wayman. So, maybe Wayman is in control. Yet Bruce Wisan is still in charge of the UEP Trust that owns most of the FLDS property, so maybe he is the one running things. And then there is ALWAYS Willie Jessop! Who knows who's in control. Read the news articles below about how this community's upheaval has transpired and see if you can figure out just who's in control of the lives of the FLDS members. These articles are listed in chronological order.


Fundamentalist leaders taking more conservative stance
By Mark Schaffer The Arizona Republic Originally published August 30, 1998
COLORADO CITY - Wayne LeBaron sat on the couch snuggling with his new bride and he shook his head at the strangeness of it all. LeBaron, who lives at the foot of a strawberry-colored cliff near this remote polygamist town, knew something was stirring within the ranks of the Old World - the fundamentalist Mormons who control the community. Then the packages started arriving - sent to LeBaron's ranch for safekeeping from the family of his wife, who was raised in Colorado City. Some contained cassette tapes of popular music. Others had jewelry. Still others held containers of makeup, mascara and eyeliner. But all had one thing in common, he said: They are considered contraband by the fundamentalist Mormon leadership that LeBaron says has recently been reverting to an even more conservative religious stance. Read more


Big house evolving into home
By Lee Benson Deseret News columnist Deseret Moring News Originally published Friday, Nov. 3, 2000
SANDY — A couple of years ago, when polygamist leader Rulon Jeffs and family vacated their 5-acre compound at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon for the Utah-Arizona border, they didn't take everything. Left behind were five buildings, including the midwife's cottage, about 20 bathrooms, a wine cellar, a trout pond, three massive kitchens, a grocery store-size parking lot and 40 bedrooms, give or take. A perfect starter house . . . if you've got 30 wives. Or if you're a service organization called Common Thread. Common Thread is a nonprofit cause made up of, by and for people who live in the world of organ-donor transplants. Anyone who needs a heart, a kidney, a lung or other living organ to get a new start on life, and all family and friends associated with that need, fall under the watchful eye of Common Thread. Their main goal is to provide people who are on donor waiting lists a place to stay. Preferably, a place big enough that family and friends can also stay. Also preferably, a place in a nice setting that's conducive to physical comfort amid all the physical discomfort. Read more


Polygamist Leader Rulon T. Jeffs Dies
The Associated Press Originally published September 9, 2002
Salt Lake City -- Rulon T. Jeffs, the leader of what may be the nation's largest polygamist sect, has died, a church spokesman said. Jeffs died Sunday of natural causes at Dixie Medical Center in St. George, said R. Scott Berry, attorney for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Berry said Jeffs was 92 or 93. Jeffs' church has thousands of members, mostly in the twin border communities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. Estimates of the membership have ranged as high as 12,000, but Berry said it probably was 6,000 to 8,000. Jeffs, an accountant, was rumored to have had 19 to 75 wives and dozens of children, KSL Radio said. Berry said no information on that would be disclosed. His son Warren Jeffs was the No. 2 man in the church, but KSL TV said there may be a struggle for the leadership of the church. Berry said no decision has been made about the succession. Read more


Cross-border power struggle hits B.C. colony of polygamists
Son of sect's ailing leader strips Canadian of authority, reassigns his youngest wives
By Robert Matas The Globe and Mail Originally published September 9, 2002
VANCOUVER -- A power struggle over the leadership of a polygamist religious group is tearing apart the controversial colony of Bountiful in British Columbia and may force the Canadian leader to leave with more than a dozen of his wives. Winston Blackmore, 46, has served for almost 20 years as deputy to the Prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Bountiful, an isolated farming community of about 1,000 people 750 kilometres east of Vancouver. Rulon Jeffs of Colorado City, Ariz., had been the breakaway group's Prophet. Mr. Jeffs is 94 or 95 years old, and in failing health. Mr. Blackmore had expected to be recognized as Prophet when Mr. Jeffs dies. But this summer, in a pre-emptive move, Warren Jeffs, one of Rulon Jeffs's 60 children, assumed the title, in effect undermining Mr. Blackmore's claim to the top position in the religion. Read more


Rulon Jeffs
Telegraph.co.uk Originally published September 10, 2002
Rulon Jeffs, who died on Sunday aged 92, was leader of what is thought to be America's largest polygamous sect; he himself is said to have had anything between 19 and 75 wives. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), of which Jeffs was the head, is a breakaway branch of the Mormons, who abandoned polygamy in 1890. The Fundamentalists, however, would not comply and, in 1929, they founded their own sect; as a result they were excommunicated by the Mormon church. Jeffs, regarded by his 6,000-strong flock as a prophet, succeeded Leroy Johnson as leader in 1986, and immediately insisted that his rule was absolute. Some members wanted power invested in a council of seven priests, but Jeffs won this battle and promptly sent eviction notices to dissidents living on land owned by "his" church. When the FLDS was formally incorporated in 1991, Jeffs was president and sole trustee, and he expected the church's members to submit to his authority: "I want to tell you," he once preached, "that the greatest freedom you can enjoy is in obedience." Read more


Polygamists in three-way struggle for control of sect
Death of a 'prophet'
By Fabian Dawson The Province Originally published September 10, 2002
Rulon T. Jeffs, the self-styled prophet of thousands of polygamists in B.C. and the U.S., has died, triggering a three-way power struggle for control of hundreds of millions of dollars in church assets. Jeffs, 93, died Sunday in Utah. His Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has between 10,000 and 20,000 members, mostly in Utah and Arizona, and about 1,000 in the East Kootenay community of Lister. Jeffs, who had 75 wives and scores of children, was also the head of the church's financial arm, the United Effort Plan. It reportedly controls more than $200 million US in assets. Read more


Jeffs' funeral draws 5,080
FLDS prophet laid to rest in service Thursday
By Angie Parkinson The Spectrum Originally published September 13, 2002
COLORADO CITY, Ariz. -- The streets and yards in the border communities of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, were deserted Thursday afternoon. Residents left their homes and businesses to mourn Rulon Jeffs, the deceased president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Jeffs, who was eulogized Thursday at the Leroy S. Johnson Meeting House, became president of the church in 1986 and is regarded not just as a president but as a prophet by followers of the FLDS faith. The church has been a source of controversy over the years because of its polygamist beliefs and allegations of men marrying underage girls. Jeffs was believed to have 17 to 75 wives. Read more


More than 5,000 mourn FLDS leader
By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published September 14, 2002
COLORADO CITY, Ariz. — As president and spiritual leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Rulon T. Jeffs often admonished his followers to "keep sweet, no matter what." On Thursday some 5,080 mourners, several from as far away as Canada, were reminded of that advice during funeral services for Mr. Jeffs, a former accountant, who died Sunday at the age of 92. "Just keep sweet no matter what. If you keep sweet, you love one another. Never let a cross thing pass your lips," Mr. Jeffs said on March 18, 2002, according to the funeral program. On July 12, 2002, Mr. Jeffs is recorded as saying to his flock, "We must be positive, no excuses. Love the Lord God. Smile and keep sweet." Read more


Years May Pass Before Fundamentalist LDS Name Successor to Jeffs
By Michael Janofsky The New York Times Originally published September 15, 2002
COLORADO CITY, Ariz. -- In their Sunday best, men in black, women in pastels, they came by the thousands on Thursday to honor their leader, a man they considered a prophet. Outstanding he was, by some measure. President Rulon T. Jeffs, of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, who died Sept. 8 after a long illness, was 93. He is survived by 19 or 20 wives -- no one could say for sure -- about 60 children and hundreds of grandchildren. At least 33 sons were pallbearers, including two of his namesakes, Rulon F. and Rulon H. As the eighth prophet of the church, in a line that began with the Mormon pioneer, Joseph Smith, Jeffs led the largest religious group in North America that still practices plural marriage and is ostracized by the mainstream LDS Church for the same reason. The larger church, based in Salt Lake City, banned polygamy in the 1890s as a condition for Utah gaining statehood. The fundamentalists consider mainstream Mormons the renegades, for abandoning the original Mormon teachings to solve a political problem. On Thursday, more than 5,000 fundamentalists packed the Leroy S. Johnson Meeting House for a two-hour service, then slowly walked along a dusty road to the cemetery where Jeffs was buried. Read more


US polygamist sect facing the end as leader dies
By Chris Ayres The London Times Originally published September 17, 2002
Los Angeles -- American's largest polygamist sect faces an uncertain future following the death of its leader, a child rape case and economic hardship. Rulon T Jeffs (93), president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, died last week leaving 19 or 20 widows, about 60 children and hundreds of grandchildren. Five thousand followers attended his funeral and at least 33 of his sons were pallbearers. The church, which has an estimated 10,000 members, will have to endure a lengthy succession battle. The two main candidates are Fred Jessop (92), a bishop in the church, and one of Mr Jeffs's sons, Warren (45). But the complex process of deciding on a new prophet, understood by few, could take months, even years. Read more


Warren Jeffs new head of fundamentalist church
The Associated Press Originally published November 28, 2002
Colorado City, Ariz. -- Warren Jeffs will succeed his late father, Rulon Jeffs, as president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, according to people connected with the polygamous sect. "Warren will continue his father's work," said Dan Barlow, the mayor of Colorado City, where many of the church members live. Rulon Jeffs died Sept. 8 after serving as the sect's president since 1986. His death prompted speculation about a succession fight in the secretive church between the younger Jeffs and 95-year-old Bishop Fred Jessop. Read more


Bound by Fear: Polygamy in Arizona
For decades the state has let a feudal colony of fundamentalist Mormons force underage girls into illegal polygamous marriages
By John Dougherty Phoenix New Times Originally published March 13, 2003
Sixteen-year-old Ruth Stubbs wanted to marry the boy down the street. So she revealed her desire to a religious leader, a man held in the highest esteem in her rural, isolated community straddling the Arizona-Utah border. On a December morning four years ago, Ruth sought the advice of the Prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 88-year-old Rulon Jeffs. Ruth asked the stroke-ridden Jeffs for permission to marry Carl Cooke, a young man she had been seeing secretly for several months. Jeffs pondered the question for a moment and then delivered a startling pronouncement. "Well," Jeffs said, gesturing toward Rodney Holm, a police officer who had escorted Ruth to the meeting, "I feel she belongs to you." Ruth was stunned, but not surprised. She barely knew Holm, but what she did know was disturbing. Read more


Religious sect’s Prophet wields absolute control
By Al Herron Prescott Daily Courier Originally published Tuesday, July 22, 2003
Polygamy is alive and flourishing within the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). This sect in Colorado City, AZ, and Hildale, Utah, is not affiliated with the mainstream Mormon church. In the latest column we reviewed their history; today we look at life, marriage, and making babies. The FLDS members call their leader the Prophet, and he controls the members’ lives by allocating wives. The more wives and children a man has, the greater his stature in the community, and in heaven, so this is a big deal. The Prophet assigns a wife to a man without regard for her wishes. He also can remove wives and children from a man who disobeys the Prophet, and reassign them to someone else. (Spiritual control – you can’t get to heaven without the Prophet’s help.) Members believe that the Prophet has direct communication with God, and they treat him like God. He controls all levels of local government, plus the public school system, and most of the land in town – just like a medieval fiefdom. He tells members how to vote, and controls property through an FLDS collective called the United Effort Plan. Read more


Utah Targets Polyg Prophet
While Arizona authorities languish, the Utah Attorney General's Office focuses on the leader of the fundamentalist Mormon Church
By John Dougherty Phoenix New Times Originally published August 21, 2003
"We are under attack," declared fundamentalist Mormon Prophet Warren Jeffs from his pulpit in Colorado City during an August 10 sermon. "We need the Lord's protection," he warned members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS). Utah authorities are investigating Jeffs for allegedly having sex with underage girls he "married" in polygamous ceremonies, as well as with performing such marriages for members of his community. Jeffs used his 70-minute sermon to announce a series of drastic measures. The most startling were the suspension of church services for the first time in 50 years and the suspension of all future polygamous marriages. The last time the FLDS canceled religious services was under a court order in the wake of the infamous 1953 police raid on the remote town that straddles the Utah border north of the Grand Canyon. Jeffs told the congregation that services were canceled until further notice because he had received a "revelation" from the Lord. Read more


Where polygamy rules
On a B.C. commune called Bountiful, a Mormon sect keeps the world at bay
By Douglas Todd Vancouver Sun Originally published August 26, 2003
CRESTON - As I drove up to the Bountiful commune, three blond boys, about age 11, spotted me. They stopped -- stunned, panic on their faces. The day was hot. The air tasted of smoke from a brush fire south of the B.C.-Idaho border. Despite the heat, the boys were wearing long jeans and dark long-sleeve shirts, because the polygamists who run this Mormon fundamentalist community forbid the exposing of bare arms and legs. The boys began scrambling up a trail to get away. They glanced furtively over their shoulders as they ran through the grass. They finally got to the top of a hill and slid under a rickety fence that surrounds Bountiful's controversial, taxpayer-funded school. An hour earlier, after trying repeatedly to reach the commune's leaders by phone, I had finally contacted the principal of Bountiful's school. Merrill Palmer told me his Canadian branch of the polygamist sect had recently developed a strict policy of refusing to speak to media. It was on the orders of the Arizona-based leader of the sect, which has more than 10,000 adherents in the U.S. and Canada. "Things are very volatile right now," the principal said. Read more


Cruel America-Hating Cult of 6,000, Controls Town in Arizona
The National Enquirer Originally published September 3, 2003
A cult-run town where the incestuous rape of underage girls is not uncommon flourishes in the Southwest desert-and your tax dollars are helping to pay for it! The American hating cult of more than 6,000 people completely controls the town of Colorado City, which straddles the Utah-Arizona broader 30 miles north of the Grand Canyon. And “Prophet” Warren Jeffs completely controls the cult. “The people in Colorado City are worse than the Taliban,” said Bob Curan of Help the Child Brides, A Saint George, Utah, organization dedicated to wiping out the abuses in Colorado City. “Having forced sex with your own daughter is not that unusual in Colorado City. This is an absolute nightmare situation and Americans need to know this culture is of violence is funded by their tax dollars.” Read more


Colorado City polishes its image
By Mark Shaffer The Arizona Republic Originally published September 28, 2003
COLORADO CITY - Ever since the infamous 1953 Short Creek raid, town leaders have tried to improve the image of the remote community. Ben Bistline, a resident and historian of Colorado City and the neighboring community of Hildale, says that for the past 50 years, leaders have tried to portray the area as a pleasant throwback to a simpler time. Ten years after the raid, Short Creek was renamed as the towns of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah. Mayor Dan Barlow and his brother, school Superintendent Alvin Barlow, have become town ambassadors. The high school's choir has performed at the Arizona Capitol. Students compete successfully at the state spelling bee. Town leaders also have exerted their bloc vote political power to curry favor in Mohave County, Ariz., and Kane County, Utah. Read more


Mayor, others ousted from FLDS church
Prophet kicks out about 20 men for disobedience
By Jane Zhang The Spectrum Originally published Sunday, January 11, 2004
In a shocking twist to the power struggle between the prophet and Colorado City's power family, about 20 men -- including the city's mayor of about 20 years -- were ousted Saturday from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, stirring speculations as to an uncertain future at the polygamous alcove on the Utah-Arizona border. Dan Barlow, who was also a longtime spokesman for the increasingly secretive church, was ripped of his priesthood, his wives and children and the right to live in town, according to a source who attended the 7 a.m. meeting along with about 1,500 people at the Leroy S. Johnson Meeting House. The prophet Warren Jeffs, who surprised the audience by attending the meeting in person, also ordered Dan; his son Roland Barlow; his brothers Joe, Louis and Nephi Barlow; Louis' son Thomas Barlow; and Jeffs' four brothers: David, Brian, Hyrum and Blain Jeffs; and about 10 others to stand up in the congregation so others could identify them. "That hit them really, really, really hard," said the source, who, for fear of retaliation, insisted his name not be used for this article. Read more


Mayor of Polygamist Community Resigns
KSL-TV Channel 5 Originally published January 11, 2004
The mayor of the region's best-known polygamist community has been forced out... by the religious leader who controls his town. According to some observers, it's the latest development in an intense power struggle within the secretive border community of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona. The new twist was first reported in a copyrighted story in The Spectrum newspaper. Fundamentalist prophet Warren Jeffs reportedly ousted 20 adult men from his church. Among them was long-time Colorado City mayor Dan Barlow. He was reportedly stripped of his priesthood... his wives and children... and his right to live in a church-owned house. Read more


The Mysterious Letter
Originally written January 11, 2004
I am a young man. I am simple and do not know the proper way to address you. But I have been commanded of God to stand upon the wall as Samuel and to tell you of a dream I had. For this reason I have chosen to send you letters describing this dream. I do this in humility and trust in God. I beheld this valley before it became Short Creek - before it became Colorado City. I saw a stream that had cut its way into this sandy valley and I saw children playing on the banks of this sandy creek. And while they were children, I recognized them as the town fathers I have come to trust and love. I beheld the children of John Y. Barlow. And a voice that filled my soul and my heart spoke to me in the dream and it said, "Behold, these children are pure in blood and hold the birthright to this sacred valley. They were chosen by God to carve out of the very wilderness you see a community where the people can raise themselves up unto God's glorious work." And, I beheld this happen. I watched as our beloved prophet, Leroy S. Johnson, clung to John Y Barlow's words. Read more


Colorado City mayor quits after FLDS action
Polygamist church strips him, others of their priesthood
By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Monday, January 12, 2004
COLORADO CITY, Ariz. — Little more than 24 hours after he was stripped of his priesthood as a member of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Colorado City Mayor Dan Barlow turned in his resignation to the City Council. Barlow, 71, attended a Saturday morning church meeting where he and more than a dozen other men were notified by FLDS leader Warren Jeffs that they were no longer considered members in good standing. Barlow could not be reached by phone on Sunday. Several other sources declined to be interviewed on the record for this story, but all said they were surprised and saddened by Jeffs' decision. "I can confirm that adjustments were made within the church," said FLDS attorney Rod Parker, who said he spoke with FLDS leaders on Sunday. "As far as I know, the people who were involved have accepted what has happened. Any claims about a struggle for control within the church are untrue. There isn't any reason for concern." Read more


Mayor resigns in Colorado City
After ouster of about 20 men from polygamous church, city power changes
By Jane Zhang The Spectrum Originally published Tuesday, January 13, 2004
COLORADO CITY, Ariz. -- Entrenched in the starlit canyons, motel-like houses stood silently along unpaved roads. Dim light penetrated through curtained windows, but the town was largely shrouded in darkness. No noises. No pedestrians. No moving vehicles. And, no mayor. Dan Barlow, the town's first and only mayor in its 19-year history, turned in his single-sentence resignation letter Monday morning, which, around 7:40 p.m., was read dryly by a councilman to enter the official Town Council record. "This is to inform, as of Jan. 10, 2004, I (Dan Barlow) resign from the city and city council," read Terrill Johnson, who, like the majority of the six-member council, has occupied the office since the town's incorporation in 1985. No one stirred -- not one person among the 15 men and one women sitting in the town office's downstairs council chamber. Read more


Colorado City called 'tense'
Today's News-Herald - Lake Havasu Originally published January 13, 2004
A Mohave County Supervisor said the recent expulsion of at least a dozen Colorado City elders, including the town's mayor, from the Arizona Strip town could make for a volatile situation. "It appears the church is imploding by itself," said Supervisor Buster Johnson. "I don't know what the final outcome will be. But it is very tense up there right now. The sheriff's departments on both sides of the border are monitoring the situation." Supervisor Pete Byers said he was concerned about the constitutional separation of church and state in Colorado City. "We need to keep our eye on it because it looks like a big explosion," said Byers. "That's a very serious thing." On Monday, Paul Murphy, a spokesman for the Utah attorney general, said at least 12 men living in the polygamous towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., had been ordered to leave the community without their wives and children. Colorado City mayor Dan Barlow was one of the men ordered to leave during a meeting that took place Saturday morning. A spokesperson at the Colorado City Town Hall confirmed Monday that Barlow, 71, resigned as mayor. Murphy said several community members informed his office of Saturday's purge, but acknowledged that "we're not sure exactly what's happened." Read more


Men Ordered to Leave Polygamist Community Without Families
The Associated Press KUTV Channel 2 Originally published January 13, 2004
A mayor of the one of the twin polygamist communities straddling the Utah-Arizona border has resigned in an apparent power struggle with church hierarchy. Dan Barlow, the first and only mayor in the 19-year history of Colorado City, Ariz., turned in a single-sentence resignation letter Monday. Kevin Barlow, the town clerk, said a new mayor will be selected by the council. Until then, he told The Spectrum of St. George, the town is in the hands of "Vice Mayor" Edson Jessop, who's also a councilman. At an early Saturday meeting at the Leroy S. Johnson Meeting House, he and about 20 men were ousted from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the Spectrum reported. Reading from what he said was a revelation from God, the prophet, Warren Jeffs, stripped the men -- including six Barlows and four Jeffs -- of their priesthood, their wives and children and their right to live in town, an unidentified source told the newspaper. Read more


Letter: Barlow has right to lead
By Jane Zhang The Spectrum Originally published Wednesday, January 14, 2004
ST. GEORGE -- An anonymous letter believed to be from the excommunicated Barlows appeared in the Colorado City area on Tuesday, saying the eldest Barlow brother has "received the mantle of the prophet." "Behold, these children are pure in blood and hold the birthright to this sacred valley," reads a copy of the letter obtained by The Spectrum. Louis Barlow, it says, has been commanded to "forsake his birthright no more, that his time remaining quiet has passed." Louis Barlow, along with his brothers Joe, Dan and Nephi, was one of about 20 men ousted Saturday from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Reading from what he said was a revelation from God, Warren Jeffs, the prophet since Sept. 2002, stripped the men of their priesthood, their wives and children and their right to live in town, according to a source who attended the meeting at the Leroy S. Johnson Meeting House. While the evictions were widely seen as a power struggle between Colorado City's most powerful family and the prophet, the Barlow brothers have remained out of the public eye. Read more


It's time to stop crimes in secretive towns
IN OUR VIEW The Spectrum Originally published Wednesday, January 14, 2004
The apparent shake-up in leadership in Colorado City should provide authorities with yet another opportunity to make inroads into their investigations of potential crimes in the polygamist colony along the Arizona-Utah border. Regardless of what leaders in the secretive towns of Colorado City and Hildale might say, there appears to be a struggle for power in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The church, which still holds polygamy among its basic tenets of faith, last weekend expelled longtime Colorado City Mayor Dan Barlow and about 20 other men because of their "sins." Barlow, besides serving as mayor, also was the official voice of the church, serving as its spokesman to the outside world. The men were told that they would have to give up their wives and children, but they would be allowed to regain them and resume a relationship with the church if they repented. In the aftermath, Barlow resigned. Warren Jeffs, the man serving as the prophet for the FLDS church, has remained silent, possibly because authorities in Utah and Arizona are seeking him for questioning in connection with the spiritual "marriages" of underage girls. Read more


Council in no rush for new mayor
May be weeks before Colorado City takes action
By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Wednesday, January 14, 2004
COLORADO CITY, Ariz. — It could take weeks before a new mayor is appointed to lead this town of more than 7,000 polygamists on the Utah-Arizona border. A brief, one-sentence letter of resignation from former Colorado City Mayor Dan Barlow was read into the town record Monday night. "Well, we're without our mayor tonight," said Councilman Terrill Johnson to the three other members sitting at the table, who all nodded their heads. "I guess we'll have to elect a new mayor." No one on the council or anyone in the audience commented on the letter or the reason for Barlow's absence. Read more


Anonymous letter decries FLDS leader
By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Thursday, January 15, 2004
COLORADO CITY, Ariz. — The writer of an anonymous letter, sent to 460 households in the twin cities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, says he was told in a dream by God that a false prophet is leading the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The single-spaced, typed letter, folded in thirds and addressed by hand to selected post office boxes, was mailed Tuesday. The Deseret Morning News obtained one of the letters from a Colorado City resident Wednesday afternoon. The person who sent the letter has a Colorado City postal permit number and paid 16.2 cents per letter, or $74.52, in postage, said the local postmaster. Kevin Crawford, who has been postmaster for 17 years at the Hildale/Colorado City post office, would not reveal the name of the person who holds the postal permit or who paid for the postage, saying he did not think he could legally release the information. A few of the taped-closed letters were seen tossed in the trash, but the majority of them were apparently taken home with the rest of the mail. One woman, who didn't want her name used, said she tore up her copy of the letter and thinks the author just wants to stir up trouble. Read more


POWER STRUGGLE: Trouble brewing in towns
Polygamist community uneasy after church leader ousts mayor, others
By Brian Haynes, Dave Berns and Dave Hawkins Las Vegas Review Journal Originally published Thursday, January 15, 2004
COLORADO CITY, Ariz. -- Some residents fear trouble is brewing in this community that is home to one of the largest groups of avowed polygamists in the country. For years, the religious community of about 6,000 has fought accusations of child abuse and molestation because of its practice of marrying girls as young as 12 years old. Now the community and the church intertwined with it face a possible internal power struggle after the church's leader excommunicated some of the town's most influential members. "I think there's big trouble coming," said Pamela Black, a former church member who lives on the outskirts of nearby Hildale, Utah. At the center of the conflict is Warren Jeffs, known as the Prophet by his followers in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a Mormon sect that believes the only way into the upper reaches of heaven is to have at least three wives. The 47-year-old Jeffs on Saturday excommunicated about 20 men who held influential positions in Colorado City's government and history. One of the men was Mayor Dan Barlow, whose father founded the community in the early 20th century. Barlow resigned the post he had held for 19 years and joined the other men in exile, leaving their homes and families behind. Read more


States brace for trouble as infighting embroils polygamist haven
By Mark Thiessen The Associated Press Originally published Sunday January 18, 2004
HILDALE, Utah (AP) Bishop Fred Jessop is missing. The Barlow boys are in hiding. And Warren Jeffs, the town prophet, is dispatching rivals left and right while holed up in his fort-like compound, protected by a cadre of armed guards nicknamed "The God Squad" by Utah's attorney general. While it may sound like the plot to an old Western, these are the actual and leading characters in a drama playing out in the twin border communities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., the epicenter of the polygamist movement in America. The stakes are high if it turns out this is a power struggle for control of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the polygamist breakaway sect of the larger Mormon church. The man who leads the church also controls its million-dollar plus bank account. Some fear blood could be spilled by the split between prophet Warren Jeffs and the Barlows, the sons of the towns' founder. Read more


States brace for trouble in polygamist communities
The Arizona Daily Sun Originally published January 19, 2004
HILDALE, Utah (AP) -- A beloved church elder is missing, a former mayor is in hiding with three of his brothers and the town prophet is being protected by a "God Squad" while dispatching his rivals. It might make a good movie plot if it wasn't already being played out in the twin border communities of Hildale and Colorado City, Ariz., the epicenter of the polygamist movement in America. The stakes are high if it turns out this is a power struggle for control of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a polygamist-practicing breakaway faction of the larger Mormon church. The man who leads the church also controls its million-dollar plus bank account. Some fear blood could be spilled by the split between prophet Warren Jeffs and the Barlows, the sons of the towns' founder. Utah's attorney general fears Jeffs is turning into a maniacal ruler over the estimated 10,000 members. Read more


Polygamist power struggle intensifies investigation
The Associated Press The Post and Courier - Charleston, South Carolina Originally published January 24, 2004
COLORADO CITY, ARIZ.--A power struggle has emerged in a small, tight-lipped community known for polygamy, with a number of men getting kicked out of the church-owned town and their wives and children being "reassigned" against their will to other men. Now authorities in Arizona and Utah are stepping up their years-long investigation into the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, with the family "reassignments" sparking concerns of forced marriage of underage girls. In a rare show of defiance in the typically secretive community, one man who was ordered to leave is refusing to do so and is sharing information with authorities about church leader Warren Jeffs. Ross Chatwin, 35, held a news conference Friday at his home in Colorado City. He said he is one of tens of men recently excommunicated from the church, capping a nine-month power struggle with Jeffs. In an apparent move to solidify his control, Jeffs on Jan. 14 ordered 20 men to leave the area but without their wives, children and personal property. Jeffs said a vision from God told him to force the men out. He later purged more men from the community, including Chatwin. Chatwin said Jeffs "has to be stopped." Read more


Man ousted from polygamy sect snubs order
By Mark Thiessen The Associated Press Originally published January 25, 2004
COLORADO CITY - A man who openly challenged an order from the fundamentalist church leader to leave this border town has paved the way for other dissidents to come forward, an anti-polygamy advocate says. There are "five or six" people who have been ousted by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who now want to follow Ross Chatwin in telling their stories, Jay Beswick said Saturday. "They want to bring it down," said Beswick, of the group Help the Child Brides. Discord within the church has grown since early January after Warren Jeffs, church president and self-proclaimed prophet, excommunicated about 20 men, many considered to be his rivals. The untold number of excommunications have continued with other men like Chatwin being ordered to leave town. Jeffs, 47, assumed leadership of the church 16 months ago at the death of his father, Rulon. Many at the time thought one of two church elders, Louis Barlow or Fred Jessop, would have been named president. Both have now been excommunicated, and Jessop's family has not seen him in a month. Read more


Scathing Split
Feud in Polygamist Town Has Authorities Worried About Violence
Good Morning America ABCNEWS.com Original broadcast January 27, 2004
COLORADO CITY, Ariz., A former member of the nation's largest polygamist church is calling for the ouster of its cult-like leader, as authorities worry a violent standoff may be brewing. Ross Chatwin, who says he was told to leave the polygamist sect, held a news conference Friday to discuss his feud with the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The secretive sect of Mormon outcasts is based in Colorado City, a town that straddles the Utah-Arizona line. Members believe in plural marriages, a practice that the original Mormon church outlawed in 1890. Chatwin, who compared Warren Jeffs, the sect leader, to Adolf Hilter in a news conference last week, says he believes Jeffs fears he is losing control over his flock. "Ultimately, I feel like he thought I was a threat to his power, regardless of what any kind of excuse he uses," Chatwin, 35, said. Read more


Leader of Polygamous Sect Faces Rebellion
By Nick Madigan The New York Times Originally published January 27, 2004
Colorado City, Ariz. -- A power struggle between members of a fundamentalist Mormon sect has exposed deep fissures in the largest polygamous community in North America, a town in which most men have several wives and sometimes dozens of children. A handful of congregants normally subservient to the dictates of Warren Jeffs, the self-proclaimed prophet and leader of the sect, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, have begun to rebel against his rule. The rebellion was put in motion this month when Mr. Jeffs expelled more than 20 men from the church, stripping them of their wives and children and forcing them from their houses, over which the church claims ownership through a land trust controlled by Mr. Jeffs. Invariably, in such purges, an excommunicated man's wives and children are put under the control of another man, who may then marry whomever he chooses, including female children, church members say. Read more


Ex-Colorado City mayor on ballot
He resigned after his ouster from FLDS church
By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Tuesday, January 27, 2004
COLORADO CITY, Ariz. — Dan Barlow, Colorado City's one and only mayor for nearly 19 years before he suddenly resigned from office two weeks ago, is on the ballot for re-election. Barlow, along with 19 other men, was stripped of his priesthood, wives and children during a Jan. 10 church meeting conducted by Warren Jeffs, leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Within hours of being expelled from the FLDS Church, Barlow submitted his resignation to the City Council and moved out of town. Colorado City town clerk Kevin Barlow said Dan Barlow, Kevin's uncle, must submit a letter of withdrawal if he wants to get his name removed from the ballot. "If he submits a letter of withdrawal before the ballots are printed, then his name will be removed," Kevin Barlow said Monday. If a "letter comes after the ballots are printed, then I suppose it could cause a little confusion. But I don't think so." Read more


The Eyes of Outsiders Are Cast on a Polygamous Community
After the group's leader expels 21 members, authorities fearing violence step up patrols
By David Kelly The Los Angeles Times Originally published January 27, 2004
Colorado City, Ariz. -- Nestled beneath red rock cliffs and soaring mountains, this remote desert community is a land of secrets, a fiercely closed society where outsiders are shunned and the local faith calls for multiple wives and total obedience to the will of the "prophet." Along the dusty streets, drivers grind to a halt to gawk at strangers. Women dressed in long skirts and smocks buttoned to their chins and children scatter when approached. The residents don't like the outside world knowing their business, but a peculiar turn of events has made that impossible now. Two weeks ago, the local religious leader, the prophet Warren Jeffs, claimed God had ordered him to expel the mayor and 20 others. He then gave their wives and children to other men. Jeffs canceled all church services, sacraments and new marriages and retreated behind the 8-foot-walls surrounding his compound. Those expelled have left the polygamous community, which straddles Arizona and Utah. But law enforcement officials fear they may return, looking for vengeance. Sheriff's deputies traditionally let the local police handle crime in the area. Now, they are patrolling the community. "We don't like to come out here, and we are not wanted here," said Sheriff's Deputy Laura Stokes of Washington County, Utah. "But we're here in case things get out of control." Read more


Border towns in search of new leadership
By Jane Zhang The Spectrum Originally published Wednesday, January 28, 2004
ST. GEORGE -- The man in a light blue shirt stood upright next to a half-open door, looking guardedly at two unexpected visitors. Behind him in the living room, a bowl of green apples sat on a brown, wooden coffee table. Above a couch hung three portraits, including one of Rulon Jeffs, a former prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. No, Joseph Barlow Sr. said, his brother Dan Barlow wasn't in. And he was sure the former mayor of Colorado City for 19 years didn't want to talk to the media. "But how are you?" a reporter asked Hildale's councilman of 41 years until two weeks ago. "No comment," he said. The St. George house covered with white siding has become home for two of Colorado City / Hildale's most prominent politicians since Jan. 10, when they were ousted from the FLDS church by the prophet, Warren Jeffs. Along with two of their brothers and 17 other men, Dan and Joseph Barlow were stripped of their priesthood, their wives and children and their right to live in the polygamist enclave on the Utah-Arizona border. Read more


In Arizona town, polygamous Mormon sect tightens its borders
By David Kelly The Los Angeles Times Originally published February 1, 2004
COLORADO CITY, Ariz. -- Beneath red rock cliffs and soaring mountains, this remote desert community is a land of secrets, a closed society where outsiders are shunned and where the faith calls for multiple wives and total obedience to the will of the "prophet." Along the dusty streets, drivers grind to a halt to gawk at strangers. Women, in long skirts and smocks buttoned to their chins, and children, scatter when approached. The residents don't like the outside world knowing their business, but a peculiar turn of events has made that impossible now. Last month, the "prophet," Warren Jeffs, said God had ordered him to expel the mayor and 20 others. He then gave their wives and children to other men. Jeffs canceled all church services, sacraments, and new marriages, and retreated behind the walls surrounding his compound. Read more


Tempest looms for polygamous community
In a place forgotten by time, a plural-marriage sect is facing the wrath of ousted members, allegations of child abuse and welfare fraud, and the legal sword of Utah's attorney general
By Eric Gorski Denver Post Originally published February 8, 2004
COLORADO CITY, Ariz. - The prophet's grave lies in a private cemetery on the edge of town. The man interred below a mound of dirt and an ordinary gray tombstone is a former tax accountant named Rulon Jeffs, or "Uncle Rulon" to 8,000 people who regarded him as God's messenger. He was survived by an estimated 20 to 75 wives. Uncle Rulon was supposed to live forever. But his death in September 2002 at age 92 did nothing to shake the faith of the nation's largest polygamist community, clustered here below red sandstone cliffs on a remote, barren stretch of land called the Arizona Strip. The passing of Jeffs was a turning point for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a 69-year-old sect that believes polygamy is the key to the highest reaches of heaven. Under the hard-line leadership of the new prophet, Rulon Jeffs' 48-year-old son, Warren, the church has become locked in a convoluted power struggle and is facing unprecedented scrutiny from the government. The outside world appears to have caught up with the sect at the same time it is disintegrating from within. Read more


More FLDS members ousted by Warren Jeffs
Border towns set on edge by latest move
By Jane Zhang The Spectrum Originally published Tuesday, February 10, 2004
ST. GEORGE -- In a fashion that surprised his critics and followers alike, Warren Jeffs, self-proclaimed prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, continued to expel members from the polygamist enclave on the Utah-Arizona border. In the past two weeks, at least five men -- including Dale White, William Knudson, Marce Jessop, Garth Jessop and Jerry Jessop Jr. -- were told to leave the church and their homes, often without all of their family members, The Spectrum learned from interviews with half a dozen sources. The house cleaning, coming after Jeffs publicly purged 21 prominent men -- including Colorado City's mayor of 19 years, Dan Barlow -- from the FLDS church on Jan.10, was done by individual house visits by Jeffs' delegates to avoid another media circus, said the sources, who insist their names not be used for fear of retaliation. The excommunication, though subtle, has set the tight-knit community on edge. Most of the 10,000 residents in Hildale and Colorado City belong to the FLDS church, and families frequently intermarry. Read more


'We fear another Waco'
With the authorities in hot pursuit, a Mormon 'Prophet', Warren Jeffs, has gone to ground with his 70 wives - and enough ammo for Armageddon.
Andrew Gumbel reports from a community in fear news.independent.co.uk Originally published February 19, 2004
Opinions differ about the precise moment when Warren Jeffs, self-appointed prophet of the last sizeable community of polygamous Mormons in the United States, started to go a little nuts. Some say it stems back to his adolescence when, as a gawky social misfit teased by his schoolmates, he was briefly thrown out of his father's house in Salt Lake City for an offence against his younger brothers alleged to be so grave it is mentioned by the faithful only in a low whisper. Others say he developed a fanatical obsession with power and obedience when, in his twenties, he became headmaster of a religious school and routinely delivered savage beatings with a belt or yardstick to children who fell foul of his authority. Others still say the real trouble started in 1998, when his father and predecessor as prophet, Rulon Jeffs, was incapacitated by a stroke and set Warren up as one of two candidates he deemed equally worthy of his succession. Warren, described by his critics as almost pathologically jealous, rapidly positioned himself as de facto regent and, after his father's death in 2002, proceeded to strip his rival, Winston Blackmore, of all authority. What is clear, however, is that Jeffs is now behaving like a dictator losing his grip, prompting fears that the community under his dominion, the remote twin towns of Hildale and Colorado City, on the Utah-Arizona border, is on the verge of imploding. Fanatical, demented, unstable - such are the words used to describe him by critics both inside and outside the community. Residents and law enforcement officials in both states are openly talking about the terrifying possibility of another Waco or Jonestown; in other words, a confrontation leading to mass bloodshed among the faithful. Read more


Council will choose Colorado City mayor
The Associated Press Originally published Thursday, March 11, 2004
The newly elected members of the Colorado City City Council will choose a new mayor to replace the man ousted from the Arizona border town by fundamental church leaders. All three candidates vying for three City Council seats in Tuesday's primary election received more than 93 percent of the vote, avoiding a general election. The council will choose a replacement for Dan Barlow, the town's only mayor in its 19-year incorporated history. Barlow and about 20 other men were excommunicated by Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints leader Warren Jeffs in January in an apparent attempt to solidify his control. They were told to leave town without their wives, children or belongings. Edson Jessop, who has been a council member since the town was incorporated in 1985, was re-elected Tuesday. Also elected to the council were Richard Allred, a private school teacher, and Donald Richter, a member of the town library board.


Excommunicated member of prominent polygamist family dies
The Associated Press Originally published May 25, 2004
St. George, Utah -- Louis Barlow, a central figure in the recent purported power struggles in the polygamist-church-run communities of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, has died at the St. George home where he has lived since being excommunicated four months ago. Barlow, 80 or 81, died Sunday night. The cause was not disclosed and a manager at St. George's Spilsbury Mortuary, which will conduct the funeral services, said the family requested that no information, including the location of the services, be released. Before the excommunications of Barlow and 20 other men, he reportedly had seven or eight wives, more than 60 children and at least 400 grandchildren. "He was kind of the patriarch of the family," said town historian and former church member Benjamin Bistline. Since the excommunications, at least six of Barlow's wives reportedly have been reassigned to other men by Warren Jeffs, leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Barlow, the oldest son of the twin communities' founder, John Y. Barlow, had been thought by many to be in line to head the church when its former leader, Rulon Jeffs, died in 2002. Instead, Rulon Jeff's son, Warren Jeffs, took the reins and on Jan. 10 excommunicated the 21 men, among them Louis Barlow's brothers Joe, Dan and Nephi and his son Thomas. The men quietly moved to St. George, giving no signs of pursuing the rumored power struggle between their clan and Jeffs.


Louis Barlow dies in St. George home
Older brother of former Colorado City mayor Dan Barlow was excommunicated from FLDS church along with 20 others
By Jane Zhang The Spectrum Originally published May 26, 2004
ST. GEORGE -- Louis Barlow, the eldest brother in Colorado City's power family, died Sunday night in St. George, where he had lived since the polygamist church founded by his father excommunicated him four months ago. The cause was not disclosed to the public on Monday. A manager at St. George's Spilsbury Mortuary, which will conduct Barlow's funeral services, said the family requested that no information, including the location of the services, be released Monday. Several people having ties to the Barlow clan, which has about 4,000 members in the border towns of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, said in recent years Barlow had suffered a heart attack. Barlow, in his early 80s, reportedly had seven wives, more than 60 children and at least 400 grandchildren. "He was kind of the patriarch of the family," said Benjamin Bistline, a polygamy historian who lived most of his life in Colorado City. "His brothers are going to miss him." Barlow, three of his brothers -- Joe, Dan and Nephi -- and his son, Thomas, were among 21 men excommunicated on Jan. 10 by Warren Jeffs, the self-proclaimed prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the largest polygamist enclave in North America. A letter prophesying Barlow would be the new prophet soon emerged. But the men quietly moved away to St. George, giving no signs of pursuing the power struggle between Jeffs and the clan descended from Colorado City's founder, John Y. Barlow. Since then, at least six of Barlow's wives have been "reassigned" to other men. Read more


Louis Jessop Barlow
Obituaries The Spectrum Originally published Wednesday, May 26, 2004
HILDALE -- Loving husband, father, and grandfather, Louis Jessop Barlow, age 79, passed away Monday, May 24, 2004 in Washington, Utah. He was born August 9, 1924 in Salt Lake City, Utah, a son of John Y. and Martha Jessop Barlow. He married Lucy Johnson September 24, 1942 in Cedar City, Utah. Louis was born, reared, and educated in Salt Lake City. After graduation, he worked at Woolsey's Ranch near Cedar City, later moving to Short Creek. Shortly after his move, he joined the U.S. Navy, from which he received an honorable discharge. In 1949, he received a teaching certificate from the Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. He then returned to Short Creek where he taught school, teaching all classes, one through eight, later advancing to the position of Principal. Read more


More polygamists ousted by FLDS Church
The Associated Press The Arizona Republic Originally published July 28, 2004
SALT LAKE CITY - More members of the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints are apparently being banished from the southern Utah church, a resident claims. FLDS leader Warren Jeffs allegedly ordered out at least eight church members living in Hildale and neighboring Colorado City, Ariz., this month, ordering them to repent from afar, Richard Holm told The Salt Lake Tribune. Jeffs last year ousted Holm, a former Colorado City councilman. Jeffs similarly banished 21 other men in January, and told them to leave town without their wives and children. Truman Barlow was among those told to leave in the last few weeks, said Holm and Rodney Parker, a Salt Lake City attorney who represents the church. Barlow is the son of the late polygamous prophet John Y. Barlow and brother to other church members ousted in January, including longtime Colorado City Mayor Dan Barlow. Read more


Troubles dogging polygamy prophet
Joseph A. Reaves The Arizona Republic Originally published August 1, 2004
HILDALE, Utah -The surveillance cameras around his walled compound are gone. But everywhere the prophet looks these days, he sees trouble. From southern Canada to northern Arizona and western Texas, authorities and activists are intensifying their investigations into the inner workings of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its self-proclaimed prophet, Warren Jeffs. In the past few days: Jeffs was accused in a lawsuit of sodomizing his then-5-year-old nephew and covering up serial child molestations by fellow church leaders for decades. In a statement Friday, he denied the allegation. Texas authorities cited FLDS officials for 29 environmental violations at a compound the church is building on a remote ranch in the western part of the state. The attorney general of British Columbia organized a task force to look into allegations of sexual exploitation, child abuse and forced marriages at an FLDS community near the Canadian-U.S. border. Dozens of young men and boys who were chased out of the FLDS so older men could have a better pick of young brides have taken the unprecedented step of going public with their stories and appealing for help. Rumors have circulated that one of Jeffs' dozens of wives may have run away into protective custody. Read more


Former FLDS figure is missing
By Patty Henetz The Associated Press Originally published Saturday, August 14, 2004
HURRICANE — Relatives of a once promising leader for a polygamous community filed a missing-person report Friday, saying the FLDS church elder hasn't been seen since December and could be dead. Authorities said they would act on the report. Fred Jessop, a former bishop of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, vanished after being excommunicated by the new leader of the faith, which believes polygamy assures a path to heaven and eternal life. Jessop, who is 94 or 95, was last seen around town Dec. 20, say several relatives. One of his nephews, Joseph Charles Jessop Jr., told sheriff's deputies on Friday that he fears his uncle is either dead or is being held captive by Warren Jeffs, who took control of the church after the 2002 death of his father, former prophet Rulon Jeffs. Many at the time thought Jessop, known as "Uncle Fred," or another church elder, Louis Barlow, would ascend to church president, but both instead were excommunicated. Fred Jessop, a widely admired and benevolent church figure who was one of the town's original residents, held considerable sway before his ouster amid a leadership struggle. Joseph Jessop Jr. said that he has read a letter purported to have been written by his uncle since he was last seen, but he is uncertain about its authenticity. The letter appeared to be written with two different pens and had a dubious signature. Washington County Sheriff's Deputy Jess Frazier said he would file a missing-person report immediately with the National Crime Information Center. Read more


Authorities eye Social Security payments in Fred Jessop case
The Eldorado Success Originally published September 16, 2004
Sheriff David Doran told the Success this week that he remains skeptical that the man he had a phone conversation with recently is "Uncle Fred" Jessop, the missing 94-year-old patriarch of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Authorities in the Beehive State also have their doubts that the man who refuses to meet with Doran, or any other law enforcement official, is Fred Jessop. So, officials in Utah and Texas have decided to try a fresh approach in the case, by looking into Social Security payments, made to Fred Jessop, as well as any Medicare claims, or other government documents that may have been filed on his behalf. "We know someone has been cashing the Social Security checks," Doran says. "Who that may be, is another matter." Doran said that the elder Jessop could clear everything up by meeting with him or with Washington County, Utah Sheriff Kirk Smith. "If he’s alive and well then there’s nothing to worry about," Doran said. "If not, then we have lots of questions."


Searching for Polygamist Leader Warren Jeffs
John Hollenhorst reporting KSL-TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast December 2, 2004
Sam Brower, Private Investigator: "His acts now prove to me that he's a coward, that he doesn't have the courage to come out and defend himself." Where is Warren Jeffs? A private investigator tracking the leader of the nation's largest polygamy cult, says he seems to have gone underground. A civil lawsuit accuses Warren Jeffs of child rape and sodomy, as well as racketeering. But as far as outsiders are concerned, the religious leader seems to have vanished from the center of his expanding empire. The secretive Utah-based polygamy group made national headlines a few months ago. That's when critics discovered a new compound under construction in Texas. Something big is going on there right now. But Warren Jeffs' group also secretly bought a large tract of forest land near Mancos, Colorado. Private Eye Sam Brower has been trying to find Warren Jeffs for months. Sometimes he sneaks around in the woods. Other times he's up front and in the open, driving to polygamist properties Read more


How many doomsday predictions does one prophet get?
By Randy Mankin The Eldorado Success Originally published February 3, 2005
Winston Blackmore, known by many in the FLDS church as the Bishop of Bountiful, British Columbia, at least until he was excommunicated in 2002 by Prophet Warren Jeffs, posed some interesting thoughts this week. In a newsletter he publishes on the Internet, Blackmore pointed out a number of predictions Jeffs has made, all of which have failed to come true. Writing directly to Jeffs, Blackmore says, "I was so impressed when you told us that your father would live 320 years into the future that I could have bet it would happen. I was so impressed when you told us that when the DOW hit 9000 that it would be the ultimate end of the economy that I traded off my investments and gave you the money. When you predicted the end of the world in 98, I bought a generator. When you changed the date twice in 99 I bought another generator. When you changed the date to 2000, I traded again on a new, bigger one. When you called for last minute donations, I sold my generators and donated my thousands." But wait, it gets better. Blackmore continues, "I knew that the Olympics would never happen because you said it wouldn’t. I traveled hundreds of miles around Salt Lake City, stayed away from California, sold my trucking company, and gave the money because I believed." "Why did Uncle Rulon not live 320 years into the future? Why is the economy prospering while the DOW is beyond 10,000? Why did the Olympics happen? Why did you ruin the Barlows? Why the sacking of the UEP?" But Blackmore did more than take Jeffs to task for his erroneous predictions, he challenged the prophet’s decision to claim his dead father’s wives as his own and chastised him for his treatment of the FLDS faithful. Read more


Lawyer Petitions for Control of Financial Empire
KSL-TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast February 17, 2005
(KSL News) -- A legal knot is tightening around the nation's most powerful polygamist leader. In an unprecedented move late Thursday a lawyer petitioned a judge to take charge of the financial empire controlled by Warren Jeffs. Jeffs is the secretive leader of the polygamy group based in Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona. Most of the community's homes, property and financial assets are held in a trust that Jeffs controls. It's reportedly worth tens of millions of dollars. Seven young men who were kicked out are suing Jeffs for racketeering and sexual abuse. Their lawyers have tentative backing from Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff. They want the court to appoint new managers for the financial assets. Roger Hoole, Attorney for Plaintiffs: "And so initially we want to make sure the trust is under good management and the trust is not being used as a tool to kick young men out of their homes." Jeffs has apparently moved his headquarters to a remote area of Texas where followers are building a large temple.


Polygamy Leader Apparently Sitting Out of Court Fight
John Hollenhorst Reporting KSL-News Channel 5 Originally broadcast February 28, 2005
A court showdown is looming in Salt Lake City over the financial empire of polygamist leader Warren Jeffs, and he's apparently decided to sit it out without a fight. Meanwhile, Arizona authorities are moving toward a take-over of his community's school system. A court deadline came and went Monday afternoon, and Warren Jeffs apparently did not file a response in a civil suit. That paves the way for Jeffs' rivals to take over a financial trust said to be worth tens of millions of dollars. That trust controls most of the land, houses and financial assets in Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona. Critics say Jeffs uses the trust as leverage to control members of his polygamist church. It's also the apparent source of funds in Texas, where Jeffs’ followers are building the first polygamist temple. Lawyers for ousted former members have asked a judge to appoint new trustees to take over the trust. Jeffs seems to be ignoring the court process. Critics say he told his followers God will defend his church and that the world will end on April 6th. Meanwhile, Arizona officials are trying to get control of the public school that Jeffs allegedly controls on the Utah-Arizona border. They say the Colorado City school is so badly mismanaged it's overspent by 1.2 million dollars in the last 20 months. The Arizona legislature is considering several bills that empower the state to take over and put the school in the hands of a temporary manager.


Death of "Uncle" Fred Jessop confirmed
The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published March 16, 2005
1:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 16, 2005 -- Sheriff David Doran confirmed Wednesday, March 16, that Fred Jessop, known by members of the FLDS Church as "Uncle Fred," passed away at 2:10 p.m. Tuesday, March 15, 2005 at Sky Ridge Medical Center in Lone Tree, CO. The 94-year-old patriarch of the FLDS church was once seen as the heir apparent to former prophet Rulon Jeffs but was reportedly out-maneuvered by Jeffs’ son, Warren Jeffs when the elder prophet died in September of 2002. Shortly thereafter, Jessop was removed from his position of leadership in the church. He has been considered missing by authorities for several months. Word of Jessop’s death reached Eldorado Wednesday with some sources saying he died at the YFZ Ranch. Sheriff Doran told the Success that his sources indicate that while Jessop had indeed passed away, the death did not occur here in Texas. Jessop’s body is reportedly being transported to Spilsbury Funeral Home in Hurricane, UT. Funeral services are slated for Sunday, March 20, 2005, in Colorado City, AZ. The Success will publish more details as they become available.


Polygamist insider dies at 94
By Joseph A. Reaves The Arizona Republic Originally published March 17, 2005
Fred Jessop, a longtime member of the inner circle of the nation's largest polygamous sect, has died in Colorado, 15 months after he mysteriously disappeared from his home in a remote community along the Arizona-Utah state line. Gary Engels, an investigator with the Mohave County Attorney's Office who has been closely monitoring the sect, confirmed Wednesday that Jessop died Tuesday afternoon in the Denver suburb of Lone Tree. Jessop, 94, was "second councilor" of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a reclusive sect of some 7,000 to 10,000 believers based in the twin, isolated communities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. The FLDS broke away from the mainstream Mormon religion in 1890 when the church renounced polygamy. FLDS leaders moved their main base to Colorado City-Hildale in the mid 1930s. Jessop died in the Sky Ridge Medical Center in Lone Tree, but officials there refused to disclose the cause of death. He would have turned 95 on April 20. The body was being transported to a funeral home in Hurricane, Utah, a small community 25 miles northwest of Colorado City where members of the sect often shop and where those who have been excommunicated from the FLDS often seek refuge. A funeral was planned Sunday in Colorado City. In the past year, Warren Jeffs, the self-proclaimed prophet of the sect, has excommunicated scores of followers, including several top aides. Jeffs himself hasn't been seen at his block-square Hildale compound since late last year and is believed to be living on a 1,691-acre ranch in West Texas where he is building a temple and several massive dormitory-style buildings. Just before the purge of sect members began in December 2003, Jessop, who was known as "Uncle Fred," disappeared. Read more


'Missing' FLDS leader reported dead
Sheriff says he has been told Fred Jessop died Tuesday in Colorado
By Rachel Olsen The Spectrum Originally published March 17, 2005
ST. GEORGE - Longtime bishop for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, "Uncle" Fred Jessop, reportedly died Tuesday in a Colorado medical center. Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran heard of Jessop's death from his contacts in the Schleicher County, Texas, FLDS community. He understood Jessop died around 2:10 p.m. and there are expectations that the funeral will occur Sunday in Colorado City, Doran said. On Wednesday, Doran was waiting for confirmation of Jessop's death from the south Denver medical center where Jessop apparently died. Jessop's body is reportedly being sent to Washington County, where Jessop was last seen sometime around December 2003. Concerned family members filed a missing person report on Jessop in August with the Washington County Sheriff's Office. The FLDS church, which largely controls the twin cities of Hildale and Colorado City, is led by Warren Jeffs, the self-proclaimed prophet of the church, and constitutes the largest polygamist group in North America. Read more


Once Reported 'Missing,' Polygamous Leader Now Dead
The Associated Press KSL-TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast March 17, 2005
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Fred Jessop, a longtime bishop for a polygamous community on the Arizona border who was stripped of his powers in a reported leadership struggle, has died of congestive heart failure. He was 94. The circumstances of Jessop's final years remained in dispute on Thursday -- mysteries that could go to his grave. Even his death on Tuesday was shrouded in secrecy because of a federal privacy law. Jessop was known as "Uncle Fred" to many who adored him in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which occupies the twin towns of Hildale and Colorado City astride the Utah-Arizona border. Jessop was exiled 15 months ago because he threatened the authority of Warren Jeffs, who had taken over as presiding bishop of the church, said Flora Jessop, a distant relative who renounced the church and is an anti-polygamy activist living in Phoenix. She suspects Fred Jessop had been held against his will in an undisclosed location since January 2004. "It does a disservice to him to say that he had been kicked out of the church. He was not. He simply wasn't the bishop any more," church attorney Rod Parker retorted Thursday. The position of bishop is subservient to presiding bishop and "responsible for the well being of the people in the community and for distribution of property pursuant to the United Effort Plan," the lawyer said. Parker disputed that Jessop ever was missing -- he couldn't say where he'd been -- or had been banished or ever was considered a threat to Warren Jeff's authority. Parker even disputed reports that Jessop had about 100 children from multiple wives, saying Jessop was biologically incapable of fathering children and "adopted" children instead. Parker didn't dispute reports that Jessop had 30 or more wives. Read more


Fredrick Jessop
Obituaries The Spectrum Originally published March 18, 2005
HILDALE - Fredrick Meade Jessop, 94, passed away March 15, 2005 at a medical center in a suburb south of Denver, Colorado, of causes incident to old age. He was born April 20, 1910 in Millville, Utah to Martha Yeates and Joseph Smith Jessop. He married Lydia Johnson August 4, 1935. Fred spent his youth very close to his father on the family farm in Millville. In 1935 he moved to Southern Utah. He was the acting bishop of the FLDS Church for many years and has been very instrumental in the community development and in the founding of many businesses. Through his administration farms were developed, a zoo was established and several parks were developed. He is very much loved and respected by all of his acquaintances. Funeral services will be held Sunday, March 20, 2005 at 2:00 p.m. at the LSJ Meetinghouse. Visitation will be Saturday evening from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. prior to services. Both visitations will be at the LSJ Meetinghouse. Interment will be in the Isaac Carling Memorial Park. Arrangements are made under the direction Spilsbury Mortuary, 110 S. Bluff St., St. George, Utah, (435) 673-2454. Friends and family are invited to offer their condolences at www.spilsburymortuary.com. Click on the dove. Obituaries are also available at our Web site. Click on the rose.


MCSO ready for potential problems at Jessop funeral
By Chris DeVore Kingman Daily Miner Originally published March 20, 2005
KINGMAN – Mohave County Sheriff Tom Sheahan said he would send extra deputies to Colorado City after a former bishop of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints died last week. Sheahan said he was in Colorado City late last week when the news of 94-year-old Fred Jessop’s death broke and was able to see events unfold in real time. "Jessop was known as ‘Uncle Fred’ to many who adored him in the FLDS, which occupies the twin towns of Hildale and Colorado City astride the Utah-Arizona border," an Associated Press report stated. The AP also reported Jessop was exiled 15 months ago because he threatened the authority of Warren Jeffs, the presiding bishop of the church. Sheahan said he and Sheriff Kirk Smith of Washington County, Utah, which sits just across the state line from Mohave County, worked on contingency plans to prepare for potential problems that could arise during funeral related events this weekend. Sheahan said Friday his understanding was that visitation would be on Saturday and the funeral would be today. He said the Sheriff’s Office is prepared to send between four and 12 deputies to Colorado City just in case something happens, and will send more if necessary. "We don’t really anticipate any problems," Sheahan said. "But you never know because the situation could become volatile at any time." Read more


Faithful mourn Jessop
3,000 people honor FLDS bishop at burial procession in Colorado City
By Rachel Olsen The Spectrum Originally published March 21, 2005
COLORADO CITY — A mass of pastels dotted the gray as more than 3,000 people thronged the street Sunday in a procession to bury Fred Jessop, longtime bishop and loved leader in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Jessop, 94, died Tuesday at approximately 2:10 p.m. in a medical facility south of Denver. The whereabouts of Jessop were reportedly unknown for the past 15 months, although FLDS faithful apparently maintained Jessop was on a mission for the church. The FLDS church, which largely controls the twin cities of Hildale and Colorado City, is led by Warren Jeffs, the self-proclaimed prophet of the church, and constitutes the largest polygamist group in North America. Jessop’s funeral lasted for more than three hours inside the LSJ Meetinghouse in Colorado City before the graveside services occurred. There a song with the refrain "perfect priesthood man" could be heard rising from the burial site of Jessop, even though the entire ceremony was closed to outsiders. Comments on Jessop being a great man and a great example of the priesthood could be heard in the eulogy. Read more


Funeral for former polygamist leader draws 3,000 mourners
The Associated Press The Arizona Republic Originally published March 21, 2005
ST. GEORGE, Utah - Funeral services for Fred Jessop, a former leader of the polygamist Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, drew more than 3,000 mourners, some from as far away at British Columbia. Jessop, 94, died Tuesday at a medical facility near Denver. The services were held Sunday at Colorado City, Ariz., which with its twin city Hildale, Utah, the border, are dominated by the FLDS church. The church also has an enclave at Bountiful, British Columbia, and is believed to have at least 6,000 members, making it one of the largest polygamist sects in the region. Jessop's whereabouts had been a mystery to some of his relatives for the last 15 months ago. Jessop had been a member of the church's First Presidency when Rulon Jeffs was president, and had thought to be one of two candidates to succeed to the presidency when Jeffs died in 2002. The other man - Jeffs' son Warren Jeffs, who also had been a member of the First Presidency, became president. Some believed Warren Jeffs exiled Jessop as part of efforts to consolidate power, which included ousting 21 men from the church and the community last year. The relatives reported Jessop missing, but church attorney Rod Parker denied he been kicked out of the church and denied Jessop was missing. He said Jessop did not want his whereabouts known. Read more


Polygamous leader died of heart and kidney failure, coroner says
The Associated Press Fort Worth Star-Telegram Originally published March 22, 2005
SALT LAKE CITY - Fred Jessop, a longtime bishop for a polygamous community on the Arizona border, died of heart and kidney failure, a coroner's report says. Jessop, 94, was buried Sunday at Colorado City, Ariz., which along with the twin border city of Hildale, Utah, is controlled by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. "This was a natural death," deputy Douglas County, Colo., coroner Robert M. Montgomery said in a report obtained by The Associated Press. A certified copy of the report said Jessop died March 15 of aortic stenosis, a narrowing of a crucial heart valve, congestive heart failure and a deterioration of the kidneys known as renal failure. He was admitted six days earlier to Sky Ridge Medical Center in Lone Tree, Colo., complaining of shortness of breath. "The subject had a documented history of congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, diabetes mellitus, degenerative joint disease and chronic renal insufficiency," Montgomery wrote in his March 17 report. "An autopsy was not performed." Read more


Warren Jeffs and the FLDS
By Wade Goodwyn, Howard Berkes and Amy Walters National Public Radio Originally published May 3, 2005
Upon the death of his father, 49-year-old Warren Jeffs took over as prophet of the FLDS, or Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in September of 2002. Jeff's father, Rulon T. Jeffs, had been the group's prophet for the previous 15 years. He died at the age of 92, leaving an estimated 75 widows and 65 children to mourn him. The nearly two-decade tenure of father and son has split the polygamist community on the Utah-Arizona border. After taking power in 1986, Rulon Jeffs slowly abolished the seven-member Priesthood Council that had previously governed the sect. Rulon Jeffs eventually claimed a "One Man Rule" and as a result, part of the group split away and founded their own polygamist settlement nearby. According to former followers, the prophet is considered to be God's mouthpiece on earth. It is believed that God speaks directly to Warren Jeffs to reveal His will. And through the prophet, God directs which male members are worthy of entry into heaven (females are invited into heaven by satisfied husbands). Jeffs is also the only person who can perform marriages, and it is through him that wives are assigned to their husbands. Pleasing the prophet can result in loyal members being rewarded with one or more wives. Wives are considered to "belong" to their husbands for eternity. Read more


Utah A.G. Asks to Freeze FLDS Assets
KSL-TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast May 27, 2005
The Utah Attorney General's office was is court today -- seeking to freeze the assets of the trust fund of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. John Daley was there. He joins us now live from the newsroom. Keith -- it was an unusual day in court this morning ... with lawyers there from the AG's office ... and lawyers representing some members of the FLDS church ... but no one at the defense table representing leaders of the FLDS ... because this is an emergency action. Attorney General Mark Shurtleff is asking leaders of this trust ... including FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs -- be replaced by an independent third party. The AGs office says there's evidence trustees are not acting in the best interests of church members. The trust, which controls FLDS church property and assets, has been estimated to be worth as much as 100 million dollars. The judge did not rule this morning ... he is taking the issue under advisement. We're not sure what the leaders of the FLDS church or Warren Jeffs make of this matter ... as they were not represented in the court. We'll have more on this story tonight at 5 and 6.


Court seizes $100 mil in polygamist sect's funds
Jeffs accused of using trust to silence critics
By Robert Anglen The Arizona Republic Originally published May 28, 2005
Land, housing and assets belonging to the nation's largest polygamous community and estimated to be worth more than $100 million were temporarily frozen Friday by a Utah court. The ruling effectively wrests financial power of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints from self-proclaimed prophet Warren Jeffs, who for years has controlled the school district, municipal government and most of the property in the isolated towns of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah. Judge Robert Adkins temporarily froze a trust fund for the church and suspended Jeffs and five other trustees, saying he found sufficient evidence that they committed a breach of faith by selling property to church insiders for less than market value. The FLDS is a breakaway sect of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The trust, called the United Effort Plan, encompasses almost all the sect's assets and was supposed to be shared among 6,000 members, which, unlike the mainstream Mormon religion, practices polygamy. But authorities in Utah and Arizona say that Jeffs has been using his control of the trust to silence critics. He has excommunicated dozens of the sect's highest-ranking officials, ordering them out of their trust-owned homes, kicking them out of the community and reassigning their multiple wives to other men. Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard and Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff praised the court's decision Friday. "This ruling is a major step toward reducing the arbitrary power of Warren Jeffs and protecting the trust from his manipulation, liquidation and misuse," Goddard said Friday. Read more


Temporary Restraining Order Issued
e-Press Tri-State News Network Originally published May 30, 2005
COLORADO CITY, Ariz. – Another step towards Colorado City’s recovery from one man’s domination. According to Andrea Esquer of the Arizona Attorney Generals office, a temporary restraining order was issued Friday suspending trustees and freezing the assets of the polygamist sect in Colorado City, Ariz. and Hildale, Utah. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, who has been working closely with Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard on the case, filed the order added Esquer. Goddard stated that the decision was not directly connected to the Colorado City document seizure earlier this week. However, Goddard stated that both of these actions put Warren Jeffs and other leaders under the public eye. A hearing will be held on June 6th to review the case.


FLDS Buildings Disappear in Arizona and Utah
By Ben Winslow KSL NewsRadio 1160 Originally broadcast June 2, 2005
KINGMAN, Ariz. (KSL/AP) -- The special investigator assigned to Colorado City by Mohave County said two buildings disappeared over the weekend. One was in Colorado City and the other in neighboring Hildale, Utah. Investigator Gary Engels said the buildings were dismantled and hauled away after a Utah judge last Friday ordered a freezing of a polygamous sect's trust that controls most of the property and assets in the border communities. Engels suspects the dismantling flies in the face of the court order. He said some of the activity is captured on videotape and he has relayed the information to the Arizona and Utah attorneys general. Attorney General Mark Shurtleff says he is trying to protect the FLDS members. "The judge has ruled that there is some evidence that their interests are not be protected by Warren Jeffs and the other current trustees. We are not taking their money, we are not taking over their church, we are not trying to control anything other to make sure that their property is protected." Shurtleff says an independent auditor is finding some possible fraud in the books and says they’ve managed to serve papers to a high-ranking FLDS church leader. Rodney Parker of Salt Lake City, attorney for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, said Wednesday night that he had not heard of the buildings being destroyed and could not comment.


Polygamists accused of dismantling buildings
By 3TV and azfamily.com staff Fox 11 - Tucson Originally broadcast June 2, 2005
Followers of prophet Warren Jeffs are allegedly taking apartment buildings in Colorado City, Ariz., the home of several thousand polygamists. Photos were taken this weekend as buildings were allegedly being dismantled. In an unprecedented move last week, a Utah court temporarily removed Jeffs' ability to control a multimillion-dollar trust. Investigators in the area think this is a violation of the court order. Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard has been working with Utah authorities to take control of the trust away from Jeffs. Today, a Goddard spokeswoman told 3TV they're "very concerned" about this apparent theft of trust property. The issue is expected to be brought up at a hearing in Salt Lake City on Monday.


Judge Extends Orders Freezing Trust of Polygamous Sect
By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press Originally broadcast June 6, 2005
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A judge on Monday extended for 10 days an order temporarily removing leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints as managers of a church trust. The United Effort Plan Trust was placed in the temporary control of a Salt Lake City certified public accountant May 27, after the Utah Attorney General's office said the trustees, including reclusive FLDS President Warren Jeffs, had started to liquidate assets and could leave some members of the trust without any means of support. That same day, several buildings believed to be owned by the trust were dismantled and disappeared from the twin border towns of Hildale and Colorado City, Ariz. Jeffs and other trustees -- Truman Barlow, Winston Blackmore, LeRoy Jeffs, William E. Jessop (aka William Timpson), and James Zitting -- have until June 22 to appear in court to object to the request they be permanently removed as trustees. The trust was formed in the 1940s with assets from church members pooled together to be shared. Virtually all the property in Hildale and Colorado City, where the church is based and where an estimated 10,000 members live, has been part of the trust. No one knows for sure how much money is in the trust, but Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and others have estimated it contains at least $100 million. Utah Assistant Attorney General Tim Bodily said in court Monday that efforts to serve notice of the court order on the trustees has been difficult and only indirectly successful. No one knows the actual whereabouts of the men, Bodily said. So notice has been served on them by mail, and in person through relatives, employers or other members of the church in Utah, Arizona, Texas and Canada. Read more


Utah judge extends freeze on UEP assets
Arizona signs on to case as property disappears from C-City/Hildale
The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published June 9, 2005
Even before law enforcement officers and private investigators could serve papers on trustees of the United Effort Plan trust (UEP), notifying them that the trust’s assets had been frozen by a Utah court, faithful followers of FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs gathered last weekend at two UEP sites to dismantle buildings and remove equipment. Private investigator Sam Brower was on hand to watch as a large steel building, once occupied by Cozy Log Homes, was dismantled and loaded onto trucks. A video photographer named Mark Folkerson was also present to witness and document the activity. Their reports, along with photos, made it into the hands of Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, whose office stepped up efforts this week to track down the relocated property. The AG office is reportedly seeking information into the disappearance of the property and encouraging anyone with information to contact them. Meanwhile, the push to wrest control of the UEP away from Warren Jeffs and his lieutenants continued on several fronts, including here in Schleicher County where two sets of court summons were served on YFZ Ranch officials, but not on Warren Jeffs himself or any of the other UEP trustees. Read more


Polygamist Leader Charged With Child Sex Abuse
ABC 4 News Originally broadcast June 12, 2005
(ABC 4 News)-- The self-proclaimed prophet of the polygamous FLDS church is now a wanted man. Warren Jeffs has been indicted on two felony counts of child sex abuse. The indictment was handed down by a federal grand jury in Mohave County, Arizona, which charges Jeffs with arranging a marriage between a 28-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl. However, arresting the church leader may prove to be a formidable challenge because of his elusive nature. Jeffs used to live in the southern Utah town of Hilldale, but he left several months ago. Now, his compound is occupied only by caretakers. Officials believe he may currently be living on a ranch in Eldorado, Texas. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff recently tried to serve him with a summons to appear in civil court, but came up empty. But this is now a criminal matter, meaning it will be more difficult for Jeffs to hide. Authorities will have the authority to physically enter property during the search effort. And anyone who tries to stand in their way could be arrested. And this factor may spark a confrontation that some of Jeffs' followers have been predicting. Read more


Law Enforcers May Make Agressive Attempt to Arrest Warren Jeffs
By John Hollenhorst KSl-TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast June 13, 2005
The wherabouts of polygamist leader Warren Jeffs are still unknown, three days after his felony indictment for arranging a marriage with an underage bride. Now, some of Jeffs' critics are starting to worry that authorities will put the case on the back-burner to avoid a confrontation. John Hollenhorst joins us with details. That worry is shared by many. Even Jeff's harshest critics said today they hope law enforcment agencies can find a non-confrontational way to get him in custody. Many believe Jeffs is, or was, at this huge compund in Texas. A neighbor told the local newspaper he saw a convoy of vehicles leaving the property on Friday, right after the felony charges were announced. A man who flew over the compound today told us ... it seemed unusually quiet. There was almost no construction activity and women and children had nearly disappeared from sight. The Jeffs group does not have a known history of violence. But there are concerns that aggressive attempts to arrest Jeffs could lead to a standoff or showdown. Long-time Jeffs critic, Buster Johnson, a county supervisor in Northern Arizona, told us that worry shouldn't deter authorities from enforcing the law. Read more


Jeffs' Rise to Power Threw Group Into Public Eye
John Hollenhorst Reporting KSL-TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast June 14, 2005
The leader of the nation's largest polygamy group is still on-the-run or in hiding, following his indictment last week for arranging an illegal marriage. Until the last several years, hardly anyone outside the group had heard of Warren Jeffs. Now Jeffs' turbulent rise to power has swung the spotlight in his direction. It's been fifty years since this much attention has focused on the polygamist community Jeffs dominates. Ever since a police raid in 1953, Colorado City and Hildale have been pretty much left alone. But in a few short years, the tumultuous leadership of Warren Jeffs has changed the dynamic. In the 1990's the Colorado City group had a less controversial leader. The elderly Rulon Jeffs was revered as a prophet. His son Warren was known as a strict schoolmaster whose recorded sermons would later strike outsiders as politically incorrect. Warren Jeffs: "You see some classes of the human family that are black, uncouth or rude and filthy. Uncomely, disagreeable, and low in their habits. Wild." As his father weakened with old age, Warren began asserting power in ways that made some followers uncomfortable. Anonymous Former Member: "Very bizarre, very bizarre and fanatical." He ordered kids out of public schools and forbid contact with outsiders or outside media. Read more


Utah judge's injunction guarding sect's assets
By Mark Shaffer The Arizona Republic - Flagstaff Bureau Originally published June 17, 2005
A Utah state judge on Thursday issued a preliminary injunction to keep a stranglehold over the assets of a Colorado City polygamist sect, a decision that drew strong praise from Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard. Two temporary restraining orders had previously frozen estimated assets of more than $100 million from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The FLDS is not affiliated with the mainstream Mormon Church. "This really shifts the burden to (FLDS) prophet Warren Jeffs and his folks to show that they have been responsible trustees, and I don't think that's a burden they can carry," Goddard said. Last month, a Utah judge froze the funds after determining he had sufficient evidence that trustees of the United Effort Plan trust, which holds almost all the sect's assets, were selling property to church insiders for less than market value. The trust is supposed to be shared among 6,000 members. Goddard said Thursday's decision ensures that an independent trustee will remain in place and "all the assets of the trust will receive public viewing." Read more


Polygamist sect leader removed from church trust
By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press San Diego Union-Tribune Originally published June 22, 2005
SALT LAKE CITY – All trustees including the reclusive leader of a Mormon splinter group which still practices polygamy were permanently removed Wednesday as managers of the church's multimillion dollar trust fund. Warren Jeffs and five other high-ranking members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints were barred by a judge from spending or selling any of the church's assets. The assets include most of the property in the twin border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., where nearly 10,000 church members live. The trust, called the United Effort Plan, also includes businesses and most homes in the two towns. The state of Utah, fearing Jeffs was liquidating the trust as he built a new church enclave in West Texas, got a temporary restraining order last month freezing the trust's assets. An independent auditor in Salt Lake City will remain in charge of the trust until new trustees are appointed by the court July 21 to replace him. It's not the only legal problem for Jeffs, who hasn't been seen publicly in a year, although an attorney for some church members claimed Jeffs was seen last weekend in Canada. Read more


Wanted: New Trustees For FLDS Financial Empire
By Ben Winslow KSL NewsRadio 1160 Originally broadcast July 1, 2005
SALT LAKE CITY (KSL News Services) -- The courts are now accepting applications from people who want to be in charge of the Fundamentalist LDS Church's multi-million dollar empire. The Utah Attorney General's Office is hoping to get the word out and at the same time distance itself from the financial arm of the polygamous church. "We don’t want to be seen as some people already think we are, as the state, the government, trying to take over religion," says Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff. Shurtleff says they plan to run newspaper ads and even hold a town meeting in the polygamous towns of Hildale and Colorado City to get new trustees. He hopes current FLDS members will step forward and take control of it. "People who have been involved in the trust, current or former member, people who live on trust property." The courts stripped FLDS leader Warren Jeffs of his control over the church's financial empire. Shurtleff and his office are not involved in selecting new trustees.


Arizona law enforcers swoop down on polygamous town
The Associated Press KPHO News 5 - Phoenix Originally broadcast July 9, 2005
COLORADO CITY, Ariz. Arizona law enforcers descended on the polygamous town of Colorado City to investigate a fundamentalist church. A half-dozen sheriff's cruisers showed up at the same time a helicopter carrying Arizona Department of Public Safety officers dropped on Colorado City yesterday. The Mohave County, Arizona sheriff's office confirmed their arrival was part of an investigation into church dealings but refused to release details. The show of force came just after residents turned out for a public forum organized by the attorneys general for Utah and Arizona on the court-ordered takeover of the United Effort Plan. The United Effort Plan is a trust once controlled by Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints President Warren Jeffs. Jeffs was indicted by a Mohave County grand jury last month on charges of arranging a marriage between a teenage girl and a 28-year-old man who already had one wife. The FBI has joined a search for the fugitive.


10K reward offered for polygamist church leader
By Beth DeFalco The Associated Press Austin American-Statesman Originally published July 13, 2005
PHOENIX — Arizona and Utah's attorneys general on Wednesday announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the reclusive leader of a polygamous church based in communities along the states' common border. Warren Jeffs, who has not been publicly sighted in months, was charged in Arizona in early June with counts that include conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. "I find it hard to believe (Jeffs is) the active leader of 10,000 and no one knows where he is," Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard said. Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, are dominated by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a sect that broke away from the Mormon church and practices polygamy. Capturing Jeffs, 49, is considered a key to ending the turmoil in the two towns, where polygamist men marry one wife legally and then take on other women as so-called "spiritual" wives. Goddard said Jeffs could be any number of places, including Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Mexico or Canada. Read more


New judge will select overseers for church trust
The Associated Press KVOA Channel 4 - Tucson Originally broadcast July 13, 2005
ST. GEORGE, Utah. A new judge has been appointed to preside over a case involving who controls the trust fund for a polygamist church on the Utah-Arizona border. The appointment came after another judge recused himself because of a potential conflict of interest when deciding who should be installed as new trustees for the United Effort Plan. The United Effort Plan is a trust for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The change in judges came as Utah and Arizona authorities continue to crack down on plural marriages and other areas of concern in the twin towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona, where the church is thought to have its stronghold.


Two states seek polygamous sect leader
UPI WebIndia123 - India Originally published July 15, 2005
Two Western states are circulating wanted posters offering a $10,000 reward for the indicted leader of a polygamous sect. Attorneys General Terry Goddard of Arizona and Mark Shurtleff of Utah posted the reward after neither state could find Warren Jeffs, leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. Jeffs was indicted last month on charges that he arranged for one of his followers to marry a 16-year-old girl and that man illegally had sex with her. It seems as if he has gone effectively underground, Goddard told the Arizona Capitol Thursday. We're determined to leave no stone unturned. Jeffs, 49, is believed to have fled the church's base in the twin communities of Colorado City, Ariz. and Hilldale, Utah. There have been reports that Jeffs is possibly at the group's new compound in Eldorado, Texas. The FLDS promotes polygamy, which is banned by Arizona's constitution.


FBI search for Jeffs
e-Press Tri-State News Network Originally published Sunday July 17, 2005
FBI has stepped in to assist law enforcement officers in detaining Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs. According to FBI Special agent Deborah McCarley The FBI is asking for the public's assistance in finding Jeffs. "We are looking for and request that anyone who has seen him or have knowledge of him to provide such information," stated McCarley. McCarley stated that the public would be the key to finding Jeffs as he has not been seen in two years though leads have led to Texas, Colorado and British Columbia. McCarley also continued: "As of yet they haven’t had any leads that were substantial in the search for him." The FBI requests that if anyone has seen Jeffs to please contact your local law enforcement agency.


Aug. 4 hearing set in FLDS trust case
Deseret Morning News Originally published Wednesday, July 20, 2005
A Utah District Court judge rescheduled a hearing to consider new trustees for the United Effort Plan, a trust that controls the property and assets for the FLDS community. The hearing will be held Aug. 4 at 1:30 p.m. before 3rd District Court Judge Denise Lindberg. A Utah District Court judge recently ordered that Warren Jeffs, the leader of the FLDS church, be permanently removed as one of the UEP's trustees. A hearing date was set for July 21 to discuss appointing new trustees. However, the hearing was postponed after Judge Constandinos Himonas recused himself from the case, citing a potential conflict of interest. Last week, Utah and Arizona officials announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Warren Jeffs on two counts of felony child sex abuse for allegedly arranging, and performing, the marriage of a 16-year-old girl to a man who was already married.


God's Work
Legal Problems of the FLDS
By Jordan Smith The Austin Chronicle Originally published July 29, 2005
In the last few years, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its prophet Warren Jeffs have faced increasing law enforcement scrutiny and mounting legal woes. Some of the recent lowlights: July 2004: Jeffs' nephew, 21-year-old Brent Jeffs, files a civil suit against three of his uncles, including Jeffs, alleging that while he was a child he was repeatedly sodomized by the three men, who called the abuse "God's work," and threatened him with eternal damnation if he told anyone. Jeffs is seeking monetary damages from the FLDS' United Effort Plan trust. August 2004: A group of young men known as the "Lost Boys" file suit against Jeffs, the church, and the UEP trust, claiming that they were victims of the church's "secret, cruel, and unlawful practice of systematic excommunication of adolescent and young adult males for trivial reasons or no reason at all, in order to reduce competition for wives." Neither Jeffs nor the church has responded to the lawsuit, making it likely that the Lost Boys will prevail on a default judgment. May 2005: The Arizona Attorney General's Office executes search warrants seeking records from the Colorado City Unified School District, whose board and administrators are all high-ranking FLDS members. The Attorney General's Office is investigating allegations that the CCUSD is actually funneling funds through the school system and into the pockets of the FLDS leadership. Read more


Quotations of the Prophet Warren Jeffs
By Jordan Smith The Austin Chronicle Originally published July 29, 2005
The following are excerpted from transcripts of several audio clips featuring the preaching and teaching of FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs. The audio clips were obtained by The Eldorado Success and are posted on the Success Web site, www.myeldorado.net. On Race "You see some classes of the human family that are black, uncouth, or rude and filthy, uncomely, disagreeable and low in their habits; wild and seemingly deprived of nearly all the blessings of the intelligence that is usually bestowed upon mankind." "So I give you this lesson on the black race that you can understand its full effects as far as we are able to comprehend. And that we must beware – if we are for the prophet, the priesthood – we will come out of the world and leave off their dress, their music, their styles, their fashions; the way they think, what they do, because you can trace back and see a connection with immoral, filthy people." Read more


UEP trustee hearing scheduled for today
The Eldorado Success MyEldorado.net Originally published August 4, 2005
Utah District Judge Denise Lindberg is slated to consider the future of the United Effort Plan Trust today at a hearing in Salt Lake City, UT. The trust, once controlled by Warren Jeffs, the self-appointed prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), has been under the control of a receiver since June when another judge, Judge Deno Himonas, removed Jeffs and several of his cronies from their positions as UEP trustees. The UEP trust was originally established for the benefit and protection of FLDS members. Most of the property in the twin towns of Colorado City, AZ and Hildale, UT, is owned by the trust and FLDS members have traditionally been allowed to build their homes and businesses on the land. However, in recent years, the trust has been used to reward Jeffs most loyal followers and punish those who question his authority or otherwise fail to bend to his will. Read more


Judge delays naming trustees for polygamist church
The Associated Press KVOA Channel 4 - Tucson Originally broadcast August 4, 2005
SALT LAKE CITY A Utah judge is hearing arguments from several lawyers whether new trustees should be appointed to manage millions of dollars held in a trust from a polygamist church on the Utah-Arizona border. At least seven lawyers argued over why a judge should or should not name new trustees to oversee the United Effort Plan. The United Effort Plan manages the finances for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. In June, the court permanently removed church leaders from management of the estimated 100 (m) million dollar trust. The Utah attorney general sought the removal, saying the trustees, including fugitive church leader Warren Jeffs, had liquidated some trust assets and left others vulnerable by failing to defend lawsuits filed against Jeffs.


'The Prophet' makes most wanted list
e-Press Tri-State News Network Originally published August 19, 2005
COLORADO CITY, Ariz. - Warren Jeffs, the leader of the FLDS, a break away sect of mainstream Mormonism that practices polygamy, and has been wanted by the state of Arizona in connection with sex crimes against children, has just been added to the FBI's most wanted list for August and is said to be considered "armed and dangerous". "If we're unsuccessful, then perhaps we decide to go public with attempting to locate and request the assistance of the public," said FBI special agent Deborah McCarley. Jeffs, 49, is named as a defendant in a civil suit in Utah alleging sex offenses involving children and he's a controlling influence over a church-community trust that is tied up in civil litigation as well. But his indictment by a Mohave County Grand Jury would bring Jeffs to Kingman first if he's located and taken into custody, according to Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith. Read more


FBI believes sect leader may be in Lake County area
Fugitive Jeffs, head of fringe Mormon group, is wanted on child-sex charges.
By Austin L. Miller The Ocala Star-Banner Originally published August 20, 2005
LAKE COUNTY - The FBI is on the hunt for a reputed 49-year-old leader and self-proclaimed prophet of a sect known as the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints, who is rumored to be in Leesburg. Warren Steed Jeffs is wanted by the FBI for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. Born in San Francisco, he is described as white, 6-foot-3 to 6-foot-4, 150 to 155 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. He has listed his occupation as a private school teacher and accountant, and is considered armed and dangerous. Jeffs is the reported leader of the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints, or FLDS, a group that distanced itself from the Mormon church in 1890 when Utah denounced polygamy, the FBI's Web site noted. The sect has an estimated 10,000 adherents. Jeffs and about 30 of his followers are suspected of being in the Leesburg area, trying to purchase land for the organization. Officials from the Lake County Tax Collectors Office and the Property Appraiser's Office had no record of him buying any land. They also didn't have any records of FLDS, the United Effort Plan or any other corporation Jeffs or any member of the sect may be using to buy land for homes and a temple. Read more


More Charges Filed Against Warren Jeffs
Ben Winslow reports KSL 1160 NewsRadio Originally broadcast August 23, 2005
ARIZONA (KSL News Services) -- Arizona law enforcement sources tell KSL NewsRadio more criminal charges have been filed against Fundamentalist LDS Church Leader Warren Jeffs. But these latest charges may not get police any closer to catching the fugitive polygamous leader. They charges relate to his performing more "child bride" marriages. Jeffs is a fugitive on the FBI’s most wanted list. Pro-polygamy groups say police won't get any help from the members of the FLDS membership. Mary Batchelor is with the group Principle Voices Of Polygamy. "The people in the FLDS community believe that it is their right to marry when they choose to marry and they believe in arranged marriages according to the guidance and leadership of their leader and they feel it is their god given right to follow that and that’s why they feel like they’re being persecuted." Batchelor says with both sides digging in their heels, it will be difficult to find common ground. "There still some people who feel like they’re being charged only because of their marital relationship," she says. Jeffs whereabouts are unknown but recent reports say he might be hiding in Florida. The state of Utah is also investigating the polygamous leader.


Warren Jeffs' Influence Still Affecting Trust
John Hollenhorst Reporting KSL-TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast September 20, 2005
Fugitive polygamist leader Warren Jeffs hasn't been seen by outsiders for years, but it appears he's still calling the shots and pulling the strings on matters affecting the interests of thousands of people. That came out in court today as a judge approved a controversial real estate deal. When legal clouds started building over the twin polygamist towns of Colorado City and Hildale, real estate became a key element in the drama. FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, controlled the United Effort Plan Trust, which owns most of the land and buildings. Now Jeffs is a fugitive and lawyers are battling in court over the trust. Marlene Mohn, Attorney for Former Followers: "Warren Jeffs disappears and all of a sudden there's numerous little corporations." Critics claim Jeffs needed cash so he created shell corporations run by his closest followers to sell off land. Roger Hoole, Attorney for Former Members: "There was an effort to convey property out of the trust, liquidate it at a sale price, at a fair sale price." Bruce Wisan, Court-Appointed Fiduciary: "We feel that it was a fraudulent transfer out of the United Effort Plan trust." Read more


FBI says fugitive Warren Jeffs possibly spotted at reservoir
By Paul Foy The Associated Press The Arizona Republic Originally published October 25, 2005
SALT LAKE CITY - Fugitive polygamist leader Warren Jeffs was reported seen at Lehi and Strawberry Reservoir this weekend, and the vehicles spotted in Lehi have been traced to Jeffs' communities on the Utah-Arizona border, the FBI said. Jeffs and a group of "bodyguard types" were reported buying fishing gear at Cabela's outdoor store in Lehi, 26 miles south of Salt Lake City. The group was seen leaving in a GMC Yukon and a Ford pickup. Store employees got the license plate numbers. The vehicles were found in the area of the twin cities of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, where most of Jeffs' Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints followers live. The owners were being interviewed and they or other possible users of the vehicles, such as family members, admitted being at Cabela's, FBI Special Agent Brent Robbins said Monday night. Robbins said they had not confirmed that Jeffs had been with them. The latest spotting of Jeffs was Sunday at Strawberry Reservoir, about 55 miles southeast of Salt Lake City. Read more


Mormon fugitive's brother charged
Seth Jeffs was carrying money to his polygamist brother, Warren, court documents say. The latter is wanted by the FBI.
By Alicia Caldwell Denver Post Originally published November 1, 2005
The brother of fugitive Mormon polygamist Warren Jeffs was charged Monday with hiding the rebel religious leader after Pueblo sheriff's deputies found the brother transporting money and letters addressed to Jeffs. After receiving a report of a suspected drunken driver Friday, deputies pulled over a car carrying Seth Jeffs and another man, according to arrest documents filed in U.S. District Court in Denver. Deputies found about $142,000, sealed envelopes addressed to "The Prophet," and seven cellphones. Warren Jeffs, who is on the FBI's "Most Wanted" list, has been indicted on two counts of sex with a minor but remains at large. When Seth Jeffs was pulled over on Interstate 25, he told authorities he was on his way from a church headquarters in Utah to another in Texas. The driver of the car, Nathan Allred, said Seth Jeffs had paid him $5,000 for his sexual services, according to the arrest affidavit. Deputies arrested Allred and Seth Jeffs on prostitution and solicitation charges, according to the affidavit. After getting a search warrant for the vehicle, authorities found a glass container fashioned into a donation jar. Affixed to the container was a photograph of Warren Jeffs and a label that said "Pennies for the Prophet." They also found several hundred letters addressed to Warren Jeffs relating to a variety of personal matters and issues involving the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Read more


Arrest nets letters, cash en route to FLDS chief
By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Wednesday, November 2, 2005
Seth Steed Jeffs, brother of fugitive polygamist leader Warren Jeffs, is facing felony charges that could send him to prison for up to five years. Seth Jeffs, who told authorities he is a "messenger" for the polygamous church led by his older brother, was initially arrested on charges of prostitution and solicitation. A felony charge of harboring a fugitive was added after FBI agents interviewed the 32-year-old Hildale resident. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Denver is handling the case. Warren Jeffs is president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a sect that broke away from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after the mainstream church disavowed polygamy in 1890. The FLDS leader is wanted by Utah and Arizona authorities on a charge of sexual misconduct with a minor and is on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list. A Pueblo County, Colo., sheriff's deputy arrested Seth Jeffs on a traffic stop Friday during the early morning hours after dispatchers received a report of an erratic driver. Also in the car was Nathanial Steed Allred, 27, a cousin to the two Jeffs brothers. Read more


Polygamist leader's brother held for trial
The Associated Press KPHO News 5 - Phoenix Originally broadcast November 3, 2005
DENVER - A federal judge ruled today there is enough evidence to pursue charges against Seth Steed Jeffs. He's accused of harboring his brother and fugitive polygamist leader, Warren Jeffs. The formal charges came a week after police arrested 32-year-old Seth Jeffs of Hildale, Utah, during a traffic stop in Colorado. During a search, police seized $142,000 in cash, thousands of dollars in prepaid debit cards and his older brother's personal records and correspondence. The younger Jeffs and a man in the SUV with him were arrested in Pueblo, Colorado, October 28th on charges of prostitution and solicitation for prostitution. Seth Jeffs will be arraigned November 17th. The US attorney's office will pursue a federal indictment against him.


Bail set in polygamy case
Seth Jeffs is accused of hiding his brother, a fugitive sect leader
By Karen Abbott Rocky Mountain News Originally published November 4, 2005
A man accused of hiding his brother, the fugitive leader of a polygamist sect, from authorities will be set free today if he posts a $25,000 bond secured by property, a federal magistrate judge ruled Thursday. Ed Pluss, attorney for Seth Jeffs, said he talked to another brother of his client and believes bond likely will be posted today. That brother, Lyle Jeffs, declined to comment after the hearing. Prosecutors have charged Seth Jeffs with harboring a fugitive, a federal felony. They had asked Colorado U.S. Magistrate Judge Craig Shaffer to order him kept behind bars. "It would be very easy for him to just disappear," prosecutor Phil Brimmer said. Read more


Court overseer of polygamist trust seeking delay on new trustees
The Associated Press KPHO News 5 - Phoenix Originally broadcast November 6, 2005
SALT LAKE CITY The court-appointed auditor trying to track down the loose assets of a polygamist sect will ask a judge tomorrow to delay appointing a new panel of trustees for the community trust. Independent accountant Bruce Wisan says he was still unraveling a trust that owns real estate and other assets thought to be worth more than 100 (m) million dollars. Wisan was appointed to oversee the trust when the judge stripped control from six trustees who served the now-fugitive leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The judge was scheduled to select from a slate of 23 nominations for trustees at a hearing tomorrow. The trust was established by leaders of the church in the 1940s to hold its members' collective assets, including includes virtually all of the property in the border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona.


Warren Jeffs' Brother Leaves Jail
KSL-TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast November 7, 2005
(KSL News) -- The brother of fugitive polygamous leader Warren Jeffs is now out of jail. Seth Jeffs left Denver after posting a 25-thousand dollar property bond. Police arrested him in Colorado last month for soliciting sex from a male prostitute. Officers found large amounts of cash, cell phones and credit cards they believe he used to help keep his brother on the lam. That brought federal charges of harboring a fugitive. Seth Jeffs will be back in court in about two weeks.


Fleeced flock
'Prophet' Warren Jeffs remains on the lam, financed by his followers
Opinions The Arizona Republic Originally published November 8, 2005
There are a couple of remarkable things about the arrest of polygamous leader Warren Jeffs' younger brother last week. One gives a chilling insight into the depth of devotion enjoyed by an indicted fugitive. Another shows the importance of multistate cooperation to catch him. A donation jar found with Jeffs' brother, Seth, had a picture of the wanted man and an invitation to offer "Pennies for the Prophet." The $142,000 in cash and thousands of dollars worth of prepaid phone and credit cards found in Seth Jeff's car show that far more than pennies support his brother, the "prophet" of the polygamous cult called the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Other information found with Seth Jeffs offered valuable information about how Warren is operating, says Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard. It was a "breakthrough," adds Gary Engels. He's the investigator for the Mohave County Attorney's Office who gathered the evidence that led to the indictment of Warren Jeffs and other cult members on charges relating to forced marriages of minor girls to older, already-married men. Warren Jeffs' dogma teaches that a man needs three wives to reach the best neighborhoods in heaven. Young brides are especially prized. Read more


Wanted: Armed and Dangerous
As the FBI chases polygamist Prophet Warren Jeffs, work continues 24/7 on his religion's foreboding new Texas capital
By John Dougherty Phoenix New Times Originally published Thursday, November 10, 2005
A massive stone temple jutting from the crest of an oak-and-juniper knoll pierces the serenity of the broad horizon of the seductively beautiful Texas hill country. The 90-foot-high edifice is topped with a cupola and buttressed by a grand sweeping staircase leading to the main entrance. Circular columns resembling towers from medieval castles anchor each corner of the church, giving it an imposing and foreboding stance. The gleaming-white cathedral is getting built at breakneck speed by a platoon of religious fanatics in a race to beat the fire and brimstone they are certain will soon engulf their world. Outsiders are forbidden to come near the temple that marks the center of a sprawling religious compound rapidly emerging on 1,600 acres of arid soil near the small west Texas town of Eldorado. It is here that fugitive polygamist Prophet Warren Steed Jeffs and a select group of his most faithful servants are preparing to make what could be the religious leader's final stand. Read more


Ruling guides operation of FLDS trust
Religious influence over UEP assets is eliminated
By Linda Thomson Deseret Morning News Originally published Thursday, December 15, 2005
A judge issued a ruling Wednesday that essentially eliminates any religious influence over the assets of a trust that emerged from a secretive polygamous sect and lays the groundwork for the trust to operate independently. Third District Judge Denise Lindberg released a 30-page decision that sets out operating guidelines for the United Effort Plan (UEP), which controls land, buildings and other assets in the adjoining polygamist strongholds of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. The trust has been associated with the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which practices polygamy and whose leader, Warren Jeffs, is on the FBI's most wanted list for alleged crimes unrelated to the trust. The Utah Attorney General's Office asked for court intervention because law enforcement officials feared the trust's assets were being misused and trustees weren't acting in the best interest of all church members. Read more


Top Story #4 - The Hunt for Warren Jeffs
John Hollenhorst Reporting KSL-TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast December 29th, 2005
Polygamy and the growing legal battle surrounding it made news repeatedly throughout 2005, but no polygamist captured headlines more often or with more urgency than the elusive fugitive Warren Jeffs. Warren Jeffs is revered as a prophet by the nation's largest polygamy group. His autocratic rule over the twin border towns of Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah made waves all year. Richard Holm: "There's been some recent ripping of families apart, and I believe it will continue. I believe that's what Warren thrives on. He's a sensationalist and an extremist." 2005 started with the last apparent photo of Jeffs, an aerial shot in Texas on New Years Day showed a man leading a prayer. An instant later his followers closed in to hide their leader. On that exact spot, a temple quickly grew all year long on the Texas Prairie. It now appears to be Jeffs’ new headquarters, contradicting promises it would only be a church hunting retreat. Randy Mankin, Owner-Editor, "The Eldorado Success", Feb. 17, 2005: "They lied to us about the purpose they were coming here for." Read more


Missing grain elevator stolen, attorney says
The Associated Press Deseret Morning News Originally published Thursday, January 5, 2006
ST. GEORGE — A missing grain-elevator system that was dismantled and whisked away under cover of darkness over the weekend was "stolen" from the United Effort Plan Trust, a Salt Lake attorney said Wednesday. "We have some names of people and we're pursuing criminal trespass and theft charges," said Salt Lake attorney Jeffrey Shields, who represents Bruce Wisan, the court-appointed accountant now overseeing the trust. "Our position is that the rule of law applies. If there's a dispute over property and you have a legitimate claim, don't grab the stuff and run. Talk to Bruce, he's a reasonable guy." The trust is the financial arm of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a polygamous sect that broke away from the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints decades ago over the practice of polygamy. In June, a state judge assumed control of the trust, removed its current trustees and froze trust assets. A temporary advisory board was appointed by the judge to help Wisan in his role as special fiduciary of the trust. The advisory board will meet for the second time on Saturday in St. George. Read more


Reward grows for sect leader
By Dennis Wagner The Arizona Republic Originally published January 18, 2006
The FBI has added $50,000 to a reward fund for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a Utah and Arizona religious leader wanted on charges of child molestation and unlawful flight. Authorities are now offering a total of $60,000 for help tracking down Warren Jeffs, leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The attorneys general of Utah and Arizona previously had offered a $10,000 reward. "We hope the $50,000 will motivate individuals who have information to come forward," FBI Agent Deb McCarley said Tuesday. Jeffs, 50, is described as 6 feet 4 inches tall and 150 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. He has been on the run for seven months. Jeffs oversees the largest polygamous religious group in the nation, with outposts in Arizona, Utah, Texas, British Columbia and Colorado. The sect is not affiliated with the mainstream Mormon Church.


FBI Raids Polygs
Federal agents descend on fugitive polygamist Prophet Warren Jeffs' followers with 66 subpoenas. Five were served
By John Dougherty Phoenix New Times Originally published January 26, 2006
The search for the fugitive leader of the fundamentalist Mormon church escalated when FBI agents entered the Colorado City, Arizona-based sect's packed meeting hall during a church-related function to serve grand jury subpoenas. The January 14 raid on church property was the first time in 60 years that federal authorities have descended on the community for a law enforcement purpose. The operation in Colorado City coincided with an announcement by the FBI that it was posting a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Warren Jeffs, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' prophet. Arizona and Utah had already posted a $10,000 reward. Half a dozen FBI agents were involved in the operation to serve subpoenas, according to FBI spokeswoman Deborah McCarley, who declined to provide other details. Sources close to the investigation say five subpoenas were served on community members with close ties to Jeffs, though the FBI had intended to serve 66 subpoenas had they been able to corner all those individuals. Read more


Bustup in Bountiful
Winston Blackmore Interview
By Hanna Gartner The Fifth Estate CBC Television Originally published January 27, 2006
Hana Gartner: CLEARLY THIS IS NOT THE SAME PLACE IT WAS WHEN WE SAT DOWN AND SPOKE THREE YEARS AGO. IT'S CHANGED A LOT. Winstone Blackmore: Has it already been three years? Hana Gartner: IT'S BEEN THREE YEARS. Winstone Blackmore: Three years since we sat down. Well, you know, to my thinking, I don't, I don't know how I – feeling different than I did three years ago. Hana Gartner: WELL IN THIS ENVIRONMENT? I MEAN HOW WOULD YOU – HOW WOULD YOU CHARACTERIZE THE CHANGES THAT HAPPENED HERE IN BOUNTIFUL IN THE LAST THREE YEARS? Winstone Blackmore: You know, being here, you don't really look at the changes. I don't really look at the changes, other than if you're referring to the community structure, like it's a different environment as far as we don't have any involvement with the other people that have gone a different way. But as far as our own structure goes, we still have the same, you know, we're strange people doing strange – the same strange things. Hana Gartner: WHAT DOES THE PROPHET HAVE AGAINST YOU? Winstone Blackmore: In the first place, Warren's not a prophet in my view. If he was, then his predictions would have come to pass. And, but as far as – as far as – I just do not – Read more


More than one hundred years after the Mormon Church officially ended polygamy; its last remnants may finally collapse in the 21st Century
By Rick Ross Cult News - Jersey City, NJ Originally published February 1, 2006
Beginning with the death of Rulon Jeffs in 2002 the largest polygamist group in America called the "Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" (FLDS) began its decline. The FLDS had reached its zenith of power and privileges under Rulon Jeffs; it was regarded as almost a virtual kingdom within the states of Utah and Arizona and seemed to be untouchable. Jeffs who ruled over as many as 12,000 members ran the twin state border communities of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona. He controlled vast property holdings through a trust, local government, schools, police, not to mention his own family of 19 to 75 wives and dozens of children. The Canadian polygamist community of Bountiful in British Columbia was a loyal FLDS satellite governed by Winston Blackmore, one of Jeffs’ obedient lieutenants. But when Jeffs died at 92 or 93 Blackmore’s loyalty did not transfer automatically to his leader’s son and heir apparent Warren Jeffs. Warren Jeffs, though declared "prophet" and undeclared king of the religious empire, proved to be something of a bungler and unable to hold it together. The FLDS beset by both criminal and civil proceedings and also internal wrangling is now crumbling and falling apart. Read more


Polygamous Religious Group Build Texas Temple
The Associated Press WBNS TV Channel 10 - Columbus, Ohio Originally broadcast February 1, 2006
SALT LAKE CITY -- The first temple of a reclusive polygamous religious splinter group appears to be nearing completion in a sparsely populated Texas county. The group claims to be part of the Mormom religion, but the official Mormon church does not condone polygamy or recognize this group. The temple stands on the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' compound south of San Angelo. The polygamous group remains silent on the project or its progress. Originally, the Schleicher County Sheriff was told that the YFZ Ranch was a hunting retreat, but he later learned that it stood for "Yearning for Zion." Since then, homes, a meeting house, gardens, a quarry and a grain silo have been built. One of the largest homes is believed to belong to church leader Warren Jeffs, who's on the FBI's Most Wanted List. He's accused of arranging polygamous marriages involving child brides.


District in polygamist community may get Arizona bailout
The Associated Press KLTV Channel 7 - Tyler, Texas Originally broadcast February 15, 2006
PHOENIX Arizona is moving to provide a one-point-three (M) million dollar bailout to a school district in a remote community long dominated by a polygamist sect. The Arizona House K-12 Education Committee today endorsed the bill. An Arizona-appointed receiver assured members that the Colorado City Unified School District is under new management and that it shouldn't fall under the sect's sway again. Receiver Peter Davis says the district needs the loan largely because members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints aren't paying property taxes. The church, which was based in the twin border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona, now has a compound in Eldorado, Texas. Meanwhile, sect leader Warren Jeffs is a fugitive. Jeffs is sought on Arizona charges of sexual contact with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor and on a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.


Residents of polygamist towns ordered to pay taxes, confirm occupancy
The Associated Press KVOA Channel 4 - Tucson Originally broadcast February 24, 2006
SALT LAKE CITY Residents of a polygamist community on the Utah-Arizona border have been told they must pay property taxes and sign occupancy agreements if they want to stay in their homes. They've also been told that they must allow inspectors on their properties and participate in a census. Letters spelling out those requirements have been sent to the 1900 residents of Colorado City and neighboring Hildale, Utah. A trust for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints holds all property in the towns. The letters to residents say that the newly appointed trustees overseeing the trust have agreed that no one will be evicted from homes based on whether they're affiliated with polygamist church. However, the letters also say that those who don't sign the agreement or refuse to pay taxes may be evicted.


Residents refuse to pay land taxes in Colorado City
By Pat Kossan The Arizona Republic Originally published March 2, 2006
About 1,500 homeowners in the Colorado City School District are refusing to pay their property taxes, fearing still-powerful leaders of the polygamist sect will banish them from the community. It has created a standoff between officials from two states and the residents, who face possible eviction if they continue to obey polygamist leaders' orders not to pay taxes. The impasse has prompted the district to ask the state for $2 million in loans to keep operating its three schools. The State Board of Education agreed to a $711,629 loan this week. Now, district officials want lawmakers to pass a bill that would lend them the rest of the money and let them sell school buildings and use operating funds to make a bond payment. It's another sign that the state's efforts to wrest the small community from polygamist control will be a long and hard battle. The sect's leader, Warren Jeffs, continues to exercise influence in the city despite being on the run from the state and the FBI over charges of sexual misconduct. Read more


Tax Evaders In Polygamist Town Face Eviction
The Associated Press KUTV Channel 2 Originally published March 7, 2006
SALT LAKE CITY A court-appointed fiduciary is threatening to evict tenants of a polygamist sect's twin communities if they don't pay taxes and cooperate in managing the church's property. Most of the property in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., is owned by the United Effort Plan, a trust arm of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The Utah attorney general's office asked the courts last year to remove the controlling trustees of the UEP, including fugitive church leader Warren Jeffs. In recent years, Jeffs and other church leaders purportedly used trust property to punish or reward church members for their obedience. Wisan blames FLDS leaders for a "wholesale lack of cooperation and hostility" he has received from followers and local police officers. Court-appointed trust officials have been complaining for months that some of the property, including buildings, appears to have been taken away. Some may be used at new FLDS-related enterprises, including farming in Nevada. Read more


Enclave Of Polygamist Sect Is Found In S. Dakota
The Associated Press KUTV Channel 2 Originally published March 9, 2006
PRINGLE, South Dakota Another outpost of the polygamist sect headed by fugitive Warren Jeffs has been found in South Dakota, a Texas newspaper reported. The discovery of the 100-acre site at Pringle, S.D. was reported Wednesday by The Eldorado Success in its Web edition. The Success received anonymous e-mail and phone tips about the property and the people who bought, and discovered its connection to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which is headquartered in the twin towns of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah. The sect also has long had an enclave in British Columbia and in recent years has established outposts in Texas, Colorado and Nevada. Jeffs, considered a prophet by his followers, is wanted on a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution on an Arizona charge that he arranged a plural marriage between a 16-year-old girl and an older man. It has been thought that he has traveled among the church's various properties, hiding out. The Success said the $135,000 purchase of the South Dakota property in 2003 was fronted by David Allred, president of Details Unlimited, based in Washington County, Utah. Allred also fronted the purchase of the YFZ Ranch in Texas. Read more


Followers Supply Warren Jeffs with Significant Income
John Hollenhorst Reporting KSL-TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast March 9, 2006
Yesterday we learned that the polygamy group led by fugitive Warren Jeffs is secretly developing another compound in South Dakota. That caused many to ask, "Where does Jeffs get all his money?" The South Dakota property is at least the third compound the group launched in the last couple of years, at a cost well into the millions. It appears that being a prophet can be profitable. The Jeffs group bought large tracts of land in Colorado, South Dakota and Texas. Jeffs followers started a wave of construction projects, including their first temple. The FLDS church obviously has money to spend. Bruce Wisan, Court Appointed Fiduciary: "Yes, there is a very sizable cash flow." Court-appointed fiduciary Bruce Wisan says the money comes from Jeffs' followers. Most of them live and work on the Utah-Arizona border. Bruce Wisan: "There are a lot of different business that are owned by church members that we believe contribute substantial amounts of money to the church." The businesses include farms, construction, precision manufacturing, even a plant that makes ID badges for conventioneers. All generate revenue for prophet Warren Jeffs. Read more


Polygamist Town Mayor Quits
e-Press Tri-State News Network Originally published Tuesday, March 14, 2006
COLORADO CITY, AZ - No reason has been given, but the mayor of polygamous community, Colorado City, Arizona has resigned. Richard Alfred has been the town mayor for only about a year. His son, Joseph, has been the clerk of the town and submitted his resignation as well. Both left their posts in mid-February, but the announcement wasn’t made public until last night. Councilman Terrill Johnson becomes the new mayor. Richard Alfred has been a private school teacher in the community since members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints took their kids out of the public school system.


Colorado City mayor, attorney resign
Council announces open posts; clerk seeks extended leave
By Patrice St. Germain The Spectrum Originally published March 14, 2006
COLORADO CITY, Ariz. - Richard Allred resigned from his position as mayor of Colorado City on Feb. 16, three days after his son, town clerk Joseph Allred, asked for an extended leave of absence, the town council announced Monday night. Filling in as mayor pro tem, councilman Terrill Johnson read Richard Allred's letter of resignation during the meeting. "This is a sudden turn of events," Johnson said. "I don't know about the council but I'm not in any big hurry to appoint someone else." Joseph Allred requested a temporary leave of absence on Feb. 13. Attempts by The Spectrum to reach him at the town office and at his home since mid-January have been unsuccessful. He directed his letter to the attention of Johnson, although as of Feb. 13, his father had not yet resigned from his position as mayor. Johnson also read a letter of resignation from the town attorney, Paul Lenkowsky, with Lenkowsky, Bidwell & Kelley. Lenkowsky stated that he was resigning effective March 14 after a "careful consideration of our law firm's current caseload." Read more


Councilman discussed at Hildale meeting
By Patrice St. Germain The Spectrum Originally published March 15, 2006
HILDALE - Hildale City Councilman William E. Jessop, who has been either excused or absent from meetings since last May, was the subject of discussion at the Hildale City Council meeting Tuesday morning. Mayor David Zitting said state law requires him to take attendance at council meetings "quite seriously" and by being absent more than three consecutive times, the position is automatically vacant. Jessop was marked absent for three months in a row from July to September 2005. He was also marked excused from October 2005 to February 2006 and was not present Tuesday. Zitting said the city council has been able to function so he has not pushed the issue. But, he asked for input from the council on Tuesday. "Under the circumstances that we are under, that we are facing ... because of the conditions and circumstances that we are in, just continue doing what we are doing ... and carry on where we were asked to carry on," Councilman Harold Peine said. Read more


New photo released of fugitive polygamist prophet
Cult News from Rick Ross cultnews.com Originally published March 25, 2006
Authorities now have a new photo to identify wanted fugitive and polygamist leader Warren Jeffs reports the Salt Lake City Tribune. Jeffs is the supposed "prophet" and President of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). Once undisputed king of the largest following of polygamists in America and the final authority over about 10,000 followers situated in the states of Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, Texas, South Dakota, and in Canadian British Columbia, Jeffs is now a man on the lam. Federal authorities are ready to pay $60,000 reward to anyone with information leading to his arrest. The FLDS leader is charged with setting up underage girls with middle-aged husbands, a common practice amongst polygamist groups. But his fugitive status Jeffs hasn’t stopped the so-called "prophet" from making a profit and moving money, which has enabled him to build new compounds for his most loyal followers in Texas and it seems South Dakota. Read more


Judge: Church items remain trial evidence
Denver Post Originally published April 5, 2006
A federal judge on Tuesday refused a request from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints that the government return more than 300 items seized when a church member was arrested. The material, ruled U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn, is evidence in a criminal case against Seth Steed Jeffs. Jeffs is charged with helping his brother, a polygamist leader, evade authorities. Warren Jeffs is accused of having sex with a minor. In December, the church asked the judge to return many of the items seized when Seth Jeffs was arrested, saying the documents were purely religious and irrelevant to the criminal prosecution.


New charges filed against polygamous leader
By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press The Arizona Republic Originally published April 6, 2006
SALT LAKE CITY - Fugitive fundamentalist church leader Warren Jeffs has been charged with a pair of new first-degree felonies for his role in arranging a marriage between a teenage girl and an older man. The two charges of rape as an accomplice, both of which carry a penalty of up to life in prison, were filed Wednesday by Washington County Attorney Brock Belnap in St. George's 5th District Court. Jeffs, 51, is the leader of the Hildale-based Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which practices polygamy. The case is not about religion or polygamy, Belnap said in prepared statement. "This case is about a violation of the law by a person in a position of power and authority over a vulnerable young girl," he said. "Mr. Jeffs is not exempt from the law despite his position or beliefs." Read more


Polygamist charged with rape
Jeffs arranged marriage for a child, county says
By Ben Winslow and Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Friday, April 7, 2006
ST. GEORGE — The legal troubles surrounding the fugitive leader of the Fundamentalist LDS Church got much worse on Thursday, as Washington County prosecutors filed a pair of first-degree felony rape as an accomplice charges against Warren Jeffs. Authorities across the state hailed the charges filed late Wednesday in St. George's 5th District Court, which accuse Jeffs of arranging a child-bride marriage. And prosecutors expect the alleged victim to be their star witness. "The victim in this case, Jane Doe, came to us," said Washington County Attorney Brock Belnap. "We have been working with her for the past few months. Jane Doe said she will testify at trial if and when it happens, and I believe that she will do that." Belnap said the Washington County Sheriff's Office began investigating Jeffs, who is also wanted on sexual misconduct charges in Arizona, from January to March 2006 for arranging a "spiritual" marriage with an underage girl and an older man. Possible charges against the man Doe married are possible, although his identity was not revealed Thursday. The FLDS Church practices polygamy, but the court documents do not explicitly state if the marriage was polygamous. "We haven't made any decision about him at this point," Belnap added. Read more


Tapes of Jeffs illuminating
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Sunday, April 9, 2006
Law enforcement involved in the manhunt for Warren Jeffs have been learning more about him — from the fugitive Fundamentalist LDS Church leader himself. Hundreds of hours of tape recordings of Jeffs' sermons are in the hands of the Utah Attorney General's Office and investigators in Arizona. Some recordings obtained by the Deseret Morning News provide more insight into the mindset of the polygamist prophet. The sermons go on for hours, with Jeffs speaking in a monotone. The only break is the occasional hymn or a baby's cry. Some of the Sunday sessions were secretly recorded just before Jeffs began mass excommunications of his flock. "We are under attack," Jeffs proclaims in an Aug. 10, 2003, sermon, "We need the Lord's protection." The recordings are poor quality. They were recorded by Ross Chatwin just before he was ousted from the church. Chatwin told the Deseret Morning News he hollowed out a Book of Mormon and slipped a digital recorder in there. He also slipped it in his shoe. "I wanted to believe everything was going to go right, but I started to figure out that it wasn't going to go right," Chatwin said. Read more


Authorities Swarm Polygamists, Arrest James Allred, Mica Barlow
State and federal law enforcement launches a multifaceted campaign against fugitive fundamentalist Mormon Prophet Warren Jeffs and his followers
By John Dougherty Phoenix New Times Originally published April 11, 2006
State and federal authorities and the Mormon polygamist sect headquartered along the Arizona-Utah border seem finally headed for a showdown. So far, there have been no reports of violence in the towns of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah, but tensions are escalating in the remote communities about 400 miles north of Phoenix. Fugitive polygamist leader Warren Jeffs has vowed not to be taken alive and has ordered his 10,000 followers to refuse to cooperate with law enforcement. Authorities launched a multifaceted campaign against Jeffs and his top aides during the week of April 6, which marked the 176th anniversary of the founding of the Mormon Church by Joseph Smith -- the man who first espoused polygamy as the cornerstone of Mormonism. The modern Mormon Church gave up polygamy in 1890 as a condition of Utah's gaining statehood. But Jeffs and members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints continue the practice that frequently involves the coercion of heavily indoctrinated, underage girls into "spiritual" marriages with already married men. Read more


Brother Of Warren Jeffs To Change Plea
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Sunday, April 16, 2006
SALT LAKE CITY The brother of polygamist church leader Warren Jeffs has cut a deal with federal prosecutors who charged him with harboring a fugitive, court documents show. Documents filed Friday in a Denver federal court show Seth Jeffs is scheduled for a change of plea hearing on May 1 in Colorado's U.S. District Court. Jeffs, 32, was indicted in November for allegedly providing the means for his fugitive brother to remain in hiding. He pleaded not guilty to the charges. Details of the plea agreement have not been released. Jeffs was arrested Oct. 28, 2005 for prostitution and solicitation during a traffic stop near Pueblo, Colo. A man traveling with Jeffs in an SUV said he had been hired for sex. Inside the car officers found nearly $142,000 in cash, about $7,000 in prepaid credit and phone cards, as well as personal papers belonging to Warren Jeffs. In an interview with authorities, Seth Jeffs said he knew his brother was wanted and admitted that items addressed to "The Prophet" were intended for his sibling, a court affidavit said. Seth Jeffs also said he didn't know where his brother was, and stated he wouldn't tell authorities if he did. Read more


Appeals being made to polygamists to pay taxes or risk eviction
By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press The Arizona Republic Originally published April 20, 2006
HILDALE, Utah (AP) -- With tax deadlines either past or looming, the court-appointed accountant in charge of a polygamist church's trust held a town meeting here Wednesday to appeal for church members to pay their property taxes or risk being evicted from their homes. The United Effort Plan trust holds almost all the property -- from tiny, partially finished homes to monstrous brick palaces -- in the twin towns of Hildale and Colorado City, Ariz., home of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. A Salt Lake City judge put the trust in Bruce Wisan's hands last June, after state attorneys said its assets had been mismanaged by church leader Warren Jeffs and other church officials. Jeffs is a fugitive, sought on Utah and Arizona charges that he arranged plural marriages between underage girls and older men. Wisan's control of the trust and his plea for property tax payments have been met with hostility, some of which erupted Wednesday night. "What's this talk that we have a privilege of living here compared to a right?" asked resident LeGrand Hammond in response to Wisan saying residents had to pay their taxes for the privilege of remaining in their homes. "I've lived here all my life. I built my home, and you tell me I have a privilege?" Read more


The Ocho
The Warren Jeffs press tour.
By Bill Frost Salt Lake City Weekly Originally published April 20, 2006
Eight TV appearances by Fundamentalist LDS Church leader and FBI fugitive Warren Jeffs more recent than a 1993 videotape leaked to the media: 8. ABC 4’s Good Things Utah, in a cooking segment titled "Dinner and Quality Family-Time Tips for the Husband on the Go." 7. The TV Guide Channel, discussing HBO’s Big Love: "Only three wives? What-ever!" 6. CNN’s Larry King Live, though a confused King thought Jeffs was Jared the Subway Guy. 5. The View, in a segment called "How to Tell Your Fiancé He’s Been Damned to Hell by the Prophet and It’s Just Not Going to Work Out." 4. Bow-hunting with Ted Nugent on the Outdoor Life Network. 3. On location with Fox 13’s Big Budah at Chuck-a-Rama, talking about the latest American Idol contestant voted off. 2. The Lifetime movie of the week: Plural Wives, Shattered Lives (with Tori Spelling). 1. Celebrity cast member on the next installment of VH1’s Surreal Life, with Kiss’ Gene Simmons and the 1999 U.S. Women’s Soccer Team.


FLDS man evicted from house, then allowed back
By Ben Winslow, Deseret Morning News and Jennifer Dobner, The Associated Press Originally published April 21, 2006
COLORADO CITY — A member of the Fundamentalist LDS Church who showed up at a town meeting over the United Effort Plan (UEP) Trust found himself evicted from his own home by church leaders. It took lawyers for the court-appointed special fiduciary to end the housing feud with police in this polygamous border town. Patrick Pipkin arrived at his home early Thursday morning only to be told by family members that he was no longer welcome there. He received a call from Lyle Jeffs, who is presumed to be the acting bishop of the FLDS Church in the polygamous border towns of Hildale and Colorado City. "He asked me, 'Are you with Warren?' " Pipkin said Thursday, referring to fugitive FLDS Church leader Warren Jeffs, Lyle's older brother. "I said no." Pipkin said he believes church leaders got word of his attendance at Wednesday night's UEP Trust meeting and moved to punish him. After being evicted, Pipkin returned hours later to find Colorado City town marshals outside his home — with some of his belongings. Marshal Helaman Barlow refused to answer questions about the role police played in the standoff. "I will say this, I'm here to keep the peace," he said. Read more


Brother helped Jeffs run
He doesn't reveal leader's location despite plea bargain
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Tuesday, May 2, 2006
DENVER — The brother of fugitive Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs has pleaded guilty to charges that he helped keep his brother on the run from authorities. But Seth Jeffs is still refusing to give up the polygamist prophet's whereabouts. "The plea agreement doesn't provide for that," said Bill Taylor, assistant United States Attorney for the District of Colorado. "Our expectation is he will not." Appearing in federal court here in Denver, Seth Jeffs pleaded guilty on Monday to a single charge of harboring and concealing a federal fugitive. When he's sentenced July 14, federal prosecutors said he likely faces up to six months in prison. However, Jeffs' lawyer expects his client will get probation. "The government stipulated to a guideline calculation," Daniel Smith said outside of court. The younger brother of Warren Jeffs is tall, thin, pale and balding. Seth Jeffs was clad in a blue checkered shirt, a blue tie, dark pants and shoes for Monday's hearing. Before the judge, Jeffs was exceedingly polite, answering questions with "Yes, your honor" or "No, sir." Read more


Jeffs makes FBI's most wanted
The FBI hopes increasing Jeffs' status will corner the fugitive
By Patrice St. Germain The Spectrum Originally published May 7, 2006
ST. GEORGE/SALT LAKE CITY/PHOENIX - Warren Jeffs, the self-proclaimed prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, has a new claim to fame - hitting the FBI's top 10 most wanted list. Officials announced the news at a joint news conference outside the FBI field offices in Salt Lake City and Phoenix at 7 p.m. (6 p.m. Arizona time), an hour before TV show "America's Most Wanted" aired a profile of the fugitive. The FBI's Keith Bennett, U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton and Arizona's Attorney General Terry Goddard agreed the actions would heighten public awareness and increase chances of his capture. They consider Jeffs armed and dangerous. "We are doing everything we can to track him down," said Tim Fuhrman, special agent in charge of the FBI's Salt Lake City field office. "We just made the determination that this is the next step that we can take as federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to potentially result in the apprehension of Mr. Jeffs." By putting him on the top-10 list, the reward goes from $60,000 to $100,000. The list also is distributed worldwide, putting head shots of Jeffs everywhere on a list that also includes terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. Read more


FBI Sorting Through Tips About Warren Jeffs
John Hollenhorst Reporting KSL-TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast May 7, 2006
Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs became one of America's best known fugitives Sunday as national news organizations reported on his sudden elevation to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list. Saturday night's broadcast of "America's Most Wanted" also stirred up some phone tips. That show focused on Jeffs's dictatorial rule over his followers, and his performing of marriages for underage girls. In spite of his new national profile, Jeffs continues to elude capture on rape charges stemming from an underage marriage. In some ways, there are interesting parallels to another name on the Ten Most Wanted List-- Osama bin Laden. "America's Most Wanted" used actors, real photos and sometimes the real voice of Warren Jeffs. Religious zealotry was the theme. Jeffs was portrayed running a Nazi-like regime in his FLDS church and ordering young girls to marry and have sex with older men. Scenes from America's Most Wanted: (girl) "Please, I..." (man) "Hush up, child. You don't want to keep the prophet waiting. God knows what he's doing." Host John Walsh sounded a bit like George Bush, describing Osama bin Laden. Read more


FLDS told to pay taxes or else
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Sunday, May 7, 2006
The man appointed by the courts to oversee the Fundamentalist LDS Church's financial empire has compiled a list of the polygamist group's top leaders targeted for possible eviction — if they don't pay their property taxes. The Deseret Morning News has obtained a copy of the list drafted for Bruce Wisan, the court-appointed special fiduciary of the United Effort Plan (UEP) Trust. It includes more than 70 entries of names and addresses of prominent members of the polygamous border communities of Hildale, Washington County, and Colorado City, Ariz. Partially handwritten and partially typewritten, it names the top people in the FLDS Church and a brief dossier on each one. Some are the most loyal of FLDS leader Warren Jeffs' men. They rank high in the polygamist church's priesthood and are close to the fugitive prophet. The list also names people who have built enormous fences around their homes to keep prying eyes out. "Whomever is living in Jim Allred's old compound with it's huge fences," the list says. "Whomever is living at 740 across from Marilyn Holms old place. They have huge walls." A source provided the list to the Deseret Morning News shortly after an April town hall meeting in Hildale to urge people in the polygamous border towns to pay their property taxes. If not, eviction from UEP land is a possibility. Read more


Leader of Polygamist Sect Makes FBI's 10 Most Wanted List
LARRY KING LIVE CNN Originally broadcast May 8, 2006
LARRY KING, CNN HOST: Tonight, why has the leader of a polygamist sect made the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List? We'll take you inside the world of Warren Jeffs, wanted by Utah and Arizona authorities accused of arranging marriages between underage girls and older men. With us Warren Jeffs' nephew, who accuses his uncle of sexually abusing him when he was five or six years old; two women who were wives in Warren Jeffs' community until they fled in fear; Utah State Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, and more all next on LARRY KING LIVE. Good evening. Over the weekend Osama bin Laden and eight other men were joined on the FBI's Most Wanted List by Warren Jeffs, the leader and self-proclaimed prophet of a polygamist sect called the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints. This sect separated from the mainstream Mormons in 1890 after Mormonism banned polygamy, the practice of men marrying multiple wives. Warren Jeffs has been charged with rape as an accomplice in Utah and in Arizona with two counts of sexual conduct with a minor and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. We'll begin the evening with Warren Jeffs' nephew, Brent Jeffs. Brent, you filed suit against your uncle two years ago, why? BRENT JEFFS, NEPHEW OF WARREN JEFFS: Because he sexually sodomized me when I was a little boy. Read more


Did FLDS 'cook the books'?
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Tuesday, May 9, 2006
The noose around fugitive polygamist leader Warren Jeffs is tightening. Just days after Jeffs was placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list, Utah's attorney general confirmed to the Deseret Morning News that his office has been quietly conducting an organized crime investigation into Jeffs and the Fundamentalist LDS Church. "I believe Warren Jeffs ran the FLDS Church and the UEP as an organized crime-type setup," Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said Monday. "We just have to get the evidence to prove it." The attorney general said Jeffs and the FLDS Church are being looked at for "double books, cooking books, offshore accounts and fraud." In 2005, the Utah Attorney General's Office petitioned the courts to take control of the United Effort Plan (UEP) Trust, which controls homes, businesses and property in the polygamous border towns of Hildale and Colorado City. A judge appointed a special fiduciary to oversee the $110 million financial arm of the FLDS Church. It is those records that Shurtleff said his office is examining in the organized-crime investigation. "We've been following closely what the special fiduciary is uncovering from records and so forth," he said. "It has been very informative, we'll say." Read more


Preaching Polygamy; The Insider; Jeffs on the Run; Inside Secrets
ANDERSON COOPER 360 DEGREES CNN Originally broadcast May 9, 2006
ANNOUNCER: Across the country and around the world, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360. Live from the CNN broadcast center in New York, here's Anderson Cooper. ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, thanks for joining us in this 11:00 o'clock edition of 360. We're focusing tonight on Warren Jeffs. To the FBI, Warren Jeffs is a criminal, the newest name on its 10 most wanted fugitives list. Among the criminal charges he is facing is engaging in sex with a minor. But to Jeffs' followers -- and there are thousands of them -- and you're seeing pictures of some of them right now -- he's not a criminal, he's a prophet whose word is absolute. You're about to hear something extremely rare, Warren Jeffs, in his own words, caught on tape. Here's CNN's Randi Kaye. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): His followers, an estimated 10,000 people, believe he is their prophet. To the FBI, he's one of their top 10 criminals. The prophet, Warren Jeffs, is considered one of the most sinister polygamists of his time, a coldhearted, abusive leader, the head of a secret society where men have dozens of wives and small armies of children, where women as young as 13 are forced to marry and start families. Listen to how the fugitive prophet speaks to first-time brides. This is a rare audio recording of his teachings recorded by a disgruntled member and obtained by "KSL Radio." Read more


Lots of tips, but no sign of Jeffs
By Patrice St. Germain The Spectrum Originally published May 11, 2006
ST. GEORGE - Since the announcement that Warren Steed Jeffs was placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list as well as being featured on America's Most Wanted, the FBI has been busy following up on tips. Supervisor special agent Pat Kiernan said the FBI has received a substantial number of tips, which have been keeping special agents busy. "Every one (tip) is covered no matter how small or how far flung," Kiernan said. Jeffs, 50, is wanted on charges filed in both Arizona and Utah. Last year, he was charged by a grand jury in Arizona with two counts of sexual conduct with a minor, one count of conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. Jeffs was also charged with rape as an accomplice in Utah in April. After Saturday's announcement by the FBI, the reward for information leading to Jeffs' arrest went up to $100,000. Kiernan said Jeffs, the self-proclaimed prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is wanted on two federal charges for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution out of Utah and Arizona and, since Jeffs is a fugitive, that's why the FBI is involved. Read more


A Sect's Prophet, Teacher, Fugitive
By David Kelly and Gary Cohn The Los Angeles Times Originally published May 13, 2006
COLORADO CITY, Ariz. — There is nothing physically imposing about Warren Jeffs. He's tall and reedy with a quavering voice and, acquaintances say, an especially limp handshake. Family members describe the church leader as secretive, strict and "very militant about his religion." Jeffs, 50, grew up in a Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints compound in Salt Lake City, where he served first as a teacher and then principal of the sect's Alta Academy. "Warren was very reserved, very starchy," said his brother Ward. "He was an intelligent man, and my father always favored him." Warren Jeffs is accused of repeatedly raping his then-5-year-old nephew Brent while Jeffs was at the academy. In a lawsuit filed in 2004 by Brent Jeffs, who is now 23, the church leader is said to have a history of molesting children dating back to when he was 14. The suit said the church had received complaints for years that he was abusing children yet did nothing to stop him and instead made him school principal. Read more


The G-Men Hunt for a Polygamist
Cross Country U.S. News & World Report Originally published May 14, 2006 (May 22, 2006 Issue)
Notorious polygamist and self-proclaimed prophet Warren Steed Jeffs, who faces charges of rape, sexual contact with a minor, and arranging marriages between children and adults, has been on the run for two years. But it's only recently that the big trouble long simmering out west--where Jeffs once led thousands of Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints members--has been showing signs of coming to a boil. The FBI just added Jeffs, 50, a former accountant, to its "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" list and offered a $100,000 reward for information that leads to his arrest. Meanwhile, the secretive polygamist church members, who live inside compounds in the neighboring towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., are entangled in an increasingly bitter standoff with authorities over whether they should pay taxes on property the breakaway members have migrated to since the mainstream Mormon church outlawed polygamy in the late 1800s. Some fear violence. The feds warned that Jeffs should be considered armed and dangerous.


Charismatic leader of polygamist sect sought
The Associated Press KVIA ABC 7 - El Paso, Texas Originally broadcast May 16, 2006
HILDALE, Utah Critics say polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs has extraordinary control over ten-thousand or so followers in Utah and Arizona. Jeffs recently was put on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list alongside such figures as terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. Jeffs is head of a renegade Mormon splinter group called the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He's accused of arranging marriages between underage girls and older men. Jeffs is charged with child sexual abuse in Arizona and being an accomplice to statutory rape in Utah. Carolyn Jessop in 2003 fled an 18-year marriage to a man 32 years older than her. Jessop thinks Jeffs views himself as "untouchable." An interview request faxed by The Associated Press to a church-owned ranch in Eldorado, Texas, where some say Jeffs has moved church headquarters, brought no response. He's known to travel with bodyguards in SUV's with tinted windows, slipping in and out of church-owned properties in Colorado, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas and Utah. The FBI considers Jeffs armed and dangerous.


Religious polygamist flees federal prosecution
Warren Jeffs, leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is on the run
By Steven Skelley Naples Sun Times - Naples Florida Originally published May 17, 2006
The fifty year-old Warren Jeffs is accused of personally arranging marriages between underage girls and older men. Jeffs's religion also allowed him to break up families of men he disagreed with. He would then "give" that man's wife and children to another man, often a complete stranger. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints sect that Jeffs belongs to split from mainstream Mormonism after the Mormon church renounced polygamy in the late 1800's. The non-Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints church excommunicates members found to be still practicing polygamy. Jeffs is wanted in Arizona on criminal charges of sexual conduct with a minor. Utah has charged him as being an accomplice to rape. Jeffs is now on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list. There is a $100,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. As Jeffs continues his misguided religious foolishness and flight from prosecution, people of faith are forced to explain that religious fanatics like Jeffs are not the norm in our churches. Read more


Polygamist leader apologizes to LDS Church
By Brent Hunsaker ABC 4 Originally broadcast May 18, 2006
According to Winston Blackmore, who has a relatively small but growing group of disaffected members of the FLDS Church, Warren Jeffs is a rather un-prophetic prophet. He remembers a string of predictions about the end of the world that did not come true. Blackmore says, "April of '99, the world was going to come to an end again. By mid-99 it was going to come to an end. By the fall of '99 it was going to come to an end. And surely, by the millennial change the world was going to come to an end." Blackmore says Warren Jeffs is controlling. "He was recording people's conversations. He was so interested in their private life and intruding in their private life that he wanted to know every detail." Blackmore says Jeffs tears apart families. "It was so shocking, and so disgusting and so repulsive." With views like that, it's little wonder that as Warren took control of the more than 8,000 FLDS polygamists, Winston was out. Read more


Crematorium oven allegedly ordered for polygamist temple by Warren Jeffs
By Brent Hunsaker ABC 4 News Originally broadcast May 24, 2006
Some former or expelled members of Warren Jeffs' FLDS sect recently told ABC 4 News about some disturbing projects ordered by their former leader. One of those projects called for the acquisition of a thermostat used for controlling a crematorium oven, a device so powerful and hot, it would be capable of destroying human DNA. The knowlege of the crematorium thermostat is raising some concerns in the law enforcement community, especially when one considers a drastic and brutal doctrine within the polygamst sect. It's called blood atonement. Warren Jeffs has been preaching it for years. Now some who have left his FLDS church say he may be ready to put into practice what he has preached. Blood atonement as taught by Jeffs means that the atonement of Jesus Christ does not cover all sins in all circumstances. "He no longer believes in forgiveness and repentance. That's a thing of the past. It's over," said FLDS dissident Ross Chatwin. Carolyn Jessop, another dissident, confirmed that when Warren Jeffs talks about the shedding of blood, he's not just talking about a couple drops. She said, "Your priesthood head or whoever is god to you -- for a woman that would be her husband ... your throat is slit from ear to ear." Chatwin is worried. "There's a lot of people gone. I have no idea where they're at. Warren may be doing these blood atonements now." Read more


What is terrorism?
By Henry Schuster CNN Originally published Thursday, May 25, 2006
Editor's note: Henry Schuster, a senior producer in CNN's Investigative Unit and author of "Hunting Eric Rudolph," has been covering terrorism for more than a decade. Each week in "Tracking Terror," he reports on people and organizations driving international and domestic terrorism, and efforts to combat them. SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (CNN) -- I am out west in Utah, Nevada and Arizona looking for the other fundamentalist polygamist on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list. The one whose name isn't Osama bin Laden. It's Warren Jeffs. When I talk to folks -- be they former members of Jeffs' Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) or investigators -- and tell them my normal beat is terrorism, they invariably reply by saying that what Jeffs is accused of doing is itself terrorism. Sam Brower is a private investigator who has been looking into Jeffs and his organization for the past three years. He has helped plaintiffs in civil suits against Jeffs (at least two civil suits remain unresolved) and has spent time and effort trying to understand the man. Brower compares Jeffs and his church to Afghanistan's former rulers, the Taliban. Read more


Will Web site help reap FLDS taxes?
Fiduciary posts facts online about the church's UEP Trust
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Thursday, June 1, 2006
People within the Fundamentalist LDS Church have long been told to shun newspapers, radio and TV — but what about the Internet? he court-appointed special fiduciary of the FLDS' United Effort Plan (UEP) Trust is hoping people within the polygamous border towns of Hildale and Colorado City, Ariz., are plugged into cyberspace — at least enough to see his Web site and pay their property taxes. Bruce Wisan has launched www.ueptrust.com to "communicate information about UEP land and management issues to the people living on trust land and other interested parties." It includes the latest court rulings, notices and updates on the financial battles surrounding the UEP Trust. "I know there are FLDS people that use the Internet," Wisan said Wednesday. "There's some FLDS that — through business — do have Internet capability." The UEP Trust controls homes, businesses and property within Hildale, Colorado City and a scattering of homes in Bountiful, British Columbia, in Canada. In 2005, the state of Utah took control of the UEP and ousted the board of trustees, including fugitive FLDS leader Warren Jeffs. A judge placed Wisan in charge, assisted by an advisory board. The UEP Trust has assets estimated at more than $110 million. "The long-term goal of the UEP Trust is to administer housing solutions and to spur economic development by way of investment and job creation," the Web site said. Read more


FBI chief speaks about Warren Jeffs, the late Jack Anderson
By Brent Hunsaker and Chris Jones ABC 4 News Originally published June 8, 2006
It is not a question of if, just when. FBI Director Robert Mueller told Salt Lake reporters that fugitive polygamist prophet Warren Jeffs will be arrested. He has statistics on his side. The FBI has a 94% arrest rate for those placed on the "Ten Most Wanted List". "Always in a situation like this it takes time," Director Mueller said. "My expectation is that we will catch him." Mueller brushed aside a challenge that Jeffs should not be on the same list as Osama Bin Laden. "This is a person (Jeffs) who preys on children. I would expect that most of the American public would view such a person as this as a person who belongs behind bars." The placement of Jeffs on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List isn't the only way that law enforcement is ratcheting up the pressure over the last couple months. Washington County, Utah, filed two first degree felony charges against Jeffs. He's charged with being an "accomplice to rape". Read more


Polygamists Pay Back Taxes
The Associated Press KUTV Channel 2 Originally published June 20, 2006
SALT LAKE CITY A past-due tax bill on property and homes in the polygamist community of Hildale was paid off Tuesday – partially ending a monthslong standoff between many residents and the court-appointed accountant who was forced to resort to eviction threats to get some of the taxes paid. A mostly cash payment of more than $10,000 was delivered to the Washington County treasurer’s office about 11:30 a.m., accounting specialist Michelle Jacobson said. That money, coupled with a payment made late Friday, cleared the outstanding balance of $17,950.50. The overall tax bill for 2005 was about $295,000. "They paid every bit of it," she said. "There is even a $301.59 credit on one of the accounts." For months the property taxes in Hildale and its sister community Colorado City, Ariz., had gone unpaid. Home to members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the two communities had reportedly been ordered by exiled church leader Warren Jeffs not to cooperate with government officials or a court-ordered accountant appointed to oversee the church’s United Effort Plan Trust. Read more


SERVICE BY PUBLICATION
The Spectrum - Legal Notices Originally published June 28, 2006
The Fifth District Court to: Drue Cornel Cooke Thomas Arden Holm Brian Richard Jessop Jonathan J. Jessop Wayne Jessop Willie Jessop Lawrence Stubbs Janet White You are hereby ordered to appear at the Fifth District Court, Washington County, State of Utah on Friday, July 7th at 1:30 p.m., so that the Court may determine if you are a material witness in and should be required to travel to Maricopa County, Arizona, to testify in Case No. 58 SGJ 106, on the 12th day of July, 2006. This order is made in accordance with provisions of Section 71-21-1, et. seq., Utah Code Annotated 1953, as amended. Failure to appear in accordance with this order will subject you to sanctions by this Court, which may include a warrant for your arrest. Pub#L8066 published on June 25 & 28, 2006. The Spectrum UPAXLP


FBI Investigating Report Of Warren Jeffs Sighting
The Associated Press KSL-TV Channel 5 Originally published June 30, 2006
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- FBI agents were in a Cedar City subdivision Friday investigating a report that fugitive polygamist church leader Warren Jeffs had entered a residence there. Jeffs, 50, was named to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list in May. He is wanted on felony charges in both Arizona and Utah, accused of arranging marriage between underage girls and older men. "Any time we get any sort of tip like this we're going to take it seriously and respond immediately," said Salt Lake City-based FBI spokesman Patrick Kiernan. "We have agents on the scene and we are investigating." Kiernan said Jeffs was not in the home. Cedar City police received a 1:26 p.m. telephone tip from a neighbor who claimed to have seen Jeffs get out of a car and enter a home in the Black Rock subdivision, said an Iron County public safety dispatcher who had permission to release some information but did not want her name published. Officers from Cedar City contacted the FBI, whose nearest office is 60 miles south of Cedar City, and then went to the residence with officers from the Utah Highway Patrol, Iron County sheriff's office and Enoch, including a SWAT team, Kiernan said. Read more


Arizona forges ahead with FLDS trial
Prosecutors frustrated by towns' lack of cooperation
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Saturday, July 1, 2006
The sexual misconduct trial of polygamist Kelly Fischer will go forward, even without the alleged victim or any witnesses. Police and prosecutors in Mohave County, Ariz., have been unable to find the the victim or witnesses to serve subpoenas to testify in the Colorado City man's July 5 trial in Kingman. "We haven't been able to serve any of them," Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith said Friday. "It's not for lack of effort, either." Fischer, 39, is one of eight Colorado City men facing charges of sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. The men are accused of being in polygamous marriages to underage girls. Without his victim or his witnesses, Smith said he will continue with a criminal trial against Fischer using birth certificates and expert witnesses. He expressed frustration that no one can seem to find anyone in the polygamous border towns of Hildale and Colorado City. "It's hard to believe that in this day and age, that you would be unable to serve subpoenas. That a whole society would be that closed off. You can't talk to anybody or get any cooperation or get any witnesses," Smith said. "It's unbelievable." Read more


Warning Letter Sent To Polygamist-Trust Accountant
By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press KUTV Channel 2 Originally published July 11, 2006
SALT LAKE CITY An attorney for the Hildale City Council is claiming a process server may have violated Utah’s trespassing law when delivering tax demand letters to residents – a move that appears to be a push-back against authorities who have taken control of a trust that owns most of the city’s homes. Beginning in May, residents of Hildale were hand-delivered tax notices by a local man working for Bruce Wisan, a court-appointed accountant in charge of the United Effort Plan Trust. The trust is the charitable arm of the polygamy-practicing Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which dominates the communities of Hildale and Colorado City, Ariz. In a letter sent to Wisan on June 20, Hildale’s contract attorney, Richard Chamberlain of Richfield, said people posting notices have been "a little careless and callous" in their manner. Chamberlain wrote that in some instances he believes servers have violated state trespass laws by "interfering with the occupants’ right to privacy and the safe and secure occupancy of the premises." Wisan disagrees. "I feel comfortable with what we’re doing and how we’ve been doing it," he said Monday, adding that he didn’t think Chamberlain had complete information. Read more


The Man with 80 Wives, Channel 4, 10.50pm
The Herald - Glasgow, Scotland Originally published July 19, 2006
Channel 4's Tainted Love strand begins with the story of Warren Jeffs, leader of a polygamous cult. He's rumoured to have at least 80 wives, more than 200 children – and some 10,000 followers who consider him a prophet. But he's also on the FBI's most-wanted list, with a $100,000 bounty on his head. He's wanted for arranging marriages between under-age girls and older, married men – and his nephew has alleged that Jeffs raped him when he was five. There is even concern that Jeffs might be prepared to sacrifice his followers in a Waco-style suicide pact. Journalist Sanjiv Bhattacharya embarks on a search for Jeffs, who hasn't been seen in public for more than a year. Who is the real Warren Jeffs: a religious delusionist or a psychopathic narcissist? Why do some of the community's women allow themselves to be treated as commodities? Can Sanjiv succeed where the FBI have failed?


America's most wanted: The man with eighty wives
Warren Jeffs is the brutal tyrant behind America's leading Mormon cult - as well as a prolific polygamist with a penchant for child brides. For two years he has been the target of an FBI manhunt. Sanjiv Bhattacharya joined the chase
The Independent - London, England Originally published July 19, 2006
It is astonishing how much a cult leader can get done while he is on the run from the FBI. Witness the case of Warren Jeffs, leader of the largest fundamentalist Mormon cult in the US, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) whose members number in the region of 10,000. In the two years Jeffs has been a fugitive from justice, he has built compounds in Colorado, South Dakota and Texas, the latter including a huge temple. He has rigorously controlled his followers, draining them of $5m (£2.7m) per month by some estimates, and performed scores of marriages in his capacity as "Prophet", no doubt adding to his own tally of 80 or so wives along the way (no one knows the exact figure). It is also possible that he has raped dozens of children. Jeffs is wanted for sex with a minor, conspiracy to have sex with a minor and rape of a minor as an accomplice. If caught and convicted, he could face a lifetime in prison. That he has been able to do all of this while eluding capture - by not only the FBI, but police in six states - might suggest that he is a highly sophisticated fugitive. And perhaps he is. But he cannot take all the credit - for most of his two years in hiding, the law enforcement agencies have been as inactive as he has been busy. I discovered this when I set off to try to track Jeffs down for my programme The Man With 80 Wives. I spent a month criss-crossing the country questioning his followers and former followers, his brother and nephew and, most significantly, some of his most senior henchmen, known as "bishops". Read more


Polygamist Leader's Brother Among Those Imprisoned
By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press KUTV Channel 2 Originally published July 22, 2006
ST. GEORGE - An accountant believed to hold the financial and family secrets of a polygamist church and its fugitive leader – who is his brother – is among five men being held in a federal prison after allegedly refusing to testify before a federal grand jury in Arizona. Leroy Jeffs is the older brother of FLDS leader Warren Jeffs. Once the lead accountant for the FLDS church, Leroy Jeffs was privy to details about the secretive church, including its property holdings, tithing information and detailed records of illegal plural marriages that occurred among the faith's estimated 10,000 members in the border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., a former church member said. "I would say if anybody knew, Leroy knew," said Richard Holm, an excommunicated church member who continues to live in Hildale. "He would also know more about Warren's motives than anybody else." But since April 18, Leroy Jeffs has been sitting in the Central Arizona Detention Facility in Florence, prison officials said Friday. Read more


Rival polygamist leader to re-dedicate controversial monument located near core of Warren Jeffs' followers
By Brent Hunsaker ABC 4 News Originally published July 26, 2006
A historical marker to the Short Creek raid once briefly stood in Colorado City. Warren Jeffs, leader of the largest polygamist group in the United States, ordered it destroyed and the pieces scattered among the red cliffs above the polygamist community on the Utah-Arizona border. Now, a rival to Jeffs wants to replace the marker that was destroyed. He also wants to put a thorn back in Jeffs' side. The rival is Winston Blackmore. Blackmore was once known among the FLDS as "The Bishop of Bountiful". He presided over the 2nd largest FLDS community of Bountiful, British Columbia - just across the Canadian border from Idaho. But he was kicked out of the Church in the late 90's and is now one of Warren's most powerful and vocal opponents. He says the monument he will dedicate in a park in Colorado City is simply to remind the people of the raid conducted by Arizona law enforcement in 1953. But observers see it as an open challenge to Warren's leadership in the heart of what remains the largest single concentration of "Warrenites". Read more


Monument Built For Polygamists Jailed In 1953 Raid
The Associated Press KUTV Channel 2 Originally published July 26, 2006
COLORADO CITY/HILDALE - A marker honoring polygamist families arrested and jailed during a raid on their homes 53 years ago was erected in a Colorado City, Ariz., park Thursday – a gift from leader of a Canadian polygamist sect with ties to the community. The monument is intended both as a symbol of the past and the future, Winston Blackmore said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. Blackmore, who runs an independent polygamist sect in Bountiful, British Columbia, dedicated the monument in a short ceremony in Colorado City's Cottonwood Park while about 100 people looked on. "It's really important that the people in Colorado City remember what we stood for, what our old leaders stood for," Blackmore said. "If they could get that back, then maybe some of these families would take the initiative and gather together to get this community back to what it was." Read more


Polygamists defy Warren Jeffs by re-dedicating controversial monument
By Brent Hunsaker ABC 4 News Originally published July 27, 2006
On a hot Wednesday morning along the Arizona strip, about a hundred people gathered in a park in Colorado City for an act of defiance. They unveiled a stone marker to what is known around town as the Short Creek raid of 1953. The raid was an attempt by Arizona authorities to wipe out polygamy. Law Enforcement officers moved in to arrest the men and send the children off to other communities to be adopted. "My father was 83 years old," said Joe Jessop. Joe had just turned 12 a few days before the raid. "He died (in 1954) just a couple weeks after he got out of jail." Ultimately, the raid failed in its goal. The families were separated, but only temporarily. Eventually they reunited and returned to their community along the Utah-Arizona border to continue practicing "the principle" that they believe is central to their religion. So, was this an act of defiance against the government? The modest memorial certainly recalled an event that is perceived by many as a gross abuse of governmental power. But no, the defiance was not directed as much at the government as the fugitive leader of the FLDS church, Warren Jeffs. Read more


Property taxes are paid for 2 polygamous towns
Money turned over despite Jeffs' orders to his followers
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Friday, August 4, 2006
Despite an edict from fugitive Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs telling his followers not to pay property taxes, all of the property tax bills in the polygamous border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., have now been paid. Approximately $1,117,467 in property taxes were paid on the Arizona side of the border, Mohave County Treasurer Lee Fabrizio said Thursday. More than $250,000 in taxes were paid in June to the Washington County Treasurer's Office in St. George. Staffers in the Mohave County Treasurer's Office told the Deseret Morning News that a lone member of the Colorado City community has been coming in over the past few weeks, bringing in "substantial amounts" of cash and money orders to pay the taxes on behalf of others. It's good news to Bruce Wisan, the court-appointed special fiduciary of the United Effort Plan (UEP) Trust. The UEP is the FLDS Church's financial arm. "Although Warren has said 'Say nothing, do nothing, sign nothing,' we've devised a way for them to pay their taxes without having to be personally involved in the court process," he told the Deseret Morning News on Thursday. Read more


Alternatives Offered In Polygamist Trust Battle
The Associated Press KUTV Channel 2 Originally published August 14, 2006
SALT LAKE CITY More than a year after Utah’s courts seized control of a polygamist church trust, attorneys have proposed reforms that will allow church members – not the trust – to own the homes they’ve built. "To own their homes is something that they’ve never had before and that’s significant," said Greg Hoole, an attorney who represents beneficiaries of the United Effort Plan Trust. The charitable arm of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the $100 million trust holds most of the property and homes in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., where most church’s estimated 10,000 members live. Church leaders have controlled trust assets for decades, using homes and property as punishment or reward for members deemed faithful or fallen. On Monday, 3rd District Judge Denise P. Lindberg gave tentative approval to reforms that will forever strip church leaders of that control, and give both active and former church members a chance to control their own lives. The proposal was drafted by attorneys for Bruce Wisan, the certified public accountant Lindberg put in control of the trust in June 2005, after state attorneys said church leaders were using it for personal benefit, including keeping fugitive church leader Warren Jeffs in hiding. Read more


Warren Jeffs history & background
ABC 4 News Originally published August 29, 2006
BORN: December 3, 1955 in San Francisco, California. Took over as "prophet" in 2002. WIVES: Believed to have over 80 wives. The one he was captured with, Naomi, was born in 1974. NUMBER IN FLDS CHURCH: Current membership is estimated to be 6,000 to 10,000. Also estimated (by the FBI) that there are about 1,200 men who hold the priesthood. RULON T. JEFFS: had "married" 22 women and had more than 60 children, though Jon Krakauer's book, "Under The Banner Of Heaven" attributed 75 wives to him. Due to the secrecy of the FLDS church, exact numbers are unknown. Read more


Leader of polygamist sect charismatic, zealous
By Debbie Hummel The Associated Press Dallas/Ft.Worth Star-Telegram Originally published August 29, 2006
SALT LAKE CITY - He's a tall, lanky, rather bookish-looking man who has cast a broad shadow across the 10,000 or so members of his polygamy-practicing church. In the four years since Warren Steed Jeffs took over leadership of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, he has exercised extraordinary control over its followers with his particular combination of zeal, charisma and intolerance for disloyalty. Jeffs had been on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list since May, with a $100,000 reward offered for information leading to his capture. He is wanted in Utah and Arizona on charges of arranging two marriages between underage girls and older men. The charges include two counts of rape as an accomplice in Utah, with each count punishable by up to life in prison. Despite his soft voice and slight frame, the 6-foot-3 Jeffs is described as an imposing figure on his federal "wanted" poster, regarded as a prophet by some and a dangerous extremist by others. Cold and abrupt is how historian D. Michael Quinn remembers Jeffs after a brief meeting in the 1990s. Quinn had set up an appointment to speak with Jeffs' father, Rulon, who was then president of the FLDS church. Quinn had spoken with Rulon Jeffs himself to confirm the appointment and arrived at the designated compound on time, he said. "Out came the man that I later recognized as Warren Jeffs with two or three other men saying the appointment been canceled," Quinn said. "In this interchange with me, it was very obvious to me that he had canceled his father's plans and he was there to enforce that." Read more


Blackmore possible successor to Jeffs
By 3TV staff TVK Channel 3 - Phoenix Originally published Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Warren Jeffs took control of the polygamist sect from his father after his death. But who's next in line? The heir-apparent is a former follower of Jeffs’ who started a splinter fundamentalist Mormon group after falling out of Jeffs' favor. He reportedly has 80 children from 26 wives, many of them from Colorado City. For two decades Blackmore was the bishop of Bountiful, a secretive and secluded polygamist community in British Columbia, just north of the Idaho border. As the most powerful man in Bountiful, Blackmore decided who should marry whom and who deserved additional wives. But he insists that he discourages the younger girls from marrying too soon which has Blackmore positioning himself as the anti-Warren. Blackmore has accumulated considerable personal wealth. He has business interests in British Columbia, Alberta and Idaho which include grain, cattle farming, forestry and transportation. His estimated worth is more than $15,000,00


Polygamist fugitive Jeffs arrested with cash, cell phones, wigs
By Ken Ritter The Associated Press Las Vegas Sun Originally published August 29, 2006
LAS VEGAS (AP) - A fugitive polygamist leader who was on the FBI's Most Wanted List was found with cell phones, laptop computers, wigs and more than $50,000 in cash when he was arrested in Nevada, authorities said Tuesday. Warren Steed Jeffs, 50, was arrested without incident and no weapons were found when he and two others were pulled over on a routine traffic stop and taken into custody late Monday, said FBI special agent in charge Steven Martinez. Jeffs, who was not driving, was stopped in a 2007 red Cadillac Escalade by a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper on Interstate 15 just north of Las Vegas. He was being held as a fugitive in the Clark County jail. He faces sexual misconduct charges in Utah and Arizona for allegedly arranging marriages between underage girls and older men. It was not immediately clear if Jeffs would face extradition to Arizona or Utah. "The inventory search is not complete. No weapons were found in the car, thus far, or at the scene," Martinez told reporters in Las Vegas. Martinez said Jeffs initially used an alias, but Martinez would not disclose the name. Read more


From school principal to polygamist prophet
By Mark Shaffer Arizona Republic - Flagstaff Bureau Originally published August 29, 2006
Before he became a polygamist prophet, Warren Jeffs spent 22 years as principal of Alta Academy in suburban Salt Lake City, where all the high school students thought so much of him that they pooled their work earnings one year and bought him a $20,000 van. "He was a very strict guy but very nice also," said Brigham Fischer, who attended the school in the early 1990s, while Jeffs was principal. Fischer said he never saw a side of Jeffs that would ultimately lead the future leader of Colorado City's Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints sect to inclusion on the FBI's Top 10 Most Wanted list and a fugitive on the lam for more than a year. Jeffs was captured late Monday during a traffic stop north of Las Vegas. But those were in the days before the bizarre, paranoid Jeffs, who has become the nation's most vilified polygamist since Joseph Smith. And, probably, the most unlikely leader ever of the hard-bitten, frontier-influenced multiple marriage sects scattered throughout the West. Fischer and other students remember Jeffs as being a goofy, lanky string bean of a man with thick glasses who often clowned for the camera during school pictures. The Alta school was abruptly closed in 1998, because Jeffs' father, Rulon Jeffs, then the leader of the FLDS sect, the largest group of polygamist adherents in the country, had apocalyptic visions of the Salt Lake City area being destroyed. Read more


Jeffs' arrest puts his flock in limbo
By Dennis Wagner The Arizona Republic Originally published August 30, 2006
Authorities have dogged Warren Steed Jeffs and the fundamentalist church he controls for several years, targeting polygamy, fraud and corruption in the twin hamlets of Colorado City and Hildale on the Arizona-Utah line. They struggled to obtain convictions against leaders, however, because women and children in the tight-knit group refused to testify. With the arrest of Jeffs, officials are hopeful that victims of sexual abuse may feel safe to step forward. Jeffs, 50, was captured late Monday near Las Vegas. He was wanted in Arizona and Utah on felony charges in connection with arranged marriages involving minor girls. "Until today, Warren Jeffs was able to say, 'I'm above the law,' and his followers were terrorized by that," Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard said. "He had divine intervention that would smite them. . . . His control has got to be weaker than it was yesterday." Goddard said he has no illusions that the church will dissolve with Jeffs behind bars. Jeffs is so-called prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which has polygamous communities in Arizona, Utah, Texas and Canada. The church split away from the mainstream Mormon faith more than a century ago over polygamy, and there is no present-day affiliation. "Warren Jeffs had said he's untouchable and answers only to God and God protects him and keeps him safe," Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said. "This is a crack in that veneer. For those who fear him, they'll see he is behind bars like any other common criminal." Former church members seemed less certain of the impact, suggesting that the spiritual leader may only increase his status while in government custody. Read more


Polygamist leader held grip on followers as fugitive
The Associated Press KGBT 4 TV - Harlingen, Texas Originally broadcast August 30, 2006
DATELINE After the capture of a fugitive polygamist church leader, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard thinks it will be easier now victims to step forward with information. Fifty-year-old Warren Jeffs faces sexual misconduct charges for allegedly arranging marriages between underage girls and older men. He was arrested during a traffic stop this week north of Las Vegas. Former church member Andrew Chatwin says Jeff's arrest might provide a window of opportunity for some who have silently questioned the state of the church. It also might shock fiercely loyal members who consider Jeffs an untouchable prophet of God. Attorney Rod Parker, who has defended the church in the past says the insular communities Jeffs leads are expressing quiet sadness. Jeffs' sect has built a large retreat development in Eldorado, Texas, about 40 miles south of San Angelo.


From 'nerd' to FLDS chief
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Wednesday, August 30, 2006
As the story goes, Warren Jeffs was not supposed to live. On Dec. 3, 1955, he was born premature to Marilyn Steed, the fourth wife of his father, Rulon Jeffs. He is one of dozens of siblings. Jeffs grew up at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon, in a compound of homes that would later become the site of the Alta Academy, a private FLDS-run school. The man who would become the FLDS Church's prophet was a bit of a nerd in high school. His 1972 yearbook at Jordan High School in Sandy shows a young man in a shirt and tie and horn-rimmed glasses. Graduating in 1973, Jeffs was one of the top students in the school academically. The Beetdigger's high school yearbook says Jeffs was in the top 10 percent and the top 3 percent of his class. Alumnus find it more than a little amusing that one of Jordan High's top 10 students is now on the FBI's top 10 list of wanted fugitives Read more


Who Will be the Next Polygamist Prophet?
Fugitive leader Warren Jeffs is arrested, but that doesn't necessarily mean the end of his sect
By Peta Owens-Liston TIME Magazine September 4, 2006 Issue
Posted Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2006 During his 14 months in hiding from the FBI, Warren Jeffs managed to continue controlling and directing his followers — members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, who number an estimated 10,000, most based in the border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. Although wanted for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution charges of forcing underage marriages, he conducted even more underage unions, exiled men from their homes and families who were considered "unworthy," and ordered followers not to pay their taxes. Some fear that his arrest could now create a power vacuum within his sect and attract other Jeffs-minded leaders interested in doing it their own way. There is also the possibility of an exiled member returning to establish new leadership. Carolyn Jessop, a former member of Jeffs' sect, points out that there are two high-powered, charismatic men who could possibly move back to Colorado City and take Jeffs' place: one is her ex-husband, Merrell Jessop, who oversees the sect's compound in Texas; the other is Wendell Neilson, who likely oversees another compound. But she considers this unlikely. "I don't think Warren would give away any of his power — he's too controlling and hungry for it and these men would be threats to his leadership. Plus they would never go against Jeffs' wishes." Jessop predicts that Jeffs will rely on his full brother, Lyle Jeffs, to act as his puppet and carry out his "revelations" from prison. "He has had it too good for too long to let this thing go — he would rather watch the whole church dissipate than let someone else take over power," says Jessop. Read more


Uncertain future for US polygamy sect
The arrest of US religious leader Warren Jeffs over alleged sex offences has brought his reclusive polygamous sect back into the public eye.
BBC News Originally published Wednesday, 30 August 2006
The 50-year-old head of the Fundamentalist Church of the Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), was caught near Las Vegas after spending at least two years on the run. He went into hiding after being charged in Arizona with sexual misconduct for allegedly arranging marriages between minors and older men. He is also wanted in Utah on charges of being an accomplice to rape. Although placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List three months ago, Mr Jeffs was eventually found as the result of a routine check by traffic police in Nevada. His arrest means the breakaway Mormon sect, which has an estimated 10,000 members, must face the prospect of having its way of life examined in court. The FLDS split from the Mormon Church more than a century ago after the latter renounced polygamy. The isolated sect now dominates the towns of Colorado City, in Arizona, and Hildale, in Utah, less than a mile away. A compound in Eldorado, Texas, is also home to a growing community. Members believe a man must marry at least three wives in order to ascend to heaven. Read more


From jail, Jeffs may hold sway
Officials worry control of polygamous enclave will continue
By Mark Shaffer The Arizona Republic Originally published August 31, 2006
COLORADO CITY - The man tasked with dragging a polygamous sect into the 21st century got a taste a few weeks ago of how much control Warren Steed Jeffs had over his flock, even after 14 months on the run. Bruce Wisan, who oversees the trust that controls most of Colorado City, Ariz., and neighboring Hildale, Utah, called a public hearing to explain details of his plan to disperse the trust's housing and land to church members. The holdings were placed in trust last year after they were wrested from Jeffs and high-ranking followers of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Only two people attended the hearing, a father and son, out of the estimated 8,000 people living in the largest multiple-marriage community in the country. "He controlled things while he was on the run, and he'll control things while he is behind bars, just like mob leaders do," Wisan said. Jeffs, who was on the FBI's most-wanted list, was arrested Monday night north of Las Vegas during a traffic stop. Wisan, special fiduciary of the United Effort Plan trust, said that despite Jeffs' legal problems, he never lost control over his disciples while he was evading capture. Read more


PAULA ZAHN NOW
Polygamist Leader Heads to Utah
CNN Originally broadcast August 31, 2006
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And thank you for joining us on a busy news day that has seen major developments in one of this year's most important top stories, the looming showdown over Iran's nuclear ambitions. ROBERTS: Another "Top Story" we're following tonight: the capture of polygamist leader Warren Jeffs. We got our first close look at him today during a quick, but important court appearance -- coming up, where Jeffs goes next and the charges that he will face. Earlier today, we finally got a good look at the man who has been the subject of a nationwide search. Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs' future remains one of the nation's top stories. We will have the very latest for you in just a minute. We're also going to take a closer look at one of the most successful tools for catching fugitives, including Warren Jeffs. Jeffs was caught this week in a routine traffic stop in Nevada. And, today, he appeared in a Las Vegas courtroom. He declined to fight extradition to Utah, where he will face charges of being an accomplice to rape. Jeffs leads a community of 10,000 fundamental Mormon followers, who consider him a prophet. Authorities say he has almost total control over those followers. Ted Rowlands joins me now with the latest developments in Las Vegas from Las Vegas. And, Ted, Jeffs didn't look much like a prophet in the courtroom today. TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, John. Read more


Polygamist leader held grip on followers as fugitive
The Associated Press KTEN Channel 10 - Denison, Texas Originally broadcast August 31, 2006
DATELINE After the capture of a fugitive polygamist church leader, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard thinks it will be easier now victims to step forward with information. Fifty-year-old Warren Jeffs faces sexual misconduct charges for allegedly arranging marriages between underage girls and older men. He was arrested during a traffic stop this week north of Las Vegas. Former church member Andrew Chatwin says Jeff's arrest might provide a window of opportunity for some who have silently questioned the state of the church. It also might shock fiercely loyal members who consider Jeffs an untouchable prophet of God. Attorney Rod Parker, who has defended the church in the past says the insular communities Jeffs leads are expressing quiet sadness. Jeffs' sect has built a large retreat development in Eldorado, Texas, about 40 miles south of San Angelo.


Power and polygamy
By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press Star-Tribune - Jackson Hole, Wyoming Originally published Thursday, August 31, 2006
HILDALE, Utah -- While polygamist church leader Warren Jeffs has been a fugitive from the law for the past two years, he's never loosened his powerful grip on the 10,000 members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who live in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. People with a working knowledge of the insular communities suggest that Jeffs is likely to continue his hold on the faithful -- even from behind bars. Jeffs was arrested in a traffic stop Monday night in Las Vegas. "I think there's a structure in place that if Warren got caught they'll still carry out his word, and they'll figure out how to keep communicating with him," said Andrew Chatwin, a former church members who moved back to Hildale last year. On Tuesday, women with plaited hair and long dresses hoed their gardens under the late summer sun, a few kids rode bikes or played basketball at the local school and men in pickup trucks drove through town casting wary looks to outsiders. "They'll stay loyal," Chatwin said. "Warren's not dead yet." At the Food Town grocery store, a manager was calling police to have media shooed from the parking lot. "Can't you see you're bad for business?" he asked an AP reporter. "When you're here, I can't sell groceries." Read more


Battle for sect
'Blood is just boiling' in B.C. commune after leader's arrest
The Canadian Press Toronto Sun Originally published Thursday, August 31, 2006
VANCOUVER -- A woman who escaped from a breakaway fundamentalist Mormon commune says the group's leaders will be battling for control of the B.C. sect after the arrest Monday of so-called prophet Warren Jeffs in Las Vegas. Jeffs will be prosecuted first in Utah, then in Arizona, on charges that he arranged marriages of underage girls to older men, authorities said yesterday. Arizona officials filed charges first, but Utah prosecutors agreed to try Jeffs first because they believe they have a stronger case and more serious charges, including two counts of rape by accomplice, which accuse Jeffs of forcing a girl to marry an older man and submit to him sexually. Debbie Palmer, who escaped from the commune, said in an interview that Winston Blackmore of Bountiful, B.C., will be assessing his options for taking power over the dissident Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Blackmore was removed as bishop of Bountiful by Jeffs and replaced with her brother, Jim Oler. "I know that Winston has been positioning himself to be available as a leader for any of the ones who have become disillusioned," she said yesterday. But that could be difficult. While Oler is Jeffs' point man and "enforcer" in Bountiful, he is also Blackmore's nephew. "The fact that Jim accepted the position under Warren to be a bishop was quite a shock to all of us because Jim and Winston had been quite close. Read more


'It's part of our life': Polygamy persists despite society's rejection in southwestern US
The Associated Press International Herald Tribune Originally published September 1, 2006
CANE BEDS, Arizona Ben Bistline chuckles when asked to explain why the practice of polygamy persists. The outside world, he says, just doesn't get it. "We just grew up in polygamy," said Bistline, a 70-something former polygamist and local historian. "It's part of our life. I don't know how else to say it." Bistline has lived most his life along the Utah-Arizona border in a community once known as Short Creek — home of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He was here when Arizona authorities raided the community in 1953 in an attempt to stop plural marriages and has seen dozens of men and women jailed for their beliefs. "They believe that it's necessary to gain their exaltation to the highest level of heaven," he said. "They've been taught that since the day they were born. It won't change." Not even with the prosecution of FLDS leader Warren Jeffs. "He's not the sole supporter of polygamy," said Lori Chatwin, a Colorado City woman who grew up there and married at 17. "It's a religious belief." Read more


Investigators say Jeffs had everything he needed to elude authorities
By Patrice St. Germain The Spectrum Originally published September 1, 2006
HURRICANE - Unlike some criminal suspects on the lam, Warren Steed Jeffs, 50, had something most who are fleeing felonies do not - an unlimited supply of money and scores of faithful followers willing to protect and hide him, according to investigators. Private investigator Sam Brower, who has worked on the Warren Jeffs case for several attorneys for the last two years, said since 2002 Jeffs has asked followers for money. Jeffs took over the leadership of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, whose followers predominately live in the twin cites of Hildale and Colorado City, Ariz., and required his followers to pay a 10 percent tithing to the church along with $1,000 a month. Brower said in 2002, there was a sermon where Jeffs talked about people stopping work on their own properties and putting the money they would put into their own homes into the bishops storehouse, which is him. "As far as how much he brought in, we can only speculate, but let's take a conservative estimate and say that there are just 1,000 people there that were donating the required $1,000 a month, that's a million dollars a month," Brower said. "That's not counting the 10 percent extra money from people's work and business." Brower said Jeffs micromanaged people's businesses the same way he does their lives and their families and everything else. Read more


Imprisoned men from polygamist sect released from prison
The Associated Press AZFamily Daily News Originally published September 1, 2006
HURRICANE, Utah -- Six men incarcerated for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury in Phoenix have been released from prison. The men had been found in contempt of court by a federal judge, and some had been locked up since April. All are believed to be members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a polygamy-practicing sect based in neighboring cities of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah. The U.S. Attorney's office in Phoenix has never confirmed the existence of a grand jury investigation and its secret proceedings. But it's been widely reported that authorities began serving subpoenas on members of the FLDS church beginning last January. The office declined comment today on the release of the six men from prison. It's unknown what questions were put to the six men or what kind of case federal prosecutors were trying to build. FLDS leader Warren Jeffs was arrested on federal warrants Monday near Las Vegas. He waived extradition to Utah yesterday. One of Jeffs' brothers and another relative were among the six men who were released Tuesday.


Jeffs transport still pending
The Associated Press KVOA News 4 - Tucson Originally published September 1, 2006
HILDALE, Utah -- While authorities continue to work out extradition logistics that will bring polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs to Utah to stand trial on charges of rape by accomplice, a former Jeffs follower says there's a possibility the key witness could fold on the stand. Former member Ross Chatwin said he expects Jeffs to play the role of a "sympathetic Jesus" or spiritual martyr in court. That pressure might be too great for a young woman once part of the insular and obedient sect, Chatwin said. "He'll say things like "I'll forgive you," and make her see that she's going to be the Judas here if she does this," said Chatwin. "I don't think that she's going to make it." Chatwin successfully fought Jeffs' Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for the right to stay in his home in 2004. Almost all property in the twin towns of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale are held by a church trust. Jeffs, 50, is charged with two first-degree felony counts of rape by accomplice, accused of arranging a "spiritual marriage" between a girl, then between the ages of 14 and 18, and an older man sometime in the last four years. Details of the case remain secret. The name of the alleged victim, who is a longtime resident of Hildale, has not been released, nor is the name of her husband public. Washington County Attorney Brock Belnap said Thursday the alleged victim is steadfast about testifying. Read more


Jeffs wrote decree telling followers to keep mouths shut
By Harriet Ryan Court TV Originally published September 2, 2006
LAS VEGAS, Nevada (Court TV) -- When he was captured, fugitive polygamist leader Warren Jeffs was carrying a list of safe houses and a written decree banning members of his flock from disclosing his whereabouts, according to a Utah prosecutor. "So I have to be hiding in my travels, not let anyone know. And when I come to a land of refuge, you must not reveal where I am in your phone calls and your letters," Jeffs wrote in the document, according to court papers filed this week in St. George. A prosecutor in Washington County listed the statement as one of several reasons Jeffs, 50, should be held without bail when he is transported from Las Vegas, where he was apprehended, to Utah to face rape charges connected with allegedly arranging underage marriages. Authorities in Utah and Arizona, where Jeffs faces statutory rape and conspiracy charges, are convinced Jeffs will go on the lam if released. Read more


Jeffs' leadership may be precarious, scholar says
Heavy-handed style deepened divisions, onetime friend says
By Linda Thomson Deseret Morning News Originally published Saturday, September 2, 2006
When the leader of a fundamentalist polygamist group goes on trial, what traditionally happens is instant martyrdom — fervent supporters are horrified their leader is being persecuted and they circle the wagons. That may happen with some people in the case of Warren Jeffs. But there may be others who will likely breathe a sigh of relief and quietly wait it out while the criminal justice system deals with Jeffs' criminal charges in Utah and Arizona. "This situation is a little bit different," said Ken Driggs, an Atlanta defense attorney who has done scholarly research for years on the Fundamentalist LDS Church and knows Jeffs. Driggs is writing two books on the group and has been called as an expert witness in litigation involving the church. Beyond that, he has long-standing personal friendships with many people in the polygamous communities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. Jeffs' heavy-handed leadership has deepened divisions within the church that were quietly and smoothly dealt with by Jeffs' late father, Rulon Jeffs. There now are deep-seated personal, philosophical and economic differences that may have rendered Warren Jeffs' leadership "a little precarious," Driggs said. Read more


Polygamist’s arrest opens window into sect
Former members tell of Jeffs' stranglehold, 'army'-like atmosphere in group
By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press MSNBC Originally published September 3, 2006
HILDALE, Utah - Driving toward this tiny town feels like nearing the edge of the earth, a place of jagged red-rock peaks surrounding dry valleys covered in pinyon trees. It seems like the perfect place to hide. For about a century, that’s what members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have done here and in adjoining Colorado City, Ariz. — living in isolation to practice their religion without interference. However, the arrest of the sect’s self-proclaimed prophet, Warren Jeffs, has increased outside attention on the group and its practice of polygamy, which sometimes includes marrying teenage girls to men 20 years or more their senior. Jeffs, 50, a fugitive wanted on criminal charges in both Utah and Arizona for more than a year, was arrested outside Las Vegas late Monday during a traffic stop. He waived extradition to Utah to face two counts of first-degree felony rape as an accomplice, accused of arranging a marriage that led to the rape of an underage girl. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison. Polygamy was a tenet of the early Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — the Mormons — but the practice was abandoned in 1890 when Utah became a state. The church now excommunicates members found practicing polygamy, and the practice is banned in both the Arizona and Utah constitutions. However, strident believers in "the principle," as it is known, have remained steadfast. Members of the FLDS practice polygamy because they believe that plural marriage secures their exaltation in heaven and that the number of wives a man marries corresponds to the level of glory he’ll achieve. Read more


KEY PLAYERS IN A POLYGAMOUS DRAMA
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Sunday, September 3, 2006
In B.C. and the U.S., the legal net is closing on the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. ATTORNEYS-GENERAL WALLY OPPAL, B.C. Since his appointment more than a year ago, Oppal has repeatedly expressed his concern about sexual and physical abuse of women and children in Bountiful. Unlike his predecessors, he has indicated he would not shy away from a case that would test Canada's 115-year-old polygamy law. Encouraged by Jeffs's arrest, Oppal hopes witnesses will step forward from Bountiful. TERRY GODDARD, ARIZ. Under him, Arizona has investigated and reorganized the school district, worked with Utah to reform the FLDS's trust, thrown out FLDS police officers who did not enforce the law, and established helplines and shelters for victims. In addition to Jeffs, Arizona has charged eight other FLDS men with sexual offences and has five others in jail for contempt after they refused to testify before a grand jury. Read more


Polygamist Sect's Future In Doubt
With Warren Jeffs In Jail, What Happens To America's Largest Polygamous Group
By Kris Axtman Christian Science Monitor Originally published September 3, 2006
This week's arrest of Warren Jeffs, head of America's largest polygamous group, is a law-enforcement coup. But it leaves wide-open the question of whether his followers will persist in their illegal practices or rejoin mainstream society. Federal and state authorities, elated by Mr. Jeffs' capture Monday during a traffic stop north of Las Vegas, expect the latter. The fugitive's arrest is "the beginning of the end of ... the tyrannical rule of a small group of people over the practically 10,000 followers" of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or FLDS, said Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard in a radio interview. Extremist-group experts, though, caution that it's too early to predict the sect's demise. "Yes, you have an infrastructure that has been decapitated. But you also have thousands of really sincere believers, and they are not going to just disappear," says Brian Levin of the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism and a criminal-justice professor at California State University, San Bernardino. Read more


Jeffs shaped FLDS church
By Patrice St. Germain The Spectrum Originally published September 3, 2006
CANE BEDS, Ariz. - Throughout the years, the area once known as Short Creek - now Hildale and Colorado City, Ariz. - has had its share of problems, but longtime resident Benjamin Bistline said the trouble really didn't start until the Jeffs, specifically Warren Jeffs, came into power. Bistline grew up in the area but left the beliefs of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and allegiance to the leadership in the early 1980s and moved down the road to Cane Beds in 2003. During the years, Bistline said he saw numerous changes in the church, the community and the people. He then documented the information and wrote a book "The Polygamists: A History of Colorado City, Arizona." Unlike today, when FLDS followers give money to self-proclaimed prophet Warren Steed Jeffs and little is celebrated, Bistline said growing up, there were celebrations and dances in the community. "We celebrated the 24th (July 24 - Pioneer Day). That was the big one. There was a fall festival and a fair and dances and that started clear back in the '40s and '50s," Bistline said. Church services were held and money was collected for projects for the good of the community. Read more


Arrest exposes sect's slave-like polygamy trade
By Chuck Green The Pueblo Chiefton Originally published September 5, 2006
Normally a person’s religious beliefs are no one else’s business. Unless, of course, it leads to the terrorist act that kills thousands of people in the collapse of two skyscrapers, or in the killing of dozens of others in subway bombings, hotel bombings, railroad bombings and international wars. Or it involves organized child abuse and welfare fraud. Then it’s everybody else’s business - or should be. The religious beliefs of Warren Jeffs became big news last week when he was arrested on charges of rape and interstate flight, following a long nationwide search for the man whose mug was on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted List. His followers "pretty much have to renounce their entire heritage to go against the prophet," the Arizona attorney general said last week. "That has got to be hard to do." It might be easier now that their prophet - who teaches his clan that he is above the law of man and is, in effect, a god - has been exposed. Now that he is escorted in handcuffs and wears a jailer’s blue jump suit, he even looks less like a prophet than when he wore his traditional dark suit and tie. He also might have some explaining to do, if he ever has the chance, about his traveling attire. He was wearing a pair of shorts and a T-shirt when he was arrested on a highway outside Las Vegas - a violation of the dress code he imposes on his flock. And what about all those women’s wigs in his luggage? Read more


Jeffs to appear before a judge in Utah today
Polygamist being held without bail; hearing could change that
By Ben Winslow and Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Wednesday, September 6, 2006
HURRICANE — Captured polygamist leader Warren Jeffs will make his first appearance before a Utah judge today. The Fundamentalist LDS Church leader is scheduled to appear in court this afternoon via video hookup from the Purgatory Correctional Facility. Jeffs is being held without bail, although it is possible that could change at today's court hearing. "He seems to be a very meek, passive person," Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith said outside the jail Tuesday afternoon. "We will give him every benefit of the doubt until he proves otherwise." Formal notice has not been filed in St. George's 5th District Court, but the office of Las Vegas lawyer Richard Wright confirmed to the Deseret Morning News he is representing Jeffs. Wright has represented several high-profile clients in Las Vegas, including a county commissioner charged with political corruption and a boxer accused of assaulting his girlfriend. "He's not making any comment," a woman who answered the phone at Wright's law firm said Tuesday. Wright called the Purgatory Jail on Tuesday and requested Jeffs be segregated from other inmates "for his own protection," Smith said. Read more


Jeffs, Cheney: Submit or Be Destroyed
Commentary by Gary Horton The Signal - Santa Clarita Valley, California Originally published Wednesday September 6, 2006
Last week, Warren Jeffs, self-proclaimed prophet and mouthpiece of God, was arrested north of Las Vegas while eating a salad in the back seat of his red bling-bling Cadillac Escalade. Initially stopped only for missing vehicle plates, Jeffs' carotid artery was pumping so vigorously that the highway patrolman figured something grander was askew. So, along with his 15 cell phones, walkie-talkies, police scanner, laptop computers, wigs, sunglasses, credit cards and $55,000 in cash, the long-on-the-lamb Grand Poobah of Polygamy and FBI's 10 Most Wanted poster boy was apprehended to face a little justice for his dark and nasty deeds. "Religious persecution!" some might squawk. Poppycock. Jeffs' case isn't about faith. It's about manipulating minors into kiddy sex. He and his "priesthood" buddies use perverted religion and contrived fear of heavenly wrath to twist young girls into otherwise unwilling sex. In one count against Jeffs, an underage girl was assigned a husband after her church leader "had a revelation." She first complained to Jeffs that she was too young to marry, and later, that she "hated having husband-wife relations." God's prophet's response? "Your husband is your priesthood head and leader. ... Go back and repent. You go give yourself mind, body and soul to your husband like you're supposed to. He will take you into the heavenly kingdom. Go back and do what he tells you to do." This was followed by the trademark spiritual blackmail present in abusive churches: "No matter what happens, you cannot fight with the priesthood because if you do, you'll lose your salvation." Nice words to soothe the soul of a teenage girl under your spiritual guidance. Read more


Text of Warren Jeffs song for students
Text of a song taught to first- and second-grade students in FLDS schools:
Deseret Morning News Originally published Thursday, September 7, 2006
WE LOVE YOU, UNCLE WARREN Uncle Warren is a tall man; he is nearly six-feet-four, He sometimes has to duck a bit when coming through a door; But never is he known to flee or duck responsibility. Uncle Warren is a slender man; but he's so kind to all, It's a wonder such a great big heart could fit a frame that small. And every time I shake his hand, I feel my own little heart expand. (Chorus) Uncle Warren is a perfect Priesthood man; To the Prophet he is loyal through and through. And he's so full of love for our Father above, You just can't help but love him, too. Read more


Jeffs' arrest may lead to an exodus of FLDS
Groups prepare to help those leaving abusive situations
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Thursday, September 7, 2006
Now that Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs is in custody, people trapped in abusive situations within the isolated polygamous sect may have a chance to break free. "We are aware of some people in the community who have remained in the community who do want to leave," Mary Batchelor of the pro-polygamy group Principle Voices told the Deseret Morning News. "This may be an opportunity to leave." Representatives from social-service groups, government agencies, advocacy organizations and other polygamous groups met Wednesday in Salt Lake City. They comprise the Safety Net Committee, a group coordinated by the Utah Attorney General's Office to provide resources about abuse and domestic violence to people in closed polygamous societies. "The one thing that I did hear from some of the other polygamous groups is reaching out and trying to help people within that community," said Paul Murphy, the attorney general's Safety Net Committee coordinator. Murphy said the Safety Net Committee wants to make sure the FLDS communities are aware that help is available for those who want out, and even those who want to stay. However, FLDS faithful continue to remain silent. "They are as isolated — or more isolated — than ever before," he said Wednesday. Read more


Enclave sits silent, but FLDS in eye of the storm
By Lee Benson Deseret Morning News Originally published Friday, September 8, 2006
SANDY — The gates are rusting, the grass is yellow and dead, the trout pond is stagnant, weeds are everywhere and the apple trees are loaded down with wormy apples. What a difference six years makes. You only have to go back as early as 2000 to a time when the five mostly abandoned acres here on Little Cottonwood Road housed the bustling polygamous compound lorded over by Rulon Jeffs, the man proclaimed prophet by members of the Fundamentalist LDS Church. Jeffs and several of his followers, including anywhere from 20 to 75 wives (estimates vary), first settled into the mouth of what is arguably Utah's most picturesque canyon in the 1950s, gradually increasing in size and number until 7-foot-high concrete walls enclosed three large homes, two other buildings, the trout pond, the fruit orchard and a large garden. The compound had its own school, storehouse and a midwives' house for delivering babies. Theoretically, a person could live there until the end of the world. Which is what Rulon Jeffs foretold, more or less, in 1998 when he prophesied that Salt Lake City and vicinity would be destroyed sometime after the commencement of the new millennium and sometime before the Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games of 2002. By the end of January 2000, the enclave was a ghost compound, evacuated like the Kansas prairie with a tornado on the way. The Jeffs and everyone connected to them relocated 300 miles south to the polygamous border towns of Hildale and Colorado City on the Utah-Arizona border, joining some 10,000 FLDS faithful located there who rejoiced because they finally got their prophet full time. Read more


Jeffs back in court
Jailed FLDS leader makes appearance via closed-circuit television
By Patrice St. Germain The Spectrum Originally published September 12, 2006
ST. GEORGE - A brief status conference was held Monday morning in 5th District Court for Warren Steed Jeffs, 50, with Jeffs again appearing via closed-circuit television. The jailed leader of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, charged with allegedly arranging a marriage between an underage girl and older man, will be defended in Utah by Salt Lake City attorneys Tara L. Isaacson and Walter F. Bugden Jr. Now that Jeffs has legal counsel, Judge James L. Shumate set another status conference set for Sept. 27. Shumate said he spoke with Jeffs' attorneys 15 minutes before Monday's hearing. The attorneys, with the Salt Lake City law firm of Bugden & Isaacson, were not in court on Monday. However, the two met with Jeffs and Las Vegas attorney Richard A. Wright Friday afternoon. Jeffs, appearing drawn, tired and sporting a light beard and mustache, acknowledged Monday that he was waiving his preliminary hearing, which by law is to be held within 10 days of his arrest. Shumate said Jeffs' next appearance will be in the courtroom and not by video. Read more


Like cults, our ideologies may oppress
By Tom Kerr / Guest writer The Ithacan - Ithaca College - Ithaca, NY Originally published September 14, 2006
Media coverage of the Aug. 30 arrest of polygamist Warren Jeffs took us into a contemporary American dystopia: the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In Jeffs’ tightly organized cult, girls and women are treated like chattel by men. Cult members believe Jeffs is the prophetic mouthpiece of God, who tells the flock that for men to achieve glory in heaven they should have at least three wives. Jeffs says that women’s only way to heaven is by invitation from satisfied husbands and that wives, including his 50 or so, belong to their husbands for eternity. He also says that he is the prophet and can punish male followers by reassigning their wives, children and homes to other men, and, incidentally, that black people are the devil’s representatives on earth. CNN reporter Ted Rowlands spent a few days in Colorado City, Utah, interviewing current and former cult members. As he explained on Larry King Live, "They know nothing different and that is why their allegiance is so pure and no matter what you think from the outside, to them the prophet is the prophet and they’ll do anything that he says." The sympathetic Rowlands took pains to explain how children and adults living in such an insular but sprawling community might well embrace the perverted beliefs and oppressive "lifestyle" of a cult like the FLDS. He emphasized that FLDS members were never presented with choices, never allowed the freedom to choose between world views. Read more


Jeffs will stay in jail; hearing set for Nov. 21
The Associated Press KVOA News 4 - Tucson Originally published September 28, 2006
ST. GEORGE, Utah -- Curiosity drew Ezra Draper to the courtroom. It had been four years since he last saw polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs. "The guy's married to my little sister and it's like, yep, that's him," Draper said Wednesday after Jeffs made his first appearance in 5th District Court on charges related to arranging an underage marriage. The hearing lasted less than 10 minutes for the self-proclaimed prophet who heads the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Jeffs is charged with two counts of rape as an accomplice, a first-degree felony that carries life in prison. Both sides will return Nov. 21 to determine if there is probable cause to send Jeffs, still in jail, to trial in Washington County. His bond status will also be reviewed. Draper's 24-year-old sister is one of Jeffs' estimated 40-plus wives. The two were married on her 18th birthday, said the brother, who left the FLDS church about three years ago. He doesn't know where she is living. In court, Jeffs looked "older and grayed up," said Draper, who had last seen him in 2002. Read more


Arizona Slaps New Charges Against Polygamist Leader
By Edward Lawrence, Reporter KLAS-TV Channel 8 - Las Vegas Originally broadcast September 28, 2006
There were new developments on Thursday in the case against polygamist leader Warren Jeffs. Jeffs appeared via video in a Utah court -- where officials from the state of Arizona served two felony warrants charging the leader of the fundamentalist L.D.S. church with five counts of sexual conduct with a minor and one count of conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. What this does is start the extradition process to Arizona. Utah, Arizona, and Nevada are all connected to Warren Jeffs. In Utah, he has been held without bail for two counts of rape as an accomplice. In Arizona his bail would be set at $600,000. An amount his followers could post. Timing is going to be key. Arizona could extradite Jeffs before Utah gets the chance to put him on trial. Both charges, in Utah and Arizona, stem from Jeffs' role as the leader of the fundamentalist L.D.S. church. Prosecutors in both states say he forced underage girls to marry older men. Then he coerced those girls to have sex with the men. A number of the marriages actually happened in Nevada. The polygamist community is so close knit that it's been difficult for prosecutors to get victims to come forward. Now both states have victims and both want him to serve time in their prisons. There will be an extradition hearing scheduled in Utah to see who tries him first.


A mistrial is declared in polygamist kidnapping case
Ex-FLDS man says he was rescuing his family
By Ben Winslow and Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Saturday, September 30, 2006
ST. GEORGE — A judge has declared a mistrial in the case of a man who claims he was "rescuing" his family from the clutches of polygamist leader Warren Jeffs. After Thomas Vaughn Barlow was kicked out of the Fundamentalist LDS Church in 2003, his lawyer said Barlow's wives were reassigned — to his brother. "Warren went to Mr. Barlow's two wives and said, 'He's unworthy. He can't save you. You need to leave him or you'll go to hell,"' Travis Christiansen said Friday. "Mr. Barlow felt he had an obligation to try and protect his family." Barlow, 47, went on trial Friday in St. George's 5th District Court on charges of attempted kidnapping, a third-degree felony; assault, a class A misdemeanor; and commission of domestic violence in the presence of a child, a class B misdemeanor. But Judge James L. Shumate was forced to declare a mistrial after a town marshal in the polygamous border town of Hildale failed to hand over a medical report to prosecutors and the defense until a jury had been impaneled Friday. A pair of witnesses, including Barlow's ex-wife and the alleged kidnap victim, Terri Shapley, had already testified. During the lunch break, deputy Washington County Attorney Ryan Shaum said he learned of the document from the Hildale officer. Read more


Polygamy and Warren Jeffs
By Ahmet Kurucan Commentary Zeman Daily Newspaper - Istanbul, Turkey Originally published October 20, 2006
Warren Jeffs, who was on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted List, was arrested in Nevada in late August and charged with violating traffic regulations. The reason he was wanted was because of homosexuality charges that had been filed against him. However, there was a new twist in this case: Polygamy. That is the reason why after Jeffs was arrested, he was the hottest topic in America for weeks. A top-level representative of a major religious group in the United States pulled me aside and said: "If you invite us to your gatherings again, please don’t invite that particular group. If you prefer to invite them, then don’t invite us. We do not want to share the same space with them because they are not real Christians; they are a group of people who call their leaders ‘prophets.’" This is not the only group which refers to its leaders as prophets; there are so many leaders and prophets! One of them is Warren Jeffs, the leader and "prophet" of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). Jeffs, who was born in San Francisco in 1955, became the leader of FLDS in 2002 after his father, Rulon, died. Before his death, Rulon Jeffs was considered the prophet of the FLDS, which embraced polygamy even though it had been denounced by the Mormons in 1890. At the time of his death, the 92-year-old elder Jeffs had 75 wives. A very short speech Warren Jeffs made right after his father’s funeral ceremony will allow you to understand this group better: "I am not going to make a very long speech. Hands off my father’s widowed wives. You, widowed women; you will stay in your rooms next to mine as you did when my father was alive." That was all Jeffs said. He did not encounter any objections, except from two of the women, and got married with all of them within one week. If you ask me why they did not object, I would say that the FLDS believes a prophet does not speak wrongly or commit sin because they are sent by God. Read more


Warren Jeffs Extradition Hearing
KLAS TV Eyewitness News Channel 8 - Las Vegas Originally broadcast October 25, 2006
A fight over who will try Warren Jeffs is brewing. The polygamist is facing charges in two states for sexual misconduct with minors. Utah's charges carry a more severe punishment of five years to life. Still, Arizona prosecutors filed for an extradition hearing to get Jeffs to face charges there. A Utah judge told Arizona they will have to wait. The judge's order forces Arizona prosecutors to take extra legal steps to get the leader of the fundamentalist LDS church on trial in their state. Warren Jeffs is currently in custody in Utah and will not let him go until he faces rape as accomplice charges. Jeffs was arrested just outside Las Vegas in August. Utah authorities quickly extradited him to Washington County to stand trial in St. George, Utah. Washington County Deputy District Attorney Jerry Jaeger gave the civil answer to the legal tug of war started by Arizona. "It was to work out details with extraditing Warren Jeffs at some point from Utah to Arizona," said Jaeger. "Arizona will have to wait," said Judge James Shumate, Washington County District Court. The judge explained to Jeffs that he wouldn't release him without a governor's warrant. That means local Arizona prosecutors will have to ask their governor to ask Utah's governor to let Jeffs go. Read more


Judge signs FLDS trust reform
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Friday, October 27, 2006
The signs placed in front of some of the homes in the polygamous border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., say it all: "UEP Property." The Fundamentalist LDS Church's United Effort Plan Trust controls homes, businesses and land in these towns and other FLDS enclaves. Based on the early-Mormon concept of a "united order," people put everything into a common pot and get things back according to wants and needs. Now, the foundations of the UEP Trust are shifting. A judge in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court signed an order late Wednesday reforming the $110 million dollar trust. "That's wonderful," ex-FLDS member Richard Holm said when told of the reformation by the Deseret Morning News. His home is on UEP land in Colorado City. "It's a total change," he said Thursday. "When it was created, the intent of the settlers was people were secure in their homes and not subject to the edicts of a madman." In 2005, Judge Denise Lindberg took control of the UEP Trust amid allegations that FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs and other top FLDS Church leaders were fleecing it. She appointed certified public accountant Bruce Wisan to act as the court-appointed special fiduciary, managing the trust. Read more


FBI is asked to hand over Jeffs' papers
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Friday, October 27, 2006
Lawyers for the court-appointed special fiduciary of the United Effort Plan want a judge to force the FBI to hand over papers it seized when Warren Jeffs was arrested. In a motion filed Wednesday in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court, the fiduciary's attorneys say items found with Jeffs could contain valuable information about property that belongs to the UEP Trust. Jeffs is in the Purgatory Jail awaiting trial on polygamy-related issues. "The documents, records, correspondence and computer seized by the FBI are likely to contain relevant information on several issues in this case," lawyer Jeffrey L. Shields wrote in papers obtained by the Deseret Morning News. "The FLDS members in Colorado City and Hildale who were communicating with Warren Jeffs live on UEP land and may also work for businesses on Trust property. Such communications may reveal important information about the identity, use, preservation, transfer or diversion of Trust assets." The U.S. Attorney's Office in Nevada said the FBI is not required to let anyone see the seized documents. Lawyers for Jeffs also want them, saying the papers are privileged communications between the man claimed by his followers to be a prophet and members of his church. Read more


Monument Jeffs scorns is attacked
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Saturday, October 28, 2006
A monument that has been the scorn of Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs has been vandalized — again. People who live in the polygamous border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., said tar was recently poured over a redrock monument to a 1953 raid on Short Creek. The monument this summer had also been paintballed and buried. The monument and a children's train running through Hildale's Cottonwood Park were vandalized recently after a harvest festival that drew more than 500 people. Some FLDS members "were unhappy that the apostates were having a good time over at the park," said Bruce Wisan, the court-appointed special fiduciary of the United Effort Plan (UEP) Trust. The UEP controls homes, businesses and property in the FLDS enclaves. It was recently reformed by a judge in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court. In an interview Thursday, Wisan said he has asked the Hildale Police Department to investigate the vandalism. "We've got the police going over there," he said. "I'm not very confident that the police will do much." Read more


Warren Jeffs gets another letter in jail
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Monday, October 30, 2006
The man in charge of the Fundamentalist LDS Church's financial arm is asking jailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs for help. Bruce Wisan, the court-appointed special fiduciary of the United Effort Plan Trust, sent another letter to Jeffs at the Purgatory Jail in Hurricane. He sent a copy of it to the Deseret Morning News on Monday. In the one page letter, he asks for Jeffs to use his influence as the FLDS Church's leader to get his followers to pay their property taxes. "I know that if you asked the FLDS people to properly and expeditiously pay their property taxes to their respective counties, it would happen," Wisan wrote. "It appears to me that the FLDS people listen to your instructions in all things." Wisan fought with FLDS faithful for months to get them to pay their property taxes in the polygamous border towns of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Ariz. After going house-to-house, knocking on every door and taping up tax notices, the property taxes were paid. With taxes coming due for another year, Wisan threatened to pass the extra costs of posting the tax notices on to those who refuse to pay. Read more


A Prophet in Purgatory
Will throwing the book at polygamist Warren Jeffs bust up his sect or be a boon to it?
By Don Lattin San Francisco Chronicle Originally published Sunday, November 19, 2006
Nevada Highway Patrolman Eddie Dutchover wasn't expecting much when he stopped the maroon 2007 Cadillac Escalade heading north out of Las Vegas. All the officer wanted to know was why the car had paper tags rather than license plates. But there was something strange about the tall, thin man in the back seat. The guy seemed nervous, so jittery you could see the main artery in his neck furiously pumping blood up into his face. Plus, he was obsessively eating a salad, refusing to make eye contact with the patrolman. It was a hunch, but the cop was on the money. He had just pulled over Warren Jeffs, the spiritual leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, one of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted fugitives, and a man with a $100,000 bounty on his head. If there is a pope of Mormon polygamy, a powerful prophet who controls the lives of thousands of Americans who still believe in the sanctity of plural marriage, that man is Warren Steed Jeffs. His 10,000-member fundamentalist Mormon sect is the largest of several splinter groups that refuse to accept the mainstream Mormon church's decision more than a century ago to suspend the practice of polygamy. Read more


Witnesses reluctant to testify against polygamist leader
By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press The Arizona Republic Originally published November 20, 2006
HURRICANE, Utah - Sitting on the witness stand in 2003, Ruth Stubbs started crying as soon as she was asked a question. Rodney Holm - whom she married at age 16, when he was 32 - was on trial for bigamy. Stubbs was Holm's third wife. Her sister Susie was, and still is, his first. "I didn't know how I was going to tell my kids that I was the reason their father went to jail," said Stubbs, who had three children with Holm. "I thought, they're going to hate me." But it was more than that. "When you're up there, you're going against the entire town and everything that you've ever been taught," she said. Holm was convicted and served a year in jail, sealing Stubbs' escape from her life as a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which practices polygamy. Holm has appealed his conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court. Stubbs is one of the few "willing" witnesses to testify against a member of the sect. On Tuesday, another witness is expected take the stand at a 5th District Court hearing to determine if Washington County prosecutors have enough evidence to try polygamist church leader Warren Jeffs on two felony counts of rape as an accomplice. The witness was a child bride, identified in court papers as Jane Doe No. 4, allegedly forced by Jeffs, 50, to marry her first cousin in 2001 when she was 14 and the groom was 19. "You can imagine the worry and stress she's under right now," said Gary Engels, a special investigator working for the Mohave County attorney's office on the two felony cases Jeffs faces in Arizona after his Utah case is concluded. "This is the type of thing they say you are going to hell for." Read more


Shurtleff wants access to FBI's Jeffs evidence
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Thursday, November 23, 2006
ST. GEORGE — Papers, ledgers and computers seized by the FBI when it arrested Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs could help the Utah attorney general's organized crime investigation into the polygamist leader and his church. Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said he wants to see the seized evidence to determine if it would aid his investigation into Jeffs, the FLDS Church and its financial arm, the United Effort Plan Trust. "Obviously, we think the laptops may have some information on them," Shurtleff said. "It could have information about the UEP and the financial empire. Also, information about types of crimes that might have been committed." Jeffs, 50, was an FBI Ten Most Wanted fugitive until he was captured in a traffic stop outside Las Vegas in August. Inside the Cadillac Escalade he was riding in, the FBI said it seized cash, wigs, papers, ledgers, cell phones, a GPS, computers and other items believed to have kept Jeffs on the run. That evidence is now locked up in a federal court fight in Las Vegas. One of Jeffs' lawyers is asking a judge to force the FBI to return the papers, claiming they constitute "privileged communications" between the FLDS leader and his followers. "The administrative impound impinges on the First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion insomuch as the government took possession of religious documents which are deemed confidential and sacred by the FLDS," lawyer Richard Wright said in a motion filed in federal court. "We don't want to look at personal church records about people and their so-called 'sins,"' Shurtleff said. "He obviously had those laptops with him for a purpose. Everything else he had with him was to keep him hidden and keep him away from the law, and that stuff's got to be relevant to the charges against him and we need a chance to look at it." Read more


Jeffs May Be Passing Messages Through Visitors
By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press KUTV Channel 2 Originally published November 29, 2006
SALT LAKE CITY During his first six weeks in jail, the leader of a southern Utah polygamist church had frequent visits from a brother and another church elder – both of whom dissidents suggest are carrying messages from Purgatory Correctional Facility to the faithful. Warren Steed Jeffs, 50, is president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a sect that practices polygamy in arranged marriages where most brides are teenage girls. Jeffs, arrested in August, is being held in Washington County, awaiting a Dec. 14 hearing to determine if he’ll stand trial on two felony counts of rape as an accomplice. The Associated Press obtained the list of Jeffs’ weekly visitors through a public records request made to Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith. The list shows 17 different visitors signed in between Sept. 4-Nov. 4. Jeffs’ most frequent visitor has been Richard Wright, the Las Vegas attorney Jeffs hired after his Aug. 28 arrest on a federal flight warrant during a Las Vegas-area traffic stop. Wright has made a dozen visits, some of them with Salt Lake City attorneys he helped Jeffs screen for the Utah case. Jeffs is represented by attorneys Wally Bugden and Tara Isaacson. With Wright, they were among the first to see Jeffs at the Purgatory Correctional Facility in Hurricane. Jeffs exercises tremendous controls over his followers, dictating everything from who marries and when, to ordering excommunications and directing church members whether to pay taxes and cooperate with police and government officials. Read more


Witness against Jeffs called strong
Lawyer says Jane Doe IV is still willing to testify in court
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Thursday, November 30, 2006
The woman accusing Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs of forcing her into a child bride marriage remains willing to testify against him, her lawyer said. "I think when the full story comes out, it will be compelling," lawyer Roger Hoole said outside a court hearing in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court on Monday. "She's a strong witness and we're looking forward to finishing up the preliminary hearing." Hoole is representing the woman known in court documents as "Jane Doe IV." She says that at age 14, she was told by FLDS leaders she would be marrying her 19-year-old first cousin. When she objected to the union, Washington County prosecutors said Warren Jeffs threatened her "salvation." "He had enough control to take everything away from me, when all I tried to do was everything he told me to do," the woman said of Jeffs during the Nov. 21 preliminary hearing. At times, she sobbed on the witness stand as she recounted the arranged marriage and said her then-husband forced himself upon her. "I don't think he (Jeffs) has any control over her anymore," Hoole said, declining to elaborate any more about how his client felt about facing the man she once considered a "prophet." Read more


Judge will decide the status of papers seized from Jeffs
Ex-FLDS Church member wants access to 'sacred' documents
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Wednesday, December 6, 2006
A federal judge in Nevada will hold a hearing to decide whether to release a "mother lode" of papers, ledgers and other documents seized when Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs was arrested. The hearing on lawyers' motions to get involved in the fight over Jeffs' papers has been scheduled for Jan. 8 in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas. Among those trying to get their hands on some of the FBI's seized evidence is an ex-FLDS Church member trying to collect on a lawsuit he won against Jeffs and Bruce Wisan, the court-appointed special fiduciary of the FLDS Church's financial empire, the United Effort Plan Trust. "They just don't seem to want to give us the information and we think it's quite important to the trust and finding property and assets that belong to the trust," Wisan told the Deseret Morning News on Tuesday. Jeffs' lawyer, Richard Wright, has filed court papers demanding that the FBI return some of the evidence, claiming some of the papers have been deemed "sacred" and constitute privileged communication between the FLDS leader and his followers. "These records include confidential religious writings and teachings of the FLDS, as well as privileged communications with FLDS members," Wright said in an emergency motion filed shortly after Jeffs' arrest. Read more


Jeffs very look made his followers cower
Opinion The Spectrum Originally published December 7, 2006
A letter writer said no one is concerned about the cousin of the now famous Jeffs. But they are. As far as Jeffs' following the religion and not the law is beyond dumb. The mere fact that he was an alleged accomplice to the abuse, assault, and agony of each victim is enough to put him away for a life time. He's alleged of torturing and abusing everyone in the town of Colorado City for as long as he has had a hold over them. His very look could make them cower and the fact that every dime they had went to him makes you wonder how they even fed their children, but then they had to live on food stamps for that reason because he made them broke. He isn't following the religion, he is a horrible man who took control of a town that once minded its own business and worked hard to live day by day. He hurt innocent children, women, men, and elders. This is a man who deserves to be sent to prison; this is a town that deserves to finally be free and live normally. Ashley Stewart Cane Beds, Ariz.


Jeffs' Ties to Border Officers Under Investigation
The Associated Press USA Today Originally published December 8, 2006
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The chief law enforcer in two Utah-Arizona border towns is accused of misconduct after writing a letter in which he warmly referred to the leader of a polygamous sect as "Uncle Warren" and pledged "our desire to stand with you and the priesthood." "I am praying for you to be protected and yearn to be with you again," wrote Fred Barlow, who referred to himself as a "servant" to Warren Jeffs. Jeffs is the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which has 10,000 members in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. Barlow is the marshal who oversees officers in the towns. The letter was written in October 2005 while Jeffs was on the run from criminal charges. The Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board is using the letter as evidence in one of three misconduct charges against Barlow, who could lose his certification. The letter was obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune. Separately, the Utah Peace Officer Standards and Training Council this week voted to conduct its own probe of the police force, whose officers are accused of being too loyal to Jeffs. Read more


Idyllic times long gone in Jeffs country
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Sunday, December 17, 2006
ST. GEORGE — The films show another time and another place, before the police and pesky reporters came. The children laugh and make faces at the camera. The men and women wave, hug and smile like happy families do. A parade passes through Short Creek. A band rides on a flatbed trailer. Children ride on homemade floats set up on flatbed trailers, waving at the people gathered on the side of the street to watch. The prophet, Leroy S. Johnson, is the parade's "grand marshal." He smiles from the passenger seat of a car, waving an American flag. These are among the images of life inside the Fundamentalist LDS Church enclaves of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., seen on a series of 8 mm films obtained by the Deseret Morning News. They were shot sporadically from the late-1970s to the mid-1980s. The grainy films were provided by a source who wished to remain anonymous because of family still within the polygamous sect, which is now controlled by jailed FLDS leader Warren Jeffs. They are a stark contrast to the siege mentality that seems to have set in among Jeffs' followers since he was arrested in August after a few months on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list. Read more


Judge allows 2 more parties into polygamist leader evidence case
By Ken Ritter The Associated Press San Diego Union-Tribune Originally published January 8, 2007
LAS VEGAS – A federal judge on Monday broadened the legal tug-of-war over cash, computers and other materials seized from a vehicle during the southern Nevada arrest of polygamist church leader Warren Jeffs. In a quick decision, U.S. District Court Judge Robert Jones said two other parties may join the government and Jeff's lawyers in arguing the civil case – the United Effort Plan Trust, which holds $110 million in Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints property, and a former Jeffs follower who won a $338,000 judgment from Jeffs after being fired from his job. Lawyers for Jeffs did not oppose the motion. The judge did not address questions about the materials, which have been held by the federal government since they were seized from a Cadillac Escalade during Jeffs' arrest Aug. 28 outside Las Vegas. Police reported seizing $54,000 in cash, letters and other papers, four laptop computers, 15 cell phones, and other items, including wigs. The contents of the letters and information on computers has not been made public. "He didn't deal with the merits of the sealing or who gets access," said Jeffrey L. Shields, a Salt Lake City-based lawyer for the United Effort Plan Trust. "He just granted intervention." Read more


End of the road for Hildale?
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Tuesday, January 23, 2007
The Utah Attorney General's Office may begin looking at dis-incorporating the polygamous border town of Hildale, stripping its city leaders of their authority and turning it over to Washington County. Irritated by Hildale leaders' refusal to cooperate with any of the court-ordered reforms of the United Effort Plan Trust, a judge in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court suggested that state authorities at least consider the idea. "I hope that, if the need should arise, the attorney general will pursue. . .the necessary steps to ensure that nobody is above the law — including cities," Judge Denise Lindberg said at the conclusion of a Monday morning hearing at the Matheson Courthouse on the UEP Trust. Dis-incorporation is the latest idea being considered to bring order to what continues to be a troubled situation in Hildale and its sister community, Colorado City, Ariz. "We certainly have considered that in the past," assistant Utah Attorney General Tim Bodily said outside of court. "We have not made a decision." Lindberg asked the Arizona Attorney General's Office to look at the idea, too. Read more


Warren Jeffs Taken to Hospital, Returned to Jail
Amanda Butterfield Reporting KSL TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast January 30, 2007
Warren Jeffs, leader of the FLDS Church, was taken to a hospital earlier this week after he was found "distressed." Some former members of his polygamist group wonder if the incident had to do with one of his prophecies. Three years ago Jeffs prophesized that he would die a martyr and this latest medical scare has former members of his wondering if Jeffs is getting a little nervous that prophecy may not be fulfilled. Ross Chatwin, former FLDS member: "Well if he doesn't die as he prophesized here that I think that would be good for us." Ross Chatwin was born into the FLDS religion. He knew Warren Jeffs personally and says Jeffs has told his followers he will be a martyr. Ross Chatwin: "He just said that we has going to be just like the prophet Joseph Smith." Joseph Smith was the first prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He was killed while in Carthidge Jail in 1844 by an angry mob. Chatwin predicts if Jeffs dies as he prophesized his followers faith will become even stronger. Read more


Polygamy bill would cut custody rights
By Melissa Blasius 12 News - Phoenix Originally broadcast February 1, 2007
A Valley lawmaker wants to strip polygamists of their parental rights in child custody cases. Rep David Luhan (D-Phoenix) is sponsoring the bill that targets the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. Warren Jeffs heads the church, which is based in Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah. The bill would bar judges from granting custody or allowing unsupervised visits for people who practice polygamy or child bigamy. The House Human Services Committee held a hearing today before unanimously recommending passage of the bill. It now goes to the floor of the House. Former F.L.D.S. member Flora Jessop testified at this morning's hearing. She said women who leave the polygamist sect face extreme difficulty because of religious intimidation, isolation and limited education. She says a new custody law would encourage the women and show help is available to break the cycle of child brides. Some family law attorneys believe the polygamy custody bill may face court challenges for infringing on the fundamental right to parent.


Jeffs' health woes may affect case
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs' recent health troubles are apparently prompting new concerns in the criminal case against him. Prosecution and defense lawyers were involved in a hearing by phone on Friday with 5th District Court Judge James Shumate. A court docket said the hearing requested "confidential and privileged physician contact." Court clerks could not say who made the motion, and a transcript of the hearing was filed under seal. Jeffs' attorneys did not return a phone call seeking comment. The Washington County Attorney's Office also did not return calls on Monday. The FLDS leader was taken to Dixie Regional Medical Center in January after medical staff at the Purgatory Jail noticed him exhibiting "problems," sheriff's deputies said. At the hospital, he underwent tests and was cleared to return to the jail a few hours later. Washington County Sheriff's deputies would not say if Jeffs is exhibiting any more medical problems. "I can't comment at all on any inmate's physical or mental conditions," Washington County Sheriff's Lt. Jake Adams said Monday. Read more


"Crown Jewel" of polygamy community going up for auction
By Brent Hunsaker ABC 4 News Originally broadcast February 26, 2007
(Hildale, Utah) Six years ago FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs ordered his followers in the Salt Lake Valley to move out. Salt Lake, he predicted, would be destroyed during the 2002 Olympic Games. The order applied not only to individuals and families, but also businesses – the biggest of which was Western Precision. Using community resources and labor, Western Precision built a new manufacturing plant and headquarters in Hildale, Utah – then the capital of Jeff's polygamous empire. The 55,000 square foot building has office suites, conference rooms, a showroom, large manufacturing floor and oversized receiving and shipping bays. It even has two apartments reportedly used by visiting clients. (For more detailed information on the building, go to the auctioneer’s website: www.goinggoinggone.bz) The Western Precision facility is by far the largest and most expensive business in the twin polygamous towns of Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah. Some have referred to it as their "crown jewel". Read more


Internet tuning in to Jeffs — as a rock star
His voice, image making inroads in pop culture
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Sunday, March 11, 2007
He's gone from polygamy to pop culture. Warren Jeffs merchandise is popping up on the Internet, from T-shirts featuring the Fundamentalist LDS Church leader dressed in stereotypical "pimp" garb, to Jeffs' voice fronting a song for an experimental rock group's latest album. "His view of the world seems very twisted, and we wonder if he really believes what he's saying, or is it just rhetoric to control the flock?" Steve De Chiara of the Chicago-based group KinkZoid wrote in an e-mail to the Deseret Morning News. "Warren Jeffs Explains" is the single off the group's latest album. The group describes its style of mixing sounds, tape loops and instruments to "create a clash of audio imagery." "While listening to the clips we noticed that he spoke very soft, rhythmically, and almost hypnotic in tone," which the group thinks may be useful for a good cult leader, De Chiara said. The song features a racist and homophobic sermon by Jeffs explaining the origins of rock music. Jeffs gave the lecture when he was principal of the FLDS-run Alta Academy school at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon in the 1990s. Read more and hear the audio file


A prophet no more?
Jeffs called himself a 'sinner' in jailhouse conversation
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Tuesday, March 27, 2007
ST. GEORGE — Warren Jeffs has reportedly renounced his title as "prophet" of the Fundamentalist LDS Church in a jailhouse conversation with one of his brothers. "He said he is the greatest of all sinners and, in so many words, worked his way to be the leader and prophet when he knew he wasn't called of God to be a prophet," a law enforcement source familiar with the conversation told the Deseret Morning News. Jeffs, 51, made the comments during a January conversation with his brother, Nephi Jeffs, who has visited him in the Purgatory Jail in Hurricane. The conversation was recorded by jail officials, who monitor most of the FLDS leader's phone calls and visits. A tape is reportedly in the hands of the Washington County attorney, who is prosecuting Jeffs on charges of rape as an accomplice, a first-degree felony. He is accused of performing a marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her older cousin. A hearing is scheduled for today in 5th District Court on a series of motions filed by Jeffs' defense team, including a request to move the trial out of St. George. The tape is considered evidence in the growing criminal cases against Jeffs and is not expected to be made public unless it is played in court. The source, who did not want to be identified, said law enforcement agencies in Utah and Arizona involved in the Jeffs cases had been briefed on it. "I cannot confirm or deny that," Gary Engels, an investigator with the Mohave County Attorney's Office, said Monday. Read more


Report: Jeffs Admits He's Not Called of God; Loses All Three Court Rulings
John Hollenhorst Reporting KSL TV 5 Originally broadcast March 27, 2007
Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs lost three important court rulings in his legal battle against charges of being an accessory to rape. A St. George judge refused to throw out the charges. This showdown in court comes on a day when new questions have been raised about Jeffs' status as a religious leader. The self-proclaimed prophet of the Fundamentalist LDS Church reportedly admits he was never called by God. During a stunning jailhouse conversation between Warren Jeffs and his brother, Nephi, Jeffs reportedly admitted he wasn't called of God to be a prophet. An anonymous law enforcement official told the Deseret Morning News, "He said he is the greatest of all sinners and, in so many words, worked his way to be the leader and prophet when he knew he wasn't called of God to be a prophet." The anonymous source said Jeffs told his brother that, and the jail recorded the conversation. The source says Jeffs' followers in Hildale and Colorado City have a right to know. Jeffs reportedly told his brother to tell FLDS church members the news, then later said he'd changed his mind. Presumably, that development will play no role in today's legal battles. Jeffs' defense lawyers and prosecutors would not comment on the Deseret Morning News report. A number of Jeffs' relatives and followers also ignored questions from reporters. Jeffs looked grim, gaunt and rarely smiled in court today. Testimony in this case certainly indicates he exercised strong control. Read more


Warren Jeffs' followers left in the dark
By Brent Hunsaker ABC 4 News Originally broadcast March 28, 2007
Court observers were shocked yesterday by the appearance of Warren Jeffs and by a report that Jeffs may have made a jailhouse confession denying he was ever a prophet. You would think the people would be interested in what's going on with the man they think is a prophet. But there's one problem: the faithful are forbidden from reading the news paper or watching television. Sam Brower, a private investigator said Jeffs looked "much worse for wear" and more gaunt. After the trial, his followers weren't talking. Very few of the FLDS followers are aware of Jeffs' reported confession or his apparent fragile health. Issac Wyler from Colorado City says he thinks some in the FLDS are moving away from Warren Jeffs. He says that some people are listening to Wendell Nielsen, Jeffs' first counselor, who might become Jeffs' successor. brent@abc4.com Stay tuned to ABC 4 tonight at 10 when Brent Hunsaker tells us what changes are unfolding in the polygamist border towns and if they're for the better.


Relations thaw between "Believers" and "Non-believers" in polygamist community
By Brent Hunsaker ABC 4 News Originally broadcast March 28, 2007
It is hardly open rebellion. But some of the rules handed down by polygamist prophet Warren Jeffs to his followers are being bent, if not broken. For one thing, the apostates (those who do not follow Jeffs) who live in Colorado City and Hildale say Warrenites (those who do follow Jeffs) are starting to be friendly again. For a long time, the apostates say they were ignored. Warrenites looked the other way when they walked by. They would not speak to them or even look at them -- only to kick them out of their store or restaurant. But now, several apostates report that Warrenites are exchanging the occasional wave, making small talk with them and even serving them with a smile. It may not sound like much, but for people who have been treated as if they were ghosts for several years, it is big. Also, the sounds of barking dogs are again being herd around the community. For years there had been none. Warren Jeffs allegedly ordered them all destroyed. Jeffs also supposedly demanded that his followed "black out" their windows with blinds, heavy drapes or cardboard -- anything to block the outside world. Now a few of the coverings have been removed and sheers put up in their place. Read more


Change in Air Among Jeffs' Followers
John Hollenhorst Reporting KSL-TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast March 28, 2007
Some former followers of Warren Jeffs were not surprised by reports that Jeffs now expresses doubts about being a true prophet. They say even some of his polygamist true believers are beginning to have doubts. So there's a change in the air. Isaac Wyler, a former F.L.D.S. member said, "Things are changing drastically. People are way more open." Isaac Wyler has his finger on the pulse of the Jeffs community because he's knocked on virtually every door. A former F.L.D.S. member, he now delivers delinquent property tax notices. Last year he could hear Jeffs' sermons on tape at nearly every door. "At least 90 percent of the homes were listening to Warren Jeffs," he said. But on his rounds this year? Wyler says, "I haven't heard one tape of Warren, not even one, which is really weird." With Jeffs in jail, most homes have music playing instead of sermons. "I'm not talking rock and roll, nothing like that. I'm talking good music, classical, that sort of thing, things that was kind of pretty well banned here for a while." Former follower Richard Holm has noticed changes, too. "There seems to be a certain easing in tensions a little bit," he said. They say they see more people on the street, people outside having fun, Jeffs followers acting somewhat friendly. They're still not talking to fallen-away members, but at least they're not giving angry gestures. There are fewer closed gates and blacked-out windows. Read more


Reported jailhouse confession could multiply legal problems for Warren Jeffs
By Brent Hunsaker ABC 4 News Originally broadcast March 29, 2007
Since his father Rulon Jeffs died in September 2002, Warren Jeffs has been the prophet of the FLDS polygamist group. Under that mantle, Jeffs has allegedly separated husbands from children and wives, kicked rivals to his rule out of the community and directed the building of a new compound and a temple near Eldorado, Texas. People familiar with the FLDS leader says his reign has been one of the most tumultuous of any previous leader. But now Jeffs has reportedly denied having authority to do any of that. The Deseret News reports that in a jailhouse conversation with his brother, Nephi Jeffs, Warren Jeffs confessed that God did not speak to him and that he is "the greatest sinner". The newspaper says there's a recording of that conversation in the hands of the Washington County attorney, but it has not been made public. Neither the county attorney nor sheriff will even confirm its existence. However, if it does exist and Warren Jeffs did confess – if only to his brother – then far from solving his legal problems, it may multiply them. It could expose him to additional criminal charges as well as civil lawsuits. Read more


'I am not the Prophet,' says note by Jeffs
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Thursday, April 5, 2007
Warren Jeffs apparently abdicated his position as president of the Fundamentalist LDS Church in a note he wanted to give to the judge handling the criminal case against him. The note is partially visible in photographs taken at the end of Jeffs' court appearance last week. The Deseret Morning News had the photographs analyzed by a digital enhancement expert, a forensic handwriting analyst and a genealogist. "I have not been a Prophet and am not the Prophet," one line that is visible reads. The contents of the note were also corroborated by law enforcement sources who spoke to the Deseret Morning News on the condition of anonymity. A thin and frail-looking Jeffs attempted to speak to the judge after a long day of hearings in St. George's 5th District Court last week. "May I approach the bench?" Jeffs asked Judge James Shumate. "I need to just take care of one matter." Shumate refused to hear it, urging Jeffs to speak to his lawyers. "Can I take care of it now?" Jeffs asked again. The polygamist sect leader then bent over and wrote something down on a pad of paper. His hands shaking, he fumbled as he tried to tear at the paper, but he needed help. A Deseret Morning News photographer representing the media in the courtroom took pictures of the event. The image of the note was shot from a distance, and the writing is fuzzy. Some sentences have been deciphered, including a line Jeffs wrote saying he "failed (to) lead the people of the Fundamentalist Church." Read more


FLDS Church Change in Leadership Appears to be in the Works
John Hollenhorst Reporting KSL-TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast April 5, 2007
A leadership change and possibly a struggle for power seem to already be underway in the Warren Jeffs polygamy group. His apparent loss of faith in himself may trigger more upheavals in the far-flung FLDS Church. Last night's disclosure that Jeffs apparently tried in court to renounce his status as a prophet was greeted with joy in some quarters. But that's undoubtedly disturbing and disorienting to his faithful followers. The faithful are forbidden to speak to outsiders, so our sources are second-hand. But it appears Jeffs' probable successor has been auditioning for the part for several months. "There are dogs on the street," said one resident of Hildale. It's a sure sign the atmosphere is changing. Warren Jeffs forbade dogs, but his right-hand man, Wendell Nielsen, seems to be easing the fallen prophet's strictest rules. Former members believe Nielsen has been secretly running the FLDS group for months, during what appears to be a psychological decline by Jeffs in jail. Nielsen owned the Western Precision Manufacturing Company, a financial mainstay for the Jeffs group. The building was auctioned off recently. Nielsen disappeared from public view at the same time Jeffs did more than two years ago. Former member Richard Holm told us, "I think Wendell Nielsen is the behind-the-scenes Wizard of Oz, pulling the strings." He's believed to be living in Las Vegas, where his old company operates under a new name, keeping up the flow of money. There's an unverified report Nielsen came back to town last weekend and convened a suit-and-tie meeting, inside a warehouse, surrounded by a fleet of vehicles. Read more


Power shift for FLDS may be under way
But communities seem unaware of Jeffs' note
By Ben Winslow and Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Friday, April 6, 2007
COLORADO CITY, Ariz. — Here in this stronghold of the Fundamentalist LDS Church, a power shift may be under way in the polygamist sect's hierarchy. It comes as FLDS leader Warren Jeffs apparently abdicated his role as a "prophet" in both a jailhouse conversation with one of his brothers and a note he tried to give to a judge in court last week. Both instances were corroborated by law enforcement sources who spoke to the Deseret Morning News on condition of anonymity. Questions swirl around Jeffs' health and mental state. In a court appearance last week, he appeared skeletal and lethargic. Defense attorneys would only say that he is "very frail." "I think his conscience is working on him," said ex-FLDS member Richard Holm. Jeffs, 51, is facing charges in St. George's 5th District Court of rape as an accomplice, a first-degree felony. He is accused of performing a marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin. In Arizona, he is facing charges related to performing child-bride marriages. He was also recently indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. Here in the FLDS communities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., on Thursday, shopping continued at the local grocery store, children were seen happily playing outside their homes, and the sound of a dog barking drifted through the air. Residents of both towns appeared oblivious to the news that Jeffs had apparently penned a note seen in court with the words, "I am not a prophet." Several residents declined to speak to a reporter. Read more


Fight over evidence delays Jeffs' hearing
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs' next court appearance has been delayed until further notice. A judge in St. George's 5th District Court signed an order Tuesday afternoon canceling next week's hearing on a motion to suppress evidence seized when the FBI arrested Jeffs last year. No future date was set and no reason was given for the continuance. "Legal issues have led to the court continuing the hearing," deputy Washington County Attorney Brian Filter said Tuesday, declining to elaborate. The decision comes as new papers were filed in federal court in Salt Lake City, challenging the government's possession of evidence that the FBI seized when it arrested Jeffs. The court documents include a declaration from a member of the Fundamentalist LDS Church, providing a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the polygamous sect. "The need to protect such records from disclosure stems from the long history of persecution, ridicule, harassment and physical assault of the faithful by non-members and apostates," FLDS member Alvin S. Barlow Sr. wrote in the declaration. "This history of persecution has persisted since the Prophet Joseph Smith founded the Church and continues today in great force against the followers of the FLDS." Read more


Is Warren Jeffs Losing Sanity?
Rod Decker Reporting KUTV Channel 2 News Originally broadcast April 20, 2007
(KUTV) SALT LAKE CITY Has the polygamous prophet Warren Jeffs become insane in jail and incompetent to stand trial? Secret proceedings in a St. George courtroom may indicate that is so. Judge James Shumate took a motion from attorneys in secret and issued a secret court order in the Jeffs case earlier this month. Attorneys for news media say those secret proceedings should be open. And their filings say the secrets may have to do with whether Warren Jeffs has lost his sanity. Speaking for news media, lawyer David Reymann is asking for public proceedings. And his papers suggest what the judge and lawyers may be keeping secret. "There is a presumption that the public should have access to public proceedings," says Reymann. The papers say the secret documents may suggest that Jeffs has lost his mental balance, and is incompetent to help with his defense. Note, Judge James Shumate has cancelled all further hearings, something that often happens when the defendant’s sanity is in question, but doesn’t happen too often otherwise. And recent courtroom pictures show, Jeffs slept in the last hearings and could hardly pay attention to what was going on. Read more


Judge concerned for Jeffs' medical privacy
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Tuesday, April 24, 2007
ST. GEORGE — A judge here is expressing concern for the medical privacy of Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs. In his response to a request by the news media to intervene in the criminal case against Jeffs, 5th District Court Judge James Shumate said he wanted attorneys for the Deseret Morning News and other news media outlets to address medical privacy issues. "The Court has some concerns about the effect granting proposed media intervenors' motion may have on Mr. Jeffs' federal medical privacy rights under HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996," Shumate wrote in an order released Monday. Lawyers for the news media, the Washington County Attorney's Office and Jeffs' defense team must respond by May 11. The Deseret Morning News, the Associated Press, the Salt Lake Tribune, the Spectrum of St. George, KSL-TV, the Utah Media Coalition and the Utah Headliners Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists are challenging a decision by the judge to seal a petition filed by Jeffs' defense attorneys earlier this month. The petition came after Jeffs' last court appearance, where he appeared skeletal and lethargic. At one point, the FLDS leader nodded off and drooled in open court. Read more


Has Jeffs lost hold over FLDS?
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Tuesday, May 1, 2007
ST. GEORGE — Persistent questions about how much of a grasp Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs retains on his followers could help investigators digging into alleged crimes within his polygamous sect. Some are leaving the FLDS Church and bringing with them information, authorities say. Some of that information has also been about Jeffs, who remains under investigation by the offices of the Utah and Arizona attorneys general. "It's not an avalanche, but we are able to talk to people. There's more of a dialogue," Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard said. In an interview with the Deseret Morning News, Goddard said law enforcement officials have focused on "every aspect of life" in the polygamous border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. Officials are going after suspected abuses within the Colorado City Unified School District and the multimillion-dollar United Effort Plan Trust. Efforts are being made to reach out to abuse victims within the closed society. Goddard believes the effort is having results. "I'd like to think it has made isolation a little more difficult," Goddard said. Read more


Polygamist leader gets jail visits from doctor, family
By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press Fox 10 - Phoenix, AZ Originally published May 11, 2007
SALT LAKE CITY -- A polygamist church leader who appeared frail and disengaged during recent court proceedings has since April been visited most frequently by a man described as his personal physician, records from a southern Utah jail show. Dr. Lloyd Hammon Barlow first saw Warren Jeffs, head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, in the Washington County jail on Feb. 12, about two weeks after he was rushed to a St. George hospital for undisclosed treatment. Barlow's visit also came three days after the transcript of a motion for "privileged physician contact" was filed under seal in 5th District Court in St. George. Jeffs, 51, is in jail awaiting a trial on two first-degree felony counts of rape as an accomplice for his role in a 2001 spiritual marriage between a 14-year-old follower and her 19-year-old cousin. No trial date is set. Purgatory Correctional Facility records obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request also show that Jeffs' mother, two of his wives and a son have visited. Barlow is a Utah-licensed family practitioner and surgeon with a degree from the University of Utah, records show. He also has medical licenses in Arizona and Texas, where the FLDS owns a 2,000-acre ranch. Read more


Caretaker for polygamous sect leader looks for wife, child
By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press Fox 10 - Phoenix Originally published May 20, 2007
SALT LAKE CITY -- Wendell Musser followed church leader Warren Jeffs like many others do, with devotion and loyalty so deep that he obeyed without question when called to take a secret mission. Jeffs, head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, was on the run from lawsuits in Utah and criminal charges in Arizona tied to the sect's belief in polygamy and spiritual marriages involving minors. Musser's task in 2005: Take care of Jeffs' many wives in remote areas of Colorado. Ultimately, the secrecy would breed doubt -- and a mistake -- that cost Musser his wife, child and membership in the church. He has filed a lawsuit against Jeffs to learn the whereabouts of his family. The court filing and an interview with Musser provide details of Jeffs' life on the run for nearly two years before he was arrested during a traffic stop in Nevada last August. It is a story of small-town isolation, disguises, hours of prayer, high-tech devices and meetings with Jeffs in a parking lot in Colorado Springs. "It was an honor to get a mission for the church," Musser, now 22, said. "But it was really a lot different than I expected. It was out in the middle of nowhere, and we were hiding." Read more


Jeffs' lawyers seek identity of sources from reporter
By Jenniefer Dobner The Associated Press Fox 10 - Phoenix Originally published Friday, May 25, 2007
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Attorneys for Warren Jeffs have subpoenaed a local newspaper reporter, seeking the identities of confidential sources used in a story about the polygamist leader. Jeffs' attorney Wally Bugden handed the subpoena to Deseret Morning News reporter Ben Winslow outside a federal courtroom here Thursday. At issue is an April 5 story in the Salt Lake City daily which digitally enhanced a photograph to glean the contents of a note Jeffs wrote during a March court hearing. The paper said the note's contents were "corroborated by law enforcement sources who spoke to the Deseret Morning News on the condition of anonymity." Utah has no shield law protecting the confidential sources of reporters. "We're filing a motion to quash the subpoena," said David Reymann, a lawyer for the newspaper. The photograph of the note was taken by a Deseret Morning News photographer who was serving as the media pool photographer during a March 27 hearing in 5th District Court in St. George. The newspaper digitally enhanced and mirrored the photograph to discern its contents. Read more


Hearing focuses on secrets in the Warren Jeffs case
By Brent Hunsaker ABC 4 Originally broadcast May 25, 2007
First there was the letter that should have remained secret. Back in March, as a long hearing came to a close, Warren Jeffs tried to address the judge. He had something he wanted to say. But 5th District Court Judge James Shumate said no. In his hand was a letter on lined, white paper he'd written in court that day. Later, before being returned to the Purgatory Jail, he would try again to get that letter out. He asked a bailiff to give it to the news media. The bailiff said no. But using some digital enhancements of a photo of the letter, the Deseret Morning News did what Jeffs could not: it published at least part of it. Judge Shumate believes that was a secret that should have been kept secret. He ruled in court today that the Deseret Morning News violated Attorney/Client privilege. The judge said he would still allow a camera to remain in the courtroom, but under tightened rules. He said if any more digital trickery is used, those responsible will be in contempt of court. The judge also decided not to require Deseret Morning News Reporter Ben Winslow to testify under oath about the confidential law enforcement sources who initially told him about the contents of the letter. Winslow had previously vowed to protect those sources -- even if it meant going to jail. Read more


Court health evaluation: Jeffs mentally ill, but competent to stand trial
By Brent Hunsaker ABC 4 Originally broadcast May 29, 2007
ST. GEORGE, UT (ABC 4 News) - On Tuesday, 5th District Court Judge James Shumate released a pair of mental evaluations of Warren Jeffs that had been previously sealed. One evaluation was by Tim Kockler, a Licensed Psychologist in St. George and the other by Associated Behavior Consultants of Holladay. The bottom line: Both agreed that Jeffs is manifesting the symptoms of "Depressive Disorder". (Nielsen called it a substantial mental illness.) Both agreed that the depression should not stop his trial from going forward. Judge Shumate secretly ordered the evaluations after a March 27th hearing. Jeffs appeared dazed during that hearing. He fell asleep several times. What's more, the already thin Jeffs had obviously lost even more weight. Eric Nielsen of Associated Behavior Consultants reported that Jeffs was "guarded and careful" during his interview on April 10th. Nielsen wrote that Jeffs "came across as mildly depressed" and there was evidence he'd been "struggling with symptoms of depression coupled with anxiety". Also, Jeffs would go days "refusing food and liquid" while spending "several hours on his knees praying". He prayed so long that he had "ulcers on both knees". Read more


Prison no barrier to influence over polygamist sect
By Jason Szep Reuters The New Zealand Herald Originally published June 14, 2007
HILDALE, Utah (Reuters) - From a cell in the Purgatory jail 10 months after his arrest, fundamentalist Mormon leader Warren Jeffs is still God's voice on Earth to thousands of polygamists in this isolated community. "Warren Jeffs isn't 'gone'. He doesn't have to be there to rule the place," said Enos Steed, a 21-year-old former member of Jeff's Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), a polygamist sect that broke from the mainstream Mormon church 72 years ago. To about 10,000 followers in the twin border communities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona, Jeffs remains a spiritual leader who channels divine revelations and a feared prophet, even 25 miles away in Purgatory, a jail in the Utah city of Hurricane where he awaits trial. "As long as he is alive he will be the prophet, unless he stands up before them and renounces the religion, denounces what he's been doing for the past decade. That's the only way, besides dying, he will not be the prophet," said Steed. Read more


St. George man stumbles across rare FLDS books
By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press Provo Daily Herald Originally published Monday, June 18, 2007
SALT LAKE CITY -- It's a book collector's dream -- rifling through the shelves of a secondhand store with the hope of finding a valuable volume for a bargain basement price and stumbling onto a gold mine. It happened January 31 to a St. George man, who plunked down $40 and took home eight books of sermons and writings from elders of the secretive, polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Adding interest to the find -- the books are inked in red with a property stamp from Purgatory Correctional Facility, which is the Washington County jail in Hurricane where FLDS church president Warren Jeffs is awaiting trial on charges of rape by accomplice. The volumes are rare and likely worth much more than the St. George man paid, said booksellers who trade in early writings from leaders of the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the religion to which the FLDS church traces its roots. "Those books are unbelievably scarce," said Tom Kimball, an American Fork collector and seller. "They could be worth thousands. It's every Mormon book nerd's fantasy." Read more


Utah Polygamists Snap Up iPhones
Polygamists in southern Utah, northern Arizona and Nevada camp out to be first in line to buy iPhones
Computer & Technology PR-inside.com - Vienna, Austria Originally published June 30, 2007
LAS VEGAS, NV -- Several hundred polygamists from Utah camped out over night at AT&T stores in Las Vegas, Flagstaff, AZ, and St. George, UT in order to buy up as many iPhones as possible. Fights nearly broke out in Vegas as would be iPhone purchasers became irate as they realized nearly all iPhones were bought by Utah polygamists. "We weren't sure who this group of people dressed sorta like Mennonites were. There were not only adults, but dozens of teenage children. When other customers complained that there was a huge line of these people, preventing anyone else from buying iPhones, there wasn't much we could do about. They did line up first," said Ben Levy, customer at the Woodlands Village AT&T store in Flagstaff, Arizona. "I didn't think polygamists were allowed to use technology, but I guess they're not like the Amish," said John Cantor, iPhone purchaser who was one of the lucky few to get an iPhone after the polygamists bought up most of the iPhones at the Henderson, Nevada AT&T store. In fact, when polygamist prophet Warren Jeffs was apprehended by the FBI last year, he had several Apple iPods in his possession. Apparently, the Utah polygamists are a fan of Apple products. It is unclear what these Utah polygamists plan to do with all of these iPhones as they refused to speak to any reporters about their new iPhones. Perhaps they were taking the moniker "Jesus Phone" a little too seriously. Read more


Jeffs ordered to reunite man with young son
By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Friday, July 20, 2007
ST. GEORGE — Fifth District Judge James L. Shumate ordered jailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs to reunite a former follower with his young son or face significant financial penalties. Wendell Musser, 22, was separated from his former wife, Vivian Barlow, and their son, Levi, in June 2006. Jeffs joined the two together in a spiritual marriage ceremony the previous year. Musser said the couple grew to love each other. Musser fell out of favor with Jeffs, whom he had been helping during his time as a federal fugitive, when he was arrested in Colorado for driving under the influence. He was ordered to return alone to Utah to write letters of repentance to Jeffs, which he did. When Musser was told he no longer held the priesthood and that his family had been taken from him, he searched in vain for his wife and son. "She needs to realize what she's doing is hurting me and Levi," Musser said following Thursday's hearing in St. George. "I do love them. I won't give up on them. I'm still waiting." The last time Musser saw his former wife and son, who will turn 2 years old on July 30, was on May 25 in Hildale. That meeting was arranged and attended by several FLDS men, including Musser's father and Barlow's father, and deputies from the local police department. Musser said Barlow wouldn't let him hold his son and would not discuss his rights as a father. He hasn't seen or heard from them since, he said. Read more


Warren Jeffs Questioned in Custody Case
KSL-TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast July 27, 2007
(KSL News/AP) FLDS Church leader Warren Jeffs was questioned today about the location of an ex-church member's estranged wife and son. Earlier this month, Jeffs was ordered to turn over information about the whereabouts of Wendell Musser's wife, Vivian, and son, Levi. The deadline passed, so a judge ordered Jeffs to be deposed in jail. Musser's attorney says if Jeffs refuses to talk, he'll seek sanctions against Jeffs. The 51-year-old Jeffs is head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He's in jail pending an unrelated criminal trial on charges of rape as an accomplice. Musser filed a civil lawsuit against Jeffs in May. He says Jeffs split him from his wife and toddler son last July after Musser was arrested for drunk-driving. At the time, Musser was serving as a caretaker for some of Jeffs' wives while the church leader was on the run from police. (The Associated Press contributed to this story)


Polygamous Sect Leader Won't Talk
The Associated Press Washington Post Originally published Saturday, July 28, 2007
HURRICANE, Utah -- A polygamous sect leader on Friday refused to divulge the location of an ex-follower's wife and child, an attorney said. Warren Jeffs was questioned by attorneys for Wendell Musser in the Washington County jail, but provided no substantive information, attorney Roger Hoole said. "He pulled out a piece of paper and read: 'I'm not going to answer on the grounds that it might incriminate me,'" Hoole said. "He apparently concludes that his actions are criminal, although this is a civil case." Musser served as a caretaker to Jeffs' many wives in a string of Colorado houses while the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints was on the run from police in 2006. Musser said he was kicked out of the church after a drunken-driving arrest a year ago and cut off from his wife, Vivian Barlow Musser, and son, Levi, who turns 2 on Monday. Musser, 22, sued Jeffs in May, seeking information about his family. Musser claims the separation was ordered by Jeffs. Musser had a brief reunion in late May, but his wife rejected him, refused to say where she was living and wouldn't allow him to hold Levi. A district court judge ordered Jeffs to provide information by July 25 or face a deposition by Musser's attorneys. Read more


Jeffs in court to face contempt charge
Polygamist has failed to help ex-follower find son
By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Tuesday, August 14, 2007
ST. GEORGE — Jailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs is expected in court today to face a contempt charge for failing to answer questions that would reunite a former follower with his toddler son. Wendell Musser filed a civil suit earlier this year against Jeffs, seeking his assistance in locating his former wife, Vivian Barlow, and their son, Levi James Musser, who turned 2 years old on July 30. Musser once worked on behalf of Jeffs as a family caretaker while the 51-year-old leader of the Fundamentalist LDS Church was in hiding. Jeffs is jailed awaiting a Sept. 10 trial date on two felony counts of rape as an accomplice, a first-degree felony. When Musser was arrested in Colorado for investigation of drunken driving, he was ordered by Jeffs to return to Utah and repent. After several weeks away from his family, Musser discovered Barlow and Levi had disappeared. Musser said he began looking for them, but had no success. After filing the lawsuit against Jeffs, Musser was notified by his father to meet family members in Hildale, Utah, where he was able to speak to Barlow and see his son. Musser hasn't had any contact with them since that time and subsequently sued Jeffs for access to his child. Following a default judgment against Jeffs, who did not respond to the lawsuit, 5th District Judge James L. Shumate ordered Jeffs to provide Musser with the information necessary to contact Barlow or face financial sanctions. When confronted with questions about Barlow and Levi during a July 27 deposition conducted at Purgatory Correctional Facility, Jeffs repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination. Read more


Judge: Jeffs has right not to answer questions
The Associated Press The Arizona Republic Originally published August 15, 2007
ST. GEORGE, Utah - A judge says jailed polygamist-sect leader Warren Jeffs has the right not to answer questions under oath about the location of a former caretaker's son. The judge refused to find Jeffs in contempt of court during a hearing in St. George, Utah. Wendell Musser sued Jeffs to learn the whereabouts of his wife and son. Musser claims Jeffs forced him out of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and cut him off from his family last summer after a drunken-driving arrest in Colorado. The judge said the dispute between Barlow and his wife over their 2-year-old son should be left up to the parents and court -- not Jeffs. Both parents are seeking sole custody of the boy.


Jeffs an unlikely leader
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Friday, September 7, 2007
Warren Jeffs is a shadowy, reclusive man who has never been interviewed. It's only since his arrest that there are even current photos available of him. He should never have been the prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He queue-jumped the succession line by excommunicating those ahead of him - including Winston Blackmore, the bishop of Bountiful, B.C. Even if the FLDS believed in dynastic succession, Jeffs wouldn't qualify. His mother, Merilyn, wasn't Rulon Jeffs's first or even second wife. She was the fourth wife and Warren was her second son. Jeffs is said to have more than 80 wives; about a dozen of them are his father's widows. No one knows how many children he has. In court, Jeffs has spoken only a few words in a voice so soft it was barely audible. But his sermons, are delivered in a monotone and followers are urged to constantly listen to the tapes of them. The prophet is feared much more than he is loved. When he enters the courtroom for his trial next week, any FLDS members there will stand out of respect. He stands nearly 6-4. But at a court hearing last March after months of fasting, Jeffs was a skeletal 130 pounds. He fell asleep several times during the hearing, drooling on to the lapels of his dark suit. But he was also disoriented and distraught. Read more


The words of Warren Jeffs
Vancouver Sun Originally published Friday, September 7, 2007
From a Home Economics Class in December, 1997 lesson titled: Teaching children before they are born. "A mother has the responsibility for the housework and for children. You should start long before the baby is born. A mother will take proper pains to teach the children the first principles of the gospel." "If the mother does not teach her child properly in those first few years the sins of the children will be on the head of the mother, not the father." "It is the mother's duty to teach the children that everything in the home belongs to father, and that all that you are doing in the home is to build up father. (Mothers) say, "This is what father wants," and she is always turning the children to those over her." "But even though everything belongs to father, we must teach the children to respect each other's possessions." "Brigham Young names one weakness in women....When they get married they are always wanting to party, or go visiting, attend socials, do everything except the training of their children, and that is why so many children have struggles and fail, because the mother attends to everything but this duty of working with the children. And ladies, this is your mission. It is the greatest mission given to women to bring forth children and raise them in light and truth." Read more


Trial of polygamist "prophet" to begin in Utah
By Alexandria Sage Reuters Originally published September 11, 2007
The self-proclaimed "prophet" of a polygamous clan in an isolated desert enclave at the border of Utah and Arizona goes on trial this week in St. George, Utah, accused of arranging a marriage between an unwilling 14-year-old girl and her cousin. Warren Jeffs, 51, is charged with two felony counts of being an accomplice to rape and could face life sentences for each charge. He has been in prison since his arrest in August 2006 after 15 months as a fugitive on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Most Wanted list and has pleaded not guilty. The Jeffs trial is the long-awaited crux in authorities' efforts to control the 7,500-strong enclave of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or FLDS, in the twin towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona -- a dusty, red-rock area some 100 miles northwest of the Grand Canyon. For years, the group that holds to early tenets of the Mormon faith, including polygamy, existed virtually free of outside interference from authorities, although exiled or escaped members reported crimes such as widespread welfare and tax fraud, underage marriages and sexual abuse. But some three years ago, Utah's attorney general convened a task force to uncover crimes within polygamous communities, including abuse of minors and other sex crimes. Although polygamy is banned under Utah law, authorities say prosecuting so-called plural marriages is impractical. Read more


Polygamy trial to begin in Utah
Reuters Toronto Star Originally published September 13, 2007
ST. GEORGE, Utah – The hot-button topics of religious freedom and child sexual abuse are the backdrop for opening statements Thursday in the criminal trial of the leader of a fundamentalist Mormon clan of polygamists. Warren Jeffs, 51, has pleaded not guilty to two felony charges of being an accomplice to rape. Prosecutors claim Jeffs, who is considered the sect's prophet, orchestrated a marriage between an unwilling 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin in 2001. Each charge carries a potential sentence of between five years and life in prison. The case has galvanized the attention of this small city of golf courses and retirees, and pushed the practice of polygamy into the spotlight – a practice the early Mormon church once embraced but rejected in 1890. Although polygamy is illegal in the United States, an estimated 37,000 people in western states subscribe to it. The law is rarely enforced because local authorities say prosecuting so-called "plural" marriages is impractical. Jeffs is not charged with polygamy, a third-degree felony in Utah, punishable by up to five years in prison. But defense attorneys are expected to argue Jeffs is being persecuted for his religious beliefs, since polygamy and arranged marriages are the way to salvation within the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or FLDS, which Jeffs has led since 2002. No charges against the accuser's husband have been filed. Read more


Shurtleff wants to see Jeffs evidence
He says items from car could be key to an organized-crime probe
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published September 16, 2007
ST. GEORGE — A stalled organized crime investigation into the Fundamentalist LDS Church could heat up again if the Utah Attorney General's Office is able to get its hands on evidence seized when FBI agents arrested polygamist leader Warren Jeffs. "We believe there's substantial information in there that would help with regard to financial investigations," Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said in an interview with the Deseret Morning News. Shurtleff was tight-lipped about what evidence he would like to see but said some of it could be valuable to ongoing investigations into Jeffs and the FLDS Church. "We've heard so much," he said. Jeffs, 51, is on trial in 5th District Court on charges of rape as an accomplice, a first-degree felony. He is accused of performing a marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin. Jeffs was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list until he was arrested in a traffic stop outside Las Vegas in August 2006. A Nevada Highway Patrol trooper stopped a red 2007 Cadillac Escalade because the temporary tag wasn't visible. The traffic stop ultimately led to the discovery of Jeffs and a "mother lode" of evidence inside the Escalade that has been the subject of legal battles in several states. Read more


Polygamy Dos and Don'ts
The Primer
Posted by Bonnie Goldstein Slate - Part of The Washington Post Company Originally published Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Last week, the criminal trial of Warren Jeffs began in Washington County, Utah. Jeffs is the so-called prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints, a Mormon breakaway faction that practices polygamy. Jeffs stands accused of being accomplice to rape in the 2001 forced marriage of a 14-year-old sect member to her 19-year-old cousin. A fugitive for two years prior to his 2006 arrest, Jeffs is the son of Rulon Jeffs, who led FLDS until his 2002 death. The character Roman Grant, played by Harry Dean Stanton in the HBO series Big Love, is based loosely on Rulon Jeffs, and the character Alby Grant, played by Matt Ross, is similarly inspired by Warren Jeffs. Read more


Polygamy trial evokes many feelings
If polyamorous marriages weren't taboo, power of cults would diminish
By Dominick Bonny The Daily Evergreen - Pullman, Washington Originally published September 18, 2007
Polygamy is a hot legal topic in American society. This is due in large part to the Warren Jeffs trial currently being argued in St. George, Utah. Jeffs is the leader of the largest polygamist religious sect in the United States and charged with multiple counts of rape and rape as an accomplice. The reason he is charged with these crimes is because, as the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, he had the absolute power to approve or deny all the marriages within his community. Jeffs is on trial because he forced a 14-year-old girl to marry her first cousin, who was nearly 20. She didn’t want to and protested, but was ultimately forced into the marriage, and Utah is trying to find out if Jeffs is guilty of any criminal conduct. He is charged as an accomplice to rape because he used political and religious power to force an unwilling, underage girl into marriage and subsequent unwilling sex with her husband. The sticky issue here is what kind of a precedent would it set if Jeffs gets convicted. Read more


Warren Jeffs Abandoned By His Flock Of Supporters?
By Doug Ware - KUTV.com Dan Rascon Reporting KUTV Channel 2 News Originally broadcast September 20, 2007
(KUTV) ST. GEORGE - Just over a year ago, Warren Jeffs was a fugitive from justice, a man on the FBI's ten "Most Wanted" list and maintained tremendous influence over polygamous communities in southern Utah -- as well as out-of-state. Now, Jeffs appears in court every day while facing a future in prison. And his religious authority is hemorrhaging like blood from a cavernous wound. His so-called polygamous "flock" of followers seem to be breaking formation from Jeffs' way of life -- perhaps because they no longer fear the self-proclaimed "prophet" of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, now that he is behind bars. Joseph Broadbent, 18, once saw Jeffs as the supreme religious authority. Now, however, he feels as though he's been cheated out of a normal life. "The way I was taught... he was basically God," he said. "We worshipped him every day." A year ago, Broadbent escaped his polygamist lifestyle along the Utah-Arizona border -- Jeffs' stronghold to command his FLDS followers -- saying that he no longer wanted any part of the religion. "The way he breaks up the families... he actually tells you who you are going to marry. I hope he stays in jail for life, That's what I'm hoping." Broadbent said. Read more


Jeffs Still Dominant Force Even After Conviction
Polygamist Leader May Still Control Sect From Prison, Former Members Say
By SCOTT MICHELS ABC News Originally published September 27, 2007
Though Warren Jeffs is facing up to life in prison, the fundamentalist Mormon leader will continue to control the lives of thousands of his followers, people familiar with the polygamist sect say. Jeffs was convicted Tuesday of being an accessory to rape for coercing a 14-year-old girl to marry her 19-year-old cousin. The verdict set off speculation over what will happen to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints if he is given a lengthy prison term. But, former members say Jeffs will probably still be revered as the prophet, the leader of the sect who is regarded as God's voice on Earth. They said they expect Jeffs, for the time being, to continue to be a dominant force in the lives of the estimated 10,000 sect members who live along the border of Utah and Arizona. "For those who believe, he is a prophet anointed by God," said Dan Fischer, a former member who started a network to care for boys who were kicked out of the sect so older men could have multiple brides. "There is nothing that man can do to change that." Fischer added, "Should he decide that someone should be ousted [from the sect], he can still pull that off from prison, just like a mafia boss can run the mob from jail." Read more


Polygamist townsfolk eager to stay under cover
Outsiders clearly unwelcome in community where no one makes eye contact and doors are shut tight
By Petti Fong WESTERN CANADA BUREAU CHIEF Toronto Star Originally published September 29, 2007
HILDALE, Utah–It is quiet here in the coppery shadow of the Canaan Mountain, except for the sounds of children playing behind high walls. The high-pitched happy voices sound eerie to me because they're indistinguishable. Are there 10 children behind those walls or 100? On a recent afternoon in this community of 1,900, the sidewalks are nearly deserted. The men turn their heads to avoid looking at you, the women look down. Up walkways to houses, blinds suddenly close and persistent door knocks are steadfastly ignored. It would be easy to believe you're invisible in this town except for the men following you, everywhere you walk or drive. Members of the polygamist community that settled here thought they were out of reach of lawmakers and prying neighbours. That may have been the case 60 years ago when this vast area of near-desert and rich red sandstone mountains was remote, unreachable. The reluctance of people to talk here is the clearest sign that Warren Jeffs, the spiritual leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, still has influence among his followers. Since his arrest last year and throughout his week-long trial, Jeffs has been living at the regional prison known as Purgatory, which is halfway between his compound in Hildale, where his wives live behind brick walls, and the courthouse in St. George. In that courthouse this week, Jeffs, 51, was found guilty by a jury of being an accomplice to two counts of rape after he urged and blessed the marriage of a 14-year-old girl to her 19-year-old cousin. The intrusion of outsiders is resented. "When we get people prodding customers and asking questions, it's not welcome," says David Jessop, manager of the local supermarket. To stop a photographer from taking pictures from the sidewalk, Jessop shielded his customers with his white SUV as they entered and left his store. Read more


In the book of our life, what will we write
By Norma Najacht Opinion Custer County Chronicle - Custer, South Dakota Originally published Wednesday, October 3, 2007
I love it when the good guys win. Whether it’s a book, a movie, or just life, I like happy endings. I believe life truly is stranger than fiction, which is why I enjoy books and movies about real people. And I especially like reading books or watching movies about people who have made a difference in somebody else’s life. Who could forget Oskar Schindler, the German businessman who saved the lives of over 1,000 Polish Jews during Nazi Germany’s "final solution," immortalized in the movie "Schindler’s List." The survivors and descendants of the approximately 1,100 Jews sheltered by Schindler now number over 6,000. Another of my favorite movies is "Anna and the King." The film is based on the life of Anna Leonowens, a British governess in Siam (now Thailand) during the 19th century. While it is uncertain how much influence she really had on the king’s son, and therefore the country, it is accepted that she did, indeed, have a direct impact on the future of that country. What an inspiration to know that one lone woman can change the course of an entire country! The book "Tisha" was given to me by a former pastor’s wife and it is to this day one of my favorites. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it. It is the true story of a young women who went to Alaska as a teacher and influenced many a life because of her high principles and refusal to compromise. It is full of adventure and romance and, yes, it has a happy ending. I gravitate to books and movies where it is a woman who makes a difference. I believe each of us has that potential, yet we see it so rarely. I am convinced that Elissa Wall, the 21-year-old woman who brought a lawsuit against Warren Jeffs, Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) prophet, is one of those women. Imagine what courage this young woman must have possessed to bring down this man she was taught from birth was the mouthpiece of God! From an early age, she was taught that he alone holds the keys to heaven and hell. He holds complete sway over the lives of an estimated 10,000 people in the FLDS. Read more


The not-so-good Halloween ideas
By Jon Busdeker The Huntsville Times Originally published Thursday, October 18, 2007
Hunter become hunted Find as many stuffed-animal dogs you can and start gluing them to your body. It doesn't matter if the dogs are big, little, black, brown or purple, just get as many on you as possible. Then, slip on your now-worthless Michael Vick jersey, and show what happens "When Dogs Attack." Not guilty? If you recently bought a new refrigerator, this one will be easy. Grab a nice suit, a tie and a pair of glasses and put those on. Dye your hair white. Now, get the refrigerator box, cut some squares in the bottom and make it look like a bathroom stall. Wave your hands underneath it and you're Sen. Larry Craig. The kids aren't alright We need dedication for this one. It's going to take acting like trash, drinking a lot, smoking cigarettes and shaving your head. After getting that down, try lip-synching when you get to the party. You're the perfect Britney Spears. And remember, be careful when you get out of the car - oops, you did it again. I do, I do and I do If you actually have more than one friend, get them all together. Have everyone wear dresses (they must cover every bit of skin) and you wear a suit and go as Warren Jeffs, the leader of the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. For the entire evening, tell everyone you are a prophet and the women are your wives. Read more


Wednesday Breakfast Bender
By Emil Steiner OFF/beat - Real, Strange News The Washington Post Originally published October 24, 2007
Welcome to October 24th! On this date 60 years ago, Walt Disney testified to the House Un-American Activities Committee, naming Disney employees he thought were Communists. Future News Prediction: Osama Bin Laden apologizes for repeatedly saying "Warren Jeffs" when he meant to say Mitt Romney during a new tape released by Al Jazeera.


Colorado City is impacted by change
Custer County Chronicle - Custer, South Dakota Originally published October 24, 2007
With all the construction going on at the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) compounds in Custer County and Texas, one might wonder if there’s anyone left in Colorado City, Utah. "Most of the people are left here," said Isaac Wyler, former FLDS member and resident of Colorado City. "I’d be surprised if 1,000 are gone." As for someone firing three shots at him two weeks ago, it turned out to be a pickup backfiring. Still, it was meant to scare him, he believes. The pickup belongs to a FLDS member who was going to testify at FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs’ trial last month on Jeffs’ behalf, he said. He is one of Warren’s "goons," Wyler said. Warren’s "goons" are not members of the Colorado City police force, which is FLDS, but they work side by side with the police. "Some have badges and some don't," Wyler said. When Andrew Chatwin was evicted from his home in Colorado City, they were all involved. "We call them the 'god squad,'" Wyler said. There is a lot of harassment going on in Colorado City, he noted. For him, it started when he was kicked out of the FLDS along with 20 other men Jan. 10, 2004, and didn’t leave the area. It was the largest single "kick-out" in FLDS history, according to Wyler, with 70 women leaving their husbands and hundreds of children taken from their fathers. Read more


Howl attracts all kinds
By Lindsay Anderson The Utah Statesman - Utah State University Originally published October 29, 2007
Lord Voldemort, Strawberry Shortcake and Dwight Schrute were just a few of the thousands of characters who attended USU's annual Halloween party, the Howl, held at the Taggart Student Center and Fieldhouse Saturday. A long-standing USU tradition, the Howl always gets a great turnout, averaging between 4 and 5 thousand people each year, said Megan Smith, ASUSU activities director. "Every year is a little bit different," Smith said. Each activities director has their own ideas, she said, and gets to decide what activities and changes will be taking place. This year, one of the changes was the entrance, from the TSC to the Fieldhouse, "so people don't have to wait out in the cold," Smith said. Planning for the Howl started the second week of school, Smith said, and the setup on Saturday lasted seven hours. Activities at the Howl this year included bands in the Fieldhouse, a DJ in the Hub, a hypnotist in the Ballroom, root beer in the Juniper Lounge and a photographer in the Walnut Room, who would take pictures and put them on a Web site, Smith said. There were three different hypnotist shows throughout the night, and around 20 students were selected from the audience in each show to participate. Some of the activities they performed while hypnotized included dancing, rowing a boat to a nudist colony and riding a roller coaster. Read more


Warren Jeffs Court Documents Unsealed
By Christina Flores KUTV Channel 2 News Originally broadcast October 30, 2007
Details of the Warrens Jeffs case kept secret during the trial were made public Tuesday. The state unsealed court documents and they’re now open for all to see. There are many details about Warren Jeffs’ health - like the fact that he lost 30 pounds in jail, his private conversations with family, and his own doubts about being prophet of the FLDS Church. During his trial, Warren Jeffs appeared sickly and seemed to fall asleep. But recently unsealed court papers reveal while Jeffs was in jail he became so sick, he went to the hospital. Doctors said he was depressed. In January, right before he went to the hospital, the documents say Jeffs called family and church members and told them, "When he was 20 years old, he had been immoral with a sister and a daughter." During those phone calls, he "renounced his role as the prophet" because "the lord revealed to him that he was a wicked man and has not held the priesthood since he was 20 years old." Jeff’s attorney, Walter Bugden, later asked the judge to keep that information out of the trial, because the state would use it to depict Jeffs as "a wicked and immoral man." The judge agreed. The court papers say a month after Jeffs renounced his role as prophet; he talked to family on the phone again and retracted his renouncement of the prophecy, saying he’d just been through a great spiritual test. Two months after that, Jeffs tried to pass a note to the judge in court. Read more


Jeffs' jail conversations may haunt him in trials
Law enforcers could use taped words of 'prophet'
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Thursday, November 1, 2007
Tapes are apparently still being made of Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs' conversations inside the Purgatory Jail. "We record conversations of all inmates," Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith told the Deseret Morning News on Wednesday. "We are not doing anything differently with Warren Jeffs than we do for anyone else, and nothing has changed since his conviction." Only conversations deemed protected, such as the ones between an attorney and client, are not recorded. The sheriff declined to comment on the contents of several jailhouse tapes that were detailed in recently unsealed court documents. More court documents also reveal some of Jeffs' writings that were seized when the polygamist leader was arrested in August 2006, after months on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List. "You know that there are laws passed for the purpose to take me in bondage and put me in prison. The evil powers know of this mission, and the devil wants this work stopped," Jeffs reportedly said in a 2005 document that prosecutors cite in a court filing. In other court papers, defense attorneys detailed how Jeffs renounced his role as a prophet of the FLDS faith and suggested that 31 years ago he had done something "immoral" with a sister and a daughter. He did not elaborate and later recanted his renouncement, saying he had "experienced a great spiritual test." The documents were suddenly made public late Tuesday night when 5th District Judge James Shumate ordered their release without any explanation. Read more


Warren Jeffs tried to commit suicide in jail
Reported by Brent Hunsaker ABC 4 News Originally broadcast November 1, 2007
Washington County, Utah (ABC 4 News) - Sources familiar with both Warren Jeffs and his confinement in the Purgatory Correctional Facility tell ABC4 that on at least two occasions he tried to harm himself. Both incidents took place back in January of this year. Neither came close to succeeding. In one instance, Jeffs rammed his head against the wall of his jail cell. In the other instance, he apparently tried to use his jail-issued clothes to strangle himself. Also in January, Jeffs was briefly taken to a hospital emergency room. But a Washington County Sheriff’s spokesman says that it had to do with his heart. Suicide attempts should not be surprising given the diagnosis of depression from two mental evaluations of Jeffs. Always thin, Jeffs had lost 30 pounds in his first few months in PCF. He was not sleeping well. And after the suicide attempts, Jeffs was confessing to friends and family members that he was a "wicked man". Depressed or not, former FLDS member Carolyn Jessop says she was surprised. "We believe that suicide is a horrible sin. That’s one of the worst," she said. "I always considered him narcissistic and a person like that protects himself." Read more


Guilty conscience didn't bother Jeffs for long
By Linda Valdez, editorial writer The Arizona Republic Originally published November 3, 2007
Cult leader Warren Jeffs had at least one lucid moment in a life that he used to bully and brainwash followers of his polygamous group. Documents unsealed after his conviction as an accomplice to rape reveal that Jeffs called himself a "wicked man." He later changed his mind. Not so fast, Warren. What you experienced is a guilty conscience. A long prison sentence could help you ponder all the wrongs you've done to people who trusted you.


Papers: Polygamist Leader Tried Suicide
Polygamous-Sect Leader Attempted Suicide in Cell While Awaiting Trial, Documents Say
By Ed White The Associated Press ABC News Originally published November 7, 2007
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A polygamous-sect leader tried to hang himself in jail in January, eight months before a jury convicted him of rape as an accomplice, according to court documents. The disclosure Tuesday was in an evaluation by mental-health expert Eric Nielsen, who examined Warren Jeffs in April and found him depressed but fit for trial. The suicide attempt was not disclosed in May when a judge released portions of the report. Jeffs, 51, is president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He was convicted in September of two counts of rape as an accomplice in the 2001 arranged marriage of a 14-year-old follower and her 19-year-old cousin. He could be sentenced to life in prison later this month. He also faces criminal charges in Arizona and in federal court in Utah. Jeffs tried to commit suicide in his cell at the Washington County jail on Jan. 28, Nielsen wrote. Authorities at the time said Jeffs was taken to a hospital but declined to say what caused the hospital visit or elaborate on Jeffs' health. "He was interviewed the following day, and his mood was described as somber and dull," Nielsen wrote. "He has complained that he was feeling anxious." On Jan. 30 and Feb. 2, Jeffs threw himself against the walls and banged his head, Nielsen said. In April, when Nielsen examined him, Jeffs replied "not really" when Nielsen asked whether he had truly intended to kill himself. Read more


Jeffs tried to kill self, papers say
Unsealed evaluation says he tried to hang self in cell
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs tried to kill himself in the Purgatory Jail and repeatedly renounced his role as "prophet," newly released court documents say. In a mental competency evaluation unsealed late Tuesday, doctors wrote that Jeffs tried to hang himself inside his cell in January. That led to a trip to the emergency room, and he returned to the jail under a suicide watch. A few days later, doctors said Jeffs was observed "throwing himself against the walls," which led jail staff to give him a tranquilizer. "On Feb. 2, 2007, he was banging his head on the wall. He denied any hallucinations at that time but simply described himself as anxious," Dr. Eric Nielsen wrote, noting that a psychiatrist who interviewed Jeffs determined the suicide attempt was a "cry for help." When pressed about whether he was really intending to kill himself, Jeffs told Nielsen, "not really." The report said Jeffs claimed to be feeling better, which he attributed to "prayer and study." Jeffs was diagnosed with a depressive disorder and ultimately declared competent to stand trial. The FLDS leader recently was convicted of rape as an accomplice, a first-degree felony, for performing a marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin. A 5th District Court judge in St. George ordered more documents unsealed Tuesday after requests from several news media outlets, including the Deseret Morning News, and a private investigator. "Obviously, in Warren's own words he is a fraud," said Sam Brower, the private investigator who has been looking into Jeffs and the FLDS Church for lawyers suing the polygamist sect. Read more


Video tape shows Jeffs admitting he's no prophet
Reported by Brent Hunsaker ABC 4 News Originally broadcast November 7, 2007
ST. GEORGE, Utah (ABC 4 News) - The split-screen video shows Warren Jeffs in the upper right hand square wearing the jail-issued green and white "pajamas". On the left is his brother Nephi. The conversation was recorded January 25, 2007 in the Purgatory Correctional Facility in Washington County. In a conversation pockmarked with pauses - some of them lasting minutes - Jeffs speaks in a deliberate, quiet tone. But the emotional undercurrent is strong - especially considering that Warren Jeffs is a prophet to roughly 10,000 polygamists in the FLDS community. For the first half hour, the conversation is routine. Warren Jeffs wants to send a message of support and love to his followers. This despite the fact that just the day before he had called several from the jailhouse phone and told them that he lost his priesthood 31 years ago after being "immoral" with a sister and daughter. Now, it seems, he's back in the role of shepherd. He tells Nephi to tell his people, "When the Lord allows us a test, let us turn to him to be at peace." He directs Nephi to have someone call on a sick little girl and "give a blessing." A few times during the first half hour Jeffs seems to have finished. He even hangs up the phone used to talk to visitors on the other side of the glass. Then he tells Nephi not to send the first message and begins a bizarre, halting dictation to Nephi of what he says are the words that God is now whispering to him. He says the message - phone calls - he gave yesterday are true - except for the part about being "the wickedest man on the face of the earth since Adam's time." (In a few minutes he would clarify that he is the wickedest man "in this dispensation.") Read more


Jeffs confession met with mixed feelings in polygamist towns
Reported by Brent Hunsaker ABC 4 News Originally broadcast November 8, 2007
HILDALE, Utah (ABC 4 News) - Warren Jeffs has confessed, but the question remains: Will his followers accept it? The best guess from people who have lived all their lives in the polygamist community along the Utah-Arizona border is this: A few will, most won't - at least not for the time being. Although 5th District Court Judge James Shumate only unsealed details of the confession this week, they have been known by some of Jeffs' family and close lieutenants for months. In late January, Jeffs made a several phone calls in which he not only renounced the leadership of his polygamist group but also claimed that he never was a prophet. In fact, he admitted to incestuous relations with both a daughter and a sister when he was 20-years old. While not repeating the incest part of his confession, Jeffs also told his brother Nephi during a personal visit that another man, William T. Jessop, was the real prophet and had been since their father Rulon Jeffs passed away in 2002. Jeffs called himself "the most wicked man of this dispensation." Those who have left the FLDS group - apostates as they are called by Warren Jeffs - say the faithful can explain away just about anything - even a confession that they can now see and hear for themselves. "You watch," said Isaac Wyler. "They'll say that you guys doctored the tapes to make him say that." Read more


Mixed reaction to Jeffs tapes
Some FLDS think they're a lie, others are stunned
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Saturday, November 17, 2007
Tapes of Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs' jailhouse conversations are slowly circulating throughout the polygamous border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. However, they are not generating quite the reaction that ex-FLDS members and others pursuing the polygamist sect leader had expected. "A lot of people just refuse to believe it no matter what," said Sam Brower, a private investigator working for lawyers suing Jeffs and the FLDS Church. "Others, they look at it and feel betrayed." Brower said he has handed out about a half-dozen copies of the DVD of the jailhouse conversation in which Jeffs renounced his title as prophet of the FLDS faith. Some of the recipients are people still in the church, he said. "One ... he was in his own words, he said, 'I'm stunned. I'm stunned. I can't believe it,"' Brower recalled. Many believe the tapes are a lie, said Isaac Wyler, an ex-FLDS member who lives in Colorado City. "They're claiming everything from him being drugged to the actual tape itself being manipulated," he said. Read more


Warren Jeffs Faces Sentencing Tuesday
KUTV 2 News Originally broadcast November 19, 2007
FLDS leader Warren Jeffs is scheduled to learn his fate Tuesday in a St. George courtroom. Jeffs was found guilty of two accomplice to rape charges each count carries a possibility of five-years-to-life in prison. Last week his attorneys tried to get the judge to throw the case out arguing the case was speculative and circumstantial. Monday prosecutors filed a motion asking the judge to deny the defenses' request. They claim the jury had evidence beyond a reasonable doubt when they convicted Jeffs. We will have live coverage of the sentencing from Saint George all day Tuesday.


Warren Jeffs must pay extra security cost for trial
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Tuesday, November 20, 2007
ST. GEORGE, Utah - In the Utah justice system, there is such a thing as adding insult to injury. The St. George Police Department and the Washington County Sheriff's Office want Warren Jeffs, the convicted prophet of North America's largest polygamous group, to pay the extra security costs for his trial. Jeffs, who was on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list while he was a fugitive, was convicted in September on two counts of conspiracy to commit rape. His sentencing hearing is Tuesday afternoon. He faces from five years to life in prison on each count. They're asking the court to assess Jeffs costs of $111,247 for the additional policing costs of the high-security trial - $56,027 for extra police and $55,220 for transporting him daily from his cell at Purgatory Correctional Facility to the St. George courthouse. Jeffs's lawyers filed a motion Monday opposing the "restitution" fee. Jeffs's attorneys countered by filing a motion on Monday calling the so-called restitution fee unconstitutional and "cruel and unusual punishment." "Mr. Jeffs, like all criminal defendants has a right to a public trial by jury," it says. The motion goes on to enunciate his other constitutionally guaranteed rights to have an attorney, to "confront and compel witnesses" and the right to due process. "Inherent in these rights is the need to provide a secure facility in which a jury may safely hear the case, the public may safely attend the trial, a defendant's attorneys may safely present a defense, the accused may safely confront witnesses, witnesses may safely testify and judges may safely oversee the proceedings," it says. Read more


Sect Leader Is Sentenced in Utah
By John Dougherty New York Times Originally published November 20, 2007
ST. GEORGE, Utah, Nov. 20 — The polygamous leader of a fundamentalist Mormon sect was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years to life in prison for forcing a 14-year-old girl to "spiritually" marry her 19-year-old cousin and commanding the naive bride to submit to sexual relations against her will. The defendant. Warren S. Jeffs, 51, was convicted by a jury in September of two counts of acting as an accomplice to a rape. Judge James L. Shumate of Fifth District Court imposed two consecutive sentences of five years to life in prison. Mr. Jeffs remained seated, his face expressionless, as Judge Shumate announced the sentence. He declined the judge's offer to address the court, and his defense lawyer, Walter Budgen, said Mr. Jeffs did not want to say anything publicly because he still faces criminal charges for arranging underage marriages in Arizona. In Utah, Mr. Jeffs faces federal charges of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. Mr. Jeffs was convicted after a week-long trial that included riveting testimony by the victim, Elissa Wall, who is now 21, married and no longer a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a Mormon sect with an estimated 10,000 members. Ms. Wall testified that she told Mr. Jeffs she did not want to marry her cousin Alan G. Steed and later begged Mr. Jeffs to be released from the union because of unwanted sexual contact. A day after Mr. Jeffs was convicted on Sept. 25, Mr. Steed was charged with one count of rape and is awaiting trial. Read more


Polygamous sect leader sentenced to 5 years
Jeffs convicted for role in arranged marriage between teens
The Associated Press MSNBC Originally published November 20, 2007
ST. GEORGE, Utah - A judge sentenced a polygamous-sect leader Tuesday to two consecutive terms of five years to life in prison for his role in the arranged marriage of teenage cousins. Warren Jeffs, 51, was convicted of two counts of rape as an accomplice for his role in the marriage of a 14-year-old follower and her 19-year-old cousin in 2001. It will be up to the Utah parole board to decide how long he actually stays behind bars. Jeffs' attorney, Wally Bugden, asked the judge for concurrent sentences but lost the argument. "This was all about religion," Bugden said outside court. "The foundation of this case was the prosecution of Mr. Jeffs because of placement marriages." Jeffs is head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, whose members practice polygamy in arranged marriages that have often involved placing young girls with older men. Most FLDS members live in the twin communities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., about 350 miles southeast of Salt Lake City. Washington County prosecutors said Jeffs enticed Elissa Wall into marriage and sex against her will by telling her that the relationship was commanded by God and that any refusal would place her salvation at risk. Read more


US polygamy sect leader sentenced
A US polygamist sect leader has been sentenced to five years to life in jail as an accomplice to rape for forcing a 14-year-old girl to marry her cousin.
BBC News Originally published Tuesday, November 20, 2007
A Utah court said the state board of pardons would ultimately determine how much time Warren Jeffs would serve. The self-proclaimed prophet spent 15 months on the run before his arrest in August 2006. The 51-year-old was found guilty in September of two counts of encouraging the girl to have sex against her will. Jeffs was the head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). The sect split from the Mormon Church after it renounced polygamy. He went into hiding after being charged in Arizona with being an accomplice to incest and sexual misconduct for allegedly arranging marriages between minors and older men. At the time of his arrest he was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list. A jury convicted Jeffs of orchestrating the girl's marriage to her 19-year-old cousin in 2001 and encouraging her to have sex by telling her she would go to hell if she did not. Allen Steed, who has not been charged with any offence, testified that his wife had initiated their first sexual encounter. Read more


Hope Organization Member Notices Change in Polygamist Communities
By Andrew Adams KSL Newsradio Originally broadcast November 20, 2007
Ahead of FLDS Church leader Warren Jeffs' sentencing today, there are signs of change in the polygamist communities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. There are cases of FLDS faithful acknowledging dissidents, and that usually just doesn't happen. But Warren Jeffs' influence is still felt. Just last Saturday, Elaine Tyler, with the HOPE Organization, was in town and was tailed, likely by Jeffs' henchmen, the so-called "God squad." Tyler said, "I have been out there dozens of times and never had noticed that I was followed. And we were definitely followed last Saturday. There was a white truck that followed us the entire time." Tyler says there is other, good news. She says whole families are now contacting her organization, looking for help on their way out of polygamy. Listen to broadcast


Jeffs sentenced in Utah
By Aaron Royster Kingman Daily Miner Originally published November 21, 2007
After being sentenced to five years to life in prison in Utah, Warren Jeffs is coming to Arizona on charges he faces in Mohave County. "I don't know how long it will take to get him to Arizona, but I believe the defendant and his attorneys want him to appear in Arizona as soon as possible after he is sentenced," Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith said. The Associated Press reported a Utah judge sentenced Jeffs, 51, to five years to life on each charge of rape as an accomplice on Tuesday. The sentences will be served consecutively. The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole will decide how long after the 10 years Jeffs will be required to serve. The board's decision is final, cannot be appealed and is not subject to judicial review. Procedural issues are subject to judicial review. A jury found Jeffs guilty of the two charges on Sept. 25. As the spiritual leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Jeffs arranged the marriage of a 14-year-old follower and her 19-year-old cousin in 2001. The victim testified she felt pressured to have sex with her cousin by Jeffs in order to obtain salvation. Jeffs will technically be in the Utah State Prison system while being tried in Mohave County, Smith said. The Mohave County Attorney's Office will have to proceed under the Interstate Agreement on Detainers, he added. "After that it will just depend on how long it gets to take to get discovery completed and all the interviews done before we can set a trial date," Smith said. In Mohave County, Jeffs has been indicted in four separate cases. Read more


Sect leader jailed for forced marriage of 14-year-old
From correspondents in St George, Utah Melbourne Herald Sun - Australia Originally published November 21, 2007
US polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs was sentenced to 10 years to life in prison today for forcing a 14-year-old to marry her cousin. Jeffs, the self-proclaimed "prophet" of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), spent 15 months on the run and was on the FBI's Most Wanted list before his arrest in August 2006. He was convicted in September. A Utah court said Jeffs' sentence was subject to review by the state board of pardons, which will ultimately determine how much time he serves. Looking gaunt, Jeffs showed no emotion when the sentence was read and he declined to address the Utah court. But his victim, who is now 21, was in court and directly spoke to the judge before sentencing. "Jeffs and his influence over me, as a 14-year-old girl, affected me and my family in so many ways," said Elissa Wall. She said she trusted the court would give him "the sentence that he deserves and that some good would come from this". Jeffs forced her to marry her 19-year-old cousin despite her objections. Revered as infallible by his followers and reviled as power-crazed and delusional by others, Jeffs, 51, led some 7500 FLDS members in the red-rock borderlands of Utah and neighbouring Arizona. Read more


Jeffs still a danger, FLDS escapee says
By William Hermann The Arizona Republic Originally published November 26, 2007
Author Carolyn Jessop is coming to Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe today and says she has a message for anyone who thinks sending Warren Jeffs to prison will change things in the small Arizona and Utah communities where Jeffs once ruled as "prophet" and forced Jessop and many other women into polygamous marriages. "They still aren't getting it about Jeffs," said Jessop in a telephone interview. "He left a structure behind when he went into prison. He gave people power, and the men he put into power have a claim to nothing unless they maintain the idea that Warren is a prophet and every order he gave - and gives - still has to be obeyed." Jeff was sentenced Tuesday in Utah to two terms of five years to life. Jeffs was the leader of Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints communities on the Arizona-Utah border, and still faces charges in Arizona for being an accomplice to sexual conduct with a minor, conspiracy and incest. A federal trial for felony flight is pending. But whether Jeffs is gone, his legacy of unquestioning obedience remains, Jessop said. Read more


FLDS sect may splinter now that Jeffs is in prison
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Sunday, December 2, 2007
The Fundamentalist LDS Church could be in for a leadership shake-up — or it may splinter now that polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs is in prison, the attorney generals of Arizona and Utah say. "It's awfully hard to have a leader in prison," Terry Goddard said in an interview with the Deseret Morning News. Goddard was in Park City this past week for the conference of the National Association of Attorneys General. In the interview, he weighed in on Jeffs' recent sentence. Jeffs was convicted of first-degree felony rape as an accomplice and sentenced to two terms of five-years-to-life in the Utah State Prison for performing a marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin. His attorneys have said they will appeal. The FLDS leader is facing similar charges in Arizona, and a federal grand jury has indicted him for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution stemming from his time on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said there may be a split within the ranks of the closed polygamous society. "I've heard from members of the FLDS Church who are standing by him 100 percent," Shurtleff said. "(They are) telling me how wrong we are, how godly a man he is and how we don't know the true Warren Jeffs." Others are beginning to waver. "We've heard there are a number who are hedging their bets and looking to the new potential leader," he said, adding that there may be divisions within FLDS enclaves scattered across the West and in Canada. Read more


Jeffs resigns as head of FLDS Church
By Patrice St. Germain The Spectrum Originally published December 5, 2007
ST. GEORGE — The day he was sentenced to prison for two counts of rape as an accomplice, Warren Steed Jeffs resigned as president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Through his attorneys, Walter Bugden and Tara Isaacson, a statement was released to the media today regarding Jeffs resignation. For more, please see tomorrow's edition of The Spectrum & Daily News.


Jeffs resigns as head
By Patrice St. Germain The Spectrum Originally published December 6, 2007
ST. GEORGE - Attorneys for polygamist leader Warren Steed Jeffs filed a motion Wednesday seeking a new trial and released a statement, per Jeffs' instructions, stating that he has resigned as president of the corporation of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. According to the statement distributed to the media, Jeffs' resignation was tendered Nov. 20 when he was sentenced to two back-to-back sentences of five-years-to-life in prison. Jeffs was found guilty on Sept. 25 of two first-degree felony charges of rape as an accomplice. The charges stemmed from Jeffs arranging and performing the 2001 marriage of 14-year-old Elissa Wall and her 19-year-old cousin Allen Steed. At the time of the marriage, both were members of the FLDS Church, which encourages the practice of arranged and plural marriage. The statement released Wednesday afternoon, isn't the first time Jeffs renounced his roll as the prophet of the church. During a jailhouse conversation between Jeffs and his brother, Nephi, on Jan. 25 at Purgatory Correctional Facility in Hurricane, Jeffs told his brother he was not the prophet and was never the prophet and that he (Warren Jeffs), has been the "most wicked man in this dispensation, in the eyes of the Lord." He also said he was immoral with a sister and a daughter when he was 20, but did not elaborate on his conduct. Knowing that jail staff was videotaping his visit with his brother, Jeffs instructed Nephi to obtain a copy of the video and share it with the public. Several days later, he attempted suicide at the jail, where he was being held in administrative custody. Read more


Futures of Jeffs, followers iffy
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Thursday, December 6, 2007
On the day he was sentenced, Warren Jeffs' followers did not stand for him. Through all of the previous court hearings in his rape-as-an-accomplice trial, the dozen or so faithful members of the Fundamentalist LDS Church stood as a sign of respect every time he entered or exited the St. George courtroom. On Nov. 20, they did not. A statement issued by Jeffs' lawyers, announcing that he "resigned as president of the Corporation of the President of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Inc." may explain why. Jeffs' lawyers said Wednesday he resigned the day he was sentenced. "The fact they did not stand up, we felt something had happened relative to his standing as prophet," said Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith. Read more


Jeffs move may be ploy to retain leadership
He has severed only financial ties to church
By Carrie A. Moore Deseret Morning News Originally published Thursday, December 6, 2007
Observers knowledgeable about Mormon fundamentalist splinter groups are wondering whether Warren Jeffs' formal resignation as president of an FLDS corporation on Wednesday is simply a legal ploy that severs his financial ties to the church but allows him to remain its covert spiritual leader. John Hamer, author of a new book, "Scattering of the Saints: Schism Within Mormonism," said news of Jeffs' resignation could mean different things to his followers than it does to outside observers who assume he has simply disassociated himself from any oversight of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He said language saying Jeffs had resigned as "president of the priesthood council" does not appear in the statement released by Jeffs' attorneys on Wednesday. That designation is tantamount to being the spiritual leader of the church, he said, and Jeffs has not written his resignation from the faith's priesthood. "The pattern of FLDS members ... would be a senior member of the council with a title like 'president of the high priesthood"' would be considered the spiritual leader of the church, he said. Members of the FLDS Church long considered themselves part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in name but rejected the church's leadership as "out of order" and instituted their own presiding council regarding doctrinal matters, Hamer said. Read more


Documents say Jeffs' attorneys protested mistrial request by prosecutors
By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Wednesday, January 23, 2008
ST. GEORGE — Attorneys for Warren Jeffs argued against a proposed mistrial in the polygamist-sect leader's recent conviction of rape as an accomplice, it was revealed in documents unsealed by a district judge in St. George on Tuesday. Washington County Attorney Brock Belnap sought the mistrial after it was learned one of the jurors had been sexually assaulted as a young girl and failed to reveal that information during the jury selection process. The incident came to light during jury deliberations and was reported to 5th District Court Judge James Shumate by another juror. Belnap cited two sections of Utah law that deal with prejudicial jury conduct or false statements of a juror. "If there is a conviction, the state will not have a fair trial because the Supreme Court will likely order reversible error based upon it," Belnap tells Shumate during the closed hearing in the judge's chambers. "If there is an acquittal, the state will have no remedies whatsoever. That injustice to the state in this case is such that a mistrial is appropriate under the law and under the circumstances." Shumate denied the motion for a mistrial after Jeffs' defense team argued in favor of continuing deliberations with an alternate juror. "We want this jury to decide this case," Jeffs' attorney, Wally Bugden, is quoted as saying in the unsealed court transcript. "And we believe you can give the jury an instruction to disregard and to begin resuming, commence their deliberations." Shumate interviewed all four alternate jurors before selecting one to sit on the jury. Less than three hours later, the jury returned a guilty verdict. Read more


Polygamist leader's fasting lands him in prison infirmary
By Paul Foy The Associated Press Provo Daily Herald Originally published February 22, 2008
SALT LAKE CITY - Frail and losing weight, polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs is in a prison infirmary because of a self-imposed fast. Roger Hoole, a lawyer who is suing Jeffs to learn the location of an 18-year-old client's mother, said he learned of Jeffs' condition while making plans for a Thursday deposition with Jeffs. "He appeared skinny, hard to hear; he speaks so softly at this point," Hoole said of Jeffs, who invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination for most of the lawyer's questions. Hoole represents Johnny Jessop, 18, who sued to force Jeffs, head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, to reveal the location of Jessop's 62-year-old mother, Elsie. Jessop, who was kicked out of the sect, has not spoken to his mother in more than 18 months. "There are hundreds of these boys, just thrown away, surplus males," Hoole said. Angie Welling, a spokeswoman for the Utah Department of Corrections, said Jeffs, 52, was taken to a prison infirmary Tuesday evening. "He's receiving the medical care that he needs," Welling said Thursday, declining to release any other details. Read more


Abuse Probed at Polygamist Compound
Life on Texas Polygamist Compound Old-Fashioned, but Far From Pleasant, Authorities Say
By MICHELLE ROBERTS The Associated Press ABC News Originally published April 8, 2008
ELDORADO, Texas Apr 8, 2008 (AP) - Until the raid on their compound last week, the women and girls of the Yearning for Zion Ranch spent their days caring for its many children, tilling gardens and quilting, dressed in pioneer-style dresses sewn by their own hands. But it was no idyllic recreation of 19th-century prairie life, authorities say. Since last week, they have interviewed members of the polygamist sect looking for evidence that that girls younger than 16 were forced into marriages with older men. Five miles off the highway, beyond a double gate, the group's members live lives that are isolated even for the scruffy West Texas prairie. Their 1,700-acre ranch is like its own city, with a gleaming temple, doctor's office, school and even factories. "Once you go into the compound, you don't ever leave it," said Carolyn Jessop, who was one of the wives of the alleged leader of the Eldorado complex, but who left the sect before it began moving to Texas in 2004. State authorities had taken legal custody of 401 children, saying they had been harmed or were in imminent danger of harm. Officials continued searching the compound on Tuesday. The raid on the compound founded by jailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs started with a call from a 16-year-old who alleged abuse. Authorities were looking for evidence that the girl, who allegedly gave birth at 15, was married to a 50-year-old, and for records related to other mothers aged 17 and younger. Even with their parents' permission, Texas law forbids girls younger than 16 to marry. Read more


Is Texas group a religious sect or clear-cut cult?
Opinions differ on how to characterize alleged polygamists
By Jeanna Bryner LifeScience MSNBC Originally published April 9, 2008
The allegedly polygamous group whose compound was raided this week in Texas is either a religious sect or a full-blown cult, depending on whom you ask. The raided compound was founded by jailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs, who took over in 2002 as prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which broke off from the Mormon church in the 1930s over the issue of polygamy. Authorities have reportedly taken into legal custody more than 400 children and 133 women deemed to have been harmed or in imminent danger of harm. While the media and some sociologists call the group a religious sect, other experts see it as a clear-cut cult, defined by charismatic leadership and abuse. According to news accounts of the FLDS, pubescent girls were forced into "spiritual marriages" to older men. Inside the compound's walls, researchers say, a new reality was born, with members indoctrinated so fully they had no concept of reality outside the walls. "In the case of the FLDS, we're talking about basically believing that women are there to be baby factories, and you have extreme patriarchal control of that group," said Janja Lalich, a sociologist at California State University, Chico. Lalich told LiveScience she definitely thinks the Texas compound should be called a cult. "If you've got a group that's abusing hundreds and hundreds of women and children, let's call it what it is," she said. Read more


Temple raid could help other investigators
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Friday, April 11, 2008
While Texas officials are keeping quiet about what they seized from the Fundamentalist LDS Church's ranch, authorities and lawyers in Utah and Arizona are hoping it can reinvigorate their investigations into the polygamous sect. "My personal hope is it will jump-start it," Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff told the Deseret Morning News on Thursday. "But I don't know how long it will be before that information is shared with us." The Utah Attorney General's Office has been conducting an organized-crime probe into FLDS leader Warren Jeffs and the church, but Shurtleff admits the investigation has stalled, mostly because authorities cannot get their hands on evidence. Papers, computer equipment and other evidence seized when Jeffs was arrested in Nevada in 2006 is in the custody of the FBI. It is the subject of legal battles over whether some of it is "privileged communication" between the religious leader who was once on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list and his followers. The FBI confirmed it served a federal search warrant on the YFZ Ranch on Tuesday, but declined to comment on what was seized, saying it is part of a pending federal case. "The application and affidavit in support of the search warrant are sealed and will remain sealed; no further comment will be made as this is a pending investigation," Richard Roper, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, said in a statement Thursday. Shurtleff said he has been told authorities in Texas seized "lots of records, hard drives and computer records" from the temple on the YFZ Ranch. A judge in Texas will likely have to decide to what extent — if any — the evidence is protected by privilege. Already, lawyers for the court-controlled United Effort Plan Trust want to see some of that evidence. "We're taking steps to get those documents," said Jeffrey L. Shields, a lawyer for the UEP Trust. "It may not relate to the kids, but it may relate to the trust." Read more


Polygamy Attire Born of Rules
Garment Rules Used to Control Women's Individuality, Former Cult Members Say
By CHRISTINE BROUWER ABC News Originally published April 17, 2008
When the women of a Texas polygamist cult emerged from self-imposed seclusion into the media spotlight this week, it looked to some outsiders as if they had stepped out of another century. Wearing heavy pastel-colored dresses buttoned up to the neck and reaching down to the ground, their hair pinned up into tight, tall waves, the women congregated on the porches of the sprawling Yearning for Zion Ranch and pleaded for the return of their children, 314 of whom are in state custody while authorities investigate allegations of child abuse. Their unusual appearance garnered nearly as much attention as their tears and meek manner. "The compound fence isn't the only cage for the women of polygamy," Rebecca Walsh, a columnist for The Salt Lake Tribune wrote in an article this week critical of the sect. "There is also a prison uniform: yards of pink and blue fabric, inches and inches of hair, and ugly orthopedic shoes." In a letter to the same paper, an unidentified female member of the sect responded to Walsh's comments. "I am free to dress as I like," she wrote. "I think dresses are romantic. They bring out the feminine side in me. Our bodies are sacred. And they are not to display before the world. That is the reason we cover them. & Our motive is not isolation but simplicity." Read more


FLDS became more restrictive, secretive and threatening
Carolyn Jessop co-author of ESCAPE, her memoir of life in the FLDS and her escape from it
Anderson Cooper 360 Blog CNN Originally published April 18, 2008
One of the aspects of my former life people are always curious about is the clothing women in the FLDS wear. Sometimes the media refers to it as "pioneer-style" clothing or "Little House on the Prairie" attire. With their long dresses, long underwear and hair piled high on their heads women in the FLDS look like they are racing headlong into the 19th century. It looks bizarre to me now, but I wore clothing like that for 35 years. This all started after the disastrous Short Creek raid in 1953. That raid is a focal point in FLDS history. Arizona officials raided the polygamist community and tried to break it up. But they failed when wrenching pictures of mothers being separated from their children were published in newspapers and there was a huge public outcry. But the raid turned out to be a huge plus for the FLDS because so much sympathy was generated. After the court case was tossed out, people came home and continued the polygamist lifestyle but became even more secretive. That’s when the clothing changed drastically for women—but it wasn’t the only thing. Women lost a lot of rights in 1953. They no longer had any say in who they could marry nor could they choose how to dress. The way this was spun was that since the community had come through the raid so successfully, it was now ready to practice a higher form of God’s law. (God is always the explanation when things get more restrictive; change is presented as a prize for being righteous and faithful. We were always told we were worthy of a higher law.) Read more


Willie Jessop: Purported Frontman at Texas Polygamy Compound
'20/20' Visits El Dorado Ranch, Speaks to Former Sect Members
By JOHN QUINONES and HARRY PHILLIPS ABC 20/20 Originally broadcast April 18, 2008
EL DORADO, Texas, April 18, 2008 — Deep in the vast mesquite-covered scrubland of west Texas lies the spiritual center of a secretive polygamous sect. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints arrived quietly nearly five years ago and from nothing, built a virtual instant city whose gleaming white temple quickly became its centerpiece, and today, the center of controversy. This week, with allegations of child abuse swirling around their compound, sect members reluctantly opened their gates for the first time to outsiders, to protest their innocence and to reveal a glimpse of their pain. "It literally breaks my heart," said one woman who identified herself as Nancy. "My children are everything to me. Help us get our children back." he polygamists say the call that triggered the police raid was a hoax and that now authorities are on a witch hunt. Who's in Charge? With Warren Jeffs still in jail doing time for rape as an accomplice in the forced marriage of an underage girl, another man has reportedly assumed Jeffs' authority. Four years ago, he was part of an attack on an ABC camera crew in the fundamentalist church community of Colorado City, Ariz., Jeffs' home base. His name is Willie Jessop, he's a former body guard to the "prophet" and said to be one of the most powerful men in the Texas compound today. "You know it seems like whenever they're in trouble they call in Big Willie to just kind of run the show," said Sam Brower, a private detective who has spent the past five years tracking Warren Jeffs' flock across several western states. Brower says he has no doubt that sexual abuse is happening in the compound. "I mean that is part of their lifestyle, part of their culture," he said. "Warren Jeffs brought that over." Willie Jessop is reviled by former church members who were kicked out by Jeffs in Colorado City, Ariz., such as Issac Wyler and Richard Holm. They say they were forced to leave nearly five years ago. "Around here a lot of us call him 'Thug Willie,'" Wyler said. "But he was -- he's been kind of Warren's bouncer. He is the one that stays in front of the meeting house door and kicks out people." Read more


Sect's roots run deep
By Roma Khanna Houston Chronicle San Antonio Express-News Originally published April 20, 2008
COLORADO CITY, Ariz. — Annie Jessop lay sleeping outdoors, hoping to escape the summer heat in the stone home she shared with 40 others, when authorities raided this polygamist enclave in 1953 to investigate "open and notorious cohabitation." Outside it was dark. Officers with flashlights roused the children, including the 15-year-old Jessop, and rounded up the men. Some 260 children were removed. And Jessop suddenly found herself on a course of uncertainty, moved from one temporary home to another, including a nursing home, converted Army barracks and a Phoenix apartment 370 miles away. "I went from a place where I knew everybody by their first name to a high school of 2,500. It was totally overwhelming," the now-70-year-old Annie Bistline said last week. "We were so homesick that, if we thought we could get away with it, we would have just gone back." Nearly 55 years later, a similar raid would thrust the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints into its most volatile period, with authorities taking custody of 416 children in West Texas, this time amid allegations of child abuse. On Friday, a judge in San Angelo granted the state temporary custody of the children after a chaotic two-day hearing and ordered paternity testing, with more hearings required by June 5. In the end, the 1953 case fell apart. But it would take months, in some cases years, before the displaced women and children returned to their community and resumed lives devoted to the practice of plural marriages. That life continues today for several thousand people in this remote region along the Arizona-Utah border. In recent years, however, local prosecutors have become more diligent and aggressive. A handful of members has been arrested and jailed, including Warren Jeffs, who has been the sect's spiritual leader since 2002 and whose father led the church for 16 years before. Jeffs' spiritual philosophy has ignited criticism from some members and child advocates who say the group must stop marrying underage girls to older men. With those tensions have come increased secrecy and isolation, including the drive to send members to places like the Yearning For Zion Ranch outside Eldorado. Read more


Colorado evidence is sent for screening
By Ben Winslow Deseret News Originally published Sunday, April 20, 2008
SAN ANGELO, Texas — State and federal prosecutors will be asked to screen evidence gathered against a Colorado woman now dubbed a "person of interest" in the investigation into a series of calls that triggered the massive raid on the Fundamentalist LDS Church's YFZ Ranch. Rozita Swinton, 33, gave a statement to Texas Rangers, who also seized evidence from her Colorado Springs apartment. While authorities would not say specifically what was in Swinton's home, the Texas Department of Public Safety said in a statement issued late Friday that the officers found "several items that indicated a possible connection between Swinton and calls regarding the FLDS compounds in Colorado City, Ariz., and Eldorado, Texas." Texas DPS officials said the items will be sent to crime labs for analysis. Anti-polygamy activist Flora Jessop said she recorded hours of phone calls between herself and a 16-year-old girl named "Sarah," who claimed to be pregnant and in an abusive plural marriage to an older man. Jessop told the Deseret News she got the first call on March 30 — a day after a family crisis shelter first received a similar call. The call to the family crisis center triggered the raid on the YFZ Ranch, where 416 children were taken into state protective custody. The man named in the phone calls, Dale Barlow, was questioned in Utah by Texas Rangers and has yet to be arrested. Child welfare officials still have not identified the 16-year-old girl named "Sarah," whose calls prompted the raid. "What we're hearing from DPS is that it is a possibility (that Swinton is 'Sarah'), but we don't have any concrete evidence of that," Shari Pulliam, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Family Services, said Saturday. Read more


Polygamist sect kept money flowing into Texas compound
By John MacCormack San Antonio Express-News Originally published April 20, 2008
ELDORADO — After more than a century as Schleicher County's only settlement, tiny, unpretentious Eldorado four years ago suddenly found itself with an improbable new neighbor rising swiftly from empty brush a few miles from town. In four years, members of a secretive, hard-working polygamist sect have built a whole town on a 1,700-acre ranch, erecting more than 30 large buildings, including a soaring white temple that dwarfs any house of worship within hundreds of miles. The market value of their Yearning for Zion Ranch and its improvements already exceeds $21 million, with the approximately 80,000-square-foot temple alone valued at $8.7 million, according to the county tax appraiser. One of the county's biggest taxpayers, the sect paid its $424,000 bill last year on time. And there is little mystery about the source of all the money and manpower it took to build the ranch, according to dissident members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints who still live at the sect's historic home on the Utah-Arizona border. Before he was arrested in August 2006, Warren Jeffs, the sect's self-pronounced prophet, aggressively dunned the faithful at its base in Arizona, known as Short Creek, for donations of both cash and labor to build its so-called New Zion in Texas, the first sect settlement to have a temple. "The money came from Warren's milkers. It's like he's got electric milkers on a bunch of dairy cows. He's got all these people and he's milking them for all they're worth," said Richard Holm, 55, a Utah businessman who left the sect years ago — but not before contributing more than $5 million in cash and property. "The Texas compound is supposedly for some of the elite that were culled out of the common folks and riffraff who were left here to work and send money to the elite over there," Holm said. Read more


Polygamist clothing has roots in 19th century and 1950s
By Hillary Rhodes The Associated Press Deseret News Originally published Tuesday, April 22, 2008
For a society accustomed to the likes of Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, the images of the women from the polygamist compound in Texas are almost shocking in their understatement: Ankle-length dresses, makeup-less faces, hauntingly uniform hair. And while no one would accuse the women of making a fashion statement, the pioneer-style outfits are a rare example of how in an age of overexposure, modesty, too, can give pause. The puff-sleeved, pastel dresses worn by the women in the sect are a combination of original 19th-century wear and 1950s clothing that was adopted when the church took a conservative turn, according to Janet Bennion, an anthropologist who studies polygamist women. The dresses are meant to show modesty and conformity: They go down to the ankles and wrists, and are often worn over garments or pants, making sure every possibly provocative inch of skin is covered. John Llewellyn, a polygamy expert and retired Salt Lake County sheriff's lieutenant, says the women cover themselves "so that they're unattractive to the outside world or other men." The appearance of unity through uniform dress, however, can belie the jealousy that often arises when the women — who might all look alike to an outsider — find themselves in competition with one another over the affections of the same man, Llewellyn says. The clothing is also stitched with special markings "to protect the body and to remind you of your commitment," Bennion says. She declined to go into detail about the stitchings because she said it would be an infraction against the Fundamentalist LDS Church community to talk about their sacred symbols. Read more


LATTER-DAY RESTRAINTS
RAIDING THE CLOSET FOR LATEST CULT FASHIONS
By DANICA LO New York Post Originally published Tuesday, April 22, 2008
April 22, 2008 -- PUFFY polyester dresses, sporty Skechers sneakers, sky-high bangs (circa the late '80s) and a unibrow might just be your ticket to heaven. Who knew? Fashion and grooming certainly aren't the biggest concerns to emerge from the Yearning for Zion (YFZ) Ranch since federal officials began their raid of the Texas compound in early April. But it's become just about impossible to ignore the superficial. Cult members' elaborate hairstyles, voluminous tailored gowns and gentle, pastoral demeanor have riveted the nation. To outsiders, the women of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) trudging out of the courthouse each day look like a uniform pastel parade. But for the religious community members, modest, pioneer-like clothing is much more than a reflection of the lifestyle choices they've made. For these women, fashion is a matter of life and death. Carolyn Jessop, the ex-wife of current YFZ Ranch leader Merril Jessop, fled the FLDS community in Colorado City, Ariz., five years ago and is the author of the best-selling memoir "Escape." According to Jessop, fundamentalist doctrines preach that clothing will be the deciding factor God's armies use on Judgment Day to differentiate between the righteous and the evil. "It was sobering - especially to a 6-year-old - to think that you could . . . end up dead if you didn't wear the right clothes," she writes of her first fashion epiphany. Read more


She's got the look
By SUSAN KRASHINSKY Globe and Mail - Toronto, ON Canada Originally published Saturday, May 3, 2008
The look has been described as Gibson Girl meets Little House on the Prairie. When the news cameras descended on the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado, Tex., four weeks ago, images of uniformly dressed women instantly became symbols of a religious sect and a lifestyle whose doors have long been closed to the outside world. But what exactly is the point of the old-fashioned hairdos and pastel pioneer-style dresses? Like many religious traditions that encourage women to cover themselves, the central theme is modesty. Dresses worn by women in FLDS communities are long enough to cover ankles and wrists. Long undergarments are sometimes worn to ensure that no skin needing to be covered is accidentally revealed. There are additional messages coded in the FLDS dresses. They have special stitching "to protect the body and to remind you of your commitment," said Janet Bennion, an anthropologist who studies polygamist women. Their pastel tones represent docile femininity, and their identical styles show conformity. Women in FLDS society never cut their hair: they believe they will use it to wash Christ's feet during the Second Coming and, as 1 Corinthians says, "... if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her, for her hair is given her for a covering." The look is a blend of the styles worn by FLDS women since the 19th century, and 1950s clothing that came into fashion when the church took a conservative turn, said Ms. Bennion, a professor at Lyndon State College in Vermont. The fact that outsiders find the style passé is partly the point, since it means wives and daughters are unattractive to outsiders and men other than their husbands. With a report from the Associated Press


Jail takes its toll on polygamist leader's authority
By JACK DOUGLAS Jr. Fort Worth Star-Telegram Originally published Sunday, May 4, 2008
As his polygamist followers in Texas undergo one of the most intensive child abuse investigations in the nation's history, sect prophet Warren Jeffs sits in a small jail cell in Arizona, emaciated and under a suicide watch, as he awaits trial on charges of criminal incest and sexual assault in a desert town that was once the home of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. Jeffs, 52, is alone in his cell 23 hours each day, allowed out only to shower and use the telephone. He is given two 30-minute visitation periods a week. Those who come to see him are usually his wives from Texas who, one sect expert said, have a "vested interest in his retaining his leadership." But Jeffs' rule over the estimated 10,000 members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is believed to be eroding, observers and former sect members say. "From a theological standpoint, Warren Jeffs would still be considered the prophet, even though he is behind bars," said Shannon Price, director of the Salt Lake City-based Diversity Foundation, which helps victims of polygamy. But Jeffs' continued control relies on the information he gets from the outside world, said Price, who grew up in a monogamous family but has relatives who are polygamists, including three uncles who were "prophets" of the sect. Based on his visitors' log at the Mohave County Jail, she said, Jeffs is getting his news from women who have little sway in the male-only hierarchy of the FLDS and its sprawling compound near Eldorado, in West Texas. Read more


Feds getting involved in polygamy cases
By Suzanne Struglinski and Ben Winslow Deseret News Originally published Friday, May 9, 2008
WASHINGTON — A Justice Department prosecutor has been assigned to review how the federal government can help state and local law enforcement with polygamy cases, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard in a letter this week. But members of Utah's plural communities are expressing concerns about the scale and scope of the investigations. "I'm a little bit concerned," said Christine, a member of the Bluffdale-based Apostolic United Brethren group. "I think it's a bit much." Mary Batchelor, the director of the pro-polygamy group Principle Voices, said she was concerned that the federal government might circumvent local law enforcement, who she said had a great deal of experience with the polygamous culture. "I don't think our communities should be specially targeted for investigation any more than any other community should be targeted," she said Thursday. The attorneys general of Utah and Arizona have been pushing for federal assistance on investigations into tax fraud, child labor violations, child-bride trafficking and organized crime — specifically in the FLDS Church, along with its leader, Warren Jeffs. Goddard said they would simply discuss their suspicions about crimes being committed. "Suspicions don't constitute probable cause," he told the Deseret News. "But I've always believed in the 'where there's smoke there may be fire' theory of law enforcement." Read more


Marvin Wyler's family has abandoned him
By John Dougherty The Arizona Republic Originally published Sunday, May 11, 2008
COLORADO CITY- Marvin Wyler turns up a recording of his fourth daughter, Zina, singing one his favorite songs. Her crystal-clear voice fills the kitchen and family room of Wyler's sprawling home, where he and his plural wives raised 34 children. The recording is the only way Wyler, 63, can hear his daughter's lovely voice, even though she lives only a half-mile down the road in this small town on the windswept Arizona Strip where a fundamentalist Mormon offshoot has continued the practice of plural marriage since the 1930s. Wyler believes in the teachings of Mormon Church founder Joseph Smith that included plural marriage as a necessary precursor to exaltation and eternal life as a god in the "celestial kingdom." But Wyler left the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 2002 over doctrinal differences with its leader, the now imprisoned Warren Steed Jeffs. Wyler's decision to quit the FLDS came with a high price. None of approximately 50 children and grandchildren remaining in the sect that has no affiliation with the mainstream Mormon Church, which disavowed polygamy in 1890, has had any contact with him in six years. Wyler said he doesn't know how many grandchildren he may have from Zina. "It was 10 at last count, but I don't know," he said. "If they found her in my home, they would cut her off (from the church)." It's ironic, Wyler said, that FLDS members are now suffering the agony of separation from loved ones after Texas last month removed 462 FLDS children from their religious compound and placed them in foster homes. "I wish it on nobody, but the pain and suffering they are now feeling is exactly what they put us through six years ago," Wyler said. Read more


The Road to Eldorado: Expelled from the FLDS
By Jennifer Litz Editor Del Rio Live! - Del Rio, Texas Originally published Monday, May 12, 2008
Richard Holm lived in a Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints community in Colorado City, Arizona, before the Eldorado compound was built in Texas. But in late 2003, Warren Jeffs, now serving jail time for being an accomplice to rape for arranging the marriage of a 14-year-old, took away Holm’s family in the span of a few days. His story shows the plight of men connected to the FLDS. "I guess I was excommunicated," Holm says. "I had been gone on a trip with my wife; I had two wives at the time, both sisters. I had kids with just one of them, the younger one was not able to have kids; I married one when she was 20 and the second at 22. My wife Lorena is the one I had seven kids with at that time. "In November of ’03, we had gone on a trip to Idaho and got home to Colorado City, Arizona, where I was born and raised; right after getting home, my wife got a call from her dad, Truman Barlow, telling him to see her because our holy prophet had told him that if our daughters stayed with me they’d go down with the wicked. I had heard rumors that Warren was just going to kick me out. "Well, when she got that call to go over to her dad’s, she asked her dad, ‘what about Richard?’ and he said, ‘I guess he can come too.’ He and I had been good friends; we traveled, did a lot of things together, for the previous 15 or 18 years, had a lot of involvement. So we all three [Holm and his two wives] went over to Truman’s, on a Sunday night, and he says, ‘I don’t know what’s going on or what’s behind this, but we gotta comply. This is what Uncle Warren — that’s what they called him — said.’ And so as soon as I heard that, I dialed Warren Jeffs, called his number to see what he was thinking; his brother Nephi answered the phone; he tried to get Warren on the phone, but he wouldn’t talk, he was too busy. He said if I called back later he’d talk to me. It took me two days of calling every hour or two, but he finally answered the phone. When he answered the phone I said, ‘why are you doing this to me?’ And he said, ‘I don’t know, that’s what the Lord told me just this morning.’ Read more


Relatives outside polygamist sect seek custody
Parents complain about vague details of requirements to get children back
The Associated Press MSNBC Originally published Tuesday, May 20, 2008
SAN ANGELO, Texas - Two men excommunicated by a polygamist sect went to a west Texas courtroom Tuesday to offer themselves as guardians for their children, who were seized from a church-run ranch, if the state deems their custodial parents unfit. "If we can establish I'm not guilty of those things, why can't I have my children?" asked Arthur Barlow, 59, who drove from southern Utah to seek custody of five of his children, who lived at the Yearning For Zion ranch in nearby Eldorado. Barlow and Frank Johnson, another father seeking custody of his children, were both excommunicated from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was not clear how many other relatives of the more than 460 children have asked to be considered alternatives to foster care. Child Protective Services typically looks for relatives in custody cases. Second day of hearings Hearings for the children entered their second day in the five courtrooms of the Tom Green County courthouse. The hearings, designed to set up procedures for the parents to regain custody of their children, are expected to last three weeks. Barlow testified he was excommunicated four years ago and had never been to the YFZ ranch, where all the children were removed last month and placed in foster care facilities around the state after agency argued underage girls were being forced into marriages and sex. Read more


Warren Jeffs' influence evident in FLDS hearings
By Ben Winslow and Amy Joi O'Donoghue Deseret News Originally published Tuesday, May 20, 2008
SAN ANGELO, Texas — Warren Jeffs may be incarcerated in an Arizona jail, but his influence among his followers is front and center in Texas courtrooms thousands of miles away. The issue of the Fundamentalist LDS Church prophet's continuing influence played out in court today before Judge Barbara Walther in a case involving Jeffs' own brother, Seth Steed Jeffs. The brother and his wife, Kathryn, have seven children in state custody scattered across Texas in four different facilities. In today's hearing, the