Victims Fight Back

Admirably, there are a few couragous souls who stand up for their rights and confront their abusers.   Below are articles about some of the brave Child Brides, Lost Boys and other American and Canadian citizens, who are victims of polygamy, and have found the courage to stand up and speak out.   These news articles are listed in chronological order.

Church Must Pay Dissidents Before Dislodging Them

Residents Must Be Paid For Homes

The Associated Press Originally published January 25, 1996

ST. GEORGE -- A judge has ruled dissident residents of a town on the Utah-Arizona border cannot be evicted from land controlled by a polygamous church without first being compensated for the homes they built.   The ruling ends, at least temporarily, the eight-year legal battle between the United Effort Plan (UEP) Trust and 21 families.   The plan is a religious, charitable trust designed to help believers of the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints follow the United Order of Heaven, which includes the practice of plural marriage.  The trust also owns much of the real estate in the community of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, 45 miles east of St. George.   The trust was established in 1946 to hold property based on fundamentalist views -- including plural marriage -- found in early doctrines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormon Church.  The Mormon Church outlawed polygamy in 1890 under pressure from the federal government.   The families had sued claiming plan officials were trying to evict them from their homes on plan property because of ecclesiastical differences.     Read more

Top court hears dispute dividing polygamist sect

By Matthew Brown The Associated Press Provo Daily Herald Originally published October 10, 1997

SALT LAKE CITY - Feuding factions of a polygamist sect on the Utah-Arizona border took their dispute to the Utah Supreme Court on Thursday, arguing whether the religion's leaders can evict dissidents from their homes.   A 5th District judge ruled more than a year and a half ago that leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints must compensate dissenters if they want to boot them from their homes in the Short Creek Valley.   But leaders of the polygamist clan that operates a communal economy in the adjacent towns of Hildale and Colorado City, Ariz., appealed, saying the former followers knew the rules and the state can't dictate what a church teaches its members.   "Religious leaders spelling out the rules of conduct in their sermons should not have to look over their shoulders at what jurists may be thinking," argued attorney Raymond Scott Berry.  "The religious body deserves some protection."   The court took the matter under advisement, but not before telling Berry that his clients can't use the state's "legal machinery" to accomplish only their ends, and prevent others who may feel wronged by the church from doing the same.     Read more

Mother's Complaints Lead to Canadian Investigation of F.L.D.S. Church

Mormon News Originally published November 2, 2000

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- Lenore Holm objected when her Fundamentalist Latter-day Saints Church leaders determined that her 16-year-old daughter should marry a 39-year-old Utah polygamist.   But her daughter was then taken to British Columbia to an FLDS commune there without Holm's permission.   Holm, who has been excommunicated by the FLDS Church, is now fighting back, filing complaints with Canada's Royal Canadian Mounted Police and with Utah's special investigator of "closed societies," Ron Barton.   Holm believes her daughter was taken to Canada illegally and has probably wed illegally also.  "I am concerned my daughter may have been married in secret and I want to know how she got across the border without parental consent," she said Wednesday.     Read more

Woman to bring suit against Mormon church

By Robert Matas The Globe and Mail Originally published November 19, 2002

Vancouver -- Debbie Palmer, a women with eight children from three assigned marriages in a Mormon polygamist colony, is going to court in an effort to expose a lifestyle which she says leads to sexual, physical, psychological and spiritual abuse.   Ms. Palmer, 47, intends to ask the B.C. Supreme Court this week to consider a class action against the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on behalf of women who say they have suffered as a result of the religion's communal, polygamist lifestyle.   At least 25 wives, and possibly as many as 200 from communities in Canada and the United States are expected to be part of the unprecedented lawsuit against the well-established religious institution.   She said she expects the civil court case will "bring into the public and legal arena questions that the government has been extremely reluctant to address."   The lawsuit could shatter a 55-year long silence by authorities who have ignored repeated attempts by women for help.     Read more

Lives torn apart by polygamy

By Mike Watkiss and azfamily.com staff KTVK News Channel 3 - Phoenix Originally published August 14, 2003

Two Arizonans, whose families were reportedly torn apart by a fundamentalist sect that practices polygamy in Colorado City are fighting back.  Lenore Holm said she is trying to find out what happened to her 16-year-old daughter, Nicole, after Holm said the teen was recruited by religious leaders to marry a 39-year-old man.   "My daughter could be being raped right now by a 39-year-old man," Holm said.   Nicole would be the second wife of Wynn Jessop, who reportedly has 10 children with another woman.   Many of the town's marriages are believed to have been arranged by Rulon Jeffs, the now-deceased leader of Colorado City, a town that sits on the Arizona-Utah border.  In Jeffs' absence, his son Warren has reportedly been sanctioning marriages.   "I think they have the wrong man in power," Holm said of the religion that she now calls a "cult."     Read more

Wives suing to bring end to abuse under polygamy

Judy Nichols The Arizona Republic Originally published Oct. 15, 2003

Polygamist wives who gather the courage to run from beatings, rapes and illegal "spiritual" unions are beginning to use a time-tested tactic to fight back.   They're starting to sue.   For millions.   Mary Ann Kingston, 22, was forced to become the 15th wife of her uncle at age 16.   She was a member of a large polygamous group in the Salt Lake City area known as the Kingston clan.   When she tried to leave her husband, her father beat her unconscious.  Both men were convicted of crimes and put behind bars.   Two months ago, she filed a civil lawsuit seeking more than $110 million from her immediate family and 242 members of the Kingston clan.   "We're cracking open a whole new avenue of liability for these (polygamists)," said Bill Mark, one of the lawyers working on the Kingston case.   "We're trying to punish the order and make an example of them."     Read more

Former FLDS member defies religious leader

He is refusing to leave the home owned by church

By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Saturday, January 24, 2004

COLORADO CITY, Ariz. — Ross Chatwin expects to be branded a traitor now that he's publicly denounced the prophet of his former church as an "evil dictator" who needs to be stopped.   "This might be stupidity, but I just want to get the ball rolling and help pave the road for others to add to," Chatwin said as he began a press conference in front of dozens of reporters at his Colorado City home Friday.   "I'm glad the police are here. I feel like I need them."   Officers were on hand to monitor the press conference, as well as a representative of the Utah Attorney General's Office and anti-polygamy activists.   Chatwin's press conference follows the excommunication two weeks ago of more than 20 high-ranking men of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, including Colorado City Mayor Dan Barlow and his brother, Hildale City councilman Joe Barlow.  Both men resigned from public office the same day and left town.     Read more

Ex-FLDS member is refusing eviction

By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Thursday, January 29, 2004

COLORADO CITY, Ariz. — Ross Chatwin refuses to budge.   "I'm not going to move out.  No way.  I think this is my house," Chatwin said Wednesday in response to an eviction notice sent by the home's legal owner.   Chatwin's comments came several days after he held a press conference to denounce Warren Jeffs, leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, as a "Hitler-like dictator" who needs to be stopped.   The eviction letter, written by FLDS attorney Rod Parker and served on Chatwin late Monday afternoon, gives Chatwin five days to make up his mind.   "We're not going to kick Mr. Chatwin and his family out on the street in five days.  But he does need to agree to surrender possession of UEP property.  He needs to agree to be out," said Parker.  "The UEP will allow him the time necessary to find another place to live and then move his family and possessions."   But Chatwin has no plans to move or respond to Parker's letter.   "My plan is to get an attorney and fight this," said Chatwin.     Read more

'We're not going to leave,' former FLDS man says

Chatwin fires back in letter to church attorney

By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Monday, February 2, 2004

COLORADO CITY, Ariz. — Another day, another interview.   Ross Chatwin has granted so many interviews to reporters from around the country that he's having trouble keeping track of it all.   "I have no idea how many interviews I've given, but it's a lot," Chatwin said of his newfound fame.   The media's fascination with Chatwin began just over a week ago when the 35-year-old father of six publicly denounced the leader of the area's most dominant church as a "Hitler-like dictator."   Chatwin, like most residents of the twin cities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, grew up in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  He said he was taught from an early age that his salvation depended on living the celestial law of polygamy.   "That's all we were trying to do.  We were just trying to do what we've always been taught to do," said Chatwin, who fell out of favor with FLDS leader Warren Jeffs several times over the past two years for various alleged sins.   "I was taught you needed at least three wives to get into the celestial kingdom of heaven.  The more wives you have here, the better you are.   I guess I wasn't good enough."     Read more

Hearings set in Chatwin eviction case

FLDS church to bring case to Arizona court

By Jane Zhang The Spectrum Originally published Wednesday, February 4, 2004

ST. GEORGE -- Born and raised in Colorado City as a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Ross Chatwin had always believed he belonged to "a superior people" who would eventually take over the world with the prophet at the helm.   But since he declared war on the polygamist church's leader Warren Jeffs about two weeks ago, Chatwin has discovered a gentile's world with "some really good people."   "I basically broke the system here and said, 'No more,'" said Chatwin, 35, who fell out of favor last March and received his first eviction notice in November.   "It helped me to wake up.  Luckily, it's not too late for me.  I have my wife's support."   But his wake-up call didn't come without a price.   The church, which owns most of the area's land and property, filed a lawsuit to evict Chatwin last Thursday at Arizona Superior Court in Kingman, Ariz., with a 15-minute initial appearance scheduled for this Thursday and court hearings expected in 10 days with Judge James Chavez, FLDS attorney Rod Parker said.   Chatwin, Parker said, lost his right to live on church land because he pursued plural wives on his own.  He was accused of forcible detainment, meaning he refused to leave the property against the landlord's wish.     Read more

Chatwin ready to fight UEP eviction in court

Lawyer: Recent cases set good precedent for Colorado City man

By Jane Zhang The Spectrum Originally published February 6, 2004

ST. GEORGE -- When Ross Chatwin moved with his wife and four children from a one-bedroom house he built to a bigger home his brother built in Colorado City in 2001, he first asked for permission from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which owns most of the area's land and property through a trust, United Effort Plan.   Now, he said, the polygamist church appears to favor the practice, with about 35 families swapping houses in the last six months.   With members living in houses they didn't build, Chatwin said, the church, which has failed in eviction cases in both Utah and Arizona, hopes to reverse its fortunes.   The strategy will be put to the test on March 2, as Chatwin goes to trial in Kingman before Arizona State Court Judge James Chavez.   The date was decided Thursday after an initial court appearance by Joan C. Dudley, Chatwin's pro bono attorney from Arizona Community Legal Services.  Chatwin and Rodney Parker, the FLDS church's attorney, attended by teleconference.     Read more

Family ripped apart

Colorado City man's children pit against each other over Jeffs

By Jane Zhang The Spectrum Originally published Friday, February 13, 2004

COLORADO CITY, Ariz. -- Beaming from identical 5-by-7-inch green plastic frames, the faces on the wall voicelessly remind the Wyler family of their happy days.   Eighteen daughters and 16 sons, who, for the last family reunion 1 1/2 years ago, brought more than 70 upbeat souls, eating hamburgers, playing volleyball and engaging in games, to Colorado City's Maxwell Park.   Today, the pink draperies in the living room still seem eager to embrace the flecks of sun falling through the window wall.  But family reunions are no more, and the picture wall is ripped by an invisible line, with 24 children on one side and 10 on the other.   The five daughters and five sons who loyally follow Warren Jeffs, the self-proclaimed prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, have pitted themselves against their apostate siblings, distancing their 40 children from the rest of the family.     Read more

Man to challenge eviction in court

FLDS leaders say property belongs to their church

By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Tuesday, March 2, 2004

COLORADO CITY, Ariz. — An Arizona judge is slated to hear arguments today in an eviction case involving a former member of the nation's largest polygamous church.   Ross Chatwin, 35, will argue he cannot be evicted from a house constructed on property owned by the Fundamentalist LDS Church unless the church compensates him for improvements made to the property.   Mohave County Superior Court Judge James E. Chavez is scheduled to preside over the 9 a.m. bench trial in Kingman.   Media interest in the case is strong, according to a court clerk, who also said the trial could last all day.   The judge is expected to take the case under advisement and issue a decision at a later date, the clerk said.   Chatwin, his wife Lori and their six children live in the basement of a frame house built by one of his brothers on Willow Street, while another brother and his family recently moved in upstairs.  FLDS leaders assigned both families to their respective living spaces, said FLDS attorney Rod Parker.   The FLDS Church owns much of the property and buildings in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City under a legal trust called the United Effort Plan.     Read more

Chatwin fights eviction in court

UEP lawsuit being heard in Kingman, Ariz.

By Dave Hawkins The Spectrum Originally published Wednesday, March 3, 2004

KINGMAN, Ariz. -- A Colorado City woman testified Tuesday that the leader of the predominant church of the northern Arizona community and the neighboring town of Hildale, Utah ordered her to reject her husband so that he would be "disciplined."   "As part of that discipline he asked that I not sleep with my husband," Lori Chatwin said of her conversation with Warren Jeffs, the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Jeffs also has control of the United Effort Plan, the financial arm of the church, which owns most of the land in Colorado City and Hildale.   Chatwin's testimony was given in Mohave County Superior Court in Kingman where Judge James Chavez is hearing the UEP lawsuit to evict her husband Ross Chatwin, 35, from the property he was allowed to occupy in January 2001.  The case wasn't resolved after more than six hours of testimony Tuesday.   UEP attorney Rodney Parker urged Chavez to strike Chatwin's testimony about the disciplinary directive, but it was allowed after Chatwin's attorney Joan Dudley insisted it was relevant as evidence of church influence over citizens.     Read more

Dissident polygamist goes on trial in lawsuit

By Caleb Soptelean Kingman Daily Miner Originally published March 4, 2004

The eviction trial of a Colorado City man who has been excommunicated by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints began Tuesday.   The United Effort Plan (UEP) has requested that Mohave County Superior Court Judge James Chavez evict Charles Ross Chatwin from a home in the polygamous community.   Chatwin is being represented in the case by Community Legal Services, which is based in Kingman.   During a Jan. 23 news conference in Colorado City, Chatwin denounced the church and likened its prophet Warren Jeffs to Adolph Hitler.   On Tuesday, both sides presented witnesses, and Chavez set March 18 for oral arguments on whether three persons who did not show up Tuesday were properly subpoenaed.   Chatwin's attorney Joan Dudley argued that Jeffs, who also is UEP board president, church bishop and UEP trustee Fred Jessop, and UEP representative Nephi Barlow all were properly subpoenaed.   UEP attorney Rodney Parker argued that the three were not subpoenaed correctly because they live in Utah, which is not subject to subpoenas from Arizona jurisdictions.   Jeffs and Jessop live just across the Utah border in Hildale, Parker said. Barlow previously lived in Colorado City but has since moved to St. George, Utah.     Read more

FLDS, couple wage property dispute in court

By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Thursday, March 4, 2004

COLORADO CITY, Ariz. — Late Tuesday night, after spending the day in court fighting an eviction notice, Ross and Lori Chatwin went back to sleep in the house they still call home — for now.   "I think it (the hearing) went OK," Chatwin said Wednesday.  The five-hour drive back to Colorado City from Kingman, Ariz., topped off a long day in Mohave County Superior Court where Chatwin testified he should be allowed to live in the home even though he doesn't own it.   The house's owner, The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, has the legal right to request Chatwin's removal, church attorney Ron Parker said.   "This is a property rights case, and Ross Chatwin clearly doesn't own this property," said Parker, pointing out that Chatwin did not purchase the lot or build the frame house where he has lived for three years.   Chatwin, a 35-year-old father of six, lives in the basement of a green frame house.  Chatwin's brother and his family live upstairs.   A March 18 telephone conference has been scheduled to resolve questions over subpoenas Chatwin's attorney Joan Dudley attempted to serve on FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, former FLDS bishop Fred Jessop and ousted FLDS member Nephi Barlow just two days before the hearing.     Read more

Subpoena targeting FLDS president ruled invalid

Jeffs won't have to testify in eviction case

By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Friday, March 19, 2004

COLORADO CITY, Ariz. — Warren Jeffs, president and prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, will not be compelled to testify in an eviction case involving a former church member.   Mohave County Superior Court Judge James Chavez ruled Thursday that the Arizona subpoena issued for Jeffs, who lives in Hildale, Washington County, was not valid.  That subpoena was mailed to FLDS attorney Rod Parker at his Salt Lake office.   "This was not a close legal issue.  It's basic, bar exam stuff," said Parker, following the conference call with Chavez in the Kingman, Ariz., courtroom and an attorney representing Ross Chatwin.   "The subpoena power of a state court in a civil case does not extend beyond its own border to a case in another state."   Chatwin, 35, is fighting an eviction order to move his family from the basement of a home owned by and built on church property.   "This was a big deal to me.     Read more

Eviction case has closing arguments

e-Press The Tri-State News Network Murphy Broadcasting, Inc. Originally published Friday, April 16, 2004

KINGMAN, Ariz. - Mohave County Superior Court Judge James Chavez has taken under advisement an eviction case emanating from Colorado City.  Chavez is expected to rule within 30 days after attorneys presented closing arguments Wednesday in the proposed eviction of Ross Chatwin.   Plaintiff attorney Rodney Parker said Chatwin was a tenant at will of property owned by the United Effort Plan, a trust controlled by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.   Parker said the trust has legal authority to evict Chatwin without cause or reason if it so chooses.   Defense attorney Joan Dudley, however, argued Chatwin grew up being taught that he could live on UEP land for life.  Chatwin testified that he was encouraged by church officials to build a home and make other improvements during his period of residency.   Dudley maintains Chatwin doesn't want to leave and shouldn't be forced to do so.  Or if he is forced to vacate UEP property, Chatwin should be compensated for the value of any improvements he has made over time, according to Dudley.     Read more

FLDS leader and two others accused in suit of sexually abusing boy

The Associated Press Originally published Friday July 30, 2004

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) A former member of a polygamous sect on the Utah-Arizona border has filed a lawsuit that alleges three of his uncles one of them the head of the sect sexually abused him when he was a child.   The lawsuit by Brent Jeffs, 21, of Salt Lake County said the three told him the actions were a way to make him a man.   "Those defendants explained to plaintiff that it was 'God's will' that he never disclose the abuses to anyone, and if he did, it would be upon pain of eternal damnation," the lawsuit filed late Thursday in 3rd District Court alleged.  "Thus, for many years, the frightened child remained silent."   The lawsuit names Warren Steed Jeffs, 48, president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and his brothers Blaine Balmforth Jeffs and Leslie Balmforth Jeffs.   Ron Parker, an attorney for the church, said the church and Jeffs denied the allegations.   "The church and President Jeffs believe that the filing of this action is part of a continuing effort by enemies of the church to defame it and its institutions," he said in a statement.  "President Jeffs is confident that ultimately these allegations will be shown to be a total fabrication."     Read more

FLDS Leader Accused of Sexual Abuse

A sex abuse lawsuit has been filed against the leader of Utah's largest polygamous church. The suit accuses the FLDS church leader of sexually abusing a five year-old boy.

KSL 1160 Newsradio Originally broadcast July 30, 2004

SALT LAKE CITY-(KSL News) -- The leader of Utah's largest polygamous church has been hit with a sex abuse lawsuit.   Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs and two of his brothers are accused of sexually abusing a five year-old boy.   Brent Jeffs, now 21, claims he was told not to say anything because it was "god's will."   FLDS Church lawyer Rod Parker tells KSL Newsradio Warren Jeffs denies the allegations in the strongest possible terms.   The lawsuit also accuses Warren Jeffs and his brothers of molesting other boys.   The FLDS Church has faced allegations of child bride marriages, and the abuse of young girls.   Utah's Attorney General tells KSL Newsradio he is investigating.

Fired worker adds church to civil lawsuit over firing

The Associated Press The Arizona Republic Originally published August 17, 2004

SALT LAKE CITY - A former worker of a Hildale business who claims he was wrongfully terminated because he no longer adhered to town's dominate faith has amended his civil lawsuit to include the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and its president, Warren Jeff.   Shem Fischer filed the federal lawsuit in 2002. The former salesman for the Forestwood Company, a wooden cabinetry business, has included new allegations that church officials interfered with his relationship with his employer and blacklisted him.   The majority of residents in Hildale and adjoining Colorado City, Ariz., belong to the FLDS Church, which embraces the practice of polygamy.   The amended lawsuit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City, includes the original allegations that Fischer was forced out of his job because he protested the 2000 firing of a fellow employee based on the co-worker's lack of belief in FLDS doctrine and because Fischer rejected certain tenets.  The firings by the Hildale company were prompted by orders from Jeffs and other FLDS leaders for followers to cease all association with non-followers, Fischer claims.  He alleges the officials then put him on a blacklist to stop him from getting a new job.     Read more

Worker Adds FLDS Leader to Civil Lawsuit

The Associated Press KSL 1160 NewsRadio Originally broadcast August 18, 2004

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A former worker of a Hildale business who claims he was wrongfully terminated because he no longer adhered to town's dominate polygamist faith has amended his civil lawsuit to include the FLDS president, Warren Jeff.   Shem Fischer is a former salesman for the Forestwood Company, a wooden cabinetry business.  He is adding the FLDS Church to his lawsuit claiming church officials interfered with his relationship with his employer and blacklisted him.   Church attorney Rodney Parker said the claim cites a sermon in which Jeffs read a passage by Brigham Young about shunning apostates.  Parker said there was no mention of Fischer or Forestwood.   He said the church cannot be held liable for teaching doctrine to its members.

Private eye seeks FLDS prophet

Investigator attempts to serve court summons, copy of suit to Warren Jeffs

By Rachel Olsen The Spectrum Originally published August 20, 2004

HILDALE -- A private investigator attempted Thursday to serve a summons and a copy of a lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Prophet Warren Jeffs.   Sam Brower was hired as an investigator by the firm representing the plaintiff, Brent Jeffs.  The plaintiff, 21, alleged in the lawsuit that Warren Jeffs and two of his brothers sexually abused him as a child, according to a court document.  Brent Jeffs, the nephew of the FLDS prophet, seeks an unspecified amount in the lawsuit.   Upon the initial filing of the complaint, Warren Jeffs denied the claims of sexual abuse in a written statement issued through his lawyer, Rodney Parker.   The FLDS church is based in the twin communities of Hildale and Colorado City and is led by Warren Jeffs, the self-proclaimed prophet.  The FLDS church constitutes the largest polygamist group in North America.   Brower said he had already given the papers to an individual at the new polygamist compound in Texas, where the church built what members say is a retreat for the faithful near Eldorado.   However, Brower said he wanted to serve the papers at Warren Jeffs' Utah address.     Read more

Suit Alleges Polygamist Leader Keeps Blacklist

Courthouse News Service courthousenews.com Originally published August 23, 2004

Polygamist prophet Warren Jeffs has a blacklist of people whom followers of his church are barred from doing business with or employing, according to a suit filed by a former church member.   Shem Fischer claims Jeffs added him to the blacklist after he lost his sales job at a Hildale, Utah, furniture company.  Forestwood Co. fired him, he says, because he no longer followed Jeffs' Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.   The "blacklisting of Fischer was done with the intention of preventing Fischer from securing other employment," the amended complaint alleges.   Fischer originally sued Forestwood for wrongful termination in 2002.   He added Jeffs and the FLDS to the complaint Aug. 10, accusing them of interfering with his employment and blacklisting.   The suit is the second to be filed against Jeffs in a month, following that of a nephew of the prophet who accused him of sexual abuse.     Read the amended lawsuit

'Lost Boys' Sue FLDS Church

Kimberly Houk Reporting KSL TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast August 28, 2004

Six young men who are being called the "lost boys", filed a lawsuit against the Fundamentalist LDS church, a southern Utah based polygamist religion.   They want money for the damage they say was inflicted on them when they were ex-communicated from the church.   The boys say they were unlawfully kicked out of the FLDS religion and cut off from their families for minor offenses like drinking, swearing, or smoking.  But the "Lost Boys" say the real reason they were thrown out is there's not enough women to go around to keep all the men in polygamous relationships.   Last month nearly 100 "Lost Boys" filled the steps of the state capitol.  It was the first time any of them wanted to tell their story.   Dan Fischer: "It had to stop and we needed to bring it into daylight."   Dan Fischer is a former polygamist who broke away from the FLDS church a decade ago.  He's seen firsthand what has happened to these boys and he stands behind them in filing a lawsuit against the FLDS church, their president Warren Jeffs, and various other church members.   Dan Fischer: "These boys have been damaged.  They've been kept from schooling that they should have had in the young teenage years.   They need a second chance.  They need an opportunity to get education to continue on in life, to support their families."     Read more

FLDS church named in another lawsuit

By Rachel Olsen The Spectrum Originally published Saturday, August 28, 2004

ST. GEORGE -- On the heels of one lawsuit, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was named in another lawsuit Friday.   Joanne Suder and other counsel again will represent the plaintiffs -- six of the so-called "lost boys" from the FLDS community.   Filed Friday in the 3rd District Court, the lawsuit claims the excommunication and expulsion of the plaintiffs from the FLDS community labels the "males as 'apostates,' results in their eternal damnation and forever severs their contact with FLDS family, friends, institutions, business and employment, and other benefits."   The FLDS church, based in the twin communities of Hildale and Colorado City, is led by Warren Jeffs, the self-proclaimed prophet.  The FLDS church constitutes the largest polygamist group in North America.   Suder, along with other counsel, represents the plaintiff in another lawsuit recently filed, where the plaintiff, the nephew of Jeffs, alleged that Jeffs and two of his brothers sexually abused him as a child.   That lawsuit also named the church and the United Effort Plan and Trust, the financial arm of the church, as defendants.   The plaintiff seeks an unspecified amount.     Read more

Hildale Resident Arrested for Locking House

A man who successfully challenged a polygamous church's effort to evict him from his home has been arrested for trying to keep his brother out of the home.

The Associated Press KSL 1160 Newsradio Originally broadcast September 9, 2004

ST. GEORGE, Utah (AP) -- Ross Chatwin has been trying to evict his brother Steven from the home where the brother has lived in an upstairs apartment.   Police officers serving the twin polygamous communities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., arrested Ross Chatwin, 35, on Tuesday on felony trespass charges after he allegedly changed the locks on the apartment.   He was booked into a Utah jail and made an initial appearance in an Arizonia Justice Court on Wednesday.   A judge set bail at $2,000 and scheduled a Sept. 17 preliminary hearing.   Ross Chatwin was excommunicated from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which owns much of the two communities, including the Colorado City property on which Ross Chatwin's home was built.   In May, an Arizona court ruled that Ross Chatwin has the right to retain the residence until he receives just compensation for his investments in the residence.   Ross Chatwin's effort to evict his brother already was set for a court hearing Friday in Kingman, Ariz.     Read more

Lawsuits increase pressure on polygamist sect

By Patty Henetz The Associated Press Originally published Sunday, September 19, 2004

SALT LAKE CITY -- Law enforcement agencies in three states and Canada attempting to solve a myriad of problems in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the empire controlled by its prophet, Warren Jeffs, are getting help from an unlikely pair of allies.   Dr. Dan Fischer, a former polygamist who turned a dental practice into a multimillion dollar company that develops and sells advanced dental equipment and materials worldwide, and Joanne Suder, a crusading attorney from Baltimore, are working together on lawsuits against Jeffs and the church alleging child sexual abuse, abandonment and financial fraud.       Read more

Arizona court rules against Colorado City eviction

By Paul Davenport The Associated Press Casper Star-Tribune Originally published November 30, 2004

PHOENIX (AP) - An Arizona appellate court has ruled that leaders of a polygamist sect in Colorado City couldn't evict a couple after ousting the man from the sect.   The man was removed when his wife refused to allow her 15-year-old daughter to wed a 39-year-old married man.   However, the Court of Appeals said the case it decided Tuesday didn't resolve underlying legal issues.   The Court of Appeals upheld a Mohave County trial judge's ruling dismissing an eviction action filed against Milton and Lenore Holm by a trust controlled by leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.   The Holms live in a house on trust land in Colorado City and the trust claimed it had a landlord-tenant relationship with the Holms and that they could be evicted.   The couple denied they were tenants, said they had a life-estate interest in the property and argued that allowing the trust to force them from the property would unjustly enrich the trust at their expense.     Read more

Looking for church leader in polygamy case

The Associated Press CNEWS - Canada Originally published December 4, 2004

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A U.S. judge has ordered public notices placed in newspapers near polygamist strongholds in Canada and the United States, trying to compel a reclusive church leader accused of sexually abusing his nephew to respond to the lawsuit.   The ads target Warren Jeffs, leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.   Third District Judge Stephen Henriod ordered the notices published in newspapers in St. George, Utah; Eldorado, Texas; Cortez, Colo; and in Bountiful, B.C.   In a July 29 lawsuit, 21-year-old Brent Jeffs accuses his three uncles - Warren, Blaine and Leslie Jeffs - of sexually assaulting him years ago when he was a child.  Brent Jeffs claims the three told him the actions were a way to make him a man.   The lawsuit also names the FLDS church as a defendant.  The church's lawyer, Rodney Parker, said Saturday he still has about 20 days to respond to the lawsuit on behalf of the church.   However, the Salt Lake City lawyer said he does not represent Jeffs in this lawsuit, and does not know if the church leader has another lawyer.     Read more

PUBLIC NOTICE ORDER AND SUMMONS

Legal Announcements The Cortez Journal Originally published December 4, 2004

Joanne L. Suder (MD) Admitted Pro Hac Vice THE SUDER LAW FIRM, P.A. 210 East Lexington Street, Suite 100 Baltimore, MD 21202 Telephone: (410) 727-8177 Telephone: (866) 727-8177 Facsimile: (410) 625-2916 Attorneys for Plaintiff Roger H. Hoole (5089) Heather E. Morrison (6945) Gregory N. Hoole (7894) HOOLE & KING, L.C. 4276 S. Highland Drive Salt Lake City, UT 84124 Telephone: (801) 272-7556 Facsimile: (801) 272-7557

IN THE THIRD JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT, SALT LAKE COUNTY STATE OF UTAH

BRENT JEFFS, Plaintiff, vs. WARREN JEFFS, BLAINE JEFFS, LESLIE JEFFS, FUNDAMENTALIST CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS, AND THE UNITED EFFORT PLAN TRUST, Defendants. ORDER ON EX PARTE MOTION FOR SERVICE BY PUBLICATION AND NOTICE BY PUBLICATION Civil No. 040915857 Judge Stephen L. Henriod Based on the Motion of Plaintiff, Brent Jeffs, for service by publication and notice by publication; the supporting memorandum; the Affidavit of Plaintiff's investigator, Sam E. Brower; this Court's determination that the whereabouts of Defendant Warren Jeffs cannot be ascertained through reasonable diligence; and good cause to believe that Defendant Warren Jeffs is avoiding service of process and that the means of service outlined in Plaintiff's Motion is reasonably calculated under all the circumstances to apprise him of the pendency of this action to the extent reasonably possible or practicable and to ensure the preservation of relevant evidence in this case: IT IS HEREBY ORDERED: 1. Pursuant to Rule 4(d)(4) of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure, Plaintiff shall be allowed to effect service of process upon Defendant Warren Jeffs by publication of this Order with a Summons in the above-referenced matter in the form of the Summons attached hereto as Exhibit 'A'.     Read more

Firm for polygamous sect seeks to withdraw from lawsuit

The Associated Press Casper Star-Tribune Originally published December 17, 2004

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A law firm that has long represented a southern Utah polygamous sect is seeking to withdraw as its counsel in two lawsuits.   In court documents filed Thursday in 3rd District Court, lawyers for the Salt Lake City-based firm Snow, Christensen and Martineau said the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints "insist(s) upon a course of conduct with which their lawyers have a fundamental disagreement."   The two cases involve the FLDS church and its reclusive president, Warren Jeffs, and Sam Barlow, a former marshal in the FLDS town of Colorado City, Ariz.   Also named is the United Effort Plan Trust, the sect's charitable entity that owns most of the land in the polygamous twin cities of Hildale and Colorado City, Ariz.   One case alleges that Jeffs and other male leaders banish young men from their homes so they can marry more young brides.  The FLDS church preaches polygamy as a central tenet and faithful FLDS men often have three or more wives who each bear numerous children.   Warren Jeffs' whereabouts are unknown to most outside his closed community, whose members are told not to speak to reporters.  His compound in Hildale is surrounded by a 10-foot wall.     Read more

FLDS attorneys want out of 2 cases

Firm cites 'fundamental disagreement' with clients

By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Friday, December 17, 2004

ST. GEORGE — A Salt Lake City legal firm is seeking to withdraw as counsel for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in two civil cases filed against it in 3rd District Court.   The legal firm of Snow, Christensen & Martineau has long represented the FLDS church and its charitable trust, the United Effort Plan, in court matters.   According to the motion, filed late Thursday before Judge Stephen L. Henriod, withdrawal is permitted under Utah's Rule of Professional Conduct because "the clients insist upon a course of conduct with which their lawyers have a fundamental disagreement."   Withdrawal is also required because the firm's lawyers have been discharged from representing the defendants in the two cases, according to the motion filed by firm attorney Rod Parker.  The motion to withdraw does not affect the firm's commitment in other pending court cases involving the FLDS church or the UEP.     Read more

FLDS lawyers file release motions

Lawsuits have no representation pending ruling

By Rachle Olsen The Spectrum Originally published December 18, 2004

ST. GEORGE -- Two lawsuits filed against the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have no representation pending a judge's ruling, a new fact that prompted attorneys on the other side to file an opposing motion on Friday.   The opposition came in response to the motion filed late Thursday in the 3rd District Court.   Longtime FLDS attorney Rod Parker and the Snow, Christensen & Martineau law firm petitioned the court to be released from representing the FLDS church and the financial arm of the church, the United Effort Plan Trust, in two lawsuits recently filed against the entities and other personal parties, including FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs.   Parker cited two reasons in the motion. First, he referenced a Utah Rule of Professional Conduct, "in that the clients insist upon a course of conduct with which their lawyers have a fundamental disagreement."   And further, Parker says, withdrawal is required because "the lawyers have been discharged from representation of the defendants in (these) case(s)," according to court documents.   Gregory Hoole, an attorney working with the case on the plaintiffs' side, said the problem is that a deposition for a key witness -- where representation from both sides are needed -- is scheduled to occur Dec. 27, after which the witness is returning to Georgia for deployment to the Middle East and will thus be unavailable.     Read more

PUBLIC NOTICE

Legal Announcements The Cortez Journal Originally published January 29, 2005

PUBLIC NOTICE James W. Stewart (#3959) Boyd L. Rogers (#10095) BALLARD SPAHR ANDREWS & INGERSOLL, LLP One Utah Center, Suite 600 201 South Main Street Salt Lake City, Utah 84111-2221 Telephone: (801) 531-3000 Facsimile: (801) 531-3001 Attorneys for Plaintiff, Shem Fischer IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF UTAH, CENTRAL DIVISION SHEM FISCHER, Plaintiff, vs. FORESTWOOD COMPANY, INC., a Utah corporation, a/k/a FORESTWOOD, FORESTWOOD INDUSTRIAL, INC., a Utah corporation, CORPORATION OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE FUNDAMENTALIST CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS, CORPORATION OF THE PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE FUNDAMENTALIST CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS, WARREN S. JEFFS, JOHN DOE COMPANIES I-V, and JOHN DOE INDIVIDUALS I-X. Defendants. ORDER ON EX PARTE MOTION FOR SERVICE BY PUBLICATION Case No. 2-02-CV-210K Honorable Dale A. Kimball Based on the Motion of Plaintiff, Shem Fischer, for service by publication, the Affidavit of Sam E. Brower, and the Court's determination that the whereabouts of Defendant, Warren Jeffs, cannot be ascertained through reasonable diligence, that good cause exists to believe that Defendant Warren Jeffs is avoiding service of process and that the means of service outlined in Plaintiff's Motion is reasonable calculated under all the circumstances to apprise him of the pendency of this action to the extent reasonably possible or practicable:     Read more

Warren Jeffs 'notified by publication' in connection with federal civil suit

By Tom Vaughan Mancos Times Editor Originally published February 8, 2005

Warren Jeffs is back in newspapers again.   This time the prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-day Saints is in the legal notices, instead of the front page.   For the second time, Jeffs is being served notice by publication that he is being sued in a Utah court, and he needs to make his whereabouts known to defend himself.  The first time this happened was in late November, when legals relating to the sexual molestation charges brought by Brent Jeffs in a civil suit in Utah state court were published in the Cortez Journal, as well as in newspapers in St. George, Utah; Creston, British Columbia; and Eldorado, Texas.   In the present instance, the notification relates to a federal civil suit brought by Shem Fischer in Utah, alleging religious discrimination on the grounds that he was fired from his job because he became an apostate from the FLDS group.  This notice was not run in British Columbia.   No such notice has been seen yet for a third civil suit, the "Lost Boys" suit, brought in a Utah state court on behalf of six young men who allege Warren Jeffs and other defendants wrongly excommunicated them from the FLDS and damned them to perdition.  The "lost boys" claim they were kicked out to reduce the competition for young FLDS women to be taken as plural wives for older men in the polygamous sect.     Read more

Attorneys ask for trustees of FLDS finances

By Rachel Olsen The Spectrum Originally published Saturday, February 19, 2005

ST. GEORGE -- New trustees are being requested for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' financial arm, United Effort Plan, by the same attorneys representing individuals bringing lawsuits against the church, its leaders and the UEP.   The request comes because the trust is not defending itself in the lawsuits in which it is named as a defendant.   In December, the longtime attorney for the FLDS church, Rod Parker, and the Snow, Christensen & Martineau law firm petitioned the court to be released from representing the FLDS church and the UEP in the two lawsuits recently filed against the entities and other individual parties, including FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs.   One lawsuit was filed by a nephew of the FLDS prophet who alleged that FLDS leaders, including Jeffs, sexually abused him.  Jeffs denied those claims in a written statement issued from his then-lawyer.   The other case Parker asked to be removed from involves a group known as the "Lost Boys," male individuals who claim they were kicked out of their homes in the predominately FLDS area of Hildale and Colorado City.   Sam Brower, a private investigator hired to find Jeffs, said the request of new trustees for the UEP would free people.     Read more

Jeffs ruled in defaul in FLDS lawsuit

The Associated Press KOLD News 13 - Tucson Originally broadcast Saturday, March 12, 2005

SALT LAKE CITY The leader of a polygamous church has been ruled in default in a federal civil lawsuit claiming he blacklisted a former member.   This means Warren Jeffs has given up the right to defend himself and possibly opening himself to damages.   The clerk of U-S District Court in Salt Lake City entered a certificate of default yesterday against Jeffs, who is the president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.   Church members live in the bordering towns of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City in Arizona.   Shem Fischer is a former worker of a Hildale business who claims he was wrongfully fired because he no longer adhered to town's dominate faith.  He filed the federal lawsuit in 2002.  He claims he was then blacklisted.   With Jeffs' default, Fischer can now either request a hearing or submit an affidavit to argue the amount of monetary damages he should be paid.   Jeffs has the legal right to dispute the amount but cannot defend himself against the underlying allegations in the suit.

Federal court finds Jeffs in default in Fischer lawsuit

The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published March 17, 2005

Warren Jeffs, the leader of a polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, was found to be in default last Friday in a federal civil lawsuit that accused him of blacklisting a former church member.   The news came when the clerk of the court entered a certificate of default against Jeffs, indicating that he has failed to respond to a summons to appear.  The ruling means Jeffs has forfeited the right to defend himself and could be held liable for damages in the case.   Shem Fischer, who was once employed by a cabinet company in Hildale, UT, alleges in the lawsuit that he was wrongfully terminated from his job because he no longer adhered to the town's dominate FLDS faith.   Fischer's attorneys were unable to locate Jeffs to serve him with the lawsuit, so they published notices earlier this year in three newspapers in areas where the FLDS Church owns or controls property — the Spectrum in St. George, UT, the Cortez Journal in Colorado and here in the Eldorado Success.   The certificate of default was issued because Jeffs failed to respond within 20 days of the publications.   Fischer, who worked as a salesman for the Forestwood Co., alleged in the lawsuit that church officials interfered with his relationship with his employer and blacklisted him.     Read more

ABC News "Primetime":

Woman Returns To Polygamous Religious Sect To Confront Her Father

NewsWatch50 WWTI - Watertown, NY www.newswatch50.com Originally published July 27, 2005

A WOMAN RETURNS TO AN ARIZONA POLYGAMOUS RELIGIOUS SECT TO CONFRONT HER FATHER AND OTHERS IN AN EFFORT TO OVERCOME THE DEMONS OF HER PAST "Primetime" Airs Thursday, July 28th at 10pm E.T. on WWTI NewsWatch50. John Quiñones returns to the isolated community of Colorado City, AZ, with anti-polygamy activist Flora Jessop and her cousin, Laurene.  Last year, Laurene escaped from the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints sect, where she was placed into a polygamous marriage arranged by the sect.  For Laurene, this trip is an opportunity to confront the father she claims sexually abused her, her mother and other members of the sect -- all in an effort to prove to herself that she's truly free from the clutches of her past.  "PRIMETIME" airs THURSDAY, JULY 28 (10:00-11:00pm ET) on the ABC Television Network. The FLDS arranges for girls to be married off in their teen years to older men, and expects them to bear many children and obey their husbands' every command.  Laurene, who had fifty-five siblings, moved out of her parents' home at age 19 and was placed in an arranged marriage to an older man, Val Jessop.  On different occasions when she disobeyed her husband, she says, she was sent away from her children to a mental institution.  Laurene was once arrested and handcuffed by the town's police, which are, in effect, controlled by the sect.     Read more

Former Polygamous Sect Member Confronts Past

Woman Returns to Assert Identity; Questions Her Abuser

Primetime ABC News Originally broadcast July 28, 2005

July 28, 2005 -- As a member of an isolated polygamous sect in Arizona, Laurene Jessop says she was sexually abused by her father, who had four wives and 56 children, and mistreated by her husband, who was already married to Laurene's sister.   After enduring a lifetime of desperation, she fled her home in Colorado City, Ariz., a town dominated by the group, called the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints.   But a year after she left, the 47-year-old returned to confront her past.  She felt she had to prove to herself the group no longer had power over her.   As she drove into the city with "Primetime" co-anchor John Quiñones, she said, "It's like coming into a nightmare, another life."   From a very young age, everyone in Colorado City is taught that outsiders are evil.  They wear old-fashioned clothes, and they fervently submit to the rules of Warren Jeffs, a man they call "The Prophet."   Young girls are destined to be married off in their teen years to older men, who keep several wives.  The girls are expected to bear many children and obey the sect's strict patriarchal rules.     Read more

A brewing storm

An increasingly nasty battle between a strict polygamous sect and the state

The Economist economist.com Originally published October 13, 2005

This small Arizona town on the Utah border looks idyllic enough.  Mountains loom behind it, tomatoes grow wild, and children trot past on pet ponies.  But when Gary Engels, the Mohave County state investigator, does his morning rounds in Colorado City, drivers try to run him down, women in long skirts call him a bastard and small boys spit at him.  "They hate me," sighs the state investigator, dodging another truck.   Such hostility conveys the growing tension between the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), America's largest independent polygamist group, and outsiders.  The 10,000-member sect dominates Colorado City and the neighbouring town of Hildale.   In June, as a result of Mr Engels's snooping, the leader of FLDS, Warren Jeffs, was indicted on two charges to do with organising child-bride marriages; he fled immediately.  Eight other members, who turned themselves in, face similar charges, which they deny.   The FLDS used to be a rebel offshoot of the Mormon church.  Its members believe they are the chosen people, Mr Jeffs is their prophet and everyone else is damned.  Members also openly practise polygamy.   This is illegal but there are no penalties cited in the Arizona constitution.   The current dispute has to do with two different sets of former FLDS members.     Read more

Former Jeffs Compound to be Razed

Jed Boal Reporting KSL-TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast April 14, 2006

The old Jeffs compound at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon is slated for demolition in a month.  The Alta Academy, as it was called, is where his young nephews say Warren Jeffs abused them.   The neighborhood is much different today than it was when FLDS prophet, Rulon Jeffs, and his son Warren built this compound.   In the 70's they had few neighbors.  By the 1990's, the Alta Academy schooled 300 students a day.   Rulon lived there.  Warren was right next door.  And by most accounts, the polygamous clan could be self-sufficient.  They gardened, pulled trout from a pond and generated electricity.   When Jeffs moved to Colorado City and sold the property in 1999, Jason Ivers moved in with a non-profit, Common Thread.  It's a facility for people waiting for organ transplants.   His knowledge of the compound's past comes from Jeffs' brothers and former students.   Jason Ivers, Common Thread, Inc.: "There's a bit of nostalgia for them.  They went to school here.  They had friends here.  This is where they grew up."     Read more

Alta Academy Video Brings Back Ugly Memories for Jeffs' Nephew

Alex Cabrero reporting KSL-TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast April 15, 2006

In just a couple of months, the former compound where FLDS leader Warren Jeffs used to teach will be no more.  The building will be torn down to make way for new houses.   One former member says it's about time.   We spoke one-on-one with Jeff's nephew who didn't have good experiences at the former Alta Academy.   Brent Jeffs knows he had good times with his friends inside, but those aren't the memories he has of this place.  Instead, all he says he can remember, is when his uncle, Warren Jeffs, sexually assaulted him several times.   Brent Jeffs: "I was in every room of the building, the green carpet especially."   Amazing, how your brain can bring you back, just by looking at some pictures.   Brent Jeffs: "We'd play hide and go seek down the halls and stuff."   It's been a long time since Brent Jeffs was a student in the building, close to 15 years.  But looking at the video we showed him of the place, it all came back like it was yesterday.   Brent Jeffs, Former Alta Academy Student: "Tons and tons and tons of memories.   Looking at all this and everything else, it's just my whole childhood, my whole entire life was in that building mostly."   But it's the memories of a particular bathroom Jeffs wants to forget.  That bathroom is where he says his uncle, Warren Jeffs, current leader of the FLDS church, sodomized, assaulted and raped him, all in the name of God.     Read more

Standoff over home in polygamist town

The Associated Press The Arizona Republic Originally published April 21, 2006

COLORADO CITY - After a five-hour standoff with police, his family and the court-appointed attorneys who oversee the trust of a polygamist church, Patrick Pipkin got his home back.   Pipkin, 23, arrived at the house at 12:30 a.m. Thursday to find the entry blocked by his uncle, Taylor Bistline.  A call came in on a cell phone from Lyle Jeffs, the local leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which controls the towns of Colorado City and Hildale, Utah.   "He asked me: Are you with Warren?" said Pipkin, referring to Lyle's older brother, Warren Jeffs the FLDS church leader who is in hiding.   "I said no," Pipkin said, describing a rare instance when a church member has used the new trust leadership to defy a church eviction.  "I made my decision."   Pipkin's story is not unique, said friend Merril Stubbs.  For nearly three years, church leaders have moved to evict those who are not been deemed worthy.   Mostly men are booted from the community, with their wives and children often reassigned to other men, he said.   Since the state took control of the United Effort Plan trust and legal pressures have mounted, church leaders have demanded even greater obedience from members.   And those with questions, like Pipkin, are vulnerable.  His stepfather was sent away eight months ago, and Pipkin himself was recently demoted as the church-appointed family leader, in favor of Bistline.     Read more

Family alleges Colorado City polygamist-owned restaurant violated their civil rights

By Brent Hunsaker ABC 4 News Originally published July 28, 2006

All the Chatwins wanted was a little lunch.  They were turned away - not once, but twice.  The 2nd time they brought with them a video camera hidden in a bag.  On the tape, the restaurant owner, "Big Dan" Steed, can be heard saying, "See that sign on the door, I will enforce that, okay?"  Steed was pointing to a sign that states the restaurant reserves the right to refuse service.   Isaac Wyler, a Chatwin cousin, respectfully asked, "Can you even give us a reason why?  Is there something about me that I can change so that I can be served?"   He received no answer.  "If a black person came in here, would you treat him like this?"  Still no answer.  Instead, Steed picked up a cell phone and called the Jeffs controlled Colorado City town marshall and asked the Chatwins be removed.   "It's all because of our religion," said Michelle Chatwin who was there with her cousin Isaac and her husband Andrew.  Their family does not follow the polygamist FLDS prophet, Warren Jeffs.     Read more

Debt collection on Jeffs evidence?

By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Thursday, October 5, 2006

An ex-member of the Fundamentalist LDS Church is hoping to collect on an old debt from captured polygamist leader Warren Jeffs.  Lawyers for Shem Fischer filed papers in Nevada's federal court late Tuesday, trying to get involved in the fight over evidence the FBI seized when it arrested Jeffs during a traffic stop outside Las Vegas on Aug. 28.  Inside the red Cadillac Escalade that Jeffs was riding in, FBI agents found thousands in cash, computers, cell phones, wigs, sunglasses, gift cards and even a Book of Mormon.  Fischer claims some of that property belongs to him.  "We're just trying to collect on the judgment," Fischer's lawyer James Stewart told the Deseret Morning News on Wednesday.   In 2002, Fischer filed a religious discrimination lawsuit in Utah's federal court against Washington County-based Forestwood Co., the FLDS Church and Warren Jeffs.  Fischer claimed he was fired from his job as a sales representative for the cabinet-maker because he no longer believed some of the tenets of the FLDS Church.  It came at about the same time that Jeffs handed down an edict telling FLDS faithful to cut off all ties with non-believers.  Fischer was fired and replaced by a faithful member, he said in the lawsuit.  "Fischer was told by Forestwood that unless he reformed his religious beliefs, and ascribed to those FLDS religious beliefs held by certain other owners and/or operators of Forestwood, he would not be rehired," court documents stated.     Read more

Teen in tug of war between Vegas and FLDS dominated community

By Darcy Spears KVBC News 3 - Las Vegas Originally broadcast October 9, 2006

A 16-year-old girl is caught in a tug of war playing out in family court.  One side wants to move her into an area in Arizona dominated by the FLDS church, the other is trying to keep her in her native Las Vegas, and away from the polygamist lifestyle.  In Cane Beds, Arizona, just 2 miles outside the FLDS stronghold of Colorado City, residents live a simple, rural life.  Not the life one 16-year-old girl wants or can even imagine.  And one she fears being dragged into by her own mother.  "The main goal here is to keep Christine the way she's always been her entire life.  She was raised here.  She's from here.  This is where her family is," says Christine's aunt Carol Scott.  But part of the 16-year-old's family has moved to Cane Beds, Arizona, a bedroom community of nearby Colorado City.  "I've been contacted by several people, people who have tried to rescue girls that are there because, you know, even though Warren Jeffs has been captured, it's still is full of people that are living that lifestyle and girls are trying to be rescued from there every day," explains Christine's other aunt, Lynn Reynolds.  Christine's mother and step-father, Jennifer and Marcus Bistline, want to move her there.  The town is populated by many members of the Bistline family, including her step-grandfather, Ben Bistline, who wrote a historical book about the FLDS polygamists, and subsequently had his house burned down by church members.  Based on that, a family court judge Friday decided to allow Christine to stay in her grandmother's custody in Las Vegas, until they can hold an evidentiary hearing.     Read more

Mother and step-father respond to teen tug of war

By Darcy Spears KVBC News 3 - Las Vegas Originally broadcast October 12, 2006

A family court judge wants more time and outside evaluation on the case of a Las Vegas teenager who's at the center of a custody battle.  But this is no ordinary family squabble.  It involves concerns about a young girl being forced to move to an area dominated by a polygamist group.  The Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints have been big news for their controversial beliefs, treatment of women and children, and their leader Warren Jeffs' recent arrest on rape charges.  But a local mother told a judge Monday that bringing that into her custody case is just a smokescreen.  16-year-old Durango High School student Christine wants no part of the rural life her mother and step-father want to move her to.  She's lived here in Las Vegas all her life, but Jennifer and Marcus Bistline want to take her to Cane Beds, Arizona, which is next door to an infamous FLDS stronghold.  "It's a desolate strip of desert two miles away from Colorado City and it is full of the people who are outcasts from the polygamists," says Christine's aunt, Lynn Reynolds.  Reynolds and Christine's other aunt, Carol Scott, are helping the teen fight her mother and stepfather in family court.  Several of Marcus Bistline's family members are outcasts from the FLDS church.  A few are former polygamists.     Read more

UEP suits closer to settlement

Also, star witness in Jeffs' case files a lawsuit against him

By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Friday, December 22, 2006

A series of multimillion-dollar personal injury lawsuits filed against the Fundamentalist LDS Church's financial arm are closer to being settled.  According to the latest report filed by the court-appointed special fiduciary of the United Effort Plan Trust, settlement negotiations with lawyers representing ex-FLDS members are ongoing.  "Counsel for the parties have met periodically and have exchanged serious settlement offers," Bruce Wisan wrote in a Dec. 6 report to the judge filed in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court.  The UEP Trust is being sued in three separate lawsuits — one filed by Warren Jeffs' nephew, Brent Jeffs; another filed by a group of teens known as "The Lost Boys"; and one filed by the woman who is testifying against Jeffs in the criminal case against the FLDS leader.  Brent Jeffs claims his uncle sexually abused him as a child while attending the Alta Academy, a now-defunct FLDS school at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon.  Jeffs was principal of the school at the time.  "The Lost Boys" claim they were ousted from their homes and families in the polygamous border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., for a number of "sins."     Read more

Polygamist leader's papers topic of Nevada federal court hearing

By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press KVOA News 4 - Tucson Originally published January 6, 2007

SALT LAKE CITY -- Attorneys for polygamist church leader Warren Jeffs will square off with a cadre of other lawyers in a Las Vegas federal court Monday over a cache of cash and evidence seized in Jeffs' August arrest.  Among those wanting a look at evidence are attorneys for the United Effort Plan Trust, which holds $110 million in church property, and Shem Fischer, a former follower who sued Jeffs after being fired from his job.  Both parties want U.S. District Judge Robert Jones to grant them standing in Jeffs' case and access to papers, letters and electronic documents being held by the FBI - a move Jeffs' attorneys are trying to block.  Jeffs, 51, is the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  He was picked up in a traffic stop near Las Vegas on federal warrants after evading prosecution in Utah and Arizona for nearly two years.  He's now in a southern-Utah county jail pending an April trial on two felony counts of rape as an accomplice related to a 2001 arranged marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her cousin.  Police seized $54,000 in cash, letters and other papers, laptop computers, cell phones, and other items from the Cadillac Escalade Jeffs was riding in at the time of the arrest.  The contents of the letters and information on computers isn't publicly known.  But in court documents, Jeffs' Las Vegas attorney Richard Wright contends the information is "sacred and confidential" because it includes matters of church doctrine and private communications between Jeffs and his followers.     Read more

Polygamous cops feeling more pressure

By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning New Originally published Tuesday, January 23, 2007

The heat continues to be turned up on the police officers in the polygamous border towns of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Ariz.  The court-appointed special fiduciary of the United Effort Plan Trust has been talking about the town marshals to the Peace Officer Standards and Training authorities in Utah and Arizona.  "I was invited to provide information," Bruce Wisan said in court Monday.  The Utah POST Council has placed the entire Hildale/Colorado City Town Marshal's Office under investigation over their loyalties to Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs.  Arizona POST officials are conducting a similar investigation.  The court-appointed fiduciary has had trouble getting any cooperation from police to investigate the disappearance of buildings and equipment in the towns.  Crimes that occur go unresolved, Wisan complained.  Meanwhile, a series of civil lawsuits filed against the UEP may be closer to settlement.  Wisan and his lawyers met on Monday with lawyers suing the trust.  Some new terms may include deeds to UEP property being given to the "Lost Boys," a group of teenage boys who were kicked out of the FLDS Church.  Settlement talks are also underway in another suit brought by Warren Jeffs' nephew, Brent, who claims he was sexually abused as a child by the FLDS leader.     Read more

'Lost Boy' suing Jeffs to find his mother

Lawsuit is seeking damages as well as mother's location

By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Johnny Jessop wants to know where his mother is.  He wants to know so badly, he'll sue Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs to get an answer.  Jessop and his lawyers filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court demanding a judge force Jeffs to reveal the location of Elsi Jessop.  "This gives Mr. Jeffs an opportunity to reunite at least one family," said Jessop's lawyer, Roger Hoole.  If Jeffs refuses to talk, a judge could find him in contempt and give him more time in jail.  According to the lawsuit, Jessop lived with his natural parents until 1998, when FLDS leaders took his mother and his siblings and "reassigned" them to live with another man.  As Warren Jeffs took control of the FLDS Church from his father, numerous families were broken up and men were kicked out of the polygamous church on the Utah-Arizona border.  Jessop says that at age 13 he was kicked out by Jeffs, who by then was considered the "prophet."  "Jessop was told to come and get his belongings or they would be thrown out," Hoole wrote in the lawsuit.  "Jeffs' actions in expelling Jessop from the Short Creek community alienated Jessop from the affection of his mother, deprived him of her support, and severed him from his family, friends, school, work and all else he had ever known."     Read more

Teen sues polygamist leader to disclose whereabouts of mother

By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press USA Today Originally published Tuesday, February 21, 2007

SALT LAKE CITY -- Saying he was kicked out of his home and his fundamentalist church, an 18-year-old man sued Tuesday to force polygamist leader Warren Jeffs to help him reconnect with his family.  Attorneys for Johnny Jessop, 18, asked a state judge to order Jeffs, head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, to tell Jessop how to find his 62-year-old mother, Elsie.  Jessop has not spoken to his mother in more than 18 months, attorney Roger Hoole said.  Jessop is among what may be dozens of so-called "Lost Boys" who say they were kicked out of the FLDS church in the past four years by Jeffs for being disobedient or because they were seen as competition to older men seeking young brides.  The FLDS practices polygamy and arranged marriages.  The faith has an estimated 10,000 members, mostly in the border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz.  Jessop grew up in Hildale, Hoole said.  FLDS members consider themselves "fundamentalist Mormons," although the mainstream church disavows any connection.  They also consider Jeffs a prophet of God with dominion over their salvation.     Read more

Ousted FLDS man reunites with mom

By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Friday, April 6, 2007

A man who had been denied contact with his mother and had sued Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs to learn her whereabouts has been reunited with her.  Johnny Jessop's attorney confirmed to the Deseret Morning News that he met with his mother last month.  "He received a call from his brother, who said, 'Would you like to see Mother?'  He spent a half-day with her in St. George," Jessop's lawyer Roger Hoole said Thursday.  "His brothers were very cordial.  Johnny was just thrilled and plans on seeing her a lot more."  However, Hoole said Jessop has no plans to drop his lawsuit against Jeffs.  "Not until we're absolutely satisfied there are no more impediments to that relationship," Hoole said.  Jessop, 18, filed suit against Jeffs in 3rd District Court in Salt Lake City in February.   Jessop says that in 1998, FLDS leaders took his mother and his siblings and "reassigned" them to live with another man.  When Jessop was 13, Jeffs — who was considered the "prophet" — ordered him to leave the polygamous communities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., according to the lawsuit.  "Jeffs' actions in expelling Jessop from the Short Creek community alienated Jessop from the affection of his mother, deprived him of her support and severed him from his family, friends, school, work and all else he had ever known," the lawsuit said.     Read more

Another civil case filed against Jeffs

By Patrice St. Germain The Spectrum Originally published May 2, 2007

HURRICANE - Another civil case against self-proclaimed prophet Warren Steed Jeffs was filed in 5th District Court on Friday.  The newest claim is that Jeffs punished a man who was his courier and caretaker for seven months by forcing him to leave his family and repent.  The complaint, filed by the law firm of Hoole & King on behalf of Wendell Musser, names Jeffs, his brother Lyle Jeffs and Does I-V as the defendants.  Musser, a former member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who now lives in Idaho, was selected in December 2005 as a courier and caretaker for several of Jeffs' "spiritual wives."  For seven months, Musser served the priesthood until he was arrested for driving while under the influence of alcohol.  Jeffs reportedly separated the man from his family and told him to repent.  Attorney Roger Hoole said since Musser was isolated from his family and told to return from Colorado to Short Creek to repent, he has been unable to locate the whereabouts of his wife, Vivian, and his son, Levi.  "This case is really about Wendell being reunited with his son and his family," Hoole said.  "This is a young man who simply wants to meet his financial obligations with his son and coordinate with the mother to do that."     Read more

ANDERSON COOPER 360 DEGREES

CNN Originally broadcast May 17, 2007

He helped polygamist leader Warren Jeffs when Jeffs was on the lam. Now he's suing him. And he's trying to get his family back from the church that he says took them away. Up next: When polygamist leader Warren Jeffs went to jail, he left his wives in good hands. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Special foods, special clothing, just almost like princesses. I'm going to say queens and princesses. (LAUGHTER) (END VIDEO CLIP) COOPER: Now the young man who helped watch over those polygamist princesses says the church is keeping his wife and son from him. His fight to get his family back -- coming up next. COOPER: We've been following this guy's case for some time now. Warren Jeffs, polygamist sect leader, self-proclaimed prophet of God, and now prisoner awaiting trial. Tonight, the strange saga of Warren Jeffs turns even darker. We're going to tell you the story from a young man who was driven out of the church. And what he says Jeffs took from him, is frankly hard to believe. CNN's Gary Tuchman reports. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Twenty-two-year-old Wendell Musser has a construction business in western Idaho. Keeping busy helps him cope with the mystery involving the two loves of his life: his wife, Vivian, and his toddler son, Levi. WENDELL MUSSER, FORMER FLDS CHURCH MEMBER: I missed his first birthday. He just started walking when I got excommunicated. TUCHMAN: Excommunicated from the church run by polygamist leader Warren Jeffs. And as a punishment, Musser says Vivian and Levi were taken from him. And nobody will tell him where they are. Read more

Reunion with family is a letdown

Jeffs' ex-caretaker meets wife, son — but she rejects him

By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press Deseret Morning News Originally published Sunday, May 27, 2007

ST. GEORGE — After a year of forced separation that was ordered by his former church leader, Warren Jeffs, Wendell Musser has had a bittersweet reunion with his wife and child.  On Friday inside an auto parts store in Hildale, Musser saw Vivian Barlow Musser and their 18-month-old son, Levi — but his wife rejected admonitions of love and refused to let the 22-year-old father cradle his son.  "He was crushed when he came out," said Greg Hoole, Musser's attorney, who waited outside the store during the 90-minute meeting.  Musser hadn't seen his family since leaving the Fundamentalist LDS Church last July.  A nephew of Jeffs, Musser was once a caretaker for the church president's many wives, living for seven months in hiding in a series of Colorado cities beginning in December 2005.  At the time, Jeffs was on the run from lawsuits in Utah and criminal charges in Arizona.  Out of favor after a DUI arrest in Colorado Springs, Colo., Musser was sent away by Jeffs to repent and had his family taken from him.  He was been told by his father that Vivian and Levi had been given to another man, a practice common in the FLDS Church.  Musser filed a civil lawsuit against Jeffs May 4 in St. George's 5th District Court.  The lawsuit asks the court to force Jeffs to disclose Vivian and Levi's whereabouts.  Jeffs, 51, has led the church since 2002.  He is in jail charged with rape as an accomplice in connection with the 2001 spiritual marriage of a 14-year-old FLDS girl to her 19-year-old cousin.  The church, which is based in the twin communities of Hildale and Colorado City, Ariz., has an estimated 10,000 followers.  They are said to be blindly obedient and consider Jeffs a prophet who communicates with God.  Musser was traveling from Hildale to his home in Payette, Idaho, Saturday and could not be reached by The Associated Press.  Friday was the deadline for Jeffs to respond to the lawsuit.  He didn't, but the meeting arranged by Musser's father, David Musser, could only have happened with church approval, Hoole said.  "They proved our point — that they control every aspect of these people's lives," he said.     Read more

Arizona AG sues Colorado City businesses for discrimination

By Chris Kahn The Associated Press Fox 10 - Phoenix Originally published Thursday, June 14, 2007

PHOENIX -- The Arizona Attorney General's Office filed separate civil rights lawsuits Thursday against the owners of two Colorado City restaurants that allegedly refused to serve former members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  The lawsuits against Big Dan's Drive Thru and Vermillion Candy Shoppe accuse the owners and staff of turning away Isaac Wyler and Andrew Chatwin and other former FLDS members.  Andrea Esquer, a spokeswoman for the Arizona Attorney General's Office, said both restaurants are owned by current FLDS members.  The sect practices polygamy and arranged marriages, and has about 10,000 members on the Utah-Arizona line.  "They were refused service because they weren't members," Esquer said.  "The law in Arizona says that if you operate a place of public accommodation, you cannot refuse service based on religion."  The Attorney General's Office said that Daniel Porter Steed, who owns Big Dan's, and Vermillion owner Bygnal Dutson are not currently represented by lawyers.  Two phone numbers listed under Steed's name in Colorado City were disconnected.  A woman who answered the phone Thursday at Big Dan's Drive Thru said she didn't know where Steed was or how to contact him.  A man who answered the phone at Vermillion said the owner or manager of the store didn't want to talk to the media.     Read more

AG's office files lawsuit against two Colorado City businesses

By Patrice St. Germain The Spectrum Originally published June 15, 2007

HURRICANE - The Arizona Attorney General's Office has filed a civil lawsuit against two Colorado City businesses for allegedly refusing to serve former members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  The lawsuit is based on incidents that allegedly occurred last year in which several former members of the FLDS church entered the establishments and allegedly were refused service.  In one instance, the group, which consisted of Andrew Chatwin, Isaac Wyler, William Daniel Chatwin and a friend, paid and were waiting for their food and were reportedly asked to leave.  After pointing out they had already ordered and paid for their food, the food was reportedly delivered to their table in "to go" boxes.  In another instance, the Colorado City police were reportedly called to the establishment.   Michelle Chatwin, Andrew's wife, said the complaints were filed with the Arizona Attorney General's Office to bring the Constitution back to the town.  "We need some normalcy instead of this craziness," Chatwin said.  "They (the business owners) have got to stop treating people not of their religion like dirt."     Read more

Jeffs faces deposition in missing family suit

By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Friday, July 27, 2007

HURRICANE — Lawyers will question Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs today in an attempt to learn the whereabouts of an ex-member's estranged wife and son.  Jeffs missed a Wednesday deadline to hand over information about where Wendell Musser's wife, Vivian, and son, Levi, are.  Now, the polygamist sect leader faces a deposition this afternoon at the Purgatory Jail.  "I'm not surprised," Musser's attorney, Roger Hoole, told the Deseret Morning News on Wednesday night.  "Mr. Jeffs' response to civil litigation in general, is not to say anything."  Hoole said if Jeffs refuses to answer questions today, they will ask the courts to seek sanctions against him.  For each day he withholds information, a judge has ordered Jeffs to pay a $600 fee, taken out of his jail commissary account.   Musser, 22, filed a lawsuit against Jeffs earlier this year, accusing the FLDS leader of breaking apart his family.  In addition to money, the lawsuit demands Jeffs provide information that reunites him with his son.  After the suit was filed, FLDS leaders arranged a brief meeting in May, where Musser was allowed to see Vivian and Levi.  He was not allowed to hold his son, and Vivian said she wanted nothing to do with her husband.  "We just want to find Wendell's son and reunite them," Hoole said.  "Wendell will respect her wishes, but he's certainly entitled to a relationship with his son."     Read more

Warren Jeffs Refuses Deposition Questions

The Associated Press KSL 5 TV Originally published July 28, 2007

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Jailed polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs has refused to provide a former follower with information about his wife and son.  Jeffs was interviewed under oath Friday at the Washington County jail by attorneys for Wendell Musser, but provided no substantive information.  Attorney Roger Hoole says Jeffs invoked the Fifth Amendment -- refusing to answer questions on the grounds that he would incriminate himself.  Musser filed a civil lawsuit against Jeffs in May seeking his family's whereabouts.  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 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.

Jeffs snubs ex-follower in custody case

By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Saturday, July 28, 2007

HURRICANE, Washington County — Jailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs refused Friday to assist a former follower in the man's fight to be reunited with a toddler son that he hasn't been able to hold for 13 months.  Wendell Musser, 22, had hoped to learn where his former wife, Vivian Barlow, and their son, Levi, have been and where they are now.  He is certain that Jeffs can make that happen if he wants to, said Roger Hoole, Musser's attorney.  "Why he (Jeffs) is keeping this father and boy away from each other makes no sense," said Hoole, who interviewed Jeffs under oath at the Purgatory Correctional Facility in Hurricane about Musser's missing family.  "But there are a lot of things involving Warren Jeffs that make no sense."  Jeffs, 51, is considered by members of the Fundamentalist LDS Church to be their president and prophet.  In recent years, dozens of men have been exiled and lost their families after Jeffs said they were no longer worthy to hold the priesthood and lead their families.  Musser once worked for Jeffs as a caretaker for several of the church leader's wives, helping the women move between safe houses in Colorado while Jeffs was on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list.  After being picked up on suspicion of drunk driving in Colorado, Musser was told to leave everyone and everything behind and return to Hildale, where he could repent.  He returned to the polygamist community.  But Musser said he was never forgiven. Instead, he was stripped of his young family and told he no longer held the priesthood.  Musser was then exiled and his family reassigned.     Read more

Lawyers seek contempt charge against Warren Jeffs

By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Lawyers for an ex-member of the Fundamentalist LDS Church are asking a judge to hold polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs in contempt of court.  In a motion filed in St. George's 5th District Court, Wendell Musser's attorneys seek to have Jeffs remain in jail one day for each day he refuses to answer questions about where Musser's wife and 2-year-old son are.  They also seek financial penalties against the FLDS leader after a deposition went nowhere last week at the Purgatory Jail.  "Based upon the advice of my counsel, I decline to answer the question because my answer may be used against me contrary to the protections afforded me by the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution," Jeffs said in a transcript of the deposition obtained today by the Deseret Morning News.  Jeffs repeated that statement to most of the questions asked by Musser's attorney Roger Hoole.  "Jeffs refused to answer even the most innocuous of questions, including whether or not he knew Wendell Musser, recognized his picture or would be willing to talk to him," Hoole wrote in court papers filed Tuesday.     Read more

Wife of former Jeffs' caretaker steps up, seeks child support

By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press KVOA News Channel 4 - Tucson Originally published August 3, 2007

SALT LAKE CITY -- A former key ally of polygamous-sect leader Warren Jeffs may be closer to finding his family but harmony appears unlikely.  Wendell Musser has sued Jeffs to learn the whereabouts of his wife and son.  Now his wife, Vivian Barlow, has emerged, disclosing the county where they live and seeking sole custody of Levi, 2.  Barlow said Musser should have only supervised visits with Levi, according to documents filed Friday in 5th District Court in southern Utah's Washington County.  Raised in Jeffs' Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on the Utah-Arizona border, Musser and Barlow were married in a religious ceremony in 2005.  Musser claims Jeffs forced him out of the church and cut him off from his family last summer after a drunken-driving arrest in Colorado.  At that time, Musser said he was a caretaker for Jeffs' many wives in a string of Colorado homes while the church leader was on the run from criminal charges in Arizona and Utah.  Musser, 22, filed a lawsuit against Jeffs in May seeking access to his family.  A judge ordered Jeffs to cooperate, but he repeatedly refused to answer questions during an interview with attorneys July 27.  Barlow was not named in the lawsuit but wants to intervene.     Read more

Wife of ex-FLDS member wades into lawsuit against Jeffs

By Ben Winslow and Jeffiner Dobner Deseret Morning News Originally published August 4, 2007

The estranged wife of an ex-member of the Fundamentalist LDS Church is wading into a lawsuit filed against polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs.  A motion to intervene on behalf of Vivian Barlow was filed Friday in St. George's 5th District Court.  It seeks to interject her into a lawsuit her estranged husband, Wendell Musser, has filed against Jeffs.  "One would have to assume Vivian Barlow might have some rights that are being affected by this action," the court filing states.  Musser's lawyer claims it's an attempt to divert pressure from Jeffs.  "It wasn't until the pressure was really on Warren that magically they've been able to get Vivian to come forward through a lawyer who has represented FLDS interests," attorney Roger Hoole told the Deseret Morning News late Friday.  Barlow has retained attorney Reed Braithwaite, who declined to comment on the filing.  "You can say that I do not represent Warren Jeffs," he told the Associated Press.  "And if Wendell ever wants visitation with Levi, he can contact me. I'd be more than happy to facilitate that."  Barlow is seeking sole custody of their son, 2-year-old Levi, claiming Musser is unfit for custody or unsupervised visits.  She also asks for $250 per month in child support.  The motion indicates she is living in Mohave County, Arizona, where many polygamists live.     Read more

Jeffs expected in court on contempt charge

The Associated Press KMSB-TV (FOX) - Tucson Originally published Tuesday, August 14, 2007

ST. GEORGE, Utah (AP) -- Jailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs is expected in court today to face a contempt charge for not answering questions that would reunite a former Jeffs' family caretaker with his wife and child.  Wendell Musser filed a lawsuit against Jeffs earlier the year.  Musser says he served as a close ally of Jeffs and helped care for Jeffs' family while the leader was on the run from criminal charges in Utah and Arizona.  But after Musser was arrested for drunken driving he says Jeffs cut him off from his own wife and infant son.  A judge ordered Jeffs to provide Musser with information but Jeffs repeatedly invoked his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination.  Jeffs is the leader of the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  He's awaiting trial in southern Utah on charges of rape as an accomplice in the arranged marriage of a 14-year-old girl to her older cousin.

Musser takes Jeffs to court

By Patrice St. Germain The Spectrum Originally published August 15, 2007

ST. GEORGE — Judge James E. Shumate ruled that Warren Steed Jeffs not be held in contempt of court during a hearing Tuesday.  Jeffs invoked his Fifth Amendment right during a recent deposition given at Purgatory Correctional Facility.  Shumate said Jeffs, the polygamist sect leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, had every right to refuse to answer questions concerning a former trusted church member's wife and child.  Jeffs, Shumate said, is facing criminal liability in Fifth District Court, Mohave County Court and federal court and has the right to refuse to answer questions that may be incriminating.  Shumate also refused to give attorneys for the former FLDS follower, Wendell Musser, permission to continue to question Jeffs about the matter.  The paternity issue will be before Judge Rand Beacham and Shumate said Beacham, not Jeffs, has control over the parental issues involving Musser, his former wife Vivian Barlow and their now 2-year-old son Levi.  "I know the parents are daily concerned for the well being of Levi," Shumate said.  Musser's attorney Greg Hoole said although Barlow recently obtained counsel with Reed Braithwaite, a visit between the father and son, which is tentatively set for Wednesday, was only discussed briefly before Tuesday's court hearing.     Read more

Ex-worker tells court FLDS forced him out

10th Circuit judges listen to arguments that claim bias

By Geoffrey Fattah Deseret Morning News Originally published August 16, 2007

The former employee of a business controlled by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints says he was forced out of his 13-year job when he was told he had to adhere to FLDS doctrine in order to remain employed.  On Wednesday, a three-judge panel with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in the case of Shem Fischer, who claims he was the subject of religious discrimination when he was declared an "apostate" by then-FLDS leader Rulon Jeffs and forced out of his job when he protested the firing of another co-worker who was not an FLDS follower.  At issue before the 10th Circuit is whether Fischer quit on his own accord or was fired from his employment with Forestwood cabinet company, based in Hildale.  The difference will determine whether Fischer can pursue a suit against the FLDS-owned company based on religious discrimination.  The case stems from a July 2000 religious edict issued by Warren Jeffs on behalf of his father Rulon, in which FLDS faithful were told to end all contact with "apostates," or those who had turned against the faith.  According to court documents filed in the case, Fischer was told by Forestwood's president that "Forestwood is Uncle Rulon's company ... and everyone that works there needs to be 100 percent with Uncle Rulon."     Read more

Bountiful mother wins custody of her children

Interim Order; Fled polygamous community in British Columbia

By Michael Higgins, National Post, with files from Keith Fraser, CanWest News Service National Post - Ontario, Canada Originally published Thursday, December 6, 2007

A mother of three from the polygamous B.C. community of Bountiful, who was accused by her husband of snatching her children and taking them to the United States, has won an interim order for sole custody of the children.  Teressa Blackmore, who recently testified against polygamist leader Warren Jeffs, took the children to Idaho, claiming she was trying to get them out of the clutches of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormon community linked to Bountiful, near Creston.  Her husband, Joseph Roy Blackmore, filed suit and claimed the Church issue was a "red herring" to justify wrongful conduct and sought to have the children returned to him.  But B.C. Supreme Court Justice Thomas Melnick found the religious issue was not irrelevant.  The judge said it was "an elephant in the corner of the room of this proceeding that inevitably casts a shadow over it."  In his ruling the judge read from an affidavit from Ms. Blackmore's sister that criticized the education system within the community and he also noted that the Church practised polygamy, a crime in Canada.     Read more

Shops accused of discriminating against ex-FLDS settle lawsuit

By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Monday, December 17, 2007

Arizona authorities have settled a lawsuit against a pair of Colorado City businesses accused of discriminating against people who are not members of the Fundamentalist LDS Church.  The Arizona Attorney General's Office announced Monday that a settlement had been reached with the Vermillion Candy Shoppe and Big Dan's Drive Thru.  Under the terms of the settlement, both businesses do not admit any wrongdoing, but a pair of judges are requiring them to: Refrain from discriminating against anyone who does not belong to the FLDS faith or is considered an "apostate." Adopt a non-discrimination policy that will be provided to all present and future employees. Have employees attend training on non-discrimination policies and Arizona's Civil Rights Act. Submit reports to Arizona authorities for five years on any policy violations and refusal to serve or admit anyone to the restaurants. Read more

Stores in Colorado City settle discrimination suit

The Associated Press KOLD Channel 13 - Tucson Originally published December 18, 2007

PHOENIX (AP) - The owners of 2 Colorado City restaurants that allegedly refused to serve former members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have settled a civil rights lawsuit.  Attorney General Terry Goddard filed the suits in June, alleging that the owners and staff of Big Dan's Drive Thru and Vermillion Candy Shoppe turned away several former FLDS members because they were no longer church members.  According to the suits, two men and their friends and family were asked to leave the restaurants without eating the food they had ordered and were escorted from the premised by Colorado City Marshals several times in 2006 because they were no longer church members.  The businesses agreed to the settlement yesterday without admitting guilt.  Under the terms of the deal, they agreed not to discriminate against anyone who is not an FLDS member or has left the church.  They also must adopt an anti-discrimination policy and give it to all employees, submit reports to the state for five years and train all employees in the provisions of the Arizona Civil Rights Act.

Jeffs facing deposition on woman's location

By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Monday, February 18, 2008

Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs is scheduled to give a deposition at the Utah State Prison this week to answer questions about the whereabouts of an ousted teenager's mother.  A notice was filed in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court that attorneys for Johnny Jessop plan to depose Jeffs on Thursday. Jessop's attorney, Roger Hoole, said the young man wants to know where his mother is.  "He just wants to see his mother," Hoole said Thursday.  "He's like hundreds of others."  Jeffs was served with a copy of the lawsuit but never responded, so a judge ruled he could be deposed.   Jessop sued Jeffs last year, demanding to know where his mother is.  He claims that in 1998, leaders of the Fundamentalist LDS Church took his mother and his siblings and "reassigned" them to live with another man.  Jessop also claims that Jeffs — who was the FLDS Church's leader — ordered him to leave the polygamist communities of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Ariz., when he was 13.  Advocates say he is one of hundreds of so-called "Lost Boys," kids kicked out of the FLDS communities.     Read more

Deposition in lawsuit proceeds — with no results — despite Jeffs' fast

By Linda Thomson Deseret Morning News Originally published February 21, 2008

A former Utah teenager who was kicked out of a polygamous sect six years ago still is no closer to finding his mother, whom he has seen only once since he was 13.  Johnny Jessop, now 19, filed a civil lawsuit last year against polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs seeking information about the location of the young man's mother, Elsi Jessop.  A 10-minute deposition with Jeffs at the Utah State prison Thursday yielded no answers because Jeffs repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment, said attorney Roger Hoole, who represents Johnny Jessop.  "He is not willing to answer questions at this point, and we are not surprised," said Hoole.  The deposition almost did not take place due to a fast that Jeffs began on Feb. 15, according to a fax from the prison.  Jeffs was moved to the prison infirmary on Feb. 19.  Hoole said 3rd District Judge L.A. Dever ordered Wednesday that the deposition should go forward unless the prison doctor advised against it.  Hoole had argued that this was a "partial fast" that was self-imposed and did not make Jeffs unfit to take part in a deposition.     Read more

7 seek dismissal of suits vs. jailed polygamist leader

By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press Arizona Daily Star - Tucson, AZ Originally published March 20, 2008

SALT LAKE CITY — Seven men who filed civil lawsuits against the head of a polygamous church are now asking a court to dismiss the cases, their attorney said Wednesday.  Six men — known as Lost Boys — filed suit against Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 2004, claiming they were unfairly kicked out of the church.  Another man, a nephew of Jeffs', filed a separate suit that year alleging he had been sexually assaulted by his uncle.  The Associated Press does not typically name victims of alleged sexual assault.  The lawsuits defaulted, and none collected damages.  Instead, the men waited for the state to take over a $114 million church property trust and then sued the trust.  In a settlement, each was given three acres of southern Utah land, and a $250,000 fund was established to help other FLDS young people.  Attorney Roger Hoole said dismissal papers for the original lawsuits were filed in 3rd District Court Wednesday, "signaling that their objectives have largely been met."     Read more

Former sect member gets favorable ruling

The Associated Press The Spectrum Originally published Thursday, May 15, 2008

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A federal appeals court revived a portion of a lawsuit that claims a man was not rehired at a cabinet company because he quit a southern Utah polygamous sect.  Some evidence is on tape.  Shem Fischer sued Forestwood Inc. of Hildale, Utah, and the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and its leaders.  He worked at Forestwood from 1987 until 2000, the year he left the FLDS church.  His father was Forestwood's president and a half-brother was manager.  Both were FLDS members, as were all the employees.   Fischer said his employment ended weeks after he protested the firing of another worker who had left the church.  When he tried to be rehired, Fischer claims his application was rejected because he was a non-member.  "Drop this suit and let us get back on base and we could go forward again," Fischer's father, Erwin Fischer, now deceased, told his son during a taped conversation.  "If you're suing and fighting Uncle Rulon and wanting to work for his company at the same time, this won't work," he said, referring to Rulon Jeffs, who was head of the church at the time.  A federal judge in Utah barred the taped conversations from evidence, calling them hearsay.  But the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver this week said the tapes were "direct evidence" that raised a genuine concern about the reason not to rehire Fischer.     Read more

Read the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals' Decision regarding Shem Fischer's lawsuit against Forrestwood Company, Inc., filed on May 12, 2008

Few willing to break away from FLDS

Those who do testify risk being cut out of family

By TERRI LANGFORD and LISA SANDBERG Houston Chronicle Originally published June 7, 2008

At 21, Elissa Wall overcame her fear of losing contact with her family forever and endangering her immortal soul when she decided to help Utah prosecutors in their sexual abuse case against polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs — a man her church believes gets his orders directly from God.  Wall is one of the few women who has gone up against the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the group that broke from the Mormon church more than 100 years ago and now sits squarely at the center of a Texas child abuse investigation.  "One of the tenets you learn is that if you leave and you testify against the leaders, you are what they call an apostate and damned to hell," said Wall, who wrote Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs.  "That's one of the biggest things, those mind hurdles. ... You have to get over this mind thing that you're going to hell," said Wall, whose testimony was key in convicting Jeffs last year of being an accomplice to rape for his role in forcing a 14-year-old Wall to marry her 19-year-old cousin.  The FLDS' rigid sense of community and conformity could be a major hurdle for Texas authorities as they investigate allegations of sexual and physical abuse at the sect's sprawling ranch near Eldorado in West Texas.  "It's very rare anyone breaks away," said Sam Brower, a Utah private investigator who has spent 4 1/2 years tracking FLDS members and helping authorities in his state and Arizona build criminal cases against them.  "Most can't bring themselves to leave their community, they've segregated themselves from the world and to ask them to break off from the community ... they do what they're told."     Read more

Bias lawsuit in FLDS firing may finally be going to trial

By Ben Winslow Deseret News Originally published Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2009

A federal discrimination lawsuit filed against a business linked to the Fundamentalist LDS Church appears to finally be headed to trial.  Shem Fischer is suing a Hildale cabinet-making shop, claiming that he was unfairly and illegally fired because he and another shop employee were no longer members of the polygamous sect.  They were replaced with faithful FLDS members, Fischer's lawsuit against Forestwood Co. says.  "Fischer was also told that unless he reformed the beliefs he presently had and returned to beliefs and practices in the FLDS Church, he would not be rehired by Forestwood," Fischer's attorney, James Stewart, wrote in the lawsuit filed in 2002.  Attorneys will meet today for a final pre-trial conference to hammer out any issues before the case finally goes to trial beginning March 9.  Attorneys for both sides did not return calls seeking comment Wednesday.  The case has moved slowly through Salt Lake City's federal court over the years.  In 2004, Fischer amended his lawsuit to include the FLDS Church and its current leader, Warren Jeffs.     Read more

Lawsuit against FLDS Church settled

By Ben Winslow Deseret News Originally published Monday, March 2, 2009

A federal lawsuit against the Fundamentalist LDS Church, its leader, and a Hildale cabinet-making shop has been abruptly settled.  Shem Fischer's discrimination lawsuit against Forestwood Co., was settled late last week, attorneys said.  It also ends years of litigation and dogged collections against FLDS leader Warren Jeffs.  "It wraps it all up," James Stewart, an attorney for Fischer, told the Deseret News early Monday.  "I'm not going to comment on the terms of it."  Forestwood attorney Rod Parker also declined to comment on the financial settlement.  Fischer claimed in his 2002 lawsuit that he was unfairly and illegally fired because he and another shop employee were no longer members of the polygamous sect at a time when FLDS leaders ordered faithful followers to cut ties with those who were no longer a part of the church.  The lawsuit was later amended to include the FLDS Church and its current leader, Warren Jeffs, who defaulted on it.  Fischer pursued Jeffs to collect the money he claimed he was owed.  In 2007, Fischer's attorneys waded into the evidence seized when Jeffs, who was a fugitive on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list, was arrested in a traffic stop outside Las Vegas.  They served the FBI with court papers seeking some of the items found in the Cadillac Escalade that Jeffs was riding in, including cell phones, iPods and cash.     Read more

Colorado City couple allege power company practices reglious discrimination

Phoenix News AZFamily Originally published June 24, 2010

COLORADO CITY, Ariz. -- 3TV's Mike Watkiss has learned that a federal civil rights lawsuit is about to be filed alleging housing discrimination against the twin communities of Hilldale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., and the area's water and power company.  The lawsuit being filed on behalf of Ron and Jinger Cooke alleges that the company has engaged in reglious discrimination.  The couple say they have been denied power and water at a home they own in Colorado City because they're not members of the FLDS Church.  3TV has reported extensively about the Cookes' plight over the last couple of years.  Ron Cooke was disabled in a work-related accident several years ago.  The Cookes allege that because they are not members of the FLDS Church and because of Ron's disability they have been discriminated against by the two cities and their water and power company.  The Cookes and their three children are living in a trailer while waiting for the utilities to be turned on.  State officials are looking at the Cookes' case and other similar allegations.

Colorado City couple allege power company practices religious discrimination

Phoenix News AZFamily Originally published June 25, 2010

COLORADO CITY, Ariz. -- Attorney General Terry Goddard announced Friday that his office has filed a lawsuit against the twin communities of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, as well as Hildale-Colorado City Utilities, Twin City Water Authority, and Twin City Power for alleged violations of the Arizona Fair Housing Act.  The lawsuit being filed on behalf of Ronald and Jinger Cooke alleges that the company has engaged in religious discrimination.  The couple say they have been denied power and water at a home they own in Colorado City because they're not members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  3TV has reported extensively about the Cookes' plight over the last couple of years.  Ronald Cooke was disabled in a work-related accident several years ago.  The Cookes allege that because they are not members of the FLDS Church and because of Ron's disability they have been discriminated against by the two cities and their water and power company.  The Arizona Attorney General's Civil Rights Division concluded that there is reasonable cause to believe that the defendants discriminated against Ronald Cooke by not providing water and other utility services because of his religion and by not accommodating his disability.  The Cookes and their three children are living in a trailer while waiting for the utilities to be turned on.  State officials are looking at the Cookes' case and other similar allegations.

Goddard files lawsuit for Fair Housing Act

By Christina Stymfal KOLD News 13 Tucson Originally broadcast June 25, 2010

PHOENIX (KOLD) - Attorney General Terry Goddard announced his office filed a lawsuit against the Town of Colorado City, Arizona, the City of Hildale, Utah, Hildale-Colorado City Utilities, Twin City Water Authority and Twin City Power for alleged violations of the Arizona Fair Housing Act.  Goddard's Civil Rights Division concluded that there is reason to believe that the defendants discriminated against Colorado City resident Ronald Cooke by not providing water and other utility services because of his religion and by not accommodating his disability.  Cooke used to belong to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Read the Arizona Attorney General Civil Rights Division's Discrimination Lawsuit filed against Hildale-Colorado City Utilities, Twin City Power, and the City of Hildale dated June 25, 2010

Disabled Man Says Polygamists Cut Off Water & Power, Thinking Him 'Tool of the Devil'

By TIM HULL Courthouse News Service - Pasadena, California Originally published Tuesday, June 29, 2010

PRESCOTT, Ariz. (CN) - A disabled man claims members of the polygamist Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints denied him water and electricity to drive him out of church-controlled Colorado City, Ariz., believing that "nonmembers are apostates and tools of the devil."  Ronald Cooke says he needs the utilities to run his breathing machine and clean his catheters after he was hit by a truck and left "severally disabled."  In his federal complaint, Cooke claims that Hilldale-Colorado City Utilities, which he says is controlled by the polygamist sect, has for years refused to provide electricity and water to his home, forcing him and his family to live in a "cramped, cold travel trailer" powered by a propane generator.  Cooke says the lack of utilities has exacerbated his medical condition.  Cooke was raised in the polygamist sect but left the rural town on the Arizona-Utah border when he was 18, according to his complaint.  He returned to the town in 2007 to be near family and friends.  He applied to the United Effort Plan, a Fundamentalist Latter-day Saints housing cooperative that owns many of the houses in Colorado City, and began moving his family into an unfinished house that had been abandoned by its former owner.  Cooke says he was soon targeted by church members who "misuse and affect the availability of utility services ... as a method of preserving religious domination" over the town.  The defendants told him he had to get new permits and inspections to get utilities, and said the "system was overextended," Cooke says.  But the utility provided water and electric services to other unfinished homes without new permits, and Colorado City issued no new building permits between 2005 and 2009, according to the complaint.     Read more

Arizona Attorney General Sues Two Cities Dominated by Polygamous Mormon Sect

By JAMIE ROSS Courthouse News Service - Pasadena, California Originally published Friday, July 2, 2010

PHOENIX (CN) - Attorney General Terry Goddard has backed up a disabled man's claim that a utilities company run by the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints denied him water and electricity because he did not have a building permit, though the utility does not require such permits from sect members.  Goddard's Superior Court complaint against Hilldale-Colorado City Utilities supports Ronald Cooke's claim that the sect "instructed members that apostates were tools of the devil."  Cooke sued the utility company and the Town of Colorado City in Prescott, Ariz., Federal Court.  Goddard's complaint in Maricopa County Court tracks Cooke's claims.  Goddard agrees that in July 2000, leaders of the fundamentalist sect "instructed members that apostates were tools of the devil, and that there were dangers in associating with apostates."  Goddard agrees with Cooke's claim that he needs running water to clean his catheters, bathe and to avoid infections after a traumatic brain and spinal cord injury he suffered in 2005.  Cooke was raised in the FLDS religion and grew up in the Colorado City, Ariz. area, but left the religion at age 18 or 19.  Cooke returned to the town in 2007 and was denied water service in 2009 after Utility Board President Jonathan Fischer claimed that "no new families would be placed in homes not previously connected to the water systems," Goddard says.  In his complaint, Cooke said that "people often live in unfinished homes in Colorado City for years during construction without getting new building permits."  Cooke said the lack of utilities exacerbated his medical problems.     Read more

Ariz. AG alleges faith-based housing discrimination

By Jennifer Dobner Associated Press The Durango Herald - Durango, Colorado Originally published Thursday, July 08, 2010

SALT LAKE CITY - Arizona's attorney general has filed a civil-rights lawsuit on behalf of a disabled man who was allegedly denied access to water and power at his home because he is no longer a member of a sect that practices polygamy in a community on the Utah-Arizona border.  Ron Cooke, his wife Jinjer and their children live in Colorado City, Ariz.  The town, along with Hildale, Utah, is the primary base of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and the elected leaders and employees of both towns are largely church members.  Filed last month in Phoenix, the lawsuit stems from a 2008 civil-rights complaint levied by Cooke and contends that he was denied access to utilities by the joint agency that serves the cities.  Investigators determined in April that Cooke's complaints were valid and filed the lawsuit late last month.  Prosecutors contend the defendants - the cities of Hildale and Colorado City, the Twin City Water Authority and Hildale-Colorado City Utilities, an intergovernmental agency that provides power, water, gas and sewer services - demanded Cooke apply for building permits, provide building plans meet other requirements before being considered for services, but did not require the same from residents who are members of the church.  Prosecutors say the denial is a violation of state fair housing laws and want a judge to order the utilities connected and impose fines.  They also want the defendants barred from using religion as the basis for denying utility services in the future to other residents who aren't church members.     Read more

Read Defendant Colorado City's Complaint for Declaratory Relief against the UEP and Bruce Wisan, regarding the Ronald and Jinjer Cooke discrimination case, filed in the U.S. District Court of Arizona on March 11, 2011

Discrimination Suit Against FLDS Dominated Town Can Continue

By Howard M. Friedman, Professor of Law Emeritus University of Toledo KCSG TV - St. George, Utah Originally published May 20, 2011

(Phoenix, AZ) - Ronald Cooke vs. Town of Colorado City, Arizona, is one of the first cases reflecting the implications of a Utah federal district court's holding in February, now stayed pending appeal, invalidating the Utah state court's appointment of a special fiduciary to reform the polygamous FLDS Church's United Effort Plan Trust.  The UEP trust holds property in Utah and Arizona on which church members reside.  The special fiduciary, as part of his efforts to assign property of the trust to beneficiaries in a religiously neutral manner, granted a lease to a parcel of land to Ronald Cooke, a former FLDS member, and his wife.  Cooke left the church at age 18 or 19 and moved to Phoenix where subsequently he was severely injured in an accident.  After receiving the lease for land in Colorado City, Cooke and his wife moved back into a trailer home on the property, but the city refused to provide water, electricity and sewer service.  Cooke sued for damages under the federal and state fair housing acts and under 42 USC 1983, alleging that Colorado City engaged in religious and disability discrimination.  Meanwhile, after the Utah federal court invalidated the state court's appointment of the special fiduciary, Robert Black, the prior occupant of the Colorado City land leased to the Cooke's, filed an action in Arizona federal district court seeking a declaration that he is the rightful occupant.  The court in this decision refused to stay proceedings in Cooke's lawsuit.  The city had sought a stay pending the outcome of Black's declaratory action.     See photo

Read the US District Court for the District of Arizona's Order regarding the discrimination lawsuit against Hildale-Colorado City Utilities, Twin City Power, and the City of Hildale, filed May 16, 2011

Correspondent Notes: Telling the Prophet to Shove It

From Correspondent Carol McKinley: World Report HDNet Originally published June 24, 2011

"The Prophet's Defector" It only took a couple of blocks driving down the dirt roads of Short Creek before the God Squad pulled in behind our World Report crew.  They reported our every move to each other from their cellphones as they slowly trolled behind us, stopping when we stopped.  The God Squad is the professional security detail for Warren Jeffs, the self-proclaimed prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or FLDS.  The God Squad got its nickname from oustiders who have left the faith.  These people, called "apostates" by those still inside, say they are watched and harassed every day.  The God Squad drives a fleet of brand new mega-trucks and SUV's with tinted windows.  Even when we tried to shake them by driving to another town to conduct interviews, they followed, keeping tabs on us from tinted windows.  They were likely trying to intimidate one of their latest defectors as he spoke with World Report exclusively in a small park in Hurricane, Utah.  Arnold Richter, a father of four with just one wife, told us about how he grew up in the FLDS, but was asked to leave the polygamous sect because he asked too many questions.  Instead, Richter did something not many FLDS'ers have the courage to do: he refused the prophet.     Read more

Premiere Tue, Jul 12th 9:00 PM EDT HDNet World Report: FLDS: Inside the Secret Sect World Report is inside the secretive world of a polygamist sect, the infamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Ousted members reveal their stories, and they indicate the power structure, led by jailed "prophet" Warren Jeffs, may be unraveling.

Warren Jeffs' brother files lawsuit claiming FLDS leader 'a fraud'

Reported by: Brent Hunsaker Contributor: Dan Metcalf Jr. ABC 4 News Originally broadcast July 12, 2011

ST. GEORGE, Utah (ABC 4 News) - Jailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs has been served with court papers in Texas, after his own half-brother filed a lawsuit against him.  The suit, filed Tuesday afternoon in St. George's 5th Circuit Court accuses Jeffs of fraud against the members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS.)  It claims that Warren Jeffs knows he's not a legitimate leader, but the he and other top leaders have conspired to cover it up to maintain power over their people, to further his aggressive practice of spiritually marrying large numbers of minor girls and women to select FLDS men.  The suit alleges that Warren Jeffs has used his absolute power as the FLDS prophet to expel or encourage out thousands of boys and to expel hundreds of FLDS men from their families and homes so that their wives and children could be reassigned to other men and command the illegal marriages of scores of increasingly younger underage girls.  Though he is one of Warren's half brothers, Wallace has been expelled from the group and he says his children have been hidden from him.  One part of the complaint reads:  "Based on the evidence of crimes he has seen, Wallace Jeffs is concerned that his minor children are in eminent danger -- his daughters are at high risk of being required to enter into underage marriages and sexual relations with spiritual husbands and his sons are at risk of being abused by expulsion from their family."     Read more

Read Wallace Jeff's Complaint against Warren Jeffs, Lyle Jeffs, Merril Jessop, Wendell Nielsen and Amy Jeffs regarding the safety of his children, filed in Washington County, Utah Fifth District Court on July 12, 2011

Brother of Warren Jeffs pressured to drop lawsuit

Reported by: Brent Hunsaker ABC 4 News Originally broadcast July 13, 2011

HILDALE, Utah (ABC 4 News) - Incredible pressure is being put on Warren Jeff's half brother to drop his lawsuit.  That word comes from people familiar with the FLDS group and close to Wallace Jeffs.  They say when Wallace Jeffs was kicked out, it was expected that he would go away quietly; the FLDS call it "repenting from afar."  Few ever return from that repentance, even fewer are restored to their families.  Instead of going quietly, Jeffs has done the unthinkable.  He filed suit claiming his half brother and FLDS prophet, Warren Jeffs, is a fraud.  Wallace Jeffs' suit was filed Tuesday, July 12, in 5th District Court in St George.  It asks that he be given custody of his children.  He believes his brothers are ready to resume marrying child brides to older men with another half brother, Lyle Jeffs, leading the way.  Wallace Jeffs has seven daughters who are now living with Lyle in Hildale, Utah.  Wallace Jeffs' lawsuit is a threat to those in power within the FLDS group.  It's not just that he wants his children back, but he's calling out Warren Jeffs who Wallace believes has already admitted that he's not the legitimate leader of the largest polygamist group in North America.  The lawsuit claims there is a conspiracy among Lyle Jeffs and other key leaders to keep the truth from their followers.     Read more

EXCLUSIVE: Wallace Jeffs speaks to ABC 4 News

Reported by: Brent Hunsaker ABC 4 News Originally broadcast July 14, 2011

ST GEORGE, Utah (ABC 4 News) - Warren Jeff's own half brother is suing him.  As we first told you Tuesday, the suit charges Jeffs with fraud and other FLDS leaders with conspiracy.  ABC 4's Brent Hunsaker had an exclusive interview with the man behind the lawsuit  Up until a few months ago Wallace Jeffs, brother of Warren Jeffs, who filed the lawsuit in 5th district court, was a true believer in his brother's prophetic calling.  Then he saw his brother utter the following words.  "I am not a prophet... I never was the prophet."  "What he has said in his own words, in his own confession, proved that wrong," said Jeffs.  It was then Wallace realized he'd made a terrible mistake.  When Warren kicked him out of the polygamous community of Hildale, Utah in January he left without his wife and children.  "It's something that's been very hard on me, but I did leave them and I never should have done that," said Jeffs.  He tried to talk Warren.  He wrote and called.  "I wanted to work this out between us, between two brothers," said Jeffs.  "But he didn't want to."  The lawsuit was his last resort.  He charges there's a conspiracy among FLDS leaders to keep Warren's confessions from the people.  "Anybody who was involved in it and saw it from the start that didn't expose it is guilty of it," said Jeffs.  "Because he said it right in there, show this to the priesthood people and they refused to do that."  And worse still, he says there are far too many people here who are willing to blindly follow.     Read more

Feds investigate civil rights complaints in polygamist community

Reported by: Brent Hunsaker ABC 4 News Originally broadcast August 16, 2011

HILDALE, Utah (ABC 4 News) - Allegations of police brutality and corruption have brought federal investigators to the twin polygamist towns of Hildale and Colorado City.  Reliable sources tell ABC 4 News the investigators are from both the FBI and the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department.  They are reportedly looking for evidence of "crooked cops."  One incident happened in July of 2010. Genevive and Matt Hainline of Colorado City were arrested by town marshals.  Their offense?  They were emptying out a work shed on property they'd been given by a court-appointed official who administers the land in the twin town.  Essentially it was their property, still the signed occupancy agreement meant nothing to the marshals.  Genevive said, "It's like they can take me, do whatever they want with me, do whatever they want with my property."  Although Genevive Hainline has roots in the polygamist community, she is not FLDS.  In another incident that has apparently drawn the attention of investigators, marshals took a backhoe and dug up the front yard of Ron and Jinjer Cooke.  They were looking for an "illegal" irrigation water hookup.  In a videotape of the incident, the marshals admit they have no warrant but claim they are acting on a "complaint" from South Side Irrigation Company.  A check of incorporation records of both Utah and Arizona by the Arizona attorney general found that "there is no such corporation registered in either state."  The AG's report continued, "the evidence now indicates that officer ((Helaman) Barlow may have commanded that Trust property be dug up to pursue criminal charges being sought by a non-existent company."     Read more

Warren Jeffs' brother hurt in crash

By Nur Kausar The Spectrum Originally published October 24, 2011

ST. GEORGE – Utah Highway Patrol reported Monday that the driver of a Chevrolet Suburban that rear-ended a tractor-trailer Sunday on Interstate 15 mile marker 7 is 50-year-old Wallace Jeffs.  The law office of Roger Hoole in Salt Lake County, which represents Jeffs, confirmed he is a brother of polygamous church leader Warren Jeffs of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  UHP reported Wallace Jeffs, of Mesquite, is in serious condition and was airlifted to University Medical Center in Las Vegas as a result of his injuries Sunday night.  Wallace Jeffs had been driving south on I-15 when he rear-ended the truck that was slowing down for a traffic jam ahead.  The Suburban ignited in the crash and firefighters had to remove the driver from the flames.  Driver of the tractor-trailer Millard Meanea II, 67, of Central Valley, did not sustain injuries, according to the UHP report.  The slow traffic resulted from a prior bee hauler crash on I-15 mile marker 5, where more than 25 million bees escaped from a tractor-trailer headed to California.     See photo

Crash victim in serious condition, related to Warren Jeffs

By Nur Kausar The Spectrum Originally published October 25, 2011

ST. GEORGE - Utah Highway Patrol reported Monday that the driver of a Chevrolet Suburban that reportedly ran into the rear of a tractor-trailer Sunday on Interstate 15 mile marker 7 is 50-year-old Wallace Jeffs.  The law office of Roger Hoole in Salt Lake County, which represents Jeffs, confirmed he is a brother of Warren Jeffs leader of Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  UHP reported Wallace Jeffs, of Mesquite, is in serious condition and was airlifted to University Medical Center in Las Vegas as a result of his injuries Sunday night.  Wallace Jeffs had been driving south on I-15 when he reportedly ran into the rear of the truck that was slowing down for a traffic jam ahead.  The Suburban ignited in the crash and firefighters had to remove the driver from the flames.  The driver of the tractor-trailer, Millard Meanea II, 67, of Central Valley, did not sustain injuries, according to the UHP report.  The slow traffic resulted from a prior bee hauler crash on I-15 mile marker 5, where more than 25 million bees escaped from a tractor-trailer headed to California, according to UHP.

Man seeks custody of kids from FLDS members

Kevin Jenkins The Spectrum Originally published December 3, 2011

ST. GEORGE - A former member of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints appeared in 5th District Court on Friday for a hearing on his efforts to regain custody of his children from church members.  Lorin Holm of Colorado City filed the civil lawsuit in September seeking unspecified damages and sole custody of his nine children, who remained in the care of their mothers when Holm was expelled from the church in January by the faith's prophet, Warren Jeffs, according to documents filed with the court.  Jeffs is serving a life sentence in a Texas prison after being found guilty earlier this year of child sexual assault.  Holm's civil complaint filed with the court claims that it is a common practice for leaders of the polygamous church, such as Jeffs, to marry underage girls to older men in the church, and that he fears the same will happen to his daughters, who are ages 2 to 17.  Jeffs' criminal conviction stemmed from evidence he had married minors and had sexual relations with them, and a dozen other church leaders have been convicted in Texas on similar charges during the past year.  Friday's hearing followed a motion asking Judge James Shumate to recognize the evidence produced during Jeffs' Texas trial as having been authenticated for court purposes by Texas authorities, in an attempt to avoid the costs of bringing Texas rangers to Utah to authenticate the evidence in person, said Holm's attorney, Roger Hoole.     Read more

Attorney to be appointed for children in FLDS case

Kevin Jenkins The Spectrum Originally published January 13, 2012

ST. GEORGE - A court-appointed attorney will be named to represent the interests of children who are at the center of a custody battle between an exiled member of a polygamous church and the mothers of nine of his children.  Judge James Shumate made the decision Thursday in 5th District Court after hearing testimony related to Colorado City resident Lorin Holm's request for custody of nine children who are living with their mothers at a Hildale home.  Holm's complaint also seeks a restraining order limiting access to the children by members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which includes the children's mothers.  Holm has said he fears his seven minor daughters, who are between the ages of 17 and 2, could be given in marriage before they reach legal age if they remain a part of the FLDS community.  He said he also fears that his two sons may be sent away from the area to work as underage laborers on church construction projects.  "His concern is if they're not in his home ... they are at risk of being groomed and taken away. Their minds are certainly being poisoned against him," Holm's attorney, Roger Hoole, said.     Read more

Read Suzette Steed's Declaration submitted in the Lorin Holm child custody case, filed in the Utah Fifth District Court on February 16, 2012

Ex-FLDS man wins partial custody of children

Ben Winslow FOX 13 News KSTU-TV Originally broadcast February 21, 2012

ST. GEORGE, Utah - A man purged from Warren Jeffs' polygamous church on the Utah-Arizona border won a partial court victory in a lawsuit he filed against the Fundamentalist LDS Church leader.  It's a ruling that lawyers say could open the door to more lawsuits from those excommunicated by Jeffs.  Lorin Holm sued Jeffs, his brother, Lyle Jeffs, and two of his ex-wives for custody of his children.  "I wanted to see the children," Holm told FOX 13 outside St. George's 5th District Court on Tueday.  "They have banned us from our children. This is a precedent (setting) case. Now that we've had a win, we'll have hundreds more."  After a two hour hearing, Judge James Shumate allowed Holm to visit his nine children, ranging in ages from 2 to 17, that he has not seen since he was excommunicated in January 2011.  His wives, Patricia and Lynda Peine, have considered him an "apostate," his attorney said.  They were taken from him and now live with one of Holm's sons.  "We are a kind people, but these Jeffs boys have come in and ruined our community and they need to be reeled in," Holm said.  Holm's lawsuit is the first paternity case to get a judge's ruling since Jeffs ousted more than 1,000 people from the ranks of the FLDS Church.  The imprisoned polygamist leader set a New Year's deadline for faithful followers to repent of their sins and reaffirm their allegiance to him or be excommunicated.     Read more

Father receives visiting rights

Kevin Jenkins The Spectrum Originally published February 22, 2012

ST. GEORGE - A 5th District Court judge ruled Tuesday that a father can have temporary visitation rights with his children whom he hasn't been allowed to see since he was exiled from a polygamous church more than a year ago.  Colorado City resident Lorin Holm filed a lawsuit in September asking for custody of the children living in Hildale with their mothers, Patricia and Lynda Peine.  Holm alleges the boys are in danger of being exploited as underage laborers and the girls are in danger of sexual exploitation under the direction of the ecclesiastical leaders of The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Judge James Shumate denied Holm's request to move the children away from their mothers and into Holm's residence, but ordered that Holm be allowed to visit the children at least twice a week - two to three hours at a time - under the guidance of an attorney appointed to represent the children's interests until a review hearing scheduled for March 15.  Nadine Hansen made her appearance in the case Tuesday as the Guardian ad Litem's office appointee to represent the children's interests.  Hansen said she already had visited with all of the children as well as their parents and found that the children did not want to be reunited with their father.  The two youngest children are ages 2 and 4 and probably would not understand the question at hand, she said.  "Of the other (older) seven children, all of them want to remain with their mother, and they're not very excited about seeing their father," Hansen said.  Hansen told Shumate that her own recommendations varied from the children's wishes, however, and that she was recommending the seven oldest children be delivered to Holm's custody.     Read more

Judge increases visitation rights

Kevin Jenkins The Spectrum Originally published March 16, 2012

ST. GEORGE - During a Thursday hearing, a 5th District Court judge increased the amount of time an exiled member of a polygamous church can spend visiting with his children, who are still within the polygamous community.  Colorado City resident Lorin Holm was granted temporary visitation rights last month to see the children of his two "spiritual wives," who have shunned Holm since he was told Jan. 9, 2011, by leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints he was being cast out of the church for an undeclared sin.  After receiving information from court-appointed guardian ad litem Nadine Hansen, an attorney directed to investigate the welfare and interests of the children, Judge James Shumate ordered that the two youngest children will have extra time for visits without their older siblings present, and that all the children will extend their visitation time on weekends to seven hours.  The visits will take place at the home Holm shares with his third wife, to whom he is legally married.  That wife and her children took Holm back into her home three months after his exile, after she learned about evidence gathered in Texas that led to the conviction last year of FLDS church prophet-leader Warren Jeffs on child sexual abuse charges, Holm said.  Hansen said she was present during Holm's six visits with the FLDS children during the past three weeks and found the youths' reactions toward their father to be mixed.  "The two younger children are doing very well," Hansen said.  "The others vary from resisting to tolerating (the visits)."     Read more

Child-custody case involving Warren Jeffs' brother denied

Samantha Sadlier The Spectrum Originally published April 2, 2012

ST. GEORGE — A 5th District Court judge on Monday dismissed a child-custody case involving the half-brother of former polygamous church leader Warren Jeffs.  Wallace Jeffs is trying to gain custody of his children after being excommunicated from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which is based in the border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz.  But Judge Pamela Heffernan dismissed the case, saying it would be more appropriate to allow the custody arrangement to be made in conjunction with the divorce case between Wallace Jeffs and his wife, Amy Jeffs.  Amy Jeffs filed for the dismissal in an attempt to protect her custody rights.  Heffernan advised Wallace Jeffs' attorney to consider filing with the juvenile courts over the matter, particularly if Wallace Jeffs is worried about the safety and welfare of his children remaining in the polygamous sect.  Wallace Jeffs' attorney, Roger Hoole, said his client was told to leave the polygamous group in 2004 for unknown reasons by church leaders and was told to divorce a previous wife.  Wallace Jeffs was awarded primary custody of the couple's children at that time, Hoole said.  When Jeffs was allowed to return to the religious community, he legally married his wife, Amy, in 2005.  He was asked to leave the community again shortly thereafter and was forbidden to make contact with his wife and children.     Read more

Key witness in FLDS trials spoke out 'for those who have no voice'

Former sister wife details 'constant state of fear' at FLDS ranch

By Ladd Brubaker Deseret News Originally published Wednesday, April 11 2012

SALT LAKE CITY — A key witness in Texas and Utah trials that dealt blows to Warren Jeffs and many of his followers in the Fundamentalist LDS Church has not spoken publicly outside of court — until now.  But Rebecca Musser, the 19th of 65 wives of Jeffs' predecessor, Rulon Jeffs, did not talk Wednesday about the behind-the-scenes details of the prosecutions related to the raid of the FLDS Church's YFZ Ranch in Eldorado, Texas, that led to 11 convictions.  Instead, she sought to deliver a message of inspiration and personal empowerment to the audience of mostly women at an event called Women Overcoming Obstacles.  Musser said she has chosen not to speak publicly until now, because she felt her voice would be more powerful testifying over 20 times in court against the men and the sect that once owned her, "body and soul."  At age 19, Musser was forced into an arranged marriage with Rulon Jeffs, who was 85 at the time.  "My father sold my innocence," Musser said.  "My life there was a constant state of fear, unknown ... silence."  The FLDS consider women the property of men, Musser said, with their sole duty to obey their husband perfectly, just as the men must obey the prophet perfectly.  She said no one ever told her that she had the right to refuse sexual relations with the then-FLDS prophet.     Read more

Exiled FLDS father granted more time with estranged children

Holm gets increased visitation rights

Kevin Jenkins The Spectrum Originally published April 21, 2012

ST. GEORGE - An exiled former member of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was granted increased visitation rights with his estranged children, including overnight custody, Friday during a 5th District Court hearing.  Colorado City resident Lorin Holm was granted temporary visitation rights in February to see the children of his two "spiritual wives," who have shunned Holm since FLDS Church leaders cast him out of the community Jan. 9, 2011, for an undeclared sin.  The amount of weekly time Holm has spent visiting his children has gradually increased since the February court order and Judge James Shumate declared Friday that beginning next week Holm will be allowed to keep the children in his home overnight and take them out of state on a vacation this summer, possibly to Disneyland.  Shumate used a courtroom telephone conference to speak with Holm, the mothers of his children, their attorneys and one of Holm's adult sons who has been taking care of Holm's FLDS families since Holm's exile.  Holm lives with a third wife to whom he is legally married, who has withdrawn from the FLDS Church.  Court-appointed guardian ad litem attorney Nadine Hansen told Shumate that Holm's youngest three children are "doing really well" with the court-ordered visitation, but some of the oldest six children are still resisting efforts at reunification.     Read more

Courts, law enforcement work to protect victims of family discord

Kevin Jenkins The Spectrum Originally published April 22, 2012

ST. GEORGE - Toward the end of a recent set of St. George court hearings for couples who were working through divorce petitions and requests for protective orders, a Hispanic man and woman worked through the details of how their property would be divided, when the father would be able to have visitation with his children and how child support would be paid.  As the 5th District Court judge waited patiently, the attorneys for both parties conferred with each other, then with their clients through the assistance of court-appointed interpreters, and then with each other again, ensuring the details were understood and fulfilled the clients' expectations.  Because the husband works an irregular schedule at a dairy in central Utah, the court's order granting him visitation with his children was designed to be flexible according to the circumstances of his job.  The wife's request that a police officer escort the husband if he needed to retrieve anything from the man's former residence was dropped once the terms were agreed upon, and the man and woman went their separate ways.     Read more

Fathers from polygamous sect fight for access to children

Wives and 40 offspring of six men excommunicated from Bountiful-based church have been reassigned to new husbands, fathers

By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published September 7, 2012

In Jeffs' world, rebels are kids who spend time with their friends, boys who wear short-sleeved shirts or girls who don't wear their hair in the prescribed manner.  Six men from Bountiful went to Provincial Court in Creston this week pleading for access to their 40 children after having been excommunicated by Warren Jeffs, the jailed leader of North America's largest polygamous sect.  Earlier this year, the fathers were deemed to be "unworthy" by Jeffs, the prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  There are about 500 FLDS members living in southeastern British Columbia who remain loyal to Jeffs, even though he is in a Texas prison serving a sentence of life plus 20 years for sexually abusing girls.  In interim orders signed Thursday, Judge William Sheard granted specific days and times for the fathers to have access to their children, starting on Friday evening.  The oldest of the 40 children is 15; the youngest will be two in October.  The judge has also forbidden the mothers to remove the children from the East Kootenay Regional District.  The men's lawyer, Georgialee Lang, has taken the precaution of having copies of the court orders delivered to the Canada Border Services Agency.     Read more

Charges must be laid against polygamists without delay

Vancouver Sun Originally published September 12, 2012

Re: Fathers from polygamous sect fight for access to children, Column, Sept. 8 On Nov. 23, 2011, Chief Justice Robert Bauman of the B.C. Supreme Court declared S. 293 CC, proscribing polygamy, was constitutional in that polygamy is an anti-social practice that harms all society.  On June 30, 2009, Const. Shelley Livingstone produced an affidavit in B.C. Supreme Court stating polygamist Winston Blackmore had impregnated nine underage girls.  Later, the RCMP announced certain Bountiful parents had been trafficking their underage daughters to the U.S. to become concubines in Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS) harems.  Yet, in spite of all this mind-boggling lawlessness, and in spite of the attorney-general's department knowing for several years about the multiple alleged rapes and trafficking of girl children, no charges have been laid.  Justice delayed is justice denied.  It is way past time that B.C.'s latest attorney-general, Shirley Bond, showed Bountiful's elders that Bountiful is not a sovereign country, but is part of Canada and must obey Canadian law like all the rest of us.  There is no place in Canada for the abuse of children, for concubines, harems, and the banishment of young men in order to make room for "polygamy math."  There has been enough shameful governmental prevarication.  In the name of justice, let charges be laid now. Jancis M. Andrews Stop Polygamy in Canada Society Sechelt

Colorado City couple goes to court to battle FLDS abuse

by Mike Watkiss 3TV - Phoenix, Arizona Originally broadcast January 19, 2013

COLORADO CITY, Ariz. -- For the last four and a half years, Colorado City residents Ron and Jinger Cooke have been trying to get a water hook-up to the Northern Arizona home they share with their three children.  And for last four and a half years officials in the FLDS controlled community have told them "no."  "They're bullies," Jinger said as tears welled up in her eyes.  This week, the Cookes were in a federal court room in Phoenix pursuing an explosive civil rights lawsuits they have filed against the municipal governments and utilities in the twin border towns of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona.  In their lawsuit, the Cookes contend that they have been the victims of constant harassment and discrimination in Colorado City because they are not members of the dominant FLDS faith and not followers of imprisoned polygamous prophet Warren Jeffs.  It is a story that we have been following for most of the last four and a half years, watching as the Cookes were forced to haul all of the water for their home in a giant vat strapped to the back of a flatbed truck.  The Cookes have also documented with their own cameras several incidents in which FLDS men and boys have come to their home to harass and intimidate them.  During one such incident an FLDS man drove a backhoe on to their property and started digging up their front yard while FLDS cops stood by protecting the backhoe driver.     Read more

Court extends custody order in FLDS battle

Six children ordered to remain with father

Written by Kevin Jenkins The Spectrum Originally published January 26, 2013

ST. GEORGE — A 5th District Court judge extended a custody order Friday that allows a man expelled from a polygamous church to care for his children who, until recently, were living with two of his "spiritual wives" within the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints community and the subject of an acrimonious battle over religious beliefs.  Colorado City resident Lorin Holm won temporary custody of his minor-aged children last month after a court-ordered guardian ad litem appointed to look after the children's interests reported concerns about the children's safety.  The concerns were that religious influences may have been working against the father's wishes, as well as reticence on the women's parts to comply with court orders.  The custody order was later amended to return the two youngest children to their mothers because of their difficulty in adapting to the change, but the six school-aged children have continued to live with Holm in a situation that all parties have described as troubled at times.  "This is not a happy outcome. It's a necessary outcome," Holm's attorney, Roger Hoole, said.  "We've had some successes and some failures (during the last six weeks)," guardian Nadine Hansen told Judge James Shumate at Friday's hearing.  "The children are more comfortable with their father ... than before. They've been able to do some enjoyable things together.  "The most significant failure, I think, is the problem of school. The grade equivalency tests were not quite (adequate). ... And the children still tell their father sometimes that he's an apostate and that he's a liar."     Read more

Family Fights For Water In Polygamous Town

By Ladd Egan KUTV 2News Originally broadcast Monday, January 28 2013

(KUTV) A discrimination lawsuit against the water department of the polygamous-controlled towns on the Utah/Arizona border is moving closer to trial.  Colorado City, Arizona residents Ron and Jinjer Cooke and their three children have been waiting since May, 2008 for water to be connected to their home.  The couple believes they are being discriminated against because they are not members of the area's dominant polygamous sect.  "We thought we lived in America and then we moved here," said Ron Cooke.  The couple was in Phoenix earlier this month attending pre-trial oral arguments for their lawsuit.  Ron Cooke grew up in Colorado City as was a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  He is one of the youngest of 56 children in his polygamous family.  Ron left the church as a teenager, moved to Phoenix and later married Jinjer.  While working as a road construction worker in Phoenix in 2005, Ron was hit by a large truck and suffered traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries.  After the accident the family decided to move to Colorado City to be close to Ron's family.  Ron was also deemed a participant in the large United Effort Plan property trust because of his years of labor as a teenager and could therefore have access to UEP property.  The Cooke family found an abandoned, partially-constructed home that was large enough for their family and suitable for Ron's wheelchair.  The family entered into an agreement with the UEP trust to occupy the house and planned their move for the summer of 2008.     Read more

Legal Setback For Family Denied Water In Polygamous Town

By Ladd Egan KUTV 2News Originally broadcast Thursday, February 21 2013

(KUTV) A Colorado City, Ariz., family fighting for a water connection to their home was dealt a legal setback this week when a federal judge dismissed nearly half of their discrimination lawsuit against the polygamous-controlled towns on the Utah/Arizona border.  Ron and Jinjer Cooke and their three children have been waiting since May, 2008 for a water hook-up.  Without running water they make several trips a week to fill a large tank in their front yard.  The Twin City Water Authority, the water department for Colorado City and neighboring Hildale, Utah, denied the family's request for water citing new policies enacted because of water shortages.  The couple filed a civil rights lawsuit against the cities claiming they are being discriminated against because they are not members of the area's dominant polygamous sect: The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  "If they want something hooked up they'll hook it up," Jinjer Cooke of the water department.  "They have to follow the church's orders and they can't run it like a normal city."  The church is still controlled by imprisoned leader Warren Jeffs, 57, who is serving a life sentence in Texas on convictions of sexually assaulting two underage girls.  On Feb. 13th, U.S. District Judge James Teilborg issued summary judgments in the lawsuit which resulted in about half of it being dismissed.  However, the main claim of religious discrimination can remain, the judge ruled.  "A reasonable jury could find that the Cookes were either delayed in getting or did not receive municipal services because they were not FLDS members," Judge Teilborg wrote in the order.     Read more

Read Suzette Steed's Declaration submitted in the Lorin Holm child custody case, filed in the Utah Fifth District Court on February 16, 2012

Read Willie Jessop's Complaint suing Warren Jeffs, Lyle Jeffs and John Wayman, filed in Utah Fifth District Court on February 9, 2012

Read the U.S. Department of Justice's Motion to Transfer Related Case regarding Ron and Jinjer Cooke's discrimination lawsuit against the Town of Colorado City, filed in the U.S. District Court of Arizona July 12, 2012

Read the U.S. Department of Justice's Complaint against the Town of Colorado City, Arizona; City of Hildale, Utah; Twin City Power; and Twin City Water Authority, Inc., filed in the U.S. District Court of Arizona June 21, 2012

Read Wallace Jeffs' Complaint against Warren Jeffs, Lyle Jeffs, Merril Jessop, Wendell Nielsen and Amy Jeffs regarding the safety of his children, filed in Washington County, Utah Fifth District Court on July 12, 2011

Read the US District Court for the District of Arizona's Order regarding the discrimination lawsuit against Hildale-Colorado City Utilities, Twin City Power, and the City of Hildale, filed May 16, 2011

Read Defendant Colorado City's Complaint for Declaratory Relief against the UEP and Bruce Wisan, regarding the Ronald and Jinjer Cooke discrimination case, filed in the U.S. District Court of Arizona on March 11, 2011

Read the Arizona Attorney General's Supplement to Emergency Report and Recommendation for Expedited Status Conference regarding the UEP Trust, filed in 3rd District Court in Salt Lake City, Utah on July 19, 2010

Read the Arizona Attorney General's Emergency Report and Recommendation for Expedited Status Conference regarding the UEP Trust, filed in 3rd District Court in Salt Lake City, Utah on July 8, 2010

Read the Arizona Attorney General Civil Rights Division's Discrimination Lawsuit filed against Hildale-Colorado City Utilities, Twin City Power, and the City of Hildale dated June 25, 2010

Read the Arizona Attorney General Civil Rights Division's Reasonable Cause Determination alleging the FLDS-run public utility companies are in violation of state and federal fair housing laws, dated April 5, 2010

Read the Order of Dismissal with Prejudice in the Shem Fischer v Forestwood lawsuit filed October 5, 2009.

Read the Notice of Satisfaction of Judgement in the Shem Fischer v Forestwood lawsuit filed October 2, 2009.

Read the Warren Jeffs' deposition transcript in the Wendell Musser lawsuit from July 27, 2007.

Read the Arizona Attorney General's Press Release on the Civil Rights Lawsuits Filed Against Two Colorado City Businesses from June 14, 2007.

Read the Arizona Attorney General's Civil Rights Complaint Filed Against the Vermillion Candy Shoppe and Bygnal Dutson filed on June 14, 2007.

Read the Arizona Attorney General's Civil Rights Complaint Filed Against Big Dan's Drive Thru filed on June 14, 2007.

Read the April 2007 Wendell Musser lawsuit filed against Warren Jeffs

Read Judge Dale Kimball's Memorandum Decision and Order dismissing Shem Fischer's lawsuit against Forrestwood Company, Inc., filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah on April 14, 2006

Read the July 2004 Amended Complaint by Shem Fischer for Religious Descrimination filed against Forrestwood, the FLDS Church and against Warren Jeffs

Read the June 9, 2001 Utah Supreme Court Opinion The City of Hildale v. Cooke, et al

Read the September 1, 1998 Utah Supreme Court Opinion Jeffs, et al v. Stubbs, et al

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