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| The Eyes Of Texas |
The Eyes of Texas are upon you, All the live long day... The Eyes of Texas are upon you, You cannot get away. Do not think you can escape them, At night, or early in the morn... The Eyes of Texas are upon you, Till Gabriel blows his horn! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Polygamist Compound Being Built in Texas? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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John Hollenhorst Reporting KSL TV Originally broadcast March 24, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Aerial photos have revealed a secret construction project in Texas that's apparently linked to a controversial polygamist sect based in Utah. Anti-polygamy crusaders say they're certain the large-scale project is being done at the behest of Warren Jeffs, the Utah man revered as a prophet by thousands of polygamists. A secret compound comes as no surprise; rumors have been circulating for two months. But the location is a big surprise and something of a mystery. The polygamist sect in the twin towns of Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah has been under intense law enforcement scrutiny in recent months. And there have been well publicized splits in the group. The legal and media attention has alarmed those faithful to prophet Warren Jeffs. He's been rumored for months to be planning an exodus to a secret compound in Mexico. Now attention is suddenly focused on the tiny remote town of Eldorado, Texas, nearly 200 miles northwest of San Antonio. Anti-polygamy crusaders obtained aerial photos that clearly show large residential structures under construction. There's even a concrete batch plant on site suggesting further construction. Women are visible in plowed fields wearing the distinctive clothing and hairstyles of Jeffs' followers. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alleged Jeffs compound found in Texas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS church denies anti-polygamist claims of new community near Eldorado | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Jane Zhang The Spectrum Originally published Thursday, March 25, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ST. GEORGE -- The three-story houses with pitched roofs look every bit rustic, boxy and over-sized, much like many never-completed buildings in Colorado City. But these are under construction 1,200 miles away in the hilly country north of Eldorado, a Texas town of 2,000 people about 200 miles northwest of San Antonio. Surrounded by fences and shrubs, the compound is not accessible to the public, said John Nikolauk, Eldorado's mayor of 15 years. Several residents have seen cars with Utah and Arizona plates come and go, he said, but the builders remain a mystery to townsfolk. "They are out in the country, not visible from any highways," Nikolauk said in a telephone interview Wednesday night. "I don't know who they are." But Flora Jessop, an anti-polygamy activist who has distributed to the media pictures of three completed houses in Eldorado, said she is sure the compound is built for Warren Jeffs, the reclusive prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the largest polygamist group in America. With 1,371 acres, activists said, the property has at least three more houses under construction, which all stand at 40 to 50 feet wide and 60 to 80 feet long. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Do polygamists own Texas site? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Activist says FLDS have purchased ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Thursday, March 25, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ST. GEORGE — An anti-polygamy activist believes a large ranch compound in rural Schleicher County, Texas, has been purchased by those with links to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, led by Warren Jeffs. On the other hand, those who recently sold the ranch and other parcels say they have been told the land is to be used as a "corporate hunting retreat." Former members and close observers also have been predicting that Jeffs has plans to order his followers to move to Mexico. Activist Flora Jessop says the ranch's new owners are polygamists and said she fears the property could be used for child trafficking, moving underage children, including potential brides, from region to region. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Corporate Retreat or Prophet's Refuge? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published March 25, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Even as construction proceeds on a complex of three-story buildings some four miles north of Eldorado, rumors about the facility and its possible ties, if any, to a polygamist group located in southern Utah and northern Arizona are swirling through the community. The buildings are located on a 1371-acre parcel of land purchased last year by a company named YFZ L.L.C., a Texas limited liability corporation based in Washington, UT. Documents filed in the Schleicher County Courthouse reveal David S. Allred as the YFZ corporate official who handled the transaction for the land. Allred is the only company official named in the corporation's organizing papers filed with the Texas Secretary of State's office. Real estate closing documents associated with the property were signed by Mr. Allred here in Eldorado. At that time, Allred reportedly told several local citizens that he was planning to build a corporate retreat on the land. More than one local rancher has said that Allred told them he was the owner of Dave's Builders, a construction company in St. George, UT., and that his clients are located primarily in Las Vegas, NV. Those clients were the reason for the retreat, Allred reportedly said, so that he could have a place for them to hunt and be entertained. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Who is Flora Jessop and Why is She Coming to Eldorado? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published March 25, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Flora Jessop was raised in the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), a group that long ago broke its ties with the Mormon Church, and under FLDS rules, she was forced to marry her older cousin when she was sixteen. The marriage proved to be the final straw. Jessop said she didn't run away from Colorado City, AZ because of religion, but because of abuse. She says that she was sexually abused in her home, beginning at age 13. But, she was strong-willed and wasn't about to submit. So, Flora took the unheard of action (at least at that time and in that place) of taking her alleged abuser to court. When a St. George, UT judge dismissed the charges, Flora says she was returned to Colorado City where she was kept a prisoner in her uncle's home for the next four years. Jessop's escape was made good at the age of 18, and she stayed on the run for several years, convinced that she was being pursued by church leaders. Finally, she was able to move on with her life, even marry and start a family, but she never forgot what happened to her in Colorado City and agonized over the thought of other young girls having to live as she did. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamy Cult Moving To Texas? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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WOAI News 4 - San Antonio, Texas Originally published March 26, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A rural Texas sheriff cautioned people not to jump to conclusions about a compound under construction north of Eldorado, saying he has no proof that the structures are for the head of a polygamist church group. Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran was responding Thursday to concerns that Warren Jeffs, head of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, was building three three-story houses on a 1,300-acre site. Aerial photographs show the houses appear similar to some of the large homes in the twin FLDS communities of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah. "The Sheriff's Department is on top of this," Doran said. "In the future if there is a connection with FLDS, then we will continue to monitor it. When people purchase land the last thing you want is to have rumors following you. You don't want law enforcement creeping around your door accusing you of something you are not." Doran said it is his understanding that the property is a corporate hunting retreat. Jeffs, who is estimated to have 50 wives, has long been rumored to be building a compound in Mexico. The border is about 90 miles south of Eldorado in West Texas. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Are FLDS now in Texas? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sheriff urges caution, vows to watch situation | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Associated Press Originally published Friday, March 26, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO, Texas — A rural Texas sheriff cautioned people not to jump to conclusions about a compound under construction north of Eldorado, saying he has no proof that the structures are for the head of a polygamist church group. Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran was responding Thursday to concerns that Warren Jeffs, head of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, was building three three-story houses on a 1,300-acre site. Aerial photographs show the houses appear similar to some of the large homes in the twin FLDS communities of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah. "The sheriff's department is on top of this," Doran said. "In the future if there is a connection with FLDS, then we will continue to monitor it. When people purchase land the last thing you want is to have rumors following you. You don't want law enforcement creeping around your door accusing you of something you are not." Doran said it is his understanding that the property is a corporate hunting retreat. Jeffs, who is estimated to have 50 wives, has long been rumored to be building a compound in Mexico. The border is about 90 miles south of Eldorado in west Texas. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Concerns Raised About Eldorado Compound | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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WOAI News 4 - San Antonio, Texas Originally published March 26, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (ELDORADO TEXAS) -- A company called YFZ Land Company is purchaing property near this remote west Texas town, and many here are afraid a controversial polygamist sect plans to build a compound in rural Schleicher County. "We've been applying a lot of pressure in Utah and Arizona, and I think that they're looking to establish somewhere where they're not known," Flora Jessop, who said she escaped from the sect when she was a teenager and has become a crusader against the sect, told a news conference at the Schleicher County Sheriff's office. The group, called the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is headed by a charismatic and controversial rogue Mormon named Warren Jeffs. The religion website Wikipedia.org says Jeffs believes that in order to get to heaven, men must have at least three wives. He took over the sect from his father, Rulon Jeffs, who reportedly had 22 wives and fathered more than sixty children. The FLDS is the largest polygamist sect in America. Today Rowwena Erickson, who described herself as a former 'wife' in the FLDS told 1200 WOAI news she thinks she knows why the group is building near the US/Mexico border. "If anything goes wrong, they can just skip over the border," she said, adding that the group could be planning to smuggle young girls in from Mexico to become 'wives' for male members. Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran says there is no evidence that YFZ is related to Jeffs, although Jessop says the letters stand for "Yearn For Zion" after a song recorded by Jeffs. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eldorado: Texas town 'terrified' that group moving in from Arizona | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Linda Stelp Kingman Daily Miner Originally published Friday, March 26, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mohave County Supervisor Buster Johnson and anti-polygamy activist Flora Jessop met with people of Eldorado, Texas, on Thursday after learning that members of the polygamous community of Colorado City may be building a compound in the small Texas town. Residents of Eldorado (pronounced with a long 'a') turned out en mass for a press conference in which Johnson, Jessop and Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran tried to calm residents' fears. "They are terrified to have what they consider a 'cult' move into their town of just 3,000 residents," Jessop said. "A few townspeople carried signs, including one that read, 'The devil is here.' " Jessop said citizens of Eldorado, located 90 miles north of the Mexican border, "are very sensitive in Texas because of what happened with Waco." Waco, Texas, gained infamy in 1993 when a fiery showdown between cult leader David Koresh and FBI agents at the Mount Carmel compound ended a 51-day siege that began with an attempt to arrest Koresh on weapons charges. Koresh and other cult members, including 17 children and four government agents, were killed, and 16 agents were wounded when the compound caught on fire. Johnson said members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS) in the Colorado City-Hildale, Utah, area have been building a compound about three miles from downtown Eldorado. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Community Seeks Answers to Questions about New Neighbors | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Authorities suspect local ranch tied to FLDS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published April 1, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| As word filtered out of Eldorado last week that a three-building compound under construction north of Eldorado might be connected to a polygamist group known as the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), media outlets from across the state, as well as Arizona and Utah, flooded into town to hear what Flora Jessop, a children's rights activist, would have to say at a press conference last Thursday. The news that many of them sought, broke first on the front page of last week's Eldorado Success. The story, and its accompanying photo were picked up by a number of daily newspapers, including the Salt Lake City Tribune, which has closely followed the FLDS in the Arizona/Utah border towns of Colorado City, AZ and Hilldale, UT. Jessop explained to reporters that she had grown up as a member of the FLDS and that she escaped from the group at age 16 after church leaders forced her to marry her cousin. She said that 28 of her brothers and sisters remain in the group. Forced underage marriage, sexual abuse of children, welfare fraud, tax evasion, tax fraud and child labor violations, were but a few, of the allegations that Jessop leveled against the FLDS. She explained that the registered owner of the ranch in question, David Steed Allred, is a member of the FLDS and has close ties to its prophet, Warren Jeffs. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah Sheriff to Visit Eldorado | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published April 8, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sheriff Kirk Smith of Washington County, UT, plans to visit Eldorado in the coming days to update local authorities on his dealings with members of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), a large number of whom live in the community of Hildale, UT, located in a remote corner of his county. There has been much speculation in recent weeks that a three-building complex, being erected on the YFZ ranch, some four miles north-northeast of Eldorado, is affiliated with the FLDS. Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran says that he has invited Sheriff Smith to visit Eldorado in hopes of gleaning more information about the group. "Sheriff Smith has gained some valuable experience in dealing with the FLDS in Washington County," Sheriff Doran told the Success. "If the group on the YFZ ranch is associated with the FLDS, and I'm becoming more and more convinced that they are, then we can benefit greatly from hearing what he has to say." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Still More Questions Than Answers About YFZ Ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Local Authorities Make Contact With YFZ Officials | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published April 15, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| David Allred, the Arizona man who represented a newly formed corporation, YFZ L.L.C., when it purchased 1,691 acres some four miles north-northwest of Eldorado last November, made the rounds in town last Thursday, meeting with local officials, and assuring them that he intends to use the property as a corporate hunting retreat. Three large buildings under construction on the ranch will be used to house guests, Allred told Sheriff David Doran, adding that some families may be living there full time. Doran said that he and Texas Ranger Sgt. Brooks Long met with Allred, and his construction foreman, Ernie Jessop, primarily to make contact with the men and open a dialogue. "They are aware of the rumors that are buzzing around town," Doran stated. "They told us that they just want to live their lives peacefully and to be left alone to raise their families according to their beliefs." "We made them aware that Texas has very strong laws regarding bigamy, as well as sexual abuse of minor children," Doran continued. "We also told them that while we have no evidence at this time of any wrongdoing we won't hesitate to act if we obtain such evidence." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Duckwall's Not Connected with Allco Company of Hildale, Utah | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published April 22, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Duckwall's/Alco officials announced this week that their company is not affiliated with any Allco businesses, located in Hildale, UT and Colorado City, AZ. Duckwall's Variety Stores, including the one located here in Eldorado, and Alco Discount Stores, including the one in Sonora, are owned by Duckwall Alco Stores, Inc., a Kansas based corporation, named after its founder A.L. Duckwall. Shares in the company are publicly traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange. Confusion about the company's ownership apparently resulted from a news article that appeared in the Salt Lake City Tribune, and on its website. The story, picked up by a number of other publications, linked David Allred, the Utah man who organized YFZ Land L.L.C., and bought 1,691 acres north of Eldorado, to an Alco Company in the twin cities. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attorney Believes YFZ Ranch Connected to FLDS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| State Environmental Inspectors Visit YFZ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published April 22, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Salt Lake City attorney Rodney Parker told the Success on Tuesday that he believes the buildings going up on the YFZ Ranch are "clearly connected" to the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. Parker, who has represented the FLDS on a number of occasions, said he was unsure why the group chose to build near Eldorado and that he has no idea what the FLDS has planned for the property. Parker said that he only knows what he has read about the YFZ Ranch but noted that photos of the buildings, plus information he has gleaned about individuals connected with the property convinced him of an FLDS connection. Parker represented Colorado City, AZ police officer Rodney Holm last year when the State of Utah brought charges of bigamy and unlawful sexual conduct with a 16- or 17-year old child. Holm, who is a was eventually convicted in the case, is an FLDS member who admits to practicing polygamy. Polygamy is the "bedrock of their faith," Parker said of the FLDS. "They are very committed to the practice." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| State Inspectors Make Return Visit as Construction Continues at YFZ Ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published April 29, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Investigators for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality paid a return trip to the YFZ Ranch on Monday, April 26, 2004 to address a number of violations of the state's environmental code. Ricky Anderson, director of the TCEQ Region 8 office in San Angelo, told the Success Tuesday that a number of his personnel carried a series of inspections and verified some water and air quality violations. Anderson said that the cement plant operating just north of the construction site was in violation of the state's air quality standards and that it was ordered to be shut down until corrective measures could be taken. Also, violations of the on-site septic system were identified as well as a failure to obtain a permit to for construction related to storm water discharge. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamist church-bought lot not for retreat, after all | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Associated Press Originally published May 3, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ST. GEORGE, Utah - Texas authorities have been disabused of the notion that the 1,300-acre spread bought in Schleicher County by polygamists will be used as a corporate hunting retreat. "This is not going to be used as a hunting ranch," Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith told the Deseret Morning News Sunday after a short visit to the west Texas town of Eldorado, where the compound is located. The property was sold in November to YFZ Land LLC, which lists Colorado City, Ariz., resident David Allred as its agent. YFZ reportedly stands for "Yearn For Zion," a song written by Warren Jeffs, president and prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Most of the church's followers live in Colorado City and the twin community of Hildale, Utah. Smith and Undersheriff Pete Kuhlmann visited Schleicher County at the invitation of that county's sheriff, David Doran. The two met with Doran and 22 community leaders in a two-hour, question-and-answer session geared toward learning more about the FLDS Church and its followers, Smith said. Residents of Eldorado learned in March that the FLDS Church had purchased the property and was constructing several large, three-story rectangular buildings on the site. Allred initially told Doran and others the compound would be used as a corporate hunting retreat. But that changed Wednesday at a meeting Doran held with Allred and others, Smith said. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS influx concerns small town in Texas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Washington County Sheriff travels to Texas to reassure law enforcement | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Jane Zhang The Spectrum Originally published Tuesday, May 4, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ST. GEORGE -- To residents of Eldorado, the small western Texas town where everybody knows everybody, the gated construction site with motel-like houses looks every bit foreign, mystic and alarming. As men from a polygamist group dined in town or stopped for gas, said Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran, some residents feared another Waco, where David Koresh and 85 of his Branch Davidian followers died in 1993. But the worry was not necessary, said Doran's counterpart here in Washington County, Sheriff Kirk Smith. "There is no indication that it will happen," said Sheriff Smith, who met with 22 local officials during a visit to Eldorado last week. "This group has never shown any propensity for violence." The group is the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the largest polygamist group in America based in Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah. After the church's self-proclaimed prophet, Warren Jeffs, excommunicated at least 30 men earlier this year, some anti-polygamy activists forecasted a mass exodus and violence erupting in the community with 10,000 residents. But the men quietly went into hiding, and the reclusive Jeffs remained elusive to state investigators, his followers and even his attorney, Rodney Parker, who said he "assumes he's down there" in Texas. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS seem eager to fix violations at new site in Texas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Wednesday, May 5, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ST. GEORGE — Environmental investigators have found several violations at a 1,300-acre retreat for polygamists under construction in Schleicher County, Texas, near San Angelo. David Allred, a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is the sole registered agent for YFZ Land, owner of the property. "There are violations in their air and water programs and concerns about on-site septic systems and solid waste disposal," said Ricky Anderson, Region 8 director with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. "We visited with YFZ on the site and in our office about this, and I will say there is an eagerness on their part to come into compliance. We are still in the process of writing the report, but I think everything there can be remedied." Anderson said YFZ operators were told to stop using a cement batch plant on the site after investigators found it was exceeding state particulate emission standards. "The cement batch plant is specifically named as one that must have a permit prior to operation here in Texas," he said. "There was no authorization given for this plant." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| About Face...FLDS Officials Retreat from YFZ Hunting Retreat Story | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Allred now claims property intended for FLDS community | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published May 6, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eldoradoans can expect as many as 200 new neighbors soon, that's if the latest story being told by YFZ Ranch officials is to be believed. David Allred, the Hildale, Utah man who handled the purchase of some 1,691 acres of land four miles north of Eldorado, and who organized a company called YFZ L.L.C. to manage the property, met with Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran and Justice of the Peace James C. Doyle on the afternoon of Wednesday, April 28th in an attempt to address a storm of controversy surrounding the land. Allred reportedly admitted that the story he had told locally that the YFZ Ranch would be a corporate hunting retreat, was just that, a story. Instead, he claimed that the ranch had always been intended as a community of members of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. Allred said he had hoped the cover story would help to fend off the media frenzy that ultimately followed the FLDS to Eldorado. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah Sheriff Meets with Local Leaders about FLDS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published May 6, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sheriff Kirk Smith of Washington County, Utah, told a group of twenty-five local citizens last Thursday that they could expect their new neighbors on the YFZ Ranch to keep a low profile and avoid trouble. Smith's county, located in the southwest corner of Utah, is where Hildale is located, the hometown of David Allred. He is the man who bought the YFZ Ranch, and who a few hours before Smith's arrival in Eldorado, admitted to local officials that the property is actually owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, a sect that broke away from the Mormon Church nearly a century ago when it renounced the practice of polygamy. Sheriff Smith and his undersheriff Pete Kuhlmann were joined by Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran and Chief Deputy George Arispe at a public meeting held for local officials in the Memorial Building. Prior to hearing from Smith, Doran informed the audience that he and Justice of the Peace James C. Doyle had met with YFZ Ranch officials the day before and that they had admitted to misleading the community about their intentions. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shouldn't we expect just a bit more honesty from God's one true church? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published May 6, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have been taught by their prophets for generations that they represent the one true church of God. The prophets knew this because that same God had told them so, personally. He, and that's a He with a capital "H," also told the prophets that the practice of plural marriage is not only approved, but required. The idea of plural marriage, or polygamy as it's better known here, seems a bit odd to many of us, but to the members of the FLDS it is a principal about which there is no room for compromise. In fact, when the leaders of the Mormon Church, the original Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, bowed to pressure from Washington, D.C. and gave up the practice of plural marriage so that Utah could be admitted to the Union, the forefathers of the current FLDS turned their collective backs on their brethren, and their sistern, too. Please, if it seems as if I am demeaning the FLDS, or the LDS for that matter, over their religious beliefs, I hope you will understand that I mean no disrespect. I only inject a little humor here because some of these things are so serious that laughing is the only way to keep from crying. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Trouble for Texas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By John MacCormack San Antonio Express-News Originally published May 9, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| COLORADO CITY, Ariz. — But for the hugeness of the houses and the quaint hairstyles and ankle-length dresses of the women and girls, this isolated stop on the scenic Utah-Arizona border might not warrant a second glance. "Most of the people here hold to fundamentalist beliefs, old fashioned if you will. You might even call it Colonial America. Love and help your neighbor. Things you wouldn't find everywhere," he said. But even with all the blond kids bouncing merrily on backyard trampolines or riding donkey carts in the streets, this is one version of small town America that Norman Rockwell never put to canvas. For decades, Colorado City and the adjacent Hildale, Utah, have been the home base of the largest polygamist Mormon sect in North America, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which broke from the main church decades ago. About 8,000 fundamentalists live here, including families with dozens of children. A church trust owns most of the land, and the church controls the municipal governments, Police Department and public school district. The sect leader, Warren Jeffs, 48, is an intense and reclusive self-described prophet who rules with Old Testament severity from behind the 8-foot walls of his family compound. And soon, the prophet may be coming to Texas. This spring, the polygamists quietly bought 1,600 acres just north of the small town of Eldorado, three hours west of San Antonio. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamy should concern residents of all states | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Pennie Petersen The Spectrum Originally published Monday, May 10, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I'm appalled to see that Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith could brush off the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saint's move to Texas as if it were no big deal. If anyone should know how serious this matter is, he should. He has witnessed first hand how chaotic it is getting in Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah,. Since Warren Jeffs has taken control, many members have lost wives, children, parents and homes, including Warren's own brothers and the town mayor of 20 years. The wives are being remarried and hundreds of children are being torn from their fathers, then receiving new ones within days. Underage girls are being married off in the name of God. Warren's home is being turned into a fortress. Orsen William Black fled to Mexico under Sheriff Smith's watch after being charged with five felonies for crimes against children, and yet he's going to bring this Texas sheriff up to Colorado City and Hildale and romance him on what a wonderful and peaceful little community it is. And why shouldn't he? I'm sure he's sick of this whole polygamy issue, too, as so many are. So why not let them all go to Texas? Out of sight, out of mind, right? Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Warren Jeffs Believed to be at YFZ Ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published May 13, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Published reports in the Salt Lake Tribune, as well as other Rocky Mountain area newspapers, indicate that Warren Jeffs, the Prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has left his walled compound in Colorado City, AZ, and relocated to the YFZ Ranch, just north of Eldorado. A story appearing in the May 6, edition of the Salt Lake Tribune reports that Jeffs was at the YFZ Ranch as early as March 28, 2004 and that it was he who ordered four men, David Allred, Ernie Jessop, Roy Steed and Allan Steed, to meet with Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran and Justice of the Peace James C. Doyle. Details of that meeting, along with a photo of the four men were published in last week's edition of the Success. At that meeting, Allred admitted to Doran and Doyle that the YFZ Ranch was never intended to be a hunting retreat. Instead, the property was planned for a new FLDS community and would house no more than 200 people, David Allred said. That number conflicts with reports the Success has gotten from sources in the Colorado City/Hildale area. Benjamin G. Bistline, author of "The Polygamists, a History of Colorado City, Arizona" told the Success last week that there is much activity in the Colorado City area and that numbers of families are packing to move to Texas. He estimated that perhaps as many as 1,500 could be making the move in the coming weeks. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texan touring Colorado City | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Tuesday, May 18, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| COLORADO CITY, Ariz. — David Doran, the sheriff of Schleicher County, Texas, said his visit to the twin polygamist towns of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hilldale, Utah, on Monday helped him gain a better understanding of his county's newest residents. "It helped separate the news hype from the reality of what's really going on," said the two-term sheriff, whose seat is up for re-election in November. "My intention in coming here is just to listen and learn." His county is getting a planned polygamous retreat called Yearn For Zion, or the YFZ Ranch. The 1,600 acres of scrub oak and rocky soil will eventually be home to about 200 of the most faithful members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, according to a church spokesman. The FLDS Church teaches that plural marriage is a central doctrine essential to one's salvation, and its members adhere to a strict moral code. To date, construction at the YFZ Ranch includes several finished three-story buildings with two more large structures nearing completion. Doran and his chief deputy, George Arispe, admit they have a steep learning curve when it comes to understanding the FLDS plural lifestyle. "This is all new to us," the sheriff told Colorado City Marshal Sam Roundy during Monday's tour of the two towns. "We didn't know anything about polygamy until you guys showed up in Texas." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas sheriff pays visit to Colorado City | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Doran travels to Arizona, Utah on fact-finding trip | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Jane Zhang The Spectrum Originally published Tuesday, May 18, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ST. GEORGE -- A day's visit to Colorado City discounted "a lot of rumors" about polygamy, a Texas county sheriff said Monday evening. "There wasn't anything we didn't see -- very hospitable, very open," said Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran. "It was very eye-opening. I was humbled by what I've seen. I got to see a community that works." Along with his Chief Deputy George Arispe, Doran is on a fact-finding trip about the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the largest polygamist group in America. Based in Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, the church is building what members say is a retreat for the faithful near Eldorado in Schleicher County. With five buildings planned in the hilly county, the Eldorado site reportedly will house about 200 people at any given time. But in a town with 2,000 people, many residents have worried about the impact of a potential block vote in local elections, an influx to the public school system, a possible strain on the local health care system and the impact on the welfare system. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Zion FLDS Leader Wants Fresh Start in Texas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published May 27, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The ongoing relocation of a major portion of Prophet Warren Jeffs' flock of fundamentalist Mormons from the Utah/Arizona border to Eldorado, Texas, represents the latest in a series of moves the church faithful have made in hopes of finding a refuge from man's law and a place where they can practice the teachings of church founder Joseph Smith. That, according to Jon Krakauer, author of Under the Banner of Heaven a Story of Violent Faith. "Since the day that Joseph Smith first communicated his revelation condoning plural marriage, his followers have been on the move, searching for a place where they can practice their brand of religion," Krakauer told the Success Monday. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Success Seeks TCEQ Records of YFZ Ranch Environmental Inquiry | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published June 3, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wendy Cooper, an attorney in the Dallas office of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, confirmed this week that a field report filed by investigators from the agency's Region 8 field office in San Angelo, regarding environmental violations at the YFZ Ranch has been forwarded to TCEQ headquarters in Austin. "Basically all I can tell you is that I am aware of the report and I know it has been sent to the enforcement division," Cooper said Tuesday. "I really won't deal with it until it gets into litigation." Other details regarding the report were not available to the Success on Tuesday and the newspaper filed an "open records" request that same day for the material, as provided for by Texas Open Records Act. TCEQ investigators paid a visit to YFZ Ranch on April 15 of this year, three weeks after news broke in Eldorado that the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), a sect of the Mormon Church that encourages the practice of plural marriage, or polygamy, was erecting large buildings on a ranch four miles north of town. That inspection, and a subsequent follow-up investigation, revealed a number of violations of the state's environmental regulations. At that time, inspectors reported finding air quality violations at a cement bulk plant near the construction site. They also indicated that water and waste water rules had been broken. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamist sect's arrival alarms Texas town | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Jean Marbella The Baltimore Sun Originally published June 5, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO, Texas -- The jokes have already started, in the cafes and on Main Street, but they draw more nervous laughter than actual merriment. Some men ask where they can apply to be a husband; others say, no thanks, one wife is trouble enough. Polygamy is funnier from afar and less so with proximity. This west-central Texas town is about to become home to about 200 members of a renegade Mormon group that, in defiance of the law, practices polygamy, with the men taking multiple wives and raising dozens of children under a single roof. "Everybody's shocked," Jimmy Doyle, the justice of the peace, said with little exaggeration. They've talked of little else in this remote town since private pilots such as Doyle began noticing some odd construction sprouting up on a former ranch just north of town. The ranch had been sold some months back to a man from Utah who said he was going to turn it into a hunting retreat -- but instead of a lodge or cabins that might be expected to house sportsmen, five large dormitory-style buildings have been built. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TCEQ Cites YFZ Ranch for Environmental Violations | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published June 10, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| State inspectors found a number of environmental concerns at the YFZ Ranch, including one that poses a threat to groundwater, according to documents released last week by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. TCEQ inspectors visited the ranch twice, first on April 16, 2004 with a follow up investigation ten days later, on April 26. Both times the investigators noted compliance violations. Among the violations is the alleged illegal use of a concrete batch plant without proper registration or permit. Documents acquired by The Eldorado Success under the Texas Open Records Act, indicate that on April 26 investigator Mark Newman ordered that a rock crushing and concrete plant be shutdown until appropriate authorization was obtained by the ranch. Interestingly, aerial photos taken by the Success that same day indicate that land was being cleared just north of three large 3-story buildings already constructed on the ranch. Subsequent photos reveal that extensive concrete work continued at the site, for several days following the shutdown order. A TCEQ spokesman told the Success on Tuesday that ranch officials have applied for some permits, but that there has been no authorization given to restart the concrete plant. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| YFZ Officials Ignore TCEQ Warnings | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published June 17, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A cement bulk plant and a rock crusher appeared to be running full steam ahead last week, well after a shut down order issued by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). Aerial photos taken on Wednesday, June 9, 2004, also revealed another large foundation being constructed adjacent to five other structures already built, or nearing completion. Additionally, a metal barn had been built nearby. Ricky Anderson, TCEQ Region 8 Director, told the Success on Tuesday that YFZ officials have applied for a permit to operate a rock crusher, but that no such permit has been issued. Additionally, the state's order to halt operation of a the rock crusher and cement bulk plant remains in place. Meanwhile, the TCEQ is pushing ahead with its investigation. Already, a series of alleged violations regarding the cement bulk plant and a non-permitted sewage treatment facility have been referred to the agency's enforcement division. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| YFZ Ranch Officials Want to Drill for Water | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published June 24, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| YFZ Ranch officials are apparently interested in drilling at least one additional water well on ranch property, some four miles north of Eldorado. Cindy Cawley, General Manager of the Plateau Underground Water Conservation and Supply District says that she was contacted by Paul Allred regarding the need to drill for water on the ranch. Cawley, who was at a meeting in Austin when she received Allred's call, made arrangements for assistant manager Virgil Polocek to visit the ranch. Cawley notes that while Polocek was given access to a water well near the ranch entrance, he was denied access to a second well on the north side of the ranch property. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Are Utah Problems Prompting FLDS to Build New Texas Town? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published July 1, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Construction continues apace at the YFZ Ranch, four miles north of Eldorado, even as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) finds itself under increasing pressure in the Arizona and Utah borderland. That pressure comes in the form of heightened scrutiny from the Utah Attorney General's office, and a series of setbacks in Utah courts. Add to the mix the fact that the region's only bank, the Bank of Ephraim, a strong supporter of the FLDS community in Colorado City, AZ and Hildale, UT, failed last week. But things aren't all rosy for the FLDS here in Texas. After the group's cover story was exposed in March, and Eldoradoans learned that their new neighbors were more interested in building a town than a corporate hunting retreat, the operation at the YFZ Ranch began attracting more than media attention --- it caught the eye of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. That isn't to say that any of the FLDS faithful have turned their backs on Prophet Warren Jeffs, or that any of the workers are giving up and leaving the YFZ Ranch. To the contrary, construction there seems to be accelerating, even to the point that a grid of roadways is starting to appear, making the whole thing look more and more like a new townsite. Meanwhile, former members of the FLDS, some of them recently excommunicated by Warren Jeffs, are adamant that the YFZ Ranch, is more than just a getaway retreat for church members. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texans are wary of FLDS neighbors | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sect's settlement raises concerns about polygamy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Howard Witt The Chicago Tribune Originally published Saturday, July 3, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO, Texas — The population of this drowsy West Texas town hasn't done much but dwindle in recent years, so its residents grew pretty curious in March when a pilot shot some aerial photos showing construction of several huge dormitory-style buildings on a sprawling ranch just outside town. The curiosity soon changed to concern when anti-polygamy activists from Utah showed up for a news conference to reveal the identity of the group that had bought the 1,600-acre ranch: the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or FLDS, a secretive sect that practices polygamy and marriages involving underage teenage girls. Now, with construction on the buildings nearly complete and the first of an expected 200 church members about to take up residence, the 1,951 residents of Eldorado are trying to make their peace with new neighbors many regard as followers of a strange cult. "Our biggest concern was that we wouldn't be dealing with another Waco problem here," said Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran, referring to the Branch Davidian siege in Waco in 1993. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamist group ranch worries small town's residents | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Bill Hanna Fort Worth Star-Telegram Originally published Monday, July 5, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO -- First, it was going to be a hunting lodge. Then a retreat. But as each new dormitory-style building goes up, residents here become a little more apprehensive about a secretive polygamist sect's move onto a ranch four miles outside of Eldorado. Locals say they have good reasons for feeling uneasy about their new neighbors. The Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, based in Arizona and Utah, is believed to be the largest polygamist group in the country. The 10,000-member church openly practices plural marriage and has generated more than a century's worth of controversy, including allegations of abuse of young girls, welfare fraud and wife swapping. If large numbers of the polygamist church do end up in Eldorado, residents fear the group could dominate the sleepy town of 1,955 about 45 miles south of San Angelo. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| YFZ Ranch Seeks Permit for Concrete Bulk Plant | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published July 8, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Representatives of the YFZ Ranch have applied with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for an air quality permit for a concrete batch plant located on ranch property some four miles north of Eldorado on Schleicher County Road 300. A public notice, published in this edition of the Success (see Page 8) states that the plant will emit particulate matter, especially aggregate, cement and road dust. TCEQ rules allow for public comments and even a public meeting on the issue. The deadline for persons to submit comments or request a public meeting is 30 days from now, according the notice posted by ranch officials. A TCEQ spokesman told the Success Tuesday that while public input is encouraged, strong evidence must be submitted before the agency will call a public hearing. The application is available for viewing at the Schleicher County Courthouse, as well as the TCEQ Region 8 office in San Angelo. The move to acquire an air quality permit is the first public display that YFZ Ranch officials are attempting to address a number of environmental concerns at the ranch, first uncovered by TCEQ investigators in April. Since that time, agency personnel have been trying to get TCEQ to comply with a number of environmental regulations. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Peek at polygamists' haven | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Joseph A. Reaves The Arizona Republic Originally published July 11, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO, Texas - Folks around here couldn't be more dumbfounded if a flying saucer buzzed the county courthouse and spooked all the sheep this side of Abilene. But polygamists? Being invaded by a colony of secretive Arizona and Utah men with two, three or more wives apiece wearing ankle-length, gingham pioneer dresses while working the fields under a scorching western Texas sun? Now that's a whole 'nother matter. "When I first heard they were out there, I thought, 'You've got to be kidding,' " said Randy Mankin, city administrator, hospital board member and editor of the local weekly newspaper. "It might as well been a UFO setting down. I mean, we're talking about polygamy and things that were supposed to be over and done a long time ago," Mankin said. Over and done in most places, but just coming to the rolling hills of Schleicher County. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 'Eldorado Success' has selling headlines now | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Joseph A. Reaves The Arizona Republic Originally published July 11, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO, Texas - The prophet made a big mistake if he thought he was getting away from the meddling media by slipping into Schleicher County. Warren Jeffs never figured he'd run into the staff of the Eldorado Success. "They've been all over this story," said Brad Spradley, a bear of a man who sells some of the best brisket in Texas out of a 55-gallon oil drum-turned-barbecue pit hitched to the back of his pickup outside the county courthouse. "I can't wait to get the paper every week." Neither can just about anybody else in Eldorado, a community of 1,951 especially friendly souls in the outback of western Texas. Circulation of the weekly newspaper has soared 10 percent from 1,000 to 1,100 since editor Randy Mankin, his wife, Kathy, and their secretary-reporter-photographer Staci Key started writing in March about the arrival of a secretive polygamist sect on the outskirts of town. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamist sect's purchase of ranch worries neighbors | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Bill Hanna Knight Ridder Newspapers Provo Daily Herald Originally published Monday, July 12, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO, Texas -- First it was going to be a hunting lodge. Then a retreat. But as each new dormitory-style building goes up, residents here become a little more apprehensive as a secretive polygamist sect prepares to occupy a West Texas ranch four miles outside Eldorado. Locals say they have good reasons for feeling uneasy about their new neighbors. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, based in Arizona and Utah, is believed to be the largest polygamist group in the country. The 10,000-member church openly promotes plural marriage and has been subject to allegations of forced marriages, abusing the welfare system and wife swapping. If large numbers of the polygamist church's followers do end up in Eldorado, residents fear that the group could dominate the town of 1,955 about 45 miles south of San Angelo. "They could easily come in here, bring in several thousand followers and take over the hospital board and other elected positions if they wanted to," said Randy Matkin, editor of the Eldorado Success and head of the Schleicher County Hospital District board. "That is what concerns us." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| YFZ Ranch Asks for City's Help | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published July 15, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ernie Jessop and Lee Roy Steed, representing the YFZ Ranch, came before the Eldorado City Council Monday evening to ask that the city accept wastewater from the ranch on a temporary basis. Jessop noted that inspectors from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality had shut down the ranch's septic system and that plans were in the works to build a small wastewater treatment plant at the ranch. Jessop asked the city council if they would accept sewage from the ranch at the city's wastewater plant while a suitable plant could be built at the ranch. Most questions from the city council involved whether or not the city's facility could handle the additional wastewater and if safeguards could be put in place to avoid contaminating the city's plant with pesticides and/or petroleum products. City Administrator Randy Mankin explained that the city's wastewater plant could easily handle the additional volume and explained that samples of the wastewater from YFZ could be tested at a lab to protect against pesticides and petroleum. A crowd of about twenty city and county residents on hand for the meeting, had other questions, however. "I do not want to help them. They have not been heads up with us, so why help them?" asked Herman Walker, reference to the hunting retreat cover story ranch officials told when they purchased 1,600 acres north of Eldorado and began constructing several buildings that later proved to be owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), a polygamous sect from the Utah/Arizona borderland. Walker's sentiments were echoed by a number of the audience members. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prophet vs President | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published July 15, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| President George W. Bush renewed his efforts this week to pass a constitutional amendment that would define the institution of marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman, putting himself directly at odds with those in America's burgeoning homosexual community and his political adversaries in the Democratic Party. The President may have also unwittingly staked out a position in a battle that is brewing here in Schleicher County, a battle emerging not between gays and straights, but between local residents and a polygamous sect calling itself the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). That sect, led by its Prophet Warren Jeffs, purchased some 1,600 acres a mere four miles north of Eldorado in November of 2003. Since that time, a massive building program has begun on the property. One of the primary tenets of the FLDS faith is that of multiple or "plural" marriages. For decades FLDS members have skirted bigamy laws in Utah and Arizona by claiming only one "legal marriage" while maintaining numerous "celestial" or "plural" marriages. Often times the marriages involved teen-aged girls, some as young as 14, being wed to men three and four times their age. Numerous published accounts claim Prophet Warren Jeffs has taken many celestial wives, with numbers ranging from 35 to 75. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Water District Okays Water Well Permits for YFZ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published July 22, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Plateau Underground Water Conservation & Supply District board of directors met Tuesday, July 20, and approved two permit applications submitted by the YFZ Ranch, allowing a re-entry of an old well and the drilling of a new one. Before voting on the matter, the directors heard from District Manager Cindy Cawley, who explained to the exact location of the wells and said that they met current regulations on spacing and depth. During the discussion it was noted that there are already two wells in use at the ranch, one of which is being used to irrigate a large garden. Cawley informed the board that YFZ representative Ernie Jessop had told her the garden is soon to be doubled in size. She added that although the well is currently exempt from district rules it would become subject to those rules if production exceeds 25,000 gallons per day. If and when that benchmark is reached, the an application for a permit for that well must be filed with the district, Cawley said. Discussion then turned to the issue of municipal water supply wells. It was explained that wells used to serve more than 25 people fall under TCEQ guidelines and must be monitored for bacteria and chemically treated, much the same as wells owned by the City of Eldorado. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| City Weighs YFZ Wastewater Request | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Council tables issue pending more information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published July 22, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A crowd of about 75 persons gathered Tuesday evening in the Schleicher County Memorial Building for a called meeting of the Eldorado City Council. While most were there to sit and listen, many took the opportunity to voice their opinions regarding a request by the YFZ Ranch that the City of Eldorado accept wastewater from the ranch at its sewer plant. After a lengthy question and answer session the council eventually decided to table the question until more information could be obtained, as well as a written request from the YFZ. The issue became a hot button item last week when YFZ representatives Ernie Jessop and Lee Roy Steed appeared before the council to ask that they consider accepting the wastewater until a new sewer plant could be built at the ranch. Most of those commenting Tuesday night were opposed to the idea of taking wastewater from the YFZ, even temporarily, with many of them basing their objections on moral grounds. More than one of the speakers made reference to the fact that the YFZ is actually owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a polygamous group from the Utah/Arizona border region, and that numbers of FLDS members are relocating to Schleicher County. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prophet's Wife Dies at YFZ Ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published July 22, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Barbara Ann Barlow, 39, wife of FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs, died Saturday, July 10, 2004, at the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado. Justice of the Peace James C. Doyle of Eldorado ruled that Ms. Barlow died of natural causes after a battle with cancer. Sources in Colorado City, Arizona and Bountiful, Canada, tell the Eldorado Success that Ms. Barlow and her twin sister, Annette Barlow, were both married to Warren Jeffs in a joint ceremony, before he ascended to the office of prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Authorities say that Annette Barlow still lives at the YFZ. Ms. Barlow had reportedly been under medical treatment and moved to Schleicher County to be with her family. She had been seeing a doctor in San Angelo prior to death. Ms. Barlow's body was taken to Johnson's Funeral Home in San Angelo. Burial service was conducted at a private cemetery on the YFZ Ranch. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas Turns Up the Heat on YFZ Ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TCEQ cites YFZ for a total of 29 violations | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published July 29, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas, the state that likes to brag that it's like a whole other country, probably seems more like a whole other universe to workers at the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado. With environmental regulators from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality already focusing their undivided attention on the ranch, now comes word that state legislators and the office of the Texas Attorney General are casting their gaze toward the property and the sect of Fundamentalist Mormons who call the place home. State Representative Harvey Hilderbran was in town Monday where he met with city and county officials and discussed issues relating to the YFZ. Pam Dutton, an aide to State Senator Robert Duncan, also made the trip to Eldorado to gauge public opinion. "I've been following this issue and have been in close contact with Senator Duncan," Hilderbran said. "I know that the Attorney General's office is also looking into the allegations of polygamy and they have been in contact with the Utah Attorney General." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prophet's Nephew Alleges Sexual Abuse | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS & 3 Jeffs brothers named Thursday in Utah lawsuit | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published August 5, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Warren Jeffs, president and prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the nation's largest polygamous community, was accused in a lawsuit last Thursday of repeatedly sodomizing his young nephew and covering it up for more than a decade. Jeffs is also accused of hiding wide-scale sexual abuse of other children by fellow members of the FLDS, including two of his brothers Blaine Balmforth Jeffs and Leslie Balmforth Jeffs. The allegations are the most serious to be brought against Warren Jeffs, 48. He, and his top FLDS lieutenants have been under intense scrutiny by the attorneys general of Utah and Arizona, however, no criminal charges have been filed against anyone in the church leadership. But, Thursday's civil suit is of great interest to investigators in both states, even if they aren't exactly sure where to find the prophet. A number of Hildale residents reportedly saw the prophet's motor home, and a caravan of automobiles, depart from his walled compound and drive toward St. George, Utah. One of the witnesses, who has asked to remain anonymous, told the Success this week that surveillance cameras which once stood sentinel on the estate walls, have been removed and that the prophet's home is "obviously empty." "Some people are convinced he went to Texas, while others say he is hiding out in Canada," the source continued. "No one knows for sure, he may even be in Mexico." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rumored Escape from YFZ has Internet Buzzing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published August 5, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| So far, at least, the Success has found no evidence to support a series of rumors about a woman escaping from the YFZ Ranch, despite the fact that several versions of the rumor were posted last week on various Internet websites and even referred to in numerous published news stories. When the reports, which appear to have originated in Utah and Arizona, first reached Schleicher County last Thursday, Sheriff David Doran and Justice of the Peace James C. Doyle carried out an aerial search for the woman who, according to one version of the story, was accompanied by her two small children. While the men scanned the area from the air, other officers looked for the woman on the ground. The search was finally called off when nothing was found. A later version of the story claimed the woman was yet another of Prophet Warren Jeffs' wives while another claimed she had been wed to former Prophet Rulon Jeffs and was married by the new prophet following his father's death in 2002. On Tuesday, the Success was contacted by a man in Colorado City, AZ, who claimed hearing the story at least three weeks ago. In that version of the story, the woman managed to get away, not from the YFZ Ranch, but from a convoy of vehicles traveling from Utah to Texas. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Is Jeffs at Texas compound? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Bill Hanna Fort Worth Star-Telegram Originally published Tuesday, August 10, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| As a polygamist group transforms ranchland outside the West Texas town of Eldorado into a cloistered compound, local residents continue to wonder about the whereabouts of the sect's leader. Warren Jeffs, who is known as the prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is facing a lawsuit that alleges he and his two brothers sexually abused one of his nephews during the 1980s. The church's practice of excommunicating teen-age males from the sect as a way of eliminating competition for young brides is attracting more scrutiny in Utah, where the sect originated. As many as 400 males have been purged from the church since 1998, according to reports. Rod Parker, the attorney for the church and Jeffs, denied the lawsuit allegations and told the Associated Press they are being stirred up by the sect's critics. But the latest revelations continue to spur speculation that Jeffs has taken refuge at the sect's growing Texas compound about 45 miles south of San Angelo. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| YFZ is No Show at City Hall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published August 12, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Eldorado City Council was prepared Monday night to receive further information from YFZ Ranch officials regarding their request that the city assist them with treating the ranch's wastewater, but no one from the ranch appeared. City Administrator Randy Mankin advised council members that he had met with Paul Allred from the YFZ following the council's July 19 meeting and had conveyed a list of requirements the city would need before it would move forward with the YFZ request. Mankin said Allred didn't seem happy with the list and suggested to him that some of the items "weren't the city's prerogative" Mankin said he asked Allred for a written request from the YFZ outlining exactly what the ranch was requesting of the city. He also asked Allred to provide assurances concerning the quantity and quality of wastewater that ranch officials propose to haul to the city's wastewater plant, also the length of time the service would be needed. Other requirements included a monetary deposit or other assurances to guarantee payment as well as a bond to protect the city in case wastewater from the ranch is contaminated with pesticides, herbicides or other substances that might harm the city's sewer plant. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamist group irks W. Texas town | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mormon offshoot stirs suspicion and mistrust, but sheriff cites rights | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Karen Brooks The Dallas Morning News Originally published Saturday, August 14, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO, Texas – The narrow dirt road cuts away from a padlocked metal gate with a "No Trespassing" sign and an infrared security camera. The road drapes like a ribbon over rolling green hills and seems to go nowhere. But at the end the trail, hidden from the prying eyes of a judgmental world, immense log cabins and meeting halls rise above the West Texas brush. In their shadows, women in floor-length dresses till soil in a garden the size of a football field as their husbands build a retreat for church members who believe "plural marriage" is the only way to eternal salvation. This group of polygamists – self-described Mormon fundamentalists apparently seeking an escape from an unholy mess in their longtime homes on the Utah-Arizona border – has raised a big-time stir in tiny Eldorado, where fire-and-brimstone religion may be welcome but multiple wives tend to rankle. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prophet Hunt Begins at Eldorado | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published August 19, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sheriff David Doran and private investigator Sam Brower of Cedar City, Utah, served a summons Sunday afternoon to Merrill Jessop at the entrance to the YFZ Ranch on County Road 300. The summons directs FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs to respond within 20 days to a lawsuit filed against him by his nephew, Brent Jeffs. The lawsuit alleges that Warren Jeffs, and two of his brothers, Blaine Jeffs and Leslie Jeffs, sexually abused their nephew when he was a young boy. Investigator Sam Brower, who works for the law firm that represents plaintiff Brent Jeffs, said he wanted to deliver the summons directly to Warren Jeffs but adds that he really didn't expect to see the prophet. Merrill Jessop, who met the men at the ranch gate, reportedly told Brower and Sheriff Doran that he wasn't aware if Warren Jeffs had ever been to the YFZ Ranch. "He added that if Warren had actually been here it was only occasionally," Brower said. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Success Seeks Postal Records on YFZ Ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published August 19, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Eldorado Success filed a request last week with the U.S. Postal Service asking for the public release of Postal Service records related to a Post Office box used by the YFZ Ranch. The issue came up when the Success learned that local citizens who renew their rental of a local P.O. Box are required to provide two forms of identification, including one photo ID, for each person receiving mail at the box. The new guidelines were adopted in order to comply with the U.S. Patriot Act, signed into law by President George W. Bush following the 9-11 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. While numbers of local postal patrons have already complied with the new rules, under threat of having their box taken out of service, the Success has learned that some residents at the YFZ Ranch have not complied and are still receiving mail. While looking into the issue, the Success was told that the decision to continue delivery of YFZ mail was made by a Postal Service District Supervisor. That prompted the newspaper to inquire further into Postal Service regulations. Harley Hitchcock, a retired Postal Service employee and postal consultant for the Texas Press Association pointed out that information about personal P.O. Boxes is kept private while information regarding commercial or business boxes is supposed to be open to the public. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| City council budget talks turn to role of administrator | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published August 19, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Eldorado City Council met Thursday evening, August 19, 2004, ostensibly for a budget workshop, but before the meeting was over, council member Toni Sudduth would question whether City Administrator Randy Mankin's role as owner and publisher of The Eldorado Success is putting the city in jeopardy of a lawsuit because of the newspaper's coverage of the story surrounding the YFZ Ranch. Mayor John Nikolauk called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. with councilmembers Bill McCutcheon, Toni Sudduth, Dora Bosmans, Tommy Minor, Richard Mendez and Juaquin Rojas in attendance. The group methodically went through budget discussions and the meeting was winding down when Ms. Sudduth challenged Mankin's part-time position as city administrator and questioned how much of Mankin's newspaper work was being done on city time. She also claimed that he took too much time away from work and was in arrears on his vacation time. Mankin disagreed with that and referred to records he keeps in his day planner. He noted that in addtion to taking care of business at City Hall, he receives numerous calls at all hours of the night and day, even while he is at his newspaper office. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Missing FLDS Leader has Local Cops Looking | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published August 19, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Uncle" Fred Jessop, 94, the man once thought to the be the heir apparent to former Prophet Rulon Jeffs of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, was reported missing by family members last week. The concerned relatives filed the report in person at the Washington County Sheriff's Department in St. George, Utah. Rumors about Jessop's whereabouts, have run rampant among members of the FLDS twin cities of Colorado City/Hildale. With increasing numbers of former FLDS leaders being stripped of power and/or excommunicated from the church, many in the towns, as well as numbers of anti-polygmay activists, thought Jessop was either dead or being held hostage at the group's new Eldorado, Texas compound by new Prophet Warren Jeffs. Even then, it was nearly eight months before anyone came forward to file a formal missing persons report. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sheriff Questions Phone Call From Fred Jessop | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published August 26, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran received a phone call this week from a man identifying himself as Fred Jessop, the 94-year-old patriach of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Doran said that the man phoned him last Saturday at the urging of officials from the YFZ Ranch. "I can't say whether or not it was Fred Jessop. He provided me with the right pieces of information that would tend to identify him and he certainly sounded as if he could be 94, but I still have my doubts," Doran told the Success. Doran said the man told him he was fine and didn't need any help, adding that he was retired and staying out of church business. Jessop, known as "Uncle Fred" to the FLDS faithful, was slated to succeed former FLDS Prophet Rulon Jeffs. But, that office was claimed by the late prophet's son, Warren Jeffs, in 2002. Shortly thereafter, the new prophet excommunicated many in the church's heirarchy. Then, late in 2003, as construction was getting under way on the group's new compound near Eldorado, Fred Jessop went missing. Despite rampant rumors that Jessop had been kidnapped, and/or killed, no one in the closed communities of Hildale, Utah or Colorado City, Arizona, came forward to report Jessop until two weeks ago. That prompted a missing person report being filed in the national law enforcement data banks and led to inquiries here in Eldorado as to Jessop's whereabouts. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| YFZ Hauling Wastewater to San Angelo | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published August 26, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TCEQ District 8 Director Ricky Anderson confirmed this week that wastewater is being transported from the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado to a wastewater treatment plant at the San Angelo landfill operated by Trashaway. Anderson said that his inspectors had visited the ranch on August 16th to confirm that an above ground storage tank had been installed. He said that since that time ranch officials have hired a licensed wastewater hauler to transport the waste to San Angelo. Anderson said that his inspectors have received trip tickets documenting the process and that they continue to closely monitor the situation at the YFZ, which he says will only last until a permanent wastewater treatment plant can be constructed at the ranch. Anderson went on to say that his employees are also working with YFZ officials on installing a public water system. That became necessary when state inspectors learned that more than 25 people would be residing permanently at the ranch. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| YFZ Resident Said Excommunicated by Prophet | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published August 26, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sources in Colorado City, Arizona tell the Success this week that Alan Steed, a one-time resident of the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado, has been excommunicated by FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs. It was Steed who, along with three other men, met with Sheriff David Doran on April 28th of this year to reveal that the construction at the YFZ Ranch was not actually intended as a hunting retreat. At that time Steed identified himself as holding the office of Patriarch in the FLDS church. According to others who have recently been barred from the church, Prophet Jeffs found Steed's family to be unworthy of him and booted them out earlier. The prophet reportedly assigned Steed a number of new wives when he was sent to Texas to work on the Eldorado compound. Now, Steed himself may be out of the group. That fits with what little can be seen here in Eldorado. Another of men who was active in the early development of the YFZ, Ernie Jessop, is reportedly no longer working here in Schleicher County, either. Officials at the ranch have told local authorities that he merely has been assigned to work on another project. As always, the Success invites comment from YFZ Ranch and FLDS Church officials. So far, no such comment has been received. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The polygamists down the road | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A controversial sect's arrival upsets neighbors in West Texas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Mark Lisheron Austin American-Statesman Originally published August 29, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO -- A new community has been going up in the past six months just north of here, built by men who believe having at least three wives will lead to their highest salvation. The men are members of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, one of the largest religious sects adhering to polygamy in the country. They have come from Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., twin communities of about 6,000 people on the border of the two states. Their 1,691-acre ranch here in the center of Schleicher County, between San Angelo and Sonora, is called Yearning for Zion Ranch. The few men who have spoken to outsiders say they are building a religious retreat, a haven for as many as 200 of the most faithful selected by their leader, Warren Jeffs, a man they refer to as the prophet. Jeffs and two of his brothers have been accused in a Salt Lake City civil court of ritually sodomizing a male relative between the ages of 4 and 6 in the 1980s when he was a pupil at a Fundamentalist Church academy where Jeffs and his brothers taught. Jeffs is also the target of investigations by the attorneys general in Utah and Arizona. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said he is investigating Jeffs for allegations of sexual abuse within the sect. "I've said it before, and I'll continue to repeat it," Shurtleff said. "I am coming after Warren Jeffs." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prophet's Nemesis | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ross Chatwin Visits Eldorado | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published September 2, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ross Chatwin, the Arizona man who refused to move from his home after being excommunicated from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints by its Prophet Warren Jeffs, was in Eldorado this week. Chatwin, his wife Lori and daughter Kimberlina arrived here Monday morning and spent the next day and a half visiting with Eldorado residents. Tuesday morning pilot Doug Garvin took the couple up in his plane for an aerial view of the YFZ Ranch, the property that is being developed by FLDS followers. Chatwin gained fame when he won a court decision blocking Jeffs, the FLDS Church, and its trust fund, the United Effort Plan, from evicting him from his home. Chatwin's home was built on UEP land and, according to the trust bylaws, is supposed to revert to UEP ownership when he vacates it. But, instead of following church orders and moving his wife and six children out of town, Chatwin did what no one before him had dared, he refused the Prophet's order. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Profiting from the Prophet? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published Thursday, September 2, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I listened with interest this week as Ross Chatwin offered ideas for ways to make money off the ongoing saga at the YFZ Ranch. He is the man who defied FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs and refused to leave his Colorado City, AZ home after being kicked out of the church. Chatwin, his wife Lori, and daughter Kimberlina, spent much of Monday and Tuesday in Eldorado, visiting with people, and seeing for themselves the progress at the YFZ Ranch. His thought of building an observation tower and charging admission to tourists was unique, but it wasn't the first idea I've heard that involved making money off the situation at the YFZ. The prospect of profiting off the Prophet's adventures seems to have struck a chord with several people here in town. Not that there's anything wrong with making money. It should be obvious to one and all that the size and scope of the building program at the YFZ Ranch translates into the sale of thousands, if not millions, of dollars worth of lumber and building material. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamous Sect Moves In, And Texas Town Asks 'Why?' | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mormon Offshoot Accused of Abuses in Arizona and Utah | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Sylvia Moreno The Washington Post Originally published Tuesday, September 7, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO, Tex. -- By anyone's account, 2003 was a banner news year in this tiny town on the western edge of Texas's rolling hill country. A man killed his father in the first homicide here in two decades, and an elderly man pushing brush with a bulldozer was stung to death by killer bees. A local businessman pleaded guilty to insurance fraud and was hauled off to federal prison, and nine residents, most of them members of the First Baptist Church, were killed in an accident in Louisiana on their way to visit historic sites in Pennsylvania. "I thought, we'll never have another year like that," said Randy Mankin, the part-time city administrator and full-time publisher and editor of the Eldorado Success, a weekly newspaper. "Then in mid-March this thing came along -- like a UFO landed north of town." The polygamists had arrived, and Eldorado (pronounced el-doh-ray-doh) -- population 1,951 -- hasn't been the same since. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Computer Upgrade Slows TCEQ Action Against YFZ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published September 23, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| When investigators from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality office in San Angelo visited the YFZ Ranch in July, they didn't know that a computer system upgrade would delay their report from reaching TCEQ headquarters in Austin for more than two months. But that's exactly what happened. The delay is over now, according to Ricky Anderson, director of the TCEQ San Angelo office, who said that the report from his office will soon be in Austin and that officials in the agency's enforcement division would take over from there. Anderson noted the computer system upgrade will make it easier for his office to stay in touch with Austin. Anderson also confirmed for the Success that YFZ officials have filed an application for a wastewater permit with TCEQ officials in Austin. A check of the application status on the agency's website indicates that the application for a municipal wastewater discharge permit was received from YFZ Land L.L.C. on August 24, 2004 and that the permit is currently undergoing administrative review. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nearly Six Months Later, What Have We Actually Learned About Warren Jeffs? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published September 30, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| It's been nearly six months since Eldoradoans awoke to the news that a religious sect had acquired more than sixteen hundred acres of land just outside of town and that members of the group were already erecting large dormitory-style buildings on the property. Since that day the people of Eldorado and Schleicher County have found themselves living in the eye of a media hurricane as dozens, if not hundreds, of print and broadcast journalists have made their way town, each of them looking for a different angle on a story that seems to change on a daily basis. And, oh, what a story it has become, complete with religious devotion, official corruption, power grabs, political intrigue and, yes, even a little sex. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS Church Holds Fast to Doctrine of Blood Atonement | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published October 7, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Editor's note: The Success this week begins a series of articles delving into the belief system of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). The first installment focuses on the Doctrine of Blood Atonement.
To fully understand the teachings of Prophet Warren Jeffs and his Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), one must first understand the teachings of the early Mormon Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS), as handed down by the group's first Prophet, Joseph Smith, and how those teachings were carried forward and expanded upon by his successors, including church pioneers like Brigham Young. First and foremost, FLDS devotees consider themselves to be true Mormons, meaning that it is they and not the mainline LDS Church who is the rightful heir of Joseph Smith's prophecy. By holding fast to traditional church doctrines like Plural Marriage and Blood Atonement, doctrines which were first promoted and then later forsaken by the LDS Church, FLDS faithful believe that they are Smith's living legacy and that it will be through them that God's earthly kingdom will be restored. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| An Arizona Import Rattles A Texas Town | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Randy Garsee KOLD News 13 - Tucson Originally published October 13, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Have you ever watched Mayberry, R.F.D. or The Andy Griffith Show? What would the sheriff have done if large buildings started going up on a secluded piece of land just outside of quiet little Mayberry? And then he couldn't find out why? Would he finally have to put on that gunbelt and give Barney Fife more than one bullet? Of course that plot was never part of a Mayberry episode but it has become a very real episode elsewhere. This is a News 13 Exclusive on a story with strong Arizona ties but first I had to travel more than 700 miles to a quiet little town in west Texas. Ten years ago, Randy Mankin went into the newspaper business. "I was looking for a way to stay in this town. We like this little town. It's like living in Mayberry." The Eldorado Success is a reflection of his Mayberry with its bad news. "Sometimes that means getting out of bed at three in the morning and going out and covering a car wreck." And its good news like, "Seeing someone getting a Lions Club recognition. That's just fantastic." A few months ago, however, Mankin's Mayberry began to whistle with questions, conspiracies and paranoia. "When this thing came to town, this story, it was so foreign to what everyone had seen it almost did seem like a UFO had landed." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The "Hysterical" Case of Arizona's FLDS in El Dorado, Texas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Randy Garsee KOLD News 13 - Tucson Originally published October 13, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The word "hysterical" is an unusual one. It can mean "extremely funny" or "excessive fear or panic." After learning an Arizona religious group was building a compound nearby, the residents of El Dorado, Texas found themselves swinging between both definitions. I traveled more than 700 miles to El Dorado to learn why polygamists from Arizona decided to build a home away from home in west Texas. One of the first things you notice, as you drive into El Dorado, Texas, is the small town's sense of humor. It's prevalent in the "hysterical district" where you'll discover "celibacy is not hereditary" and other hand-painted signs scrawled with gems of wisdom. But when residents learned a religious, polygamist group from Arizona was erecting massive buildings on a nearby ranch, their emotions did not include laughter. "Well, it ran the gamut. Shock, anger, fear, complacency, every shade of gray in the spectrum." El Dorado Success newspaper publisher Randy Mankin compares it to having a UFO land in your backyard. "In the beginning it did almost seem like an alien culture had landed here," said Mankin. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Source: Jeffs building Temple at YFZ Ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS has never before built a temple | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published November 11, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sources close to Prophet Warren Jeffs of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints tell the Success that the reclusive leader is planning to build a temple here in Schleicher County similar in size and scope to the one originally built by Mormon founder Joseph Smith in Nauvoo, Illinois. Warren has gone too far," one Utah man said on condition of anonymity. "He thinks he is God, so he has to have a temple." Aerial photos of the YFZ Ranch show a massive foundation under construction just west of the already completed meeting hall. The footprint of the foundation roughly matches that of the original Nauvoo temple. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wary Texans Keep Their Eyes on the Compound of a Polygamous Sect | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Simon Romero The New York Times Originally published November 14, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO, Tex. - David Doran, the Schleicher County sheriff, drives his truck almost every week to the outskirts of town and gazes at the 1,700-acre compound through a pair of binoculars. On most of his stakeouts, Sheriff Doran receives a call on his cellphone from a guard in the compound's watchtower asking if anything is amiss. "I just tell him I'm on business, just checking things out," Sheriff Doran said recently. "I tell them they have a right to be here and that their rights will be respected, but that doesn't mean I won't be vigilant." Eldorado's vigilance regarding its new neighbors, however, is bordering on obsession these days. Nearly everyone in this town of 1,900 people on the arid West Texas plains 125 miles southeast of Odessa is wondering about the community that has been established by the members of an Arizona-based offshoot of the Mormon Church, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Local Lawmen Join Search for Prophet's Child Bride | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Girl Declines Help from Authorities | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published November 18, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sheriff David Doran and Chief Deputy George Arispe traveled to Colorado and Utah last week planning on meeting with law enforcement officials in the two Rocky Mountain states. Before the trip was over, however, they found themselves participating in a missing person investigation and searching for an alleged child bride of Prophet Warren Jeffs, self-appointed leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. As Doran and Arispe met with Montezuma County Sheriff Joey Chavez in Cortez Colorado word reached them that a missing person report had been filed in Utah and Arizona by Suzanne Jessop Johnson, a Colorado City, Arizona woman who told officials that her sister, 17-year-old Janetta Jessop, had telephoned her asking for help in escaping from the FLDS. Johnson said that before she could arrange to meet with her sister, the girl disappeared. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah judge ratchets up pressure on Warren Jeffs | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published December 2, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah District Judge Stephen L. Henroid wants to hear from Warren Jeffs, self-proclaimed prophet and leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. A civil lawsuit against Jeffs is pending in Judge Henroid's court and so far, attorneys for the plaintiff, Brent Jeffs, have been unable to serve the elusive Mr. Jeffs with a summons ordering his appearance. So, the judge has ordered the publication of notices in four newspapers, including The Eldorado Success (see notice on Page 6), instructing Warren Jeffs to respond to the lawsuit. On July 29 of this year, Jeffs' 21-year-old nephew, Brent Jeffs, filed a lawsuit in Judge Henroid's court in which he accused his uncle of repeatedly sodomizing him beginning when he was 5 years old. The lawsuit also alleges that the FLDS church and much of its leadership were complicit in covering up the sexual abuse. Listed as co-defendants in the case were Warren Jeffs' brothers Blaine Balmforth Jeffs and Leslie Balmforth Jeffs. Also, named in the lawsuit was the FLDS church and the United Effort Plan Trust, a trust fund originally intended to benefit FLDS church members, but which many observers now believe serves as little more than a slush fund for Warren Jeffs and his lieutenants. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Massive hoist going up at YFZ stone cutting area | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published December 9, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Construction continued this week at the YFZ Ranch with the erection of a large hoist, believed to be standing over the rock cutting area near where many believe the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saint plans to build its first-ever temple. The hoist, clearly visible from County Road 300, consists of four large I-beam trusses, connected down the sides by more large beams that carry the hoist. While the massive structure is built in such a way as to make it easy to enclose with metal or other siding, it is unclear if the workers at the ranch plan to do so. A new gate has also been erected at the entrance to the property, several feet down a fenced lane from where the original gate stood near the roadway. The first gate was damaged, reportedly by a truck delivering construction material to the ranch. In keeping with their policy of excluding outsiders from the property, YFZ officials have brought in their own propane truck from Utah. It is used to meet a local delivery truck at the county road where propane is transferred to the YFZ truck for transport into the ranch. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Trouble in Texas with the "Marrying People" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Ken MacQueen Macleans Magazine Originally published December 13, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Since the arrival late last winter of the "marrying people," as one of Eldorado's more eccentric citizens calls them, there's plenty to talk about in this tiny west Texas town, if not much to see. The polygamous enclave of the YFZ (Yearning for Zion) Ranch is marked by nothing more than a "No Trespassing" sign on a locked gate off a country road. A long lane undulates over rocky rangeland, past stunted mesquite and juniper trees and ubiquitous prickly pear cactus. There may be 50 fundamentalists in there, says the local sheriff; or 200, says the local newspaper editor. They were chosen by the prophet -- Jeffs -- from the enclave on the Arizona-Utah border and likely also from Bountiful, where believers have contributed truckloads of lumber and prefabricated buildings to the cause. Jeffs never gives interviews, leaving others to speculate. Is he building a refuge from legal troubles, or preparing the most faithful for the fiery apocalypse he has long predicted? The church's lawyer, Rod Parker of Salt Lake City, says the group hasn't offered a reason for moving into Texas (there is also a second new enclave near Mancos, Colo.). He speculates the leadership is seeking more freedom and privacy. "I think they were looking for a place where they had more control over the comings and goings of people, especially from the outside," Parker says. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TCEQ not ready to act on violations at YFZ Ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wastewater plant permit clears first hurdle | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published December 16, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Officials with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality say that the investigation into environmental violations at the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado is still moving forward, but the state agency is not yet prepared to levy a fine or other penalties against the ranch's owner, YFZ Land L.L.C. In October of 2003, a Utah man named David Allred formed YFZ Land, L.L.C. and began using the company to acquire property in Schleicher County. Eventually 1,691 acres were bought some four miles north-northeast of Eldorado and construction soon began on a series of three-story log cabins. Allred's claim that the land was intended as a hunting retreat where he could entertain his business clients didn't hold up under scrutiny and by mid-March of this year it was discovered that the man had fronted the purchase of the land for a reclusive sect of fundamentalist Mormons and that the group's prophet, Warren Jeffs was intent on building a new community on the property. By early summer, a number of environmental concerns came to light and TCEQ inspectors began visiting the property. Shortly thereafter the ranch was cited for 29 environmental violations ranging from the operation of an unlicensed bulk cement plant and the dumping of sewer water on ranch roads for dust control to the improper storage and disposal of used motor oil and filters. The ranch was also ticketed for operating an unlicensed public water supply system. Since that time, the violations have been reviewed by the TCEQ Enforcement Division, which is reportedly ready to send its recommendations to the agency's lawyers. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Water plans at issue | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamist sect's plant would dump waste into Concho tributary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Eric Finley and Matt Phinney San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published December 18, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A plan by an area polygamist sect to build a wastewater treatment plant near the South Concho River is drawing fire from San Angelo's state representative. State Rep. Scott Campbell said he will call a public hearing to oppose the plant, which would dump treated wastewater into a tributary of the South Concho River near Eldorado in Schleicher County. The South Concho River flows north of Eldorado into Twin Buttes Reservoir, one of five reservoirs that form San Angelo's water supply. "We certainly don't want that coming into our water system," Campbell said. "We are going to do everything we can to keep that from happening." According to state law, a public hearing requested by a state official must be held. The law also calls for the Texas Commission of Environment Quality to review the proposal several times and take public comment before a hearing. No action is imminent. A public hearing includes testimony from experts in front of an administrative judge. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Salt Lake City law firm wants out of FLDS lawsuit | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lawyer cites fundamental disagreement with client | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published December 23, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Salt Lake City, Utah law firm of Snow, Christensen & Martineau is asking to withdraw as counsel for the Prophet Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, according to a petition filed in Judge Stephen L. Henroid's 3rd District Court. The lawyers, specifically Rod Parker, who for years has represented the FLDS and its charitable trust, the United Effort Plan claims that they must withdraw because their clients "insist upon a course of action with which their lawyers have a fundamental disagreement." The firm has recently represented Jeffs, the FLDS and the UEP in two lawsuits, one brought by Jeffs' nephew, Brent Jeffs in which he alleges he was sexually abused by his uncle when he was a young boy, and another brought by a group of young men known as the "Lost Boys," in which they allege that the Jeffs and other leaders in the FLDS church routinely banished young men from the group in order to guarantee the availability of young brides. The FLDS Church views polygamy as bedrock principal of its faith. Parker also noted in his motion that his law firm's withdrawal from the case is mandatory because the lawyers have been discharged from representation of the defendants in the case, according to court documents. That appears to mean that Parker's firm was fired by its clients, but no one is sure and neither Parker nor anyone affiliated with his law firm is willing to comment. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| YFZ wastewater permit moves forward | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published December 30, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| YFZ Ranch officials moved another step closer this week to obtaining a state permit to operate a wastewater treatment plant on ranch property. A public notice, published in this edition of The Success, indicates that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has determined that the YFZ application is administratively complete and will now begin a technical review of the application. The permit application has already caught the attention of the Upper Colorado River Authority which on December 17, 2004 notified TCEQ Chief Clerk LaDonna Castanuela of its desire for a public meeting to be held in Eldorado, or at another location nearby, for the discussion of the YFZ permit request. According to the public notice the proposed wastewater treatment plant will be located some six miles northeast of downtown Eldorado. If approved the plant will not exceed an average daily flow of 100,000 gallons and will discharge its treated effluent through a pipeline to an unnamed tributary of Milligan Draw. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Source: Jeffs dedicates FLDS temple site at YFZ Ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jon Krakauer watches ceremony from overhead | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published January 6, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jon Krakauer came to Eldorado last weekend, not to celebrate the new year, but to be nearby the YFZ Ranch where Prophet Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ are said to be building a temple. Of particular interest to Krakauer was a recent spate of rumors that Jeffs was predicting the end the world and that he had ordered his followers in Utah, Arizona and Canada to stay in their homes throughout the weekend. Krakauer, who wrote the best-selling book Under the Banner of Heaven, a Story of Violent Faith, has long been a vocal critic of Warren Jeffs. He has followed developments at the YFZ Ranch since the story broke here last March, maintaining close contact with Sheriff David Doran and Success editor Randy Mankin. Krakauer arrived in Eldorado last Friday evening and spent part of the evening monitoring traffic in and out of the YFZ Ranch gate. The following day, he flew over the YFZ where he managed to witness and photograph what he believes was a dedication ceremony at the temple site on New Year's Day. Krakauer snapped a series of photos that clearly show a group of people gathered at the east end of the temple foundation. In the first photo the group is arrayed in a semi-circle, facing an individual who Krakauer believes to be Warren Jeffs. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eldorado OKs proposal to change election process | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bill would keep religious sect from taking over | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Paul A. Anthony San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published January 7, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO - With some still worried a nearby religious group could stage a political takeover, the Schleicher County Hospital District moved a step closer Thursday to approving a proposal that could all but eliminate such a possibility. By a unanimous vote, the district's board of directors authorized its attorneys to draft a bill that would change its election process from at-large seats to single-member districts. "It's been kind of a long, ongoing deal for several years now," said Randy Mankin, hospital administrator, adding that the arrival of the reclusive, fundamentalist Mormon sect in March added an incentive. "There's an impetus there; there's no denying that." The hospital district's rules were created by the State Legislature in the late 1960s. The hospital must use its state representatives to pass legislation to change those rules. In Thursday's special meeting, Mankin told the board he received positive responses from Schleicher County's legislators, Rep. Harvey Hilderbran, R-Kerrville, and Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock. The five present members then voted to conduct another special meeting next week to vote on the legislation drafted by Kosub and Griffen, the board's law firm. The board also agreed to use the legislation to cap the district's per-patient liability at $30,000 and to allow it to make agreements with outside entities that would let the district run other area hospitals. "If we're gonna take a bite of the apple, we might as well put our wish list on there," Mankin said. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Temple construction begins at YFZ Ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published January 13, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The already rapid pace of construction at the YFZ Ranch picked up sharply this week as walls began going up on a building many believe will be the first-ever temple built by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Aerial photos obtained by the Success reveal that concrete forms have been erected around a large foundation just west of several log cabin-style buildings. Also noteworthy is a visible increase in the number of people at the YFZ, many of whom are believed by authorities to have been brought in to help with the new construction. The size of the new building has led many FLDS observers to speculate that the temple will be patterned after the current LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois, a building that FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs is said to admire. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Temple walls soar upward at YFZ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published January 20, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Less than a week after workers at the YFZ Ranch finished pouring concrete basement walls, structural steel was going up to support the ground floor and upper floors of a large building many believe will serve as the first-ever temple of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The FLDS Church existed for decades in relative obscurity in the tiny community of Short Creek, on the Utah/Arizona border where its members held firm to their fundamentalist Mormon belief in plural marriage, or polygamy. The community grew over time and evolved into the twin cities of Colorado City, AZ and Hildale, UT with a joint population of approximately 10,000 people, the vast majority of whom are FLDS members. In recent years, the group has come under increased scrutiny, both from the news media and anti-polygamy activists. Together the two groups have prodded the once reluctant governments of Utah and Arizona into action. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| YFZ parents greet arrival of newborn baby | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published January 27, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The population of the YFZ Ranch, which fluctuates up and down along with the ebb and flow of construction activity, grew by one permanent resident this week, following the arrival of a newborn baby. Confidential sources close to the family tell the Success that the child was delivered last Thursday evening in a San Angelo hospital emergency room. Neither of the two San Angelo hospitals would confirm the event due to federal privacy rules. The Success has learned, however, that the 18-year-old mother-to-be was accompanied to the hospital by family members, including the baby's father and paternal grandparents. Representatives of Child Protective Services were reportedly contacted by hospital personnel when the baby's parents would not provide the health care workers with adequate information. CPS spokesperson Marleigh Meisner said that she was aware of developments at the YFZ Ranch but would neither confirm nor deny her agency's involvement in connection with the newborn infant. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Some fear polygamists' story will end in Eldorado | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By John MacCormack San Antonio Express-News Originally published February 2, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO — In the 10 months since the news broke that a sect of polygamists had bought a large ranch outside of town, pilot James Doyle has flown over it about 50 times, often with an out-of-town reporter riding shotgun. "It's a strange situation. We don't know much about them," said Doyle, 68, Schleicher County's only justice of the peace. "They don't let us inside, and they don't come to town to trade." "I just wish the damned old guys weren't here. I don't think any good is gonna come of it, but they haven't violated any laws," he mused. With the Eldorado Success publishing polygamist updates and site photos almost weekly, many of the county's scattered 3,000 residents maintain a working knowledge of their new neighbors. But despite the polygamy jokes in the coffee shops, many share Doyle's deep sense of unease. Also mentioned over coffee are Branch Davidian leader David Koresh, whose 1993 standoff with federal officers outside Waco ended with more than 70 fiery deaths. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Town springing up on compound | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Bill Hanna Fort Worth Star-Telegram Originally published Monday, February 7, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO - Ten months after the first signs of a secretive polygamous sect's new outpost on the West Texas range, a full-fledged town is springing up. The community doesn't have a name, isn't incorporated and isn't on any maps. The compound, about 45 miles south of San Angelo, sits behind a padlocked gate, a guard shack and 8-foot fences. Inside, crews work around the clock on construction of a multistory temple that is expected to be the largest building in Schleicher County. The 1,491-acre YFZ Ranch -- short for Yearn for Zion -- is turning into far more than the hunting lodge or retreat that leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-day Saints originally told local officials that they were planning. A grid-like layout of a town has emerged on the rolling ranchland four miles east of Eldorado. It includes 13 wooden structures, some as large as college dormitories. There are also a half-dozen metal buildings, a concrete batch plant, a quarry, a dairy, well-tended gardens and a growing number of mobile homes. For nearly 70 years, the 10,000-member sect, believed to be the largest polygamous group in the country, has been based in the twin towns of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah. That appears to be changing. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS Church Building a Temple in Texas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Ben Winslow KSL NewsRadio 1160 Originally broadcast February 8, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (KSL News) -- Mysterious temple is appearing in rural Texas. It's being built by a Southern Utah polygamous church. Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran says residents in the area are growing concerned. "The community's concerned just by their mere presence being here and it appears to be growing quite large out there. So there's definitely concern as to what the future holds." Doran says the Fundamentalist LDS Church temple is four stories high, rectangular with turrets. He tells KSL Newsradio the group hasn't allowed them access to the temple site itself, saying it's "holy." FLDS church leader Warren Jeffs is the target of a criminal investigation by Utah's Attorney General. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Workers maintain feverish pace on New Zion temple | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published February 10, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prophet Warren Jeffs reportedly wants his new temple completed in time to hold the annual conference of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on April 6, and construction crews at the YFZ Ranch are working around the clock to meat the looming deadline. Former FLDS members tell the Success that there is more to the April 6 date than just the church conference. The FLDS church, as well as many in the Mormon faith, believe that Jesus Christ was born on April 6 and that he was crucified thirty-three years later on the same date. Joseph Smith founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on April 6, 1830. Sources in Colorado City, AZ tell the Success that they believe Warren Jeffs wants to have his new temple, the first-ever built by the FLDS, complete in time to celebrate the 175th anniversary of that event. The building's shell already soars 90 ft. above the ground and workmen were busy this week applying a coat of primer paint to the structure. Eight-foot tall sheets of plywood, apparent in aerial photos taken before the paint went on, make it possible to gauge the building's height above the concrete basement walls. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prophet's dream of Zion is being rapidly fulfilled at YFZ Ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published February 12, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Less than a year after Eldoradoans first learned that a fundamentalist Mormon sect had purchased a ranch four miles north of town and had begun to build, a new town is springing to life on the property. In the days before he became the prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Warren Jeffs wrote and recorded a song titled, Yearn for Zion. Many of his former followers, including Richard Holm of St. George, UT, believes the song title was the inspiration for the name given to YFZ Land, LLC, the corporation formed by one of Jeffs' most ardent supporters, David Allred of Hildale, UT. YFZ Land, LLC appears to have been created specifically to acquire 1,691 acres of land here in Schleicher County, and to mislead local residents as long as possible about Jeffs' real plans for the property. The smokescreen worked, at least for a little while. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Texas Prophecy - A Special Report | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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John Hollenhorst Reporting KSL TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast February 17, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The biggest drain on the FLDS bank account in recent weeks is a seemingly frenzied construction project on a remote ranch in Texas. It's believed to be the first polygamist temple and it's setting off alarm bells. John Hollenhorst flew over the site in West Texas and brings us the exclusive story. It's not just the spending that has people worried. It's the astounding speed of the project. Some believe Warren Jeffs has created a dangerous atmosphere by setting a deadline: his own "Texas Prophecy" of the end of the world. The temple looms over Texas ranchland, as tall as a seven-story building and big enough to hold an enormous congregation. Sam Brower, Private Detective: "It think that Warren Jeffs is thinking that this is the New Jerusalem. He's building the temple there." When the secretive FLDS church bought the property and named it Yearning For Zion, they said they were planning a hunting retreat. Randy Mankin, Owner-Editor, The Eldorado Success: "They lied to us about the purpose they were coming here for." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rumor of mass voter registration by YFZ residents proves untrue | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published February 17, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A rumor that 600 people residing at the YFZ Ranch registered to vote recently when they obtained Texas driver's licenses in San Angelo has turned out to be unfounded. The story swept through town late last week prompting numerous calls to the Success office. Schleicher County Tax Assessor/Collector Jeanne Snelson, who also serves as the county's voter registrar, refuted the story. She said that her office had received a number of calls last week asking about the story. Snelson's deputy Jennifer Henderson demonstrated how she closely monitors voter registration, including those who register when they obtain a driver's license. She noted that the information is transmitted to the Secretary of State's office in Austin and then back to Schleicher County via data link. "Believe me, if we had received 600 we would have known it," Henderson said. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Follow the Money | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah attorneys target Warren Jeffs' assets | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published February 24, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs stands to lose financial control of his polygamous empire if a motion filed last Thursday before a Utah judge is granted. The motion asks Utah State Judge Stephen Roth to remove Jeffs as head of United Effort Plan, a charitable trust that controls almost all of the church's financial assets in the twin towns of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah. The motion is perhaps the most significant development in the FLDS story since Jeffs' followers began acquiring property in Schleicher County in the autumn of 2003. It also represents the most serious threat to Jeffs' absolute control over the lives of his followers since he ascended to leadership of the church in 2002. "What you're seeing is the beginning of a process, but it's a significant beginning," said Roger Hoole, the attorney who filed the motion late Thursday in Utah's 3rd District Court. Hoole represents seven defendants in two lawsuits brought against Jeffs, the FLDS church and the UEP Trust. Jeffs' legal problems are all in civil court and don't represent criminal charges, but Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and his Arizona counterpart Terry Goddard are paying close attention and have signaled their support for Hoole's motion. Shurtleff filed papers last week notifying Judge Roth that he has no objection to Hoole's request. Attorney General Goddard's spokesperson Andrea M. Esquer told the Success on Tuesday that Arizona would file similar papers later this week. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| State steps up action on sect | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Paul A. Anthony San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published February 26, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A recent investigation by the state's environmental watchdog has found more violations by a polygamous religious sect in Schleicher County, even as it prepares to levy potentially heavy fines for past violations. Violations found last week by the San Angelo office of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality include many of the same problems discovered by investigators during three investigations in 2004, said Ricky Anderson, the office's district manager. "It's a combination of the air, water and waste violations that we found previously," Anderson said. In April and July, Anderson's investigative team found numerous violations on the YFZ Ranch, a compound owned and run by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Among the violations listed in a 200-page report were collapsed and leaking sewage tanks and illegal trash burning. Fines for each violation could cost as much as $10,000 per day. The sect will be asked in early March to respond to a petition outlining the violations, said Wendy Cooper, an environmental quality staff attorney in Dallas. Once the petition is filed, the group either can settle with the state agency or contest the findings in a hearing. If the group does not respond, she said, the agency will issue a default order and pursue legal action. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UCRA launches offensive against YFZ wastewater permit application | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Schleicher County commissioners asked to support the effort | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published March 3, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stephen Brown is opposed to wastewater permit application filed by the YFZ Ranch. He says the ranch has a long history of non-compliance with state environmental regulations and he wants to see the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality step up its efforts to bring the ranch into line with state rules. To that end, Brown, who once served as the San Angelo city manager, and who is currently employed as a management consultant by the Upper Colorado River Authority, says the UCRA has earmarked $7,500 for legal and technical support as it moves to oppose the permit application. He asked Schleicher County commissioners on Monday to consider making a one-time contribution to the effort. Brown was accompanied by Hyman Sauer, who was appointed to the UCRA board of directors by Governor Rick Perry. Interestingly, some four miles from the spot where the meeting was taking place, heavy equipment operators at the YFZ Ranch were cutting their way through solid rock as they dug large lagoons for the ranch's new wastewater plant. The work carried on even though the state has yet to issue a permit and construction on the project which should not begin without TCEQ approval. Brown pointed to the work at the YFZ site as yet another in a series of violations and suggested that Schleicher County had good reason to side with the UCRA as it opposes the wastewater permit. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TCEQ seeks $18,813 fine against YFZ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Officials expect second round of fines to follow | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published March 3, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has handed down its first penalties, totaling $18,813.00, against YFZ Land L.L.C., the company that owns the YFZ Ranch. According to a document filed Monday with TCEQ Chief Clerk LaDonna Castanuela, TCEQ inspectors found forty separate violations of state environmental rules during four visits to the ranch, beginning on April 16 and continuing through August 16, 2004. Among the violations were the ranch's failure to obtain a permit to operate an on-site sewage disposal system and failure to obtain an air quality permit at for a cement bulk plant. YFZ personnel later applied for and received the necessary air quality permit. A permit to construct and operate a wastewater treatment plant is under review at TCEQ headquarters in Austin. Other violations noted in the TCEQ report was the failure to take the cement plant out of operation after the first citation, the dumping and burning of municipal solid waste, the dumping of partially treated wastewater on ranch roads, and failing to notify TCEQ of the start up of a new public water system. Wendy Cooper, an attorney with the TCEQ Litigation Division told the Success on Tuesday that YFZ officials will have 20 days to respond to the petition filed by her office. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Have polygamists found their Eldorado? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| West Texas compound may be a haven from scrutiny, but neighbors worry | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Thomas Korosec Houston Chronicle Originally published March 6, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO - In little more than a year, Sylvia Griffin's neighbors have transformed their ranch into a small town, complete with a soaring temple and a 29,000-square-foot house for their self-proclaimed prophet and his dozens of wives. But the newcomers, a fundamentalist polygamous sect, have yet to stop by the Griffin place to say hello. "When my husband works the fence line between us, he waves at them," said Griffin, whose family is one of the more prominent in Schleicher County. "They don't wave back." From her door, Griffin can look across the rocky brown hills dotted with cedar and prickly pear and see the temple, which has been under noisy construction since early January. "It's unsettling having neighbors you can't be neighbors with," she said of the secretive group. "I wish they'd just go away." The fact that the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is transforming the 1,700-acre YFZ ranch — short for Yearn for Zion — into a sprawling headquarters is disturbing to others as well in this sleepy West Texas county of 3,000 residents. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TCEQ halts work on YFZ sewer plant | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tom Green County, Plateau Water District join fight to derail YFZ wastewater permit | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published March 10, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Inspectors from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality paid a return visit last week to the YFZ Ranch, this time to deliver a "shut-down" order for construction activity on a proposed wastewater treatment plant. Ricky Anderson, Regional Director for the TCEQ office in San Angelo told the Success on Monday that inspectors from his office went to the YFZ Ranch on Wednesday, March 2, 2005, and ordered that all work associated with the facility stop immediately. He said that the trip was prompted by reports that construction work had begun on the wastewater facility before his agency had issued a permit. "We told them they had to cease all activity and they complied with the order," Anderson said. At that time, reports of water leaking from septic tanks and continued burning of trash were also investigated by the environmental inspectors. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arrival of splinter Mormon group concerns West Texans | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Associated Press KGBT TV Channel 4 - Harlingen,TX Originally broadcast March 17, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO, Texas A polygamous Mormon splinter group is hurriedly building a new community in sparsely populated West Texas. The complex for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is going up near Eldorado (ehl-dur-RAY'-duh). The construction comes as the sect's leader faces growing legal heat in Arizona and Utah. The group's pending West Texas arrival has been about as welcome among locals as a new breed of rattlesnake. Schleicher (SHLYE'-kur) County Judge Johnny Griffin sees reason to be apprehensive, even though they've done nothing to warrant public panic. He says it's the group's secrecy that bothers people. Larry Donaldson has a ranch just up the road from the FLDS site about 40 miles south of San Angelo. He says its move stirs memories of the fiery demise a decade ago of David Koresh and his followers at the Branch Davidian complex outside Waco. The new complex includes about a dozen concrete and log apartment buildings -- plus other structures around the fortress-like, 80-foot-tall temple that's nearing completion. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| County weighs in on YFZ wastewater permit debate | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commissioners elect to take their concerns directly to state officials | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published March 17, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Schleicher County Commissioners met Monday, March 14, 2005, and voted to schedule a meeting with officials from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality at which time they intend to express their concerns about a proposed wastewater treatment plant on the YFZ Ranch. The men also plan to travel to Austin where they will meet with State Senator Robert Duncan and State Representative Harvey Hilderbran, as well as TCEQ officials. The commissioners chose the direct approach rather than joining with the Upper Colorado River Authority, the San Angelo based agency that is already protesting the YFZ's wastewater permit application. County Attorney Raymond Loomis advised the commissioners Monday of his concerns about supporting the UCRA with a monetary contribution. Loomis said that since the money hadn't been budgeted for the purpose, it shouldn't be spent. The men agreed that the protection of Schleicher County's aquifer was a primary concern but concluded that they might better influence TCEQ by appealing directly to the agency. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texans Wary As Mormon Group Arrives | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reclusive Polygamous Sect Building Temple | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Michael Graczyk The Day - New London, CT Originally published March 18, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO, Texas – With the legal heat rising against its leader in Arizona and Utah, a splinter group of polygamous Mormons is hurriedly building a new community in sparsely populated West Texas. But the arrival of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints – marked by a temple tower rising out of the rocky terrain and prickly pear cactus – has been about as welcome among locals as a new species of rattlesnake. "I think there's reason to be apprehensive, but they've done nothing to warrant any kind of great fear," Schleicher County Judge Johnny Griffin said. "But it's the unknown ... It's the secrecy that bothers most people." The congregation, known as FLDS and led by reclusive prophet Warren Jeffs, is one of several groups that split from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after the mainline faith renounced polygamy in 1890. The FLDS began migrating 77 years ago to a remote area along the Utah-Arizona state line, where its members live in almost complete seclusion in the twin towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. Members are not allowed newspapers, radio, TV or the Internet – and are forbidden to speak with outsiders. The sect, which may have as many as 10,000 members, has a history of polygamy that's long been an open secret in Utah. In civil suits filed recently by former members there, Jeffs is accused of sexual misconduct and of assigning young girls as wives to older men. But authorities say the accusations aren't sufficient to produce criminal charges because they can't get anyone to talk about Jeffs. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bill takes aim at polygamists | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lawmakers want to curtail activities of breakaway Mormons | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Karen Brooks The Dallas Morning News Originally published Friday, March 18, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AUSTIN – If the polygamists who fled Utah to escape mounting political pressures thought they would find solace in Texas, they might need to think again. Texas lawmakers are hot on their heels with new legislation in the works to make it tough for the breakaway Mormon fundamentalist sect to settle comfortably in its new home outside the tiny West Texas town of Eldorado. Rep. Harvey Hilderbran filed a bill last week aimed at curtailing the activities of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints – or at least the activities that some fear they'll engage in, such as marrying young girls, draining welfare coffers and taking over political offices. The legislation would outlaw stepparents marrying stepchildren, raise the age of consent for marriage from 14 to 16 and stiffen the requirements to run for office. The bill targets those living at "YFZ Ranch," a sprawling piece of property the church bought over a year ago. Mr. Hilderbran said he hopes to create so many legal problems for the group that they change their lifestyle or leave Texas. "We'd prefer that they never came here," said Mr. Hilderbran, a Kerrville Republican whose district includes the ranch. "But I don't know how we can stop that, so now we just want to make sure they live by the laws in Texas and that they aren't carrying on things that [polygamist sects] reportedly carry on." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamists focus of legislation's restrictions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Bill Hanna Fort Worth Star-Telegram Originally published March 22, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A bill filed by Rep. Harvey Hilderbran would increase the minimum age of marriage with parental consent and ban stepparents from marrying stepchildren. A Kerrville lawmaker is trying to make it more difficult for a polygamist group that is building a compound south of San Angelo to practice some of its more controversial beliefs. The Fundamentalist Church of Latter-day Saints, which has historically been based in the twin towns of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, began erecting buildings on the YFZ Ranch about a year ago near Eldorado in Schleicher County. Former members have accused the group of coercing girls as young as 14 to marry, sometimes to their relatives, and staging a political takeover of local government in Colorado City and Hildale. A bill filed by state Rep. Harvey Hilderbran, R-Kerrville, would raise the minimum age of marriage with parental consent from 14 to 16, make it illegal for stepparents to marry stepchildren and toughen residency requirements to run for office. A separate bill filed by Hilderbran would also allow the Schleicher County hospital district to switch from at-large seats to single-member districts to prevent the sect from taking control of the board and its funds. Similar laws regarding underage marriage are on the books in Utah and Arizona but have not been effective in curbing polygamy. "What I'm hoping to accomplish is to keep Eldorado and Schleicher County from becoming like Colorado City where this cult came from -- and not only protect them but keep it from happening anywhere else in Texas," Hilderbran said Monday. Salt Lake City lawyer Rod Parker, who represents the sect in some legal matters, said he is concerned by Hilderbran's comments. "It appears he is specifically targeting them," Parker said. "That doesn't seem appropriate to me." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hilderbran takes aim at YFZ Ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bill would hinder polygamous lifestyle | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published March 24, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Only a year ago this week did Eldoradoans first learn that a sect of fundamentalist Mormons had purchased property in Schleicher County and that their prophet, Warren Jeffs, was planning to move a portion of his polygamous flock from the Utah/Arizona border to his new enclave near Eldorado. Since that day, citizens of Eldorado and Schleicher County have been hard pressed to keep up with the steep learning curve confronting them and to stay ahead of the horde of print and broadcast journalists that seemed to descend on the town in waves. Likewise, Eldorado's neighbors found themselves drawn into the story as it swept out of Schleicher County, across the Concho Valley, into the Permian Basin and Hill Country, and finally into Austin where State Representative Harvey Hilderbran last week brought the issue to the floor of the Texas Legislature. House Bill 3006, introduced by Hilderbran last week, calls for the state to raise the age at which girls may legally marry with parental consent from 14 to 16. It would also prohibit step-parents from marrying their step-children and elevate violations of the state's marriage laws from misdemeanor to felony status. The legislation also targets the concept of plural or celestial marriage, as taught by Jeffs and openly practiced by his followers. More specifically, the bill would makes it a felony to marry more than one person or to purport to marry or live under the appearance of marriage. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Constructing Curiosity | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Religious sect outside Eldorado causing unrest in the community | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Matt Phinney San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published March 27, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO — Chip Cole said his ranch just isn't the same. His father bought the Schleicher County land in 1961, and it's always been a place of peace and quiet for the family — a spot where he could go to admire the moon and stars on a cloudless West Texas night. Then, a little more than a year ago, members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints moved in next door. Their place has been a constant construction site ever since, Cole said. The night sky is now illuminated not by stars but by construction lights, and the soft, gentle chirping of crickets has been replaced by the steady rumble of heavy equipment. Even the horizon, once nothing but a vista of treetops, is blotted by a four-story white building that many say is a temple for the religious sect. Cole's three sections of land border the 1,691-acre religious retreat on the east and south sides. Cole, owner of Chip Cole Ranch Sales, a ranch broker in San Angelo, guesses his land lost 30 percent of its value the day news of the group hit the newspapers. "I'm a lucky guy," he joked. "I thought they were just my new neighbors, and I was as friendly as I could be. They keep pretty much to themselves, and aren't very friendly." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Neighbors adapt to religious sect | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published March 30, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A year after the news broke that a large religious group that practices polygamy had bought land in Schleicher County, some immediate concerns have faded while new worries have cropped up. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints bought a nearly 1,700-acre ranch north of Eldorado, saying the property would be used for a hunting resort. When the truth became known — that a compound was being built that could house as many as 1,000 people — many residents understandably reacted with alarm. They feared that the local sect, whose members will be coming from Arizona and Utah, would take over the public school system and county government. They worried that their way of life was in jeopardy. Nothing that has happened since then suggests the group has such designs. In fact, the people who are living there now are so clannish that it seems they are more eager to keep to themselves than residents of Eldorado are to keep them out. The most serious concerns now are environmental. The group has been fined for infractions several times by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| All eyes turn toward Eldorado | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published April 1, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Investigators from three states and a small army of print and broadcast journalists are looking toward Eldorado this week, wondering what Warren Jeffs, the self-proclaimed prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is going to do next. Many of Jeffs critics, some of them excommunicated members of the FLDS, say that he plans something big for April 6, which just happens to be the 175th anniversary of the founding of the mainline Mormon Church. Jeffs and his followers believe that it is they, and not the current LDS Church, who are the true descendants of Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith, prompting some to see it as logical that he will use the occasion for a ceremonial purpose. Some of Jeffs most ardent detractors go so far as to predict the group will commit mass suicide, Jonestown-style, in order to protect their Prophet from his enemies. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sect spurs sales | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Clever salesman pokes fun at group with merchandise | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Paul A. Anthony San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published April 2, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| What's so funny about a fundamentalist sect building a compound outside your town? Just about everything, if you're Eldorado jokester and events guru Jim Runge. At Saturday's third annual Eldorado Elgoatarod, itself a goat-themed satire of the Iditarod dogsled race, Runge plans to sell several items poking fun at the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a polygamist sect that has been building a compound near Eldorado, 45 miles south of San Angelo. Among them: "Eldorado: Polygamy Capital of Texas" hats, fake marriage licenses with spaces for multiple brides and VIP passes for what Runge has dubbed the "Polygamy Games," which also will take place this weekend. "We feel like we're not gonna run 'em off," Runge said, "so we might as well have some fun with 'em." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A Birdseye View of the FLDS Temple | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| You can't get too close to the Fundamentalist LDS Church's ranch in Eldorado, Texas. There's a gate with a guardhouse. But above it -- you can see a hive of activity beyond the fence-line. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Ben Winslow KSL NewsRadio 1160 Originally broadcast April 5, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (KSL News) -- Local pilots describe the activity as something like an army of ants. They're referring to the work going on at the Fundamentalist LDS Church's ranch in Eldorado, Texas. Schleicher County Justice of the Peace James Doyle took KSL Newsradio up in the sky for a bird's eye view. He says the community really doesn't care for the temple. "We wish it were not here but since it's here we're going to have to live with it." From the sky, you can see huge buildings that have been erected. There's gardens, a limestone quarry and of course, the gleaming white temple still under construction. See the temple | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Small Texas Town Braces for Polygamous Influx | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Travis Reed KUTV Channel 2 News Originally broadcast April 5, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Television and newspaper reporters--some from as far away as Sweden--descended upon a tiny west Texas town Tuesday, the day before a reclusive polygamous sect and its dictatorial leader were scheduled to celebrate the church's most important date. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter Day Saints, whose estimated 6,000 to 10,000 members dominate the twin towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., has for months been constructing a ranch on about 2,000 acres near Eldorado. Joining a fortress-like temple about 80 feet tall are roughly a dozen concrete and log apartment buildings. Church members lead secluded lives--without television, radio or the Internet --and are forbidden to speak to reporters. But word filtered through investigators by excommunicated and disaffected church members is that prophet Warren Jeffs plans to dedicate the temple in Texas on April 6--the 175th anniversary of the Mormon faith. It's unclear just how many members are going, but Jeffs is reported to be leaving with his most devout supporters. That has authorities in Utah and Texas on high alert, as rumors of apocalyptic cult activity coinciding with the date swirl. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas Sheriff Reacts To FLDS Tapes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Secret tapes of FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, obtained by KSL Newsradio, are prompting concerns from members of a Texas town. The FLDS Church is reportedly set to dedicate a temple in El Dorado, Texas tomorrow. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Ben Winslow KSL NewsRadio 1160 Originally broadcast April 5, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO, TEXAS-(KSL News) -- Reaction to secret tapes of fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs. In Eldorado, Texas, Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran listened with interest to the tapes obtained by KSL Newsradio. In it, Jeffs cancels Sunday services and declares his group "under attack." "It definitely goes against mainstream America's way of thinking. It defiantly goes against our small town's religious belief system." Doran says he plans to be on the FLDS property for whatever happens tomorrow. Reportedly, the FLDS Church may dedicate its temple. Many in the community appear a little concerned with their new neighbors. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Racist remarks causing a big stir | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamist's tapes offensive to many in Texas county | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Wednesday, April 6, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ST. GEORGE — The voice of Warren Jeffs, leader of the nation's largest polygamous church, can be heard on various news media Web sites today, and that is causing quite a stir. The Eldorado Success, a weekly newspaper in Schleicher County, Texas, first posted the audio clips of Jeffs on its Web site, www.eldoradosuccess.com . The tapes feature a soft-spoken man's voice saying the black race is a cursed, immoral, filthy people devoid of blessings. "It's not going over really well here in Schleicher County," said Randy Mankin, publisher of the Eldorado Success. "A lot of folks worked pretty hard to improve race relations here, and this is kind of unsettling." Jeffs is the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which practices plural marriage as a central tenet. Over the past year, the FLDS church bought 1,600 acres about four miles outside of Eldorado, a town of around 1,900 residents, and began building a community that could house hundreds of people. Jeffs named the property the "YFZ Ranch," which stands for Yearn For Zion. Construction of a large temple soon followed, which brought even more speculation and attention on the reclusive ways of Jeffs and his followers. Dozens of reporters are in Eldorado today because of that speculation, Mankin said. "We've got 10 news crews in town, along with radio and newspaper," he said. Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran said he would be on the ranch today with a Texas Ranger and a couple of other observers. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No mass exodus | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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e-Press Tri-State News Network Originally published April 6, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| COLORADO CITY, Ariz. – Mohave County special investigator Gary Engels said he hasn't seen or heard anything in Colorado City that leads him to believe that something big will happen in Eldorado, Texas Wednesday. Rumors came out that there was going to be a mass exodus of the polygamist sect to the Texas site where a Temple was to be completed by Wednesday. Engels said he hasn't seen a mass exodus. "I'm sure there are some people that did go down there," said Engels. "I know of a few of them that were seen packing up and leaving or just have suddenly disappeared but not a mass exit, that's for sure." Engels added that authorities will keep an eye on Colorado City and Eldorado, Texas just in case. "We need to be prepared for any type of situation that may happen or may not," stated Engels. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sheriff: FLDS Church Members Praying | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamists from the Utah-based Fundamentalist LDS Church call today a "holy day." It's also a day marked by police at their new Texas temple compound and intense media scrutiny about rumored prophecies about the end of the world. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Ben Winslow KSL NewsRadio 1160 Originally broadcast April 6, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (KSL News) -- The Fundamentalist LDS Church calls today "a holy day." At their temple site in Eldorado, Texas, polygamists there are marking it in prayer. That's according to police who visited them today. But Texas Ranger Barry Caver says they didn't get all the way into the property, but they did talk to some members of the church. Caver says they asked church elders about the doomsday rumors, and they laughed it off. Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran says, "Today the ones that are out there are going to be in prayer, and basically they didn't divulge where the gathering is taking place." He says the FLDS Church confirmed a gathering, but would not say where it was taking place. Meanwhile, construction on the temple continues. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eldoradoans endure doomsday week with double dose of humor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series of comic spoofs serve to calm jittery nerves | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published April 7, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Despite dire predictions of impending doom made by some followers of Prophet Warren Jeffs and his Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, many Eldoradoans chose this week to look for the black cloud's more humorous silver lining. The third annual Elgoatarod festival got under way over the weekend on the Schleicher County Courthouse square, a mere four miles from the FLDS enclave on the YFZ Ranch. With the national news media gathering in town to await the "worldwide destructions" Jeffs was said to have predicted for April 6, Eldoradoans met on the square to watch goat races and hear their own Jon Cartwright sing "Plural Girl Blues". Cartwright said the song was inspired by the plural, or polygamous marriages, practiced by FLDS members. Reporters from the Salt Lake Tribune and the Canadian Broadcasting Company, worked the Elgoatarod crowd Saturday, looking for local reaction to the YFZ Ranch story, but they soon found themselves sampling the many food and vendor booths arrayed on the courthouse lawn. "Eldorado, Polygamy Capital of Texas" souvenir baseball caps quickly sold out, leaving many who wanted an Eldorado keepsake to settle for a "Polygamy Marriage License" or a "V.I.P. Parking Permit" for the "Texas Polygamy Games." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Curious Crowds Gather Outside Polygamist Compound In Texas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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John Hollenhorst Reporting KSL TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast April 6, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| RESIDENT OF ELDORADO TEXAS: "WELL I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT THE WORLD WILL END TODAY." That resident of Eldorado, Texas turned out to be right. The world did not end. But a crowd of reporters and law enforcement people gathered outside a polygamist compound in Texas, just in case something bad did happen. The attention is focused on the nation's largest polygamist group, whose leader reportedly prophesied the world would end today. That group is based in Utah but is now developing a new compound in Texas. John Hollenhorst joins us to explain the latest developments. It was a strange day. I'm sure there wasn't a single reporter that expected the world to end. But many felt the story warranted coverage anyway. That's because the group has become unpredictable under Warren Jeffs, who critics claim is a dictator to his followers. The polygamist temple is still incomplete. And some Texans wish it would stay that way. RESIDENT OF ELDORADO, TEXAS: "MAYBE THEY'LL GO AWAY." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sheriff dismisses suicide predictions for YFZ Ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published April 7, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran, Texas Ranger Sergeant Brooks Long and Texas Ranger Captain Barry K. Caver, met with YFZ Ranch officials Wednesday morning, April 6, on the ranch property. The lawmen later appeared at the now famous ranch gate for an impromptu press conference. Doran told a throng of reporters who had gathered there that he attached no significance to the April 6th doomsday predictions attributed to FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs. He said the lawmen had met with ranch officials and were assured that nothing of significance would be happening on the ranch that day. Doran told the Success that the FLDS church does hold a yearly conference on April 6, but that the meeting was not being held on the YFZ. "I think they are meeting today, but they met somewhere else," Doran said. The sheriff went on to note that construction continues on the ranch and that the residents there say they "just want to be left alone." The story seemed to placate most of the reporters gathered at the YFZ gate, many of whom left quickly after snapping a few photos, or shooting a few minutes of video. Later in the day, however, Doran confirmed for the Success that while the media's attention had been focused on the lawmen at the front gate, other law enforcement resources went largely unnoticed. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Power company records show no evidence of mass FLDS exodus | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Patrice St. Germain The Spectrum Originally published April 7, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HILDALE - The rumors of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people moving from Hildale and Colorado City to Eldorado, Texas, by April 6 to help dedicated the first temple for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have proven to be unfounded. That is, unless everyone left their homes and left the lights on. Twin City Power Co. records from the past month, through 1 p.m. Wednesday, show that although there is some dip in power usage, the drop-off isn't extreme. Twin City Power Co. manager Loren Fischer said the fluctuations are due to weather changes and are nothing abnormal for this time of year. Power usage was down Monday compared to Tuesday, despite a difference in daytime highs of 63 at the St. George airport on Monday compared to 70 on Tuesday. Yet, the National Weather Service reported that a warm front came through Monday evening, and for a brief time almost matched the daytime high compared to the low of 41 degrees Tuesday. Looking at the past month of power records shows that Sundays always have a lower usage, and by Monday and Tuesday of this week, the usage was back up, reflecting that few, if any, people have left the area in the last week. Even if people left lights on, sewer data for the twin cities has remained constant over the last week. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Construction Continues on FLDS Temple | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Authorities in Eldorado, Texas are back on the ranch owned by the Fundamentalist LDS Church today. By all accounts, life is returning to normal for the polygamists and their neighbors down the road. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Ben Winslow KSL NewsRadio 1160 Originally broadcast April 7, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (KSL News) -- From the air, pilots in Eldorado, Texas report construction work continues at the Fundamentalist LDS Church's ranch. Today, the Schleicher County Sheriff and the County Tax Appraiser visited the ranch. Scott Sutton says he's struck by the scale of the buildings and the speed they're being built. "They are very industrious, yes, and quite adept at what they're doing . . . their construction." Sutton was double-checking measurements he's done on the property. The sheriff says he spoke with FLDS Church Members and they appear to be doing fine. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Future of FLDS Church In Texas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Authorities in Eldorado, Texas are trying to figure out where to go from here. They're trying to adjust to their new neighbors who continue to build a polygamous temple on the rural Texas landscape. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Ben Winslow KSL NewsRadio 1160 Originally broadcast April 7, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO, TEXAS - (KSL News) -- Construction continues on the rural Texas ranch owned by the Fundamentalist LDS Church, but some people in Eldorado, Texas remain concerned. "I don't like the secrecy that surrounds this place. I don't like the way they came into this county." The Church's anniversary date came and went with prayers and a gathering somewhere, but church elders refused to tell authorities where. The Schleicher County Sheriff says they have to deal with their new neighbors and so they'll adapt. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| West Texas Community Could Become a Threat | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Robert Stiles ASU Ram Page - Angelo State University Originally published April 8, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| For the past year, the residents of Schleicher County have watched a splinter Mormon group purchase land in their area and rapidly build a new community in which to live. Since then, the West Texas county has become the home to a strange, and possibly abusive, religious group. The group is the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Initially, the church's agent bought a 1,600-acre hunting ranch. However, soon the gates were locked and crews proceeded to build large dormitories, houses, workshops and even a limestone quarry. Currently, the members of the FLDS live a secluded existence in the twin cities of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Ariz. The property in these cities is the principal source of wealth for Warren Jeffs, the leader of the group. It is believed to have as many as 10,000 members, and the number of people currently in the Schleicher County compound is unknown. However, all that could change with a motion filed by attorney Roger Hoole before a Utah judge. This motion could remove him as head of the United Effort Plan, a charitable trust which controls almost all of the church's assets in the twin cities which house most members of the FLDS, according to a February 24, 2004, article in the Eldorado Success. According to a March 20, 2005 article in the Marin (CA) Independent Journal, Jeffs is getting ready to move his most loyal followers to the Schleicher County compound, known as the YFZ Ranch. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Situation Calm in Eldorado | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Jim Forsyth WOAI News 4 - San Antonio, Texas Originally published April 8, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (EL DORADO TEXAS) -- It's so far so good in tiny Schleicher County Texas, where a combination of a compound being built by a polygamous sect and the 175th anniversary of the founding of the Mormon Church had nervous locals predicting the end of the world. "They had predictions of everything from a mass movement of people coming in to a temple dedication to mass suicide," Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran said this morning. Doran says members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, headed by polygamous 'prophet' Warren Jeffs, 49, has so far broken no laws in its construction of a sprawling compound near the tiny town of Eldorado, south of San Angelo in west Texas. "We've definitely been monitoring this for the past year they've been here," Doran said. Doran was allowed to tour the compound yesterday and plans another tour today. The church, which claims between five and ten thousand members, is notoriously secretive, which has prompted many here in this windy prairie town to compare Jeffs to David Koresh, the Branch Davidian leader who killed himself and eighty followers in a massive fire at his compound near Waco in 1993 following a 51 day standoff with federal agents. "They just keep their heads down," Eldorado resident Gloria Bellman told 1200 WOAI news. "I greet 'em, say hello, good morning, or whatever, have a good day, and nothing is ever said." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lawmaker files bill raising age of marriage consent | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Natalie Gott The Daily Sentinel - Nacogdoches, Texas Originally published April 13, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AUSTIN — Responding to a polygamist sect's move to West Texas, a state lawmaker has filed a bill that would raise the age of consent of marriage from 14 to 16, outlaw stepparents from marrying stepchildren and stiffen the requirements to run for office. Rep. Harvey Hilderbran's bill went before the House Committee on Juvenile Justice and Family Issues on Wednesday. The bill is aimed at the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which has built a new complex just north of Eldorado, about 160 miles northwest of San Antonio. Members are not allowed newspapers, radio, television or the Internet and are forbidden to speak to outsiders. "If they leave the state that is fine with me," Hilderbran, R-Kerrville, said Wednesday. "We don't want them here unless they are going to comply with Texas law and comply with Texas values of protecting women and especially children." Rod Parker, a Utah attorney who has represented reclusive prophet Warren Jeffs and other FLDS church members, called Hilderbran's comments disappointing. "I think it's inappropriate to pass laws or use your position as a lawmaker to essentially try to drive someone out of town, which is what he is trying to do," Parker said. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas lawmaker wants to discourage sect | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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UPI News New Kerala - Ernakulam, Kerala, India Originally published April 13, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AUSTIN, Texas: A Texas legislator wants to crack down on multiple marriages among a religious sect building a retreat in West Texas. State Rep. Harvey Hilderbran hopes his bill would discourage members of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints from moving to the Texas compound called YFZ (Yearning For Zion) Ranch, the Austin American-Statesman reported Wednesday. The polygamous sect has built a temple, living quarters, homes, roads, and water and septic systems at the site four miles north of Eldorado, a town of about 3,000 population. Church leader Warren Jeffs and other leading church officials have never granted interviews to discuss the church or its members. Leaders have said the Texas ranch would be a religious retreat for about 200 people at a time. Hilderbran's bill would raise the age of marriage without parental consent from 14 to 16 years of age and impose new rules for marriage and residency for political candidates. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 79th LEGISLATURE | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bill targets polygamist sect | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah leader, noted author to testify. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Mark Lisheron Austin American-Statesman Originally published Wednesday, April 13, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Utah attorney general has offered his help to state Rep. Harvey Hilderbran, who is trying to crack down on multiple marriages among a religious sect building a town-size compound in West Texas. Mark Shurtleff, who has made investigating the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints the centerpiece of his administration, is scheduled to discuss the implications of Hilderbran's House Bill 3006 today before the House Juvenile Justice and Family Issues Committee. Another church critic, author Jon Krakauer, whose book "Under the Banner of Heaven" recounts the murder of a mother and daughter by two members of a similar polygamous sect, has also been asked to testify. Krakauer said he readily agreed to address the committee to warn Texans about the Fundamentalist Church, which is based in twin communities on the Utah and Arizona border. "You folks out there have no idea what a time bomb you're sitting on," Krakauer said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "I think that the odds of a Texas version of Jonestown are huge, and I don't think many people there realize it." Church leader Warren Jeffs and other leading officials in the Fundamentalist Church have never granted interviews to discuss positions of the church or its members. Hilderbran, R-Kerrville, said he crafted his bill specifically to discourage members of the polygamous sect from moving en masse from Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., to the compound they call YFZ (Yearning For Zion) Ranch, four miles north of Eldorado. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| After the storm | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Slower pace returns week after media invasion | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success MyEldorado.net Originally published April 14, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| What passes for normal in Eldorado these days, would be considered bizarre in most Texas towns. That's how much things have changed since the YFZ Ranch story broke last year. While the sight of satellite trucks and TV news crew doing sidewalk interviews might appear strange in other West Texas communities, here it has become commonplace. Nowadays locals ask as many questions as the news crews. Things like, "When did you say this going to air? ... Oh, in May? ... So it we'll see it during sweeps?" That's not to suggest that Eldoradoans have become jaded, only that many of them have become media savvy. It has been a steep learning curve and last week it got steeper as reporters and news crews from four countries and two continents converged on Eldorado, each of them wanting a front-row seat at Warren Jeff's end-of-the world extravaganza. But, when the promised apocalypse failed to materialize, most of the reporters found themselves trying to gauge local reaction and asking thoughtful questions like, "How do you feel this will affect your town?" Or..."Are you frightened by the newcomers and are you worried that they will try to steal your children?" Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sect moving to West Texas poses danger, witnesses tell committee | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By John Moritz Star-Telegram Austin Bureau Originally published April 14, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AUSTIN - An emerging community of polygamists in West Texas could bring another calamity to the Lone Star State similar to the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, a legislative panel was told Wednesday. The House Juvenile Justice and Family Issues Committee heard testimony on legislation designed to strengthen state laws against multiple marriages and youngsters getting married. The measure, House Bill 3006, would raise the minimum age of marriage with parental consent from 14 to 16 and make it illegal for stepparents to marry stepchildren. State Rep. Harvey Hilderbran, R-Kerrville, said he modeled the bill after newly enacted legislation in Utah that led to elements of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-day Saints leaving that state and setting up camp near Eldorado in Schleicher County, about 40 miles from San Angelo. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and author Jon Krakauer, whose Under the Banner of Heaven offers chilling accounts of teen-age girls being forced to marry much older men under the church's tutelage, warned that the sect's secretive and controlling nature might someday lead to mass murder or suicide. The sect, which broke away from the Mormon church after it renounced polygamy in the 1890s, is controlled by Warren Jeffs, who presents himself to his followers as God's prophet on Earth. "I think there's a possibility of another Waco or Jonestown," Krakhauer told the panel, referring to the 1993 deaths at the Branch Davidian compound and the 1978 mass suicide in Guyana of followers of the Rev. Jim Jones. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas Lawmakers Licensed to Carry Concealed Weapons | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Associated Press Tyler Morning Telegraph Originally published April 16, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AUSTIN (AP) - Thirty Texas lawmakers have permits to carry concealed weapons, and nearly all of them support a bill to eliminate the public's right to know who is licensed to pack a gun in public. The Associated Press requested weapons license information from the Texas Department of Public Safety for 150 state representatives, 31 state senators, U.S. Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn, Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn and Gov. Rick Perry. Of the 185 elected officials, 30, or about 16 percent, are licensed to carry a concealed weapon, the records showed. The governor, U.S. senators and comptroller are not licensed, but 26 state representatives and four state senators are. Asked why they got the licenses, lawmakers generally cited personal safety and the Constitutional right to bear arms. Sen. Todd Staples, a Republican from Palestine in East Texas, said gun ownership is a part of Texas' independent heritage. "You've got to realize my senatorial district is bracketed by the cities of Gun Barrel City and Cut And Shoot," Staples said. "I think that's pretty reflective of the circumstances." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas anxious over sect lifestyle | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Hugh Aynesworth The Washington Times Originally published April 18, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AUSTIN, Texas -- A burgeoning, secretive sect of polygamists in a small, western Texas rural community has state legislators considering new bills to combat what many consider the group's unacceptable lifestyle. State Rep. Harvey Hilderbran, a Republican, is pushing several changes to state law, particularly those concerning child-protective services, home schooling and marriage between stepchildren and stepparents. At issue is the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a rogue flank of the Mormon denomination that secretly purchased a 1,691-acre ranch outside Eldorado 14 months ago and moved several dozen followers from Utah to begin building a religious center. Warren Jeffs is the self-named prophet of the sect. Several specialists on polygamy testified last week before the House Juvenile Justice and Family Issues Committee, including Utah's attorney general and a well-known author who has written extensively about fundamentalist sects. "I'm embarrassed," Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff told the legislators, "that for years Utah did nothing. I feel bad that we have basically exported our problem to Texas." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS named to "Hate Group" list by Southern Poverty Law Center | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success MyEldorado.net Originally published April 21, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Southern Poverty Law Center will name the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to its "Hate Groups List" when it publishes its quarterly Intelligence Report on May 1st. The list contains hundreds of groups ranging from the Ku Klux Klan and Aryan Nation, to the Nation of Islam, many of them located here in Texas, some as nearby as San Angelo. Word of the listing reached the Success this week, along with an advance copy of an article titled "Tempest in Texas," by SPLC reporter Susy Buchanan, which is due to appear in the upcoming Intelligence Report. In the article, Buchanan describes the FLDS, its belief in polygamy and its adherence to the teachings of Prophet Warren Jeffs, who Buchanan calls "a religious dictator." Buchanan's story goes on to describe Jeffs' efforts to relocate a portion of his followers to the 1,691-acre YFZ Ranch, just north of Eldorado in Schleicher County. She also focuses on Jeffs' racial teachings, which she terms, "rabid racism." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hilderbran's 30-06 bill gathers momentum in Austin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success MyEldorado.net Originally published April 21, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| By all accounts, House Bill 3006 was supposed to die in committee last week, but it didn't. State Representative Harvey Hilderbran authored the bill and likes to refer to it as H.B. Thirty Ought-Six, because he says it packs a serious punch. The bill targets polygamous marriages, as well as under-age marriages, and addresses several other aspects of Texas marriage law. The bill was prompted by developments on the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado where the openly polygamous FLDS church is currently building a new town. Hilderban went to bat for his bill on Wednesday of last week, stretching a twenty-minute presentation into a little over two hours before the House Juvenile Justice Committee. The presentation included the testimony of best-selling author Jon Krakauer, private investigator Sam Brower and Eldorado Success publisher Randy Mankin. Also on the witness list was Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff who advised stunned committee members that a polygamous sect of Fundamentalist Mormons was relocating from Utah to Texas where they are building a new town on the YFZ Ranch in Schleicher County. Explaining that the group practices polygamy and under-age marriage, Shurtleff told the committee of his experience in trying to bring the group to justice. "It embarrasses me to say that for fifty years the state of Utah did nothing," Shurtleff said. "I feel badly about exporting our problem to the state of Texas." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Okay, now that we're all paying attention, please look down the barrel of this 30-06 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Over the Back Fence By Randy Mankin The Eldorado Success Originally published April 24, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I had the opportunity to testify last week before the House Juvenile Justice Committee at the State Capitol. The topic was H.B. 3006, introduced by State Representative Harvey Hilderbran, which seeks to raise from 14 to 16 the age at which Texas teenagers may marry with parental consent. It also addresses other aspects of Texas marriage law. The bill, we were told a few weeks earlier, was destined to die a slow death in committee because some legislators considered it "overly ambitious" while others didn't understand the need. Few of them, it seemed, had ever heard of Warren Jeffs or his FLDS church. Even fewer were aware that polygamy is alive and well in this country and setting up shop here in Schleicher County. How can that be? After all, Eldorado has been overrun by reporters and news crews. How can there be a Texan left alive who doesn't know what's going on here? The short answer is that Texans, like their counterparts in other states, are busy with their day-to-day lives and only pay attention to the news that directly affects them or their loved ones. So, it takes a large blip on the radar screen to catch their attention. But Harvey Hilderbran isn't one to give up easily, neither does his staff, or the people here locally who support his efforts. Those of us who know Rep. Hilderbran, know that he has an extensive background in the advertising business. So it came as no surprise when he cobbled together an imaginative public relations campaign designed at winning over the members of the Juvenile Justice Committee. First, H.B. Bill 3006 (it's official name, suddenly became known as House Bill Thirty Ought-Six, because, as Hilderbran said, "it packs a serious punch and blows holes in a serious problem." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Laws aimed at sect to join CPS bill | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Austin American-Statesman Originally published April 24, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Laws directed at the custom of multiple marriage practiced by a religious group constructing a compound in West Texas are expected to be considered by the Senate as part of a Child Protective Services bill. The bill, with an amendment added by Rep. Harvey Hilderbran, R-Kerrville, passed the House unanimously Thursday. The amendment is a condensed version of HB 3006, which Hilderbran wrote to discourage members of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints from moving much of their membership to an uncompleted town-size compound north of Eldorado from their headquarters on the Utah and Arizona border. Hilderbran's amendment and bill raise the age of consent for marriage to 16 from 14. People would be prohibited from marrying a stepparent or stepchild. The legislation also includes a ban on multiple marriages sanctioned by the church but not recognized by law. In addition, Hilderbran would like to give authority to the state attorney general to investigate allegations of child abuse and neglect without a referral from local law enforcement. At a hearing to discuss HB 3006, the attorney general of Utah, Mark Shurtleff, told Texas legislators his office has for years looked into allegations of child abuse within the church community, but it has prosecuted no one. Hilderbran said he intends to continue to pursue passage of his House bill, which is more detailed and specific. The bill is set for a hearing April 27. Compiled from staff and wire reports | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas Town Wary of Polygamist Sect's Arrival | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Wade Goodwyn All Things Considered National Public Radio Originally published May 4, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residents of the rural West Texas town of Eldorado are concerned by the arrival of a polygamist sect known as the FLDS, or Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Members derive their polygamous theology from the teachings of early Mormon leaders, but Mormons abandoned polygamy long ago. The home base of the FLDS is in the sister cities of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah. But now, Utah and Arizona authorities are cracking down on the towns, probing allegations of sex crimes against minors, domestic violence, welfare fraud and tax evasion. Last March, FLDS leaders arrived in Eldorado to purchase 2,000 acres just outside of town. When the FLDS men first came, they pretended to be businessmen and said they were building a hunting retreat for corporate clients. FLDS leaders have since admitted that they are building a new settlement for their religious sect. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Religious Sect Makes Home In West Texas Town | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Ellen McNamara KLBK CBS 13 - Lubbock Originally broadcast May 5, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO--A road less traveled is now a tourist attraction for a West Texas town. Eldorado, just south of San Angelo, has the signature West Texas courthouse, blinking light and population of about 2,000. But it`s growing fast. "I`m not scared. I worry how its gonna effect the town. Eldorado will never be the same. This group is here to stay," says Randy Mankin, editor of the local newspaper, the Eldorado Success, talking about the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, of FLDS. More than one year ago, the group based in Utah and Arizona slowly began to migrate. "We knew there was a group north of town that had bought some property. They told the townspeople that they were putting in a corporate hunting retreat." The hunting retreat story fizzled when a local pilot flew over the 1,600-acre-plus ranch. That`s when Mankin dug into the world under lockdown, one that we couldn`t get into either. "They practice polygamy, they have multiple wives, multiple marriages," says Mankin. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mounting legal pressure fails to derail work on FLDS temple | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success MyEldorado.net Originally published June 2, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Workers at the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado don't seem to have noticed that their Prophet and leader, Warren Jeffs, suffered a series of legal and legislative setbacks last week. Instead, they appear to have redoubled their efforts to complete construction on the FLDS temple, located in the middle of the sprawling 1,672 acre complex some four miles north-northeast of Eldorado. Freshly cut limestone blocks are being applied to the exterior of the mammoth building with at least one carved decorative block being installed beneath a window on the building's south side. Work is also underway on the construction of a sweeping stairway leading up to the temple's front door. Despite the intense building activity, FLDS leaders were dealt a series of stinging defeats last week, beginning when Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard seized the records of the Colorado City Unified School District — a district hounded by allegations of mismanagement and whose board of trustees and administration is comprised entirely of FLDS members. The unexpected raid came after a search warrant was issued by Arizona Superior Court Judge Kathleen Mead. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The polygamists next door | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Now's not the time to be neighborly to the religious sect members building a West Texas retreat, says NAOMI SCHAEFER RILEY | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Dallas Morning News Originally published Sunday, June 5, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| About a year and a half ago, several men representing a company called YFZ Land LLC arrived in Eldorado, looking to buy a ranch outside town. They told real-estate agents and local police they were planning to open a hunting retreat. They were lying. Scores of members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS) have begun to descend on this sleepy West Texas town and are planning to make a permanent home for hundreds of their members – to be called Yearning for Zion (YFZ). Earlier this year, rumors flew that the leader of the secretive polygamous sect, self-proclaimed prophet Warren Jeffs, may be planning some kind of Waco-style violent end for the members. Town members have so far been relieved that the church members are keeping relatively quiet. A local sheriff's deputy told the Associated Press that they seem to be "hardworking folks" and "awesome contractors, great at what they do." Schleicher County Judge Johnny Griffin told a reporter that "they've done nothing to warrant any kind of great fear." And that any legal action might threaten the members' rights to privacy and religious freedom. It is perhaps commendable that the people of Eldorado want to be as welcoming as possible to their new neighbors – local clergy have tried to go introduce themselves – and believe that they are entitled to practice whatever religion they like. But the people of Eldorado should not be lulled into complacence. They have a serious crisis brewing in their back yard. And it would be no sign of bigotry for them to recognize that the newcomers do not represent an opportunity for interfaith dialogue, but rather a danger to themselves and any civil society that surrounds them. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Governor Rick Perry signs SB 6 into law | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success MyEldorado.net Originally published June 9, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas Governor Rick Perry signed Senate Bill 6 into law Tuesday, June 7, 2005, ending a months' long battle to bolster the state's child protective service agency. The bill, sponsored by State Senator Jane Nelson (R-Flower Mound) and State Representative Suzanna Hupp (R-Lampasas), carried an amendment authored by Rep. Harvey Hilderbran (R-Kerrville) that elevated bigamy and polygamy from a misdemeanor to a felony and raised the state's age of consent from 14 to 16. Hilderbran first offered the legislation as House Bill 3006 and rallied to get it through the House Juvenile Justice Committee where Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and Jon Krakauer, author of "Under the Banner of Heaven" testified on behalf of the bill. Private Investigator Sam Brower of Cedar City, Utah and Randy Mankin, publisher of The Eldorado Success also testified in favor of HB 3006. Despite receiving unanimous committee support, Hilderbran's bill died on the House calendar as the deadline for new bills expired before it could be called for a vote. "I felt that HB 3006 might not get through this session," Hilderbran stated recently. "So I looked for a bill to amend and Senate Bill 6 was an obvious choice." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arrest Warrant Issued for Warren Jeffs | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success MyEldorado.net Originally published June 10, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A warrant has been issued for the arrest of FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs on charges of sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor, according to Gary Engels, an investigator with the Mohave County, Arizona attorney's office. Engels told The Success late Friday afternoon that the charges came after a Mohave County Grand Jury indicted Jeffs on the two counts. Warren Jeffs became the prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints after his father, the former prophet Rulon Jeffs, died in 2002. Allegations of underage marriage and sexual abuse of under aged girls have swirled around the FLDS community for years. The group is a fundamentalist sect that broke away from the mainstream LDS or Mormon Church when it gave up the practice of polygamy in 1890. FLDS faithful have lived in near obscurity for decades in a small town on the Arizona/Utah border. Originally known as Short Creek, the twin cities of Hildale Utah and Colorado City, Arizona, is home to an estimated 10,000 FLDS followers, many of who continue to practice polygamy. In recent months, investigators in Arizona and Utah have stepped up their efforts to bring Jeffs and some of his followers to justice. Last year a Colorado City policeman was convicted of sexual conduct with a minor after he entered into a polygamous marriage with an underage girl. Even as the long arm of the law began closing in on Jeffs, many of his followers began relocating to the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado in Schleicher County. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arrest warrant issued for Texas sect's leader | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Byron Harris WFAA TV Channel 8 - Dallas-Fort Worth Originally broadcast June 11, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Friday evening, Arizona officals issued an arrest warrant for a polygamist leader building a huge compound in West Texas. The Eldorado Success newspaper reports that the so-called prophet Warren Jeffs has been charged with sexual conduct with a minor. News 8's Byron Harris has been investigating the sect's history and activities, and has this report on what he found.
The red sandstone clliffs of Canaan Mountain give Colorado City, Arizona a peaceful beauty - but what's happened to its women and girls make it a cauldron of potential violence. "It is a lot like Waco," one nearby resident said. Those who live in Colorado City defend the way residents live. "There are many, many families who are living this lifestyle," one said. "It is a freely-chosen lifestyle." That chosen lifestyle is polygamy. In Colorado City, population 9,000 - along with Hilldale, Utah, right across the border - it's been normal for decades for men to have several wives, often as young as 13 years of age. Colorado City is a stronghold of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or FLDS, an outcast offshoot of the Mormon church. The town's land is held by a trust controlled by the church's prophet Warren Jeffs, who by church authority can excommunicate members, take wives away from men - and as in one case, teach racism as religious doctrine. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hunt for polygamist sect leader may lead to West Texas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Bill Hanna Knight Ridder Newspapers The Kansas City Star Originally published Monday, June 13, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FORT WORTH, Texas - (KRT) - With the leader of a embattled polygamist sect now facing arrest warrants on two criminal indictments in Arizona, the search to find him may lead to the group's growing compound 45 miles south of San Angelo, Texas. In Eldorado, the town closest to the 1,671-acre YFZ ranch, Schleicher County officials are downplaying the possibility of any potential conflict with Warren Jeffs, the leader of Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. "There has been a lot of media hype asking `Are you going to storm the place?' and, no, we're not going to do that," said Schleicher County Justice of the Peace Jimmy Doyle. "Certainly, if he's pulled over in some kind of traffic stop he would be arrested, but you have to remember no one has really seen this guy in public since December 2003." A Mohave County, Ariz., grand jury indicted Jeffs, 49, on Friday on charges of sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. He could be sentenced to prison for up to two years if convicted. Jeffs is accused of arranging the marriage of a 16-year-old girl to a 28-year-old married man, but he is not accused of having sex with the girl, according to the indictments. In response to media inquiries, Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran issued a news release Monday saying he will "monitor the investigation" and assist Arizona law enforcement officials if necessary. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jeffs Indicted | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS prophet faces criminal charges in Arizona | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success MyEldorado.net Originally published June 16, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Warren Jeffs, self-proclaimed prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is a wanted man this week, following a two-count felony indictment last Thursday in a Mohave County Arizona courtroom. Jeffs stands accused of arranging a marriage and officiating over the wedding between a 16 year-old girl and a man more than ten years her senior. While he is not charged with a sex crime, the specific charges, or the names that the State of Arizona assigns to the charges, would lead one to believe otherwise. Officially, the grand jury accused Jeffs of Sexual Conduct with a Minor and Conspiracy to Commit Sexual Conduct with a Minor. In actuality the charges mean that Jeffs ordered one of his 16 year-old female followers to marry a 28 year-old man, who happened to already be married, and then officiated over the service, leading to unlawful sexual contact between the man and the minor girl. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eldorado sect is hammered on all sides | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By John MacCormack San Antonio Express-News Originally published June 20, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO — It's been a difficult spring for Warren Jeffs, the reclusive leader of a secretive polygamist sect that is building a large settlement and an imposing stone temple a few miles outside of town. In Texas, the governor recently signed into law measures aimed directly at the polygamists, including raising the age of consent to marry from 14 to 16 and outlawing "stepfather marriages." In Utah, a state judge in late May removed the trustees — including Jeffs — who had controlled the multimillion-dollar trust that owns most of the land, homes and businesses used by sect members. In Arizona, officials two weeks ago seized control of the public school district in Colorado City — Jeffs' former stronghold. The district, which had been run by the polygamists, is heavily in debt and assets are missing. And on June 10, in the first fruits of a long-running criminal investigation into underage marriages within the sect, a grand jury in Kingman, Ariz., indicted Jeffs on two felony charges. The accusations stem from his alleged arrangement of an illegal marriage three years ago between a 16-year-old girl and a 28-year-old man. Arrest warrants have been issued for both men. "This isn't about religious persecution. This has nothing to do with polygamy," said Matthew Smith, the Mohave County Attorney, who said 10 more polygamist men may be charged. "It has to do with underage marriage. It has to do with leaving these young girls alone so they can have a little more maturity and make their own decisions." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arizona prosecutor: Expect more FLDS indictments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success MyEldorado.net Originally published June 23, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| An Arizona prosecutor told The Success last week to expect more indictments against followers of FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs. Matthew Smith, the county attorney for Mohave County, Arizona, said the indictments his office obtained earlier in the month against Jeffs and an unnamed member of the cult, will be followed with additional indictments against as many as fifteen individuals in the next six weeks. Smith said it was unfortunate that news of Jeffs' indictment leaked out before law enforcement officials in Arizona, Texas and Utah could be notified. "In a perfect world it would have been handled differently," Smith said. He added that he was confident that Jeffs would eventually be apprehended and made to stand trial. Locally, Sheriff David Doran said that he has been in contact with residents at YFZ Ranch and urged them to have Warren Jeffs turn himself in. "Things will go a lot better for Warren Jeffs if he surrenders himself," Doran stated. "Otherwise things can get complicated." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prophet loses grip on UEP trust | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Will oil discovery near YFZ Ranch prompt drilling on FLDS 'Holy Ground'? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success MyEldorado.net Originally published June 30, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Warren Jeffs may still hold the keys to the FLDS priesthood and thereby continue to represent God on Earth, at least in the eyes of his faithful followers, but the fugitive prophet no longer has any say over the operation of the United Effort Plan trust. Jeffs was removed last week from his position as a UEP trustee by Utah District Judge Deno Himonas. The judge didn't stop there, however, he went on to remove all the members of the UEP board of trustees and appointed a 'special fiduciary' or independent manager to oversee the operation of the trust until a July 21, 2005 hearing, at which time Judge Himonas is slated to hear testimony and consider appointing new trustees and/or increase the special fiduciary's control over trust assets. The United Effort Plan trust was originally established to protect members of a fundamentalist Mormon sect that later became the FLDS church, from having their property confiscated by the government over the issue of polygamy. Most of the group's property in Colorado City, AZ and Hildale, UT was actually owned by the UEP, with members having the right to build homes and live on the property. However, when Warren Jeffs ascended to power within the church, he and his lieutenants soon began using their authority as UEP trustees to punish FLDS members who were deemed to be less than faithful to the new Jeffs as the church's new prophet. Soon men were being excommunicated from the church and evicted from their homes and their wives and children were being reassigned to other men. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arrest warrants issued for three Jeffs followers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success MyEldorado.net Originally published July 7, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Randy Barlow, 32, Kelly Fischer, 38, and Dale Barlow, 47, all of Colorado City, AZ, are wanted by the law in Arizona, according to Mohave County Attorney Matthew Smith. They are all members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and followers of the church's self-appointed prophet, Warren Jeffs. Like Jeffs, the three men were reportedly indicted by a Mohave County grand jury and face felony charges in Kingman, AZ. Randy Barlow, the youngest of the three, faces the most serious charge, that of Sexual Assault of a Child, a 3rd degree felony in Arizona. Authorities tell the Success that Randy Barlow is the son Truman Barlow, who served as a trustee of the church's United Effort Plan (UEP) trust until he and the remaining panel of trustees were removed last week by Utah District Judge Deno Himonas. It is unknown if Randy Barlow and Dale Barlow are directly related. Dale Barlow and Kelly Fisher each face charges of felony Sexual Conduct with a Child and felony Conspiracy to Commit Sexual Conduct with a child, the same charges now pending against the fugitive prophet Warren Jeffs. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| $10K reward offered for info on Warren Jeffs | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FBI joins the hunt as federal warrant is issued for fugitive prophet | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success MyEldorado.net Originally published July 14, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard announced a $10,000 reward Wednesday, for information leading to the arrest of fugitive FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs. Persons with information about Jeffs or his whereabouts are encouraged to call 1-800-526-1911 or 1-928-753-2141. Callers may remain anonymous. Jeffs was indicted on felony charges in Arizona and stands accused of Sexual Conduct with a Minor and Conspiracy to Commit Sexual Conduct with a Minor. The charges stem from his role in arranging marriages and performing marriage ceremonies between underage girls and older men who were already married. Goddard's press secretary, Andrea Esquer told the Success that the reward is being offered as a cooperative effort between the offices of the Arizona and Utah attorneys general and Mohave County's Silent Witness Program. Each state is putting up half the money for the reward.
FBI joins the hunt for Jeffs The Federal Bureau of Investigation is also joining the hunt for the elusive prophet. It was announced last week that a U.S. Magistrate in Flagstaff, AZ issued a federal arrest warrant for Jeffs on June 27 on charges of Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Majestic temple rises in Texas oil country | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Why the 10-story church was built there is a mystery | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Deborah Frazier Rocky Mountain News Originally published July 16, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO, Texas - The workings of the nation's largest polygamist sect have long been shrouded in secrecy, but there's nothing inconspicuous about the majestic white temple the group is building here in the heart of Texas oil and gas country. Warren Jeffs and his Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have been closed-mouthed about their intentions since buying the 1,691- acre ranch where the temple is being built in 2003. And just why the sect would forsake its longtime two-town domain along the Arizona-Utah border to come here to build its first temple is a mystery. Clearly, though, the massive limestone structure portends some big plans that Jeffs - a fugitive from justice, with his sect being pressed hard by authorities on several fronts - has for Eldorado. "This is the first temple the FLDS has ever built," said J.D. Doyle, an Eldorado Public Schools official and a small plane pilot who regularly flies above the sect's property. "They call it the YFZ Ranch. YFZ means Yearning for Zion." Zion, in the sect's teachings, is where the righteous will take refuge when the sins of the wicked destroy the world. That's a notion that makes folks here nervous. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prophet still a no-show, new judge appointed in UEP trustee case | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success MyEldorado.net Originally published July 21, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Law enforcement officials in Arizona, Texas and Utah remain on the lookout for Warren Jeffs, the self-appointed prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Jeffs was indicted by a Mohave County Arizona grand jury June 9, 2005 on two felony counts of Sexual Conduct with a Minor and Conspiracy to Commit Sexual Conduct with a Minor. Since that time eight of Jeffs followers have been jailed on similar charges, but the prophet remains at large and a $10,000 reward offered jointly by the states of Arizona and Utah for information leading to Jeffs' arrest has yet to be claimed.
YFZ update Here in Schleicher County, work continues at the YFZ Ranch, particularly on and around the massive temple building. Scaffold supports are being erected on the north side of the building, apparently in preparation for the application of limestone blocks, similar to stone that has already been applied to much of the building’s south side. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Meet the New Neighbors | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A fugitive sect of Mormon polygamists is building a home – and an end-time temple – in the West Texas town of Eldorado | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Jordan Smith The Austin Chronicle Originally published July 29, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The town of Eldorado, Texas, seat of Schleicher County, flanks State Highway 277, approximately 45 miles south of San Angelo, and is surrounded by a vast landscape of mesquite and cedar trees, native grasses, cacti, and lizards. In all, it is a fairly typical West Texas town of about 2,000, mostly oil industry workers, goat ranchers, and their herds. At least it was typical until November 2003, when a man from Utah named David Steed Allred came to town to purchase 1,691 acres of ranchland four miles north of Eldorado's sleepy downtown. Allred was in the construction business, he told several residents, and was going to transform the land into a corporate hunting retreat where he could entertain clients from Las Vegas – which might work out fine, if Allred's clients were going to be interested in traveling that far just to bag a few white-tailed deer. It was an odd explanation, perhaps, but in a town of independent West Texans, not so odd as to spark more than a general curiosity about the new neighbor. "I knew when [the land] was sold that someone from Utah bought it and I figured they were probably Mormon," says Randy Mankin, the 49-year-old editor and publisher of The Eldorado Success, the town's weekly newspaper. There were already a couple of other Mormon families living in town, Mankin said, so even that wasn't so unusual – or so he thought. But that was before the construction began. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eldorado's gold | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Everyone and everything is a target for Eldorado's brand of West Texas humor, including the small town's polygamist neighbors | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By David Casstevens Fort Worth Star-Telegram Originally published August 14, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO - Before the self-proclaimed prophet of a sect of Mormon polygamists was indicted on two felony counts and became a wanted man, Warren Jeffs predicted that on Wednesday, April 6, 2005, the world would end. On April 5 a notice appeared on the Eldorado Chamber of Commerce marquee: "Tomorrow Has Been Canceled." Residents of this small community trust the sign board outside the county courthouse to keep them informed about local news and events. So when the forewarning appeared, the sheriff's phone began to ring. The message had unsettled some folks. Sheriff David Doran said, "People called and asked, 'Do we need to be concerned?'" He assured them that the apocalypse wasn't at hand. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs named to FBI Most Wanted list | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Feds say Jeffs should be considered armed and dangerous | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success MyEldorado.net Originally published August 18, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The hunt for Warren Jeffs, fugitive prophet and leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) intensified yet again this week when the FBI named Jeffs to their Most Wanted list for August. FBI Special Agent Bill Endorf of the San Angelo field office had no comment Tuesday concerning Jeffs or his possible where abouts. However, a "Wanted" poster (see poster at right) on the FBI website noted that Jeffs and as many of thirty of his followers might be in Leesburg, Florida attempting to acquire more property for the FLDS. A confidential source discounted the Florida information, however, and told The Success on Tuesday that Jeffs had been in the Colorado City, Arizona area as recently as last week, where he allegedly performed a marriage between one of his male followers and an underage girl. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jeffs facing more indictments in AZ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Followers build 12 ft. wall around YFZ temple | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success MyEldorado.net Originally published August 25, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs is facing more criminal indictments in Arizona, according to sources in the Grand Canyon state. Jeffs was previously indicted on felony charges of Sexual Conduct with a Minor and Conspiracy to Commit Sexual Conduct with a Minor. The charges stem from Jeffs' alleged involvement in arranging and officiating over marriages between his adult male followers and under aged FLDS girls. Now comes word that a Mohave County grand jury in Kingman, AZ has handed up even more charges against the reclusive prophet, although the exact nature of those charges remains unknown since the indictments are reportedly sealed. A $10,000 reward offered by the Utah and Arizona Attorney General offices remains in place. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| YFZ Ranch drops application for wastewater treatment plant | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New permit application will allow for 'no discharge' | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success MyEldorado.net Originally published September 8, 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| YFZ Ranch officials agreed this week to drop their application for a permit to build and operate a wastewater treatment plant and to resubmit the application with one notable change — the new permit application will not contain a provision for treated effluent to be discharged from the YFZ property. Instead, the new application asks the state for permission to build and operate a sewer plant in such a way as to prevent effluent from leaving the ranch. One possibility would be to use the treated waste to irrigate crop land. A coalition of public groups and private citizens, including the Upper Colorado River Authority, Plateau Underground Water District, Tom Green County and the City of San Angelo, raised several objections to the original permit application, leading to several meetings between coalition members YFZ Ranch officials and representatives of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS temple appears complete | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamous sect remains silent about its edifice in Texas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Tuesday, January 31, 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gleaming white against the backdrop of the Texas prairie, the first-ever temple of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints appears to be nearing completion, if it isn't finished already, say observers near Eldorado, Texas. The polygamous sect itself remains silent, as it has been since construction started. "They're not making a lot of comments on it," Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran said. "They said, 'Yeah, the structure's completed on the exterior,' but they didn't elaborate." On a dirt road just a few miles outside of the tiny town of Eldorado, the temple stands out amid the surrounding ranchland. It has a limestone facade. Arched windows around the building lead up to turrets, which surround the roof. Atop it all is a short-domed steeple, reminiscent of the Nauvoo, Ill., temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Above the doorway is the "all seeing eye" and an inscription that reportedly includes the phrase, "Holiness to the Lord in the House of the Lord." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS Temple in Texas Appears Complete | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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John Hollenhorst Reporting KSl TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast February 1, 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fugitive polygamist leader Warren Jeffs remains out of sight, whereabouts unknown, but his followers are wrapping up work on a highly visible monument to their religious zeal. Jeffs' first temple is now a huge, eye-catching sight on the Texas prairie. When we first flew over the Warren Jeffs compound in 2004 with Texas Judge and pilot James Doyle, there were only a few residential buildings. On New Years Day, 2005 photos captured a ceremony on the temple site, possibly led by Warren Jeffs. Now, 13 months later, Judge Doyle is stunned by what he sees. James Doyle, Pilot & Judge: "The temple is really spectacular. It's a beautiful building. They are wonderful craftsmen." Over the last couple of years, Judge Doyle has piloted his plane frequently over the huge compound as his son takes photos. They post the pictures on a website, monitoring the Utah-based polygamy group as it enlarges its footprint in Texas. James Doyle: "It's just really, you can just see it from long distance and it's really something to look at." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Warren Jeffs in Texas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Don Jorgensen KELOLAND TV - Sioux Falls, South Dakota Originally published March 10, 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| While South Dakota authorities keep a close eye on what's happening in Pringle, Texas authorities are already dealing with Warren Jeffs and his secret society. In Eldorado, Texas residents are on edge over Warren Jeffs and his followers who recently moved to the outskirts of town. "We are afraid something might happen here," said unidentified old lady. The gates to the 1,600 acre compound are almost always locked. The elders rarely do interviews. The only way to see what's happening here is by air. Jeffs has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars constructing five buildings and a four story temple. Another building is under construction. They first said they were building a hunting retreat, then the truth came. It's a ranch for Jeffs' 200 most loyal followers, which seems odd to law enforcement, since Jeffs has preached, the end of the world is near. "They bought all this property, put all this time and effort in building those structures to kill themselves. It doesn't make any sense." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS enclave grows | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Is church planning to abandon Utah-Arizona twin towns? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Thursday, March 16, 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New development on the sprawling Texas ranch of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) is giving rise to some speculation that polygamous church members could be preparing to abandon the twin border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. Recent photographs provided to the Deseret Morning News reveal a massive water tank, new irrigation systems, new housing under construction, newly planted orchards and fields and what appears to be a dairy being built on the FLDS property outside Eldorado, Texas. "The FLDS out here is definitely growing," said JD Doyle, a local pilot who frequently flies over the FLDS property and takes pictures of its growth. "There's more traffic and more people, and they are gearing up for something massive. You don't put a 280,000-gallon tank out here you're not going to do something." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jeffs charges announced on day 'sacred' to church | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Friday, April 7, 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coincidence or not, Washington County prosecutors announced the criminal charges against fugitive polygamous leader Warren Jeffs on a day considered "sacred" by many fundamentalist Mormons. On April 6, 1830, Joseph Smith founded The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which abandoned the practice of polygamy in 1890. Splinter groups, such as the Fundamentalist LDS Church, continue to practice plural marriage and contend the mainstream LDS Church does not follow Smith's fundamental teachings. Last year, rumors swirled around the FLDS Church's ranch in Eldorado, Texas, about a dedication of the group's temple and even a prophecy by Jeffs about the end of the world. Texas Rangers and the Schleicher County sheriff paid a visit to the YFZ ranch and reported the people inside were simply praying. YFZ stands for "Yearn for Zion," after a song reportedly written by Jeffs. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mormon sect cited twice for violations | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press Fort Worth Star-Telegram Originally published April 14, 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY -- A southern Texas ranch owned by a Utah-based fundamentalist religious sect is facing more than $34,000 in fines for environmental violations related to construction on the property. Documents obtained by The Associated Press show the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has filed two separate enforcement actions against YFZ Land LLC, the holding company that owns the 1,691-acre ranch near Eldorado, Texas. The ranch was purchased in 2003 by David Allred, a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Allred also bought land for the church in other locations, including Colorado and South Dakota. None of the funds for the purchase appears to have come from the United Effort Plan trust, which holds most of the property in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., said Bruce Wisan, a court-appointed accountant who oversees the trust. Church members moved to the remote area along the Utah-Arizona border in the early 1900s in hopes of avoiding prosecution for polygamy, which remains a central tenet of the faith. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Big Love, Texas-Style | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamists live in a compound on our state's dry western plains | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Keith Plocek Houston Press Originally published Thursday, Apr 27 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO, TEXAS -- James Doyle rears back on the stick, and his Piper Cherokee 180 flops into the air, hastily rising above the dry cedars and prickly pears of Schleicher County. Doyle is a rural justice of the peace. He sets bails, judges misdemeanors, declares deaths and even pilots out-of-towners who'd like to take an overhead look at the West Texas dust. Not ten seconds after takeoff, the white temple looms ahead, its disproportionately small cupola resting at least 90 feet above the surrounding ranchland. Built by a sect of Mormon polygamists, this stone homage to God looks like a mirage, like it belongs anywhere but here. But there it stands, defiantly miraculous, stupendous. Doyle isn't very interested in the temple. He's seen it plenty of times, as has practically everyone else in town. Its top is visible from the highway, no plane necessary. But what you can't see from the ground is an entire town, nestled from outsiders in the small valley that runs through the middle of the polygamists' 1,691 acres. From on high you can see the cement plant, the dairy, the silos, the quarry, the trucks and the SUVs; the chicken coops, the orchards, the water and propane tanks; the irrigated fields, made arable from tons of manure, and the three-story houses, built log-cabin-style, save for one modification. "In all of the buildings, the first floor has concrete walls," says Doyle, idling the engine for a better view. "It kind of makes you wonder if they're not preparing themselves." The JP doesn't draw the connection outright, but any talk of religious fundamentalists' hunkering down in Texas brings to mind images of Waco, where federal agents raided the Branch Davidian compound in 1993, resulting in dozens of deaths. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fort Knox has nothing on polygamist compound | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Rick Sanchez, CNN Correspondent Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees CNN Originally published Wednesday, May 10, 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I'm in the town of Eldorado in the Texas hill country today, trying to report on a bizarre, yet impressive compound of polygamists that rises out of 1,600 acres of brush and cactus. But I think it may be easier to penetrate Fort Knox than to get inside this place. The compound, which is called "Yearning for Zion," is home to followers of Warren Jeffs, the polygamist leader recently named to the FBI's 10 most wanted list. Some outsiders suggest Jeffs might be in there too. So far, I've tried driving in. And I've played a game of cat and mouse with the people living inside, who run the other way when they see us. With our telephoto lens we watch them as they, in turn, watch us. It's eerie. Now, I'm trying to fly over the compound in a rented plane. This place is amazing, like a small city surrounding a giant Masonic temple, where devout followers of Warren Jeffs believe they need to be to get ready for the apocalypse. Jeffs, who they believe is their prophet, has told them they need to be here when the world ends in order to start a new civilization. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Is Eldorado the next Waco, Texas? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Some Believe Polygamist Warren Jeffs is Hiding in Texas Town | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Mike Von Fremd and Gina Sunseri Good Morning America ABC News Originally published May 15, 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| May 15, 2006 — The residents of Eldorado, Texas, are keenly aware of the events that occurred in Waco, Texas, 13 years ago when David Koresh's compound went up in flames. In Eldorado, people hope history will not repeat itself with a charismatic leader and his devoted followers who are believed to have taken up residence in the remote outskirts of their town. Warren Jeffs is an alleged polygamous leader who is on the FBI's Top 10 most wanted list, and some believe he is hiding on the Yearning for Zion Ranch on the edge of Eldorado. Randy Mankin, the publisher of the Eldorado Success who has spent the last two years writing about the residents on the ranch, believes he has seen Jeffs while flying over the 1,691-acre compound. "We photographed him at what we think is the dedication ceremony at the temple," Mankin said. "As soon as the crowd that was gathered around this individual in a semicircle saw and heard our plane, they clustered around this individual for several minutes. I think that was Warren Jeffs." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dispatch From Eldorado, Texas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Miguel Bustillo The Los Angeles Times Originally published May 19, 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO, Texas — Jimmy Doyle, the local justice of the peace, circled his Piper Cherokee plane over the fast-sprouting mini-city where polygamist prophet Warren Jeffs, one of the FBI's 10 Most Wanted fugitives, may be hiding. More than half a mile below, a monolithic white temple encased in thick limestone towered above the West Texas scrubland. All around it, young men in pickups and construction cranes were busy building a self-sufficient compound, which authorities believe is intended as a sanctuary for the 1,000 most faithful followers of a sect known as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which broke away from the Mormon Church. "Some call this a religion," said Doyle, 69, as he stared out the cockpit with a look of disgust. "But it sure looks like a cult to me." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fugitive Believed Hiding In Secret Texas Community | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ginger Allen Reporting CBS 11 News - Dallas/Fort Worth Originally broadcast May 22, 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (CBS 11 News) One of America's most wanted fugitives could be hiding out in west Texas. Many believe Warren Jeffs is holed up inside the walls of one of the nation's most secretive communities - a polygamist camp near San Angelo. The 1,691-acre polygamous community has been stirring up the curiosity and scorn of the small ranching town of El Dorado, ever since it moved to the area two years ago. Speculation that the founder, Warren Jeffs, may be holed up inside the compound has caught the attention of the FBI, which recently put the religious leader on its top ten fugitives list. CBS 11 Investigators spent three days just north of the Yearn for Zion Ranch, which belongs to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The complex of buildings includes a massive 62,000-square-foot temple, a garden the size of a football field, peach orchard, cement factory and several houses. The only way to get a view of the entire compound is from above. El Dorado pilot J.D. Doyle has been doing just that – piecing together the puzzle by taking the only known aerial photographs of the mysterious community. "When I look down at that it just amazes me that they can construct so much so fast," he said. "They built this whole town in 24-months." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Town reaches uneasy peace with polygamist sect | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Neighbors can't relate, but don't live in fear | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Karen Brooks The Dallas Morning News Originally published Thursday, June 15, 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO, Texas – Fugitive polygamist leader Warren Jeffs' driver's license picture hangs in post offices across the nation – but not the one in this little West Texas outpost. "Distributing the FBI fliers is not really a priority," said Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran. "Everyone here already knows what he looks like." Even before Mr. Jeffs landed on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list in May, the 1,900 people in this two-stoplight town were familiar with the Utah native purported to have 70 wives. After all, his group lives next door. Long before the nation awoke to the saga of plural marriages, racism, child brides and other accusations against Mr. Jeffs' breakaway fundamentalist Mormon sect, the folks in this town south of San Angelo were well aware of the self- proclaimed prophet of the 10,000-member Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Two years ago, the polygamist sect he leads constructed a giant, reclusive compound just outside of town, turning Eldorado upside down with scary stories and a flood of reporters and investigators. But now, the isolated Yearning for Zion ranch is neither novelty nor nightmare for the people of Eldorado – even though only a handful of them have ever been inside its gates. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS tax bill to be monumental | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Schleicher County officials expect levies to add $450,000 to budgets | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Matt Phinney San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published June 24, 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A huge white building towers above a vista of trees north of Eldorado, nearly as large as San Angelo's 1st Community Credit Union Spur Arena. It's an 80,000-square-foot monument built by members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). Locals call it "the temple," a reference to the belief that it's a place of worship for the polygamist group that lives nearby. While the new building, and the church's presence near Eldorado, has drawn worldwide media attention, it also will be a financial boost for this rural county in the form of property tax revenue. The group has faithfully paid its property taxes since buying the land, and this year's note should be the biggest yet. The massive building was appraised for the first time this year and stands at a preliminary value of about $8 million. The entire YFZ Ranch north of Eldorado, where the building is located, has an assessed value of nearly $18 million, according to preliminary numbers by Schleicher County Appraiser Scott Sutton. Final values aren't certified until the end of July, but the building could well be the highest-valued property in the county. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sect alters wastewater plan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS Wants to be 'good neighbors,' observer says | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Matt Phinney San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published August 19, 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owners of the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado want to store treated wastewater in ponds to use for irrigation on the ranch. The group initially wanted a permit to treat water before discharging the water into Millican Draw, a tributary of the South Concho River. The group abandoned that plan amid protests from people who said it would hurt the quality of water in the local streams. Officials from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in Austin are studying the new permit request, which was received in June, said Ricky Anderson, San Angelo-based director for the state agency. If approved, the permit would authorize the disposal of treated wastewater at a volume not to exceed a daily average flow of 100,000 gallons per day by irrigating 125 acres. Glenn Breisch, president of Wasteline Engineering, which has done engineering work for the ranch, said this week that YFZ landowners wanted to be "good neighbors" when they made the decision to switch uses for the treatment plant. Breisch has filed a lien against YFZ Land L.L.C., saying the company has failed to pay some of its debt owed for the design and engineering of a water treatment and supply plant on the ranch. Breisch, whose company is based in Aledo, 20 miles west of Fort Worth, filed the papers in the Schleicher County Courthouse. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sheriff Tells FLDS Followers Of Jeff's Arrest | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Associated Press KUTV Channel 2 Originally published August 29, 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HOUSTON Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran delivered the news Tuesday to members of a reclusive group of polygamists who have settled on a ranch in southwest Texas that their fugitive leader had been arrested. Warren Steed Jeffs, 50, was captured late Monday in Nevada during a traffic stop, three months after being put on the FBI's Most Wanted List. He faces charges he arranged marriages between underage girls and older men. "I did make a phone call out there and did make them aware of the arrest so they could hear from an official resource," Doran said. "You could feel the mood drop and it was somber. They really didn't elaborate. They said they appreciated the information." As part of their religious rules, followers of Jeffs' Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints are not supposed to have access to television, radio or newspapers. The church members began arriving at a former exotic game ranch just northeast of Eldorado and about 40 miles south of San Angelo about 2 1/2 years ago and starting building their fortress-like YFZ Ranch, short for Yearning For Zion. An 80-foot tall gleaming white temple dominates the property where Doran said about 70 people live. The establishment of the ranch behind locked gates on the some 1,700-acre property raised fears of another Branch Davidian compound, where leader David Koresh and his followers a decade ago outside Waco died in a fiery end to their siege that began with a police raid. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fugitive's arrest brings relief to West Texas town | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By John MacCormack San Antonio Express-News Originally published August 29, 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ELDORADO, TEXAS - The arrest of Warren Jeffs, the fugitive leader of a polygamist Mormon sect that erected an enormous white temple and residential compound near here, brought relief to this West Texas community Tuesday. "When I got the call this morning from Utah that he was in custody, it definitely became a festive mood around here," said Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran. "Jeffs put a dark cloud over this community." At the popular lunch spot, Rosa's Casita Restaurant, the word "CAPTURED" was scrawled in red ink across an FBI wanted poster on the wall. Left unchanged by the capture of Jeffs is the polygamist compound. Construction continues there and the population appears to be growing. No one in Eldorado knows what will happen next. "The elephant is still in the bedroom. Are they going to keep building?" asked Randy Mankin, editor of The Eldorado Success, which has closely covered the polygamist story. At very least, he said, folks in Eldorado will now rest a little easier knowing that for the time being, Jeffs is in police custody.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. jmaccormack@express-news.net | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eldorado hoping for changes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Jack Douglas, Jr. Dallas/Ft, Worth Star-Telegram Originally published August 30, 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residents of the small West Texas town of Eldorado said Tuesday that they hope a nearby polygamous religious sect will stop believing in marriages between underage girls and older men following the arrest of the group's leader near Las Vegas. One official said that little, if anything, has changed in the daily routine within the compound walls of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, four miles from Eldorado, after sect leader Warren Jeffs, 50, was arrested late Monday. "They're really low-keyed people. If you didn't fly over them, you wouldn't know a soul was there," said Schleicher County Justice of the Peace James Doyle, who flew over the compound Tuesday. But while it may have not been visible, members of the Texas group seemed upset, said Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran, who informed a "source" within the compound that Jeffs, who was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, was arrested on a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. "I think this is a major blow to them," Doran said, describing his conversation with his source in the church. "You could tell it was stressful news to him." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jeffs' arrest was 'disturbing' to elder | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Matt Phinney San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published August 30, 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO - One of the first things Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran did when he learned the leader of a church that practices polygamy had been arrested in Nevada was to call the YFZ Ranch. It's impossible to know how much national news infiltrates the ranch three miles northeast of Eldorado. So Doran wanted to make sure group elders heard the news that their leader, Warren Jeffs, one of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted fugitives, had been arrested. Doran has spent about 2-1/2 years building a working relationship with Merrill Jessop, a church elder in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Residents there do not talk to the media. "It was disturbing to him, but he appreciated the news," Doran said. "I don't think anything out there will change. But we will be cautious and continue to monitor the ranch." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arizona authorities visit Jeffs ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS children's education a concern | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Friday, September 22, 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Police and prosecutors traveled to the Fundamentalist LDS Church's enclave in Eldorado, Texas, to talk with local law enforcement about the capture of polygamist leader Warren Jeffs and the future of his followers. FBI agents and an assistant U.S. attorney from Arizona met earlier this week with Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran about the FLDS Church and what may happen now that Jeffs has been captured. "They were just keeping open lines of communication with the sheriff and others in the community there," said Special Agent Deborah McCarley from the FBI's office in Phoenix. Doran told the Deseret Morning News the visit had been arranged before Jeffs was captured. "They wanted basically to come down and see what the Texas ranch looked like. We just swapped information," he said Thursday. "They went over the U.S. attorney's role and what they're going to be doing." The U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona would not comment on the visit to Eldorado. "It's inappropriate for us to discuss ongoing investigations," spokesman Wyn Hornbuckle said Thursday. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3-Year-Old Child Killed in Auto Accident on YFZ Ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published October 26, 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ELDORADO, TX -- 10:45 a.m. -- A 3-year-old boy was killed and another young boy was seriously injured Thursday morning, Oct. 26, 2006, in a one-vehicle accident on the YFZ Ranch. According to Sheriff David Doran the accident occured when a woman picked up three young boys to drive them to another location on the ranch property. At some point, the driver, crashed into a boulder on the side of the roadway. A young boy, riding in the front seat, was reportedly injured by the mini-van's airbag. He was taken to Schleicher County Medical Center for emergency treatment and transferred by AirMed1 helicopter to a San Angelo hospital. A second boy and the driver were treated and released from SCMC. The third boy, reportedly suffered fatal injuries in the accident. Dr. Lloyd Barlow, now practices at the YFZ Ranch, accompanied the children to the local emergency room.
UPDATE 2:00 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 26, 2006 In a press release issued Thursday afternoon, Sheriff David Doran identified the driver of the 1996 Town & Country van as Barbara Joy Jessop. Allen Rulon Jeffs, age 3, son of Isaac and Zevanda Jeffs, was pronounced dead at Schleicher County Medical Center by Dr. Pat Johnson. Richard Rulon Jeffs, age 3, was airlifted to Shannon Medical Center in San Angelo where he remains in ICU in critical condition. Isaac Steed Jeffs, Jr., age 3, and the driver Barbara Joy Jessop were treated and released from Schleicher County Medical Center. Sheriff Doran blamed the accident on driver inattention. None of the occupants of the van were wearing seatbelts. Texas law does not require passenger restraints on private roads. Watch this website for more details. A complete story will appear in next week's edition of The Eldorado Success. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boy killed in ranch crash | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Matt Phinney San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published October 27, 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A young boy was killed and another critically injured Thursday morning on the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado when the van in which they were riding crashed into a boulder on a road on the ranch, according to news releases from Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran. Allen Rulon Jeffs, 3, son of Isaac and Zevanda Jeffs, was pronounced dead at Schleicher County Medical Center. Richard Rulon Jeffs, 3, was airlifted to Shannon Medical Center in San Angelo, where he remained in critical condition Thursday night, according to the releases. Isaac Steed Jeffs Jr., 3, and the driver, Barbara Joy Jessop, were treated at Schleicher County Medical Center and released, according to the news release. The driver is considered an adult, but her exact age was unclear Thursday. According to Doran's report, the driver was traveling west on a gravel road on the property when the 1996 minivan struck a boulder on the north side of the road. The impact occurred on the right front side of the vehicle. Doran said it was a low-impact crash, but the boys were not wearing seat belts. Doran blamed the crash on the driver's inattentiveness. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS ranch in Texas sees surge of activity | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Saturday, December 23, 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs may be jailed, but his capture is not halting construction on the polygamous sect's sprawling Texas ranch. "This is Warren's pride and joy right here," said J.D. Doyle, a pilot who frequently flies over the FLDS ranch just outside Eldorado, Texas. "This thing is not going to stop." Doyle provided photographs to the Deseret Morning News that show a new surge of construction surrounding the FLDS Church's first-ever temple at the YFZ Ranch. It stands for "Yearning for Zion," after a song Jeffs wrote. "I think it's going to be a city unto itself eventually," Doyle said, adding that he has seen people come and go from the ranch but no significant population boom. The temple itself is gleaming white, surrounded by a patch of green lawn. Outside the white fence, construction equipment is spread out, as it is used to create new buildings. Doyle said the FLDS members have completed a home, poured the foundations for three more buildings and appear to be building a sugar-cane refinery. "All the stuff that they're doing now is commercial stuff. They're doing something to either make money or for some other reasons," he said. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sect's Texas outpost looking permanent | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Bill Hanna Ft. Worth Star-Telegram Originally published January 1, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Their prophet, Warren Jeffs, is awaiting a criminal trial next April. A court-appointed fiduciary is combing through the polygamist sect's assets. It might lead one to assume that the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints is on the verge of breaking apart. But with this secretive group, the truth is often a mystery. What is clear is that the sect's 1,691-acre West Texas outpost near Eldorado appears to be thriving. Buildings continue to be constructed. Roads are being laid. The county taxes were even paid early to get a discount. It's enough to convince some Eldorado residents that their town is going to be the church's new home. "I've never been convinced it was simply going to be a retreat like his followers said when they first came here," said Randy Mankin, editor of the Eldorado Success. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Judge: Utah polygamist leader OK for trial | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Associated Press KXAN 36 - Austin Originally broadcast May 25, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ST. GEORGE, Utah (AP) - A judge in Utah says the head of a polygamous sect is competent for trial on charges tied to the spiritual marriage of a 14-year-old girl to an older cousin. Judge James Shumate today said an evaluation of Warren Jeffs -- filed under seal -- would be released in the coming weeks after he blacks out certain portions. Jeffs is president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He's charged with rape as an accomplice for his role in the 2001 marriage of the underage girl to her 19-year-old cousin. His sect practices polygamy and arranged marriages. No trial date has been set. The judge says Jeffs understands the charges and can participate in his defense. About 150 followers of Jeffs live in Texas, outside Eldorado. Among the buildings erected by the sect is an 80-foot-tall white temple. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamous Possible Prophet Update | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Jordan Smith The Austin Chronicle - Austin, Texas Originally published April 13, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| According to Warren Jeffs, the prophet leader of polygamist breakaway Mormon sect the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he's no prophet at all. That's right, in a handwritten note, scribbled by a shaky and frail Jeffs in court March 27, Jeffs reportedly revealed that he is, alas, a mere mortal. "I have not been a prophet and am not the prophet," he wrote. At least that's the message, as reported by The Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret Morning News. The Morning News, whose photographer snapped a shot of Jeffs handing the note to his lawyer, actually called in a forensic handwriting expert and a genealogist to analyze the note, which the paper "enhanced" from a blow-up of the original photo. All that work – which the paper describes in a perky graphic in its April 5 edition – apparently yielded little juice. Other than the sentence above, the paper deciphered just one additional fragment: "failed [to] lead the people of the fundamentalist church." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| By The Way | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Alice Gilroy Floyd County Hesperian-Beacon - Floydada, Texas Originally published May 3, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I have debated for quite some time over whether or not I should write this column. It may very well lead to "killing the messenger" from those who disagree with my views - or simply from those who preferred not to think about this subject. It is easier to pretend a problem doesn't exist than it is to face it head on. I know because I wanted to pretend. I'm writing this column not because of my dislike for another human being and their lifestyle, but because of my love for the good people in this County. You are about to be faced with situations that you have never confronted before. I'm writing because I believe it is better to face a challenge when you know the facts. You may have heard recently that the Tye Company was selling to a man who was going to bring a "furniture making business", or a "cabinet making business" to Lockney. Depending on who you talked to, the business was going to hire 3 people, or 100 people, or no "outside" people. The man who is buying the business, Samuel C. Fischer described himself as a Mormon from the town of Hildale, Utah. As a member of the Lockney Economic Development Committee (and By the Way, my thoughts are my own - I am not speaking for the EDC), the news first brought great jubilation. But it was very short lived. It was pointed out to me that Hildale (of which I had never heard), was the home base of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The group, called FLDS for short, is not connected to the modern Mormon Church, and Samuel C. Fischer is not the kind of Mormon that you are familiar with. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS Church Possibly Planning a Move to Floyd County | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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KAMC ABC 28 - Lubbock, Texas KAMC28.tv Originally broadcast Friday, May 4, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints is setting up camp in Floyd County, this in addition to their well known compound in Schleicher County near Eldorado. Now, the church's plans have some in Floyd County a little nervous. "They`re building like crazy out here" says Randy Mankin with the Eldorado Success Newspaper. And the kind of building that Schleicher County has seen could also soon be seen in Floyd County. The Fundamentalist LDS church has purchased a manufacturing facility just south of Lockney. County residents and those who keep tabs on the group are curious as to what purpose the church has in another West Texas outpost. "Used to be a farm implants plant, said to be used for furniture but it could be a cover story" says Mankin. One reason for suspicion may stem from the groups practice of secrecy and popular mistrust in church leader Warren Jeffs. Jeffs, now in prison on felony counts of rape as an accomplice and other abuses, leads the radical off-shoot of the Mormon Church even though he is behind bars. Despite his legal status, his followers are moving forward into Floyd County. "Have about 10,000 no signs of slowing since Jeffs in jail" says Mankin. The group doesn't make public announcements, so we don't know exactly when they plan to move into Floyd County or if they plan to build another community. But when and if they do, they are said to be no threat to residents. "They're not interested in recruiting out there or anything like that" says Mankin. Again, this group is not making any of their plans public, so we don`t know when the group plans to move into Floyd County or when they hope to have their new plant operational. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Lockney businessman has ties to polygamist Jeffs' hometown | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Beth Pratt A-J Religion Editor The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal - Lubbock, Texas Originally published Saturday, May 5, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Business development isn't always what it appears, Lockney residents are learning. Floyd County Clerk Marilyn Holcomb confirmed Friday that Samuel Chris Fischer filed a doing-business-as form for Techsum Industries on April 19. The cabinet-making operation will work out of the Tye building, once a farm implement building business in Lockney, according to reports in the Floyd County Hesperian-Beacon. "He was a nice guy," Holcomb said about Fischer, noting that people were excited about a new business in Floyd County, which is rapidly losing population because there are few jobs available. No one immediately connected Fischer's Hildale, Utah, address with the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a polygamist group led by Warren Jeffs, 49, son of the late Rulon T. Jeffs, who had been the group's prophet. When the elder Jeffs died at the age of 92, he left an estimated 75 widows and 65 children. According to a report by National Public Radio, almost all the property in Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, is owned by a church trust and controlled by Warren Jeffs. That includes residential property estimated at $100 million. In May 2005, the Mormon polygamy sect built a new settlement in West Texas at Eldorado, south of San Angelo. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| LDS Dispells Association with Fundamentalist Church | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Reporter: Amanda Salem KAMC ABC 28 - Lubbock, Texas Originally broadcast May 7, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| KAMC-28 told you last week about a fundamentalist group that has purchased a building in Lockney in Floyd County which has some residents feeling uneasy about what this means for their town. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is not associated with the modern Mormon Church. And with the news that the fundamentalist group is moving in to Lockney, some have questions about what the group is all about! "There's always some apprehension on the part of the church members of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to hear the fundamentalist name come up in connection with us because there is no connection" with LDS Spokesperson, Dave Walker. The name may sound similar, but to those of the LDS faith, more commonly known as Mormon faith, there's nothing similar about them. "At some point in the past there was a connection but that was something like 100 years or more when some of the same families came from the same group. But that connection was severed years and years ago" says Walker. But that connection is moving close to home for the LDS church here in Lubbock. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints purchased a building in Floyd County. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lockneyites have chance to meet Samuel Fischer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Richard Porter Plainview Daily Herald - Plainview, Texas Originally published May 9, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A community meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Lockney Community Center, 502 S.E. Eighth, at which time the public will have an opportunity to meet Samuel Fischer, the man behind much of the controversy surrounding the purchase of a manufacturing building in Lockney. Fischer, who has ties with the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is the potential buyer of the former Tye Co. building located near the intersection of FM 378 and U.S. Highway 70. According to Alice Gilroy, publisher of the Floyd County Hesperian-Beacon, Friday night's meeting was set up at the request of Fischer, who in an interview with The Herald said he plans to establish a furniture business in the 175,000-square-foot building. In a letter he faxed to The Herald, Fischer tells of how he decided to buy the building in Lockney, explaining that he first came through the High Plains in January as he traveled from North Carolina and became stranded in a winter storm in the Panhandle. He began considering the region as a business location and looked into the purchase of property. Eventually, he wrote, he was contacted by a real estate agent in Lubbock about the possibility of purchasing the vacant Tye building. The Lubbock real estate agent, Dwight Thomason with Rick Canup Realtors, confirmed Fischer has entered into contract for the purchase of the building and also provided "substantial earnest money." In his letter, Fischer said he is aware of concerns in the community about his plans — which include an interest in a labor camp located on the east side of Floydada. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Practicing Polygamists In Texas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Ellen McNamara KXAN 36 - Austin, Texas Originally broadcast May 9, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Warren Jeffs, the leader of a practicing polygamist group, sits in a Utah jail Wednesday night. He's accused of demanding a 14-year-old girl marry her 19-year-old cousin in 2001. Even with Jeffs in prison, a group of his most loyal followers continue to thrive in the small Texas town of Eldorado, about 200 miles west of Austin. Talk of the town revolves around the temple. What was supposed to be an estimated 1,700-acre hunting retreat developed into a home for a few hundred members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It's a home that local newspaper man Randy Mankin watches closely. "When they're as reclusive as this group is, and when there as insulated from outside opinions and views, and different points of view you worry," said Mankin, editor of the Eldorado Success. Behind the gate, girls marry as soon as their bodies are able to bear children, and potential husbands are usually a relative of some kind. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fischer explains interest in area via letter | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Plainview Daily Herald - Plainview, Texas Originally published May 10, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A community meeting to allow Lockney residents to meet Samuel Fischer — the man with ties to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who is contract to purchase the former Tye Co. building in Lockney — is planned for 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Lockney Community Center. The planned purchase of the building — for which Fischer said he will use to establish a furniture-making business — has raised suspicion among numerous Lockney and area citizens. They question Fischer's involvement with the FLDS, who some believe promotes polygamy and whose leader, Warren Jeffs, reportedly was recently arrested in Las Vegas for child rape, stemming from his practice of arranging child marriages to older men. The following is the unedited letter Fischer faxed to The Herald in advance of Friday's meeting.
• • • "Greetings: To the people of the Texas Panhandle area. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Samuel Fischer. I learned the cabinet trade during summers working at a cabinet shop in Salt Lake City, Utah in my sophomore, junior, and senior years of school. While going to my senior year in school my business required me to go to work the first three days of the week and catch up on my lessons the last two days of the week. My father taught me a good work ethic from the days of my youth for which I owe him greatly. This is an area in the lives of our young people today that we parents need to focus our intention on to instill into our children the values of good work ethic. The challenge our society faces today is idleness among our youth which leads to juvenile delinquency. Our youth is our future. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Samuel Fischer Requests Community Meeting | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Floyd County Hesperian-Beacon - Floydada, Texas Originally published May 10, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Samuel Fischer, the man who is pursuing the purchase of the Tye building in Lockney, has asked for a meeting with the community. The meeting will be Friday, May 11, at 6:30 p.m. at the Lockney Community Center. The public is invited. Mr. Fischer says he wants to meet with people and answer questions from the community concerning his business and the business plans he has. Mr. Fischer has requested this meeting because of last week's "By The Way" column that identified Mr. Fischer as a member of FLDS. Mr. Fischer took exception to much of the column and would like a chance for people to meet him and get to know him. Mr. Fischer told The Hesperian-Beacon that he would take questions from the audience concerning his business. The Community Center only has 100 chairs, so bring your own chair for seating. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Letters to the Editor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Floyd County Hesperian-Beacon - Floydada, Texas Originally published May 10, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Dear Editor:
Please thank Ms. Gilroy for writing the story on the FLDS polygamous group spreading out into Floyd County, Texas. It is often from publishings such as these that we know where this group is branching out. And thank you, the editor, for publishing this story. Elaine Tyler, President The HOPE Organization St. George, Utah Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| By The Way | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Alice Gilroy Floyd County Hesperian-Beacon - Floydada, Texas Originally published May 10, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mr. Fischer called me on Monday morning. Obviously he perceived things differently than I did concerning the FLDS column. The first thing we clarified between each other was the phone number I had for Fischer. The number I have been calling was an old number and had been disconnected. Mr. Fischer wanted me to understand that he would have talked to me if I had gotten him on the phone. We talked at great length. I stand by what I printed last week, but I will add Mr. Fischer's comments. Mr. Fischer said that he will be hiring people from the community. He said the number of people hired will depend on how well the business does. He said the cabinet shop will be a "modular line" so he can train people on specific jobs. He said he only inquired about the labor camp because it is always good to have housing for your employees. Fischer said he is coming with his family at first and he doesn't know how many more from the FLDS community will come, but according to Fischer the majority of people he will hire will be local people. Mr. Fischer was defensive about Warren Jeffs and referred to him as "Uncle Warren". According to Fischer the charges of Accomplice to Rape brought against Warren Jeffs are not true. He believed all the information I had in my column to be information from people who were "unhappy" with the FLDS church, so you couldn't believe what they said. He told me I needed to listen to Warren Jeffs and hear him for myself. I replied that is hard to do when it is a secret society and no one knows what goes on in their church. I told Mr. Fischer that I had heard Mr. Jeff's teachings on tapes through the Eldorado internet site. Mr. Fischer said that was still second hand and implied that the tapes could have been altered. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS Church may be expanding in Texas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Friday, May 11, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A member of the Fundamentalist LDS Church is breaking the silence of a closed society and reaching out to his new neighbors in a tiny town in the Bible Belt. Samuel Fischer wrote a letter to a Texas newspaper explaining his decision to move a cabinetmaking business to the town of Lockney. He is also promising to hold a town meeting tonight to introduce himself. "Yes I have a large family. I have twenty four children of which 13 are my own and I have adopted 11, although I don't distinguish between the two," he wrote in the letter published in Wednesday's Floyd County Hesperian-Beacon newspaper. Fischer's letter follows weeks of rumor and speculation about the FLDS Church branching out to another Texas town. The FLDS Church has a temple site near the town of Eldorado. Sam Brower, a private investigator for lawyers suing the FLDS Church, said it could be another sign of church-linked business interests spreading out to keep generating money. "There's pressure on the church, the UEP and Warren (Jeffs) financially," he said Tuesday. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Job applications will be taken at Lockney center | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Area Briefly The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal - Lubbock, Texas Originally published May 11, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Samuel Fischer of Hildale, Utah, will have an open meeting at 6:30 p.m. today in the Lockney Community Center on FM 378 (Lone Star Highway on Lockney's east side).
Fischer said he will take job applications and will acquaint people with Techsun Industries, which he plans to set up in Lockney using a vacant building that once housed the Tye Co., a farm equipment plant. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS Moving to Lockney | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Amanda Salem KAMC ABC 28 - Lubbock, Texas Originally broadcast May 11, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A Fundamentalist group speaks out about their intentions on moving into Floyd County. We've been keeping you updated on a group called the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who recently bought a building in Lockney. Friday night, one of the people responsible for the move held a town hall meeting and our Amanda Salem was there. At the Lockney Community Center, the room was pretty much filled with local residents and plenty of questions. "I think it'll help out the community quite a bit actually, his got a building over there that`s huge and if he does what he says he's gonna do, he'll put a lot of people to work out here." Terry Glover was at the Lockney Community Center Friday evening along with his wife who sells homes in the Lockney area. Even though he says having the FLDS' business could be a win/win for Lockney, being a Mormon himself, he's thought about this a bit. "As far as I'm concerned, as a Mormon, I've taken far more abuse in my life because of their religion than any other people around. So, I for one should have a problem with him coming in and being a polygamist and everything but, hey, everyone's got a right to believe what they want" says Glover. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Man's religion, business face scrutiny in Lockney | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Beth Pratt A-J Religion Editor The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal - Lubbock, Texas Originally published Saturday, May 12, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| LOCKNEY - Samuel Fischer fielded tough questions about his intentions for the cabinet-making business he plans to bring to Lockney as he faced a standing-room-only crowd Friday night at the Lockney Community Center. Fischer's son, Daniel, 16, passed out forms for people to provide written questions. Asked what would happen if the business doesn't work out, Fischer replied, "I don't plan to fail." Some jobs will be available, the number depending on how well the business does, he said. But he also will bring some workers from his plant in Utah. One resident, Bil Anderson, accused Fischer of giving "a politician's answer" to questions about what the business would do for Lockney. Fischer called the meeting, he said, to alleviate fears raised by news reports in the Hesperian-Beacon and on Internet sites. To questions about his membership in the Fundamentalist Latter-day Saints group, which practices polygamy, Fischer said, "I'm not here to convert anybody." He has closed on three houses, one for himself and his family and two for workers in his Utah cabinet business, which will be housed in the vacant Tye building. John Tye of Plainview said he is in contract on the property with Fischer. Inquires began in January through Dwight Thomason with Rick Canup Realtors in Lubbock. Fischer said he already has already purchased and paid for the needed equipment and that some of it is already in the Tye building with the permission of the owner. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Samuel Fischer responds to critics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Richard Orr Plainveiw Daily Herald - Plainview, Texas Originally published May 13, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| LOCKNEY — More than 100 people crowded into the Lockney Community Center early Friday night to hear fundamentalist Mormon businessman Samuel Fischer from Hildale, Utah, explain the reasons behind his controversial move to buy the old Tye farm implement building in Lockney and turn it into a modular and custom-built cabinet factory. In describing himself to the largely-respectful crowd, the softspoken 52-year-old Fischer interjected bits of humor in his presentation and said he's a "tool-a-holic" who enjoys woodworking and who wants to engage in "a joint effort" with local residents "that will work for both of us." Responding to widespread criticism of the secretive Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints male-dominated church with which he's associated, Fischer suggested that negative stories about the group were generated by the news media and said, "If you look for good, you'll find it. If you look for bad, you'll find it." Although he feels God directed him to this area by way of an ice storm he encountered near Amarillo this past winter, "I'm not here to convert anyone. That's not my purpose. Everyone is free to worship as they see fit. Four of my own sons don't support my religion. Two of my outside salesmen are not of my religion." Fischer, who said he's run several businesses in Utah, answered numerous written questions from the audience. At times, he seemed forthcoming. Other times, the answers appeared evasive — as when he initially said he didn't know who would move into two of the three rather expensive homes he's purchased in Plainview. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fischer Speaks to Lockney Community | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Answers questions about plans for business and FLDS beliefs | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Alice Gilroy Floyd County Hesperian-Beacon - Floydada, Texas Originally published May 17, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Lockney Community Center was filled to overflowing Friday night as approximately 175 people listened to Samuel Fischer explain his plans for the former Tye Company of Lockney, his own religion, his own background, and what he sees as the future of his operation. Fischer told the group his purchase of the Tye Company is "pending", but the owner, John Tye, has allowed his company to begin installing machinery and ductwork. Fischer also fielded questions on his life of polygamy, and his allegiance to the Fundamental Latter Day Saints religion (FLDS). The questions came from an attentive and mostly polite audience. The meeting was called after reports in this newspaper identified Fischer as a member of FLDS. The FLDS (not affiliated with the Mormon Church), is known for their allegiance to their prophet Warren Jeffs (who was recently arrested and has been charged with 2 counts of Rape as an Accomplice in Washington Co. Utah, and 4 counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor in Mohave Co., Arizona). They are also known for their secretive society, arranged marriages, the Lost Boys, polygamy, and the practice of kicking men out of the religion and "reassigning" their wives and children to another. Fischer is in contract to buy the Tye Company in Lockney. According to Fischer the new company (called Techsun) will be a cabinet making business and, although very unusual among FLDS businesses, Fischer says he will employ others outside of his religion. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| What is the UEP | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Randy Mankin, Editor of the "Eldorado Success" Floyd County Hesperian-Beacon - Floydada, Texas Originally published May 17, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The UEP owns most of the real estate in Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona. The two towns are actually one community, known collectively as Short Creek. Back in the late 1800's the U.S. government pressured the main stream Mormon church into abandoning polygamy by attaching the church's property and dispossessing individual members found guilty of the practice. The UEP was intended by early FLDS leaders as a preventative cure for this problem. Members of the FLDS Church were allowed to build their homes on UEP land, safe in the knowledge they could never be taken away since the homes belonged, not to the individuals, nor the church, but to a independent charitable trust controlled by church leaders. Enter Warren Jeffs. As the church's previous prophet Rulon Jeffs suffered a series of strokes and became less and less active in his position of power, Warren Jeffs worked to consolidate his control over church affairs. One way in which he did this was to act in his father's name, excommunicate men he saw as a threat, reassign their wives and children to other men, then order them off UEP property, effectively banishing them from town. The tactic worked, and Jeffs ascended to the position of prophet when his father died in 2002. The excommunications, and the banishments from town continued apace as Warren Jeffs solidified his hold over his people. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| GUEST COLUMN | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Randy Mankin, Editor of the "Eldorado Success" Floyd County Hesperian-Beacon - Floydada, Texas Originally published May 17, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Running a newspaper in Eldorado, Texas has been an experience these past three years. I had always loved the business, but I never planned for a national news story to blossom a mere four miles from my front door. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened in 2004. The story actually began in the Fall of 2003 when a man named David Steed Allred came to Eldorado and purchased a 1,691 acre ranch just outside of town. He told folks here that he was in the cement business and that he had a lot of customers in Las Vegas. He said he would be using the local property as a hunting retreat where he could entertain his clients. Wildlife is abundant in Schleicher County, so his story made sense and folks hereabout were pleased to have the small boost to the economy that a hunting retreat would bring. The fact that Allred said he was of the Mormon faith was of little consequence. Gary Grubbs, our head football coach at the time, and his entire family were Mormon. So are a couple of other families here. It was only later that we learned Allred was a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a breakaway sect that continues to practice polygamy. No one here had ever heard of Warren Jeffs, or the FLDS Church. In fact, I doubt if there were more than a handful of people here who knew that polygamy was still being practiced openly anywhere in the United States. The ensuing months have been a blur for us. First we learned Allred's true identity. Not only is he Warren Jeffs' cousin, we have learned that he is the fundamentalist prophet's father-in-law....and son-in-law. I'm going to pause here and let that one sink in. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Letters to the Editor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Floyd County Hesperian-Beacon - Floydada, Texas Originally published May 17, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Dear Editor,
I read with interest the article concerning Samuel Fischer a practicing polygamist and his intentions to move his cabinet making business to Lockney, Texas. I am the owner of Intermountain Wood Products headquartered In SLC, Utah with ten locations located thought the western United States. My company has done business with Mr. Fischer for three decades. During that time I have found him to be honorable in every sense of the word. I am confident that wherever Sam relocates his business it will be a plus to the local community. Sam pays his obligations, he is ethical, and a pleasant person to deal with. I would encourage you to welcome him into your community as you would any other legitimate business enterprise. We will miss our association with him. Ben E Banks SLC, Utah | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| By The Way | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Alice Gilroy Floyd County Hesperian-Beacon - Floydada, Texas Originally published May 17, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The press was of course at the Community Center in Lockney on Friday to hear Mr. Fischer talk about his plans for his company. I was joined by media from Lubbock, Plainview, Eldorado, and Salt Lake City. Salt Lake City paid a lot of money to send a reporter--Brooke Adam. I think she enjoyed her visit. She has been covering the polygamy issue for her newspaper for over a year. They thought this rare public appearance and question and answer session by an FLDS member was so startling that they had to send a reporter. The Eldorado newspaper editors, Randy Mankin and his wife, Kathy, are like me. Their paper is them. They paid their own way. There was no way the Mankins were going to miss the meeting. They have been covering Warren Jeffs and the YFZ Ranch in their county for 3 years--and covering it very thoroughly. They also thought of this meeting as a historical event. I enjoyed all their visits and their invaluable information on FLDS. What great resources they have been for me and will continue to be. I consider them all to be experts in their field. It was impressed over and over to me that a FLDS member facing the press and public scrutiny is "never" done. Obviously there is no love loss (as was evident by Samuel Fischer's remarks) by FLDS towards the press. So--to his credit, I want to thank Mr. Fischer for speaking to the community. For anyone that was there you know it could not have been easy to stand up there and take questions. According to Fischer the deal is done. He will be opening his cabinet shop. He said he will be hiring outside people. Knowing much of the background, many of Fischer's answers were vague and misleading. But it really doesn't matter. The truth will bear out. If he gives jobs to our current residents then we are better off. If he doesn't, then it will be one more "news report" that follows the history of FLDS migration. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Richard Orr column: FLDS member may see Lockney as new Eldorado | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Plainview Daily Herald -Plainview, Texas Originally published May 19, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| There's an unspoken fear among some Lockney residents that what happened when the FLDS religious cult that set up a walled compound in Eldorado three years ago could happen to their little town. Eldorado has about 2,000 residents and sits in prime deer-hunting country south of San Angelo, some 260 miles from Waco. In November 2003, a man named David Allen Steed bought a 1,700-acre ranch outside of town, saying it would be used as a hunting retreat for wealthy business clients. But the town's newspaper, the Eldorado Success, took a closer look and discovered Steed was really an agent for the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints, which dissociated itself from the main body of the Mormon church after it disavowed polygamy in the early 1900s. FLDS set up shop in a community called Short Creek on the Utah-Arizona border, which divides the twin cities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. According to an intelligence report in the Southern Law Center by Susy Buchanan, FLDS members took control of city government, the police force, the schools and "every aspect of life." Short Creek was run with a mailed fist by 48-year-old self-anointed prophet Warren Jeffs following the death of his father, who left a large assortment of wives and children in his wake. The younger Jeffs is now in federal custody awaiting trial on a litany of charges — including statutory rape, bigamy and arranging marriages between older men and underage girls in the group. Among other things, he taught that blacks are "cursed with a black skin" and chosen by God to "be servants of servants." Furthermore, women are to be seen and not heard as they generate baby after baby in propagating the faith. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reader criticizes article on area businessman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Letters to the Editor The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal - Lubbock, Texas Originally published May 21, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: The article "New Lockney businessman has ties to polygamist Jeffs' hometown" by A-J Religion Editor Beth Pratt (A-J, May 5). Several words come to mind when I read Beth Pratt's latest abomination: pathetic, sensationalism, unethical and several other four- and five-letter choice words. How can the editors at The Avalanche-Journal allow this unfortunate attempt at a news story run in the newspaper? Not only did the story have absolutely no news value whatsoever, but Ms. Pratt didn't even write a balanced and objective story. Where are the quotes from the man trying to open the store? Did anybody bother to ask him whether or not he is even connected to the group? I have an idea for all of you at the wonderful A-J: How about you go and run stories about anybody from Burlington, VT., you know, Ted Bundy's hometown? How about running profiles of citizens starting a business who are from Saudi Arabia, where the majority of the hijackers of the 9/11 attacks were from? Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas town worries about new neighbors -- polygamists | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Betsy Blaney The Associated Press CNN Originally published May 23, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| LOCKNEY, Texas (AP) -- Samuel Fischer would appear to be just what this withering Texas Panhandle town needs. A successful cabinet maker with a thriving business in Utah, he hopes to move the operation here, bringing with it as many as 100 jobs and perhaps eventually an influx of residents. Many here, however, say Fischer is no godsend, and the economic boost he could provide their town of about 2,000 is not worth the cost. Fischer is a polygamist, a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a renegade offshoot of the Mormon Church. The sect's leader, Warren Jeffs, is awaiting trial on charges he arranged marriages between men and underage girls. In Lockney, people like shopkeeper Ginger Mathis worry that Fischer, his two wives and their 24 children will soon be joined by thousands of other sect members now living Utah and Arizona. Fischer has closed on one house in Plainview and has contracts on three others there; he is also checking out property near Lockney. "He wouldn't be looking at houses if he didn't have some others coming," Mathis said. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Editorial: Panhandle hospitality put to test | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Opinion Amarillo.com Originally published May 25, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Texas Panhandle's well-known reputation for friendliness might face a stern test if a certain Utah resident decides to move here. His name is Samuel Fischer, who builds cabinets for a living. He wants to move his operation to Lockney, a small community just west of Plainview. Under normal circumstances, one would assume that the town would welcome Fischer with open arms, given that he plans to employ as many as 100 people in a town struggling for survival - as are many rural communities in the Panhandle. But there's this little problem with Fischer: He is associated with a known polygamist, Warren Jeffs, who is awaiting trial on charges that he has arranged illegal marriages between men and underage girls. Jeffs' sect is a renegade branch of the Mormon Church, which renounced polygamy in 1890. Fischer said he is not a polygamist and said he plans only to build his cabinetmaking business in Lockney, hiring local residents and bringing new residents with him from Utah. What's a town to do? The best advice might be to keep an open mind as Fischer prepares to move to the Panhandle. Polygamy, of course, is just as illegal in Texas as it is anywhere in the United States. If any funny business shows itself in Lockney, then a normally friendly community can turn quite the opposite in a hurry - as it should. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Article didn't establish connection to church | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Letters to the Editor The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal - Lubbock, Texas Originally published May 25, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re: The article "New Lockney businessman has ties to polygamist Jeffs' hometown" by A-J Religion Editor Beth Pratt (A-J, May 5). The article is a horrible piece of journalistic work in terms of ethics and integrity. Ms. Pratt wrote the article about the connection between the new Lockney businessman, Samuel Chris Fischer, and famed polygamist Warren Jeffs. The only connection she is able to prove is a shared hometown, but she manages to make that seem like a crime. It appears Fischer is not given the opportunity to respond to allegations made by Ms. Pratt, which seem baseless to begin with. Why should an individual be barred or discouraged from opening a business because of a shared hometown with someone who is famous for the wrong reasons? It's not as if Ms. Pratt proved Fischer is related to Jeffs or is part of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamists claim Mormon roots, despite church objections | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Beth Pratt The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal - Lubbock, Texas Originally published May 26, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamy is illegal in the United States, although some say the divorce and remarriage rate indicates that we practice serial polygamy. Given the history of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its leader, Warren Jeffs, sufficient reasons exist to assume that group's polygamy practices will not change. Samuel Fischer, a member of the group, said as much in a recent meeting at Lockney, where he is moving his business. Jeffs, Fischer's spiritual leader and uncle, was indicted by a federal grand jury March 7 for "unlawfully avoiding prosecution." He also faces trial in southern Utah on charges of rape as an accomplice for his alleged role in the ceremonial marriage of a 14-year-old girl to his 19-year-old cousin. He is charged in Mohave County, Ariz., for his alleged role in arranging underage marriages for some of his followers. The federal charge carries a maximum punishment of five years in federal prison. A group cannot be zoned out by city government because of its religious beliefs. But when it comes to violating the laws of the land, leaders and their followers are subject to prosecution, whatever the religion. But of course, the state must prove its case. The polygamist group has no relationship to the traditional Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, although it claims the same roots. The polygamist group sees itself as the "real Mormons" by continuing the practice of polygamy begun secretly by LDS founder Joseph Smith and promoted by Brigham Young, according to two LDS women who did nine years of research to write "Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith," a biography of Smith's first wife. The writers are history professor Linda King Newall and writer Valeen Tippets Avery. The book won the 1985 Mormon History Association's Best Book Award. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Richard Orr Column: An offer Samuel Fischer can, & likely will, refuse | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Plainview Daily Herald - Plainview, Texas Originally published May 27, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Here's an offer Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints businessman Samuel Fischer can refuse — and probably will. Fischer is the 52-year-old suspected bigamist from Hildale, Utah, with two "ladies" and 23 children who is paying $750,000 for the old Tye farm-implement company in Lockney he wants to convert into a modular and custom-built cabinet shop. During a question-and-answer session at a town hall meeting in Lockney on May 11, Fischer — who has reportedly purchased three homes in the Plainview area for his family and for colleagues apparently moving here from Utah — said he was "giving up a million-dollar home" in Hildale, leaving the impression he was departing out of the goodness of his heart and at God's direction to make a better life for himself and for Lockney in general. But like some other things he said that night, it's not the whole story. Under pressure from the audience, he acknowledged that the real reason he's leaving Hildale stems from the fact the State of Utah has taken over and currently controls about 80 percent of FLDS property and assets in response to a number of complaints and lawsuits from former FLDS members and others over the secretive, heavy-handed way FLDS finances and transactions were handled by 48-year-old self-styled "prophet" Warren Jeffs and his father before him. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| NOTICE OF APPLICATION AND PRELIMINARY DECISION FOR WATER QUALITY LAND APPLICATION PREMIT FOR MUNICIPAL WASTEWATER | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Legal Notice The Eldorado Success Originally published June 21, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
NOTICE OF APPLICATION AND PRELIMINARY DECISION FOR WATER QUALITY LAND APPLICATION PREMIT FOR MUNICIPAL WASTEWATER NEW PROPOSED PERMIT NO. WQ0014722001 APPLICATION AND PRELIMINARY DECISION. YFZ Land, LLC, P.O. Box 715, Eldorado, Texas 76936-0715, has applied to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for a new permit, Proposed Permit No. WQ0014722001, to authorize the disposal of treated domestic wastewater at a daily average flow not to exceed 100,000 gallons per day via surface irrigation of 125 acres on non-public access agricultural land. This permit will not authorize a discharge of pollutants into waters in the State. TCEQ received this application on June 8, 2006. The facility and disposal site will be located approximately six miles northeast of the intersection of U.S. Highway 277 and County Road 300 in Schleicher County, Texas. The facility and disposal site will be located in the drainage basin of Middle Concho/South Concho River in Segment No. 1424 of the Colorado River Basin. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| By The Way | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Alice Gilroy Floyd County Hesperian-Beacon Originally published June 21, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| For those of you who bothered to try and catch the Lockney news on Shawn Hannity's America show, I guess you noticed it wasn't on. I was told -- too late to tell anyone -- that the producers had so much information they were going to have to divide it into two parts. Then I was told "IF" the Lockney part was going to be shown they would let me know. I never heard, so I guess the decision was that Lockney news about FLDS was not exciting enough. I'm glad. Personally I thought the show they did on Eldorado was pretty lame. The quotes from the Sheriff and the Editor, Randy Mankin, were good, but I thought the point they were trying to make (whatever it was) was lost somewhere in the telling. If you didn't know anything about FLDS you still wouldn't have known anything about FLDS after the show. They did show some footage of the YFZ ranch in Eldorado with the buildup that they were going "where no one had been before". They didn't go anywhere except up in the air with some footage that has been seen on the Eldorado Success website for the past 2 years. Obviously some people haven't taken the time to look that up on the Eldorado website, so I guess it was good the video was shown. Lights are on at night in the former Tye building so I assume moving in work continues. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 37,000 'fundamentalists' counted in and near Utah | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| They're believers in polygamy, but many do not practice it | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published August 11, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| As many as 37,000 people in Utah and surrounding areas consider themselves so-called "fundamentalist" Mormons, even though many do not practice polygamy, according to a new census of such groups. The non-scientific census unveiled Friday gives some tangible numbers for Utah's many polygamist sects. The Fundamentalist LDS Church has had a decline in members within the past few years, according to Anne Wilde, a fundamentalist, historian and author, who compiled the census. A few years ago, the church's numbers were estimated to be 10,000. The FLDS are now believed to have only 8,000 members. More than 15,000 people are believed to be "independents," not affiliated with any church. Most do not practice polygamy, Wilde said, but believe in the principle of plural marriage. "I would say probably fewer than 50 percent live in a plural family," she said. Wilde persuaded many polygamist sect leaders to reveal their membership numbers. She cautioned that they were only estimates and not scientifically accurate. "Those are such approximations because these groups don't keep written records," she said. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eldorado After Warren Jeff's Conviction | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Jacqueline Sit KWES NewsWest 9 - Midland, Texas Originally broadcast September 25, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In the town of about 2000, Polygamist Leader Warren Jeff's compound sits right on the outskirts of Eldorado. The Fundamentalists Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is a religious sect that's been under the media microscope for years. But nowadays, not so much. "The media has calmed down, we haven't had much media since Warren Jeffs had been arrested, most of the media attention was when he become a fugitive," says Sheriff David Doran. Jeffs was found guilty of being an accomplice for rape, for performing a wedding between a man and his 14 year old cousin. Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran says this conviction speaks volume. "I certainly feel like justice has been served, and hopefully this will give the victims some closure," Doran said. Doran also said he keeps an open line of communication with those inside the compound, and after Tuesday's verdict, he even sent out patrol to the site, just in case. "Yesterday (Tuesday) the mood believe it or not was upbeat, they said we're prepared for this and they've been dealing with this in years past, as they call it persecution, and so this is not anything they weren't prepared for," Doran said. Outside the compound, Justice Of The Peace James Doyle says things are running as if nothing's even happened, his main concern is for the women and children who live within these walls. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS Sect Thriving in West Texas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Jordan Smith The Austin Chronicle Originally published October 11, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The future isn't exactly looking too bright for our favorite polygamist prophet, Warren Jeffs, imprisoned leader of the Mormon breakaway sect the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who was convicted in a Utah court on Sept. 25 on a charge of accomplice-to-rape for his role in arranging and performing a wedding between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old first cousin back in 2001. The Utah conviction carries the possibility of life behind bars (Jeffs will be sentenced Nov. 20), and Jeffs still faces similar criminal charges in Arizona (for incest and sexual misconduct), as well as a federal count of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. Still, the prophet's legal turmoil hasn't stalled the work of the FLDS faithful inside the sect's gated compound in the West Texas town of Eldorado. In fact, says Randy Mankin, publisher of the weekly Eldorado Success (who, with his wife, the paper's editor, broke the story of the FLDS land purchase in Texas), "if anything," construction inside the private Yearning for Zion ranch has actually "accelerated." YFZ residents "are building buildings as fast as they can get them up." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS buys another 'ranch' | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Norma Najacht Custer County Chronicle - Custer, South Dakota Originally published December 5, 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| By all appearances, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) has purchased another compound in Texas under the name "High Country Ranch," according to The Eldorado Success. Isaac Jeffs, brother of Warren Jeffs, FLDS prophet, purchased the 424-acre track located in a rugged and isolated region of southwest Edward County, Texas, in February of this year for $995 per acre. According to the Success, Jeffs reportedly said the property would be used to stock exotic game animals and would be surrounded by a high fence. However, residents of that subdivision are restricted from commercial and/or day lease hunting. Communal residences are also restricted by the deed, as is construction of more than one residence per tract. The parcel purchased by Jeffs consists of three tracts. Since the conviction of Warren Jeffs, the property has been put up for sale. Asking price is $1,195 per acre, according to the Success. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BREAKING NEWS: Authorities remove girls from FLDS ranch near Eldorado | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Matt Phinney and Paul S. Anthony San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published April 4, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO - State authorities have removed at least two dozen adolescent girls from the secluded YFZ Ranch after Child Protective Services officials spent the morning interviewing children at the gated Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints compound in Schleicher County. The girls, removed in two buses owned by Eldorado's First Baptist Church, stared straight ahead; some lifted jackets to the windows to block themselves from view of the media. About 2:45 p.m., they were taken away from the ranch, about three miles north of Eldorado, a city of about 1,900 some 44 miles south of San Angelo. About an hour later, one of the buses re-entered the compound carrying only the driver and one other person. The action followed a morning of anticipation as law enforcement served a search warrant at the ranch in response to a child-welfare complaint. Texas Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Tela Mange confirmed that authorities were serving one search warrant and had received one arrest warrant they had yet to serve at the Mormon splinter sect compound. She declined to provide further details. The warrants, signed by Tom Green County District Judge Barbara Walther, and the affidavits filed with them have not been released pending a decision on whether they can or should be made public, a court administrator said. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Behind walls, deviant sect allowed to run free for years | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Robert Rivard San Antonio Express News - San Antonio, Texas Originally published April 13, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| It's been almost five years since notorious polygamists with a taste for sex with brainwashed, underage girls crossed state lines into West Texas. The plan was simple: Construct a remote compound to keep tight control over the true believers and, at the same time, wall off neighbors, local authorities and any reporters who might come nosing around. Call it a religious community. Life in Utah and Arizona had become increasingly difficult for sect leader Warren Jeffs and others in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a throwback to 19th-century Mormonism. So Jeff's followers established an agrarian community on 1,700 acres near Eldorado in rural Schleicher County, south of San Angelo. They named it Yearning for Zion Ranch. A refuge where the male elders would be free to shun the outside world and its laws, and coerce adolescent girls into a subjugated life of arranged marriages and breeding. The adult women, themselves victimized followers of Jeffs and the other elders, supported the men in their polygamy. Even now, with more than 400 children evacuated into state custody, their mothers with them, the women are making sure no one talks. They remain fiercely loyal to Jeffs, even though he remains in prison following his conviction last year in Utah of being an accomplice to a rape for helping arrange a forced union between another sect member and an underage girl. Jeffs' record should have removed any doubt left in the minds of indifferent state and federal authorities about what was going on inside the Eldorado compound. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sect member making home in Lockney | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By BILL HANNA Fort Worth Star-Telegram Originally published Sunday, May 18, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Another follower of a polygamist church has set up shop in Texas, but his solitary outpost is nothing like the sprawling compound near Eldorado. For the past year, Samuel Fischer, a follower of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or FLDS, has been quietly running a cabinet-making business with his large family in the small town of Lockney. Fischer, 53, hasn't built a compound or invited hundreds of other followers to this agricultural community about 90 miles south of Amarillo that relies on corn and cotton crops. It's just him and his family -- he has 24 children -- living in a large house outside the nearby town of Plainview. His business, Techsun Industries, occupies a 176,000-square-foot manufacturing plant that sat vacant for years. Fischer keeps a low profile, but is vocal in his opinions of the April 3 raid on the YFZ (Yearning for Zion) Ranch near Eldorado. More than 460 FLDS children were placed in temporary foster care after the raid. Texas Child Protective Services officials said they found evidence of underage women who were pregnant, had children or both. "Let me ask you this: If it was happening to your friends and relatives, how would you feel?" Fischer said. "...There hasn't been a single shred of proof. The state of Texas's position has been shoot first and asks questions later." Fischer has a brother living with his family in the compound. He hasn't had contact with him since the raid and wonders where his nieces and nephews are. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| POLYGAMISTS OFFER PRAIRIE FASHIONS FOR SALE | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Field Notes By Don Teague, NBC News Correspondent MSNBC Originally published Tuesday, July 1, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| DALLAS – Just in time for back-to-school shopping: authentic polygamist prairie dresses. Apparently, all the publicity surrounding the ongoing investigation into alleged underage marriage among members of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) on a Texas ranch has created some serious demand for prairie dresses. So much so that the FLDS has launched an online store where members of the general public can purchase the dresses, long underwear, and other ranch-wear "as seen on TV." According to the Salt Lake Tribune, the Web site FLDSdress.com, was initially created to give Texas authorities a place to purchase the clothing, so children in state custody could maintain their traditional clothing. The children have been reunited with their families, but the Web site now serves another purpose. The FLDS hopes to raise money through sale of the clothing to help support families from the Yearning For Zion ranch who now live in rental homes in cities like San Antonio and Austin. Some families have returned to the ranch, but many have not. The Web site sells a wide array of clothing for children, from the "Teen Princess Dress" for $60.65 to the "Baby Dress With Bloomers" for $48.07. Both items, along with most others for girls, are available in a rainbow of pastels from pink to yellow or lavender. Items for boys include denim overalls for $65.93 and cotton-polyester shirts for $23.69. The Web site said the clothes are made to meet the "FLDS standards for modesty and neatness." And all of the clothes are hand-made "with joy and care" by the FLDS women. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS seek representation in tiny Texas town | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Ben Winslow Deseret News Originally published Monday, Jan. 12, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| As the third-largest taxpayer in tiny Schleicher County, Texas, members of the Fundamentalist LDS Church say they don't want taxation without representation. "It's like we're citizens that aren't even recognized," said FLDS member and spokesman Willie Jessop. Jessop and other members of the FLDS Church went to the Schleicher County commissioner's court on Monday to complain about the lack of representation the residents of the YFZ Ranch have in county affairs. The YFZ Ranch is the third-largest taxpayer in the county and this year is expected to pay nearly $550,000 in taxes, Jessop said, inquiring about how jury pools are selected and how people get on tax appraisal boards and other groups. "We've always been current on our taxes, but this year it felt like we were funding law enforcement and other officials to destroy us, and they just want more money," he said. Accompanied by other members and a lawyer from the American Civil Liberties Union, Jessop approached the commissioner's court with his concerns. Both sides described the meeting as "very positive." "I think they were just maybe a little concerned and weren't quite familiar with how people were assigned to some of these boards," said County Judge Charlie Bradley. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jessop wants YFZ to have local representation | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success Originally published January 15, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FZ Ranch and FLDS Church spokesman Willie Jessop met Monday with Schleicher County Commissioners where he expressed his opinion that residents of the YFZ Ranch pay a lot of taxes and therefore should be represented on local governing boards and included when juries are impaneled. Jessop was accompanied to the meeting by YFZ Ranch residents Edson Jessop and Jake Johnson, neither of whom spoke. He also introduced attorney Stephen C. Clark of Salt Lake City and told the commissioners that Clark had been asked to come and look into the situation in Schleicher County. "He's very up on ACLU issues," Jessop told the court. Clark also refrained from addressing the commissioners. Later, however, when press reports referred to Clark as an ACLU attorney, Dotty Griffith with the ACLU of Texas released a statement saying, "The ACLU of Texas is not involved in any case as described in the news story." Newly seated County Judge Charlie Bradley provided Jessop with a brochure explaining tax appraisal procedures and noted that the local appraisal district has an appraisal review board. Commissioner Johnny Mayo also pointed out that the county has a grievance committee. Jessop continued by referring to press reports that implied the residents of the YFZ Ranch were wanting to take over the county. He told the men that that was not the case. At that point Sheriff David Doran chimed in to say that press might have been influenced by a public statement Jessop had made in which he claimed to be registering 500 residents of the YFZ Ranch to vote so they could ensure that people of integrity are elected. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Willie Jessop wants to be a good neighbor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Over the Back Fence Eldorado Success Originally published January 15, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Willie Jessop appeared Monday, January 12th at the Schleicher County Commissioners Court meeting to say that the residents at the YFZ Ranch just want to be good neighbors and asked the commissioners to help him make that happen. First of all, Jessop says he wants representation on local governing bodies. He points to the fact that the YFZ Ranch pays lots of taxes and refers to the Revolutionary War mantra of taxation without representation. Jessop also wants representation on juries and questions the method by which jury pools are selected in Schleicher County. At one point he suggested jurors are picked from the phone book. Thirdly he notes that there are a lot of talented people at the YFZ Ranch, like doctors and RNs who could share their expertise if called upon. Fourthly, Jessop says he doesn't want the tax dollars paid in by the YFZ Ranch to be used against the people at the YFZ. His reference here is to the local Sheriff's Department. And, finally, he says the folks at the YFZ Ranch are not all criminals or out to soak the government, at which time he referred to a 2004 article in the Success about the practice of "Bleeding the Beast." Well, lets take his points one at a time. First of all, the folks at the YFZ Ranch don't pay that much in taxes, not if you spread the $550,000 tax bill among the six hundred or so folks who were there at the time of the April 3rd raid. That comes to less than a $1,000 per person, and at that rate, maybe I'm the one that's overtaxed and under represented. Besides, you can't get elected to a local board if you don't register to vote then file to run for office. So, there's that. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| At a glance: Possible CPS measures in Legislature | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Dallas Morning News Originally published Thursday, February 26, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Some Child Protective Services issues brewing in the Legislature:
BUDGET: Last fall, CPS' parent agency, the Department of Family and Protective Services, asked for $332 million in additional money; so far, lawmakers are looking to fund just $81 million of that. Some of the big-ticket CPS items include $36 million to pay and equip additional "conservatorship" caseworkers hired in the past two years and hire even more of the workers, who visit children removed from their families, and more workers who try to preserve families. About one-third of that request has been funded in the Senate's "base budget." Also, CPS wants $27 million for pay bonuses to better recruit and keep caseworkers. Lawmakers haven't yet found money for that. CASELOADS: A measure by Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, would make CPS reduce caseloads so that at least once a month, caseworkers could visit each child identified as mistreated. COMMUNAL LIVING: A measure expected to be filed in the House this week aims to make it easier for CPS to remove sexual abusers of children from communal living situations. The bill, inspired by last year's CPS raid of a West Texas polygamist ranch, is being co-authored by Reps. Harvey Hilderbran, R-Kerrville, and Drew Darby, R-San Angelo. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Groups urging Perry to veto bill that would increase CPS' power | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By AMAN BATHEJA Fort Worth Star Telegram - Fort Worth, TX Originally published Tue, Jun. 09, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A coalition of conservative and libertarian groups is urging Gov. Rick Perry to veto a bill that would make it easier for Child Protective Services to remove children from a home while investigating possible abuse. Groups including the Republican Liberty Caucus of Texas, the Texas Home School Foundation and the Free Market Foundation have called on supporters to contact Perry's office and request that he veto Senate Bill 1440. At issue is an amendment addressing instances when a parent refuses to let a CPS worker inside to investigate an abuse or neglect allegation. If the bill became law, a judge would be able to grant CPS a court order similar to a criminal search warrant, allowing a CPS worker to immediately enter the home and, if necessary, remove the child and secure medical and mental-health records as part of an investigation. It would be done without notifying the parent in advance. "It seems like we're throwing the Fourth Amendment under the bus," said Tim Lambert, president of the Texas Home School Coalition. "It completely undermines parental rights." Diana Martinez with the Texas Association for the Protection of Children said the bill would not erode parental rights. Currently, judges handle such situations differently statewide, she said. The bill would make sure all judges followed the same procedure, she said. "It's very similar to the search warrant procedure that we have in criminal context," Martinez said. "You still have to present enough evidence to a judge for the judge to issue the order." Lambert and other critics say CPS workers would abuse the new power and be able to remove children from homes and pry into family records based on little evidence. Critics also worry about how much CPS may rely on anonymous tips to secure court orders. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| YFZ changes name again, renews tax exemption request | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Eldorado Success Originally published Thursday, October 8, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Documents were filed last week in the Schleicher County Clerk's office which reveal the creation of a new trust, this one named Texas Stake of Zion, and the transfer of ownership of the YFZ Ranch into that trust. A similar trust, named Texan Heritage Trust, was created on December 31, 2008, when the assets of YFZ Land, L.L.C., commonly known as the YFZ Ranch, were transferred into that trust. Interestingly, the document creating the Texas Stake of Zion trust, also appear to have been signed on December 31, 2008. Trustees for the new trust are James Jerry Jessop, Isaac S. Jeffs and Keith W. Dutson, Sr. They are the same men listed as trustees of Texan Heritage Trust. A request by Texan Heritage for a religious tax exemption on the YFZ Temple and the large white stone annex just east of the Temple was denied recently by Schelicher County Appraisal District chief appraiser Jani Mitchell. A new request was filed last week by Ellen Grace Young under the name of Texas Stake of Zion. She is reportedly married to Frederick Merril Jessop. At first glance, it appears the request was filed too late for consideration this year. Jani Mitchell says she has turned the matter over to the appraisal district's attorney, Sandy Griffin with the law firm of Perdue, Brandon, Fielder, Collins & Mott in Austin. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Samuel C. Fischer arrested for domestic violence | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Bookings Washington County Sheriff's Office news.washeriff.net Originally published July 3, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Birth Date: 03/13/55 Address : 495 W UTAH AVE, Hildale, UT
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| Warren Jeffs, FLDS "Prophet" and Accused Pedophile, Had Two 12-Year-Old Girls Delivered for Marriage by B.C. Dads, Court Docs Say | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Curtis Cartier Crime & Punishment Seattle Weekly Originally broadcast Fri., Feb. 25 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In explaining to MacRae Blackmore how he needed to smuggle his 12-year-old daughter from Bountiful, British Columbia, to Schleicher County, Texas, former Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints President Warren Jeffs wrote that "I told him his daughter . . . would be called to the redemption . . . I told him that part of her call to the redemption of Zion mission would be to get married . . . namely (to) me . . . which he accepted." The Vancouver Sun reports today that the Canadian government has filed new charges alleging that two B.C. fathers--MacRae and Spencer Blackmore--plotted and carried out an elaborate plan to smuggle their two 12-year-old daughters to Jeffs, who was waiting in Texas "yearning" to be "sealed" to them. The information was contained in dictated diaries that were found when American officials raided the Yearning for Zion Ranch in Texas in 2008. The odyssey began, prosecutors say, when Jeffs phoned MacRae back in November 2005 to tell him that his daughters were the lucky winners of a chance to be Jeffs 58th and 59th wives. Here's how the conversation went, according to Jeffs' diary:
"He bore a strong testimony of me being the Prophet," Jeffs dictated. "And he wanted to stand with us. I then told him that he would be called to receive greater training and he must become a man who can keep the Lord's confidence and not always express his own opinions; and he needed to take on a heavenly hush and what I was about to say to him he had to keep quiet, even from his family.Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas game warden got look inside polygamist ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Will Weissert Associated Press Deseret News Originally published Saturday, July 23, 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO, Texas — Before there was the SWAT team raid, the 439 children seized from mothers in frontier-style dresses and 19th century hairdos, and tails of underage sex and bigamy — there was a man from Utah with blood in the back of his pickup. William B. Johnson was pulled over along a lonely stretch of West Texas highway in February 2004 for having an obstructed license plate and was asked about the blood-spattered bed of his white Ford. The Hildale, Utah-native said he'd been hunting, and reluctantly led Texas game warden Marco Alvizo onto a secretive religious compound to prove it. It was authorities' first glimpse of the "Yearning For Zion" ranch, their first hint that members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints — a radical offshoot of mainstream Mormonism that believes polygamy is the key to heaven — were in town. A raid four years later left the church's ecclesiastical head, Warren Jeffs, and 11 other sect members facing charges including sexual assault and bigamy. Jury selection in Jeffs' trial begins Monday. But when Alvizo first went with Johnson to the ranch that had recently been purchased by the FLDS, he had no idea what was behind the battered green gate. When he pulled up to the property north of Eldorado, men, women and children scattered, scrambling indoors. "That's when we knew something was going on because all the people who were out front immediately disappeared when they saw my vehicle," Alvizo recalled. "We were like 'Holy cow, what's going on here?'" Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Buildings go up at YFZ Ranch; complaints filed to TCEQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Matthew Waller San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published December 27, 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SCHLEICHER COUNTY — A concrete cylinder rises from the polygamist sect's Yearning for Zion Ranch. The construction project is open at the top, where rebar protrudes, and at the bottom are edges that resemble fins on a rocket ship. Elsewhere on the ranch of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, an immense building with a semicircle for a floor plan is being built, its walls dwarfing the trucks bringing the supplies to build it. The area of the building is comparable to the temple. The ranch has been busy, even with the leader of the sect, Warren Jeffs, 56, in prison for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl and a 15-year-old girl. He is serving a sentence of life plus 20 years. The purpose of the buildings isn't known. Phone calls to the ranch have gone unanswered. The only regular outside presence that has visited the ranch lately has been that of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which has responded to complaints submitted by Schleicher County neighbors. The TCEQ has received frequent requests to investigate construction matters at the ranch since building began there in 2004. Agents have found problems such as air quality violations related to cement production at the ranch. TCEQ documents reveal long checklists of allegations against the FLDS ranch, including alleged violations such as not properly maintaining logs for water quality, having holes in fences around water storage ponds and having oil leaking on the ground from barrels. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Unique construction project under way at FLDS ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By John Hollenhorst KSL TV Originally broadcast February 2nd, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ELDORADO, Texas — An unusual building is under construction on the FLDS compound in Eldorado, Texas. Photos obtained by locals indicate its purpose may be to house a large statue of the church's leader, Warren Jeffs, who is currently serving a life sentence for raping two underage girls.
The structure Judge Jimmy Doyle has used his aircraft for years to keep an eye on the YFZ Ranch. He goes airborne every few weeks on a photo mission. Over the years, Judge Doyle and his son have seen many building projects — but nothing like the new one going up. "(It's) very unusual, and expensive," Doyle said. "They've spent a lot of money." It's a semi-circle of poured concrete with walls that stand 30 feet high. "We don't know what that is and, as with anyone else, we cannot explain what that is," Doyle said. The terraced floor suggests an auditorium or conference center. The Eldorado Success newspaper recently measured it with Google Earth: On one side it's 289 feet, almost as long as a football field. The large dimensions are presumably because Warren Jeffs wanted it stadium-sized. "I think he calls the shots on everything, even though he's locked up," Doyle said. Some outsiders suspect the building is a new FLDS Temple to replace the one less than a mile away which was supposedly desecrated when Texas Rangers seized evidence against Jeffs in 2008. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Building at YFZ Ranch Puzzles Neighbors | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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by Sonia Smith TM Daily Post Texas Monthly - Austin, Texas Originally published Feb 6 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Salt Lake television reporter John Hollenhorst took to the skies above the YFZ Ranch outside Eldorado to report on new, strange construction underway at the polygamist ranch. Eldorado Justice of the Peace Jimmy Doyle flew Hollenhorst up in his plane to survey the new building, a semi-circle made of poured concrete. The building, which appears to be some kind of amphitheater, has thirty-foot walls and is as long as a football field. While the precise purpose of the new building is unclear to outsiders, rumors are flying. Many believe that FLDS members plan to use the building to put up a thirty-foot statue of Warren Jeffs holding the hand of a little girl. (Jeffs is serving a life plus twenty years sentence for the sexual assault of two underage girls he had taken as his "spiritual wives.") Others believe that the building will replace the old temple, which has not been used since the Texas Rangers raided it in 2008. Also puzzling is that an elaborate drainage system was constructed underneath the building, despite the arid climate. (View a slideshow of detailed photos of the amphitheater.) Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mysterious FLDS tower completed, then destroyed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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by Ben Winslow Fox 13 News KSTU TV Originally published July 19, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO, Texas — A mysterious structure being built on the Fundamentalist LDS Church's ranch has just as mysteriously been destroyed. Pictures shared with FOX 13 by a local pilot show the construction of a tower like structure over a period of months. Then, the structure was torn down. "I don't have a clue why they would spend so much time and money just to destroy it days after it was finished," said JD Doyle, who photographed the structure. FLDS faithful on the "Yearning For Zion" ranch are building an ampitheatre on the property. The people living on the ranch are followers of polygamist leader Warren Jeffs, who is serving a life, plus 20 year sentence for child sex assault related to underage marriages. The YFZ Ranch was raided in 2008 after a phone call to a crisis hotline by someone claiming to be a child bride in an abusive, polygamous marriage. The call is believed to be a hoax, but once on the ranch Texas authorities discovered evidence of other crimes. A dozen men, including Jeffs, have been convicted on charges related to underage marriages. See photos | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS members build giant tower, only to tear it down | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By John Hollenhorst Deseret News Originally published Thursday, July 19 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO, Texas — There's another strange and baffling twist in the saga of FLDS leader Warren Jeffs. His followers in Texas built a huge, expensive tower over the past year, finishing it last week. Just days later, the tower is in ruins on the secluded Yearning For Zion Ranch near Eldorado. No one has explained why members of the Utah-based Fundamentalist LDS Church built the massive tower, or why they apparently tore it down so quickly after it was completed. "The one thing I do know," said private investigator Sam Brower, "is that they wouldn't have built it and they wouldn't have torn it down without Warren Jeffs' OK." Brower wrote a best-selling book on Jeffs called "Prophet's Prey." When the tower was photographed last week by the Eldorado Success newspaper, it looked much like a control tower at a major airport. Estimated by the newspaper to be at least 100 feet high, the tower was capped with a fenced observation platform. Under the platform was a room with large windows allowing views in all directions. Judge James Doyle, a justice of the peace in nearby Eldorado, has been flying over the compound regularly for years. Wednesday, a fellow pilot told him the tower had been demolished. Doyle said he thought that couldn't be true because the tower had just been completed a few days before. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Yearning for Zion Ranch: Tower dismantled | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS structure demolished soon after its completion | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Matthew Waller San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published July 25, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SAN ANGELO, Texas — James Doyle couldn't believe the polygamists' tower had fallen. When the Schleicher County justice of the peace had flown over the ranch of the polygamist Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints just a couple of days before, the mysterious tower that had been under construction seemed finished. "One of my friends called and said he flew over it and said, 'The tower is missing,'" Doyle said. "I said, 'That can't be.'" Doyle started his airplane last Thursday, flew over the ranch and saw that the tower — which he said stood at least 100 feet tall, with concrete walls about a foot thick and a white structure on top like an air traffic control tower — was down. Steel frames were being stripped from it, and the concrete was heaped in rubble. He said he doesn't know why residents of the 1,700-acre Yearning for Zion Ranch would take it down, just as he didn't have any idea why they would build it in the first place. Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran said the FLDS worked on the tower for about a year off and on. He had been in Austin accepting an award from the Texas Department of Public Safety for FLDS investigations work when he got a call that the tower was down. "As soon as they capped it, they tumbled it," he said. "Don't know if it was a building flaw or if they were ordered to take it down." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Are FLDS members abandoning Texas ranch? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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by Ben Winslow Fox 13 News KSTU TV Originally broadcast August 22, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO, Texas — For years, faithful members of Warren Jeffs' polygamist church have toiled to build Zion in the middle of nowhere. They built a temple and persevered through a raid that saw their children taken from them, and their prophet eventually put in prison for sex crimes. Now, some in West Texas wonder if the Fundamentalist LDS Church is now abandoning Zion. The Eldorado Success reported Wednesday a noticeable decrease in activity at the "Yearning For Zion" Ranch and other FLDS properties in the area. The newspaper reported liens have been filed against FLDS members for unpaid bills, and construction has picked up at other properties, including South Dakota and Colorado. "It seems like there's been kind of a gradual exodus from Texas," said Sam Brower, author of "Prophet's Prey" and a private investigator who works for lawyers suing the FLDS Church. "They truly believe, and Warren has been telling them, that the end of the world is coming," he told FOX 13. "And I believe that they're preparing for that." Jeffs is serving a life sentence for child sex assault related to underage marriages. Since he's been in prison, Jeffs has issued revelations prophesying the end of the world almost daily. Ex-members claim more than 1,000 people have been kicked out for various "sins." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Are the FLDS Faithful Leaving Zion? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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by Sonia Smith TM Daily Post TEXAS MONTHLY - Austin, Texas Originally published Aug 24 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Is Warren Jeffs's polygamist flock abandoning the Yearning for Zion Ranch? Recent reporting indicates that things have gotten less lively on and around the ranch, located just outside of Eldorado.
Randy Mankin, publisher of the Eldorado Success, told the TM Daily Post said there has "noticeable decrease in activity" recently. "You used to see men on the road, but it's getting where you almost don't see anybody now," he said. A story about the YFZ ranch ran in Thursday's issue of the Success: Persons familiar with FLDS activity in Texas tell the SUCCESS that numbers of church members are pulling up stakes and moving away from the Lone Star State.Construction has ticked up at other Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints settlements in Pringle, South Dakota, and Manos, Colorado, the Success reported. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| See the flyer for the home owned by church elder Rulon Jessop that has been put on the market. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Construction activity slows at FLDS ranch site | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Matthew Waller San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published August 27, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SAN ANGELO, Texas — The hulking construction machines that have been so plentiful on sites sacred to the polygamist Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have receded. Outside the gates of the Yearning for Zion Ranch in Schleicher County, just northeast of Eldorado, mobile homes, dump trucks and bulldozers once filled a lot near the tall white gates. Now there are only a few vehicles there. "The daily traffic that we see is really slowing down," Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran said. Doran said there has been less activity on other properties on the outskirts of Eldorado belonging to John Beagley, who has been listed on the Texas Secretary of State records as being the head of Phaze-Tex, LLC, an organization that joined together businesses belonging to the FLDS, such as concrete businesses Texan Supply and Service, LLC and Jack Daniels, LLC. When Doran checks the perimeter of the YFZ Ranch, someone will usually approach the fence line, but no one has done that lately, he said. "It's changing," Doran said. "It's all quiet." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| State of Texas Files Legal Action to Seize West Texas Ranch Where Warren Jeffs and Sect Members Sexually Assaulted Children | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| YFZ Ranch in Eldorado, Texas, housed FLDS compound, harbored Warren Jeffs, and facilitated the systemic sexual assault of minor children | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Greg Abbott Attorney General of Texas Press Release Originally published Wednesday, November 28, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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AUSTIN – The Texas Attorney General's Office has initiated legal proceedings to seize the YFZ Ranch, a 1,600-acre property in West Texas where multiple children were sexually assaulted by members of the FLDS. The filing of a search and seizure warrant in the 51st State District Court begins the final chapter of the State's nearly five-year effort to pursue widespread criminal misconduct at the YFZ Ranch.
In a 91-page affidavit that was submitted to the court along with the search and seizure warrant, a law enforcement officer with the Texas Attorney General's Office describes how proceeds from illegal activity were used to purchase the ranch, which FLDS leaders bought in a failed attempt to establish a remote outpost where they could insulate themselves from criminal prosecution for sexually assaulting children. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Read the State of Texas' Notice of Seizure and Intended Forfeiture regarding the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado, Texas - filed November 28, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Read the State of Texas' Affidavit for Search and Seizure Warrant regarding forfeiture of the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado, Texas - filed November 27, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| State moves to seize FLDS ranch property | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Matthew Waller San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published November 28, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A pickup drove off the polygamist sect's Yearning for Zion Ranch on Wednesday afternoon, leaving a trail of dust lingering over the road. The vehicle with its male driver didn't stop as it passed through the white entrance gate, taking no notice of the warrant taped to the gate bars. The warrant announced that the Texas Attorney General's Office intended to seize the entire ranch. The Texas Attorney General's Office on Wednesday filed search and seizure paperwork in 51st District Court in Schleicher County, seeking to take over the 1,600-acre YFZ Ranch owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. "The filing of a search and seizure warrant in the 51st State District Court begins the final chapter of the state's nearly five-year effort to pursue widespread criminal misconduct at the YFZ Ranch," a news release from the Attorney General's Office states. Under Texas law, authorities can seek to seize property that was used to commit or facilitate certain types of criminal conduct. In a 91-page affidavit filed in support of the warrant, the attorney general cites systemic sexual assault of children know to have occurred at the ranch, "illegally structured financial transactions to evade law enforcement oversight," and use of the ranch to hide Warren Jeffs while he was wanted on federal felony warrants as part of the basis for seizure of the property. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas out to seize Warren Jeffs' polygamist Yearning for Zion Ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Paul J. Weber Associated Press Deseret News Originally published Wednesday, Nov. 28 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AUSTIN, Texas — Texas wants ownership of Warren Jeffs' massive polygamist ranch where prosecutors say the convicted sect leader and his followers sexually assaulted dozens of children, the state attorney general's office said Wednesday. A judge will determine whether to grant the state control of the 1,600-acre property owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The sect bought the land for more than $1.1 million in 2003, according to court records. The affidavit, filed Wednesday, does not provide a current value for the Yearning for Zion Ranch. Texas has spent more than $4.5 million in prosecuting the cases against Jeffs and 10 of his followers. Jerry Strickland, a spokesman for the attorney general's office, said the warrant begins the final chapter in the state's five-year-old case against Jeffs. "This is simply the next step," Strickland said. Texas Rangers raided the ranch in April 2008, following a call to a domestic abuse hotline that turned out to be false, and took 439 children into state custody. Jeffs last year was convicted of sexually assaulting two minors whom he described as his spiritual wives. At trial, prosecutors presented DNA evidence to show he fathered a child with one of those girls, aged 15. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| KFDA - NewsChannel 10 / Amarillo News, Weather, Sports | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamist diary describes secret bed used for sex assaults | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Karisa King The Houston Chronicle Originally published November 28, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In thousands of pages of what he called his "priesthood records," convicted polygamist leader Warren Jeffs gave detailed instructions to his followers on how they were to relocate and build a secret compound in West Texas, directing everything from the purchase of a 1,700-acre ranch to the construction of a bed where he assaulted underage girls. The bed had to be made of hardwood, sturdy so it wouldn't rattle, long enough to support Jeffs' tall frame and equipped with padded sides that could be pulled up to hold him in place "as the Lord does His work with me." "It will be covered with a sheet, but it will have a plastic cover to protect the mattress from what will happen on it," Jeffs instructed. Prosecutors cited excerpts from Jeffs' personal journal on Wednesday as part of an attempt by the Texas attorney general's office to seize the Yearning For Zion ranch, about 45 miles south of San Angelo. Law enforcement officials raided the sprawling compound in April 2008 and removed 438 children to state custody. Jeffs, 56, was sentenced in August 2011 to life in prison on child sex-abuse charges. The children were eventually returned to their parents. The diary, which was seized in the raid, offers a narrative of daily events from 2002 to 2006, when Jeffs was arrested. He meticulously documented the events as his followers in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints were being driven from their home base in Utah. The journal includes his communications with FLDS leaders, mundane activities and revelations in which he claimed to receive instructions from God. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| State trying to seize West Texas ranch used by polygamists | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Bill Hanna Fort Worth Star-Telegram Originally published Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Texas attorney general's office is attempting to seize the YFZ Ranch in West Texas where the followers of polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs first surfaced in 2004 near the town of Eldorado. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott filed the search-and-seizure warrant Wednesday in the 51st State District Court in Schleicher County in what Abbott's office said "begins the final chapter of the State's nearly five-year effort to pursue widespread criminal misconduct at the YFZ Ranch." Jeffs is serving two prison terms for the sexual assault of two girls. Other Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints followers have also been convicted. "FLDS members used the ranch to illegally harbor Jeffs when he was a fugitive on the FBI's Top 10 Most Wanted List. Evidence that law enforcement authorities collected at the YFZ Ranch also shows that ranch residents 'engaged in, and/or acquired the property with the intent to commit, felony offenses upon the property and within the buildings and improvements of this property,.'" the attorney general's office said in a news release. Authorities can seek to seize property that was used to commit or facilitate certain criminal conduct, the attorney general's office said. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas moves to seize polygamist Warren Jeffs' ranch compound | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Molly Hennessy-Fiske Los Angeles Times Originally published November 28, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HOUSTON -- The Texas attorney general moved Wednesday to seize the sprawling ranch compound owned by convicted polygamist leader Warren Jeffs' group, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The filing "begins the final chapter of the state's nearly five-year effort to pursue widespread criminal misconduct" at the ranch, named Yearning for Zion, Atty. Gen. Greg Abbott's office said in a statement. Investigators filed a warrant to seize the 1,600-acre ranch in West Texas under state law that allows seizure of property used to commit or facilitate criminal conduct. According to a 91-page page affidavit in support of the search and seizure warrant served on the ranch in Eldorado, about 300 miles west of Dallas, church members purchased the property for about $1.3 million in 2003 with laundered money and used the property to sexually assault children and hide Jeffs in 2006 while he was a fugitive on the FBI's Top 10 Most Wanted List. According to the attorney general's office, the ranch was purchased by church members at the order of Jeffs, who was based in Utah at the time but, "sought a rural location where the FLDS could operate a polygamist compound where the systemic sexual assault of children would be tolerated without interference from law enforcement authorities." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas seeks to seize YFZ Ranch from FLDS Church | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Pat Reavy Deseret News Originally published Wednesday, Nov. 28 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO, Texas — The state of Texas wants to seize the Fundamentalist LDS Church's YFZ Ranch, which gained international attention in 2008 after the state raided it and temporarily removed hundreds of children over allegations of child sex abuse. The ensuing investigation resulted in a dozen indictments and nine convictions of men living at the ranch for crimes relating to child sex abuse involving underage marriage. Among those convicted was the compound leader and the church's prophet, Warren Jeffs, who was sentenced in Texas last year to life in prison. The Yearning For Zion Ranch owned by the Utah-based sect is located in a remote area near Eldorado, Texas, outside of San Angelo. The Texas Attorney General's Office on Wednesday filed a search and seizure warrant in the 51st District Court of Texas to claim the 1,691-acre property. In a 91-page affidavit, Texas attorneys claim Jeffs authorized the purchase of the ranch property because he "sought a rural location where ... the systemic sexual assault of children would be tolerated without interference from law enforcement authorities." Randy Mankin, publisher of the Eldorado Success newspaper, said when state officials went to the ranch Wednesday to serve the warrant, no one from the ranch would open the gate. "No one came to the gate to meet them so they taped the document on the gate, and also served Warren Jeffs in his prison cell," he said. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas seeks to seize FLDS ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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by Ben Winslow Fox 13 News KSTU TV Originally published November 28, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO, Texas — The attorney general has filed court papers seeking to seize the Fundamentalist LDS Church's sprawling ranch, alleging it was used to further crimes against children. The Texas Attorney General's Office said Wednesday that polygamist leader Warren Jeffs was served with papers in prison, where he is serving a life sentence for child sex assault, related to underage marriages. "The filing of a search and seizure warrant in the 51st State District Court begins the final chapter of the State's nearly five-year effort to pursue widespread criminal misconduct at the YFZ Ranch," the attorney general's office said in a statement. A 91-page affidavit filed with the seizure notice alleges the FLDS Church's "Yearning for Zion" ranch was used to facilitate crimes. It cited numerous writings by Jeffs, called "Priesthood Records," about his desire for a refuge in Texas. "We need to keep this particular property so private and sacred and secret that not even the faithful who are driven will know of this place, because this is where the sacred records are," Jeffs said in one record. "The wicked, in their mind, feel like if they could destroy the records or get them turn over to the authorities, they could destroy us and they know there is laws, wicked laws, un-righteous laws passed by the government that could put us in jail, many of our people." The Texas Attorney General's Office cites the prosecution of a dozen members, including Jeffs, for crimes related to underage marriages. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas takes steps to seize polygamist sect's ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Corrie MacLaggan Reuters WSAU News/Talk 550AM 99.9FM - Wausau, Wisconsin Originally published Wednesday, November 28, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Texas officials on Wednesday moved in court to seize a 1,600-acre West Texas ranch where officials say jailed polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs sexually assaulted children. Sect members used proceeds from money laundering to buy the ranch in Eldorado, Texas, and illegally harbored Jeffs there while he was a federal fugitive, authorities said in court papers supporting seizure of the YFZ (Yearning for Zion) Ranch. The attorney general's office said Jeffs had sought a remote location for a polygamist compound where he and other members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints could sexually assault children without interference from law enforcement. A lawyer for the sect could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. The ranch is occupied, a spokesman for the Attorney General's office said, but he added it was not known how many people live there. Jeffs, 56, is in prison in Texas after being sentenced to life plus 20 years in 2011 on sexual assault convictions related to his marriages with two underage sect girls. He is said to remain in control of the sect despite his incarceration. Under Texas law officials can seize property used to commit certain crimes. The state attorney general's office filed a search and seizure warrant and a 91-page affidavit in state District Court in Schleicher County seeking to take over the ranch. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| State moves to seize polygamists' ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Terri Langford The Houston Chronicle Originally published November 28, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Texas Attorney General's office moved Wednesday to seize the nearly 1,700-acre Yearning For Zion ranch where countless underage girls were involved in marriages to adult followers of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints. In documents filed to the court in Schleichter County, the state claims the ranch is contraband because it was used in the commission of several crimes including money laundering and child sex. The attorney general's action is the first step in what could be a lengthy court battle for ownership of the ranch, bought in 2003 for $700,000, now worth more than $20 million. Jerry Strickland, spokesman for Attorney General Greg Abbott, said a notice of intention to take the property was left at the gate of the sprawling ranch in Eldorado, 384 miles northwest of Houston. The property is owned by a church trust, the United Order of Texas. Property owners have 30 days to respond to the state's action. A copy of the state's documents were sent to 56-year-old FLDS spiritual leader Warren Jeffs, convicted and sentenced to a life sentence more than a year ago on child sex abuse charges. "He has gotten it," said John Hurt, spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the state's prison system. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas attorney general seeks to seize FLDS West Texas ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Tim Eaton and Chuck Lindell American-Statesman Staff Austin American-Statesman - Austin, Texas Originally published Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's office moved Wednesday to seize the West Texas ranch that has been occupied by a breakaway Mormon sect and its polygamist leader, Warren Jeffs, who is imprisoned for the sexual assaults of two underage girls he considered his wives. With the filing of a warrant in Schleicher County, Abbott is seeking to confiscate the Yearning for Zion Ranch, the 1,600-acre property near Eldorado where state officials took – and later returned – 400 children of sect members out of fear for their safety. The filing marks the beginning of the attorney general's final chapter in effort to pursue "widespread criminal misconduct" at a place where multiple children were sexually assaulted by members of the sect, Abbott's office said in a statement. The land should be seized because members affiliated with the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints had acquired the property "with the intent to commit felony offenses," according to the 91-page affidavit that was used to secure the warrant. Seeking to bolster their case for seizure, prosecutors also allege that FLDS leaders financed the property through money laundering. The sect bought the land for about $1.1 million in 2003, according to the affidavit. According to local tax records, the total value of the land is appraised at more than $33 million. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| State Wants To Seize FLDS Ranch in West Texas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Nathan Bernier KUT News - National Public Radio - Austin, Texas Originally published Wed November 28, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A 1,700-acre West Texas ranch owned by a religious sect that practices polygamy is the target of seizure efforts by the Texas Attorney General's office. It's the latest chapter in a long legal battle between the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the State of Texas. In this affidavit filed in the 51st State District Court, the Attorney General says the ranch was bought with the proceeds of illegal activity to establish a location where children could be systematically abused outside the eye of law enforcement. In 2008, the state removed more than 400 children from the compound outside Eldorado, Texas – which the FLDS calls the Yearning For Zion Ranch. The seizure wound up costing $12.4 million and created one of the largest child custody battles in United States history. Most of the children were eventually returned to their mothers, but the state secured felony convictions against nine men. Among those men was Warren Jeffs, the spiritual leader of the FLDS. He was sentenced in 2011 to serve at least 45 years behind bars for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl and a 15-year-old girl. Jeffs had claimed both girls were his "spiritual wives." A lawyer for the FLDS said seizing the ranch would victimize innocent rank-and-file members of the church living on the property. "They're not the ones who have perpetrated these alleged crimes," attorney Rod Parker said in a phone interview. "They're just caught in the crossfire between Texas and Warren Jeffs." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas Starts Legal Action To Seize Warren Jeffs' FLDS Ranch In El Dorado | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Angel Covarrubias KEYE TV - Austin, Texas Originally broadcast Wednesday, November 28 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas wants to seize the West Texas ranch where the state says religious sect leader Warren Jeffs and others sexually assaulted children. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints YFZ Ranch is a 1,600-acre property in El Dorado. The Texas Attorney General's Office says the filing of a search and seizure warrant begins the final chapter of the State's nearly five-year effort to pursue widespread criminal misconduct at the YFZ Ranch. In a 91-page affidavit, a law enforcement officer with the Texas Attorney General's Office describes how proceeds from illegal activity were used to purchase the ranch. The Ranch was purchased on the orders of Warren Jeffs, who sought a rural location where the FLDS could operate a polygamist compound where the systemic sexual assault of children would be tolerated without interference from law enforcement authorities, according to the affidavit. It also explains that the State has successfully prosecuted nine FLDS members – including Warren Jeffs – for sexually assaulting children at the YFZ Ranch. FLDS members also used the ranch to illegally harbor Jeffs when he was a fugitive on the FBI's Top 10 Most Wanted List, according to the affidavit. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas wants to seize Warren Jeffs' polygamist ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The state's attorney general wants to seize the ranch where Jeffs sexually abused girls. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Kaitlin Funaro GlobalPost - Boston, Massachusetts Originally published November 28, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Texas attorney general made a motion to seize the Eldorado ranch used by convicted sex offender and polygamist Warren Jeffs, reports AP. The 1,600 acre Yearning for Zion Ranch is owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a polygamist Mormon sect. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbot has filed a 91-page request asking a court to begin forfeiture proceedings against the ranch, saying church members bought the property "in a failed attempt to establish a remote outpost where they could insulate themselves from criminal prosecution for sexually assaulting children," reports the Salt Lake City Tribune. Texas law allows authorities to seize property that was used to commit or facilitate certain criminal conduct. It is unknown how many FLDS members currently live on the ranch but Jerry Strickland, a spokesman for the attorney general's office, said the filing does not mean residents must leave immediately. The seizure represents the final chapter in Texas' five-year battle against the FLDS church and its members. Texas successfully prosecuted Jeffs and nine other FLDS members for sexual abuse of minors. Jeffs was convicted in 2011 of assaulting two of his under aged 'spiritual wives'. AP reports that prosecutors used DNA evidence to show he fathered a child with one of his 15-year-old wives. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas attorney general seeks to seize polygamist ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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BY NEAL KARLINSKY World News with Diane Sawyer ABC News Originally published Nov. 28, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| It was once a gleaming symbol of a bizarre, hidden world -- a Texas compound where authorities say Warren Jeffs could make polygamy the law of the land. Today, the 1,600-acre plot of land known as the Yearning for Zion Ranch is directly in the crosshairs of the Texas Attorney General's office. According to a 91-page affidavit filed today by the State of Texas, "Warren Steed Jeffs orchestrated the purchase of the Suspected Place for the purpose of facilitating and perpetrating criminal offenses, including Bigamy, Sexual Assault, and Aggravated Sexual Assault." Jeffs was convicted a year ago of sexually assaulting two of his underage brides. Officials call their attempt to seize the group's compound "the final chapter" in a multimillion-dollar battle against the polygamist sect, which authorities believe was centered around sexual abuse and funded through money laundering. Authorities say Jeffs used the compound's temple to commit his crimes, saying it "was constructed in a special manner so that Warren Steed Jeffs could perpetuate sexual assaults in the Temple building." And they quote from Jeffs' own designs and the group's "Priesthood Records": "There is a table, but it will be made so it can be a table or it can be a bed. It should be made so the tabletop can come off. It will be on wheels... This will be made so that it can be taken apart and stored in a closet where no one can see it. When I need it, I will pull it out and set it up... It will be covered with a sheet, but it will have a plastic cover to protect the mattress from what will happen on it." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ABC Good Morning America November 29, 2012 Texas Moves to Seize Warren Jeffs' Polygamist Ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Seizure Warrant Issued for Warren Jeffs-FLDS Yearning for Zion Ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints' 'prophet,' Warren Jeffs, is serving life in prison for child sex abuse, and now Texas has moved to seize its isolated Yearning for Zion compound. Matthew DeLuca reports. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Mathew DeLuca The Daily Beast - New York, NY Originally published November 29, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In the most significant action Texas has taken against the property of convicted Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints leader Warren Jeffs since a Child Protective Services raid in 2008, the state filed papers Wednesday to seize the sect's isolated ranch. The 91-page affidavit attached to the search and seizure warrant describes a multi-year history of alleged criminal activity facilitated on the 1,691-acre compound, alleging that leaders there used the property to engage in money laundering, harbor Jeffs while he was a fugitive, and practice sexual assault and bigamy. The seizure warrant was taped to the compound's front gate Tuesday and released to the public Wednesday. The filing, which initiates a civil forfeiture process against the property, marks "a great day," said Sam Brower, a Utah-based private investigator and longtime researcher of the FLDS church. "This is not a religion," he said. "It's a criminal organization that rapes children." The announcement Wednesday is the latest in an on-again, off-again series of actions Texas has taken against Jeffs and his followers, who form an ultra-hardline community that practices polygamy and is not recognized as legitimate by the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Nine members of the FLDS church, including Jeffs, have been convicted of sexually assaulting children at the ranch where Jeffs gathered elite members of his sect. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas attorney general seeks to seize polygamist ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By the CNN Wire Staff CNN Originally published Thu November 29, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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(CNN) -- The Texas Attorney General's Office said Wednesday that it has started legal proceedings to seize the 1,600-acre ranch where prosecutors say polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs and others sexually abused children. Greg Abbott's office said the move marks the final chapter of a nearly five-year effort to pursue widespread criminal misconduct charges at the Yearning for Zion ranch near Eldorado, Texas. Four hundred children were removed from the complex, then returned after the Texas Supreme Court ruled the state had no right to remove them and lacked evidence to show they were in imminent danger of abuse. Child protection officials said they found a "pervasive pattern" of sexual abuse on the ranch through forced marriages between underage girls and older men. In August 2011, a Texas jury found Jeffs guilty of sexual assault against two girls, ages 12 and 15. He is serving a life sentence. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints openly practices polygamy on the YFZ Ranch, as well as in the twin border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona. Critics of the sect say young girls are forced into "spiritual" marriages with older men and sexually abused. Sect members have denied that any sexual abuse takes place. Their attorneys were not immediately available for comment.
CNN's Meridith Edwards contributed to this report. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas Files Legal Action To Seize YFZ Ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Ladd Egan KUTV 2News Originally broadcast Thursday, November 29 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (KUTV) The Texas Attorney General's office filed legal action Wednesday to seize the FLDS Church's "Yearning for Zion Ranch" alleging the property was acquired through money laundering with the purpose of sexually abusing young girls on the property. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' YFZ ranch was raided by law enforcement in 2008 as part of a child sex abuse investigation. While the removal of children from the ranch by Texas law enforcement was later ruled improper, the investigation still resulted in the successful prosecution of the sect's leader, Warren Jeffs, 56, and eight other FLDS men for sexually assaulting children. A 91-page affidavit for the search and seizure warrant outlining the state's case was filed in the 51st State District Court and seeks "all real property, tangible property, intangible property, property improvements, buildings and building furnishings." "We had no idea what they were doing down there," said former FLDS member Isaac Wyler of the period of time that the YFZ Ranch was being built. "I know he was tapping this town, the elders and everybody a $1,000 a month." Wyler, who still lives in Colorado City, Arizona says he agrees with the seizure but that those who blindly donated to Jeffs are also victims. "It was incredible how much he spent," Wyler said. "I know from personal experience how hard these people worked and how much they sacrificed to make that money available to him and they're going to lose it all." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Sick Custom-Made Bed Where Polygamist Cult Leader Warren Jeffs Abused Children | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Debbie Emery - Radar Reporter Radar Online - New York, NY Originally published Nov 30, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Just when you think that the dark world of cult leader Warren Jeffs couldn't get any sicker, graphic images have emerged of the bed that he had personally made for the purpose of sexually assaulting a multitude of underage girls. Made of sturdy hardwood so it wouldn't rattle and covered with a plastic sheet to "protect the mattress from what will happen on it," the place of rest turned into a method of torture for the children of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the desert town of Colorado City on the border between Arizona and Utah. The disturbing details came to light on Wednesday when excerpts from the cult leader's diary were read out in court as part of an attempt by the State of Texas to seize the multimillion dollar ranch owned by the FLDS. As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Jeffs, 56, is currently behind bars after being convicted of the sexual assault of two girls, ages 12 and 14, whom he claims were his "spiritual brides," for which he is serving a life sentence in a Texas prison. At trial, prosecutors presented DNA evidence to show he fathered a child with one of those girls, age 15. The diary, which was seized in the raid, offers a narrative of daily events from 2002 to 2006, when Jeffs was arrested. He meticulously documented the events as his followers in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints were being driven from their home base in Utah, reported the Houston Chronicle. The journal includes his communications with FLDS leaders, mundane activities and revelations in which he claimed to receive instructions from God. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Effort to seize FLDS ranch deals another blow to sect | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Child abuse is catalyst for move | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Matthew Waller San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published December 1, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SAN ANGELO, Texas - Flora Jessop came to Texas near the genesis of the YFZ Ranch. She went to Schleicher County a while after the purchase of the first lands in 2003, warning members of the community that a polygamist sect planned to establish a foothold. She said those who would come to live at the ranch - later found to be hand-picked servants of the sect's "prophet" - would abuse children. She had been a member of that group, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but she left and became a vocal opponent of the sect. With the Office of the Texas Attorney General moving to seize the ranch, saying that the numerous cases of child sexual assault perpetrated there make the property "contraband," Jessop feels vindicated yet again, but she is also worried. "It feels really good, but at the same time, it's kind of a double-edged sword," Jessop said a few days after the attorney general announcement. "It's wonderful they're taking the land so they can't perpetuate the crimes there. But it further displaces out family members and makes it harder to keep track of the children. In that respect, it's kind of a scary thing for us. ... In dealing with that issue, it has always been that way." The move against the ranch comes as the fruit of investigations that began about four and half years ago. In April 2008, the state got word of sexual assault allegations and raided the massive 1,600 plus-acre property. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Where have Warren Jeffs' followers gone? Compound that was once seat of his power lies almost deserted as authorities move in | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By James Nye Daily Mail - London, England Originally published 2 December 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Created specifically as a centre for Warren Jeffs' leadership of Mormon Fundamentalists, the 1,700-acre Yearning for Zion Ranch now resembles a ghost town, its 700 resident's having all but left. A huge amphitheatre, presumably designed for hundreds if not thousands of Jeffs devoted followers to listen to his teachings lies unfinished, while rows of huge accommodations show no signs of life bar one or two pick-up trucks. With the Texan authorities threatening to seize the huge ranch, the majority of the residents of the once-bustling religious commune seem to have vanished - perhaps heralding the final chapter in the ranch's short history. Texas wants ownership of Warren Jeffs' massive ranch where prosecutors say the convicted polygamist sect leader and his followers sexually assaulted dozens of children, the state attorney general's office said Wednesday. A judge will determine whether to grant the state control of the nearly 1,700-acre property owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. According to local tax records, the total value of the land is appraised at more than $33 million. Seeking to bolster their case for seizures, prosecutors also allege that FLDS leaders financed the property through money laundering. The sect bought the land for about $1.1 million in 2003, according to an affidavit filed Wednesday. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamists no longer irk Eldorado | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By John MacCormack San Antonio Express-News Originally published Sunday, December 2, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO - When news broke here in spring 2004 that a strange polygamist sect was moving onto a large ranch just outside town, the reaction in the crowd milling outside the courthouse ranged from nervous bewilderment to outright dread. One woman held a poster that read, "The Devil is Here." A man invoked nightmarish visions of Waco, where in 1993 an armed confrontation between a fringe religious group and federal authorities resulted in more than 70 deaths. "Early on, there were people who worried they would come and take our children, but of course, everyone who knows anything about this group knows they don't bring in people from the outside," said Randy Mankin, publisher of the Eldorado Success newspaper. Eight years later, Warren Jeffs, the leader of the polygamist Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is serving a life term on convictions for sex offenses, the 1,700-acre Yearning for Zion ranch largely is abandoned and the state is trying to seize it in a forfeiture action filed last week. And for most people in Eldorado, fears about the sect have long subsided. "It is a nonissue for this community. They (the polygamists) don't interact with this community," said Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran, whose five-man department was all but consumed with the issue in the first few years. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS Get Extension In Texas Ranch Seizure | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Ladd Egan KUTV 2News Originally broadcast Wednesday, January 2 2013 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (KUTV) The Texas Attorney General's Office has agreed to a short extension to the time given to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to respond to legal action seeking the seizure of the church's property. Attorneys for the polygamous sect now have until Friday, Jan. 4th to provide a written answer to a search and seizure warrant filed in the 51st State District Court by Texas authorities last November seeking to confiscate the church's "Yearning for Zion Ranch." The 91-page affidavit outlining the state's case says Texas is seeking "all real property, tangible property, intangible property, property improvements, buildings and building furnishings" on the ranch because it was used to facilitate criminal activity. A two-page agreement filed Monday shows the Texas Attorney General's Office and attorneys for the FLDS Church's United Order Trust agreeing to the one-week extension. While not commenting specifically on what the official written response will be or even if one will be filed, an attorney for the United Order of Texas Trust said he believes the FLDS members have a strong case. "It's really a punitive action," said attorney Dan Gerson. "It's an effort for the state to try to grab all this property and just run these people out of Texas." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS misses lawsuit deadline | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Michael Kelly San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published January 4, 2013 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SAN ANGELO, Texas — The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints failed to file a response by the Friday deadline to the state's threat to seize its 1,600-acre ranch in Schleicher County. A clerk in the 51st District Court office in Eldorado said at 5 p.m. Friday no filing had been received. The Attorney General of Texas announced Nov. 28 it had begun legal proceedings to seize the YFZ Ranch on the basis that "proceeds from illegal activity were used to purchase the ranch, which FLDS leaders bought in a failed attempt to establish a remote outpost where they could insulate themselves from criminal prosecution for sexually assaulting children." More than 400 children were removed from the ranch in a raid by state, local and federal authorities in 2008 prompted by a report of child abuse which later was revealed to be a hoax call. The children eventually were returned to their families, but evidence taken in the raid formed the basis for a protracted series of prosecutions that eventually resulted in the imprisonment of a dozen men from the sect, including its leader Warren Jeffs. In the lawsuit filed in November, the state alleges that the property should be forfeit, based on information contained in a 91-page search warrant and seizure affidavit which details among other charges the state's allegations of money laundering against the sect. The affidavit includes bank records and other financial data to support its claims. It was not clear late Friday what the state's next move will be. No response had been received to a set of questions emailed to the agency's public information office, and the FLDS attorney, Dan Greson of Houston, could not be contacted by telephone. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notices to FLDS ongoing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Monique Ching San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published January 31, 2013 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SAN ANGELO, Texas — With no response from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the Texas attorney general is trying to ensure that all the right people are being served formal notice about instigation of forfeiture proceedings for the Yearning for Zion ranch in Schleicher County. In December, Attorney General Greg Abbott moved to seize the ranch, but the 51st District Court in Eldorado received no response from the sect by the Jan. 4 deadline. "Warren Jeffs has been served in prison," said Lauren Bean, spokeswoman for the attorney general, "but others need to be served." Shleicher County Justice of the Peace Judge James Doyle said Thursday that although he hasn't flown over the YFZ Ranch recently, residents of Eldorado have seen cars from the ranch being crushed in a couple of locations around the county. "They destroyed around 50 nice cars. Ford pickups, Escalades," he said. "They've got a lien on them and are smashing them as they are, tires and everything." Other than the many crushed cars, Doyle said, he has not seen any unusual activity around the ranch. Few sect members have been seen around the city. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Read about the Raid on the YFZ Ranch in April 2008 | ||||||
| Read the State of Texas' Rule 11 Agreement for Extension of Time to Answer regarding forfeiture of the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado, Texas - filed December 31, 2012 | ||||||
| Read the State of Texas' Search and Seizure Warrant regarding forfeiture of the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado, Texas - filed November 28, 2012 | ||||||
| Read the State of Texas' Notice of Seizure and Intended Forfeiture regarding the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado, Texas - filed November 28, 2012 | ||||||
| Read the State of Texas' Affidavit for Search and Seizure Warrant regarding forfeiture of the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado, Texas - filed November 27, 2012 | ||||||
| Read the Amended and Restated Declaration of Trust of the United Order of Texas (creating ANOTHER new FLDS Church and religious Trust) filed in Schleicher County, Texas October 30, 2009 | ||||||
| Read Special Warranty Deed (transferring the YFZ Ranch from the Texas Heritage Trust to the new Texas Stake of Zion Trust) filed in Schleicher County, Texas September 30, 2009 | ||||||
| Read the Court Transcript of the Testimony of Merril Jessop regarding Carolyn Jessop's Petition for Child Support discussing the YFZ Ranch property and the Texas Heritage Trust, given in Schleicher County, Texas September 28, 2009 | ||||||
| Read the Letter from attorney Amy Henningon to the Texas Funeral Services Commission regarding a request to visit a grave on the YFZ ranch, dated July 21, 2009 | ||||||
| Read the names of the Officers and Directors of the YFZ Land LLC company dated January 22, 2009 | ||||||
| Read the December 31, 2008 Declaration of Trust of the Texas Stake of Zion (creating a new FLDS Church and religious Trust) filed in Schleicher County, Texas September 30, 2009 | ||||||
| Read about the new FLDS Trust created December 31, 2008 in Eldorado, Texas in the Declaration of Trust of Texan Heritage filed in Schleicher County, Texas April 23, 2009 | ||||||
| Read the November 9, 2008 "Borrower" YFZ Land, LLC and "Lender" John C. Wayman Deed of Trust filed in Schleicher County, Texas April 21, 2009 | ||||||
| Read the 2009 proposed bill HB 4255 introduced by Texas House Representative Harvey Hilderbran | ||||||
| Read the Press Release on a new bill to protect victims of child abuse by Texas House Representative Harvey Hilderbran dated March 18, 2009 | ||||||
| During the January 23, 2009 deposition of Merril Jessop, court exhibits were included in his deposition. One item was a budget from the Short Creek Stake reporting their tithings paid and how these monies were being spent to support the other FLDS compounds | ||||||
| Read the Budget Estimates from the Short Creek Stake and see where their hard-earned money was going | ||||||
| Read a later draft of the Declaration of Trust of the United Order Trust of Texas | ||||||
| Read a draft of the Declaration of Trust of the United Order Trust of Texas | ||||||
| Read the names of the Officers and Directors of the YFZ Land LLC company dated January 22, 2009 | ||||||
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Watch the Eldorado Success Video of Willie Jessop meeting with Schleicher County Commissioners on January 12, 2009 | ||||||
| Read the Texas Family Code on the Marriage Relationship effective September 1, 2008 | ||||||
| Read the Bishop's Record of Families living at the YFZ Ranch released May 1, 2008 | ||||||
| Read the Chart of Mothers and Children living at the YFZ Ranch | ||||||
| Read the Corporate Records and Business Registration for the YFZ Land LLC updated January 2, 2008 | ||||||
| Read the Eldorado Success Newspaper announcing another FLDS compound in Texas published on November 29, 2007 | ||||||
| Read the Texas Penal Code on Sexual Offenses effective September 1, 2007 | ||||||
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| Watch this October 2005 video on building the YFZ Ranch | ||||||
| Read the final version of Texas Senate Bill No. 6 taking effect September 1, 2005 | ||||||
| Read the House Research Organization's analysis of Texas House Bill 3006 dated May 12, 2005 | ||||||
| Read an analysis of the modified Texas House Bill 3006 | ||||||
| Read a Press Release regarding the amended Texas House Bill 3006 from Representative Harvey Hilderbran April 21, 2005 | ||||||
| Read a Press Release regarding Texas House Bill 3006 from Representative Harvey Hilderbran April 11, 2005 | ||||||
| Read a Press Release regarding Texas House Bill 3006 from Representative Harvey Hilderbran March 24, 2005 | ||||||
| Read the original Texas House Bill 3006 introduced by Representative Harvey Hilderbran | ||||||
| Read the February 21, 2005 Training Given by President Warren S. Jeffs On the Places of Refuge to a Group of Men regarding the "keep sweet" training on "how to live and be Zion" and be invited to live on the lands of refuge | ||||||
| View more photos of the community being built at the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado, Texas | ||||||
| Listen to Warren Jeffs speak about the black race | ||||||
| Listen to Warren Jeffs speak about the "Seed of Cain" and "pingy pangy" music from the black race | ||||||
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