'Tenacious' investigator finds success in tough job
 
By Mark Shaffer
The Arizona Republic - Flagstaff Bureau
 
COLORADO CITY - The blinds are always drawn in Gary Engels' darkened office in a triple-wide trailer that fronts the main drag in this polygamist town.

He quickly swivels in his chair and peers through a crack in the blinds when he hears the noise of an engine in the parking lot. He wonders aloud about the security in the state-owned building.

Such is life for the man entrusted with one of the most difficult law enforcement assignments in America: bringing down the older men who take underage brides in arranged marriages.

He does this in a bunker-mentality society taught nothing but disdain for the outside world.

Engels, a special investigator for Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith, has had remarkable successes during his 10 months in town.

He built a case that led to the indictment June 10 of Warren Jeffs, leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, on sexual-misconduct charges of arranging the spiritual marriages of underage women to polygamist men.

Engels' investigative skills also led to the indictment July 11 of eight other local men on sexual-misconduct charges. All surrendered to authorities and were arraigned in Mohave County Superior Court. Several other cases also are in the works, Engels said.

"Pick your adjective about Gary . . . tireless, relentless, determined, tenacious," Smith said. "He doesn't like the things going on there, and he's done an outstanding job enforcing the law."

But the work takes a toll on the lonely investigator, whose only backup most of the time is across the state line in Utah.

It's almost as bad a situation as the day he answered a call at the home of a suicidal man in Bullhead City and took a shot to the hip. That forced his move from patrol officer to detective for the Bullhead City Police Department, from which he retired in 1993.

"These people have literally taken hundreds of pictures of me as I do my work around town," Engels said. "I'll be parked somewhere monitoring a situation and they will drive up beside you and then spin out, covering you with dust and gravel."

Engels stays mobile in his off hours and spends his sleeping hours away from Colorado City and Hildale.

"I've been noticing lately some slow drive-bys where I've been staying," Engels said recently while taking a visitor on a tour of Colorado City. "They are very good at keeping tabs on me."

And Engels has returned the favor.

He drives slowly past the FLDS sect's huge church, where 2,000 adherents used to be spellbound during marathon Sunday services conducted by Jeffs. Three years ago, Jeffs abruptly ordered that church services no longer be conducted, with no explanation.

"It's just being used now for weekly meetings about work assignments," Engels said.

The nearby public school, which was raided by state agents in May in an ongoing investigation of possible financial impropriety, is a regular gathering place for teenagers in suits. Engels said the teens are part of a group that visits homes within the two towns to make sure church doctrine is being followed.

Engels then cruises past a series of dormitory-size homes with new, high fences and gates monitored electronically.

"They're (followers of Jeffs) becoming more secretive, if that's possible," Engels said, as a preteen girl in long, plaid dress and ponytails ran from the approaching vehicle and hid behind a wall.

"It's all because of what they think is the coming federal raid," he said, chuckling.

Then, it's on to the trophy homes recently occupied by Alvin Barlow, superintendent of the Colorado City Unified School District, and Rodney Holm, a former police officer who was jailed for unlawful sex with a minor and bigamy in a trial that received national attention. Holm's house has the best view in the towns of the red Vermilion Cliffs, which create the area's scenic backdrop.

"They are both regarded as heroes for taking on the outside world," Engels said.

"This is a very strange place, indeed."
 
azcentral.com
Originally published August 4, 2005
 
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