Victims Fight Back




Victims Fight Back


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


Church Must Pay Dissidents Before Dislodging Them
Residents Must Be Paid For Homes
The Associated Press Originally published January 25, 1996
ST. GEORGE -- A judge has ruled dissident residents of a town on the Utah-Arizona border cannot be evicted from land controlled by a polygamous church without first being compensated for the homes they built. The ruling ends, at least temporarily, the eight-year legal battle between the United Effort Plan (UEP) Trust and 21 families. The plan is a religious, charitable trust designed to help believers of the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints follow the United Order of Heaven, which includes the practice of plural marriage. The trust also owns much of the real estate in the community of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, 45 miles east of St. George. The trust was established in 1946 to hold property based on fundamentalist views -- including plural marriage -- found in early doctrines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormon Church. The Mormon Church outlawed polygamy in 1890 under pressure from the federal government. The families had sued claiming plan officials were trying to evict them from their homes on plan property because of ecclesiastical differences. Read more


Top court hears dispute dividing polygamist sect
By Matthew Brown The Associated Press Provo Daily Herald Originally published October 10, 1997
SALT LAKE CITY - Feuding factions of a polygamist sect on the Utah-Arizona border took their dispute to the Utah Supreme Court on Thursday, arguing whether the religion's leaders can evict dissidents from their homes. A 5th District judge ruled more than a year and a half ago that leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints must compensate dissenters if they want to boot them from their homes in the Short Creek Valley. But leaders of the polygamist clan that operates a communal economy in the adjacent towns of Hildale and Colorado City, Ariz., appealed, saying the former followers knew the rules and the state can't dictate what a church teaches its members. "Religious leaders spelling out the rules of conduct in their sermons should not have to look over their shoulders at what jurists may be thinking," argued attorney Raymond Scott Berry. "The religious body deserves some protection." The court took the matter under advisement, but not before telling Berry that his clients can't use the state's "legal machinery" to accomplish only their ends, and prevent others who may feel wronged by the church from doing the same. Read more


Mother's Complaints Lead to Canadian Investigation of F.L.D.S. Church
Mormon News Originally published November 2, 2000
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- Lenore Holm objected when her Fundamentalist Latter-day Saints Church leaders determined that her 16-year-old daughter should marry a 39-year-old Utah polygamist. But her daughter was then taken to British Columbia to an FLDS commune there without Holm's permission. Holm, who has been excommunicated by the FLDS Church, is now fighting back, filing complaints with Canada's Royal Canadian Mounted Police and with Utah's special investigator of "closed societies," Ron Barton. Holm believes her daughter was taken to Canada illegally and has probably wed illegally also. "I am concerned my daughter may have been married in secret and I want to know how she got across the border without parental consent," she said Wednesday. Read more


Woman to bring suit against Mormon church
By Robert Matas The Globe and Mail Originally published November 19, 2002
Vancouver -- Debbie Palmer, a women with eight children from three assigned marriages in a Mormon polygamist colony, is going to court in an effort to expose a lifestyle which she says leads to sexual, physical, psychological and spiritual abuse. Ms. Palmer, 47, intends to ask the B.C. Supreme Court this week to consider a class action against the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on behalf of women who say they have suffered as a result of the religion's communal, polygamist lifestyle. At least 25 wives, and possibly as many as 200 from communities in Canada and the United States are expected to be part of the unprecedented lawsuit against the well-established religious institution. She said she expects the civil court case will "bring into the public and legal arena questions that the government has been extremely reluctant to address." The lawsuit could shatter a 55-year long silence by authorities who have ignored repeated attempts by women for help. Read more


Lives torn apart by polygamy
By Mike Watkiss and azfamily.com staff KTVK News Channel 3 - Phoenix Originally published August 14, 2003
Two Arizonans, whose families were reportedly torn apart by a fundamentalist sect that practices polygamy in Colorado City are fighting back. Lenore Holm said she is trying to find out what happened to her 16-year-old daughter, Nicole, after Holm said the teen was recruited by religious leaders to marry a 39-year-old man. "My daughter could be being raped right now by a 39-year-old man," Holm said. Nicole would be the second wife of Wynn Jessop, who reportedly has 10 children with another woman. Many of the town's marriages are believed to have been arranged by Rulon Jeffs, the now-deceased leader of Colorado City, a town that sits on the Arizona-Utah border. In Jeffs' absence, his son Warren has reportedly been sanctioning marriages. "I think they have the wrong man in power," Holm said of the religion that she now calls a "cult." Read more


Wives suing to bring end to abuse under polygamy
Judy Nichols The Arizona Republic Originally published Oct. 15, 2003
Polygamist wives who gather the courage to run from beatings, rapes and illegal "spiritual" unions are beginning to use a time-tested tactic to fight back. They're starting to sue. For millions. Mary Ann Kingston, 22, was forced to become the 15th wife of her uncle at age 16. She was a member of a large polygamous group in the Salt Lake City area known as the Kingston clan. When she tried to leave her husband, her father beat her unconscious. Both men were convicted of crimes and put behind bars. Two months ago, she filed a civil lawsuit seeking more than $110 million from her immediate family and 242 members of the Kingston clan. "We're cracking open a whole new avenue of liability for these (polygamists)," said Bill Mark, one of the lawyers working on the Kingston case. "We're trying to punish the order and make an example of them." Read more


Former FLDS member defies religious leader
He is refusing to leave the home owned by church
By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Saturday, January 24, 2004
COLORADO CITY, Ariz. — Ross Chatwin expects to be branded a traitor now that he's publicly denounced the prophet of his former church as an "evil dictator" who needs to be stopped. "This might be stupidity, but I just want to get the ball rolling and help pave the road for others to add to," Chatwin said as he began a press conference in front of dozens of reporters at his Colorado City home Friday. "I'm glad the police are here. I feel like I need them." Officers were on hand to monitor the press conference, as well as a representative of the Utah Attorney General's Office and anti-polygamy activists. Chatwin's press conference follows the excommunication two weeks ago of more than 20 high-ranking men of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, including Colorado City Mayor Dan Barlow and his brother, Hildale City councilman Joe Barlow. Both men resigned from public office the same day and left town. Read more


Ex-FLDS member is refusing eviction
By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Thursday, January 29, 2004
COLORADO CITY, Ariz. — Ross Chatwin refuses to budge. "I'm not going to move out. No way. I think this is my house," Chatwin said Wednesday in response to an eviction notice sent by the home's legal owner. Chatwin's comments came several days after he held a press conference to denounce Warren Jeffs, leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, as a "Hitler-like dictator" who needs to be stopped. The eviction letter, written by FLDS attorney Rod Parker and served on Chatwin late Monday afternoon, gives Chatwin five days to make up his mind. "We're not going to kick Mr. Chatwin and his family out on the street in five days. But he does need to agree to surrender possession of UEP property. He needs to agree to be out," said Parker. "The UEP will allow him the time necessary to find another place to live and then move his family and possessions." But Chatwin has no plans to move or respond to Parker's letter. "My plan is to get an attorney and fight this," said Chatwin. Read more


'We're not going to leave,' former FLDS man says
Chatwin fires back in letter to church attorney
By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Monday, February 2, 2004
COLORADO CITY, Ariz. — Another day, another interview. Ross Chatwin has granted so many interviews to reporters from around the country that he's having trouble keeping track of it all. "I have no idea how many interviews I've given, but it's a lot," Chatwin said of his newfound fame. The media's fascination with Chatwin began just over a week ago when the 35-year-old father of six publicly denounced the leader of the area's most dominant church as a "Hitler-like dictator." Chatwin, like most residents of the twin cities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, grew up in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He said he was taught from an early age that his salvation depended on living the celestial law of polygamy. "That's all we were trying to do. We were just trying to do what we've always been taught to do," said Chatwin, who fell out of favor with FLDS leader Warren Jeffs several times over the past two years for various alleged sins. "I was taught you needed at least three wives to get into the celestial kingdom of heaven. The more wives you have here, the better you are. I guess I wasn't good enough." Read more


Hearings set in Chatwin eviction case
FLDS church to bring case to Arizona court
By Jane Zhang The Spectrum Originally published Wednesday, February 4, 2004
ST. GEORGE -- Born and raised in Colorado City as a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Ross Chatwin had always believed he belonged to "a superior people" who would eventually take over the world with the prophet at the helm. But since he declared war on the polygamist church's leader Warren Jeffs about two weeks ago, Chatwin has discovered a gentile's world with "some really good people." "I basically broke the system here and said, 'No more,'" said Chatwin, 35, who fell out of favor last March and received his first eviction notice in November. "It helped me to wake up. Luckily, it's not too late for me. I have my wife's support." But his wake-up call didn't come without a price. The church, which owns most of the area's land and property, filed a lawsuit to evict Chatwin last Thursday at Arizona Superior Court in Kingman, Ariz., with a 15-minute initial appearance scheduled for this Thursday and court hearings expected in 10 days with Judge James Chavez, FLDS attorney Rod Parker said. Chatwin, Parker said, lost his right to live on church land because he pursued plural wives on his own. He was accused of forcible detainment, meaning he refused to leave the property against the landlord's wish. Read more


Chatwin ready to fight UEP eviction in court
Lawyer: Recent cases set good precedent for Colorado City man
By Jane Zhang The Spectrum Originally published February 6, 2004
ST. GEORGE -- When Ross Chatwin moved with his wife and four children from a one-bedroom house he built to a bigger home his brother built in Colorado City in 2001, he first asked for permission from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which owns most of the area's land and property through a trust, United Effort Plan. Now, he said, the polygamist church appears to favor the practice, with about 35 families swapping houses in the last six months. With members living in houses they didn't build, Chatwin said, the church, which has failed in eviction cases in both Utah and Arizona, hopes to reverse its fortunes. The strategy will be put to the test on March 2, as Chatwin goes to trial in Kingman before Arizona State Court Judge James Chavez. The date was decided Thursday after an initial court appearance by Joan C. Dudley, Chatwin's pro bono attorney from Arizona Community Legal Services. Chatwin and Rodney Parker, the FLDS church's attorney, attended by teleconference. Read more


Family ripped apart
Colorado City man's children pit against each other over Jeffs
By Jane Zhang The Spectrum Originally published Friday, February 13, 2004
COLORADO CITY, Ariz. -- Beaming from identical 5-by-7-inch green plastic frames, the faces on the wall voicelessly remind the Wyler family of their happy days. Eighteen daughters and 16 sons, who, for the last family reunion 1 1/2 years ago, brought more than 70 upbeat souls, eating hamburgers, playing volleyball and engaging in games, to Colorado City's Maxwell Park. Today, the pink draperies in the living room still seem eager to embrace the flecks of sun falling through the window wall. But family reunions are no more, and the picture wall is ripped by an invisible line, with 24 children on one side and 10 on the other. The five daughters and five sons who loyally follow Warren Jeffs, the self-proclaimed prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, have pitted themselves against their apostate siblings, distancing their 40 children from the rest of the family. Read more


Man to challenge eviction in court
FLDS leaders say property belongs to their church
By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Tuesday, March 2, 2004
COLORADO CITY, Ariz. — An Arizona judge is slated to hear arguments today in an eviction case involving a former member of the nation's largest polygamous church. Ross Chatwin, 35, will argue he cannot be evicted from a house constructed on property owned by the Fundamentalist LDS Church unless the church compensates him for improvements made to the property. Mohave County Superior Court Judge James E. Chavez is scheduled to preside over the 9 a.m. bench trial in Kingman. Media interest in the case is strong, according to a court clerk, who also said the trial could last all day. The judge is expected to take the case under advisement and issue a decision at a later date, the clerk said. Chatwin, his wife Lori and their six children live in the basement of a frame house built by one of his brothers on Willow Street, while another brother and his family recently moved in upstairs. FLDS leaders assigned both families to their respective living spaces, said FLDS attorney Rod Parker. The FLDS Church owns much of the property and buildings in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City under a legal trust called the United Effort Plan. Read more


Chatwin fights eviction in court
UEP lawsuit being heard in Kingman, Ariz.
By Dave Hawkins The Spectrum Originally published Wednesday, March 3, 2004
KINGMAN, Ariz. -- A Colorado City woman testified Tuesday that the leader of the predominant church of the northern Arizona community and the neighboring town of Hildale, Utah ordered her to reject her husband so that he would be "disciplined." "As part of that discipline he asked that I not sleep with my husband," Lori Chatwin said of her conversation with Warren Jeffs, the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Jeffs also has control of the United Effort Plan, the financial arm of the church, which owns most of the land in Colorado City and Hildale. Chatwin's testimony was given in Mohave County Superior Court in Kingman where Judge James Chavez is hearing the UEP lawsuit to evict her husband Ross Chatwin, 35, from the property he was allowed to occupy in January 2001. The case wasn't resolved after more than six hours of testimony Tuesday. UEP attorney Rodney Parker urged Chavez to strike Chatwin's testimony about the disciplinary directive, but it was allowed after Chatwin's attorney Joan Dudley insisted it was relevant as evidence of church influence over citizens. Read more


Dissident polygamist goes on trial in lawsuit
By Caleb Soptelean Kingman Daily Miner Originally published March 4, 2004
The eviction trial of a Colorado City man who has been excommunicated by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints began Tuesday. The United Effort Plan (UEP) has requested that Mohave County Superior Court Judge James Chavez evict Charles Ross Chatwin from a home in the polygamous community. Chatwin is being represented in the case by Community Legal Services, which is based in Kingman. During a Jan. 23 news conference in Colorado City, Chatwin denounced the church and likened its prophet Warren Jeffs to Adolph Hitler. On Tuesday, both sides presented witnesses, and Chavez set March 18 for oral arguments on whether three persons who did not show up Tuesday were properly subpoenaed. Chatwin’s attorney Joan Dudley argued that Jeffs, who also is UEP board president, church bishop and UEP trustee Fred Jessop, and UEP representative Nephi Barlow all were properly subpoenaed. UEP attorney Rodney Parker argued that the three were not subpoenaed correctly because they live in Utah, which is not subject to subpoenas from Arizona jurisdictions. Jeffs and Jessop live just across the Utah border in Hildale, Parker said. Barlow previously lived in Colorado City but has since moved to St. George, Utah. Read more


FLDS, couple wage property dispute in court
By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Thursday, March 4, 2004
COLORADO CITY, Ariz. — Late Tuesday night, after spending the day in court fighting an eviction notice, Ross and Lori Chatwin went back to sleep in the house they still call home — for now. "I think it (the hearing) went OK," Chatwin said Wednesday. The five-hour drive back to Colorado City from Kingman, Ariz., topped off a long day in Mohave County Superior Court where Chatwin testified he should be allowed to live in the home even though he doesn't own it. The house's owner, The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, has the legal right to request Chatwin's removal, church attorney Ron Parker said. "This is a property rights case, and Ross Chatwin clearly doesn't own this property," said Parker, pointing out that Chatwin did not purchase the lot or build the frame house where he has lived for three years. Chatwin, a 35-year-old father of six, lives in the basement of a green frame house. Chatwin's brother and his family live upstairs. A March 18 telephone conference has been scheduled to resolve questions over subpoenas Chatwin's attorney Joan Dudley attempted to serve on FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, former FLDS bishop Fred Jessop and ousted FLDS member Nephi Barlow just two days before the hearing. Read more


Subpoena targeting FLDS president ruled invalid
Jeffs won't have to testify in eviction case
By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Friday, March 19, 2004
COLORADO CITY, Ariz. — Warren Jeffs, president and prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, will not be compelled to testify in an eviction case involving a former church member. Mohave County Superior Court Judge James Chavez ruled Thursday that the Arizona subpoena issued for Jeffs, who lives in Hildale, Washington County, was not valid. That subpoena was mailed to FLDS attorney Rod Parker at his Salt Lake office. "This was not a close legal issue. It's basic, bar exam stuff," said Parker, following the conference call with Chavez in the Kingman, Ariz., courtroom and an attorney representing Ross Chatwin. "The subpoena power of a state court in a civil case does not extend beyond its own border to a case in another state." Chatwin, 35, is fighting an eviction order to move his family from the basement of a home owned by and built on church property. "This was a big deal to me. Read more


Eviction case has closing arguments
e-Press The Tri-State News Network Murphy Broadcasting, Inc. Originally published Friday, April 16, 2004
KINGMAN, Ariz. - Mohave County Superior Court Judge James Chavez has taken under advisement an eviction case emanating from Colorado City. Chavez is expected to rule within 30 days after attorneys presented closing arguments Wednesday in the proposed eviction of Ross Chatwin. Plaintiff attorney Rodney Parker said Chatwin was a tenant at will of property owned by the United Effort Plan, a trust controlled by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Parker said the trust has legal authority to evict Chatwin without cause or reason if it so chooses. Defense attorney Joan Dudley, however, argued Chatwin grew up being taught that he could live on UEP land for life. Chatwin testified that he was encouraged by church officials to build a home and make other improvements during his period of residency. Dudley maintains Chatwin doesn't want to leave and shouldn't be forced to do so. Or if he is forced to vacate UEP property, Chatwin should be compensated for the value of any improvements he has made over time, according to Dudley. Read more


FLDS leader and two others accused in suit of sexually abusing boy
The Associated Press Originally published Friday July 30, 2004
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) A former member of a polygamous sect on the Utah-Arizona border has filed a lawsuit that alleges three of his uncles one of them the head of the sect sexually abused him when he was a child. The lawsuit by Brent Jeffs, 21, of Salt Lake County said the three told him the actions were a way to make him a man. "Those defendants explained to plaintiff that it was 'God's will' that he never disclose the abuses to anyone, and if he did, it would be upon pain of eternal damnation," the lawsuit filed late Thursday in 3rd District Court alleged. "Thus, for many years, the frightened child remained silent." The lawsuit names Warren Steed Jeffs, 48, president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and his brothers Blaine Balmforth Jeffs and Leslie Balmforth Jeffs. Ron Parker, an attorney for the church, said the church and Jeffs denied the allegations. "The church and President Jeffs believe that the filing of this action is part of a continuing effort by enemies of the church to defame it and its institutions," he said in a statement. "President Jeffs is confident that ultimately these allegations will be shown to be a total fabrication." Read more


FLDS Leader Accused of Sexual Abuse
A sex abuse lawsuit has been filed against the leader of Utah's largest polygamous church. The suit accuses the FLDS church leader of sexually abusing a five year-old boy.
KSL 1160 Newsradio Originally broadcast July 30, 2004
SALT LAKE CITY-(KSL News) -- The leader of Utah's largest polygamous church has been hit with a sex abuse lawsuit. Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs and two of his brothers are accused of sexually abusing a five year-old boy. Brent Jeffs, now 21, claims he was told not to say anything because it was "god's will." FLDS Church lawyer Rod Parker tells KSL Newsradio Warren Jeffs denies the allegations in the strongest possible terms. The lawsuit also accuses Warren Jeffs and his brothers of molesting other boys. The FLDS Church has faced allegations of child bride marriages, and the abuse of young girls. Utah's Attorney General tells KSL Newsradio he is investigating.


Fired worker adds church to civil lawsuit over firing
The Associated Press The Arizona Republic Originally published August 17, 2004
SALT LAKE CITY - A former worker of a Hildale business who claims he was wrongfully terminated because he no longer adhered to town's dominate faith has amended his civil lawsuit to include the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and its president, Warren Jeff. Shem Fischer filed the federal lawsuit in 2002. The former salesman for the Forestwood Company, a wooden cabinetry business, has included new allegations that church officials interfered with his relationship with his employer and blacklisted him. The majority of residents in Hildale and adjoining Colorado City, Ariz., belong to the FLDS Church, which embraces the practice of polygamy. The amended lawsuit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City, includes the original allegations that Fischer was forced out of his job because he protested the 2000 firing of a fellow employee based on the co-worker's lack of belief in FLDS doctrine and because Fischer rejected certain tenets. The firings by the Hildale company were prompted by orders from Jeffs and other FLDS leaders for followers to cease all association with non-followers, Fischer claims. He alleges the officials then put him on a blacklist to stop him from getting a new job. Read more


Worker Adds FLDS Leader to Civil Lawsuit
The Associated Press KSL 1160 NewsRadio Originally broadcast August 18, 2004
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A former worker of a Hildale business who claims he was wrongfully terminated because he no longer adhered to town's dominate polygamist faith has amended his civil lawsuit to include the FLDS president, Warren Jeff. Shem Fischer is a former salesman for the Forestwood Company, a wooden cabinetry business. He is adding the FLDS Church to his lawsuit claiming church officials interfered with his relationship with his employer and blacklisted him. Church attorney Rodney Parker said the claim cites a sermon in which Jeffs read a passage by Brigham Young about shunning apostates. Parker said there was no mention of Fischer or Forestwood. He said the church cannot be held liable for teaching doctrine to its members.


Private eye seeks FLDS prophet
Investigator attempts to serve court summons, copy of suit to Warren Jeffs
By Rachel Olsen The Spectrum Originally published August 20, 2004
HILDALE -- A private investigator attempted Thursday to serve a summons and a copy of a lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Prophet Warren Jeffs. Sam Brower was hired as an investigator by the firm representing the plaintiff, Brent Jeffs. The plaintiff, 21, alleged in the lawsuit that Warren Jeffs and two of his brothers sexually abused him as a child, according to a court document. Brent Jeffs, the nephew of the FLDS prophet, seeks an unspecified amount in the lawsuit. Upon the initial filing of the complaint, Warren Jeffs denied the claims of sexual abuse in a written statement issued through his lawyer, Rodney Parker. The FLDS church is based in the twin communities of Hildale and Colorado City and is led by Warren Jeffs, the self-proclaimed prophet. The FLDS church constitutes the largest polygamist group in North America. Brower said he had already given the papers to an individual at the new polygamist compound in Texas, where the church built what members say is a retreat for the faithful near Eldorado. However, Brower said he wanted to serve the papers at Warren Jeffs' Utah address. Read more


Suit Alleges Polygamist Leader Keeps Blacklist
Courthouse News Service courthousenews.com Originally published August 23, 2004
Polygamist prophet Warren Jeffs has a blacklist of people whom followers of his church are barred from doing business with or employing, according to a suit filed by a former church member. Shem Fischer claims Jeffs added him to the blacklist after he lost his sales job at a Hildale, Utah, furniture company. Forestwood Co. fired him, he says, because he no longer followed Jeffs' Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The "blacklisting of Fischer was done with the intention of preventing Fischer from securing other employment," the amended complaint alleges. Fischer originally sued Forestwood for wrongful termination in 2002. He added Jeffs and the FLDS to the complaint Aug. 10, accusing them of interfering with his employment and blacklisting. The suit is the second to be filed against Jeffs in a month, following that of a nephew of the prophet who accused him of sexual abuse. Read the amended lawsuit


'Lost Boys' Sue FLDS Church
Kimberly Houk Reporting KSL TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast August 28, 2004
Six young men who are being called the "lost boys", filed a lawsuit against the Fundamentalist LDS church, a southern Utah based polygamist religion. They want money for the damage they say was inflicted on them when they were ex-communicated from the church. The boys say they were unlawfully kicked out of the FLDS religion and cut off from their families for minor offenses like drinking, swearing, or smoking. But the "Lost Boys" say the real reason they were thrown out is there's not enough women to go around to keep all the men in polygamous relationships. Last month nearly 100 "Lost Boys" filled the steps of the state capitol. It was the first time any of them wanted to tell their story. Dan Fischer: “It had to stop and we needed to bring it into daylight.” Dan Fischer is a former polygamist who broke away from the FLDS church a decade ago. He's seen firsthand what has happened to these boys and he stands behind them in filing a lawsuit against the FLDS church, their president Warren Jeffs, and various other church members. Dan Fischer: “These boys have been damaged. They've been kept from schooling that they should have had in the young teenage years. They need a second chance. They need an opportunity to get education to continue on in life, to support their families." Read more


FLDS church named in another lawsuit
By Rachel Olsen The Spectrum Originally published Saturday, August 28, 2004
ST. GEORGE -- On the heels of one lawsuit, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was named in another lawsuit Friday. Joanne Suder and other counsel again will represent the plaintiffs -- six of the so-called "lost boys" from the FLDS community. Filed Friday in the 3rd District Court, the lawsuit claims the excommunication and expulsion of the plaintiffs from the FLDS community labels the "males as 'apostates,' results in their eternal damnation and forever severs their contact with FLDS family, friends, institutions, business and employment, and other benefits." The FLDS church, based in the twin communities of Hildale and Colorado City, is led by Warren Jeffs, the self-proclaimed prophet. The FLDS church constitutes the largest polygamist group in North America. Suder, along with other counsel, represents the plaintiff in another lawsuit recently filed, where the plaintiff, the nephew of Jeffs, alleged that Jeffs and two of his brothers sexually abused him as a child. That lawsuit also named the church and the United Effort Plan and Trust, the financial arm of the church, as defendants. The plaintiff seeks an unspecified amount. Read more


Hildale Resident Arrested for Locking House
A man who successfully challenged a polygamous church's effort to evict him from his home has been arrested for trying to keep his brother out of the home.
The Associated Press KSL 1160 Newsradio Originally broadcast September 9, 2004
ST. GEORGE, Utah (AP) -- Ross Chatwin has been trying to evict his brother Steven from the home where the brother has lived in an upstairs apartment. Police officers serving the twin polygamous communities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., arrested Ross Chatwin, 35, on Tuesday on felony trespass charges after he allegedly changed the locks on the apartment. He was booked into a Utah jail and made an initial appearance in an Arizonia Justice Court on Wednesday. A judge set bail at $2,000 and scheduled a Sept. 17 preliminary hearing. Ross Chatwin was excommunicated from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which owns much of the two communities, including the Colorado City property on which Ross Chatwin's home was built. In May, an Arizona court ruled that Ross Chatwin has the right to retain the residence until he receives just compensation for his investments in the residence. Ross Chatwin's effort to evict his brother already was set for a court hearing Friday in Kingman, Ariz. Read more


Lawsuits increase pressure on polygamist sect
By Patty Henetz The Associated Press Originally published Sunday, September 19, 2004
SALT LAKE CITY -- Law enforcement agencies in three states and Canada attempting to solve a myriad of problems in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the empire controlled by its prophet, Warren Jeffs, are getting help from an unlikely pair of allies. Dr. Dan Fischer, a former polygamist who turned a dental practice into a multimillion dollar company that develops and sells advanced dental equipment and materials worldwide, and Joanne Suder, a crusading attorney from Baltimore, are working together on lawsuits against Jeffs and the church alleging child sexual abuse, abandonment and financial fraud. Read more


Arizona court rules against Colorado City eviction
By Paul Davenport The Associated Press Casper Star-Tribune Originally published November 30, 2004
PHOENIX (AP) - An Arizona appellate court has ruled that leaders of a polygamist sect in Colorado City couldn't evict a couple after ousting the man from the sect. The man was removed when his wife refused to allow her 15-year-old daughter to wed a 39-year-old married man. However, the Court of Appeals said the case it decided Tuesday didn't resolve underlying legal issues. The Court of Appeals upheld a Mohave County trial judge's ruling dismissing an eviction action filed against Milton and Lenore Holm by a trust controlled by leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The Holms live in a house on trust land in Colorado City and the trust claimed it had a landlord-tenant relationship with the Holms and that they could be evicted. The couple denied they were tenants, said they had a life-estate interest in the property and argued that allowing the trust to force them from the property would unjustly enrich the trust at their expense. Read more


Looking for church leader in polygamy case
The Associated Press CNEWS - Canada Originally published December 4, 2004
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A U.S. judge has ordered public notices placed in newspapers near polygamist strongholds in Canada and the United States, trying to compel a reclusive church leader accused of sexually abusing his nephew to respond to the lawsuit. The ads target Warren Jeffs, leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Third District Judge Stephen Henriod ordered the notices published in newspapers in St. George, Utah; Eldorado, Texas; Cortez, Colo; and in Bountiful, B.C. In a July 29 lawsuit, 21-year-old Brent Jeffs accuses his three uncles - Warren, Blaine and Leslie Jeffs - of sexually assaulting him years ago when he was a child. Brent Jeffs claims the three told him the actions were a way to make him a man. The lawsuit also names the FLDS church as a defendant. The church's lawyer, Rodney Parker, said Saturday he still has about 20 days to respond to the lawsuit on behalf of the church. However, the Salt Lake City lawyer said he does not represent Jeffs in this lawsuit, and does not know if the church leader has another lawyer. Read more


PUBLIC NOTICE ORDER AND SUMMONS
Legal Announcements The Cortez Journal Originally published December 4, 2004
Joanne L. Suder (MD) Admitted Pro Hac Vice THE SUDER LAW FIRM, P.A. 210 East Lexington Street, Suite 100 Baltimore, MD 21202 Telephone: (410) 727-8177 Telephone: (866) 727-8177 Facsimile: (410) 625-2916 Attorneys for Plaintiff Roger H. Hoole (5089) Heather E. Morrison (6945) Gregory N. Hoole (7894) HOOLE & KING, L.C. 4276 S. Highland Drive Salt Lake City, UT 84124 Telephone: (801) 272-7556 Facsimile: (801) 272-7557
IN THE THIRD JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT, SALT LAKE COUNTY STATE OF UTAH
BRENT JEFFS, Plaintiff, vs. WARREN JEFFS, BLAINE JEFFS, LESLIE JEFFS, FUNDAMENTALIST CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS, AND THE UNITED EFFORT PLAN TRUST, Defendants. ORDER ON EX PARTE MOTION FOR SERVICE BY PUBLICATION AND NOTICE BY PUBLICATION Civil No. 040915857 Judge Stephen L. Henriod Based on the Motion of Plaintiff, Brent Jeffs, for service by publication and notice by publication; the supporting memorandum; the Affidavit of Plaintiff’s investigator, Sam E. Brower; this Court’s determination that the whereabouts of Defendant Warren Jeffs cannot be ascertained through reasonable diligence; and good cause to believe that Defendant Warren Jeffs is avoiding service of process and that the means of service outlined in Plaintiff’s Motion is reasonably calculated under all the circumstances to apprise him of the pendency of this action to the extent reasonably possible or practicable and to ensure the preservation of relevant evidence in this case: IT IS HEREBY ORDERED: 1. Pursuant to Rule 4(d)(4) of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure, Plaintiff shall be allowed to effect service of process upon Defendant Warren Jeffs by publication of this Order with a Summons in the above-referenced matter in the form of the Summons attached hereto as Exhibit 'A'. Read more


Firm for polygamous sect seeks to withdraw from lawsuit
The Associated Press Casper Star-Tribune Originally published December 17, 2004
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A law firm that has long represented a southern Utah polygamous sect is seeking to withdraw as its counsel in two lawsuits. In court documents filed Thursday in 3rd District Court, lawyers for the Salt Lake City-based firm Snow, Christensen and Martineau said the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints "insist(s) upon a course of conduct with which their lawyers have a fundamental disagreement." The two cases involve the FLDS church and its reclusive president, Warren Jeffs, and Sam Barlow, a former marshal in the FLDS town of Colorado City, Ariz. Also named is the United Effort Plan Trust, the sect's charitable entity that owns most of the land in the polygamous twin cities of Hildale and Colorado City, Ariz. One case alleges that Jeffs and other male leaders banish young men from their homes so they can marry more young brides. The FLDS church preaches polygamy as a central tenet and faithful FLDS men often have three or more wives who each bear numerous children. Warren Jeffs' whereabouts are unknown to most outside his closed community, whose members are told not to speak to reporters. His compound in Hildale is surrounded by a 10-foot wall. Read more


FLDS attorneys want out of 2 cases
Firm cites 'fundamental disagreement' with clients
By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Friday, December 17, 2004
ST. GEORGE — A Salt Lake City legal firm is seeking to withdraw as counsel for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in two civil cases filed against it in 3rd District Court. The legal firm of Snow, Christensen & Martineau has long represented the FLDS church and its charitable trust, the United Effort Plan, in court matters. According to the motion, filed late Thursday before Judge Stephen L. Henriod, withdrawal is permitted under Utah's Rule of Professional Conduct because "the clients insist upon a course of conduct with which their lawyers have a fundamental disagreement." Withdrawal is also required because the firm's lawyers have been discharged from representing the defendants in the two cases, according to the motion filed by firm attorney Rod Parker. The motion to withdraw does not affect the firm's commitment in other pending court cases involving the FLDS church or the UEP. Read more


FLDS lawyers file release motions
Lawsuits have no representation pending ruling
By Rachle Olsen The Spectrum Originally published December 18, 2004
ST. GEORGE -- Two lawsuits filed against the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have no representation pending a judge's ruling, a new fact that prompted attorneys on the other side to file an opposing motion on Friday. The opposition came in response to the motion filed late Thursday in the 3rd District Court. Longtime FLDS attorney Rod Parker and the Snow, Christensen & Martineau law firm petitioned the court to be released from representing the FLDS church and the financial arm of the church, the United Effort Plan Trust, in two lawsuits recently filed against the entities and other personal parties, including FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs. Parker cited two reasons in the motion. First, he referenced a Utah Rule of Professional Conduct, "in that the clients insist upon a course of conduct with which their lawyers have a fundamental disagreement." And further, Parker says, withdrawal is required because "the lawyers have been discharged from representation of the defendants in (these) case(s)," according to court documents. Gregory Hoole, an attorney working with the case on the plaintiffs' side, said the problem is that a deposition for a key witness -- where representation from both sides are needed -- is scheduled to occur Dec. 27, after which the witness is returning to Georgia for deployment to the Middle East and will thus be unavailable. Read more


PUBLIC NOTICE
Legal Announcements The Cortez Journal Originally published January 29, 2005
PUBLIC NOTICE James W. Stewart (#3959) Boyd L. Rogers (#10095) BALLARD SPAHR ANDREWS & INGERSOLL, LLP One Utah Center, Suite 600 201 South Main Street Salt Lake City, Utah 84111-2221 Telephone: (801) 531-3000 Facsimile: (801) 531-3001 Attorneys for Plaintiff, Shem Fischer IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF UTAH, CENTRAL DIVISION SHEM FISCHER, Plaintiff, vs. FORESTWOOD COMPANY, INC., a Utah corporation, a/k/a FORESTWOOD, FORESTWOOD INDUSTRIAL, INC., a Utah corporation, CORPORATION OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE FUNDAMENTALIST CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS, CORPORATION OF THE PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE FUNDAMENTALIST CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS, WARREN S. JEFFS, JOHN DOE COMPANIES I-V, and JOHN DOE INDIVIDUALS I-X. Defendants. ORDER ON EX PARTE MOTION FOR SERVICE BY PUBLICATION Case No. 2-02-CV-210K Honorable Dale A. Kimball Based on the Motion of Plaintiff, Shem Fischer, for service by publication, the Affidavit of Sam E. Brower, and the Court's determination that the whereabouts of Defendant, Warren Jeffs, cannot be ascertained through reasonable diligence, that good cause exists to believe that Defendant Warren Jeffs is avoiding service of process and that the means of service outlined in Plaintiff's Motion is reasonable calculated under all the circumstances to apprise him of the pendency of this action to the extent reasonably possible or practicable: Read more


Warren Jeffs 'notified by publication' in connection with federal civil suit
By Tom Vaughan Mancos Times Editor Originally published February 8, 2005
Warren Jeffs is back in newspapers again. This time the prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-day Saints is in the legal notices, instead of the front page. For the second time, Jeffs is being served notice by publication that he is being sued in a Utah court, and he needs to make his whereabouts known to defend himself. The first time this happened was in late November, when legals relating to the sexual molestation charges brought by Brent Jeffs in a civil suit in Utah state court were published in the Cortez Journal, as well as in newspapers in St. George, Utah; Creston, British Columbia; and Eldorado, Texas. In the present instance, the notification relates to a federal civil suit brought by Shem Fischer in Utah, alleging religious discrimination on the grounds that he was fired from his job because he became an apostate from the FLDS group. This notice was not run in British Columbia. No such notice has been seen yet for a third civil suit, the "Lost Boys" suit, brought in a Utah state court on behalf of six young men who allege Warren Jeffs and other defendants wrongly excommunicated them from the FLDS and damned them to perdition. The "lost boys" claim they were kicked out to reduce the competition for young FLDS women to be taken as plural wives for older men in the polygamous sect. Read more


Attorneys ask for trustees of FLDS finances
By Rachel Olsen The Spectrum Originally published Saturday, February 19, 2005
ST. GEORGE -- New trustees are being requested for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' financial arm, United Effort Plan, by the same attorneys representing individuals bringing lawsuits against the church, its leaders and the UEP. The request comes because the trust is not defending itself in the lawsuits in which it is named as a defendant. In December, the longtime attorney for the FLDS church, Rod Parker, and the Snow, Christensen & Martineau law firm petitioned the court to be released from representing the FLDS church and the UEP in the two lawsuits recently filed against the entities and other individual parties, including FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs. One lawsuit was filed by a nephew of the FLDS prophet who alleged that FLDS leaders, including Jeffs, sexually abused him. Jeffs denied those claims in a written statement issued from his then-lawyer. The other case Parker asked to be removed from involves a group known as the "Lost Boys," male individuals who claim they were kicked out of their homes in the predominately FLDS area of Hildale and Colorado City. Sam Brower, a private investigator hired to find Jeffs, said the request of new trustees for the UEP would free people. Read more


Jeffs ruled in defaul in FLDS lawsuit
The Associated Press KOLD News 13 - Tucson Originally broadcast Saturday, March 12, 2005
SALT LAKE CITY The leader of a polygamous church has been ruled in default in a federal civil lawsuit claiming he blacklisted a former member. This means Warren Jeffs has given up the right to defend himself and possibly opening himself to damages. The clerk of U-S District Court in Salt Lake City entered a certificate of default yesterday against Jeffs, who is the president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Church members live in the bordering towns of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City in Arizona. Shem Fischer is a former worker of a Hildale business who claims he was wrongfully fired because he no longer adhered to town's dominate faith. He filed the federal lawsuit in 2002. He claims he was then blacklisted. With Jeffs' default, Fischer can now either request a hearing or submit an affidavit to argue the amount of monetary damages he should be paid. Jeffs has the legal right to dispute the amount but cannot defend himself against the underlying allegations in the suit.


Federal court finds Jeffs in default in Fischer lawsuit
The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published March 17, 2005
Warren Jeffs, the leader of a polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, was found to be in default last Friday in a federal civil lawsuit that accused him of blacklisting a former church member. The news came when the clerk of the court entered a certificate of default against Jeffs, indicating that he has failed to respond to a summons to appear. The ruling means Jeffs has forfeited the right to defend himself and could be held liable for damages in the case. Shem Fischer, who was once employed by a cabinet company in Hildale, UT, alleges in the lawsuit that he was wrongfully terminated from his job because he no longer adhered to the town’s dominate FLDS faith. Fischer’s attorneys were unable to locate Jeffs to serve him with the lawsuit, so they published notices earlier this year in three newspapers in areas where the FLDS Church owns or controls property — the Spectrum in St. George, UT, the Cortez Journal in Colorado and here in the Eldorado Success. The certificate of default was issued because Jeffs failed to respond within 20 days of the publications. Fischer, who worked as a salesman for the Forestwood Co., alleged in the lawsuit that church officials interfered with his relationship with his employer and blacklisted him. Read more


ABC News "Primetime":
Woman Returns To Polygamous Religious Sect To Confront Her Father
NewsWatch50 WWTI - Watertown, NY www.newswatch50.com Originally published July 27, 2005
A WOMAN RETURNS TO AN ARIZONA POLYGAMOUS RELIGIOUS SECT TO CONFRONT HER FATHER AND OTHERS IN AN EFFORT TO OVERCOME THE DEMONS OF HER PAST "Primetime" Airs Thursday, July 28th at 10pm E.T. on WWTI NewsWatch50. John Quiñones returns to the isolated community of Colorado City, AZ, with anti-polygamy activist Flora Jessop and her cousin, Laurene. Last year, Laurene escaped from the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints sect, where she was placed into a polygamous marriage arranged by the sect. For Laurene, this trip is an opportunity to confront the father she claims sexually abused her, her mother and other members of the sect -- all in an effort to prove to herself that she’s truly free from the clutches of her past. "PRIMETIME" airs THURSDAY, JULY 28 (10:00-11:00pm ET) on the ABC Television Network. The FLDS arranges for girls to be married off in their teen years to older men, and expects them to bear many children and obey their husbands’ every command. Laurene, who had fifty-five siblings, moved out of her parents’ home at age 19 and was placed in an arranged marriage to an older man, Val Jessop. On different occasions when she disobeyed her husband, she says, she was sent away from her children to a mental institution. Laurene was once arrested and handcuffed by the town's police, which are, in effect, controlled by the sect. Read more


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


A brewing storm
An increasingly nasty battle between a strict polygamous sect and the state
The Economist economist.com Originally published October 13, 2005
This small Arizona town on the Utah border looks idyllic enough. Mountains loom behind it, tomatoes grow wild, and children trot past on pet ponies. But when Gary Engels, the Mohave County state investigator, does his morning rounds in Colorado City, drivers try to run him down, women in long skirts call him a bastard and small boys spit at him. "They hate me," sighs the state investigator, dodging another truck. Such hostility conveys the growing tension between the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), America's largest independent polygamist group, and outsiders. The 10,000-member sect dominates Colorado City and the neighbouring town of Hildale. In June, as a result of Mr Engels's snooping, the leader of FLDS, Warren Jeffs, was indicted on two charges to do with organising child-bride marriages; he fled immediately. Eight other members, who turned themselves in, face similar charges, which they deny. The FLDS used to be a rebel offshoot of the Mormon church. Its members believe they are the chosen people, Mr Jeffs is their prophet and everyone else is damned. Members also openly practise polygamy. This is illegal but there are no penalties cited in the Arizona constitution. The current dispute has to do with two different sets of former FLDS members. Read more


Former Jeffs Compound to be Razed
Jed Boal Reporting KSL-TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast April 14, 2006
The old Jeffs compound at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon is slated for demolition in a month. The Alta Academy, as it was called, is where his young nephews say Warren Jeffs abused them. The neighborhood is much different today than it was when FLDS prophet, Rulon Jeffs, and his son Warren built this compound. In the 70's they had few neighbors. By the 1990's, the Alta Academy schooled 300 students a day. Rulon lived there. Warren was right next door. And by most accounts, the polygamous clan could be self-sufficient. They gardened, pulled trout from a pond and generated electricity. When Jeffs moved to Colorado City and sold the property in 1999, Jason Ivers moved in with a non-profit, Common Thread. It's a facility for people waiting for organ transplants. His knowledge of the compound's past comes from Jeffs' brothers and former students. Jason Ivers, Common Thread, Inc.: "There's a bit of nostalgia for them. They went to school here. They had friends here. This is where they grew up." Read more


Alta Academy Video Brings Back Ugly Memories for Jeffs' Nephew
Alex Cabrero reporting KSL-TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast April 15, 2006
In just a couple of months, the former compound where FLDS leader Warren Jeffs used to teach will be no more. The building will be torn down to make way for new houses. One former member says it's about time. We spoke one-on-one with Jeff's nephew who didn't have good experiences at the former Alta Academy. Brent Jeffs knows he had good times with his friends inside, but those aren't the memories he has of this place. Instead, all he says he can remember, is when his uncle, Warren Jeffs, sexually assaulted him several times. Brent Jeffs: "I was in every room of the building, the green carpet especially." Amazing, how your brain can bring you back, just by looking at some pictures. Brent Jeffs: "We'd play hide and go seek down the halls and stuff." It's been a long time since Brent Jeffs was a student in the building, close to 15 years. But looking at the video we showed him of the place, it all came back like it was yesterday. Brent Jeffs, Former Alta Academy Student: "Tons and tons and tons of memories. Looking at all this and everything else, it's just my whole childhood, my whole entire life was in that building mostly." But it's the memories of a particular bathroom Jeffs wants to forget. That bathroom is where he says his uncle, Warren Jeffs, current leader of the FLDS church, sodomized, assaulted and raped him, all in the name of God. Read more


Standoff over home in polygamist town
The Associated Press The Arizona Republic Originally published April 21, 2006
COLORADO CITY - After a five-hour standoff with police, his family and the court-appointed attorneys who oversee the trust of a polygamist church, Patrick Pipkin got his home back. Pipkin, 23, arrived at the house at 12:30 a.m. Thursday to find the entry blocked by his uncle, Taylor Bistline. A call came in on a cell phone from Lyle Jeffs, the local leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which controls the towns of Colorado City and Hildale, Utah. "He asked me: Are you with Warren?" said Pipkin, referring to Lyle's older brother, Warren Jeffs the FLDS church leader who is in hiding. "I said no," Pipkin said, describing a rare instance when a church member has used the new trust leadership to defy a church eviction. "I made my decision." Pipkin's story is not unique, said friend Merril Stubbs. For nearly three years, church leaders have moved to evict those who are not been deemed worthy. Mostly men are booted from the community, with their wives and children often reassigned to other men, he said. Since the state took control of the United Effort Plan trust and legal pressures have mounted, church leaders have demanded even greater obedience from members. And those with questions, like Pipkin, are vulnerable. His stepfather was sent away eight months ago, and Pipkin himself was recently demoted as the church-appointed family leader, in favor of Bistline. Read more


Family alleges Colorado City polygamist-owned restaurant violated their civil rights
By Brent Hunsaker ABC 4 News Originally published July 28, 2006
All the Chatwins wanted was a little lunch. They were turned away - not once, but twice. The 2nd time they brought with them a video camera hidden in a bag. On the tape, the restaurant owner, "Big Dan" Steed, can be heard saying, "See that sign on the door, I will enforce that, okay?" Steed was pointing to a sign that states the restaurant reserves the right to refuse service. Isaac Wyler, a Chatwin cousin, respectfully asked, "Can you even give us a reason why? Is there something about me that I can change so that I can be served?" He received no answer. "If a black person came in here, would you treat him like this?" Still no answer. Instead, Steed picked up a cell phone and called the Jeffs controlled Colorado City town marshall and asked the Chatwins be removed. "It's all because of our religion," said Michelle Chatwin who was there with her cousin Isaac and her husband Andrew. Their family does not follow the polygamist FLDS prophet, Warren Jeffs. Read more


Debt collection on Jeffs evidence?
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Thursday, October 5, 2006
An ex-member of the Fundamentalist LDS Church is hoping to collect on an old debt from captured polygamist leader Warren Jeffs. Lawyers for Shem Fischer filed papers in Nevada's federal court late Tuesday, trying to get involved in the fight over evidence the FBI seized when it arrested Jeffs during a traffic stop outside Las Vegas on Aug. 28. Inside the red Cadillac Escalade that Jeffs was riding in, FBI agents found thousands in cash, computers, cell phones, wigs, sunglasses, gift cards and even a Book of Mormon. Fischer claims some of that property belongs to him. "We're just trying to collect on the judgment," Fischer's lawyer James Stewart told the Deseret Morning News on Wednesday. In 2002, Fischer filed a religious discrimination lawsuit in Utah's federal court against Washington County-based Forestwood Co., the FLDS Church and Warren Jeffs. Fischer claimed he was fired from his job as a sales representative for the cabinet-maker because he no longer believed some of the tenets of the FLDS Church. It came at about the same time that Jeffs handed down an edict telling FLDS faithful to cut off all ties with non-believers. Fischer was fired and replaced by a faithful member, he said in the lawsuit. "Fischer was told by Forestwood that unless he reformed his religious beliefs, and ascribed to those FLDS religious beliefs held by certain other owners and/or operators of Forestwood, he would not be rehired," court documents stated. Read more


Teen in tug of war between Vegas and FLDS dominated community
By Darcy Spears KVBC News 3 - Las Vegas Originally broadcast October 9, 2006
A 16-year-old girl is caught in a tug of war playing out in family court. One side wants to move her into an area in Arizona dominated by the FLDS church, the other is trying to keep her in her native Las Vegas, and away from the polygamist lifestyle. In Cane Beds, Arizona, just 2 miles outside the FLDS stronghold of Colorado City, residents live a simple, rural life. Not the life one 16-year-old girl wants or can even imagine. And one she fears being dragged into by her own mother. "The main goal here is to keep Christine the way she's always been her entire life. She was raised here. She's from here. This is where her family is," says Christine's aunt Carol Scott. But part of the 16-year-old's family has moved to Cane Beds, Arizona, a bedroom community of nearby Colorado City. "I've been contacted by several people, people who have tried to rescue girls that are there because, you know, even though Warren Jeffs has been captured, it's still is full of people that are living that lifestyle and girls are trying to be rescued from there every day," explains Christine's other aunt, Lynn Reynolds. Christine's mother and step-father, Jennifer and Marcus Bistline, want to move her there. The town is populated by many members of the Bistline family, including her step-grandfather, Ben Bistline, who wrote a historical book about the FLDS polygamists, and subsequently had his house burned down by church members. Based on that, a family court judge Friday decided to allow Christine to stay in her grandmother's custody in Las Vegas, until they can hold an evidentiary hearing. Read more


Mother and step-father respond to teen tug of war
By Darcy Spears KVBC News 3 - Las Vegas Originally broadcast October 12, 2006
A family court judge wants more time and outside evaluation on the case of a Las Vegas teenager who's at the center of a custody battle. But this is no ordinary family squabble. It involves concerns about a young girl being forced to move to an area dominated by a polygamist group. The Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints have been big news for their controversial beliefs, treatment of women and children, and their leader Warren Jeffs' recent arrest on rape charges. But a local mother told a judge Monday that bringing that into her custody case is just a smokescreen. 16-year-old Durango High School student Christine wants no part of the rural life her mother and step-father want to move her to. She's lived here in Las Vegas all her life, but Jennifer and Marcus Bistline want to take her to Cane Beds, Arizona, which is next door to an infamous FLDS stronghold. "It's a desolate strip of desert two miles away from Colorado City and it is full of the people who are outcasts from the polygamists," says Christine's aunt, Lynn Reynolds. Reynolds and Christine's other aunt, Carol Scott, are helping the teen fight her mother and stepfather in family court. Several of Marcus Bistline's family members are outcasts from the FLDS church. A few are former polygamists. Read more


UEP suits closer to settlement
Also, star witness in Jeffs' case files a lawsuit against him
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Friday, December 22, 2006
A series of multimillion-dollar personal injury lawsuits filed against the Fundamentalist LDS Church's financial arm are closer to being settled. According to the latest report filed by the court-appointed special fiduciary of the United Effort Plan Trust, settlement negotiations with lawyers representing ex-FLDS members are ongoing. "Counsel for the parties have met periodically and have exchanged serious settlement offers," Bruce Wisan wrote in a Dec. 6 report to the judge filed in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court. The UEP Trust is being sued in three separate lawsuits — one filed by Warren Jeffs' nephew, Brent Jeffs; another filed by a group of teens known as "The Lost Boys"; and one filed by the woman who is testifying against Jeffs in the criminal case against the FLDS leader. Brent Jeffs claims his uncle sexually abused him as a child while attending the Alta Academy, a now-defunct FLDS school at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon. Jeffs was principal of the school at the time. "The Lost Boys" claim they were ousted from their homes and families in the polygamous border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., for a number of "sins." Read more


Polygamist leader's papers topic of Nevada federal court hearing
By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press KVOA News 4 - Tucson Originally published January 6, 2007
SALT LAKE CITY -- Attorneys for polygamist church leader Warren Jeffs will square off with a cadre of other lawyers in a Las Vegas federal court Monday over a cache of cash and evidence seized in Jeffs' August arrest. Among those wanting a look at evidence are attorneys for the United Effort Plan Trust, which holds $110 million in church property, and Shem Fischer, a former follower who sued Jeffs after being fired from his job. Both parties want U.S. District Judge Robert Jones to grant them standing in Jeffs' case and access to papers, letters and electronic documents being held by the FBI - a move Jeffs' attorneys are trying to block. Jeffs, 51, is the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was picked up in a traffic stop near Las Vegas on federal warrants after evading prosecution in Utah and Arizona for nearly two years. He's now in a southern-Utah county jail pending an April trial on two felony counts of rape as an accomplice related to a 2001 arranged marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her cousin. Police seized $54,000 in cash, letters and other papers, laptop computers, cell phones, and other items from the Cadillac Escalade Jeffs was riding in at the time of the arrest. The contents of the letters and information on computers isn't publicly known. But in court documents, Jeffs' Las Vegas attorney Richard Wright contends the information is "sacred and confidential" because it includes matters of church doctrine and private communications between Jeffs and his followers. Read more


Polygamous cops feeling more pressure
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning New Originally published Tuesday, January 23, 2007
The heat continues to be turned up on the police officers in the polygamous border towns of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Ariz. The court-appointed special fiduciary of the United Effort Plan Trust has been talking about the town marshals to the Peace Officer Standards and Training authorities in Utah and Arizona. "I was invited to provide information," Bruce Wisan said in court Monday. The Utah POST Council has placed the entire Hildale/Colorado City Town Marshal's Office under investigation over their loyalties to Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs. Arizona POST officials are conducting a similar investigation. The court-appointed fiduciary has had trouble getting any cooperation from police to investigate the disappearance of buildings and equipment in the towns. Crimes that occur go unresolved, Wisan complained. Meanwhile, a series of civil lawsuits filed against the UEP may be closer to settlement. Wisan and his lawyers met on Monday with lawyers suing the trust. Some new terms may include deeds to UEP property being given to the "Lost Boys," a group of teenage boys who were kicked out of the FLDS Church. Settlement talks are also underway in another suit brought by Warren Jeffs' nephew, Brent, who claims he was sexually abused as a child by the FLDS leader. Read more


'Lost Boy' suing Jeffs to find his mother
Lawsuit is seeking damages as well as mother's location
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Johnny Jessop wants to know where his mother is. He wants to know so badly, he'll sue Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs to get an answer. Jessop and his lawyers filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court demanding a judge force Jeffs to reveal the location of Elsi Jessop. "This gives Mr. Jeffs an opportunity to reunite at least one family," said Jessop's lawyer, Roger Hoole. If Jeffs refuses to talk, a judge could find him in contempt and give him more time in jail. According to the lawsuit, Jessop lived with his natural parents until 1998, when FLDS leaders took his mother and his siblings and "reassigned" them to live with another man. As Warren Jeffs took control of the FLDS Church from his father, numerous families were broken up and men were kicked out of the polygamous church on the Utah-Arizona border. Jessop says that at age 13 he was kicked out by Jeffs, who by then was considered the "prophet." "Jessop was told to come and get his belongings or they would be thrown out," Hoole wrote in the lawsuit. "Jeffs' actions in expelling Jessop from the Short Creek community alienated Jessop from the affection of his mother, deprived him of her support, and severed him from his family, friends, school, work and all else he had ever known." Read more


Teen sues polygamist leader to disclose whereabouts of mother
By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press USA Today Originally published Tuesday, February 21, 2007
SALT LAKE CITY -- Saying he was kicked out of his home and his fundamentalist church, an 18-year-old man sued Tuesday to force polygamist leader Warren Jeffs to help him reconnect with his family. Attorneys for Johnny Jessop, 18, asked a state judge to order Jeffs, head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, to tell Jessop how to find his 62-year-old mother, Elsie. Jessop has not spoken to his mother in more than 18 months, attorney Roger Hoole said. Jessop is among what may be dozens of so-called "Lost Boys" who say they were kicked out of the FLDS church in the past four years by Jeffs for being disobedient or because they were seen as competition to older men seeking young brides. The FLDS practices polygamy and arranged marriages. The faith has an estimated 10,000 members, mostly in the border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. Jessop grew up in Hildale, Hoole said. FLDS members consider themselves "fundamentalist Mormons," although the mainstream church disavows any connection. They also consider Jeffs a prophet of God with dominion over their salvation. Read more


Ousted FLDS man reunites with mom
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Friday, April 6, 2007
A man who had been denied contact with his mother and had sued Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs to learn her whereabouts has been reunited with her. Johnny Jessop's attorney confirmed to the Deseret Morning News that he met with his mother last month. "He received a call from his brother, who said, 'Would you like to see Mother?' He spent a half-day with her in St. George," Jessop's lawyer Roger Hoole said Thursday. "His brothers were very cordial. Johnny was just thrilled and plans on seeing her a lot more." However, Hoole said Jessop has no plans to drop his lawsuit against Jeffs. "Not until we're absolutely satisfied there are no more impediments to that relationship," Hoole said. Jessop, 18, filed suit against Jeffs in 3rd District Court in Salt Lake City in February. Jessop says that in 1998, FLDS leaders took his mother and his siblings and "reassigned" them to live with another man. When Jessop was 13, Jeffs — who was considered the "prophet" — ordered him to leave the polygamous communities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., according to the lawsuit. "Jeffs' actions in expelling Jessop from the Short Creek community alienated Jessop from the affection of his mother, deprived him of her support and severed him from his family, friends, school, work and all else he had ever known," the lawsuit said. Read more


Another civil case filed against Jeffs
By Patrice St. Germain The Spectrum Originally published May 2, 2007
HURRICANE - Another civil case against self-proclaimed prophet Warren Steed Jeffs was filed in 5th District Court on Friday. The newest claim is that Jeffs punished a man who was his courier and caretaker for seven months by forcing him to leave his family and repent. The complaint, filed by the law firm of Hoole & King on behalf of Wendell Musser, names Jeffs, his brother Lyle Jeffs and Does I-V as the defendants. Musser, a former member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who now lives in Idaho, was selected in December 2005 as a courier and caretaker for several of Jeffs' "spiritual wives." For seven months, Musser served the priesthood until he was arrested for driving while under the influence of alcohol. Jeffs reportedly separated the man from his family and told him to repent. Attorney Roger Hoole said since Musser was isolated from his family and told to return from Colorado to Short Creek to repent, he has been unable to locate the whereabouts of his wife, Vivian, and his son, Levi. "This case is really about Wendell being reunited with his son and his family," Hoole said. "This is a young man who simply wants to meet his financial obligations with his son and coordinate with the mother to do that." Read more


ANDERSON COOPER 360 DEGREES
CNN Originally broadcast May 17, 2007
He helped polygamist leader Warren Jeffs when Jeffs was on the lam. Now he's suing him. And he's trying to get his family back from the church that he says took them away. Up next: When polygamist leader Warren Jeffs went to jail, he left his wives in good hands. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Special foods, special clothing, just almost like princesses. I'm going to say queens and princesses. (LAUGHTER) (END VIDEO CLIP) COOPER: Now the young man who helped watch over those polygamist princesses says the church is keeping his wife and son from him. His fight to get his family back -- coming up next. COOPER: We've been following this guy's case for some time now. Warren Jeffs, polygamist sect leader, self-proclaimed prophet of God, and now prisoner awaiting trial. Tonight, the strange saga of Warren Jeffs turns even darker. We're going to tell you the story from a young man who was driven out of the church. And what he says Jeffs took from him, is frankly hard to believe. CNN's Gary Tuchman reports. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Twenty-two-year-old Wendell Musser has a construction business in western Idaho. Keeping busy helps him cope with the mystery involving the two loves of his life: his wife, Vivian, and his toddler son, Levi. WENDELL MUSSER, FORMER FLDS CHURCH MEMBER: I missed his first birthday. He just started walking when I got excommunicated. TUCHMAN: Excommunicated from the church run by polygamist leader Warren Jeffs. And as a punishment, Musser says Vivian and Levi were taken from him. And nobody will tell him where they are. Read more


Reunion with family is a letdown
Jeffs' ex-caretaker meets wife, son — but she rejects him
By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press Deseret Morning News Originally published Sunday, May 27, 2007
ST. GEORGE — After a year of forced separation that was ordered by his former church leader, Warren Jeffs, Wendell Musser has had a bittersweet reunion with his wife and child. On Friday inside an auto parts store in Hildale, Musser saw Vivian Barlow Musser and their 18-month-old son, Levi — but his wife rejected admonitions of love and refused to let the 22-year-old father cradle his son. "He was crushed when he came out," said Greg Hoole, Musser's attorney, who waited outside the store during the 90-minute meeting. Musser hadn't seen his family since leaving the Fundamentalist LDS Church last July. A nephew of Jeffs, Musser was once a caretaker for the church president's many wives, living for seven months in hiding in a series of Colorado cities beginning in December 2005. At the time, Jeffs was on the run from lawsuits in Utah and criminal charges in Arizona. Out of favor after a DUI arrest in Colorado Springs, Colo., Musser was sent away by Jeffs to repent and had his family taken from him. He was been told by his father that Vivian and Levi had been given to another man, a practice common in the FLDS Church. Musser filed a civil lawsuit against Jeffs May 4 in St. George's 5th District Court. The lawsuit asks the court to force Jeffs to disclose Vivian and Levi's whereabouts. Jeffs, 51, has led the church since 2002. He is in jail charged with rape as an accomplice in connection with the 2001 spiritual marriage of a 14-year-old FLDS girl to her 19-year-old cousin. The church, which is based in the twin communities of Hildale and Colorado City, Ariz., has an estimated 10,000 followers. They are said to be blindly obedient and consider Jeffs a prophet who communicates with God. Musser was traveling from Hildale to his home in Payette, Idaho, Saturday and could not be reached by The Associated Press. Friday was the deadline for Jeffs to respond to the lawsuit. He didn't, but the meeting arranged by Musser's father, David Musser, could only have happened with church approval, Hoole said. "They proved our point — that they control every aspect of these people's lives," he said. Read more


Arizona AG sues Colorado City businesses for discrimination
By Chris Kahn The Associated Press Fox 10 - Phoenix Originally published Thursday, June 14, 2007
PHOENIX -- The Arizona Attorney General's Office filed separate civil rights lawsuits Thursday against the owners of two Colorado City restaurants that allegedly refused to serve former members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The lawsuits against Big Dan's Drive Thru and Vermillion Candy Shoppe accuse the owners and staff of turning away Isaac Wyler and Andrew Chatwin and other former FLDS members. Andrea Esquer, a spokeswoman for the Arizona Attorney General's Office, said both restaurants are owned by current FLDS members. The sect practices polygamy and arranged marriages, and has about 10,000 members on the Utah-Arizona line. "They were refused service because they weren't members," Esquer said. "The law in Arizona says that if you operate a place of public accommodation, you cannot refuse service based on religion." The Attorney General's Office said that Daniel Porter Steed, who owns Big Dan's, and Vermillion owner Bygnal Dutson are not currently represented by lawyers. Two phone numbers listed under Steed's name in Colorado City were disconnected. A woman who answered the phone Thursday at Big Dan's Drive Thru said she didn't know where Steed was or how to contact him. A man who answered the phone at Vermillion said the owner or manager of the store didn't want to talk to the media. Read more


AG's office files lawsuit against two Colorado City businesses
By Patrice St. Germain The Spectrum Originally published June 15, 2007
HURRICANE - The Arizona Attorney General's Office has filed a civil lawsuit against two Colorado City businesses for allegedly refusing to serve former members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The lawsuit is based on incidents that allegedly occurred last year in which several former members of the FLDS church entered the establishments and allegedly were refused service. In one instance, the group, which consisted of Andrew Chatwin, Isaac Wyler, William Daniel Chatwin and a friend, paid and were waiting for their food and were reportedly asked to leave. After pointing out they had already ordered and paid for their food, the food was reportedly delivered to their table in "to go" boxes. In another instance, the Colorado City police were reportedly called to the establishment. Michelle Chatwin, Andrew's wife, said the complaints were filed with the Arizona Attorney General's Office to bring the Constitution back to the town. "We need some normalcy instead of this craziness," Chatwin said. "They (the business owners) have got to stop treating people not of their religion like dirt." Read more


Jeffs faces deposition in missing family suit
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Friday, July 27, 2007
HURRICANE — Lawyers will question Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs today in an attempt to learn the whereabouts of an ex-member's estranged wife and son. Jeffs missed a Wednesday deadline to hand over information about where Wendell Musser's wife, Vivian, and son, Levi, are. Now, the polygamist sect leader faces a deposition this afternoon at the Purgatory Jail. "I'm not surprised," Musser's attorney, Roger Hoole, told the Deseret Morning News on Wednesday night. "Mr. Jeffs' response to civil litigation in general, is not to say anything." Hoole said if Jeffs refuses to answer questions today, they will ask the courts to seek sanctions against him. For each day he withholds information, a judge has ordered Jeffs to pay a $600 fee, taken out of his jail commissary account. Musser, 22, filed a lawsuit against Jeffs earlier this year, accusing the FLDS leader of breaking apart his family. In addition to money, the lawsuit demands Jeffs provide information that reunites him with his son. After the suit was filed, FLDS leaders arranged a brief meeting in May, where Musser was allowed to see Vivian and Levi. He was not allowed to hold his son, and Vivian said she wanted nothing to do with her husband. "We just want to find Wendell's son and reunite them," Hoole said. "Wendell will respect her wishes, but he's certainly entitled to a relationship with his son." Read more


Jeffs snubs ex-follower in custody case
By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Saturday, July 28, 2007
HURRICANE, Washington County — Jailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs refused Friday to assist a former follower in the man's fight to be reunited with a toddler son that he hasn't been able to hold for 13 months. Wendell Musser, 22, had hoped to learn where his former wife, Vivian Barlow, and their son, Levi, have been and where they are now. He is certain that Jeffs can make that happen if he wants to, said Roger Hoole, Musser's attorney. "Why he (Jeffs) is keeping this father and boy away from each other makes no sense," said Hoole, who interviewed Jeffs under oath at the Purgatory Correctional Facility in Hurricane about Musser's missing family. "But there are a lot of things involving Warren Jeffs that make no sense." Jeffs, 51, is considered by members of the Fundamentalist LDS Church to be their president and prophet. In recent years, dozens of men have been exiled and lost their families after Jeffs said they were no longer worthy to hold the priesthood and lead their families. Musser once worked for Jeffs as a caretaker for several of the church leader's wives, helping the women move between safe houses in Colorado while Jeffs was on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list. After being picked up on suspicion of drunk driving in Colorado, Musser was told to leave everyone and everything behind and return to Hildale, where he could repent. He returned to the polygamist community. But Musser said he was never forgiven. Instead, he was stripped of his young family and told he no longer held the priesthood. Musser was then exiled and his family reassigned. Read more


Lawyers seek contempt charge against Warren Jeffs
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Lawyers for an ex-member of the Fundamentalist LDS Church are asking a judge to hold polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs in contempt of court. In a motion filed in St. George's 5th District Court, Wendell Musser's attorneys seek to have Jeffs remain in jail one day for each day he refuses to answer questions about where Musser's wife and 2-year-old son are. They also seek financial penalties against the FLDS leader after a deposition went nowhere last week at the Purgatory Jail. "Based upon the advice of my counsel, I decline to answer the question because my answer may be used against me contrary to the protections afforded me by the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution," Jeffs said in a transcript of the deposition obtained today by the Deseret Morning News. Jeffs repeated that statement to most of the questions asked by Musser's attorney Roger Hoole. "Jeffs refused to answer even the most innocuous of questions, including whether or not he knew Wendell Musser, recognized his picture or would be willing to talk to him," Hoole wrote in court papers filed Tuesday. Read more


Wife of former Jeffs' caretaker steps up, seeks child support
By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press KVOA News Channel 4 - Tucson Originally published August 3, 2007
SALT LAKE CITY -- A former key ally of polygamous-sect leader Warren Jeffs may be closer to finding his family but harmony appears unlikely. Wendell Musser has sued Jeffs to learn the whereabouts of his wife and son. Now his wife, Vivian Barlow, has emerged, disclosing the county where they live and seeking sole custody of Levi, 2. Barlow said Musser should have only supervised visits with Levi, according to documents filed Friday in 5th District Court in southern Utah's Washington County. Raised in Jeffs' Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on the Utah-Arizona border, Musser and Barlow were married in a religious ceremony in 2005. Musser claims Jeffs forced him out of the church and cut him off from his family last summer after a drunken-driving arrest in Colorado. At that time, Musser said he was a caretaker for Jeffs' many wives in a string of Colorado homes while the church leader was on the run from criminal charges in Arizona and Utah. Musser, 22, filed a lawsuit against Jeffs in May seeking access to his family. A judge ordered Jeffs to cooperate, but he repeatedly refused to answer questions during an interview with attorneys July 27. Barlow was not named in the lawsuit but wants to intervene. Read more


Jeffs expected in court on contempt charge
The Associated Press KMSB-TV (FOX) - Tucson Originally published Tuesday, August 14, 2007
ST. GEORGE, Utah (AP) -- Jailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs is expected in court today to face a contempt charge for not answering questions that would reunite a former Jeffs' family caretaker with his wife and child. Wendell Musser filed a lawsuit against Jeffs earlier the year. Musser says he served as a close ally of Jeffs and helped care for Jeffs' family while the leader was on the run from criminal charges in Utah and Arizona. But after Musser was arrested for drunken driving he says Jeffs cut him off from his own wife and infant son. A judge ordered Jeffs to provide Musser with information but Jeffs repeatedly invoked his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination. Jeffs is the leader of the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He's awaiting trial in southern Utah on charges of rape as an accomplice in the arranged marriage of a 14-year-old girl to her older cousin.


Musser takes Jeffs to court
By Patrice St. Germain The Spectrum Originally published August 15, 2007
ST. GEORGE — Judge James E. Shumate ruled that Warren Steed Jeffs not be held in contempt of court during a hearing Tuesday. Jeffs invoked his Fifth Amendment right during a recent deposition given at Purgatory Correctional Facility. Shumate said Jeffs, the polygamist sect leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, had every right to refuse to answer questions concerning a former trusted church member’s wife and child. Jeffs, Shumate said, is facing criminal liability in Fifth District Court, Mohave County Court and federal court and has the right to refuse to answer questions that may be incriminating. Shumate also refused to give attorneys for the former FLDS follower, Wendell Musser, permission to continue to question Jeffs about the matter. The paternity issue will be before Judge Rand Beacham and Shumate said Beacham, not Jeffs, has control over the parental issues involving Musser, his former wife Vi