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| The Eyes Of Texas |
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The Eyes of Texas are upon you,
All the live long day... The Eyes of Texas are upon you, You cannot get away. Do not think you can escape them, At night, or early in the morn... The Eyes of Texas are upon you, Till Gabriel blows his horn! | |||
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| Polygamist Compound Being Built in Texas? | |||
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John Hollenhorst Reporting KSL TV Original Broadcast March 24, 2004 | |||
| Aerial photos have revealed a secret construction project in Texas that's apparently linked to a controversial polygamist sect based in Utah. Anti-polygamy crusaders say they're certain the large-scale project is being done at the behest of Warren Jeffs, the Utah man revered as a prophet by thousands of polygamists. A secret compound comes as no surprise; rumors have been circulating for two months. But the location is a big surprise and something of a mystery. The polygamist sect in the twin towns of Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah has been under intense law enforcement scrutiny in recent months. And there have been well publicized splits in the group. The legal and media attention has alarmed those faithful to prophet Warren Jeffs. He's been rumored for months to be planning an exodus to a secret compound in Mexico. Now attention is suddenly focused on the tiny remote town of Eldorado, Texas, nearly 200 miles northwest of San Antonio. Anti-polygamy crusaders obtained aerial photos that clearly show large residential structures under construction. There's even a concrete batch plant on site suggesting further construction. Women are visible in plowed fields wearing the distinctive clothing and hairstyles of Jeffs' followers. Read more | |||
| Alleged Jeffs compound found in Texas | |||
| FLDS church denies anti-polygamist claims of new community near Eldorado | |||
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By Jane Zhang The Spectrum Originally published Thursday, March 25, 2004 | |||
| ST. GEORGE -- The three-story houses with pitched roofs look every bit rustic, boxy and over-sized, much like many never-completed buildings in Colorado City. But these are under construction 1,200 miles away in the hilly country north of Eldorado, a Texas town of 2,000 people about 200 miles northwest of San Antonio. Surrounded by fences and shrubs, the compound is not accessible to the public, said John Nikolauk, Eldorado's mayor of 15 years. Several residents have seen cars with Utah and Arizona plates come and go, he said, but the builders remain a mystery to townsfolk. "They are out in the country, not visible from any highways," Nikolauk said in a telephone interview Wednesday night. "I don't know who they are." But Flora Jessop, an anti-polygamy activist who has distributed to the media pictures of three completed houses in Eldorado, said she is sure the compound is built for Warren Jeffs, the reclusive prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the largest polygamist group in America. With 1,371 acres, activists said, the property has at least three more houses under construction, which all stand at 40 to 50 feet wide and 60 to 80 feet long. Read more | |||
| Do polygamists own Texas site? | |||
| Activist says FLDS have purchased ranch | |||
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By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Thursday, March 25, 2004 | |||
| ST. GEORGE — An anti-polygamy activist believes a large ranch compound in rural Schleicher County, Texas, has been purchased by those with links to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, led by Warren Jeffs. On the other hand, those who recently sold the ranch and other parcels say they have been told the land is to be used as a "corporate hunting retreat." Former members and close observers also have been predicting that Jeffs has plans to order his followers to move to Mexico. Activist Flora Jessop says the ranch's new owners are polygamists and said she fears the property could be used for child trafficking, moving underage children, including potential brides, from region to region. Read more | |||
| Corporate Retreat or Prophet's Refuge? | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published March 25, 2004 | |||
| Even as construction proceeds on a complex of three-story buildings some four miles north of Eldorado, rumors about the facility and its possible ties, if any, to a polygamist group located in southern Utah and northern Arizona are swirling through the community. The buildings are located on a 1371-acre parcel of land purchased last year by a company named YFZ L.L.C., a Texas limited liability corporation based in Washington, UT. Documents filed in the Schleicher County Courthouse reveal David S. Allred as the YFZ corporate official who handled the transaction for the land. Allred is the only company official named in the corporation's organizing papers filed with the Texas Secretary of State's office. Real estate closing documents associated with the property were signed by Mr. Allred here in Eldorado. At that time, Allred reportedly told several local citizens that he was planning to build a corporate retreat on the land. More than one local rancher has said that Allred told them he was the owner of Dave's Builders, a construction company in St. George, UT., and that his clients are located primarily in Las Vegas, NV. Those clients were the reason for the retreat, Allred reportedly said, so that he could have a place for them to hunt and be entertained. Read more | |||
| Who is Flora Jessop and Why is She Coming to Eldorado? | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published March 25, 2004 | |||
| Flora Jessop was raised in the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), a group that long ago broke its ties with the Mormon Church, and under FLDS rules, she was forced to marry her older cousin when she was sixteen. The marriage proved to be the final straw. Jessop said she didn't run away from Colorado City, AZ because of religion, but because of abuse. She says that she was sexually abused in her home, beginning at age 13. But, she was strong-willed and wasn't about to submit. So, Flora took the unheard of action (at least at that time and in that place) of taking her alleged abuser to court. When a St. George, UT judge dismissed the charges, Flora says she was returned to Colorado City where she was kept a prisoner in her uncle's home for the next four years. Jessop's escape was made good at the age of 18, and she stayed on the run for several years, convinced that she was being pursued by church leaders. Finally, she was able to move on with her life, even marry and start a family, but she never forgot what happened to her in Colorado City and agonized over the thought of other young girls having to live as she did. Read more | |||
| Polygamy Cult Moving To Texas? | |||
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WOAI News 4 - San Antonio, Texas Originally published March 26, 2004 | |||
| A rural Texas sheriff cautioned people not to jump to conclusions about a compound under construction north of Eldorado, saying he has no proof that the structures are for the head of a polygamist church group. Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran was responding Thursday to concerns that Warren Jeffs, head of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, was building three three-story houses on a 1,300-acre site. Aerial photographs show the houses appear similar to some of the large homes in the twin FLDS communities of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah. "The Sheriff's Department is on top of this," Doran said. "In the future if there is a connection with FLDS, then we will continue to monitor it. When people purchase land the last thing you want is to have rumors following you. You don't want law enforcement creeping around your door accusing you of something you are not." Doran said it is his understanding that the property is a corporate hunting retreat. Jeffs, who is estimated to have 50 wives, has long been rumored to be building a compound in Mexico. The border is about 90 miles south of Eldorado in West Texas. Read more | |||
| Are FLDS now in Texas? | |||
| Sheriff urges caution, vows to watch situation | |||
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Associated Press Originally published Friday, March 26, 2004 | |||
| ELDORADO, Texas — A rural Texas sheriff cautioned people not to jump to conclusions about a compound under construction north of Eldorado, saying he has no proof that the structures are for the head of a polygamist church group. Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran was responding Thursday to concerns that Warren Jeffs, head of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, was building three three-story houses on a 1,300-acre site. Aerial photographs show the houses appear similar to some of the large homes in the twin FLDS communities of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah. "The sheriff's department is on top of this," Doran said. "In the future if there is a connection with FLDS, then we will continue to monitor it. When people purchase land the last thing you want is to have rumors following you. You don't want law enforcement creeping around your door accusing you of something you are not." Doran said it is his understanding that the property is a corporate hunting retreat. Jeffs, who is estimated to have 50 wives, has long been rumored to be building a compound in Mexico. The border is about 90 miles south of Eldorado in west Texas. Read more | |||
| New Concerns Raised About Eldorado Compound | |||
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WOAI News 4 - San Antonio, Texas Originally published March 26, 2004 | |||
| (ELDORADO TEXAS) -- A company called YFZ Land Company is purchaing property near this remote west Texas town, and many here are afraid a controversial polygamist sect plans to build a compound in rural Schleicher County. "We've been applying a lot of pressure in Utah and Arizona, and I think that they're looking to establish somewhere where they're not known," Flora Jessop, who said she escaped from the sect when she was a teenager and has become a crusader against the sect, told a news conference at the Schleicher County Sheriff's office. The group, called the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is headed by a charismatic and controversial rogue Mormon named Warren Jeffs. The religion website Wikipedia.org says Jeffs believes that in order to get to heaven, men must have at least three wives. He took over the sect from his father, Rulon Jeffs, who reportedly had 22 wives and fathered more than sixty children. The FLDS is the largest polygamist sect in America. Today Rowwena Erickson, who described herself as a former 'wife' in the FLDS told 1200 WOAI news she thinks she knows why the group is building near the US/Mexico border. "If anything goes wrong, they can just skip over the border," she said, adding that the group could be planning to smuggle young girls in from Mexico to become 'wives' for male members. Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran says there is no evidence that YFZ is related to Jeffs, although Jessop says the letters stand for "Yearn For Zion" after a song recorded by Jeffs. Read more | |||
| Eldorado: Texas town ‘terrified’ that group moving in from Arizona | |||
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By Linda Stelp Kingman Daily Miner Originally published Friday, March 26, 2004 | |||
| Mohave County Supervisor Buster Johnson and anti-polygamy activist Flora Jessop met with people of Eldorado, Texas, on Thursday after learning that members of the polygamous community of Colorado City may be building a compound in the small Texas town. Residents of Eldorado (pronounced with a long ‘a’) turned out en mass for a press conference in which Johnson, Jessop and Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran tried to calm residents’ fears. “They are terrified to have what they consider a ‘cult’ move into their town of just 3,000 residents,” Jessop said. “A few townspeople carried signs, including one that read, ‘The devil is here.’ ” Jessop said citizens of Eldorado, located 90 miles north of the Mexican border, “are very sensitive in Texas because of what happened with Waco.” Waco, Texas, gained infamy in 1993 when a fiery showdown between cult leader David Koresh and FBI agents at the Mount Carmel compound ended a 51-day siege that began with an attempt to arrest Koresh on weapons charges. Koresh and other cult members, including 17 children and four government agents, were killed, and 16 agents were wounded when the compound caught on fire. Johnson said members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS) in the Colorado City-Hildale, Utah, area have been building a compound about three miles from downtown Eldorado. Read more | |||
| Community Seeks Answers to Questions about New Neighbors | |||
| Authorities suspect local ranch tied to FLDS | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published April 1, 2004 | |||
| As word filtered out of Eldorado last week that a three-building compound under construction north of Eldorado might be connected to a polygamist group known as the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), media outlets from across the state, as well as Arizona and Utah, flooded into town to hear what Flora Jessop, a children's rights activist, would have to say at a press conference last Thursday. The news that many of them sought, broke first on the front page of last week's Eldorado Success. The story, and its accompanying photo were picked up by a number of daily newspapers, including the Salt Lake City Tribune, which has closely followed the FLDS in the Arizona/Utah border towns of Colorado City, AZ and Hilldale, UT. Jessop explained to reporters that she had grown up as a member of the FLDS and that she escaped from the group at age 16 after church leaders forced her to marry her cousin. She said that 28 of her brothers and sisters remain in the group. Forced underage marriage, sexual abuse of children, welfare fraud, tax evasion, tax fraud and child labor violations, were but a few, of the allegations that Jessop leveled against the FLDS. She explained that the registered owner of the ranch in question, David Steed Allred, is a member of the FLDS and has close ties to its prophet, Warren Jeffs. Read more | |||
| Utah Sheriff to Visit Eldorado | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published April 8, 2004 | |||
| Sheriff Kirk Smith of Washington County, UT, plans to visit Eldorado in the coming days to update local authorities on his dealings with members of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), a large number of whom live in the community of Hildale, UT, located in a remote corner of his county. There has been much speculation in recent weeks that a three-building complex, being erected on the YFZ ranch, some four miles north-northeast of Eldorado, is affiliated with the FLDS. Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran says that he has invited Sheriff Smith to visit Eldorado in hopes of gleaning more information about the group. "Sheriff Smith has gained some valuable experience in dealing with the FLDS in Washington County," Sheriff Doran told the Success. "If the group on the YFZ ranch is associated with the FLDS, and I’m becoming more and more convinced that they are, then we can benefit greatly from hearing what he has to say." Read more | |||
| Still More Questions Than Answers About YFZ Ranch | |||
| Local Authorities Make Contact With YFZ Officials | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published April 15, 2004 | |||
| David Allred, the Arizona man who represented a newly formed corporation, YFZ L.L.C., when it purchased 1,691 acres some four miles north-northwest of Eldorado last November, made the rounds in town last Thursday, meeting with local officials, and assuring them that he intends to use the property as a corporate hunting retreat. Three large buildings under construction on the ranch will be used to house guests, Allred told Sheriff David Doran, adding that some families may be living there full time. Doran said that he and Texas Ranger Sgt. Brooks Long met with Allred, and his construction foreman, Ernie Jessop, primarily to make contact with the men and open a dialogue. "They are aware of the rumors that are buzzing around town," Doran stated. "They told us that they just want to live their lives peacefully and to be left alone to raise their families according to their beliefs." "We made them aware that Texas has very strong laws regarding bigamy, as well as sexual abuse of minor children," Doran continued. "We also told them that while we have no evidence at this time of any wrongdoing we won't hesitate to act if we obtain such evidence." Read more | |||
| Duckwall's Not Connected with Allco Company of Hildale, Utah | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published April 22, 2004 | |||
| Duckwall's/Alco officials announced this week that their company is not affiliated with any Allco businesses, located in Hildale, UT and Colorado City, AZ. Duckwall's Variety Stores, including the one located here in Eldorado, and Alco Discount Stores, including the one in Sonora, are owned by Duckwall Alco Stores, Inc., a Kansas based corporation, named after its founder A.L. Duckwall. Shares in the company are publicly traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange. Confusion about the company's ownership apparently resulted from a news article that appeared in the Salt Lake City Tribune, and on its website. The story, picked up by a number of other publications, linked David Allred, the Utah man who organized YFZ Land L.L.C., and bought 1,691 acres north of Eldorado, to an Alco Company in the twin cities. Read more | |||
| Attorney Believes YFZ Ranch Connected to FLDS | |||
| State Environmental Inspectors Visit YFZ | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published April 22, 2004 | |||
| Salt Lake City attorney Rodney Parker told the Success on Tuesday that he believes the buildings going up on the YFZ Ranch are "clearly connected" to the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. Parker, who has represented the FLDS on a number of occasions, said he was unsure why the group chose to build near Eldorado and that he has no idea what the FLDS has planned for the property. Parker said that he only knows what he has read about the YFZ Ranch but noted that photos of the buildings, plus information he has gleaned about individuals connected with the property convinced him of an FLDS connection. Parker represented Colorado City, AZ police officer Rodney Holm last year when the State of Utah brought charges of bigamy and unlawful sexual conduct with a 16- or 17-year old child. Holm, who is a was eventually convicted in the case, is an FLDS member who admits to practicing polygamy. Polygamy is the "bedrock of their faith," Parker said of the FLDS. "They are very committed to the practice." Read more | |||
| State Inspectors Make Return Visit as Construction Continues at YFZ Ranch | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published April 29, 2004 | |||
| Investigators for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality paid a return trip to the YFZ Ranch on Monday, April 26, 2004 to address a number of violations of the state's environmental code. Ricky Anderson, director of the TCEQ Region 8 office in San Angelo, told the Success Tuesday that a number of his personnel carried a series of inspections and verified some water and air quality violations. Anderson said that the cement plant operating just north of the construction site was in violation of the state's air quality standards and that it was ordered to be shut down until corrective measures could be taken. Also, violations of the on-site septic system were identified as well as a failure to obtain a permit to for construction related to storm water discharge. Read more | |||
| Polygamist church-bought lot not for retreat, after all | |||
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The Associated Press Originally published May 3, 2004 | |||
| ST. GEORGE, Utah - Texas authorities have been disabused of the notion that the 1,300-acre spread bought in Schleicher County by polygamists will be used as a corporate hunting retreat. "This is not going to be used as a hunting ranch," Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith told the Deseret Morning News Sunday after a short visit to the west Texas town of Eldorado, where the compound is located. The property was sold in November to YFZ Land LLC, which lists Colorado City, Ariz., resident David Allred as its agent. YFZ reportedly stands for "Yearn For Zion," a song written by Warren Jeffs, president and prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Most of the church's followers live in Colorado City and the twin community of Hildale, Utah. Smith and Undersheriff Pete Kuhlmann visited Schleicher County at the invitation of that county's sheriff, David Doran. The two met with Doran and 22 community leaders in a two-hour, question-and-answer session geared toward learning more about the FLDS Church and its followers, Smith said. Residents of Eldorado learned in March that the FLDS Church had purchased the property and was constructing several large, three-story rectangular buildings on the site. Allred initially told Doran and others the compound would be used as a corporate hunting retreat. But that changed Wednesday at a meeting Doran held with Allred and others, Smith said. Read more | |||
| FLDS influx concerns small town in Texas | |||
| Washington County Sheriff travels to Texas to reassure law enforcement | |||
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By Jane Zhang The Spectrum Originally published Tuesday, May 4, 2004 | |||
| ST. GEORGE -- To residents of Eldorado, the small western Texas town where everybody knows everybody, the gated construction site with motel-like houses looks every bit foreign, mystic and alarming. As men from a polygamist group dined in town or stopped for gas, said Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran, some residents feared another Waco, where David Koresh and 85 of his Branch Davidian followers died in 1993. But the worry was not necessary, said Doran's counterpart here in Washington County, Sheriff Kirk Smith. "There is no indication that it will happen," said Sheriff Smith, who met with 22 local officials during a visit to Eldorado last week. "This group has never shown any propensity for violence." The group is the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the largest polygamist group in America based in Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah. After the church's self-proclaimed prophet, Warren Jeffs, excommunicated at least 30 men earlier this year, some anti-polygamy activists forecasted a mass exodus and violence erupting in the community with 10,000 residents. But the men quietly went into hiding, and the reclusive Jeffs remained elusive to state investigators, his followers and even his attorney, Rodney Parker, who said he "assumes he's down there" in Texas. Read more | |||
| FLDS seem eager to fix violations at new site in Texas | |||
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By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Wednesday, May 5, 2004 | |||
| ST. GEORGE — Environmental investigators have found several violations at a 1,300-acre retreat for polygamists under construction in Schleicher County, Texas, near San Angelo. David Allred, a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is the sole registered agent for YFZ Land, owner of the property. "There are violations in their air and water programs and concerns about on-site septic systems and solid waste disposal," said Ricky Anderson, Region 8 director with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. "We visited with YFZ on the site and in our office about this, and I will say there is an eagerness on their part to come into compliance. We are still in the process of writing the report, but I think everything there can be remedied." Anderson said YFZ operators were told to stop using a cement batch plant on the site after investigators found it was exceeding state particulate emission standards. "The cement batch plant is specifically named as one that must have a permit prior to operation here in Texas," he said. "There was no authorization given for this plant." Read more | |||
| About Face...FLDS Officials Retreat from YFZ Hunting Retreat Story | |||
| Allred now claims property intended for FLDS community | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published May 6, 2004 | |||
| Eldoradoans can expect as many as 200 new neighbors soon, that's if the latest story being told by YFZ Ranch officials is to be believed. David Allred, the Hildale, Utah man who handled the purchase of some 1,691 acres of land four miles north of Eldorado, and who organized a company called YFZ L.L.C. to manage the property, met with Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran and Justice of the Peace James C. Doyle on the afternoon of Wednesday, April 28th in an attempt to address a storm of controversy surrounding the land. Allred reportedly admitted that the story he had told locally that the YFZ Ranch would be a corporate hunting retreat, was just that, a story. Instead, he claimed that the ranch had always been intended as a community of members of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. Allred said he had hoped the cover story would help to fend off the media frenzy that ultimately followed the FLDS to Eldorado. Read more | |||
| Utah Sheriff Meets with Local Leaders about FLDS | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published May 6, 2004 | |||
| Sheriff Kirk Smith of Washington County, Utah, told a group of twenty-five local citizens last Thursday that they could expect their new neighbors on the YFZ Ranch to keep a low profile and avoid trouble. Smith's county, located in the southwest corner of Utah, is where Hildale is located, the hometown of David Allred. He is the man who bought the YFZ Ranch, and who a few hours before Smith's arrival in Eldorado, admitted to local officials that the property is actually owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, a sect that broke away from the Mormon Church nearly a century ago when it renounced the practice of polygamy. Sheriff Smith and his undersheriff Pete Kuhlmann were joined by Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran and Chief Deputy George Arispe at a public meeting held for local officials in the Memorial Building. Prior to hearing from Smith, Doran informed the audience that he and Justice of the Peace James C. Doyle had met with YFZ Ranch officials the day before and that they had admitted to misleading the community about their intentions. Read more | |||
| Shouldn't we expect just a bit more honesty from God's one true church? | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published May 6, 2004 | |||
| Members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have been taught by their prophets for generations that they represent the one true church of God. The prophets knew this because that same God had told them so, personally. He, and that's a He with a capital "H," also told the prophets that the practice of plural marriage is not only approved, but required. The idea of plural marriage, or polygamy as it's better known here, seems a bit odd to many of us, but to the members of the FLDS it is a principal about which there is no room for compromise. In fact, when the leaders of the Mormon Church, the original Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, bowed to pressure from Washington, D.C. and gave up the practice of plural marriage so that Utah could be admitted to the Union, the forefathers of the current FLDS turned their collective backs on their brethren, and their sistern, too. Please, if it seems as if I am demeaning the FLDS, or the LDS for that matter, over their religious beliefs, I hope you will understand that I mean no disrespect. I only inject a little humor here because some of these things are so serious that laughing is the only way to keep from crying. Read more | |||
| Trouble for Texas | |||
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By John MacCormack San Antonio Express-News Originally published May 9, 2004 | |||
| COLORADO CITY, Ariz. — But for the hugeness of the houses and the quaint hairstyles and ankle-length dresses of the women and girls, this isolated stop on the scenic Utah-Arizona border might not warrant a second glance. "Most of the people here hold to fundamentalist beliefs, old fashioned if you will. You might even call it Colonial America. Love and help your neighbor. Things you wouldn't find everywhere," he said. But even with all the blond kids bouncing merrily on backyard trampolines or riding donkey carts in the streets, this is one version of small town America that Norman Rockwell never put to canvas. For decades, Colorado City and the adjacent Hildale, Utah, have been the home base of the largest polygamist Mormon sect in North America, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which broke from the main church decades ago. About 8,000 fundamentalists live here, including families with dozens of children. A church trust owns most of the land, and the church controls the municipal governments, Police Department and public school district. The sect leader, Warren Jeffs, 48, is an intense and reclusive self-described prophet who rules with Old Testament severity from behind the 8-foot walls of his family compound. And soon, the prophet may be coming to Texas. This spring, the polygamists quietly bought 1,600 acres just north of the small town of Eldorado, three hours west of San Antonio. Read more | |||
| Polygamy should concern residents of all states | |||
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By Pennie Petersen The Spectrum Originally published Monday, May 10, 2004 | |||
| I'm appalled to see that Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith could brush off the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saint's move to Texas as if it were no big deal. If anyone should know how serious this matter is, he should. He has witnessed first hand how chaotic it is getting in Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah,. Since Warren Jeffs has taken control, many members have lost wives, children, parents and homes, including Warren's own brothers and the town mayor of 20 years. The wives are being remarried and hundreds of children are being torn from their fathers, then receiving new ones within days. Underage girls are being married off in the name of God. Warren's home is being turned into a fortress. Orsen William Black fled to Mexico under Sheriff Smith's watch after being charged with five felonies for crimes against children, and yet he's going to bring this Texas sheriff up to Colorado City and Hildale and romance him on what a wonderful and peaceful little community it is. And why shouldn't he? I'm sure he's sick of this whole polygamy issue, too, as so many are. So why not let them all go to Texas? Out of sight, out of mind, right? Read more | |||
| Warren Jeffs Believed to be at YFZ Ranch | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published May 13, 2004 | |||
| Published reports in the Salt Lake Tribune, as well as other Rocky Mountain area newspapers, indicate that Warren Jeffs, the Prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has left his walled compound in Colorado City, AZ, and relocated to the YFZ Ranch, just north of Eldorado. A story appearing in the May 6, edition of the Salt Lake Tribune reports that Jeffs was at the YFZ Ranch as early as March 28, 2004 and that it was he who ordered four men, David Allred, Ernie Jessop, Roy Steed and Allan Steed, to meet with Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran and Justice of the Peace James C. Doyle. Details of that meeting, along with a photo of the four men were published in last week's edition of the Success. At that meeting, Allred admitted to Doran and Doyle that the YFZ Ranch was never intended to be a hunting retreat. Instead, the property was planned for a new FLDS community and would house no more than 200 people, David Allred said. That number conflicts with reports the Success has gotten from sources in the Colorado City/Hildale area. Benjamin G. Bistline, author of "The Polygamists, a History of Colorado City, Arizona" told the Success last week that there is much activity in the Colorado City area and that numbers of families are packing to move to Texas. He estimated that perhaps as many as 1,500 could be making the move in the coming weeks. Read more | |||
| Texan touring Colorado City | |||
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By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News Originally published Tuesday, May 18, 2004 | |||
| COLORADO CITY, Ariz. — David Doran, the sheriff of Schleicher County, Texas, said his visit to the twin polygamist towns of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hilldale, Utah, on Monday helped him gain a better understanding of his county's newest residents. "It helped separate the news hype from the reality of what's really going on," said the two-term sheriff, whose seat is up for re-election in November. "My intention in coming here is just to listen and learn." His county is getting a planned polygamous retreat called Yearn For Zion, or the YFZ Ranch. The 1,600 acres of scrub oak and rocky soil will eventually be home to about 200 of the most faithful members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, according to a church spokesman. The FLDS Church teaches that plural marriage is a central doctrine essential to one's salvation, and its members adhere to a strict moral code. To date, construction at the YFZ Ranch includes several finished three-story buildings with two more large structures nearing completion. Doran and his chief deputy, George Arispe, admit they have a steep learning curve when it comes to understanding the FLDS plural lifestyle. "This is all new to us," the sheriff told Colorado City Marshal Sam Roundy during Monday's tour of the two towns. "We didn't know anything about polygamy until you guys showed up in Texas." Read more | |||
| Texas sheriff pays visit to Colorado City | |||
| Doran travels to Arizona, Utah on fact-finding trip | |||
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By Jane Zhang The Spectrum Originally published Tuesday, May 18, 2004 | |||
| ST. GEORGE -- A day's visit to Colorado City discounted "a lot of rumors" about polygamy, a Texas county sheriff said Monday evening. "There wasn't anything we didn't see -- very hospitable, very open," said Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran. "It was very eye-opening. I was humbled by what I've seen. I got to see a community that works." Along with his Chief Deputy George Arispe, Doran is on a fact-finding trip about the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the largest polygamist group in America. Based in Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, the church is building what members say is a retreat for the faithful near Eldorado in Schleicher County. With five buildings planned in the hilly county, the Eldorado site reportedly will house about 200 people at any given time. But in a town with 2,000 people, many residents have worried about the impact of a potential block vote in local elections, an influx to the public school system, a possible strain on the local health care system and the impact on the welfare system. Read more | |||
| New Zion FLDS Leader Wants Fresh Start in Texas | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published May 27, 2004 | |||
| The ongoing relocation of a major portion of Prophet Warren Jeffs' flock of fundamentalist Mormons from the Utah/Arizona border to Eldorado, Texas, represents the latest in a series of moves the church faithful have made in hopes of finding a refuge from man's law and a place where they can practice the teachings of church founder Joseph Smith. That, according to Jon Krakauer, author of Under the Banner of Heaven a Story of Violent Faith. "Since the day that Joseph Smith first communicated his revelation condoning plural marriage, his followers have been on the move, searching for a place where they can practice their brand of religion," Krakauer told the Success Monday. Read more | |||
| Success Seeks TCEQ Records of YFZ Ranch Environmental Inquiry | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published June 3, 2004 | |||
| Wendy Cooper, an attorney in the Dallas office of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, confirmed this week that a field report filed by investigators from the agency's Region 8 field office in San Angelo, regarding environmental violations at the YFZ Ranch has been forwarded to TCEQ headquarters in Austin. "Basically all I can tell you is that I am aware of the report and I know it has been sent to the enforcement division," Cooper said Tuesday. "I really won't deal with it until it gets into litigation." Other details regarding the report were not available to the Success on Tuesday and the newspaper filed an "open records" request that same day for the material, as provided for by Texas Open Records Act. TCEQ investigators paid a visit to YFZ Ranch on April 15 of this year, three weeks after news broke in Eldorado that the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), a sect of the Mormon Church that encourages the practice of plural marriage, or polygamy, was erecting large buildings on a ranch four miles north of town. That inspection, and a subsequent follow-up investigation, revealed a number of violations of the state's environmental regulations. At that time, inspectors reported finding air quality violations at a cement bulk plant near the construction site. They also indicated that water and waste water rules had been broken. Read more | |||
| Polygamist sect's arrival alarms Texas town | |||
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By Jean Marbella The Baltimore Sun Originally published June 5, 2004 | |||
| ELDORADO, Texas -- The jokes have already started, in the cafes and on Main Street, but they draw more nervous laughter than actual merriment. Some men ask where they can apply to be a husband; others say, no thanks, one wife is trouble enough. Polygamy is funnier from afar and less so with proximity. This west-central Texas town is about to become home to about 200 members of a renegade Mormon group that, in defiance of the law, practices polygamy, with the men taking multiple wives and raising dozens of children under a single roof. "Everybody's shocked," Jimmy Doyle, the justice of the peace, said with little exaggeration. They've talked of little else in this remote town since private pilots such as Doyle began noticing some odd construction sprouting up on a former ranch just north of town. The ranch had been sold some months back to a man from Utah who said he was going to turn it into a hunting retreat -- but instead of a lodge or cabins that might be expected to house sportsmen, five large dormitory-style buildings have been built. Read more | |||
| TCEQ Cites YFZ Ranch for Environmental Violations | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published June 10, 2004 | |||
| State inspectors found a number of environmental concerns at the YFZ Ranch, including one that poses a threat to groundwater, according to documents released last week by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. TCEQ inspectors visited the ranch twice, first on April 16, 2004 with a follow up investigation ten days later, on April 26. Both times the investigators noted compliance violations. Among the violations is the alleged illegal use of a concrete batch plant without proper registration or permit. Documents acquired by The Eldorado Success under the Texas Open Records Act, indicate that on April 26 investigator Mark Newman ordered that a rock crushing and concrete plant be shutdown until appropriate authorization was obtained by the ranch. Interestingly, aerial photos taken by the Success that same day indicate that land was being cleared just north of three large 3-story buildings already constructed on the ranch. Subsequent photos reveal that extensive concrete work continued at the site, for several days following the shutdown order. A TCEQ spokesman told the Success on Tuesday that ranch officials have applied for some permits, but that there has been no authorization given to restart the concrete plant. Read more | |||
| YFZ Officials Ignore TCEQ Warnings | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published June 17, 2004 | |||
| A cement bulk plant and a rock crusher appeared to be running full steam ahead last week, well after a shut down order issued by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). Aerial photos taken on Wednesday, June 9, 2004, also revealed another large foundation being constructed adjacent to five other structures already built, or nearing completion. Additionally, a metal barn had been built nearby. Ricky Anderson, TCEQ Region 8 Director, told the Success on Tuesday that YFZ officials have applied for a permit to operate a rock crusher, but that no such permit has been issued. Additionally, the state’s order to halt operation of a the rock crusher and cement bulk plant remains in place. Meanwhile, the TCEQ is pushing ahead with its investigation. Already, a series of alleged violations regarding the cement bulk plant and a non-permitted sewage treatment facility have been referred to the agency’s enforcement division. Read more | |||
| YFZ Ranch Officials Want to Drill for Water | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published June 24, 2004 | |||
| YFZ Ranch officials are apparently interested in drilling at least one additional water well on ranch property, some four miles north of Eldorado. Cindy Cawley, General Manager of the Plateau Underground Water Conservation and Supply District says that she was contacted by Paul Allred regarding the need to drill for water on the ranch. Cawley, who was at a meeting in Austin when she received Allred’s call, made arrangements for assistant manager Virgil Polocek to visit the ranch. Cawley notes that while Polocek was given access to a water well near the ranch entrance, he was denied access to a second well on the north side of the ranch property. Read more | |||
| Are Utah Problems Prompting FLDS to Build New Texas Town? | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published July 1, 2004 | |||
| Construction continues apace at the YFZ Ranch, four miles north of Eldorado, even as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) finds itself under increasing pressure in the Arizona and Utah borderland. That pressure comes in the form of heightened scrutiny from the Utah Attorney General's office, and a series of setbacks in Utah courts. Add to the mix the fact that the region's only bank, the Bank of Ephraim, a strong supporter of the FLDS community in Colorado City, AZ and Hildale, UT, failed last week. But things aren't all rosy for the FLDS here in Texas. After the group's cover story was exposed in March, and Eldoradoans learned that their new neighbors were more interested in building a town than a corporate hunting retreat, the operation at the YFZ Ranch began attracting more than media attention --- it caught the eye of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. That isn't to say that any of the FLDS faithful have turned their backs on Prophet Warren Jeffs, or that any of the workers are giving up and leaving the YFZ Ranch. To the contrary, construction there seems to be accelerating, even to the point that a grid of roadways is starting to appear, making the whole thing look more and more like a new townsite. Meanwhile, former members of the FLDS, some of them recently excommunicated by Warren Jeffs, are adamant that the YFZ Ranch, is more than just a getaway retreat for church members. Read more | |||
| Texans are wary of FLDS neighbors | |||
| Sect's settlement raises concerns about polygamy | |||
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By Howard Witt The Chicago Tribune Originally published Saturday, July 3, 2004 | |||
| ELDORADO, Texas — The population of this drowsy West Texas town hasn't done much but dwindle in recent years, so its residents grew pretty curious in March when a pilot shot some aerial photos showing construction of several huge dormitory-style buildings on a sprawling ranch just outside town. The curiosity soon changed to concern when anti-polygamy activists from Utah showed up for a news conference to reveal the identity of the group that had bought the 1,600-acre ranch: the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or FLDS, a secretive sect that practices polygamy and marriages involving underage teenage girls. Now, with construction on the buildings nearly complete and the first of an expected 200 church members about to take up residence, the 1,951 residents of Eldorado are trying to make their peace with new neighbors many regard as followers of a strange cult. "Our biggest concern was that we wouldn't be dealing with another Waco problem here," said Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran, referring to the Branch Davidian siege in Waco in 1993. Read more | |||
| Polygamist group ranch worries small town's residents | |||
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By Bill Hanna Fort Worth Star-Telegram Originally published Monday, July 5, 2004 | |||
| ELDORADO -- First, it was going to be a hunting lodge. Then a retreat. But as each new dormitory-style building goes up, residents here become a little more apprehensive about a secretive polygamist sect's move onto a ranch four miles outside of Eldorado. Locals say they have good reasons for feeling uneasy about their new neighbors. The Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, based in Arizona and Utah, is believed to be the largest polygamist group in the country. The 10,000-member church openly practices plural marriage and has generated more than a century's worth of controversy, including allegations of abuse of young girls, welfare fraud and wife swapping. If large numbers of the polygamist church do end up in Eldorado, residents fear the group could dominate the sleepy town of 1,955 about 45 miles south of San Angelo. Read more | |||
| YFZ Ranch Seeks Permit for Concrete Bulk Plant | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published July 8, 2004 | |||
| Representatives of the YFZ Ranch have applied with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for an air quality permit for a concrete batch plant located on ranch property some four miles north of Eldorado on Schleicher County Road 300. A public notice, published in this edition of the Success (see Page 8) states that the plant will emit particulate matter, especially aggregate, cement and road dust. TCEQ rules allow for public comments and even a public meeting on the issue. The deadline for persons to submit comments or request a public meeting is 30 days from now, according the notice posted by ranch officials. A TCEQ spokesman told the Success Tuesday that while public input is encouraged, strong evidence must be submitted before the agency will call a public hearing. The application is available for viewing at the Schleicher County Courthouse, as well as the TCEQ Region 8 office in San Angelo. The move to acquire an air quality permit is the first public display that YFZ Ranch officials are attempting to address a number of environmental concerns at the ranch, first uncovered by TCEQ investigators in April. Since that time, agency personnel have been trying to get TCEQ to comply with a number of environmental regulations. Read more | |||
| Peek at polygamists' haven | |||
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By Joseph A. Reaves The Arizona Republic Originally published July 11, 2004 | |||
| ELDORADO, Texas - Folks around here couldn't be more dumbfounded if a flying saucer buzzed the county courthouse and spooked all the sheep this side of Abilene. But polygamists? Being invaded by a colony of secretive Arizona and Utah men with two, three or more wives apiece wearing ankle-length, gingham pioneer dresses while working the fields under a scorching western Texas sun? Now that's a whole 'nother matter. "When I first heard they were out there, I thought, 'You've got to be kidding,' " said Randy Mankin, city administrator, hospital board member and editor of the local weekly newspaper. "It might as well been a UFO setting down. I mean, we're talking about polygamy and things that were supposed to be over and done a long time ago," Mankin said. Over and done in most places, but just coming to the rolling hills of Schleicher County. Read more | |||
| 'Eldorado Success' has selling headlines now | |||
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By Joseph A. Reaves The Arizona Republic Originally published July 11, 2004 | |||
| ELDORADO, Texas - The prophet made a big mistake if he thought he was getting away from the meddling media by slipping into Schleicher County. Warren Jeffs never figured he'd run into the staff of the Eldorado Success. "They've been all over this story," said Brad Spradley, a bear of a man who sells some of the best brisket in Texas out of a 55-gallon oil drum-turned-barbecue pit hitched to the back of his pickup outside the county courthouse. "I can't wait to get the paper every week." Neither can just about anybody else in Eldorado, a community of 1,951 especially friendly souls in the outback of western Texas. Circulation of the weekly newspaper has soared 10 percent from 1,000 to 1,100 since editor Randy Mankin, his wife, Kathy, and their secretary-reporter-photographer Staci Key started writing in March about the arrival of a secretive polygamist sect on the outskirts of town. Read more | |||
| Polygamist sect's purchase of ranch worries neighbors | |||
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By Bill Hanna Knight Ridder Newspapers Provo Daily Herald Originally published Monday, July 12, 2004 | |||
| ELDORADO, Texas -- First it was going to be a hunting lodge. Then a retreat. But as each new dormitory-style building goes up, residents here become a little more apprehensive as a secretive polygamist sect prepares to occupy a West Texas ranch four miles outside Eldorado. Locals say they have good reasons for feeling uneasy about their new neighbors. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, based in Arizona and Utah, is believed to be the largest polygamist group in the country. The 10,000-member church openly promotes plural marriage and has been subject to allegations of forced marriages, abusing the welfare system and wife swapping. If large numbers of the polygamist church's followers do end up in Eldorado, residents fear that the group could dominate the town of 1,955 about 45 miles south of San Angelo. "They could easily come in here, bring in several thousand followers and take over the hospital board and other elected positions if they wanted to," said Randy Matkin, editor of the Eldorado Success and head of the Schleicher County Hospital District board. "That is what concerns us." Read more | |||
| YFZ Ranch Asks for City's Help | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published July 15, 2004 | |||
| Ernie Jessop and Lee Roy Steed, representing the YFZ Ranch, came before the Eldorado City Council Monday evening to ask that the city accept wastewater from the ranch on a temporary basis. Jessop noted that inspectors from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality had shut down the ranch’s septic system and that plans were in the works to build a small wastewater treatment plant at the ranch. Jessop asked the city council if they would accept sewage from the ranch at the city’s wastewater plant while a suitable plant could be built at the ranch. Most questions from the city council involved whether or not the city’s facility could handle the additional wastewater and if safeguards could be put in place to avoid contaminating the city’s plant with pesticides and/or petroleum products. City Administrator Randy Mankin explained that the city’s wastewater plant could easily handle the additional volume and explained that samples of the wastewater from YFZ could be tested at a lab to protect against pesticides and petroleum. A crowd of about twenty city and county residents on hand for the meeting, had other questions, however. "I do not want to help them. They have not been heads up with us, so why help them?" asked Herman Walker, reference to the hunting retreat cover story ranch officials told when they purchased 1,600 acres north of Eldorado and began constructing several buildings that later proved to be owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), a polygamous sect from the Utah/Arizona borderland. Walker’s sentiments were echoed by a number of the audience members. Read more | |||
| Prophet vs President | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published July 15, 2004 | |||
| President George W. Bush renewed his efforts this week to pass a constitutional amendment that would define the institution of marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman, putting himself directly at odds with those in America's burgeoning homosexual community and his political adversaries in the Democratic Party. The President may have also unwittingly staked out a position in a battle that is brewing here in Schleicher County, a battle emerging not between gays and straights, but between local residents and a polygamous sect calling itself the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). That sect, led by its Prophet Warren Jeffs, purchased some 1,600 acres a mere four miles north of Eldorado in November of 2003. Since that time, a massive building program has begun on the property. One of the primary tenets of the FLDS faith is that of multiple or "plural" marriages. For decades FLDS members have skirted bigamy laws in Utah and Arizona by claiming only one "legal marriage" while maintaining numerous "celestial" or "plural" marriages. Often times the marriages involved teen-aged girls, some as young as 14, being wed to men three and four times their age. Numerous published accounts claim Prophet Warren Jeffs has taken many celestial wives, with numbers ranging from 35 to 75. Read more | |||
| Water District Okays Water Well Permits for YFZ | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published July 22, 2004 | |||
| The Plateau Underground Water Conservation & Supply District board of directors met Tuesday, July 20, and approved two permit applications submitted by the YFZ Ranch, allowing a re-entry of an old well and the drilling of a new one. Before voting on the matter, the directors heard from District Manager Cindy Cawley, who explained to the exact location of the wells and said that they met current regulations on spacing and depth. During the discussion it was noted that there are already two wells in use at the ranch, one of which is being used to irrigate a large garden. Cawley informed the board that YFZ representative Ernie Jessop had told her the garden is soon to be doubled in size. She added that although the well is currently exempt from district rules it would become subject to those rules if production exceeds 25,000 gallons per day. If and when that benchmark is reached, the an application for a permit for that well must be filed with the district, Cawley said. Discussion then turned to the issue of municipal water supply wells. It was explained that wells used to serve more than 25 people fall under TCEQ guidelines and must be monitored for bacteria and chemically treated, much the same as wells owned by the City of Eldorado. Read more | |||
| City Weighs YFZ Wastewater Request | |||
| Council tables issue pending more information | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published July 22, 2004 | |||
| A crowd of about 75 persons gathered Tuesday evening in the Schleicher County Memorial Building for a called meeting of the Eldorado City Council. While most were there to sit and listen, many took the opportunity to voice their opinions regarding a request by the YFZ Ranch that the City of Eldorado accept wastewater from the ranch at its sewer plant. After a lengthy question and answer session the council eventually decided to table the question until more information could be obtained, as well as a written request from the YFZ. The issue became a hot button item last week when YFZ representatives Ernie Jessop and Lee Roy Steed appeared before the council to ask that they consider accepting the wastewater until a new sewer plant could be built at the ranch. Most of those commenting Tuesday night were opposed to the idea of taking wastewater from the YFZ, even temporarily, with many of them basing their objections on moral grounds. More than one of the speakers made reference to the fact that the YFZ is actually owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a polygamous group from the Utah/Arizona border region, and that numbers of FLDS members are relocating to Schleicher County. Read more | |||
| Prophet's Wife Dies at YFZ Ranch | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published July 22, 2004 | |||
| Barbara Ann Barlow, 39, wife of FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs, died Saturday, July 10, 2004, at the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado. Justice of the Peace James C. Doyle of Eldorado ruled that Ms. Barlow died of natural causes after a battle with cancer. Sources in Colorado City, Arizona and Bountiful, Canada, tell the Eldorado Success that Ms. Barlow and her twin sister, Annette Barlow, were both married to Warren Jeffs in a joint ceremony, before he ascended to the office of prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Authorities say that Annette Barlow still lives at the YFZ. Ms. Barlow had reportedly been under medical treatment and moved to Schleicher County to be with her family. She had been seeing a doctor in San Angelo prior to death. Ms. Barlow's body was taken to Johnson's Funeral Home in San Angelo. Burial service was conducted at a private cemetery on the YFZ Ranch. | |||
| Texas Turns Up the Heat on YFZ Ranch | |||
| TCEQ cites YFZ for a total of 29 violations | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published July 29, 2004 | |||
| Texas, the state that likes to brag that it's like a whole other country, probably seems more like a whole other universe to workers at the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado. With environmental regulators from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality already focusing their undivided attention on the ranch, now comes word that state legislators and the office of the Texas Attorney General are casting their gaze toward the property and the sect of Fundamentalist Mormons who call the place home. State Representative Harvey Hilderbran was in town Monday where he met with city and county officials and discussed issues relating to the YFZ. Pam Dutton, an aide to State Senator Robert Duncan, also made the trip to Eldorado to gauge public opinion. "I've been following this issue and have been in close contact with Senator Duncan," Hilderbran said. "I know that the Attorney General's office is also looking into the allegations of polygamy and they have been in contact with the Utah Attorney General." Read more | |||
| Prophet's Nephew Alleges Sexual Abuse | |||
| FLDS & 3 Jeffs brothers named Thursday in Utah lawsuit | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published August 5, 2004 | |||
| Warren Jeffs, president and prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the nation's largest polygamous community, was accused in a lawsuit last Thursday of repeatedly sodomizing his young nephew and covering it up for more than a decade. Jeffs is also accused of hiding wide-scale sexual abuse of other children by fellow members of the FLDS, including two of his brothers Blaine Balmforth Jeffs and Leslie Balmforth Jeffs. The allegations are the most serious to be brought against Warren Jeffs, 48. He, and his top FLDS lieutenants have been under intense scrutiny by the attorneys general of Utah and Arizona, however, no criminal charges have been filed against anyone in the church leadership. But, Thursday's civil suit is of great interest to investigators in both states, even if they aren't exactly sure where to find the prophet. A number of Hildale residents reportedly saw the prophet's motor home, and a caravan of automobiles, depart from his walled compound and drive toward St. George, Utah. One of the witnesses, who has asked to remain anonymous, told the Success this week that surveillance cameras which once stood sentinel on the estate walls, have been removed and that the prophet's home is "obviously empty." "Some people are convinced he went to Texas, while others say he is hiding out in Canada," the source continued. "No one knows for sure, he may even be in Mexico." Read more | |||
| Rumored Escape from YFZ has Internet Buzzing | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published August 5, 2004 | |||
| So far, at least, the Success has found no evidence to support a series of rumors about a woman escaping from the YFZ Ranch, despite the fact that several versions of the rumor were posted last week on various Internet websites and even referred to in numerous published news stories. When the reports, which appear to have originated in Utah and Arizona, first reached Schleicher County last Thursday, Sheriff David Doran and Justice of the Peace James C. Doyle carried out an aerial search for the woman who, according to one version of the story, was accompanied by her two small children. While the men scanned the area from the air, other officers looked for the woman on the ground. The search was finally called off when nothing was found. A later version of the story claimed the woman was yet another of Prophet Warren Jeffs' wives while another claimed she had been wed to former Prophet Rulon Jeffs and was married by the new prophet following his father's death in 2002. On Tuesday, the Success was contacted by a man in Colorado City, AZ, who claimed hearing the story at least three weeks ago. In that version of the story, the woman managed to get away, not from the YFZ Ranch, but from a convoy of vehicles traveling from Utah to Texas. Read more | |||
| Is Jeffs at Texas compound? | |||
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By Bill Hanna Fort Worth Star-Telegram Originally published Tuesday, August 10, 2004 | |||
| As a polygamist group transforms ranchland outside the West Texas town of Eldorado into a cloistered compound, local residents continue to wonder about the whereabouts of the sect's leader. Warren Jeffs, who is known as the prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is facing a lawsuit that alleges he and his two brothers sexually abused one of his nephews during the 1980s. The church's practice of excommunicating teen-age males from the sect as a way of eliminating competition for young brides is attracting more scrutiny in Utah, where the sect originated. As many as 400 males have been purged from the church since 1998, according to reports. Rod Parker, the attorney for the church and Jeffs, denied the lawsuit allegations and told the Associated Press they are being stirred up by the sect's critics. But the latest revelations continue to spur speculation that Jeffs has taken refuge at the sect's growing Texas compound about 45 miles south of San Angelo. Read more | |||
| YFZ is No Show at City Hall | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published August 12, 2004 | |||
| The Eldorado City Council was prepared Monday night to receive further information from YFZ Ranch officials regarding their request that the city assist them with treating the ranch's wastewater, but no one from the ranch appeared. City Administrator Randy Mankin advised council members that he had met with Paul Allred from the YFZ following the council's July 19 meeting and had conveyed a list of requirements the city would need before it would move forward with the YFZ request. Mankin said Allred didn't seem happy with the list and suggested to him that some of the items "weren't the city's prerogative" Mankin said he asked Allred for a written request from the YFZ outlining exactly what the ranch was requesting of the city. He also asked Allred to provide assurances concerning the quantity and quality of wastewater that ranch officials propose to haul to the city's wastewater plant, also the length of time the service would be needed. Other requirements included a monetary deposit or other assurances to guarantee payment as well as a bond to protect the city in case wastewater from the ranch is contaminated with pesticides, herbicides or other substances that might harm the city's sewer plant. Read more | |||
| Polygamist group irks W. Texas town | |||
| Mormon offshoot stirs suspicion and mistrust, but sheriff cites rights | |||
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By Karen Brooks The Dallas Morning News Originally published Saturday, August 14, 2004 | |||
| ELDORADO, Texas – The narrow dirt road cuts away from a padlocked metal gate with a "No Trespassing" sign and an infrared security camera. The road drapes like a ribbon over rolling green hills and seems to go nowhere. But at the end the trail, hidden from the prying eyes of a judgmental world, immense log cabins and meeting halls rise above the West Texas brush. In their shadows, women in floor-length dresses till soil in a garden the size of a football field as their husbands build a retreat for church members who believe "plural marriage" is the only way to eternal salvation. This group of polygamists – self-described Mormon fundamentalists apparently seeking an escape from an unholy mess in their longtime homes on the Utah-Arizona border – has raised a big-time stir in tiny Eldorado, where fire-and-brimstone religion may be welcome but multiple wives tend to rankle. Read more | |||
| Prophet Hunt Begins at Eldorado | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published August 19, 2004 | |||
| Sheriff David Doran and private investigator Sam Brower of Cedar City, Utah, served a summons Sunday afternoon to Merrill Jessop at the entrance to the YFZ Ranch on County Road 300. The summons directs FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs to respond within 20 days to a lawsuit filed against him by his nephew, Brent Jeffs. The lawsuit alleges that Warren Jeffs, and two of his brothers, Blaine Jeffs and Leslie Jeffs, sexually abused their nephew when he was a young boy. Investigator Sam Brower, who works for the law firm that represents plaintiff Brent Jeffs, said he wanted to deliver the summons directly to Warren Jeffs but adds that he really didn't expect to see the prophet. Merrill Jessop, who met the men at the ranch gate, reportedly told Brower and Sheriff Doran that he wasn't aware if Warren Jeffs had ever been to the YFZ Ranch. "He added that if Warren had actually been here it was only occasionally," Brower said. Read more | |||
| Success Seeks Postal Records on YFZ Ranch | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published August 19, 2004 | |||
| The Eldorado Success filed a request last week with the U.S. Postal Service asking for the public release of Postal Service records related to a Post Office box used by the YFZ Ranch. The issue came up when the Success learned that local citizens who renew their rental of a local P.O. Box are required to provide two forms of identification, including one photo ID, for each person receiving mail at the box. The new guidelines were adopted in order to comply with the U.S. Patriot Act, signed into law by President George W. Bush following the 9-11 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. While numbers of local postal patrons have already complied with the new rules, under threat of having their box taken out of service, the Success has learned that some residents at the YFZ Ranch have not complied and are still receiving mail. While looking into the issue, the Success was told that the decision to continue delivery of YFZ mail was made by a Postal Service District Supervisor. That prompted the newspaper to inquire further into Postal Service regulations. Harley Hitchcock, a retired Postal Service employee and postal consultant for the Texas Press Association pointed out that information about personal P.O. Boxes is kept private while information regarding commercial or business boxes is supposed to be open to the public. Read more | |||
| City council budget talks turn to role of administrator | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published August 19, 2004 | |||
| The Eldorado City Council met Thursday evening, August 19, 2004, ostensibly for a budget workshop, but before the meeting was over, council member Toni Sudduth would question whether City Administrator Randy Mankin’s role as owner and publisher of The Eldorado Success is putting the city in jeopardy of a lawsuit because of the newspaper’s coverage of the story surrounding the YFZ Ranch. Mayor John Nikolauk called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. with councilmembers Bill McCutcheon, Toni Sudduth, Dora Bosmans, Tommy Minor, Richard Mendez and Juaquin Rojas in attendance. The group methodically went through budget discussions and the meeting was winding down when Ms. Sudduth challenged Mankin’s part-time position as city administrator and questioned how much of Mankin’s newspaper work was being done on city time. She also claimed that he took too much time away from work and was in arrears on his vacation time. Mankin disagreed with that and referred to records he keeps in his day planner. He noted that in addtion to taking care of business at City Hall, he receives numerous calls at all hours of the night and day, even while he is at his newspaper office. Read more | |||
| Missing FLDS Leader has Local Cops Looking | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published August 19, 2004 | |||
| "Uncle" Fred Jessop, 94, the man once thought to the be the heir apparent to former Prophet Rulon Jeffs of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, was reported missing by family members last week. The concerned relatives filed the report in person at the Washington County Sheriff's Department in St. George, Utah. Rumors about Jessop's whereabouts, have run rampant among members of the FLDS twin cities of Colorado City/Hildale. With increasing numbers of former FLDS leaders being stripped of power and/or excommunicated from the church, many in the towns, as well as numbers of anti-polygmay activists, thought Jessop was either dead or being held hostage at the group's new Eldorado, Texas compound by new Prophet Warren Jeffs. Even then, it was nearly eight months before anyone came forward to file a formal missing persons report. Read more | |||
| Sheriff Questions Phone Call From Fred Jessop | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published August 26, 2004 | |||
| Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran received a phone call this week from a man identifying himself as Fred Jessop, the 94-year-old patriach of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Doran said that the man phoned him last Saturday at the urging of officials from the YFZ Ranch. "I can't say whether or not it was Fred Jessop. He provided me with the right pieces of information that would tend to identify him and he certainly sounded as if he could be 94, but I still have my doubts," Doran told the Success. Doran said the man told him he was fine and didn't need any help, adding that he was retired and staying out of church business. Jessop, known as "Uncle Fred" to the FLDS faithful, was slated to succeed former FLDS Prophet Rulon Jeffs. But, that office was claimed by the late prophet's son, Warren Jeffs, in 2002. Shortly thereafter, the new prophet excommunicated many in the church's heirarchy. Then, late in 2003, as construction was getting under way on the group's new compound near Eldorado, Fred Jessop went missing. Despite rampant rumors that Jessop had been kidnapped, and/or killed, no one in the closed communities of Hildale, Utah or Colorado City, Arizona, came forward to report Jessop until two weeks ago. That prompted a missing person report being filed in the national law enforcement data banks and led to inquiries here in Eldorado as to Jessop's whereabouts. Read more | |||
| YFZ Hauling Wastewater to San Angelo | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published August 26, 2004 | |||
| TCEQ District 8 Director Ricky Anderson confirmed this week that wastewater is being transported from the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado to a wastewater treatment plant at the San Angelo landfill operated by Trashaway. Anderson said that his inspectors had visited the ranch on August 16th to confirm that an above ground storage tank had been installed. He said that since that time ranch officials have hired a licensed wastewater hauler to transport the waste to San Angelo. Anderson said that his inspectors have received trip tickets documenting the process and that they continue to closely monitor the situation at the YFZ, which he says will only last until a permanent wastewater treatment plant can be constructed at the ranch. Anderson went on to say that his employees are also working with YFZ officials on installing a public water system. That became necessary when state inspectors learned that more than 25 people would be residing permanently at the ranch. Read more | |||
| YFZ Resident Said Excommunicated by Prophet | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published August 26, 2004 | |||
| Sources in Colorado City, Arizona tell the Success this week that Alan Steed, a one-time resident of the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado, has been excommunicated by FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs. It was Steed who, along with three other men, met with Sheriff David Doran on April 28th of this year to reveal that the construction at the YFZ Ranch was not actually intended as a hunting retreat. At that time Steed identified himself as holding the office of Patriarch in the FLDS church. According to others who have recently been barred from the church, Prophet Jeffs found Steed's family to be unworthy of him and booted them out earlier. The prophet reportedly assigned Steed a number of new wives when he was sent to Texas to work on the Eldorado compound. Now, Steed himself may be out of the group. That fits with what little can be seen here in Eldorado. Another of men who was active in the early development of the YFZ, Ernie Jessop, is reportedly no longer working here in Schleicher County, either. Officials at the ranch have told local authorities that he merely has been assigned to work on another project. As always, the Success invites comment from YFZ Ranch and FLDS Church officials. So far, no such comment has been received. | |||
| The polygamists down the road | |||
| A controversial sect's arrival upsets neighbors in West Texas | |||
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By Mark Lisheron Austin American-Statesman Originally published August 29, 2004 | |||
| ELDORADO -- A new community has been going up in the past six months just north of here, built by men who believe having at least three wives will lead to their highest salvation. The men are members of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, one of the largest religious sects adhering to polygamy in the country. They have come from Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., twin communities of about 6,000 people on the border of the two states. Their 1,691-acre ranch here in the center of Schleicher County, between San Angelo and Sonora, is called Yearning for Zion Ranch. The few men who have spoken to outsiders say they are building a religious retreat, a haven for as many as 200 of the most faithful selected by their leader, Warren Jeffs, a man they refer to as the prophet. Jeffs and two of his brothers have been accused in a Salt Lake City civil court of ritually sodomizing a male relative between the ages of 4 and 6 in the 1980s when he was a pupil at a Fundamentalist Church academy where Jeffs and his brothers taught. Jeffs is also the target of investigations by the attorneys general in Utah and Arizona. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said he is investigating Jeffs for allegations of sexual abuse within the sect. "I've said it before, and I'll continue to repeat it," Shurtleff said. "I am coming after Warren Jeffs." Read more | |||
| Prophet's Nemesis | |||
| Ross Chatwin Visits Eldorado | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published September 2, 2004 | |||
| Ross Chatwin, the Arizona man who refused to move from his home after being excommunicated from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints by its Prophet Warren Jeffs, was in Eldorado this week. Chatwin, his wife Lori and daughter Kimberlina arrived here Monday morning and spent the next day and a half visiting with Eldorado residents. Tuesday morning pilot Doug Garvin took the couple up in his plane for an aerial view of the YFZ Ranch, the property that is being developed by FLDS followers. Chatwin gained fame when he won a court decision blocking Jeffs, the FLDS Church, and its trust fund, the United Effort Plan, from evicting him from his home. Chatwin's home was built on UEP land and, according to the trust bylaws, is supposed to revert to UEP ownership when he vacates it. But, instead of following church orders and moving his wife and six children out of town, Chatwin did what no one before him had dared, he refused the Prophet's order. Read more | |||
| Profiting from the Prophet? | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published Thursday, September 2, 2004 | |||
| I listened with interest this week as Ross Chatwin offered ideas for ways to make money off the ongoing saga at the YFZ Ranch. He is the man who defied FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs and refused to leave his Colorado City, AZ home after being kicked out of the church. Chatwin, his wife Lori, and daughter Kimberlina, spent much of Monday and Tuesday in Eldorado, visiting with people, and seeing for themselves the progress at the YFZ Ranch. His thought of building an observation tower and charging admission to tourists was unique, but it wasn’t the first idea I’ve heard that involved making money off the situation at the YFZ. The prospect of profiting off the Prophet’s adventures seems to have struck a chord with several people here in town. Not that there’s anything wrong with making money. It should be obvious to one and all that the size and scope of the building program at the YFZ Ranch translates into the sale of thousands, if not millions, of dollars worth of lumber and building material. Read more | |||
| Polygamous Sect Moves In, And Texas Town Asks 'Why?' | |||
| Mormon Offshoot Accused of Abuses in Arizona and Utah | |||
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By Sylvia Moreno The Washington Post Originally published Tuesday, September 7, 2004 | |||
| ELDORADO, Tex. -- By anyone's account, 2003 was a banner news year in this tiny town on the western edge of Texas's rolling hill country. A man killed his father in the first homicide here in two decades, and an elderly man pushing brush with a bulldozer was stung to death by killer bees. A local businessman pleaded guilty to insurance fraud and was hauled off to federal prison, and nine residents, most of them members of the First Baptist Church, were killed in an accident in Louisiana on their way to visit historic sites in Pennsylvania. "I thought, we'll never have another year like that," said Randy Mankin, the part-time city administrator and full-time publisher and editor of the Eldorado Success, a weekly newspaper. "Then in mid-March this thing came along -- like a UFO landed north of town." The polygamists had arrived, and Eldorado (pronounced el-doh-ray-doh) -- population 1,951 -- hasn't been the same since. Read more | |||
| Computer Upgrade Slows TCEQ Action Against YFZ | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published September 23, 2004 | |||
| When investigators from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality office in San Angelo visited the YFZ Ranch in July, they didn't know that a computer system upgrade would delay their report from reaching TCEQ headquarters in Austin for more than two months. But that's exactly what happened. The delay is over now, according to Ricky Anderson, director of the TCEQ San Angelo office, who said that the report from his office will soon be in Austin and that officials in the agency's enforcement division would take over from there. Anderson noted the computer system upgrade will make it easier for his office to stay in touch with Austin. Anderson also confirmed for the Success that YFZ officials have filed an application for a wastewater permit with TCEQ officials in Austin. A check of the application status on the agency's website indicates that the application for a municipal wastewater discharge permit was received from YFZ Land L.L.C. on August 24, 2004 and that the permit is currently undergoing administrative review. | |||
| Nearly Six Months Later, What Have We Actually Learned About Warren Jeffs? | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published September 30, 2004 | |||
| It's been nearly six months since Eldoradoans awoke to the news that a religious sect had acquired more than sixteen hundred acres of land just outside of town and that members of the group were already erecting large dormitory-style buildings on the property. Since that day the people of Eldorado and Schleicher County have found themselves living in the eye of a media hurricane as dozens, if not hundreds, of print and broadcast journalists have made their way town, each of them looking for a different angle on a story that seems to change on a daily basis. And, oh, what a story it has become, complete with religious devotion, official corruption, power grabs, political intrigue and, yes, even a little sex. Read more | |||
| FLDS Church Holds Fast to Doctrine of Blood Atonement | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published October 7, 2004 | |||
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Editor's note: The Success this week begins a series of articles delving into the belief system of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). The first installment focuses on the Doctrine of Blood Atonement.
To fully understand the teachings of Prophet Warren Jeffs and his Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), one must first understand the teachings of the early Mormon Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS), as handed down by the group's first Prophet, Joseph Smith, and how those teachings were carried forward and expanded upon by his successors, including church pioneers like Brigham Young. First and foremost, FLDS devotees consider themselves to be true Mormons, meaning that it is they and not the mainline LDS Church who is the rightful heir of Joseph Smith's prophecy. By holding fast to traditional church doctrines like Plural Marriage and Blood Atonement, doctrines which were first promoted and then later forsaken by the LDS Church, FLDS faithful believe that they are Smith's living legacy and that it will be through them that God's earthly kingdom will be restored. Read more | |||
| An Arizona Import Rattles A Texas Town | |||
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By Randy Garsee KOLD News 13 - Tucson Originally published October 13, 2004 | |||
| Have you ever watched Mayberry, R.F.D. or The Andy Griffith Show? What would the sheriff have done if large buildings started going up on a secluded piece of land just outside of quiet little Mayberry? And then he couldn’t find out why? Would he finally have to put on that gunbelt and give Barney Fife more than one bullet? Of course that plot was never part of a Mayberry episode but it has become a very real episode elsewhere. This is a News 13 Exclusive on a story with strong Arizona ties but first I had to travel more than 700 miles to a quiet little town in west Texas. Ten years ago, Randy Mankin went into the newspaper business. "I was looking for a way to stay in this town. We like this little town. It's like living in Mayberry." The Eldorado Success is a reflection of his Mayberry with its bad news. "Sometimes that means getting out of bed at three in the morning and going out and covering a car wreck." And its good news like, "Seeing someone getting a Lions Club recognition. That's just fantastic." A few months ago, however, Mankin's Mayberry began to whistle with questions, conspiracies and paranoia. "When this thing came to town, this story, it was so foreign to what everyone had seen it almost did seem like a UFO had landed." Read more | |||
| The "Hysterical" Case of Arizona's FLDS in El Dorado, Texas | |||
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By Randy Garsee KOLD News 13 - Tucson Originally published October 13, 2004 | |||
| The word "hysterical" is an unusual one. It can mean "extremely funny" or "excessive fear or panic." After learning an Arizona religious group was building a compound nearby, the residents of El Dorado, Texas found themselves swinging between both definitions. I traveled more than 700 miles to El Dorado to learn why polygamists from Arizona decided to build a home away from home in west Texas. One of the first things you notice, as you drive into El Dorado, Texas, is the small town's sense of humor. It's prevalent in the "hysterical district" where you'll discover "celibacy is not hereditary" and other hand-painted signs scrawled with gems of wisdom. But when residents learned a religious, polygamist group from Arizona was erecting massive buildings on a nearby ranch, their emotions did not include laughter. "Well, it ran the gamut. Shock, anger, fear, complacency, every shade of gray in the spectrum." El Dorado Success newspaper publisher Randy Mankin compares it to having a UFO land in your backyard. "In the beginning it did almost seem like an alien culture had landed here," said Mankin. Read more | |||
| Source: Jeffs building Temple at YFZ Ranch | |||
| FLDS has never before built a temple | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published November 11, 2004 | |||
| Sources close to Prophet Warren Jeffs of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints tell the Success that the reclusive leader is planning to build a temple here in Schleicher County similar in size and scope to the one originally built by Mormon founder Joseph Smith in Nauvoo, Illinois. Warren has gone too far," one Utah man said on condition of anonymity. "He thinks he is God, so he has to have a temple." Aerial photos of the YFZ Ranch show a massive foundation under construction just west of the already completed meeting hall. The footprint of the foundation roughly matches that of the original Nauvoo temple. Read more | |||
| Wary Texans Keep Their Eyes on the Compound of a Polygamous Sect | |||
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By Simon Romero The New York Times Originally published November 14, 2004 | |||
| ELDORADO, Tex. - David Doran, the Schleicher County sheriff, drives his truck almost every week to the outskirts of town and gazes at the 1,700-acre compound through a pair of binoculars. On most of his stakeouts, Sheriff Doran receives a call on his cellphone from a guard in the compound's watchtower asking if anything is amiss. "I just tell him I'm on business, just checking things out," Sheriff Doran said recently. "I tell them they have a right to be here and that their rights will be respected, but that doesn't mean I won't be vigilant." Eldorado's vigilance regarding its new neighbors, however, is bordering on obsession these days. Nearly everyone in this town of 1,900 people on the arid West Texas plains 125 miles southeast of Odessa is wondering about the community that has been established by the members of an Arizona-based offshoot of the Mormon Church, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Read more | |||
| Local Lawmen Join Search for Prophet's Child Bride | |||
| Girl Declines Help from Authorities | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published November 18, 2004 | |||
| Sheriff David Doran and Chief Deputy George Arispe traveled to Colorado and Utah last week planning on meeting with law enforcement officials in the two Rocky Mountain states. Before the trip was over, however, they found themselves participating in a missing person investigation and searching for an alleged child bride of Prophet Warren Jeffs, self-appointed leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. As Doran and Arispe met with Montezuma County Sheriff Joey Chavez in Cortez Colorado word reached them that a missing person report had been filed in Utah and Arizona by Suzanne Jessop Johnson, a Colorado City, Arizona woman who told officials that her sister, 17-year-old Janetta Jessop, had telephoned her asking for help in escaping from the FLDS. Johnson said that before she could arrange to meet with her sister, the girl disappeared. Read more | |||
| Utah judge ratchets up pressure on Warren Jeffs | |||
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The Eldorado Success myeldorado.net Originally published December 2, 2004 | |||
| Utah District Judge Stephen L. Henroid wants to hear from Warren Jeffs, self-proclaimed prophet and leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. A civil lawsuit against Jeffs is pending in Judge Henroid’s court and so far, attorneys for the plaintiff, Brent Jeffs, have been unable to serve the elusive Mr. Jeffs with a summons ordering his appearance. So, the judge has ordered the publication of notices in four newspapers, including The Eldorado Success (see notice on Page 6), instructing Warren Jeffs to respond to the lawsuit. On July 29 of this year, Jeffs’ 21-year-old nephew, Brent Jeffs, filed a lawsuit in Judge Henroid’s court in which he accused his uncle of repeatedly sodomizing him beginning when he was 5 years old. The lawsuit also alleges that the FLDS church and much of its leadership were complicit in covering up the sexual abuse. Listed as co-defendants in the case were Warren Jeffs’ brothers Blaine Balmforth Jeffs and Leslie Balmforth Jeffs. Also, named in the lawsuit was the FLDS church and the United Effort Plan Trust, a trust fund originally intended to benefit FLDS church members, but which many observers now believe serves as little more than a slush fund for Warren Jeffs and his lieutenants. Read more | |||
