Warren Steed Jeffs (born December 3, 1955, in San Francisco, California) was the leader of a controversial Mormon fundamentalist polygamist sect known as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS Church) from 2002 to 2007.[3] Jeffs' position in this organization was reportedly that of absolute ruler. Jeffs gained international notoriety in May 2006 when he was placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution on Utah state charges related to his alleged arrangement of extralegal marriages between his adult male followers and underage girls. He was arrested in August 2006 in Nevada, and agreed to be taken to Utah for trial. In May and July of 2007 the State of Arizona charged him with eight additional counts—including sexual conduct with minors and incest—in two separate cases.[4] His trial, which began early in September of 2007 in St. George, Utah, lasted less than a month, and on September 25 the verdict was read declaring him guilty of two counts of rape as an accomplice.[5] On November 20, 2007 he was sentenced to imprisonment for 10 years to life and has begun serving his sentence at the Utah State Prison.[6]
Jeffs resigned from the presidency of the FLDS Church on the day he was sentenced.[7] There are also reports that Jeffs admitted his position of prophet in the FLDS church was false in a conversation to William E. Jessop, and declared that "Brother William E. Jessop has been the prophet since [my] Father's passing" in a conversation to his brother Nephi Jeffs, though Jeffs' attorneys have claimed he misspoke.[8]
Jeffs is the son of Rulon T. Jeffs. His father, the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at his death, was survived by 19 or 20 wives and about 60 children[9].
Warren Jeffs' official title in the FLDS Church was "President and Prophet, Seer and Revelator". He also held the title of "President of the Priesthood". Jeffs was a counselor to his father Rulon Jeffs when the elder Jeffs held these leadership positions; upon the death of Rulon Jeffs in 2002, Warren Jeffs succeeded him and became FLDS Church leader.[10] One of Jeffs' statements after his father's death was directed at high-ranking officials in the church: "I won't say much, but I will say this—hands off my father's wives." Then addressing the recent widows, he said, "You women will live as if father is still alive and in the next room." Within a week, Warren had married all but two of his father's several dozen wives.[11] After this, he continued to marry more women, many of whom were close relatives. Because of his claimed descent from Jesus Christ and Joseph Smith, Jeffs has taught that his marriages are necessary to preserve sacred bloodlines.[citation needed]
Jeffs, the sole individual in the church who could perform marriages, was responsible for assigning wives to husbands. Jeffs also had the ability to punish men by "reassigning their wives, children and homes to another man."[12] Moreover, the FLDS Church owns essentially all of the homes and real estate in the areas where its members reside.
In 2000, the Colorado City Unified School District had more than 1200 students enrolled. When Jeffs ordered FLDS Church members to remove their children from public schools, the enrollment decreased to around 250. He did not order the FLDS Church members who made up the majority of the school district's administrators to quit their positions.[13]
Until courts in Utah intervened, Jeffs controlled almost all of the land in Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah, which was part of a church trust, the United Effort Plan (UEP). The land has been estimated to be worth over $100 million. Currently, all UEP assets are in the custody of the Utah court system pending further litigation. In January 2004, Jeffs expelled a group of 20 men from Colorado City, including the mayor, and reassigned their wives and children to other men. Jeffs teaches that a man has to have at least three wives in order to get into heaven, and the more wives a man has, the closer he is to heaven.[14] Former church members claim that Jeffs himself has seventy wives (Egan, 2005).
Before his 2006 arrest, Jeffs had last been seen on January 1, 2005, near Eldorado, Texas, at the dedication ceremony of the foundation of a large and elaborate new FLDS temple on an area of land called the YFZ Ranch. The ranch, which Jeffs' church reportedly planned to designate as its new home base,[citation needed] came into the public eye when Texas authorities took legal custody of 416 children on April 7, 2008 when a 16-year-old girl called and reported abuse. She said she was married to a 50-year-old man and had given birth to his child at age 15. Currently the girl who made the call has not been discovered, and it is unclear whether the calls were a hoax perpetrated by a disgruntled church member or some other individual, or a church member who is as yet unaccounted for. [15]
On June 10, 2006, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard told the Deseret Morning News that he had heard from several sources that Jeffs had returned to Arizona, and had performed marriage ceremonies in a mobile home that was being used as a wedding chapel.[16]
On March 27, 2007, the Deseret Morning News reported that Jeffs had renounced his role as prophet of the FLDS Church in a conversation with his brother Nephi. Nephi quoted him as saying he was "the greatest of all sinners" and that God never called him to be Prophet. This statement was reportedly given to his brother Nephi and Jeffs and his defense team had no comment on it. Some[who?] suggested it was a lie from his brother Nephi, trying to assume his brother's role, while others[who?] said he must step down as prophet so a new man may perform marriages and continue adding wives to the men of the community. An unnamed source said that he retracted this statement.[17] However the veracity of that source was called into question when Jeffs presented a handwritten note to the judge at the end of trial on March 27 saying that he was not a prophet of the FLDS Church.[18]
On November 7, 2007, the Washington County Attorney's Office released video of jailhouse conversations between Nephi and Warren Jeffs. In the videos Warren renounces his prophethood, claiming that God had told him that if he revealed that he was not the rightful prophet, and was a "wicked man", he would still gain a place in the telestial kingdom.[19] Jeffs also admits to what he calls, "immoral actions with a sister and a daughter" when he was 20 years old.[20] Other records show that while incarcerated, Jeffs tried to commit suicide by banging his head against the walls and trying to hang himself.[21]
Jeffs resigned as president of the FLDS Church effective November 20, 2007. In an email to the Deseret Morning News, Jeffs' attorneys made the following statements: "Mr. Jeffs has asked that the following statement be released to the media and to members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints," ... "Mr. Jeffs resigned as President of the Corporation of the President of The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Inc." The statement does not address his ecclesiastical position as prophet of the FLDS Church, and many in the FLDS communities still regard him as the prophet and their current leader."[7]
In 2005, the Southern Poverty Law Center published the following statements of Jeffs:
* "The black race is the people through which the devil has always been able to bring evil unto the earth." * "[Cain was] cursed with a black skin and he is the father of the Negro people. He has great power, can appear and disappear. He is used by the devil, as a mortal man, to do great evils." * "Today you can see a black man with a white woman, et cetera. A great evil has happened on this land because the devil knows that if all the people have Negro blood, there will be nobody worthy to have the priesthood." * "If you marry a person who has connections with a Negro, you would become cursed."[22]
Sex crime allegations and FBI's Most WantedIn July 2004, Warren Jeffs' nephew, Brent Jeffs, filed a lawsuit against him alleging that in the late 1980s his uncle sodomized him in the Salt Lake Valley compound then owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). Brent Jeffs said he was five or six years old at the time, and that Warren Jeffs' brothers, also named in the lawsuit, watched and participated in the abuse. Two of Warren Jeffs' other nephews also made similar abuse claims against him. One of the alleged victims, Clayne Jeffs, committed suicide with a firearm after accusing Warren Jeffs of sexually assaulting him as a child.[23]
In June 2005, Jeffs was charged with sexual assault on a minor and with conspiracy to commit sexual misconduct with a minor for allegedly arranging, in 2002, a marriage between a 14-year-old girl and a 19-year-old man who was already married. The girl, known as "Jane Doe IV" (Elissa Wall)[24] testified that she begged "Uncle Rulon" to let her wait until she was older, or choose another man for her. Rulon Jeffs was apparently "sympathetic", but Warren Jeffs was not, and she was forced to go through with the marriage. The man that she was to marry was apparently her first cousin. The 14-year-old alleged that her new husband raped her repeatedly, starting on their wedding night. She eventually left her husband and is now married to another man.[25] Jeffs faced the above charges in Mohave County, Arizona. In July 2005, the Arizona Attorney General's office distributed wanted posters offering $10,000 for information leading to Jeffs' arrest and conviction.
In late 2005, Jeffs was put on the FBI's most wanted fugitive list, offering $60,000 for information leading to his arrest. Shortly after being placed on the FBI list, Jeffs was featured on the television program America's Most Wanted.
Around this time, Warren Jeffs' brother, Seth, was arrested under suspicion of harboring a fugitive. During a routine traffic stop on October 28, 2005, in Pueblo County, Colorado, police found nearly $142,000 in cash, about $7,000 worth of prepaid debit cards, and Warren Jeffs' personal records. During Seth Jeffs' court case, FBI agent Andrew Stearns testified Jeffs had told him that he did not know where his older brother was and that he would not reveal his whereabouts if he did. He was convicted of harboring a fugitive on May 1, 2006.[26] On July 14, 2006, he was sentenced to three years' probation and a $2500 fine.[27]
On April 5, 2006, the state of Utah issued an arrest warrant for Jeffs on felony charges of accomplice rape of a teenage girl between 14 and 18 years old.[28] Shortly after, on May 6, 2006 the FBI placed Jeffs on its Top Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.[29] He was the the 482nd fugitive listed on that list. In addition, the bounty on his head was raised to $100,000, and the public was warned that "Jeffs may travel with a number of loyal and armed bodyguards".[30]
The updated posters warned that Jeffs had ties to Utah, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, South Dakota, British Columbia, Canada, and Quintana Roo, Mexico. There was also information that he had ties to some rural farms run by some of his followers near Pioche, Nevada, as well as construction companies in Mesquite, Nevada.[31]
On May 27, 2006 Bruce Wisan, the court-appointed accountant in charge of the FLDS' trust fund, filed civil suits against Jeffs. Wisan claimed that Jeffs is responsible for "fleecing trust assets". Along with church leaders, former trustees Truman Barlow, Leroy Jeffs, James Zitting, and William Jessop were also named as defendants. "We feel that they’ve taken things from the trust," Wisan said. "Their actions have caused harm to the trust."[32]
On June 8, 2006 Jeffs returned to Colorado City to perform more "child bride" marriages. Nearby citizens pointed out a mobile home where the weddings had allegedly taken place.[33]
On August 28, 2006 around 9 p.m. Pacific time, Jeffs was pulled over on Interstate 15 in Clark County, Nevada, by Nevada Highway Trooper Eddie Dutchover because Jeffs' red 2007 Cadillac Escalade's temporary license plates were not visible. One of Jeffs' wives, Naomi, and his brother, Issac, were with him, and Jeffs had four computers, 16 cell phones, disguises (including three wigs and twelve pairs of sunglasses), and more than $55,000 in cash.[34][35]
In a Nevada court hearing on August 31, 2006 Jeffs waived extradition and agreed to return to Utah[36] to face two first-degree felony charges of accomplice rape.[28] Each charge carries an indeterminate penalty of five years to life in prison. Arizona prosecutors are next in line to try Jeffs. He was held in the Washington County, Utah, jail pending an April 23, 2007, trial on two counts of rape as an accomplice for his role in arranging a 2002 marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin.[37]
Jeffs was believed to be leading his group from jail, and a Utah state board expressed dissatisfaction in dealing with Hildale police, believing that many had ties to Jeffs, and as such, did not cooperate.[38] In May and July of 2007, he was indicted in Arizona on eight counts, including sexual conduct with a minor and incest.[39]
Jeffs' trial ran from September 11 to September 25, 2007. The trial was held in St. George, Utah, with judge James L. Shumate presiding. Jeffs was housed in Utah's Purgatory Correctional Facility in solitary confinement for the duration. At the culmination of the trial, Jeffs was found guilty of two counts of being an accomplice to rape[40] on September 25, 2007. He was sentenced to imprisonment for 10 years to life and has begun serving his sentence at the Utah State Prison.[6]
Jeffs is now scheduled to be tried in Arizona.[41] Jeffs entered a not guilty plea February 27, 2008, to sex charges stemming from the arranged marriages of three teenage girls to older men.[42]
In 2003, Under the Banner of Heaven was published, a book written by Jon Krakauer, documenting his perspective of some of the history of both the LDS church and its spin-off sects, focusing largely on the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The book describes illegal activity in the (Fundamentalist) Church, mainly polygyny and statutory rape.
In 2006, Tom Elliott and Pawel Gula produced the documentary feature "Damned to Heaven". The film premiered in Europe at the Krakow Film Festival in Poland. In September 2007, it premiered in the U.S. at the Temecula Valley International Film Festival, where it received honors in the Best Documentary category. The film investigates the practice of plural marriage, and includes 20 minutes of Warren Jeffs' original teachings,recorded for the purpose of "educating" followers. Janusz Kaminski said, after seeing the documentary, "This film is shocking. As a society, we are obligated to see it."[43]
The documentary film "Banking on Heaven" was released in 2006. It documents Warren Jeffs and the FLDS in Colorado City, Arizona.
On July 19, 2006 Britain's Channel 4 ran the documentary "The Man with 80 Wives." The program featured presenter Sanjiv Bhattacharya searching for Warren Jeffs, unsuccessfully, in Colorado, Utah and Texas. Filmed before Jeffs was put on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list, the documentary features interviews with one of Jeffs' brothers as well as with several excommunicated FLDS members.
In Canada on October 23, 2006 Global ran an hour-long documentary on "Global Currents", which followed the lives of excommunicated members and featured their hardships.
In 2007, Living Hope Ministries released a documentary entitled Lifting the Veil of Polygamy which includes interviews with former members of Warren Jeffs' fundamentalist sect.[44]
In September 2007, the Australian current affairs program A Current Affair sent reporter Amanda Patterson to Utah on a number of occasions to report on the sect. While filming in Colorado City, her crew was persistently harassed and stalked by a number of local men in their pickup trucks. She also attempted to interview a number of men, who saw nothing wrong with what they were doing, and with women, who refused to talk on air.
In Canada in 2007, CBC's news show The Fifth Estate aired an episode called "Bust Up in Bountiful" focusing on Jeffs's one-time rival, Winston Blackmore, and Blackmore's belief that Jeffs was not only responsible for the split in Bountiful, British Columbia's community, but is also a dangerous man.
Escape by Carolyn Jessop is a personal account of the deterioration of human rights (especially women's and children's rights) and institutionalized abuse in the FLDS organization under Warren Jeffs' leadership.
On January 23, 2007 CTV aired a made-for-TV movie titled "In God's Country"[45] which tells a fictionalized tale that alludes to FLDS and their behaviors and beliefs.
In 2007, the television show Law & Order:SVU ran an episode featuring a cult leader who claimed to be a descendant of Jesus Christ. This character was wanted for abuse of a minor, polygamy, and performing child marriages. Though the end of the episode does not mirror the manner in which Warren Jeffs was captured, the character in the show was clearly based on Jeffs.
The HBO show "Big Love" contains a scene where the leader of a fictional fundamental and polygynist sect observes Warren Jeffs being arrested. He refers to him as a pervert and worries that he will ruin things for other polygamist sects.
The Season 3, Episode 12 "Nine Wives" of Numb3rs was based on the FLDS Church. The episode follows the FBI's search for a pedophilic polygamist fugitive.