Prophet's Prey (10 page)

Still, the actual death seemed to surprise almost everyone, as they waited patiently for Rulon to be renewed into his former youthful self. It had become a matter of faith that Rulon, as the living prophet, would be the one who would finally hand the keys of the kingdom over to the returned savior, Jesus Christ. In reality, all he did was die. And the keys were snatched away by his conniving son.

The legion of shaken wives had believed the promises made to them of eternal life, that Rulon would be changed in the twinkling of an eye back into his vibrant prime. God had raised the dead in the Scriptures; surely the prophet deserved the same blessing. “There was no doubt in my mind that he would just come back,” one of the many widows told me. “God would touch him and he would be made young in every sense of the word. He would be able to walk around with us and know our names, and have time for us and things like that.”

When Rulon was buried four days later, their faith still had not wavered. “At the funeral it was just so freaky and so hard,” a wife remembered. “When they shut the casket for the last time, it was like … No, you can't do that! He's going to bang on it and say, ‘What the hell are you guys doing?' We truly expected that.”

With angelic sweetness, a choir of wives sang an original five-minute composition entitled “Our Prophet Is Caught Up,” which included the words, “He shall come forth again to earth and lead his people on.” Warren stood tall beside the grave, and some of the women said he was aglow with heavenly brightness.

His long wait for power was over.

CHAPTER 14

Stepmothers and Wives

Warren Jeffs wasted no time grieving for his father; he had a religion to run. It was also time to start cashing in on his aspirations, and his first item was taking the women he wanted from his father's harem. He stepped before a special leadership meeting two days after Rulon's death and coldly announced: “I'm here to tell you men, hands off my father's wives!”

He explained, “Now I understand what father was doing, building up his family, so I could carry on.” He had first choice, and the rest would be reassigned to loyal men whom he selected—and who would then be stuck with the financial responsibility of caring for the less desirable wives and children.

By announcing his intention to wed many of his own stepmothers, he broke a taboo, which shook the entire FLDS. Many contended that it was a violation of the Biblical Law of Moses, which stated that a man shall not marry his father's wives. Those accusations led Warren to formulate rambling rationalizations and revelations from God, which he would dispense to the flock as needed, like scattering feed before chickens. “People are searching the history, and they can't quite match up the present situation with anything else,” he said, according to a section of his Record.

If people did not understand his logic, it obviously was their fault because their hearts were dark. Opponents were warned that they were “treading down the path to apostasy” by criticizing his work toward the “celestialization of this earth.” What he was really saying, in words cloaked in piety, was that opposing opinions would be dealt with swiftly and severely.

Many of Rulon's wives reeled at what they perceived to be incest, so Warren sweet-talked and perplexed them with revelations from beyond the grave. “Every one of you ladies, my mothers, are worth more than worlds to Father. Through you he will bring forth sons and daughters that will become gods here and in the spirit world, and those gods will create worlds upon worlds.”

It was confusing. Warren had a way of speaking in tangled sentences that meant nothing, but slowly they understood that he intended to bed and have children by them because that was “Father's and God's will.” He was speaking in the present tense, as if Rulon were standing in the room. Trained throughout their entire lives to be docile in the face of a man's authority, most eventually agreed.

One absolutely refused. “Lorraine” had been married to Rulon for seven years and was an anomaly among FLDS women. She had somehow managed to grow up with a mind of her own, and she was willing to challenge Warren's advances toward her and her sister-wives. She would not be bullied. Warren wanted this beautiful woman badly, but she was equally adamant about having nothing to do with him. Finally, in a fit of frustration and desperation, he glared at her with maniacal fierceness, wagged his bony index finger in her face, and promised, “I'm going to break you, young lady.”

At that point, Lorraine knew her life would become a living hell if she did nothing to protect herself. That very evening, she decided to leave the FLDS rather than endure the punishment certain to come her way for refusing to marry the demented son of her late husband. Lorraine literally went over the wall of the Jeffs's compound and escaped.

Another special wife was Mary Fischer, the nurse and sister of Dan Fischer, who had constantly tended Rulon prior to his death. She knew everything about both Rulon and Warren, and Warren was concerned that Mary would turn against him, like her brothers Dan and Shem. He could not risk losing “Mother Mary” to the world and having her reveal her secrets to the authorities, so he persuaded her to marry him. Afterward, he kept her in hiding, virtually as a voluntary prisoner. She, like many other women, had become a victim of circumstance, and she had nowhere else to go. She would only emerge occasionally, when her nursing skills were needed within the closed society, and then she would be ferreted off to a new hiding place to avoid detection.

Polygamy is the heart of FLDS doctrine, and Warren Jeffs was going to see to it that he had more wives than anyone else, even if it meant marrying his mothers. I have personally counted more than eighty wives, and others peg the number at better than ninety. Within a few years of seizing power, he would brag in a sermon before a huge gathering of FLDS members that heavenly father had revealed to him that he would have one hundred wives.

After throwing a fence around his stepmothers, Warren turned his attention to consolidating his leadership. He would later write, “All of the people are asking, ‘Who did Uncle Rulon appoint?' ”

Warren acknowledged that within the governing body of the church, there was nothing to show that he was the legitimate heir. The FLDS has never had an organized right of succession—no rule book and no protocol to fall back on—and so historically, an internal fight would usually ensue when the top position came open. Warren knew that he had to be smarter, faster, more ruthless, and quicker on his feet than any rival.

His closest potential rival was the faithful Fred Jessop, the bishop of Short Creek. Uncle Fred had been around a very long time, and had earned a loyal base of followers. Dissident Flora Jessop, the daughter of one of his half-brothers, described Uncle Fred in her book
Church of Lies
as “a mover and a shaker in the FLDS and rich to boot.”

During the reign of Rulon Jeffs, Uncle Fred handled affairs concerning the town, including the collection of church tithes, 10 percent of everyone's income. The tall, quiet man had remained as the faithful second counselor without protest when Warren had usurped the position of first counselor back in 1997.

Uncle Fred, however, was tragically flawed by something that would never permit him to be the official leader of a cultish religion that expects men to be the fertile producers of squadrons of youngsters. He was sterile. Physically unable to have kids of his own, Fred built his own large family of reassigned wives and children, widows, and orphans. The package was a stew with many ingredients, and the residents of Short Creek loved him for being such a benevolent benefactor. Warren had to tread lightly in dealing with Uncle Fred.

According to the Priesthood Record, the two men had a private meeting in which Warren swore to follow Fred “if the Lord wants you to lead.” Fred answered that God had given him no such instruction, but that he had somehow seen a vision of “Uncle Louis.”

That would be Louis Barlow, the patriarch of a large and influential family in the Crick. This “vision” was unsettling news for Warren, who wanted to hear Uncle Fred declare undying support for him. Fred, in his nineties, probably just wanted to spend his last years in peace, not in a religious gang war. Under pressure, and knowing that he was no match for the conniving favorite son of the dead prophet, Fred wavered and promised to submit to whoever the Lord chose. Given my experience, I can imagine that the old pioneer was wise enough to realize that going up against Warren's ruthless ambitions would end up in a public bloodletting in which he would likely lose everything at a very vulnerable time in his life. Warren silently put old Louis Barlow on his private list of enemies to be dealt with at some future time.

Just putting Uncle Fred in his place was not going to be enough to persuade everyone to follow along. Warren needed witnesses if he was to cement his power play.

Although he did not trust her, Warren brought Mother Mary, Rulon's former wife and nurse who knew all of the secrets, to the pulpit during a meeting. She had been at the dying prophet's bedside night and day and had witnessed all the details of Rulon's last moments in mortality. Now totally dependent upon Warren for her existence, Mary dutifully testified that the prophet had indeed expressed a fervent wish that Warren follow him as the next leader. Women, however, have no standing in the FLDS, which weakened her testimony substantially, and the old-timers were grumbling that there was no priesthood authority to testify of Rulon's last wishes. Warren needed the backing of a priesthood man.

His brother Isaac assumed that task, and in the future, he would be richly rewarded for his choice. Isaac stepped forward and announced that all the way back in August of 2001, he had heard Rulon speak about Warren during a meeting, saying “The finger of the Lord is pointing to this man.” Isaac further testified that as they drove home on that eventful day, he had heard Rulon tell Warren several times, “I want you to accept the presidency of this church to take my place.” Isaac did not stop there. He emphasized that Rulon had repeated his decision about thirty times on that one day. Even when his wives and Isaac helped the prophet to the bathroom, the old man had closed his eyes, bowed his head, then looked at the wall and declared, “Warren is going to be the next leader of this people.” Back in his bed, he said it again and again.

During the crucial weeks after the death of Rulon, Warren would repeatedly cite Isaac's testimony to justify his claim of FLDS leadership. He was careful not to mention that his brother's remarks as a witness had not surfaced until after the old man was dead. No one seemed to recall that during the time Rulon allegedly made the important comments, Warren had stated that Rulon had the mind of a child. It had been obvious to those close to him that Rulon often hadn't even known what day it was, so perhaps he would have found it difficult to express opinions on intricate church matters. Rulon never wrote down his wishes designating a legal successor to follow him as president of the FLDS church.

Because there were no rules for succession within the FLDS, the combination of questionable personal testimonies from Isaac and Mary, plus the nod of the cowed Uncle Fred, had to be good enough, and Warren named himself the new prophet, seer and revelator. It wasn't in writing, but that, too, was about to be remedied.

The only real problem left was the uneasy situation in Canada, where the decision to fire Winston Blackmore as bishop had caused a deep split. Some strain had always existed between the FLDS groups in Canada and the United States. Despite mutual claims of friendship, those living in the Crick believed the Canadians were much too lax in discipline. The Canadians felt the Americans were much too rigid. As long as the friendship existed between the late Uncle Rulon and Winston Blackmore, differences could usually be worked out. Not so with Warren at the helm.

As a private investigator, I am always on the lookout for possible sources of information, so I contacted Blackmore by telephone in 2004 and introduced myself, and, to my surprise, he agreed to speak with me. I found him to be an affable man who could communicate easily with people in the outside world, while still maintaining his strong unconventional beliefs in polygamy. A key difference between Winston and the FLDS brand of polygamy was that he no longer condoned the practice of underage marriage. Although admitting to having taken at least two underage brides while still a member of the FLDS church, he said that he had come to the realization that the practice was wrong and illegal, and he would never promote, condone, or participate in the practice again. In the months to come, Blackmore and I would have numerous intense discussions about polygamy and the differences between his fundamentalist and my equally strong mainstream Mormon beliefs. Fortunately, I did not have to agree with his views, nor he with mine, in order to establish a rapport and talk openly about issues that might be beneficial to my investigation. My job was not to convert him; he was a source who willingly opened a window for me into the hierarchy of the FLDS. He became a knowledgeable guide into the intricacies of his fundamentalist religion, which he never abandoned, and of the dark side of the FLDS religion, which he had abandoned.

He told me about his basic disagreement with Warren. “One of the most frequent questions asked is about a power struggle between me and Warren,” Blackmore said. “Now I don't know what that is, but I will tell you about my own struggle. I had to struggle when I was told that there was not enough time left to help anyone repent. I struggled when I saw men who had been restored and forgiven in the days of Uncle Roy and Uncle Rulon, and now have their families swept away from them and their homes given to another. I struggled when I saw men's wages given to the church, and then see their boss go buy a new Lexus. I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't struggle trying to believe there could be anything ‘Mormon' about what was happening.”

Blackmore said that he had come to dread being summoned down to Short Creek by church leaders, because he never knew in advance if the purpose was to sign some business document, have a meeting with Warren, simply to visit Rulon, or to marry another wife. “I'm telling you, it is a not a good feeling thinking that you may be coming home with some young girl,” Blackmore observed. “A lot of people think it's about having sex with a new girl, and maybe for some people it may be, but the reality of it is, there's nothing pleasurable about it.” A new young bride meant disruption of the status quo of the household, more in-laws with whom to deal, and an added financial burden. Winston Blackmore had developed a more pragmatic view of polygamy, and of life. My personal views of whether or not Winston was being forthright with me concerning his change of heart regarding child abuse were only relevant to me with respect to his credibility. If I were to have found out he was lying to me (which I have not), I would still have maintained a relationship with Winston, because that is my job. When I make contact with a junkie that is willing to share with me his experiences and provide me with information that will be beneficial to my case, I do not refuse to speak with him if I find out that he is shooting heroin. Winston helped me to gain a more complete understanding of the dark side of the FLDS church and its leaders, and for that I remain grateful.

After being dismissed by Rulon during the Warren-coached telephone call, Blackmore was replaced as the bishop of Bountiful by a quiet and obscure mechanic named Jim Oler, a staunch Warren loyalist. About half of the membership stopped following Blackmore, or listening to his sermons, and followed Warren's substitute, Oler. The rest stuck by the defrocked Blackmore. Winston's wives ignored Jeffs's warning to either leave Blackmore or be doomed to hell and never see their families again.