The drama continues as Warren has just had a 90 day phone suspension, and with tighter, stifling rules being implemented, the FLDS Church looks to be in a crisis mode never seen before.

The so-called YFZ Statue Amphitheater structure also appears to be nearing a Spring completion.

1) Temporary Restraining Order issued by Judge Kennedy, restraining the FLDS from interfering with Richard Holm’s use and enjoyment of UEP property for which he holds an Occupancy Agreement;

2)  Complaint filed on behalf of Richard Holm against the FLDS and requesting a restraining order and injunction against the FLDS thugs who took over his property and changed the locks and barricaded the property against Richard; and

3)  Exhibits attached to Richard Holm’s complaint — pay particular attention to the letter from Brock Belknap (Washington County Attorney) to Jonathan Roundy, FLDS Police Chief, as this letter directs local FLDS law enforcement to enforce the UEP Occupancy Agreements according to their terms and give them the same effect as a lease or deed.

We will post a thorough commentary on these documents and the recent shake-up in Short Creek a little later this evening, but for now we wanted to get these documents posted so you can read from the primary sources yourselves.

You can also read about this lastest dust-up in the news:

Deseret News:  here

Salt Lake Tribune:  here and here

Utah Fox 13:  here

Salt Lake City’s ABC affiliate: here 

Merril Jessop aka Deadbeat Dad’s mug shot from Huntsville.

A map showing the location of various destructive events that WSJ is predicting to befall the US if he doesn’t get his “get out of jail free” card.

The map is from Lindsay Whitehurst’s blog at the Salt Lake Tribune.
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/blogspolygblog/52914741-191/jeffs-revelations-revelation-sent.html.csp

Appeals, trials, lost wives, the saga continues…

R.I.P. Steve Jobs

Today’s Headline:

Polygamist Street Preacher / Child Kidnapper Brian David Mitchell has arrived at a federal maximum security prison in Arizona

STATE’S EXHIBIT 992*

*Dozens upon dozens of bigamous marriages Warren performed either as mouth or witness.

Texas took the time to add the child bride marriages performed in Hildale, Utah and elsewhere.

Also there is a special row for Wendell Nielsen and Merril Jessop,  (see their initials) so this same document will likely be used at their trials as well.  This should be searchable, you can see where these guys were often marrying many women in a day – and haven’t seen any plural wives attending as Witness.

As someone mentioned on another thread, “So much for consent”.

Its a large file as there are a lot of marriages.

Photo courtesy of “The Pilot”

Nope, it’s the base to the upcoming 38 foot high statute of Warren Steed Jeffs!!

Take a look at some of Shurtleff’s comments (sometimes contradictory) over the years:

• Shurtleff said some have criticized Utah for not going after Jeffs hard enough, but he disagrees.  ”The only reason he is in Texas  is because we were going after him in Utah,” he said. “We did what we could, and we feel we were right in that (2007) conviction.”  Link (August 2011)

• Utah legal authorities will investigate the woman’s claim, state Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said. But he said Texas authorities have told him there is no evidence Jeffs had sex with some of his teenage brides in Utah. Link (August 2011)

• “I knew and understood him to be that kind of man,” Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff told Fox 13 on Tuesday. “We just had to have that evidence to do it. Texas finally had that evidence.”… ”We’re anxious to get our hands on some of that evidence down there in Texas and see if there’s any additional crimes that we may have to look at prosecuting here,” Shurtleff said.  Link (August 2011)

• Utah’s Attorney General Mark Shurtleff says he’s delighted with the conviction of Warren Jeffs in Texas. Shurtleff has been waiting for this kind of verdict against Jeffs for 10 years, ever since the state served its first warrants against him in 2001. …”He obviously believed he was above all that. He was above the court. He always thought of himself as not answerable to any earthly authorities, and now he is,” Shurtleff said….Shurtleff says he’s willing to go through another trial against Jeffs, and he feels he has a solid case.   Link

• Shurtleff said the evidence was “so overwhelming” that he thinks Jeffs would have been convicted regardless. His primary hope, now, is that members of the FLDS Church, who hold Jeffs up as a prophet, are told the truth about their leader.  Link

• Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff also worried about how FLDS faithful would perceive the Texas raid. In an interview with the Deseret Morning News on Friday, Shurtleff said, “Heavens no!” he would not raid Hildale and Colorado City. …”We have no evidence that there are more child victims (in Utah) since Warren Jeffs disappeared,” Shurtleff said.   Link  (May 2008)

• Texas child protective services officials have said in court that the children on the YFZ Ranch were growing up in a culture that lends itself to abuse. Shurtleff said he can’t reach the same conclusion.  Link (2008)

• Attorney General Mark Shurtleff says, “Whether you think we should or not, it can’t be done.” He says he’s facing new criticism, alongside Arizona’s Attorney General, that they haven’t done enough to prosecute polygamists. He cites a lack of infrastructure — things like room in prisons and foster care homes — as one of the reasons Utah will not be following in Texas’ footsteps.  Link (2008)

• Stung by critics who say Utah has done little about the polygamy problem, Attorney General Mark Shurtleff suggested Utah’s crackdown on abuses within the closed societies may have ultimately led to the raid on the Fundamentalist LDS Church’s Texas compound….”They wouldn’t have gone to Texas if they hadn’t been running away from us,” he said in a recent interview with the Deseret News. “They went to Texas to flee when we started cracking down.”  Link

•  Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff has said his office will not prosecute bigamy among the FLDS unless someone is committing additional felonies, such as sexual abuse or fraud. Strickland said the Texas attorney general has not made such a declaration. Link

• The documents (600 pages of Warren’s dictations) have found their way into the hands of Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, who has been reading them with interest. …. ”It’s very cryptic and I’m not sure what it all means,” he told the Deseret News on Monday. … Asked if he had found any evidence of crimes, Shurtleff said: “no.”Link (February 10, 2009)

• “I haven’t received a lot of stuff that has Utah implications,” Shurtleff said. Link  (April 4, 2009)

• Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said in a recent interview with Fox 13 he has had no evidence presented to him of child bride marriages in Utah since 2004, when Utah made child bigamy a second-degree felony.  Link  (April 2011)

The 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin has upheld the search warrants for the YFZ ranch.

In response to this letter from Will and Willie, Brother Lyle sent a mass text message to FLDS members:

“The enemy has mailed out another mailing.  A trifold letter addressed to Box Holder.  Give it no time.  It is poison.”

The FLDS members who received this text message from Lyle before they picked up their mail and received the letter from Will and Willie likely discarded the letter without even reading it.   Hopefully it was read by some.  Hopefully it will at least plant a seed of curiosity that will lead some to questioning and eventual doubt about their prophet.

While I have my doubts about Willie’s motives and agenda regarding his recent about-face, I do believe that he is in a position to make a positive difference with some of the the rank-and-file.   Whether he is properly or improperly motivated, I hope he continues to speak publicly and reach out to the FLDS community for the purpose of exposing Warren Jeffs and opening their eyes and their hearts.

Maybe just wishful thinking.

To Greg Abbott the Texas Attorney General: You and your office have done what no other state has been willing to do. You have fought for the children who have been victimized by the FLDS cult. Eric Nichols and Angela Goodwin have been brilliant in their presentation and have been backed up by a truly awesome staff. They have gone the extra mile to get things done, contacting potential witnesses, interviewing, reviewing documents, listening to tapes, whatever it took to make sure the case was airtight.

A special thanks to Sergeant Wes who has acted as Co-Case Agent and Co Document Custodian. He has had to be away from his family continually since April 2008 and along with Ranger Nick has dug deep into the evidence and found everything they could find, not only against Warren Jeffs, but also against the others who are under indictment.

To the Texas Rangers, the public now knows what it didn’t know back in April 2008. They know they were lied to by Willie Jessop and a host of sobbing FLDS women. Sally Jeffs is the perfect example of the liars they were. She went on national television and told anyone who would listen that there were no underage marriages occurring at the YFZ or anywhere in the FLDS communities. What a liar she has turned out to be. 3 of the underage brides were her daughters. Y’all might have had to stand there and take what was dished out at the time, but now that the truth is known, y’all are shining brighter than ever.

There are others who have helped uncover the cult that calls itself the FLDS, the Mankins who have written about it in their paper and shared their knowledge with the rest of us, Sheriff Doran and his deputies who have had to stand watch over the men, being inundated with visitors who think that the visitation times and visitor numbers apply to everyone but them. I could keep going, but the main thing I wanted to do with this post is to give a public thank you to those who probably don’t get many Thank yous in their line of work.

Feel free to add specific thank yous in the comments as you see fit.

According to sources within the FLDS and related to Warren and Lyle Jeffs — Lyle called the community on Sunday and announced that Warren is the most pure man on earth and is worthy of the flock’s continued support.   End of discussion.   At least that is the end of the discussion for most of the flock.   They simply needed a leader with authority  to tell them what to think and how to respond to Warren’s latest travails.   The official dogma has been delivered by the acting Bishop and leader, Lyle Jeffs, who apparently speaks with Warren’s authority and on his command.

How long could it be before Lyle “pulls a Warren” and begins giving commands based on Lyle’s own sadistic desires and motives, claiming authority from the absent Warren?   I’m not sure the FLDS community is any better off with Lyle in the prophet chair.

Make no mistake.. It’s a blessing that justice has been delivered to Warren Jeffs, and we are all so thankful for the determined and committed men and women of Texas who made that happen.   But this ain’t over folks ….