Warren Jeffs

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Warren Jeffs on the FBI wanted poster

Warren Steed Jeffs (born December 3, 1955 in San Francisco , USA ) is an American head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS). He sees himself as a prophet and “herald of God's will”. Several charges were brought against him in 2005; the authorities accused him of aiding and abetting rape , seducing a minor and arranging weddings. In May 2006, the FBI listed him among the top ten most wanted criminals in the United States . On August 29, 2006, he was caught at a traffic stop near Las Vegas and found guilty in 2007 of aiding and abetting rape. The verdict was overturned in October 2010 for procedural errors, and Jeffs was extradited to Texas, where he was sentenced to life imprisonment in August 2011 in the first instance for sexual abuse of minors.

Jeffs' role in the FLDS

Warren Jeff's father, former prophet and head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS), Rulon Jeffs, appointed his son to succeed him shortly before his death on September 8, 2002.

One of Warren's first remarks after his father's death is considered particularly significant in the FLDS: "I don't want to say much, but I would like to say so much: Hands off my father's widows." Then he turned to the widows: "You women will live as if your father was still alive, just in the next room." Within a week, Warren Jeffs married all of his father's several dozen wives, except for two. In the following years he married numerous other women.

As the prophet and head of the FLDS, Warren Jeffs has a significant influence over his religious community. In this he is the only one allowed to marry, and he is authorized to choose the husbands for the women. If there is a good relationship between an FLDS member and Jeffs, the man can also allow the man to marry multiple women. He also has the right to punish men by assigning their wives and children to other men; It is also part of Jeffs' rights to reassign the houses, almost all of which are owned by the FLDS.

Until a court ruling in Utah, Jeffs ruled the Colorado City , Arizona, and Hildale , Utah area for a long time . The cities are part of the United Effort Plan, UEP, a foundation of the FLDS, whose fortune is estimated at more than 100 million US- $. According to the court order, the foundation is largely under the control of the Utah authorities.

In January 2004, Jeffs demonstrated his continuing power when he expelled twenty men, including Mayor John Lewake, from Colorado City. Their wives and children were assigned to other men. In Jeffs' view, in order for a man to enter heaven, he should have at least three wives. According to former FLDS members, he himself is said to have 70 women.

Jeff's last known public appearance was on January 1, 2005 near Eldorado, Texas. He intended to inaugurate a new temple there, which will be the future headquarters of the FLDS.

According to Arizona Attorney General Terry Godard, Jeffs was back in Arizona in June 2006. There he had weddings in a caravan that was used as a wedding chapel. In late August 2006, he was arrested at a traffic stop near Las Vegas.

Sexual Offense Allegations and FBI List of Most Wanted Criminals

In June 2005, Warren Jeffs was charged. He was accused of sexual assault on minors, a conspiracy to leave minors for the purpose of sexual intercourse and the mediation of a marriage between a 16-year-old woman and a 28-year-old, already married man; He is said to have committed the deeds in 2002. Because Jeffs did not face the allegations by the authorities in Mohave County, Arizona, the Arizona Attorney General had him wanted in July 2005 and offered a $ 10,000 reward for clues that would lead to the arrest of Jeffs.

In late 2005, the FBI listed him among the most wanted people; now a reward of US $ 60,000 has been offered for the capture. Shortly thereafter, he was also wanted on the television show "America's Most Wanted".

On October 28, 2005, Warren's brother, Seth Steed Jeffs, ran into a traffic stop in Pueblo County, Colorado. The police found around US $ 142,000 in cash on the occasion, with a value of US $ 7,000 on debit cards and his brother's sound recordings. Warren's brother Seth Steed Jeffs was then arrested on suspicion of harboring someone wanted by the police.

During the trial, FBI agent Andrew Stearns announced that Seth had told him that he did not know the whereabouts of his older brother Warren and would not reveal him even if he did. Seth was convicted on May 1, 2006 for harboring someone wanted by the police.

On May 7, 2006, the FBI added him to the list of the ten most wanted people, where he was listed alongside serial killers, drug traffickers and Osama bin Laden. The bounty has been increased to US $ 100,000. The wanted posters indicated that Jeff's had ties to Utah, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, South Dakota, British Columbia, Canada, and Quintana Roo, Mexico. Authorities also warned that Warren Jeffs would be accompanied by a number of loyal armed bodyguards.

On May 27, 2006, the lawsuit was expanded to include Bruce Wisan, an auditor appointed by the court to review the FLDS Treuhand. Wisan accused Jeffs of " fleecing trust assets" . Along with FLDS management, former trustees Truman Barlow, Leroy Jeffs, James Zitting and William Jessop were also accused on the matter. Wisan said, “We can see that they have stolen assets. Your actions have harmed the trust. "

Arrest and trial

On August 30, 2006, the Los Angeles Times reported that 50-year-old Warren Jeffs had been taken into police custody at a traffic stop near Casino City. Arrest warrants were pending against him in the states of Arizona and Utah, where he allegedly matched underage girls with older men who were already married. One of the man's nephews accuses Jeffs of having sexually abused him and other children.

The following day, at a hearing in a Nevada court, Jeffs agreed to be extradited to Utah, where he was tried on two April 2006 rapes. For this he was threatened with a two-time five-year prison sentence. The Arizona prosecutors will then be the next to try to bring Jeffs to justice.

Until a hearing scheduled for April 23, 2007, Jeffs was held in Washington County Detention Center, Utah. The trial concerned the two of the above. Deeds and marriage mediation between a 14-year-old and her 19-year-old cousin in 2001.

It has been suggested that Jeffs is leading the FLDS out of prison. The Utah District Attorney's Office did not approve of working with the Hildale Police Department, suspecting that several of the officers were closely related to Jeffs and would not cooperate with the judiciary.

In September 2007, the Utah jury found him guilty of aiding and abetting rape and was sentenced to two consecutive five years to life , a total of ten years to life, and a fine. However, the judgment was overturned in 2010 due to formal errors in the instructions to the jury.

Before the prosecution could decide whether to initiate new proceedings, Jeffs was transferred to the state on an arrest warrant from Texas and charged in San Angelo with the sexual abuse of a 15 and a 12 year old. He had married the two girls beforehand in a spiritual ceremony. He had recorded the sexual acts of the girls who were unable to consent after the Texan age of consent on tapes that fell into the hands of the public prosecutor during a house search. In August 2011, he was sentenced to life imprisonment, an additional 20 years in prison and a fine. Another bigamy criminal case is to follow; Canadian investigators are investigating further charges that his wives included underage Church members from Canada.

In parallel to the criminal trials, a large number of civil lawsuits were filed in which the victims, their family members and family members sought damages from Jeffs. A member of the Church has filed a civil lawsuit seeking to determine that he, not Jeffs, is the legitimate president of the FDLS.

Primary texts

Written documents

Sound and image documents

literature

  • Jon Krakauer: Murder on behalf of God: a report on religious fundamentalism in the USA. 2nd Edition. Piper, Munich / Zurich 2004, ISBN 3-492-24276-6 (Original: Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith ; Randomhouse, 2004, ISBN 1-4000-3280-6 ; English-language excerpt on the publisher's website ).

Web links

German-language links

Links in English

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Aiding and abetting rape - Mormon prophet guilty , n-tv.de
  2. ↑ a b c d Katy Vine: Non-Prophet . Texas Monthly, October 2011
  3. ↑ Canadian Broadcasting Corporation: Timeline: History of Polygamy ( Memento June 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ [1] Notable Names Database: Information on the Warren Jeffs
  5. ^ Wade Goodwyn, Howard Berkes, Amy Walters ( National Public Radio ): Warren Jeffs and the FLDS ; May 3, 2005
  6. ↑ [2] Timothy Egan: Polygamous Community Defies State Crackdown ; in: The New York Times , October 25, 2005 issue
  7. ↑ [3] Associated Press : Ariz. Client: Fugitive Polygamist Has Returned , June 11, 2006; Message on comcast.net
  8. ↑ [4] KSL ( LDS radio station): Polygamist's Brother Pleads Guilty to Harboring a Fugitive
  9. ↑ Wanted by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, archived from the original March 16, 2006 ; Retrieved August 9, 2014 (FBI website on Warren Jeffs).
  10. ^ New Lawsuit Filed Against Warren Jeffs ( Memento from September 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  11. ^ Francis McCabe: Polygamist Leader: Jeffs bound for Utah. Las Vegas Review-Journal , August 31, 2006, archived from the original October 10, 2012 ; accessed on April 12, 2018 (English).
  12. ^ Police academies consider future of officers in polygamist towns. AP - Article on kvoa.com, archived from the original on September 27, 2007 ; accessed on April 12, 2018 (English).
  13. ^ Authorities concerned about Jeffs' ties to border officers . AP article on Casper Star-Tribune Online, December 7, 2006, accessed April 12, 2018.
  14. ^ Polygamist 'prophet' to serve at least 10 years in prison. CNN , November 20, 2007, archived from the original on August 11, 2011 ; accessed on April 12, 2018 (English).
  15. ↑ US court overturns judgment against sect leaders , welt.de
  16. ↑ Pedophile polygamist is imprisoned for life . welt.de , August 9, 2011, accessed on April 12, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Jeffs, Warren
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jeffs, Warren Steed (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American minister, prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
DATE OF BIRTH 3rd December 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH San Francisco , California ( USA )