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The Controversial Story of Cult Leader Warren Jeffs · The conspiracy

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Speaker 1: It began in a whisper, spreading across the isolated desert
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Speaker 1: towns like a dust storm. Warren Jeffs was unlike any
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Speaker 1: other FLDS leader anyone has ever seen before. He wasn't
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Speaker 1: just their prophet. He was a man who seemed to
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Speaker 1: hold the key to heaven itself, and the power to
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Speaker 1: cast souls into it. eternal damnation. Today we're talking about
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Speaker 1: Warren Jeffs. Crime, conspiracy, serial killers, cults, and murder. All
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Speaker 1: things that I love to consume and I know you
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Speaker 1: do too.
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Speaker 2: You sweet, delectable, delicious, crumpet, crumbly, in a good way, intellectual,
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Speaker 2: beautiful freak. You look great today and I'm glad you
0:43
Speaker 2: look great today because I'm gonna make you feel a
0:46
Speaker 2: lot worse with what we're talking about today, I'll tell
0:48
Speaker 2: you that. This is a story of Warren Jeffs, AKA
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Speaker 2: the leader of the FLDS church. His history from an
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Speaker 2: obedient son in a polygamous family to an unyielding.
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Speaker 1: Ruler of a secretive sect. It's a story of control
1:03
Speaker 1: so absolute that it shattered And of a fall so
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Speaker 1: public it forever altered the narrative of modern religious movements.
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Speaker 1: So what drove him to the height of power? How
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Speaker 1: did he manipulate those around him with such precision? And
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Speaker 1: what remains of his legacy now that his kingdom has crumbled?
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Speaker 1: That's what we're going to be talking about today. Warren Jeffs.
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Speaker 1: So without further ado, let's unbuckle our seatbelts, go Mach
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Speaker 1: 5 down the highway, slam on the brakes, and bust
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Speaker 1: through the windshield into this insane, crazy... creepy cult together.
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Speaker 1: All right, so before we get into who Warren Jeffs
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Speaker 1: is and how he became the POS that he is today,
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Speaker 1: the POS FLDS cult leader he is today. I kind
2:01
Speaker 1: of want to go over who the FLDS is and
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Speaker 1: who the LDS church is as well. I'll just give
2:07
Speaker 1: like brief descriptions. If you want to know more about
2:10
Speaker 1: the LDS church, you can actually go to this video.
2:13
Speaker 1: I go into it in depth. It's also kind of fun. Also,
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Speaker 1: you probably have heard of Warren Jeffs and maybe the
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Speaker 1: FLDS church through Netflix. Of course, there's lots of documentaries
2:26
Speaker 1: on Netflix. There's multiple shows about this cult, but the
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Speaker 1: one that stands out is Keep Sweet, Pray and Obey.
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Speaker 1: And I remember a couple of years ago when I
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Speaker 1: saw that title, I grabbed my popcorn and was sat.
2:38
Speaker 1: I sat and I did not eat that popcorn because
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Speaker 1: this shit is disgusting. But I wasn't really doing this
2:46
Speaker 1: stuff back then and I came across it again recently
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Speaker 1: and I was like, I really want to deep dive
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Speaker 1: on this mother trucker. Let's get into who the FLDS is.
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Speaker 1: Or what, I should say. So the FLDS, otherwise known
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Speaker 1: as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter
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Speaker 1: Day Saints, I will not be saying that again. Far
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Speaker 1: removed from the polished image of the mainstream counterpart, the
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Speaker 1: LDS Church. Polygamy was their bedrock, isolation their shield. And
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Speaker 1: for decades, they lived on the fringes bound by faith
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Speaker 1: and tradition. But under Jeff's reign, the FLDS would become
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Speaker 1: synonymous not just with polygamy, but something far darker. So
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Speaker 1: the FLDS, the Fundamentalist Church of of Jesus Christ of
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Speaker 1: the Latter-day Saints, that is, I said it twice, but
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Speaker 1: that is the last time I'm saying it, all right, is,
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Speaker 1: like I said, a breakaway sect from the more mainstream
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Speaker 1: Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, often referred to as
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Speaker 1: simply the Mormon Church. And the FLDS emerged in the
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Speaker 1: 20th century as a response to the changes within the
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Speaker 1: LDS Church, specifically its abandonment of Polygamy and for those
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Speaker 1: of you who don't know polygamy is the practice of
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Speaker 1: having more than one spouse at the same time more
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Speaker 1: often within the FLDS religion it is men having multiple
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Speaker 1: wives lot of wives and at its core the FLDS
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Speaker 1: represents a group of individuals who sought to preserve what
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Speaker 1: they viewed as pure original teachings of Mormonism and most
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Speaker 1: notably the practice of plural marriage otherwise known as polygamy
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Speaker 1: because polygamy was a foundational tenant of the early Mormon theology.
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Speaker 1: It was introduced by the man, Joseph Smith, the founder
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Speaker 1: of Mormonism, and institutionalized by his successor, Brigham Young, as
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Speaker 1: part of the church's doctrines in the mid-19th century. However,
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Speaker 1: mounting pressure from the U.S. government, including legal crackdowns and
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Speaker 1: threats to Utah's statehood, led the LDS Church to legally
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Speaker 1: renounce polygamy in 1890 under its then-president.
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Speaker 3: Wilford Woodruff. Wilfred Redriff. Wilfred Redriff. But this shift marked
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Speaker 3: a pivotal moment for the Mormon community. And while many
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Speaker 3: members accepted the new direction, a minority rejected the change,
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Speaker 3: believing it had been a betrayal of the divine revelation.
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Speaker 3: Because in the original theology given by Joseph Smith, he
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Speaker 3: had said that, like, plural wise would be a cool idea, hey.
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Speaker 3: And everybody's like, yeah, that sounds great to me.
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Speaker 1: I mean, makes sense, you know? So this dissenting group
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Speaker 1: eventually splintered into smaller communities, including the FLDS, which formally
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Speaker 1: organized in the 1930s. And the FLDS established itself as
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Speaker 1: the most prominent fundamentalist sect dedicated to continuing the practice
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Speaker 1: of polygamy as a spiritual imperative. I'm gonna pause again
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Speaker 1: because I am putting zero judgment on any of, on
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Speaker 1: anybody that is okay with practicing this and and is
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Speaker 1: consensual and is at the consensual age to do so,
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Speaker 1: both parties. I'm only gonna absolutely shit on the people
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Speaker 1: that are doing it illegally. And unlike the mainstream LDS,
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Speaker 1: which increasingly sought integration with broader American society, the FLDS
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Speaker 1: embraced isolation. And members of the FLDS lived in insular communities,
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Speaker 1: primarily in remote areas in Utah, Arizona, and later Texas.
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Speaker 1: And I actually found out recently that even British Columbia, Canada,
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Speaker 1: shout out, kinda. But this is where they could practice
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Speaker 1: their beliefs without outside interference or where they could be
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Speaker 1: controlled because we're getting culty. That's the first little cult
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Speaker 1: tick off here. And under the leadership of self-declared The
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Speaker 1: FLDS emphasized strict obedience to religious authority, with the prophet
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Speaker 1: holding absolute power over spiritual and temporal matters. And this
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Speaker 1: structure allowed leaders like Warren Jeffs to consolidate immense control,
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Speaker 1: shaping every aspect of the community's life. From marriages, to
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Speaker 1: dress codes, to social interactions, and even education. So the
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Speaker 1: FLDS worldview is deeply rooted in apocalyptic beliefs. Teachings that
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Speaker 1: only the most faithful members, those who adhere to the
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Speaker 1: prophet's directives, will achieve salvation in the afterlife. So let's
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Speaker 1: get into who the frig Warren Jeffs is and how
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Speaker 1: he came to become the person he is. So let's
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Speaker 1: go back to little Warren Jeffs and his childhood and
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Speaker 1: young adulthood, all right? In the quiet suburbs of Sacramento, California,
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Speaker 1: on December 3rd, 1955, this piece of sh... I mean,
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Speaker 1: Warren Steve Jeffs entered a world already brimming with expectation.
7:21
Speaker 1: He was born two months premature. Should've let him cook longer.
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Speaker 1: He needed some developmental... some developmental shit to happen. I
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Speaker 1: can say this because he's a piece of shit. Anyway.
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Speaker 1: Into a family where the sacred and the authoritarian were intertwined.
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Speaker 1: A family led by his father, Rulon Jeffs. A commanding
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Speaker 1: figure who stood as both patriarch and prophet within the
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Speaker 1: fundamentalist church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints. And
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Speaker 1: in this large, polygamous household, faith was more than a
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Speaker 1: guiding principle. It was the law. And obedience was its
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Speaker 1: highest virtue. And from an early age, Warren stood out
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Speaker 1: among his siblings, among his Many, many siblings. At the
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Speaker 1: end of this, I think Rulon had like around 60 kids.
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Speaker 1: We'll get into that number in a minute, but one
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Speaker 1: amongst like 60. But he was quiet yet resolute, and
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Speaker 1: he carried himself with a maturity that was beyond his years.
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Speaker 1: He was an old soul, if you will, earning a
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Speaker 1: reputation as someone who commanded attention without having to raise
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Speaker 1: his voice. And while others played or sought their father's
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Speaker 1: fleeting approval, Warren just observed, learning nuances and authority and control.
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Speaker 1: And he absorbed the lessons of the FLDS theology like
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Speaker 1: a sponge. Not as a passive student, but as a
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Speaker 1: future leader in the making. He just grew up very manipulative.
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Speaker 1: Like every other cult leader I've gone over, basically. Not
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Speaker 1: necessarily book smart, but just socially smart. Socio-psychopathic. Basically, just
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Speaker 1: like learning everybody, how everybody works and how he can
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Speaker 1: manipulate everybody because he truly does not give a shit
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Speaker 1: about how anybody feels. This man has zero empathy. And
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Speaker 1: his mom, Marilyn, was also very pushy with Warren being
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Speaker 1: very close to his father. And she would go on
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Speaker 1: to tell Rulon that Warren was very special due to
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Speaker 1: his miracle of him being born two months premature and surviving.
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Speaker 1: And she also said, Rulon, I woke up, I had
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Speaker 1: a dream.
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Speaker 4: I had this crazy dream that all the prophets ever
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Speaker 4: of the FLDS and LDS church came to me and
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Speaker 4: they said that Warren Jeffs was the next prophet, which
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Speaker 4: is crazy. I know, but it came to me in
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Speaker 4: a dream and I think it's real.
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Speaker 5: Mother Marilyn always told this story about how Warren was
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Speaker 5: close to death at birth and that previous prophets came
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Speaker 5: to her And revealed to her that he would survive
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Speaker 5: and that Warren would be a very special person.
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Speaker 1: I love how people can just say, like, I had
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Speaker 1: a dream about this. And they're like, yeah, that seems legit.
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Speaker 1: I wish I could do that, you know? I wish
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Speaker 1: I could say, like, you know, I had a dream
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Speaker 1: that I passed this math test and I don't need
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Speaker 1: to study for it. and you should probably just pass
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Speaker 1: me now because I had a dream about it and
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Speaker 1: then I passed math. I failed math. So the Jeffs
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Speaker 1: family existed in a world sharply divided from the outside.
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Speaker 1: The FLDS saw mainstream society as corrupt. A temptation to
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Speaker 1: be avoided at all costs. Very culty. Very culty. Don't
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Speaker 1: want to Don't want to go outside there because somebody
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Speaker 1: might talk to you and put some sense into your brain,
10:23
Speaker 1: you know? But this us versus them ideology was drilled
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Speaker 1: into them and into Warren from a young age, absolutely
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Speaker 1: shaping his worldview. So as he grew older, he began
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Speaker 1: to embody these beliefs, not just by living them, but
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Speaker 1: by enforcing them. So obviously, part of this is nature
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Speaker 1: versus nurture. I think it is absolutely a mix of both.
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Speaker 1: In this case, I think if Morrin Jeffs was born
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Speaker 1: into a family that wasn't in the FLDS, I don't
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Speaker 1: think he would become this cult leader, because he was
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Speaker 1: basically given this opportunity. Maybe he would grow up to
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Speaker 1: become somebody else. Maybe he grew up to be a
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Speaker 1: decent guy. I really do think nurture was a big,
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Speaker 1: big part of this, so I will give him only that.
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Speaker 1: at this point. And among his siblings, he became an
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Speaker 1: enforcer of his father's strict rules, a disciplinarian who demanded compliance.
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Speaker 1: And to those who observed him closely, his rigid adherence
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Speaker 1: to the FLDS doctrine and his need for control hinted
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Speaker 1: at the leader he would become one day. And Warren's
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Speaker 1: first brush with the outside world came from a public school,
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Speaker 1: a fleeting exposure to secular ideas that only seemed to
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Speaker 1: deepen the divide between his upbringing and mainstream society. And
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Speaker 1: recognizing the potential dangers of outside influence, his father, Rulon,
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Speaker 1: quickly intervened, and Warren's education was redirected into the insular
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Speaker 1: environment of the FLDS-controlled Alta Academy in Salt Lake City, Utah.
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Speaker 1: And the Alta, Alta, Alta? As a Canadian, I want
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Speaker 1: to say Elta. And the Elta Academy was more than
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Speaker 1: a school. It was a crucible of indoctrination. Its purpose
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Speaker 1: was to fortify the FLDS community, molding young minds to
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Speaker 1: accept the absolute authority of the church and its prophet.
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Speaker 1: And for Warren, this was the absolute turning point. Here,
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Speaker 1: under the careful watch of his father and other FLDS elders,
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Speaker 1: he delved deeply deeply into scripture, theology, and the inner
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Speaker 1: workings of the church. He wasn't just learning, he was preparing,
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Speaker 1: building the foundation for what he believed to be his
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Speaker 1: predestined role as a leader. And his peers often remarked
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Speaker 1: on Warren's intensity. He immersed himself in the doctrines of
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Speaker 1: the FLDS, discussing scriptures with an eagerness that set him apart.
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Speaker 1: And even as teenagers, Warren saw himself not as an
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Speaker 1: ordinary member of the community, but as someone destined for greatness, a.k.a. atheist.
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Speaker 1: A narcissist. We're just describing what has come to be
12:43
Speaker 1: a narcissist. Maybe, maybe not a psycho, a psychopath, if
12:47
Speaker 1: you will. Um, but ticking all those boxes, we have the,
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Speaker 1: the Jim Jones tick of the narcissist that thinks he's
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Speaker 1: better than everyone else and that he's destined for greatness
12:56
Speaker 1: along with every other cult leader. We've talked about children
12:59
Speaker 1: of God guy. That guy, I can't remember his name.
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Speaker 1: Doesn't matter, he's a piece of shit. But yeah, Warren
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Speaker 1: Jeffs was basically just that kid in the front of
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Speaker 1: the class that always had his hand up and just
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Speaker 1: called other kids out for like talking in the back
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Speaker 1: of the class or cheating or whatever.
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Speaker 5: Bitch.
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Speaker 1: And in 1976, Warren's first formal position of power came
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Speaker 1: at the Elta Academy at the age of 21, where
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Speaker 1: he started as a teacher before rising to the role
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Speaker 1: of principal. And this position wasn't just administrative, it was strategic.
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Speaker 1: As principal, Warren wielded significant influence, transforming the academy into
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Speaker 1: a training ground for the next generation of ELF LDS followers.
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Speaker 1: And he would carefully craft the curriculum, ensuring every lesson
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Speaker 1: reinforce the church's ideology and the prophet's authority because he
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Speaker 1: knew that one day he was going to become the prophet.
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Speaker 1: So he's just really trying to Drill that shit into
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Speaker 1: these kids. Under Warren's leadership, Alta Academy became a microcosm
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Speaker 1: of authoritarian rule he would later exert over the entire
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Speaker 1: FLDS community. Rules were rigid, discipline was harsh, and dissent
14:03
Speaker 1: was unthinkable. And former students and staff were called a
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Speaker 1: suffocating atmosphere of control, where Warren's word was quite literally law.
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Speaker 1: He oversaw every detail with meticulous precision, using the school
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Speaker 1: not only to educate but to indoctrinate. In many ways,
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Speaker 1: his time at the Academy was just a rehearsal for
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Speaker 1: his eventual role as the FLDS prophet. He honed in
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Speaker 1: his ability to command loyalty, enforce order, and suppress dissent.
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Speaker 1: And the traits that would later define his reign his
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Speaker 1: obsession with control, his intolerance for opposition, and his unyielding
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Speaker 1: belief in his own authority were all on display during
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Speaker 1: his tenure as principal. And Warren's relationship with his father,
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Speaker 1: Rulon Jeffs, was a study in ambition cloaked in reverence.
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Speaker 1: To the FLDS community, Rulon was a near-mythical figure, a
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Speaker 1: prophet whose authority was believed to come directly from God.
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Speaker 1: And to Warren, he was both a father and a
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Speaker 1: model of power, he one day hoped to wield. And
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Speaker 1: to me, Rulon just looked like a little old guy.
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Speaker 1: And as Rulon would age, his health would decline because
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Speaker 1: he was a mere human. He wasn't that special. And
15:07
Speaker 1: Warren's role within the family and the church began to shift. Subtly,
15:11
Speaker 1: but deliberately, Warren positioned himself as his father's right hand,
15:15
Speaker 1: the hand of the king, if you will, for my
15:17
Speaker 1: Game of Thrones fans, taking on increasing responsibilities and solidifying
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Speaker 1: his place as the heir apparent. He became absolutely indispensable,
15:25
Speaker 1: aligning with Rulon's vision, while quietly building his own base
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Speaker 1: of influence. And within the sprawling, competitive Jeff's household, populated
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Speaker 1: by numerous wives, allegedly 65! 65 wives Rulon had, apparently, allegedly.
15:42
Speaker 1: They don't know exactly. Um, and also 62 children, allegedly. Again,
15:47
Speaker 1: there's some that say, like, oh, it's 59, it's 63.
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Speaker 1: Most things that I saw said 62, so I think 62.
15:53
Speaker 1: Warren's rise was not without tension because there were a
15:56
Speaker 1: lot of people in this family, a lot of people
15:58
Speaker 1: that could potentially take the prophet throne, if you will.
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Speaker 1: And his siblings saw Warren's ambition and strict enforcement of
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Speaker 1: their father's rules as a calculated attempt to outmaneuver them,
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Speaker 1: which was absolutely what Warren Jeff's plan was. And resentment
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Speaker 1: kind of started to simmer, but Warren seemed unaffected because
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Speaker 1: he doesn't care about what other people think because he
16:19
Speaker 1: lacks empathy. because he's a narcissistic psychopath, in my opinion. Anyway,
16:24
Speaker 1: his focus was fixed on the prize, the leadership of
16:26
Speaker 1: the FLDS, AKA the prophet. And by the time Rulon's
16:30
Speaker 1: health failed completely, Warren had positioned himself as the inevitable successor.
16:35
Speaker 1: His disciplined demeanor, strategic mind, and unshakable belief in his
16:40
Speaker 1: defined purpose had him set apart, not just within the family,
16:43
Speaker 1: but within the entire FLDS community. And the seeds of
16:47
Speaker 1: his eventual rise to power and the control he would
16:49
Speaker 1: wield with such devastating effect had already been sown. So
16:53
Speaker 1: in 2002, the FLDS faced a pivotal moment that would
16:58
Speaker 1: alter its course forever. The death of Rulon Jeffs. And
17:01
Speaker 1: he died at the age of 92. That's I mean,
17:04
Speaker 1: it's pretty old. It's pretty old. Props to that, I guess.
17:07
Speaker 1: He's kind of a piece of shit though, too, so
17:09
Speaker 1: I don't really care. But for years, Rulon had reigned
17:11
Speaker 1: as the community's prophet, the man revered as God's living mouthpiece.
17:16
Speaker 1: I don't like the way that sounds. His passing left
17:19
Speaker 1: not just an emotional void, but a spiritual and organizational
17:22
Speaker 1: chasm within the church. Is he chasm? Is he chasm? Chasm. Chasm?
17:28
Speaker 1: Kind of like chasm. In the FLDS, the prophet was
17:31
Speaker 1: more than a leader. He was independent. the axis upon
17:34
Speaker 1: which the entire existence turned. And with his deaths, the
17:37
Speaker 1: question of succession loomed large and tensions simmered as the
17:41
Speaker 1: community sought to discern who would take up the sacred mantle.
17:45
Speaker 1: Also at his funeral, they took pictures with his dead body,
17:49
Speaker 1: with Rulon's dead body. And they're all just like, I
17:51
Speaker 1: won't show Rulon in it, but I'll show the girl
17:53
Speaker 1: beside him, which I believe is one of his wives.
17:55
Speaker 1: And she's just like, it's my dead husband. Anyway, Who
18:01
Speaker 1: wants to take me as a wife? But anyway, Warren
18:03
Speaker 1: stepped forward, not with overwhelming charisma and popularity, but with
18:07
Speaker 1: a calculated plan already in motion. And for years, Warren
18:10
Speaker 1: had positioned himself as Rulon's confidant and enforcer, like we
18:13
Speaker 1: had said. And he kind of stood by his father's
18:15
Speaker 1: side as he was declining over those days. And in
18:19
Speaker 1: the days following Rulon's death, Warren made a bold declaration
18:22
Speaker 1: through divine revelation. His father had named him as the
18:26
Speaker 1: next prophet. It was kind of like a House of
18:29
Speaker 1: Dragons episode. Has anybody seen that? And two, the devout
18:33
Speaker 1: members of the FLDS conditioned to see such revelations as
18:37
Speaker 1: absolute truth. This claim was undeniable. And to challenge Warren's
18:40
Speaker 1: ascension was to challenge the will of God itself, a
18:43
Speaker 1: line few dared to cross. And Warren's swift and decisive
18:47
Speaker 1: self-appointment bypassed any traditional processes, solidifying his role as the
18:51
Speaker 1: undisputed leader of the FLDS. And unlike democratic transitions of power,
18:55
Speaker 1: the FLDS relied entirely on the perceived legitimacy of divine selection,
19:00
Speaker 1: a fact Warren exploited to devastating effect, declaring himself the
19:05
Speaker 1: sole conduit for God's will. He placed himself beyond scrutiny.
19:09
Speaker 1: And in a single move, Warren did not only claim
19:11
Speaker 1: the leadership, but also reshaped the very structure of the FLDS,
19:16
Speaker 1: ensuring absolute authority over every facet of the community's spiritual
19:20
Speaker 1: and temporal lives. And following Rulon's death, Jeff told the
19:24
Speaker 1: high-ranking FLDS officials, quote unquote, I won't say much But
19:28
Speaker 1: I will say this, hands off my father's wives. You
19:32
Speaker 1: women will live as if father is still alive and
19:36
Speaker 1: in the next room. And within a week, he had
19:39
Speaker 1: married all but two of his father's wives. Gross. His moms.
19:43
Speaker 1: He married his moms. I just thought of that. That's gross.
19:47
Speaker 1: That's gross. Anyway. That was really messed up. That was
19:50
Speaker 1: hard for people like me to swallow. And there's a
19:54
Speaker 1: lot of people that had a problem with that. I mean,
19:56
Speaker 1: who marries your mom? One refused to marry Jeffs and
19:59
Speaker 1: was subsequently prohibited from ever marrying again. How convenient. We'll
20:03
Speaker 1: see down the line Warren Jeffs holds a bit of
20:05
Speaker 1: a grudge a little bit. And Rebecca Wall fled the
20:08
Speaker 1: FLDS compound altogether. And Naomi Jessup, one of the first
20:12
Speaker 1: of Rulon's former wives to marry Jeffs, subsequently became his
20:16
Speaker 1: favorite wife and confidante. But once Warren assumed power, he
20:20
Speaker 1: wasted no time in transforming the FLDS into a tightly
20:24
Speaker 1: controlled monolithic organization. And the first step in consolidation of
20:29
Speaker 1: power was to dismantle the church's traditional leadership councils. Because
20:33
Speaker 1: he didn't want anybody else in charge. He's like, I'm
20:35
Speaker 1: the guy. All right, I'm the guy that's gonna be
20:38
Speaker 1: up here. God only talks to me, doesn't talk to
20:40
Speaker 1: anybody else, only talks to me. I'm not meaning to
20:43
Speaker 1: do a Trump impression, but I'm kind of doing it.
20:45
Speaker 1: Kind of doing it. It'd be kind of funny if I...
20:48
Speaker 1: I have no political opinions, okay? Anyway, these bodies, which
20:51
Speaker 1: had once served as checks on authority, were replaced with
20:55
Speaker 1: hand-picked circles of loyalists who owed their positions entirely to Warren.
21:00
Speaker 1: So he basically just picked... A bunch of fucking brown
21:03
Speaker 1: nosers that were going to be like, oh my God,
21:05
Speaker 1: anything you say, Warren, you're like, you're like a pop star.
21:08
Speaker 4: I love you.
21:09
Speaker 1: Sign my boobs or whatever. Their allegiance was unwavering and
21:12
Speaker 1: with decision-making centralized, Warren eliminated any potential for dissent within
21:17
Speaker 1: the church's hierarchy. Warren would impose rigid dress codes. Very culty.
21:21
Speaker 1: We see this in cults a lot. We see it
21:23
Speaker 1: a lot. Women were required to wear ankle-length dresses and
21:27
Speaker 1: intricate braids. Crazy braids. I don't even understand how they
21:31
Speaker 1: did these braids. It's not an easy braid to do. Like,
21:33
Speaker 1: to do that every morning is a bitch. Like, fuck.
21:36
Speaker 1: That guy. Straight up. While men adhered to plain uniform clothing.
21:40
Speaker 1: And these outward symbols of conformity were more than just rules.
21:44
Speaker 1: They were declarations of loyalty to Warren's vision. And social
21:47
Speaker 1: interactions were carefully monitored as well. And deviations from prescribed
21:52
Speaker 1: norms were met with severe consequences. Ranging from public humiliation
21:57
Speaker 1: to permanent excommunication. And one of the most extreme expressions
22:01
Speaker 1: of Warren's control was his management of society. marriages. He
22:05
Speaker 1: alone determined who would marry who. Often without consent. Like,
22:10
Speaker 1: a lot without consent. Or even knowledge of what the
22:14
Speaker 1: fuck's going on. Like, you could just be sitting in
22:16
Speaker 1: your house and Warren Jeffs could kick down your fucking
22:18
Speaker 1: door and be like, You're marrying Tom! Bye! And you're like,
22:21
Speaker 1: How old is Tom? Who is Tom? I'm 12! But truly,
22:25
Speaker 1: families were torn apart as Warren reassigned spouses and children
22:28
Speaker 1: in the name of of spiritual purity and obedience.
22:32
Speaker 5: It's what's called the placement principle. You didn't court and
22:37
Speaker 5: decide who you were gonna marry. Only the prophet could
22:40
Speaker 5: choose who you married.
22:42
Speaker 1: And this practice not only reinforced his dominance, but also
22:45
Speaker 1: served as a powerful reminder that no relationship existed outside
22:49
Speaker 1: of his reach. And this was just like the perfect
22:53
Speaker 1: way for him as a cult leader to control everyone.
22:58
Speaker 1: couple that seemed like they were strong together, he ripped
23:00
Speaker 1: them apart and put them with somebody else. If there
23:02
Speaker 1: was a very independent man, he would kick him out
23:05
Speaker 1: of the cult completely and marry his wife off to
23:08
Speaker 1: a guy that he hated. Like, anything to make him
23:11
Speaker 1: seem the most desirable and wanted man, he did. And
23:16
Speaker 1: any woman he wanted, he would take as well. And
23:20
Speaker 1: what's And disgusting, and what we will talk about more
23:23
Speaker 1: as well, is that so many underage marriages happened as well.
23:27
Speaker 1: He would marry off daughters. He himself would have multiple
23:32
Speaker 1: underage wives. But again, we'll get into it. But I
23:34
Speaker 1: just want to reiterate how much I f * *
23:37
Speaker 1: * ing hate this man. Anyway, and to deepen his
23:40
Speaker 1: hold over the community, Warren enforced strict isolation from outside world.
23:45
Speaker 1: Members were forbidden from consuming mainstream media at all, engaging
23:49
Speaker 1: with outsiders, or even discussing church matters beyond the FLDS borders.
23:53
Speaker 6: We didn't really leave our property in Salt Lake City.
23:57
Speaker 6: We didn't go to movies. We didn't go to theme
24:00
Speaker 6: parks or any kind of large gathering places. So there
24:04
Speaker 6: wasn't a lot of exposure.
24:06
Speaker 1: To the outside world. Jeff's banned television, movies, popular music,
24:10
Speaker 1: and fictional books. So just basically, just, you could like,
24:15
Speaker 1: have a stick. Basically. And he also executed strict mandates
24:19
Speaker 1: on behavior, dress, and language. Women were told to keep
24:23
Speaker 1: sweet and suppress emotions and feelings.
24:26
Speaker 7: Keeping sweet is an exertion to remain clean and pure.
24:30
Speaker 7: And if you're not keeping sweet, Then you're not sure.
24:35
Speaker 1: If some man told me to keep sweet, I swear
24:39
Speaker 1: to God. I swear to God. Keep sweet meant to
24:43
Speaker 1: suppress emotions and obey their husbands, and above all, obey Jeffs.
24:48
Speaker 1: The all-knowing prophet. Actually, just the all-knowing. Just the non-unknowing
24:54
Speaker 1: piece of shit. That wasn't funny. but I stand by it.
24:57
Speaker 1: And Brielle Decker, Jeff's 65th wife, told ABC, keep sweet
25:02
Speaker 1: meant you could have no emotions except for sweetness. That
25:05
Speaker 1: was the only emotion allowed. And this isolation just created
25:09
Speaker 1: a bubble where Warren's teachings were the only source of truth.
25:12
Speaker 1: It's the only thing that anybody knew. So like, I
25:14
Speaker 1: don't even put blame on people that are born into
25:17
Speaker 1: these cults or are absorbed by these cults because most
25:22
Speaker 1: of the time they just don't know anything. else or
25:25
Speaker 1: any better. They're just living in the shit because of
25:28
Speaker 1: this one piece of shit. But for members, survival, both
25:31
Speaker 1: spiritually and physically, was tied to the FLDS, leaving them
25:35
Speaker 1: with no choice but to submit entirely to Warren's rules.
25:38
Speaker 1: And the daily life under Warren Jeffs was a carefully
25:40
Speaker 1: choreographed blend of prayer, labor, and indoctrination. Every moment was
25:45
Speaker 1: accounted for, ensuring that members remained deeply entrenched in the
25:49
Speaker 1: FLDS way of life. And the The more I read
25:52
Speaker 1: about it and research about it, the more I just,
25:54
Speaker 1: I think of Jim Jones. Like it's so similar. Like
25:57
Speaker 1: with his, with Jim Jones camps and he would have
26:00
Speaker 1: his sermons playing all the time and so did Warren Jeffs.
26:03
Speaker 1: And he would be like, okay, this is like labor
26:06
Speaker 1: all day, every day. And when we're not doing labor,
26:08
Speaker 1: you're praying. And if you're not praying, you're listening to
26:10
Speaker 1: me pray. Like nobody had a minute to think in
26:14
Speaker 1: the FLDS, in this specific sect of the FLDS. I
26:18
Speaker 1: wasn't scared of death. I was scared of disobeying. the prophet.
26:24
Speaker 6: Think about what I said, because I would have rather
26:28
Speaker 6: died than disobey.
26:30
Speaker 1: And prayer and religious study dominated their schedules, with Warren's
26:34
Speaker 1: sermons serving as a centerpiece of their spiritual routine. These
26:38
Speaker 1: sermons could last for hours, similar to Jim Jones, and
26:42
Speaker 1: they were very apocalyptic in tone. Warning of impending doom
26:46
Speaker 1: for the disobedient and promising salvation for the faithful. Again,
26:50
Speaker 1: just It's like Jim Jones and Warren Jeffs just got
26:53
Speaker 1: together and they're like, hey, what if? Like it's so similar.
27:00
Speaker 1: And also like children of God leader, again, can't remember
27:03
Speaker 1: his name, but very, very similar. And Warren's words were
27:06
Speaker 1: treated as divine mandates, shaping every belief and behavior within
27:10
Speaker 1: the community. And they were also told that they had
27:12
Speaker 1: to pray every single hour. So you would do everything
27:16
Speaker 1: in groups? Yes, like the whole day is scheduled. hour
27:20
Speaker 1: you have to be there. And if you're late, you
27:22
Speaker 1: do get punished. The wives were required to pray every hour,
27:26
Speaker 1: getting down on their hands and knees and holding hands.
27:29
Speaker 1: Talking was not permitted.
27:31
Speaker 5: On the chimney it says pray and obey.
27:33
Speaker 1: And that's the message you'd see every day. And also
27:35
Speaker 1: the women specifically had a book of purity, basically. And
27:39
Speaker 1: it was the FLDS's set of rules and guidance specifically
27:43
Speaker 1: directed at women and girls within the community. And it
27:47
Speaker 1: basically dictated their behavior, appearance, and role in the church
27:50
Speaker 1: and community. Reinforcing patriarchal control and absolute obedience to the
27:55
Speaker 1: FLDS prophet, particularly Ward Jeff's leadership. It was just basically
27:58
Speaker 1: a convenient book where he's just like, Hey, you're not
28:01
Speaker 1: acting right, go read it again. Go read that book, okay?
28:05
Speaker 1: Go read that book and then come back to the kitchen,
28:06
Speaker 1: make me a sandwich. That was honestly, pretty much. That
28:10
Speaker 1: was pretty much the book on top of other awful shit.
28:13
Speaker 1: They had behavioral expectations. Women were taught to be submissive
28:16
Speaker 1: to their husbands and the husbands were seen as spiritual leaders.
28:19
Speaker 6: Warren had a saying, perfect obedience is led by a hair.
28:24
Speaker 6: Meaning hair is so thin and true obedience meant that
28:30
Speaker 6: you could be led by a hare and you would
28:32
Speaker 6: not break it.
28:33
Speaker 1: And they were forbidden from speaking out against male authority
28:36
Speaker 1: figures or questioning their prophet's directives. And the social interactions
28:39
Speaker 1: between unmarried women and men were heavily restricted, with most
28:43
Speaker 1: marriages arranged by the prophet and the prophet alone. And
28:45
Speaker 1: then we had the purity and chastity. Women were expected
28:48
Speaker 1: to remain virgins until marriage and to be completely loyal
28:51
Speaker 1: to their husbands when they were married. And any perceived
28:53
Speaker 1: deviation from these rules could lead to severe punishment, including
28:57
Speaker 1: public humiliation and excommunication. And women specifically were prohibited from
29:01
Speaker 1: watching television reading secular books, or consuming any media not
29:05
Speaker 1: approved by the church. And there was zero contact with
29:08
Speaker 1: outsiders or any non-FLDS members. And the focus was mainly
29:12
Speaker 1: on motherhood with women's primary role to bear and raise
29:16
Speaker 1: children within the FLDS communities. They were expected to have
29:19
Speaker 1: as many children as possible, as polygamous families with numerous
29:23
Speaker 1: offspring were seen as spiritually superior. So basically, FLDS women
29:29
Speaker 1: were basically seen as just pieces of meat, like broodmothers
29:34
Speaker 1: that just cooked and cleaned and were... speak unless spoken to,
29:41
Speaker 1: like just less than. Like it's just so sad. In
29:44
Speaker 1: the book, a purity had profound psychological and emotional and
29:47
Speaker 1: social consequences for the women of the FLDS.
29:50
Speaker 7: But knowing you're pleasing your husband, your head, brings you
29:54
Speaker 7: a heaven. But realize, young ladies, the best thing is
30:00
Speaker 7: to leave your life in the hands of God through
30:02
Speaker 7: his prophet.
30:03
Speaker 1: They lost, like, all autonomy. Women had little control over
30:07
Speaker 1: their personal choices, from who they married, to how they dressed,
30:10
Speaker 1: to how they interacted with others. Obviously, they had an
30:14
Speaker 1: incredible amount of fear and anxiety, and there was just,
30:17
Speaker 1: with the reinforcement of gender inequality, I just feel like
30:21
Speaker 1: they all felt trapped. And I know that some were
30:23
Speaker 1: fine with it, and felt like that was for them,
30:26
Speaker 1: and that that represented them well, but I know for
30:29
Speaker 1: a lot, majority, this was not the way of life
30:33
Speaker 1: that they wanted. Or they were just so brainwashed that
30:35
Speaker 1: they thought it was the way of life that they wanted,
30:37
Speaker 1: but if they were to see the outside world, they'd
30:39
Speaker 1: be like, we can have jobs and eat pizza and
30:44
Speaker 1: Have boyfriends? What? And while his followers lived very modestly,
30:49
Speaker 1: sacrificing their time and possessions for the church, Warren's life,
30:53
Speaker 1: on the other hand, was one of luxury. He resided
30:56
Speaker 1: in sprawling homes, traveled by private jet, and amassed a
31:01
Speaker 1: fortune funded by the tithes and unpaid labor of his followers.
31:05
Speaker 1: And to the FLDS, this opulence was justified, proof of
31:09
Speaker 1: his divine status. So everything was just working out for Jeffs.
31:12
Speaker 1: But to the outside world, it revealed the deep exploitation
31:16
Speaker 1: underlying his leadership. And polygamy, a cornerstone in the FLDS beliefs,
31:20
Speaker 1: became an instrument of unparalleled power in Warren's hands. He
31:24
Speaker 1: claimed at least 78 wives. Okay, 78, potentially more, but
31:32
Speaker 1: through everything I read, Most of them said 78 wives
31:35
Speaker 1: and 24 of them, I'm gonna try not to throw
31:38
Speaker 1: up in my mouth, were underaged girls. And insisting these
31:42
Speaker 1: marriages were divinely ordained and that's how he justified them
31:46
Speaker 1: because they were divinely ordained. Jeff's performed these marriages under
31:50
Speaker 1: the guise of celestial marriages, a concept derived from the
31:55
Speaker 1: FLDS theology, which ties plural marriages to spiritual salvation, basically,
32:02
Speaker 1: And this wasn't just about spiritual duty. It was a
32:06
Speaker 1: method of control, obviously. Warren also dictated marriages across the community,
32:10
Speaker 1: often dissolving existing unions to assert his dominance. Like we
32:13
Speaker 1: were saying before, he would take, pluck this wife from
32:16
Speaker 1: this man and put that wife with that man, take
32:19
Speaker 1: that wife from this man. and put her over here,
32:21
Speaker 1: take that man, throw him, completely excommunicate him. He was
32:24
Speaker 1: just using them like they were little pawns on his chessboard.
32:27
Speaker 1: And these practices ensured the loyalty to Warren remained paramount,
32:31
Speaker 1: and with no bonds stronger, than those he approved. And
32:34
Speaker 1: children within the FLDS grew up in a world where
32:37
Speaker 1: questioning authority was absolutely unthinkable. Their education, limited to church doctrine,
32:42
Speaker 1: left little room for independent thought. From a young age,
32:45
Speaker 1: they were taught to revere Warren as a prophet and
32:48
Speaker 1: to see the outside world as a place of corruption
32:51
Speaker 1: and danger. They were basically just fear-mongering these children day
32:55
Speaker 1: in and day out.
32:55
Speaker 7: We give this lesson to the young people. We have
32:58
Speaker 7: to teach you how to think and how to live
33:01
Speaker 7: in a pure way. You purify your heart by first
33:06
Speaker 7: cleaning up your mind.
33:08
Speaker 1: And the upbringing created a cycle of dependency ensuring that
33:11
Speaker 1: future generations remain loyal to Warren's vision. So it's just
33:14
Speaker 1: brainwashing every single day. And he would house his wives
33:19
Speaker 1: and children in an insanely large compound home in Hilldale,
33:23
Speaker 1: Utah or Short Creek. And Short Creek is basically where
33:26
Speaker 1: the FLDS originally kind of all came together. This place
33:30
Speaker 1: was 28,000 square feet, 42 bedrooms and two giant kitchens,
33:36
Speaker 1: and also a secret locked room behind a storage closet
33:39
Speaker 1: where Jeff's kept secret and private documents regarding the church.
33:43
Speaker 1: And we will figure out what the fuck's in those
33:45
Speaker 1: documents later in this, so stay tuned. And it also
33:48
Speaker 1: sported on the outside the words pray and obey on
33:52
Speaker 1: the chimney. just in case you forgot to do that,
33:55
Speaker 1: you know, in case it wasn't already drilled into your brain.
33:58
Speaker 1: And beneath the surface of Warren Jeff's rule lay a
34:01
Speaker 1: chilling reality. As his grip tightened, disturbing accounts began to
34:05
Speaker 1: emerge from the FLDS community, stories of abuse, exploitation, and fear.
34:12
Speaker 1: And survivors recounted being forced into marriages, often as underage brides,
34:17
Speaker 1: under the guise of divine will. Told me that the
34:20
Speaker 1: prophet has called. And my name was brought up and
34:26
Speaker 1: I was to be married. And physical and emotional were widespread,
34:30
Speaker 1: justified by Warren as necessary for spiritual purification. And Jeff's daughter,
34:34
Speaker 1: Rachel Blackmore, who alleged her father SA'd her for years
34:38
Speaker 1: during childhood, said, quote unquote, when your parent does something
34:42
Speaker 1: like that, it feels shameful on you too. And then
34:46
Speaker 1: it kept happening, which is just heartbreaking. And at age 14,
34:50
Speaker 1: Alyssa Wall was married off to her 19 year old
34:53
Speaker 1: first cousin. And Wall said she had no choice but
34:57
Speaker 1: to go through with the marriage, which was officiated by Jeffs,
35:01
Speaker 1: which is disgusting. And also Ruth Stubbs, another member of
35:05
Speaker 1: the FLDS community was married off when she was only
35:07
Speaker 1: 16 and her husband Rodney Holm was 32, literally 16
35:12
Speaker 1: years older. Oh, And he was the police officer in
35:18
Speaker 1: Short Creek and was already married to two other women.
35:21
Speaker 1: So fear became a cornerstone of Warren's control. Members lived
35:25
Speaker 1: under the constant threat of excommunication and punishment that extended
35:29
Speaker 1: beyond banishment. And to be cast out of the FLDS
35:32
Speaker 1: meant losing everything, family, community, and salvation. And for the faithful,
35:36
Speaker 1: the prospect of eternal damnation was too terrifying to contemplate.
35:40
Speaker 1: silencing dissent and reinforcing obedience. And financial exploitation compounded the
35:46
Speaker 1: sphere completely. Members were required to tithe large portions of
35:50
Speaker 1: their income, often to the point of personal hardship. And
35:53
Speaker 1: they also provided unpaid labor for the church projects, enriching
35:56
Speaker 1: Warren while they struggled to make ends meet. And this
35:59
Speaker 1: economic dependency made it nearly impossible for the members to leave,
36:03
Speaker 1: trapping them within the FLDS both spiritually and materially. And
36:06
Speaker 1: to the members of the FLDS, Warren Jeffs wasn't just
36:10
Speaker 1: their leader, he was the voice of God, quite literally
36:13
Speaker 1: to them. This belief created an intense, often coercive loyalty
36:17
Speaker 1: driven as much as fear as by faith. And members
36:20
Speaker 1: were taught that obedience to Warren was their only path
36:23
Speaker 1: to salvation. And to divide him was a risk of
36:26
Speaker 1: eternal damnation. But excommunication was the ultimate weapon for war.
36:30
Speaker 1: Those who questioned his authority faced not only spiritual condemnation,
36:34
Speaker 1: but also the loss of their homes, families, and livelihood.
36:37
Speaker 1: So by the early 2000s, the once impenetrable walls of
36:41
Speaker 1: the FLDS began to crack. In under Warren Jeff's authoritarian rule,
36:47
Speaker 1: the community had operated in near total secrecy, its practices
36:51
Speaker 1: hidden behind a veil of isolation and control. But as
36:53
Speaker 1: whispers of a and exploitation grew louder, the FLDS found
36:58
Speaker 1: itself under increased scrutiny. Law enforcement, journalists, and advocacy groups
37:02
Speaker 1: turned their attention to the insular group, and they were
37:05
Speaker 1: determined to expose the truth. And survivors who escaped the
37:09
Speaker 1: FLDS began to tell their stories, shattering the myth of
37:12
Speaker 1: the church's purity. They spoke of forced marriages, child abuse,
37:16
Speaker 1: and financial exploitation, painting a damning picture of the life
37:20
Speaker 1: under Jeff's rule. And among these voices was Flora Jessup,
37:23
Speaker 1: a former FLDS member who had endured years of abuse
37:27
Speaker 1: before escaping. And Jessup became a vocal advocate for others
37:31
Speaker 1: trapped within the community and her courage inspiring others to
37:34
Speaker 1: come forward.
37:34
Speaker 8: I was born and raised in the FLDS. I have
37:37
Speaker 8: 28 brothers and sisters. My dad was married to my
37:39
Speaker 8: mom and her little sister. And it's not brainwashing. It's indoctrination.
37:44
Speaker 8: My sisters would sit around and talk about how they
37:46
Speaker 8: wanted to have 30 kids because that was your only worth.
37:49
Speaker 8: There is no compassion, no empathy. It's all fear-based. I
37:53
Speaker 8: was by my dad.
37:55
Speaker 4: Which she says ran rampant.
37:57
Speaker 8: Saw it all the time.
37:59
Speaker 1: It's that open. It's normal.
38:03
Speaker 8: That's the sick part.
38:04
Speaker 1: And each story added weight to the mounting allegations against
38:07
Speaker 1: Warren Jeffs. And the public's outrage grew. And media outlets
38:11
Speaker 1: amplified these accounts producing Documentaries and exposés that captivated national attention.
38:16
Speaker 1: And the stories of coercion and control once hidden in
38:19
Speaker 1: the shadows now played out on television screens and newspaper headlines.
38:23
Speaker 1: Advocacy groups seized the moment, providing support to survivors and
38:27
Speaker 1: pressuring authorities to act. And the once private world of
38:30
Speaker 1: the FLDS was now a subject of national conversation. And
38:34
Speaker 1: the walls of secrecy Warren Jeffs had so carefully built
38:37
Speaker 1: were crumbling. Womp womp. So in August 2003, Jeffs announced
38:43
Speaker 1: in a sermon that the blessing of the priesthood had
38:47
Speaker 1: been removed from Short Creek. And he declared the community's
38:50
Speaker 1: spirituality unworthy and ceased all religious meaning there. Though tithes
38:55
Speaker 1: and offerings were still collected naturally. Because the spirituality's gone,
38:58
Speaker 1: but I'll still take a dip. Jeffs began directing resources
39:02
Speaker 1: and followers around to isolated properties he called the Lands
39:05
Speaker 1: of Refuge, where he believed the FLDS members could practice
39:08
Speaker 1: their beliefs in secrecy and shield them from external forces,
39:12
Speaker 1: AKA justice. And this is when he would purchase the
39:16
Speaker 1: YFZ Ranch in 2003. If you got a problem with
39:20
Speaker 1: me saying Zed, I'm from Canada, I say Zed, not Z,
39:24
Speaker 1: so deal with it. All right, the YFZ Ranch. And
39:27
Speaker 1: in 2003, under the alias YFZ, Land LLC, the FLDS
39:32
Speaker 1: purchased the 1700 acre ranch near El Dorado, Texas for $ 700, 000.
39:37
Speaker 1: And the property was initially described as a corrupt hunting
39:41
Speaker 1: retreat or corrupt. it was corruption technically, but the corporate
39:45
Speaker 1: hunting retreat to avoid arousing suspicion. And Jeff referred to
39:49
Speaker 1: the ranch as the R17, a code named to maintain
39:53
Speaker 1: its secrecy. So he was doing everything in his power
39:55
Speaker 1: to like not let people know that this is where
39:58
Speaker 1: a bunch of terrible shit was going to go down
40:00
Speaker 1: because he planned to do a bunch of terrible shit.
40:02
Speaker 1: And it quickly became the cornerstone of his vision for
40:04
Speaker 1: the new FLDS refuge. So the development and relocation kind
40:08
Speaker 1: of took place between 2004 and 2005. And by 2004,
40:12
Speaker 1: construction was underway at the YFZ Ranch, including the building
40:17
Speaker 1: of homes, meeting halls, and central temple. which Jeff's formally
40:21
Speaker 1: dedicated on January 1st, 2005. And hundreds of FLDS members,
40:26
Speaker 1: primarily women and children, were relocated from Short Creek to
40:30
Speaker 1: YFZ Ranch between 2004 and 2005, with Jeff handpicking the
40:34
Speaker 1: families allowed to settle there. And unlike Short Creek, where
40:38
Speaker 1: FLDS members could interact with outsiders to some extent, The
40:43
Speaker 1: YFZ Ranch was designed to completely be isolated. Jeffs used
40:48
Speaker 1: it as a stronghold to tighten his grip on the
40:50
Speaker 1: FLDS community and practice the most extreme aspects of his leadership,
40:55
Speaker 1: including the enforcement of strict purity laws and the arrangement
40:59
Speaker 1: of underage marriages. And in 2006, formal charges were brought
41:03
Speaker 1: against Jeffs finally, including allegations of SA and arranging illegal
41:09
Speaker 1: marriages involving underage girls. And rather than face justice, Warren,
41:14
Speaker 1: sparking a nationwide manhunt. And his flight would actually turn
41:18
Speaker 1: him into one of the FBI's 10 most wanted fugitives
41:21
Speaker 1: at the time. And a $ 100, 000 reward was offered for
41:24
Speaker 1: information leading to his capture. And as the search intensified,
41:28
Speaker 1: it became clear that Jeff's days of unchecked power were
41:31
Speaker 1: coming to an end. And on August 28th, 2006, Warren
41:34
Speaker 1: Jeff's life on the run came to an end in
41:37
Speaker 1: an unassuming way. A routine traffic stop in Las Vegas,
41:40
Speaker 1: Nevada led to the arrest of one of the nation's
41:43
Speaker 1: most wanted fugitives. Traveling in a red Cadillac Escalade with
41:47
Speaker 1: his brother Isaac and another passenger, Warren had been evading
41:50
Speaker 1: law enforcement for months at this point. And when highway
41:53
Speaker 1: patrol officers noticed the vehicle's temporary registration tags, they pulled
41:58
Speaker 1: it over, unaware that they were about to capture the
42:00
Speaker 1: leader of the FLDS. Yes! And inside the vehicle, officers
42:05
Speaker 1: discovered a startling cache of evidence. Alongside $ 55, 000 in cash
42:12
Speaker 1: and multiple cell phones were disguises, laptops, and documents that
42:17
Speaker 1: detailed Jeff's activities while on the run. And most damning
42:21
Speaker 1: were recordings and records that provided explicit evidence of his crimes,
42:27
Speaker 1: including his involvement in underage marriages. And we'll get to
42:30
Speaker 1: the recordings a little bit later and they're f *
42:33
Speaker 1: * * ing disgusting. So trigger warning there. It'll be
42:36
Speaker 1: in a bit. I'll warn you before I talk about them,
42:38
Speaker 1: but my God. But these discoveries not only ended Jeff's
42:41
Speaker 1: time as a fugitive, but also solidified the case against him,
42:45
Speaker 1: ensuring that justice could finally be pursued. And the arrest
42:49
Speaker 1: marked a turning point, not just for Jeffs, but for
42:52
Speaker 1: the FLDS as a whole. The veil of invincibility he
42:56
Speaker 1: had cultivated was completely shattered, and the material seized during
43:00
Speaker 1: the capture would play a pivotal role in dismantling the
43:03
Speaker 1: power structure he had built. So we'll get to his
43:06
Speaker 1: trial in 2011, the one that kind of everyone talks about,
43:09
Speaker 1: but he was actually convicted on September 25th, 2007. And
43:13
Speaker 1: he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for being
43:15
Speaker 1: an accessory to two counts of grape when he forced
43:19
Speaker 1: a 14 year old follower to marry her first cousin
43:22
Speaker 1: who was 19 year old at the time. And the
43:25
Speaker 1: prosecutors had maintained that Warren Jeffs, who was 51 at
43:28
Speaker 1: the time, used his religious authority to compel the girl
43:31
Speaker 1: into marriage and sexual acts against her will. So he
43:35
Speaker 1: was already in prison for 10 years at the time,
43:37
Speaker 1: but there were so many other crimes that were uncalled
43:40
Speaker 1: for at this point because the evidence wasn't there yet.
43:43
Speaker 1: Other charges would come to follow him in 2008. And
43:46
Speaker 1: on February 27th, 2008, Jeffs would enter a not guilty
43:50
Speaker 1: plea on child sexual charges out of Arizona. And he
43:54
Speaker 1: would then be taken to the Mojave County Jail to
43:57
Speaker 1: await that trial. And then something insane would happen in
44:01
Speaker 1: April of 2008. Texas law enforcement raided the yearning for Zion,
44:07
Speaker 1: which was the YFZ Ranch, which I don't think I said,
44:11
Speaker 1: but YFZ Ranch. standing for yearning for Zion. I'm not perfect,
44:15
Speaker 1: I'm sorry. But this was near El Dorado, Texas, and
44:18
Speaker 1: they would get raided after a 911 call alleged abuse
44:21
Speaker 1: of an underage girl within the FLDS community. And though
44:24
Speaker 1: the call was later revealed to be a hoax, the
44:27
Speaker 1: raid uncovered extensive evidence of systemic abuse. Investigators would find
44:32
Speaker 1: records of spiritual marriages involving girls as young as 12
44:37
Speaker 1: years old, many of whom were pregnant or already mothers
44:42
Speaker 1: at that time that they found the records. And the
44:43
Speaker 1: temple on the ranch was revealed to be a central
44:47
Speaker 1: location for these ceremonies, with evidence such as beds and
44:50
Speaker 1: detailed marriage records seized. And over 462 children were removed
44:56
Speaker 1: from the ranch by Child Protective Services, aka the CPS.
44:59
Speaker 1: Though later rulings determined that not all the children were
45:02
Speaker 1: in immediate danger. But the raid exposed the secretive practices
45:06
Speaker 1: of the FLDS under Warren Jeff's leadership and garnered widespread attention.
45:11
Speaker 1: sparking controversy over both state's handling of the children and
45:15
Speaker 1: the abuse within the community itself. And the evidence collected
45:18
Speaker 1: during the raid significantly impacted Warren Jeff's 2011 trial. And
45:23
Speaker 1: this is the recordings that I'm talking about. There were
45:25
Speaker 1: recordings found in his car in 2006 as well, but
45:29
Speaker 1: those were used in his other trial. but these ones
45:32
Speaker 1: specifically were used in his 2011 trial. And prosecutors used
45:35
Speaker 1: this evidence, such as the church recordings of recordings of Jeff,
45:38
Speaker 1: to demonstrate his direct involvement in the criminal activities. So
45:41
Speaker 1: this trial of Warren Jeff's was a spectacle that gripped
45:44
Speaker 1: the nation. It was more than just a legal proceeding.
45:47
Speaker 1: It was a public reckoning with the abuses that had
45:50
Speaker 1: taken place under his leadership. And charged with multiple felonies,
45:53
Speaker 1: including SA of minors and facilitating illegal marriages, Jeff faced
45:58
Speaker 1: overwhelming evidence against him. And survivors took the stand, recounting
46:01
Speaker 1: harrowing stories of coercion, abuse, and manipulation. And their courage
46:06
Speaker 1: brought the hidden horrors of the FLDS in stark focus.
46:09
Speaker 1: And Jeff's defense, or should I say self-defense, due to
46:13
Speaker 1: him burning through seven high power attorneys relied on the
46:17
Speaker 1: argument of religious freedom, claiming that his actions were protected
46:21
Speaker 1: as part of the FLDS faith. And this reminds me
46:24
Speaker 1: of Ted Bundy. He's actually, he's so similar to Jim
46:27
Speaker 1: Jones and Ted Bundy. He's like both of them combined.
46:29
Speaker 1: He literally represented himself in this trial because he thought
46:33
Speaker 1: that he's so smart, that he's so much better than everyone,
46:37
Speaker 1: that he would be protected by his faith because that's
46:40
Speaker 1: what he has experienced his whole life. So why would
46:42
Speaker 1: it be any different in a court of law where
46:44
Speaker 1: none of that matters because you're a creep? But yeah,
46:48
Speaker 1: he represented himself and thank God he did because he
46:51
Speaker 1: got what he deserved. But this justification crumbled under the
46:54
Speaker 1: weight of the prosecution's evidence and recordings, documents, and survivor
46:58
Speaker 1: testimonies painted a very chilling picture of the systemic exploitation,
47:03
Speaker 1: all orchestrated under the guise of divine will. And during
47:07
Speaker 1: his trial, Jeff famously declared, I am not the one
47:10
Speaker 1: on trial. It is God's will being tested here. Will
47:15
Speaker 1: God's will be done? Motherfu- Jeff was on trial at
47:18
Speaker 1: this point of two counts of SA of a child,
47:21
Speaker 1: and he was accused of forcing two teenage girls into
47:24
Speaker 1: spiritual marriage and fathering a child to with one of
47:27
Speaker 1: them when she was only 15 years old. It makes
47:31
Speaker 1: me wanna vomit. And the charges carry a maximum sentence
47:34
Speaker 1: of life in prison. who was acting as his own lawyer,
47:38
Speaker 1: began his defense by speaking at length about his religious freedom,
47:41
Speaker 1: like I said before. But Judge Barbara Walder interrupted him
47:44
Speaker 1: and said Jeffs clearly wasn't prepared to enter a defense.
47:47
Speaker 1: And Walder told Jeffs he had two choices, rest his
47:50
Speaker 1: case or begin calling witnesses. And he would call one
47:53
Speaker 1: witness to the stand, and it would be a church
47:56
Speaker 1: elder who would literally just read the Book of Mormon.
48:00
Speaker 1: As evidence. If we're calling religious books up, let's call
48:03
Speaker 1: the Bible up. Let's get somebody to read the Bible.
48:05
Speaker 1: Let's bring stoning back. Throw Jeffs in the middle of
48:07
Speaker 1: a field and let's just go at him. It's all metaphorical,
48:10
Speaker 1: by the way. I don't wish death upon anyone in
48:13
Speaker 1: any sense. But if he were to metaphorically get put
48:18
Speaker 1: in a field and metaphorically people were able to throw
48:22
Speaker 1: rocks at him until he metaphorically died because he did
48:26
Speaker 1: do awful things, I would metaphorically not care. metaphorically. And
48:31
Speaker 1: trigger warning, gonna start talking about the tape stuff, so
48:34
Speaker 1: if you're gonna be triggered in any way, I'm not
48:37
Speaker 1: gonna go into explicit detail, but even just talking about
48:40
Speaker 1: it makes me feel sick, but I think it's important
48:43
Speaker 1: because I hate him so much and people deserve to
48:45
Speaker 1: know how much of a piece of shit he is.
48:46
Speaker 1: But anyway, on top of the mountain of evidence against
48:48
Speaker 1: Warren Jeffs, the most shocking was an audio tape played
48:51
Speaker 1: at the trial by the prosecutors. And jurors heard the
48:54
Speaker 1: religious leader having a sensual encounter with a 12-year-old girl
48:58
Speaker 1: telling her to feel the spirit of God. And the
49:02
Speaker 1: tape is one of several seized by the police and
49:05
Speaker 1: submitted as evidence in the case against Jeffs. And prosecutors
49:09
Speaker 1: played three other tapes that prosecutors say prove Jeffs married
49:14
Speaker 1: and essayed underage girls. And in the recordings, Jeff's is
49:19
Speaker 1: heard saying also that a good wife is trained for
49:23
Speaker 1: her husband and follows the spirit of peace. He also
49:27
Speaker 1: makes reference to drawing clothes or being clothes, which is
49:32
Speaker 1: how church members refer to intercourse, and two females can
49:36
Speaker 1: be heard responding. Okay, I'm not gonna play these specific
49:40
Speaker 1: tapes because they're just so awful. And according to Jeff's journal,
49:43
Speaker 1: the tape was made the night after his wedding to
49:46
Speaker 1: a 14 year old girl. And when Jeff's took his
49:48
Speaker 1: new bride and another wife for a car ride to
49:51
Speaker 1: instruct them on their new responsibility as wives. And he
49:55
Speaker 1: told them they were honorable vessels, property of your husband's
49:59
Speaker 1: kingdom and of the kingdom of God on earth. And
50:03
Speaker 1: the 14 year old girl is the same girl who,
50:05
Speaker 1: according to expert testimony, On DNA evidence, Jeff later impregnated.
50:10
Speaker 1: I'm just stoning. Let's bring it back. Like metaphorically, like
50:16
Speaker 1: I'm not even like. And on the tape, they heard
50:18
Speaker 1: Jeff's telling the girls, quote unquote, you have to know
50:21
Speaker 1: how to excite sensually and be excited. And telling the
50:25
Speaker 1: girls to shower and wear white robes when they come
50:28
Speaker 1: to him, as well as telling them to shave their
50:32
Speaker 1: downstairs area. He concluded by singing the prayer, Father, Son,
50:36
Speaker 1: and the Holy Ghost in the courtroom, Jeffs remained standing
50:39
Speaker 1: in objection through the playing of the tape. And Jeff
50:42
Speaker 1: continued to interrupt the trial by making frequent objections, often
50:46
Speaker 1: on the grounds of religious freedom. Each objection had been
50:49
Speaker 1: overruled by the judge, though, naturally. And lastly, Jeffs wrote
50:53
Speaker 1: in 2005, according to one of the thousands of pages
50:57
Speaker 1: of notes seized along with the audio recordings from his
51:00
Speaker 1: Texas ranch. And it would say, if the world knew
51:03
Speaker 1: what I was doing, they would hang me from the
51:05
Speaker 1: highest tree. Hanging sounds good too, but stoning sounds a
51:09
Speaker 1: little bit better to me. Sounds like it'd take longer, metaphorically.
51:15
Speaker 1: Like there's a way to say it in a more
51:18
Speaker 1: glazed over way, but I don't think it should be
51:20
Speaker 1: glazed over because this is happening. Like it's happening now.
51:23
Speaker 1: Not even just in the FLDS, maybe still happening in
51:26
Speaker 1: the FLDS, but just around the world. And I feel
51:28
Speaker 1: like these people need to be held accountable for. And
51:31
Speaker 1: I just, I can't wait for this man to just
51:35
Speaker 1: burn in the fiery depths of hell. But anyway, in
51:39
Speaker 1: August 2011, the trial reached its conclusion. And Warren Jeffs
51:42
Speaker 1: was convicted of two counts of SA of a child,
51:45
Speaker 1: 12 and 15, one of which he impregnated. and sentenced
51:48
Speaker 1: to life in prison plus 20 years. And for his victims,
51:52
Speaker 1: the verdict was a long overdue moment of justice. And
51:55
Speaker 1: for the FLDS, it marked the end of an era
51:57
Speaker 1: defined by one man's unchecked power. And there were some
52:00
Speaker 1: notable correlating arrests, including many of his confidants and higher-ups
52:06
Speaker 1: in the FLDS, including Raymond Jessup, who was a son
52:10
Speaker 1: of the sex de facto leader Frederick Jessup, He was
52:13
Speaker 1: convicted of SA of a minor and bigamy. Merrill Jessup,
52:16
Speaker 1: he was a high ranking FLDS Bishop investigated for officiating
52:20
Speaker 1: illegal underage marriages. Barbara Jessup, briefly detained in connection to
52:24
Speaker 1: custody issues. during the YFZ Ranch investigation. Lyle Jeffs, Warren
52:29
Speaker 1: Jeffs' brother, arrested for welfare fraud and other charges. Rulon Jeffs,
52:33
Speaker 1: although deceased, was scrutinized for systematic abuses in the sect
52:37
Speaker 1: as well. Naomi Jeffs, who was Warren Jeffs' scribe and confidant,
52:40
Speaker 1: who became a person of interest in the investigation, but
52:43
Speaker 1: was not formally charged with major crimes. Although I feel
52:46
Speaker 1: like probably knew more than she should have. And the
52:49
Speaker 1: list goes on. Alan Keat, sentenced for SA of a
52:52
Speaker 1: minor as well. So many crimes. giant pieces of shit
52:56
Speaker 1: in the FLBS. And just people that took advantage of
52:59
Speaker 1: other people. And it's just awful. But these arrests stemmed
53:02
Speaker 1: from the evidence obtained during the 2008 raid on the
53:05
Speaker 1: YFZ Ranch, as well as further investigations into the FLDS
53:09
Speaker 1: operations and Warren Jeffs' leadership. And they highlighted systemic criminal activities,
53:13
Speaker 1: including SA of minors, underage marriages, and polygamy. And the
53:16
Speaker 1: imprisonment of Warren Jeffs sent shockwaves through the FLDS. And
53:20
Speaker 1: for his most loyal followers, it was seen as a
53:23
Speaker 1: divine test and a trial meant to strengthen his faith
53:27
Speaker 1: and their faith And from the prison cell, Jeff worked
53:30
Speaker 1: tirelessly to maintain his grip in the community, issuing commands
53:33
Speaker 1: through diaries and written letters. And he framed his incarceration
53:36
Speaker 1: as part of God's plan, urging his followers to remain steadfast.
53:40
Speaker 7: Hello, everybody. Wonderful to see you. Hope you're not through
53:45
Speaker 7: with me.
53:46
Speaker 6: I'm excited.
53:49
Speaker 7: That's right. This life is just a few minutes of
53:54
Speaker 7: time in eternity.
53:55
Speaker 1: Yet for others, this marked a turning point. Doubts that
53:58
Speaker 1: had long been suppressed began to surface, and the community's
54:02
Speaker 1: once unquestioned loyalty to Jeff began to waver. As his
54:05
Speaker 1: control weakened, fractures appeared within the FLDS, and a revival
54:09
Speaker 1: of factions emerged, each claiming legitimacy and the one monolithic
54:14
Speaker 1: organization splintered into competing groups. And the absence of a
54:17
Speaker 1: central figure in the FLDS left the FLDS in a disarray.
54:21
Speaker 1: Some members remained fiercely loyal to Jeffs, while others sought
54:25
Speaker 1: new leadership or left the group entirely. And the infighting
54:28
Speaker 1: just drained the FLDS of resources and influence, leaving it
54:32
Speaker 1: a shadow of its former self. And the power vacuum
54:34
Speaker 1: created by Jeffs' imprisonment exposed the fragility of the system
54:38
Speaker 1: built around a single authoritarian leader, aka does f *
54:42
Speaker 1: * * ing work. This is why all cults, well,
54:45
Speaker 1: not all cults, but a lot of cults just crumble
54:47
Speaker 1: because the bullshit starts to seep through the cracks. But
54:50
Speaker 1: the experiences of Warren Jeff's family reflect the broader struggles
54:54
Speaker 1: faced by all those affected by his leadership. While some
54:57
Speaker 1: remain loyal to the FLDS, others have found the strength
55:01
Speaker 1: to leave, exposing the abuses of the past and reclaiming
55:04
Speaker 1: their lives. And their stories are a testament to resilience
55:07
Speaker 1: and the ongoing fight for justice and healing in the
55:09
Speaker 1: aftermath of Jeff's reign. And that is the case of
55:13
Speaker 1: Warren Jeffs and the FLDS cult, in my opinion, not church.
55:18
Speaker 1: I'd say it's a cult. But crazy. In reading about
55:22
Speaker 1: it and watching so much about it, it just, I
55:26
Speaker 1: don't know. It's crazy that this is happening in the world.
55:29
Speaker 1: And I think it just kind of opens your eyes
55:32
Speaker 1: up to the fact that there is bad out there
55:34
Speaker 1: and it's not all just rainbows and sunshine, not that
55:37
Speaker 1: everyone's lives as rainbows and sunshines otherwise, but I don't know,
55:40
Speaker 1: just make you aware, you know? And just, my heart
55:44
Speaker 1: goes out to all the families involved, to anybody that
55:47
Speaker 1: faced any sort of abuse from this horrible man and
55:52
Speaker 1: any other adults. But yeah, I just wanna say, you know,
55:56
Speaker 1: always reiterate, be safe. out there, you know, continue to
56:00
Speaker 1: educate yourself as always. And if you have any other
56:02
Speaker 1: cases that you want me to deep dive in and
56:04
Speaker 1: learn about and tell you about, let me know in
56:06
Speaker 1: the description below. This was one that was highly requested.
56:09
Speaker 1: So that is thanks to you guys. But until then,
56:12
Speaker 1: I will see your beautiful face in the next video. Okay, bye.