1 00:00:07,816 --> 00:00:13,961 - I was 13 years old the day I escaped my father's cult, 2 00:00:14,028 --> 00:00:16,800 a violent polygamist cult. 3 00:00:20,107 --> 00:00:22,946 My hands are sweating now just talking about it. 4 00:00:23,013 --> 00:00:25,417 Um, I'm shaking. 5 00:00:27,656 --> 00:00:31,763 There was a little phone in the hallway. 6 00:00:31,830 --> 00:00:35,671 And I quietly called my sister. 7 00:00:35,738 --> 00:00:39,245 The last thing I heard her say was "start walking." 8 00:00:40,314 --> 00:00:43,621 I walked out of the house with just the clothes on my back. 9 00:00:43,688 --> 00:00:47,028 It was very frightening because I knew if somebody 10 00:00:47,094 --> 00:00:49,700 saw me, that was the end. 11 00:00:56,012 --> 00:00:58,383 I felt like I had one chance, 12 00:00:58,450 --> 00:01:00,755 one chance to get out of there. 13 00:01:06,499 --> 00:01:09,171 - I didn't see Anna for three years. 14 00:01:11,409 --> 00:01:13,714 I was fully convinced that we were God's chosen people. 15 00:01:13,781 --> 00:01:18,490 And even losing my sister could not shake my faith. 16 00:01:19,492 --> 00:01:22,431 Our father, Ervil LeBaron, was the leader 17 00:01:22,497 --> 00:01:25,705 of a fundamentalist Mormon religious cult. 18 00:01:27,742 --> 00:01:29,078 It blows my mind. 19 00:01:29,145 --> 00:01:33,320 I sit and think, this is impossible. 20 00:01:33,386 --> 00:01:34,856 And yet it did happen. 21 00:01:34,923 --> 00:01:36,359 If I hadn't lived through it, 22 00:01:36,426 --> 00:01:38,029 I don't know if I could believe it. 23 00:01:38,096 --> 00:01:40,701 Our family was killing people... 24 00:01:42,137 --> 00:01:44,408 Because of our father. 25 00:01:44,475 --> 00:01:46,880 - For many of you, Ervil LeBaron is probably an enigma. 26 00:01:46,947 --> 00:01:49,318 Who is he, and why should we even care? 27 00:01:49,385 --> 00:01:50,988 Ervil LeBaron, self-styled 28 00:01:51,055 --> 00:01:52,625 prophet and patriarch. 29 00:01:52,692 --> 00:01:54,596 Ervil LeBaron believed in the use of force 30 00:01:54,663 --> 00:01:57,268 to govern members of his sect of polygamists. 31 00:01:57,335 --> 00:01:59,339 - Our dad controlled everything. 32 00:01:59,405 --> 00:02:01,644 The adults obeyed. 33 00:02:01,710 --> 00:02:03,948 The children, of course, had to obey. 34 00:02:04,015 --> 00:02:06,218 LeBaron and his polygamist fanatic cult 35 00:02:06,285 --> 00:02:08,123 are suspects in a string of slayings. 36 00:02:08,190 --> 00:02:11,195 Ervil came to be known as the Mormon Manson. 37 00:02:11,262 --> 00:02:15,170 - Our father is responsible for the deaths of over 30 people. 38 00:02:15,236 --> 00:02:16,372 The killings escalated 39 00:02:16,439 --> 00:02:17,742 into a reign of terror. 40 00:02:17,809 --> 00:02:19,379 He's claimed he has the right to kill 41 00:02:19,445 --> 00:02:21,650 anyone he wishes upon orders from God. 42 00:03:00,060 --> 00:03:02,197 - We were born good. 43 00:03:04,870 --> 00:03:07,007 Goodness was in us. 44 00:03:07,073 --> 00:03:09,612 And that had to be suppressed for a while. 45 00:03:09,679 --> 00:03:12,451 When I think about my siblings, 46 00:03:12,519 --> 00:03:15,925 um, everything they've had to overcome, 47 00:03:15,992 --> 00:03:19,566 all the sons and daughters of Ervil LeBaron 48 00:03:19,633 --> 00:03:24,809 that survived have had to pick up the pieces, 49 00:03:24,876 --> 00:03:27,314 the shattered pieces of their life, 50 00:03:27,381 --> 00:03:31,957 and put the pieces back together. 51 00:03:32,024 --> 00:03:33,594 Hi! 52 00:03:33,660 --> 00:03:36,332 Many of my siblings are afraid to tell their stories, 53 00:03:36,399 --> 00:03:38,236 and I don't blame them. 54 00:03:38,303 --> 00:03:39,973 We're afraid. 55 00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:42,144 We're doing this afraid-- 56 00:03:42,211 --> 00:03:46,085 afraid of the judgment that we could get from the world 57 00:03:46,152 --> 00:03:49,926 because of having been raised in those beliefs 58 00:03:49,993 --> 00:03:51,897 and who our father was. 59 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:55,638 I'm so glad to see you. 60 00:03:55,705 --> 00:03:59,646 - I am ready now to step forward and show 61 00:03:59,713 --> 00:04:03,587 what it is like to be a LeBaron. 62 00:04:10,868 --> 00:04:11,804 Okay. 63 00:04:11,870 --> 00:04:13,239 Don't be looking at my cards, Faye. 64 00:04:13,306 --> 00:04:14,643 I'm gonna beat you, don't worry. 65 00:04:14,710 --> 00:04:17,516 - You win because you cheat. We already know this. 66 00:04:17,582 --> 00:04:19,485 - I do--no, we-- no, I don't cheat. 67 00:04:19,553 --> 00:04:21,957 - This is an established fact. 68 00:04:22,023 --> 00:04:24,796 That is a lie. I do not cheat. 69 00:04:24,863 --> 00:04:27,602 Celia and I were the most devout. 70 00:04:27,669 --> 00:04:29,639 Well, you're still the most devout. 71 00:04:29,706 --> 00:04:32,144 - I always wanted to do what was right, honey. 72 00:04:32,211 --> 00:04:35,951 I never would do something that I knew was wrong. 73 00:04:36,018 --> 00:04:38,089 Oh, I was a very devout true believer. 74 00:04:38,155 --> 00:04:40,293 I thought with all my heart 75 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:42,364 that I was doing what was right. 76 00:04:42,431 --> 00:04:45,538 And that I thought we were the only true church on the Earth. 77 00:04:45,605 --> 00:04:47,207 Yes, I was totally devout. 78 00:04:47,274 --> 00:04:50,848 I would never think of not following instructions. 79 00:04:50,915 --> 00:04:53,019 You wanted to be good, but did you always believe 80 00:04:53,086 --> 00:04:54,522 in the doctrine that was being taught 81 00:04:54,589 --> 00:04:55,725 and that was the true church? 82 00:04:55,792 --> 00:04:56,761 Oh, yeah. I totally believed it. 83 00:04:56,827 --> 00:04:57,962 - And you always believed that too? 84 00:04:58,029 --> 00:04:59,398 Yep. 85 00:04:59,465 --> 00:05:00,467 - And in fact, I am more devout than you. 86 00:05:00,535 --> 00:05:01,770 - You probably are. 87 00:05:01,837 --> 00:05:03,541 - Because my very first actual romantic kiss 88 00:05:03,607 --> 00:05:05,176 was with the man I married. 89 00:05:05,243 --> 00:05:06,647 Celia takes the cake. 90 00:05:06,713 --> 00:05:08,182 - On the other end of the spectrum... 91 00:05:10,086 --> 00:05:13,527 Was me, who never believed. 92 00:05:13,594 --> 00:05:17,201 I was born into a cult, and... 93 00:05:17,268 --> 00:05:20,140 that's all I ever knew till-- 94 00:05:20,207 --> 00:05:22,879 till I was about 16. 95 00:05:22,946 --> 00:05:27,488 I mean, we were trained to obey and demanded to obey. 96 00:05:27,555 --> 00:05:30,961 And I got beaten a lot because I didn't. 97 00:05:31,028 --> 00:05:36,472 - All my siblings were raised from birth with this very, 98 00:05:36,540 --> 00:05:40,514 very closed-minded way of thinking. 99 00:05:42,150 --> 00:05:45,991 We were indoctrinated from birth. 100 00:05:46,058 --> 00:05:48,697 And it was absolute brainwashing. 101 00:05:50,167 --> 00:05:54,709 Our father is God's mouthpiece here on Earth. 102 00:05:54,776 --> 00:05:58,984 - My dad could convince people of just about anything. 103 00:05:59,051 --> 00:06:00,688 And did. 104 00:06:00,755 --> 00:06:03,493 - We were supposed to be special. 105 00:06:03,561 --> 00:06:06,700 We were supposed to be the chosen ones. 106 00:06:09,105 --> 00:06:14,014 If we were so chosen, why were we suffering so badly? 107 00:06:18,857 --> 00:06:21,496 - Our dad had 13 wives and fathered-- 108 00:06:21,564 --> 00:06:23,233 - Supposedly. - Thirt--fourteen! 109 00:06:23,299 --> 00:06:26,439 It's 14, we counted finally. 110 00:06:26,507 --> 00:06:27,408 - I actually don't know how many 111 00:06:27,474 --> 00:06:28,710 brothers and sisters I have, 112 00:06:28,777 --> 00:06:30,447 and it depends on how you count. 113 00:06:30,515 --> 00:06:32,050 - Um... 114 00:06:34,689 --> 00:06:35,591 What was the question again? 115 00:06:35,658 --> 00:06:36,860 - Oh, gosh. 116 00:06:36,927 --> 00:06:38,262 - 51 children. 117 00:06:38,329 --> 00:06:40,467 - 52 kids? 118 00:06:40,535 --> 00:06:42,237 - I say 51. 119 00:06:42,304 --> 00:06:43,206 - No. - Of our father. 120 00:06:43,273 --> 00:06:44,576 - 55 total. 121 00:06:44,643 --> 00:06:45,678 - It's impossible. 122 00:06:45,745 --> 00:06:47,481 Somebody just needs to count, 123 00:06:47,549 --> 00:06:49,619 and I've never taken the time to count. 124 00:06:49,686 --> 00:06:51,690 - We just say over 50 children because 125 00:06:51,757 --> 00:06:54,729 nobody really knows the exact number. 126 00:06:54,796 --> 00:06:56,466 - People come up with different numbers 127 00:06:56,533 --> 00:07:00,440 depending on different circumstances. 128 00:07:00,508 --> 00:07:02,545 Polygamous math is hard. 129 00:07:10,828 --> 00:07:12,264 All of Ervil's followers-- 130 00:07:12,331 --> 00:07:13,601 his children, his wives-- 131 00:07:13,668 --> 00:07:15,203 were just pawns. 132 00:07:15,269 --> 00:07:18,376 He used them and groomed them to kill for him. 133 00:07:18,442 --> 00:07:20,380 - He was a wanted man. 134 00:07:24,857 --> 00:07:26,994 How many people in America can say 135 00:07:27,061 --> 00:07:30,299 their house has been raided by the FBI multiple times? 136 00:07:30,366 --> 00:07:33,139 - We're not proud of this fact, by the way, just to be clear. 137 00:07:33,205 --> 00:07:35,678 - No, but it's-- it's part of our story. 138 00:07:35,745 --> 00:07:38,082 It's part of the reason why we're sitting here. 139 00:07:38,149 --> 00:07:41,690 Because this was our life. This was what we lived. 140 00:07:43,426 --> 00:07:48,069 My only recollections of life as a child... 141 00:07:49,806 --> 00:07:51,844 It was being on the run from the law. 142 00:07:51,910 --> 00:07:54,247 Of course, I didn't know we were on the run from the law. 143 00:07:56,687 --> 00:08:01,630 - My father, Ervil, led his children 144 00:08:01,696 --> 00:08:04,435 down a very destructive path 145 00:08:04,502 --> 00:08:08,076 that I don't think naturally 146 00:08:08,142 --> 00:08:11,348 any one of us would have gone down. 147 00:08:11,415 --> 00:08:16,893 Really good people were led to do terrible things. 148 00:08:18,362 --> 00:08:19,999 Police are still looking for two women 149 00:08:20,066 --> 00:08:21,870 who murdered a Utah polygamist leader. 150 00:08:21,937 --> 00:08:23,974 It's a history of family violence, 151 00:08:24,041 --> 00:08:27,213 vicious killing, murders in the name of God. 152 00:08:32,592 --> 00:08:34,829 - In order to understand our family history, 153 00:08:34,896 --> 00:08:39,405 you do have to go back to Mexico. 154 00:08:39,472 --> 00:08:42,879 I was born in Colonia LeBarón, Chihuahua, Mexico. 155 00:08:45,717 --> 00:08:48,590 My mother went into labor with me. 156 00:08:50,293 --> 00:08:52,832 She called the midwife. 157 00:08:55,069 --> 00:08:58,610 She took the mattress off of the floor 158 00:08:58,677 --> 00:09:01,750 and put it on the kitchen table. 159 00:09:01,817 --> 00:09:03,754 - Celia was born on the kitchen table. 160 00:09:08,129 --> 00:09:11,670 In this house, there was no running water. 161 00:09:11,736 --> 00:09:13,707 In order to get water, 162 00:09:13,774 --> 00:09:15,276 we had to pump it out of a well. 163 00:09:15,343 --> 00:09:17,848 - And we would have a big galvanized tub 164 00:09:17,915 --> 00:09:19,986 that we would bathe in once a week. 165 00:09:20,052 --> 00:09:21,623 She would start with the little kids 166 00:09:21,689 --> 00:09:26,232 and go up and bathe us all in, I think, the same water. 167 00:09:26,298 --> 00:09:27,669 It was very primitive. 168 00:09:27,735 --> 00:09:29,672 We didn't have a lot. 169 00:09:29,739 --> 00:09:31,676 We never wore shoes. 170 00:09:31,743 --> 00:09:33,446 We didn't have electricity. 171 00:09:33,513 --> 00:09:37,889 The closest town to the colony was, like, an hour away. 172 00:09:37,956 --> 00:09:40,727 The colony was very isolated. 173 00:09:40,794 --> 00:09:42,932 We didn't leave it hardly ever. 174 00:09:44,703 --> 00:09:46,105 I don't ever remember thinking, 175 00:09:46,171 --> 00:09:49,579 oh, I've got a horrible life or anything like that. 176 00:09:49,646 --> 00:09:52,183 I just thought I was serving God. 177 00:09:54,756 --> 00:09:56,826 My father, Ervil, 178 00:09:56,893 --> 00:10:01,836 along with his brother, Uncle Joel, 179 00:10:01,903 --> 00:10:04,943 they established the Church of the Firstborn 180 00:10:05,010 --> 00:10:07,013 of the Fulness of Times. 181 00:10:09,284 --> 00:10:12,892 They were establishing Zion, 182 00:10:12,958 --> 00:10:14,328 a gathering place for people 183 00:10:14,395 --> 00:10:17,835 who wanted to practice the law of plural marriage 184 00:10:17,901 --> 00:10:21,041 because polygamy is illegal in America. 185 00:10:24,214 --> 00:10:26,886 The original teachings of Joseph Smith, 186 00:10:26,953 --> 00:10:29,257 there's the terrestrial-- - No. 187 00:10:29,324 --> 00:10:31,796 - The telestial, terrestrial, and celestial. 188 00:10:31,863 --> 00:10:33,199 - She never knew the religion. 189 00:10:33,266 --> 00:10:35,805 - I knew enough. No, we, uh-- 190 00:10:35,872 --> 00:10:37,675 - Okay, we'll let her explain it 191 00:10:37,741 --> 00:10:40,179 since she knows so much more. - Yes. 192 00:10:40,246 --> 00:10:44,656 There's also three degrees of glory, which is telestial, 193 00:10:44,722 --> 00:10:47,027 terrestrial, and celestial. 194 00:10:47,094 --> 00:10:51,101 - And in order to attain the celestial level in heaven, 195 00:10:51,168 --> 00:10:54,441 you had to live plural marriage. 196 00:10:55,376 --> 00:10:59,953 If you were just a monogamous husband and wife, 197 00:11:00,020 --> 00:11:04,929 you could not attain celestial glory in the afterlife. 198 00:11:07,267 --> 00:11:08,937 So there was sort of 199 00:11:09,004 --> 00:11:10,373 an excitement in their doctrine. 200 00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:13,078 It wasn't just, live the tenets of Mormonism, 201 00:11:13,145 --> 00:11:15,383 but follow Joel and Ervil, 202 00:11:15,450 --> 00:11:18,757 and they're going to unite the entire house of God 203 00:11:18,824 --> 00:11:20,694 because Jesus is coming soon. 204 00:11:22,331 --> 00:11:26,038 Joel was what they call the One Mighty and Strong. 205 00:11:26,104 --> 00:11:28,677 - In the Book of Mormon, they talk about 206 00:11:28,744 --> 00:11:30,179 the One Mighty and Strong. 207 00:11:30,246 --> 00:11:35,156 - The man who was going to save the world. 208 00:11:35,223 --> 00:11:37,728 And Joel was given the mantle 209 00:11:37,795 --> 00:11:42,204 from his father originally, and Ervil accepted him. 210 00:11:42,271 --> 00:11:44,007 Joel is gonna be the head of the church. 211 00:11:44,074 --> 00:11:46,211 Ervil is gonna be in the supporting role. 212 00:11:46,278 --> 00:11:47,681 And together, they're gonna usher in 213 00:11:47,748 --> 00:11:49,351 the second coming of Jesus. 214 00:11:52,090 --> 00:11:55,597 - Uncle Joel and Ervil, they're very close in age, 215 00:11:55,664 --> 00:11:57,166 and they loved each other. 216 00:11:59,338 --> 00:12:01,408 - They had a tight brotherhood between them. 217 00:12:05,818 --> 00:12:08,523 - I was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, 218 00:12:08,590 --> 00:12:12,965 south of the El Paso border in the LeBaron colony. 219 00:12:15,705 --> 00:12:17,808 I'm the daughter of Verlan LeBaron... 220 00:12:20,781 --> 00:12:22,785 Brother of Joel and Ervil. 221 00:12:22,852 --> 00:12:25,089 He was the baby of the family. 222 00:12:25,156 --> 00:12:28,530 My father ended up fathering 58 children 223 00:12:28,597 --> 00:12:30,366 with eight of his ten wives. 224 00:12:32,170 --> 00:12:35,476 - Verlan was the third most powerful person in the church 225 00:12:35,544 --> 00:12:37,046 behind Joel and Ervil. 226 00:12:37,113 --> 00:12:39,184 He was there to support them 227 00:12:39,251 --> 00:12:41,154 in building up the Kingdom of God. 228 00:12:42,592 --> 00:12:47,768 - Uncle Joel, the prophet, was more revered than Jesus. 229 00:12:49,038 --> 00:12:51,174 We all just adored him. 230 00:12:52,711 --> 00:12:54,983 - Joel is sort of laid back. 231 00:12:55,050 --> 00:12:57,020 He's quiet. He listens. 232 00:12:57,087 --> 00:12:59,424 Ervil's the opposite of all of those things. 233 00:13:01,896 --> 00:13:04,803 Ervil was the big talker. 234 00:13:04,869 --> 00:13:08,041 He knew scripture inside and out. 235 00:13:08,108 --> 00:13:12,084 He was highly intelligent, charismatic. 236 00:13:12,150 --> 00:13:13,720 - Ervil is really handsome. 237 00:13:13,787 --> 00:13:15,456 They call it Hollywood good looks. 238 00:13:15,524 --> 00:13:18,897 And people that met him said he had a way about him, 239 00:13:18,964 --> 00:13:20,366 this sort of confidence 240 00:13:20,433 --> 00:13:22,237 and this swagger when he would talk. 241 00:13:22,304 --> 00:13:24,374 Ervil was going out and preaching and teaching 242 00:13:24,441 --> 00:13:26,513 and bringing people to the colony 243 00:13:26,580 --> 00:13:31,823 so that they could settle this arid desert land. 244 00:13:31,890 --> 00:13:34,161 Every time Ervil would convert somebody, 245 00:13:34,228 --> 00:13:37,066 that's another person who can earn money 246 00:13:37,133 --> 00:13:39,003 and pay their tithes. 247 00:13:40,407 --> 00:13:43,914 - I was born and raised in Mormon fundamentalist cult. 248 00:13:45,483 --> 00:13:50,928 My mother was Ervil and Joel LeBaron's sister. 249 00:13:50,995 --> 00:13:53,332 My father was a mainstream Mormon, 250 00:13:53,399 --> 00:13:57,608 and he was converted, moved to Colonia LeBarón. 251 00:13:57,675 --> 00:14:00,079 His money, a lot of it was going to help support, 252 00:14:00,146 --> 00:14:02,283 especially, Uncle Ervil's family, 253 00:14:02,350 --> 00:14:05,422 and that's how faithful my father was. 254 00:14:05,489 --> 00:14:08,597 My Uncle Ervil, I saw him convert people. 255 00:14:08,663 --> 00:14:11,202 He knew how to read people's eyes. 256 00:14:11,268 --> 00:14:15,143 And he studied till he saw that snap 257 00:14:15,210 --> 00:14:18,382 that showed that they had been converted. 258 00:14:20,688 --> 00:14:22,558 He was really busy at the time 259 00:14:22,624 --> 00:14:26,298 building his brother Joel's church, 260 00:14:26,365 --> 00:14:28,537 but little by little, 261 00:14:28,603 --> 00:14:31,008 the more money that was brought in, 262 00:14:31,075 --> 00:14:34,447 the more Uncle Ervil enjoyed his power. 263 00:14:37,621 --> 00:14:40,326 He had this real nice gold car. 264 00:14:42,531 --> 00:14:45,202 My mom and a bunch of people, they used to refer to it 265 00:14:45,269 --> 00:14:47,306 as the Golden Calf. 266 00:14:47,373 --> 00:14:51,348 I never saw him work a day in his life. 267 00:14:51,415 --> 00:14:54,154 - A lot of people had a big problem with the fact 268 00:14:54,220 --> 00:14:57,628 that Ervil wasn't working and lifting a finger 269 00:14:57,694 --> 00:15:01,368 to support his always-growing family. 270 00:15:02,939 --> 00:15:07,514 It was creating this very untenable situation. 271 00:15:09,417 --> 00:15:12,624 - Uncle Ervil, he started having all kinds 272 00:15:12,691 --> 00:15:15,162 of revelations and claims. 273 00:15:16,298 --> 00:15:17,968 We had a prophet. 274 00:15:19,438 --> 00:15:21,041 You would think the prophet should be the one 275 00:15:21,108 --> 00:15:23,947 having the revelations, but Ervil's having 276 00:15:24,014 --> 00:15:26,519 revelations for everybody-- 277 00:15:26,586 --> 00:15:29,123 who to marry, 278 00:15:29,190 --> 00:15:31,663 predicting the end of the world, 279 00:15:31,729 --> 00:15:33,700 all kinds of crazy stuff. 280 00:15:36,338 --> 00:15:40,614 He started ranting hellfire damnation. 281 00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:42,551 This was not what Joel was teaching. 282 00:15:45,222 --> 00:15:46,993 Uncle Ervil was learning more and more 283 00:15:47,059 --> 00:15:49,999 how to control his flock. 284 00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:02,323 My mother, Anna Mae, was living 285 00:16:02,390 --> 00:16:04,460 with her husband, Nephi. 286 00:16:04,528 --> 00:16:06,899 And there was a preacher in town. 287 00:16:06,966 --> 00:16:09,004 He came to the home. 288 00:16:09,939 --> 00:16:14,982 And that first evening she heard him speak, 289 00:16:15,049 --> 00:16:19,057 she was smitten by this tall, handsome, 290 00:16:19,124 --> 00:16:20,760 highly intelligent man. 291 00:16:20,827 --> 00:16:24,535 Anna Mae left Nephi without a word of warning. 292 00:16:24,602 --> 00:16:27,407 This was the first time that Ervil 293 00:16:27,473 --> 00:16:30,647 took another man's wife as his own, 294 00:16:30,714 --> 00:16:32,618 but it was not the last. 295 00:16:32,685 --> 00:16:37,628 - My mom had 12 children, 7 of them with Ervil. 296 00:16:40,165 --> 00:16:43,740 - My mom married my stepdad Ervil when I was two years old 297 00:16:43,807 --> 00:16:47,080 'cause Ervil had the power to separate people 298 00:16:47,147 --> 00:16:49,417 if they weren't married to the right person. 299 00:16:49,484 --> 00:16:51,488 So in order to make my dad happy, 300 00:16:51,556 --> 00:16:53,627 'cause he was still in the church, 301 00:16:53,694 --> 00:16:57,735 um, Ervil says, okay, I'll give you, uh, two other wives. 302 00:16:57,802 --> 00:17:00,039 And I'll give them to you for wives 303 00:17:00,106 --> 00:17:03,713 because I took your wife. 304 00:17:03,780 --> 00:17:07,320 Everybody hated that Ervil wanted all the wives. 305 00:17:07,386 --> 00:17:09,959 - Ervil has now stolen another man's wife. 306 00:17:10,026 --> 00:17:13,633 And this really causes a sort of friction in the community. 307 00:17:17,107 --> 00:17:19,712 - Joel always wanted to believe 308 00:17:19,779 --> 00:17:22,383 that Ervil would get back in line. 309 00:17:22,450 --> 00:17:26,224 It's the people that were following Joel 310 00:17:26,291 --> 00:17:29,598 who wanted him to rein Ervil in. 311 00:17:29,665 --> 00:17:33,573 And Ervil wouldn't be reined in. 312 00:17:35,611 --> 00:17:38,148 So Joel, he tells his brother, 313 00:17:38,215 --> 00:17:39,218 you're out of control. 314 00:17:39,284 --> 00:17:40,620 You're excommunicated. 315 00:17:42,491 --> 00:17:44,494 There's so much tension going on. 316 00:17:44,561 --> 00:17:47,668 And this rift between Joel and Ervil 317 00:17:47,735 --> 00:17:51,408 is getting so wide that finally, Joel, 318 00:17:51,475 --> 00:17:54,348 he decides he's just gonna go elsewhere. 319 00:17:54,414 --> 00:17:56,318 - Joel and his younger brother Verlan 320 00:17:56,385 --> 00:17:57,955 continue to run the church 321 00:17:58,022 --> 00:18:01,227 out of a town called Los Molinos in Mexico. 322 00:18:02,764 --> 00:18:06,739 - We had then what was called the Joelites 323 00:18:06,806 --> 00:18:08,442 and the Ervilites. 324 00:18:08,509 --> 00:18:10,980 - My father, Ervil, starts his own church. 325 00:18:11,047 --> 00:18:13,820 And he calls it the Church of the Lamb of God. 326 00:18:13,887 --> 00:18:16,191 - Joel's church, the Church of the Firstborn, 327 00:18:16,258 --> 00:18:17,995 had close to 1,000 followers. 328 00:18:18,062 --> 00:18:19,698 And when Ervil is excommunicated, 329 00:18:19,765 --> 00:18:22,470 he takes only about 125 followers. 330 00:18:22,538 --> 00:18:24,708 - Ervil wanted all of Joel's followers 331 00:18:24,775 --> 00:18:28,817 to bend the knee to him and give him their tithe money. 332 00:18:31,589 --> 00:18:34,929 Ervil decides that Joel is then a false prophet 333 00:18:34,996 --> 00:18:39,572 and that Ervil is actually the true Prophet of God on Earth. 334 00:18:39,638 --> 00:18:43,847 And you can only have one true Prophet on the Earth. 335 00:18:43,914 --> 00:18:46,919 We have a very, very serious problem. 336 00:18:57,240 --> 00:18:58,743 There's an old Mormon doctrine 337 00:18:58,810 --> 00:19:01,248 called Blood Atonement that the mainstream church 338 00:19:01,314 --> 00:19:03,252 no longer adheres to. 339 00:19:03,318 --> 00:19:04,955 Ervil loved this idea. 340 00:19:05,022 --> 00:19:06,626 He was obsessed with it. 341 00:19:06,692 --> 00:19:09,532 And he decided to incorporate it into his practices. 342 00:19:09,599 --> 00:19:12,437 - He taught the law of Blood Atonement just as it was. 343 00:19:12,505 --> 00:19:14,608 - Yes. - Hold on. 344 00:19:14,675 --> 00:19:18,850 - Blood Atonement is the taking of someone's life 345 00:19:18,917 --> 00:19:22,390 so that their blood can hit the ground 346 00:19:22,457 --> 00:19:26,331 and cry to God for atonement. 347 00:19:26,398 --> 00:19:28,168 Meaning they have to be killed. 348 00:19:29,872 --> 00:19:32,711 Uncle Ervil started saying comments like, well, 349 00:19:32,778 --> 00:19:35,951 some of your husbands, if they don't start getting behind me 350 00:19:36,018 --> 00:19:38,957 and doing what they should and paying their tithing, 351 00:19:39,024 --> 00:19:42,664 they are going to be pushing up carrots in the garden. 352 00:19:42,731 --> 00:19:46,038 It set off, uh, an intuition in my mind 353 00:19:46,104 --> 00:19:49,344 that pretty soon, Uncle Ervil was going to actually 354 00:19:49,410 --> 00:19:51,582 start killing people. 355 00:19:51,649 --> 00:19:54,488 He starts bringing in guns to the community. 356 00:19:54,555 --> 00:19:57,595 They start practicing military drills. 357 00:19:57,661 --> 00:20:01,702 He starts training children on how to shoot machine guns. 358 00:20:03,472 --> 00:20:06,111 Ervil's building his own little militia. 359 00:20:06,177 --> 00:20:09,985 And Dan Jordan is kind of his drill sergeant or his general. 360 00:20:11,589 --> 00:20:13,960 And he's--he's creating this little shock troop 361 00:20:14,026 --> 00:20:17,567 of--of soldiers to do his bidding for him. 362 00:20:18,837 --> 00:20:21,441 Dan was part of Ervil's inner circle 363 00:20:21,509 --> 00:20:23,679 from the very beginning. 364 00:20:23,746 --> 00:20:29,223 He was, uh, very impatient, very brutal. 365 00:20:29,290 --> 00:20:30,994 He was a taskmaster. 366 00:20:32,396 --> 00:20:34,200 - In my opinion, Dan Jordan was a pretty 367 00:20:34,267 --> 00:20:35,537 despicable human being. 368 00:20:35,604 --> 00:20:37,106 He treated us horribly. 369 00:20:37,173 --> 00:20:39,778 And he did things to me and my family 370 00:20:39,845 --> 00:20:43,485 and my siblings that are unconscionable. 371 00:20:45,824 --> 00:20:50,867 - Ervil would promise his daughters to different people 372 00:20:50,934 --> 00:20:54,140 that he wanted to impress and to come into the fold. 373 00:20:54,207 --> 00:20:56,344 And--and I think be loyal to him. 374 00:20:57,581 --> 00:21:00,854 When I was 15, my mom came and told me 375 00:21:00,921 --> 00:21:02,390 that Ervil had a revelation that I was 376 00:21:02,457 --> 00:21:04,193 supposed to marry Dan Jordan. 377 00:21:04,260 --> 00:21:06,498 And he was 42. 378 00:21:07,768 --> 00:21:11,141 I was a virgin. I was very scared. 379 00:21:11,208 --> 00:21:13,411 He already had wives, 380 00:21:13,478 --> 00:21:16,585 but I knew I had to do it. 381 00:21:18,355 --> 00:21:25,336 I had to marry him with one of my other stepsisters. 382 00:21:25,402 --> 00:21:27,073 We were both being married the same night, 383 00:21:27,140 --> 00:21:29,478 so I'm like, oh, maybe at least I don't have to spend 384 00:21:29,545 --> 00:21:31,047 the first night with him. 385 00:21:33,820 --> 00:21:36,792 Dan decided that he was going to flip a coin 386 00:21:36,859 --> 00:21:39,798 to see who would spend the first night with him. 387 00:21:41,802 --> 00:21:45,109 And in my heart, I'm like, oh, my gosh, I hope it's not me. 388 00:21:45,176 --> 00:21:47,715 I hope it's not me. 389 00:21:47,781 --> 00:21:51,689 Then, thank goodness, it landed on not mine. 390 00:21:53,092 --> 00:21:57,366 But I ended up having four children with him. 391 00:22:00,707 --> 00:22:04,013 I've had several polygamous relationships. 392 00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:06,451 I still believe in the principle, let's say. 393 00:22:06,518 --> 00:22:10,226 I think it's going to be lived in another time. 394 00:22:10,292 --> 00:22:12,263 I think God is a polygamist. 395 00:22:18,609 --> 00:22:20,178 From the time we were little kids, 396 00:22:20,245 --> 00:22:23,820 we were told that Ervil was a prophet. 397 00:22:23,887 --> 00:22:25,590 He would get revelations. 398 00:22:25,657 --> 00:22:29,264 And we didn't question what Ervil said. 399 00:22:29,330 --> 00:22:31,569 If he said it, we did it. 400 00:22:31,636 --> 00:22:37,379 - They feel like they are fighting God's war. 401 00:22:37,446 --> 00:22:39,885 He raised us to be like him. 402 00:22:41,522 --> 00:22:43,926 He raised us all with a gun in our hands 403 00:22:43,993 --> 00:22:46,665 from the time we were very young. 404 00:22:46,732 --> 00:22:48,970 /do Ervil and Dan went off the deep end together. 405 00:22:49,036 --> 00:22:51,274 They had already made some serious threats. 406 00:22:51,341 --> 00:22:55,115 They were just feeding each other with all this hate. 407 00:22:56,986 --> 00:23:00,159 One day, all of us Church of the Firstborners 408 00:23:00,225 --> 00:23:02,798 of the Fulness of Times were gathered 409 00:23:02,865 --> 00:23:05,336 at our weekly Sunday school... 410 00:23:08,108 --> 00:23:11,447 When all of the sudden, in walks Dan Jordan. 411 00:23:13,085 --> 00:23:15,489 And one of the adults whispered to the next, 412 00:23:15,556 --> 00:23:16,825 he's got a gun on him. 413 00:23:20,567 --> 00:23:23,372 - Joel and Verlan, his brothers, 414 00:23:23,439 --> 00:23:27,347 were saying, Ervil, he talks big. 415 00:23:27,413 --> 00:23:29,986 Um, his bark is bigger than his bite. 416 00:23:30,052 --> 00:23:32,389 And his followers were growing more and more afraid, 417 00:23:32,456 --> 00:23:36,264 saying it sounds like they might. 418 00:23:36,331 --> 00:23:39,705 So Ervil tells his followers, listen, 419 00:23:39,772 --> 00:23:41,942 they're not following me. 420 00:23:42,009 --> 00:23:45,015 And if they're not following me, they're being wicked. 421 00:23:45,082 --> 00:23:46,586 And what do we do to the wicked? 422 00:23:46,653 --> 00:23:49,357 The scriptures say we kill them. 423 00:23:49,424 --> 00:23:51,094 And that's what we're gonna do. 424 00:24:02,751 --> 00:24:06,993 Joel LeBaron is in Ensenada, Mexico. 425 00:24:07,060 --> 00:24:09,732 Joel is lured away by Dan Jordan 426 00:24:09,798 --> 00:24:13,873 and another follower of Ervil to an abandoned shack. 427 00:24:18,281 --> 00:24:20,018 And now the plan is working. 428 00:24:21,522 --> 00:24:24,093 Joel is alone. 429 00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:28,068 And he has no idea what's gonna happen next. 430 00:24:31,809 --> 00:24:34,682 Dan and his henchman, 431 00:24:34,748 --> 00:24:38,856 they took a chair leg and beat Joel senseless. 432 00:24:40,894 --> 00:24:44,467 And then Dan puts a gun in his mouth 433 00:24:44,535 --> 00:24:46,004 and pulled the trigger. 434 00:24:49,712 --> 00:24:51,849 And this is the ultimate betrayal. 435 00:24:51,916 --> 00:24:55,256 Joel has been assassinated by the people 436 00:24:55,322 --> 00:24:56,559 he once trusted the most. 437 00:25:05,610 --> 00:25:09,852 - We were just in shock and devastated. 438 00:25:09,918 --> 00:25:13,491 This was our prophet, someone that we loved, 439 00:25:13,559 --> 00:25:16,699 that we, uh, you know, revered. 440 00:25:16,766 --> 00:25:18,936 From that moment on, it was like, 441 00:25:19,003 --> 00:25:21,976 if he's capable of murdering his own brother, 442 00:25:22,043 --> 00:25:24,414 he'll kill anyone and all of us. 443 00:25:27,019 --> 00:25:28,455 - Ervil LeBaron lived in this house. 444 00:25:28,522 --> 00:25:31,394 He was second in command of the Church of the Firstborn. 445 00:25:31,460 --> 00:25:33,899 Now he's become its scourge. 446 00:25:33,966 --> 00:25:35,402 Joel, who emerged as head 447 00:25:35,469 --> 00:25:36,939 of their church, was murdered. 448 00:25:37,005 --> 00:25:38,843 And Ervil became a fugitive, 449 00:25:38,910 --> 00:25:40,981 charged with being behind the murder of Joel. 450 00:25:41,048 --> 00:25:43,552 - And what started Ervil on the move from missionary 451 00:25:43,619 --> 00:25:45,022 to accused murderer. 452 00:25:45,089 --> 00:25:47,026 Ervil LeBaron and his brother Joel 453 00:25:47,093 --> 00:25:48,763 split over their religious philosophy. 454 00:25:48,830 --> 00:25:50,132 The church, a peace-loving offshoot 455 00:25:50,199 --> 00:25:53,005 of Mormonism, was founded by Joel LeBaron. 456 00:25:53,072 --> 00:25:54,775 A church that was based in Mexico 457 00:25:54,842 --> 00:25:57,179 where there were no laws governing polygamy. 458 00:25:59,751 --> 00:26:01,154 - Let me read from the official police report 459 00:26:01,221 --> 00:26:02,690 about what happened. 460 00:26:02,757 --> 00:26:05,195 Joel F. LeBaron was attacked in an empty home, 461 00:26:05,262 --> 00:26:08,068 hit over the bridge of the nose with a chair leg, 462 00:26:08,134 --> 00:26:10,472 and shot through the head on the ground 463 00:26:10,540 --> 00:26:13,746 by Daniel B. Jordan. 464 00:26:13,813 --> 00:26:15,081 Today, Joel is dead, 465 00:26:15,148 --> 00:26:16,886 murdered at Ervil's command. 466 00:26:16,952 --> 00:26:18,488 Cain versus Abel, 467 00:26:18,556 --> 00:26:20,660 and now the LeBarons against one another. 468 00:26:25,937 --> 00:26:27,774 - Here's what I'm curious about is, 469 00:26:27,841 --> 00:26:30,346 did you know any of this was going on? 470 00:26:30,413 --> 00:26:33,820 - No, I always felt very blessed 'cause I had no idea 471 00:26:33,887 --> 00:26:36,190 any of it was going on. 472 00:26:36,257 --> 00:26:37,794 - So you didn't know that people 473 00:26:37,861 --> 00:26:39,230 were being blood atoned? 474 00:26:39,297 --> 00:26:41,101 No, I had no idea people were being blood atoned. 475 00:26:41,168 --> 00:26:44,273 - You were married to Dan, but you didn't know he had-- 476 00:26:44,340 --> 00:26:47,179 I didn't know-- he never talked to me 477 00:26:47,246 --> 00:26:48,281 about murdering anybody. 478 00:26:48,348 --> 00:26:50,386 I never knew any of this stuff was taking place. 479 00:26:50,452 --> 00:26:53,325 I never dreamed that he would kill someone. 480 00:26:53,392 --> 00:26:55,429 I did not even know he had anything to do with it. 481 00:26:55,496 --> 00:26:56,665 - Faye-- 482 00:26:56,732 --> 00:26:57,934 I heard that it wasn't him. 483 00:26:58,001 --> 00:27:01,141 - But I will say that the whole time our father 484 00:27:01,208 --> 00:27:04,247 was carrying out blood atonements, 485 00:27:04,314 --> 00:27:06,718 Dan was right there beside him. Oh, yeah. 486 00:27:06,785 --> 00:27:08,154 - And knew about it and helped planned them. 487 00:27:08,221 --> 00:27:09,624 - I'm sure he knew about them. He was his right hand man. 488 00:27:09,691 --> 00:27:10,860 He would have had to know about it. 489 00:27:10,927 --> 00:27:12,363 - He would have had to know everything. 490 00:27:14,467 --> 00:27:18,308 I generally was a very obedient wife. 491 00:27:18,375 --> 00:27:22,316 And Dan yelled and screamed at everybody 492 00:27:22,382 --> 00:27:24,287 when they weren't doing what they were supposed to. 493 00:27:24,353 --> 00:27:25,757 That's how cults work. 494 00:27:25,824 --> 00:27:29,029 They work by fear and control. 495 00:27:29,096 --> 00:27:30,767 And that's the way it was. 496 00:27:30,833 --> 00:27:32,103 They controlled everything, 497 00:27:32,170 --> 00:27:34,273 and we just went right along with it. 498 00:27:34,340 --> 00:27:36,845 - Members of Joel's church had told the authorities 499 00:27:36,912 --> 00:27:38,983 that it was Ervil behind the attacks. 500 00:27:39,050 --> 00:27:40,920 - We heard that one of Joel's followers 501 00:27:40,987 --> 00:27:45,128 saw Dan Jordan with Joel shortly before he was killed. 502 00:27:46,666 --> 00:27:49,270 Baja Police start asking questions, 503 00:27:49,336 --> 00:27:52,009 investigating, searching for Ervil. 504 00:27:53,579 --> 00:27:57,086 This fear and this terror of this crazy Mormon prophet 505 00:27:57,153 --> 00:27:58,756 is compounded by the fact that 506 00:27:58,823 --> 00:28:00,492 they don't know where Ervil is. 507 00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:01,995 They can't find him. 508 00:28:03,498 --> 00:28:06,939 Meanwhile, Dan Jordan and the other assailant 509 00:28:07,006 --> 00:28:08,842 are nowhere to be found. 510 00:28:10,713 --> 00:28:13,886 - Ervil was sort of like Pablo Escobar. 511 00:28:13,953 --> 00:28:16,892 I'm gonna move a lot and move to different places. 512 00:28:16,959 --> 00:28:18,494 I'm not gonna let people know. 513 00:28:18,562 --> 00:28:21,334 I'm just gonna show up and keep moving and moving and moving. 514 00:28:23,606 --> 00:28:25,342 And I think that's one of the reasons he had 515 00:28:25,409 --> 00:28:28,181 a couple places in Mexico and several places in, um, 516 00:28:28,248 --> 00:28:31,320 uh, in the States that he could go to. 517 00:28:31,387 --> 00:28:33,325 I believe Ervil was both paranoid and smart. 518 00:28:33,392 --> 00:28:34,962 It's smart to keep moving around. 519 00:28:35,028 --> 00:28:36,431 If they can't fix you, they can't find you. 520 00:28:47,987 --> 00:28:49,290 - One of the houses we lived in had a little, 521 00:28:49,356 --> 00:28:51,662 um, crawlspace door. - No, no, no. 522 00:28:51,729 --> 00:28:53,265 That was the house we lived in for, like, a month. 523 00:28:53,331 --> 00:28:55,870 - But we only lived there maybe a couple of weeks, 524 00:28:55,937 --> 00:28:57,372 and then we got loaded up. 525 00:28:57,439 --> 00:28:59,176 - And it was pitch black. It was middle of the night. 526 00:28:59,243 --> 00:29:00,647 - Middle of the night, get in the car, 527 00:29:00,714 --> 00:29:01,882 and then drive-- 528 00:29:01,949 --> 00:29:03,552 - 'Cause Ervil had a revelation! 529 00:29:03,619 --> 00:29:04,988 Oh, my gosh. 530 00:29:05,055 --> 00:29:06,592 - They were trying to take his children from him. 531 00:29:06,659 --> 00:29:07,594 - Right. - Yeah, yeah. 532 00:29:10,466 --> 00:29:15,242 Our father would get an inspiration or a revelation 533 00:29:15,309 --> 00:29:18,583 and move people around like-- 534 00:29:18,650 --> 00:29:19,885 like chess pieces. 535 00:29:24,527 --> 00:29:27,968 My mom would come and go a lot. 536 00:29:28,034 --> 00:29:29,804 That was normal for us for people to leave 537 00:29:29,871 --> 00:29:34,413 and be gone and then come back, and then they were here again. 538 00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:37,920 We probably lived at 10 or 15 different houses 539 00:29:37,987 --> 00:29:40,860 by the time I was ten years old. 540 00:29:40,927 --> 00:29:43,331 - We lived in homes in California, 541 00:29:43,398 --> 00:29:45,970 in Houston, in Mexico, Dallas... 542 00:29:46,037 --> 00:29:49,077 - Denver. - In Oklahoma, in Denver. 543 00:29:49,143 --> 00:29:52,517 - We never got to feel settled anywhere. 544 00:29:52,584 --> 00:29:54,955 - You'd imagine if you're gonna move with your child, 545 00:29:55,022 --> 00:29:56,324 you're gonna kind of talk to them in advance 546 00:29:56,391 --> 00:29:57,894 and let them kind of prepare for it. 547 00:29:57,961 --> 00:29:59,598 There was none of that in our-- growing up. 548 00:30:04,106 --> 00:30:07,881 As children, we didn't understand what was going on. 549 00:30:07,947 --> 00:30:09,718 We just knew we had to move all the time. 550 00:30:09,785 --> 00:30:11,755 Now as adults, we look back on it, 551 00:30:11,822 --> 00:30:13,258 and we understand it's because 552 00:30:13,325 --> 00:30:15,328 we were on the run from the FBI. 553 00:30:22,811 --> 00:30:24,113 We were awakened up 554 00:30:24,180 --> 00:30:25,617 in the middle of the night one night, 555 00:30:25,684 --> 00:30:28,054 told not to ask any questions. 556 00:30:30,358 --> 00:30:34,868 It was all hush-hush, urgent tones, and scary. 557 00:30:34,935 --> 00:30:36,705 We were just told... 558 00:30:36,772 --> 00:30:38,241 "Quickly, put on your shoes. 559 00:30:38,308 --> 00:30:40,111 Don't ask any questions." 560 00:30:44,687 --> 00:30:48,094 We are told to gather your things. 561 00:30:50,332 --> 00:30:53,506 And it was time to move again. 562 00:30:53,573 --> 00:30:57,079 And you don't know exactly where or exactly why. 563 00:30:59,350 --> 00:31:01,087 We walk outside. 564 00:31:05,229 --> 00:31:06,865 And there's this truck. 565 00:31:06,932 --> 00:31:09,771 And we're confused. 566 00:31:09,838 --> 00:31:12,009 An older brother of ours was the one 567 00:31:12,075 --> 00:31:14,747 who was in charge of getting all these kids 568 00:31:14,814 --> 00:31:17,621 into the back of this truck. 569 00:31:17,687 --> 00:31:19,490 And he's like, "Shut up and get in. 570 00:31:19,558 --> 00:31:21,629 We're doing this for God's Kingdom." 571 00:31:21,695 --> 00:31:24,166 You don't argue. You just do what you're told. 572 00:31:27,005 --> 00:31:31,080 And then the door rumbled closed. 573 00:31:31,147 --> 00:31:33,050 And we're left in pitch black. 574 00:31:36,090 --> 00:31:38,529 We arrive in the morning. 575 00:31:38,596 --> 00:31:41,902 We were in Denver. 576 00:31:41,969 --> 00:31:45,308 We moved into a green house. 577 00:31:45,375 --> 00:31:48,616 In total, there were 3 wives and 20 children 578 00:31:48,683 --> 00:31:53,926 that lived in a 1,500 square foot home. 579 00:31:53,993 --> 00:31:56,665 We couldn't have the landlords know. 580 00:31:56,731 --> 00:31:57,934 - Or nosy neighbors... 581 00:31:58,001 --> 00:31:59,671 Yeah. Reporting us. 582 00:32:02,209 --> 00:32:05,081 We were in hiding. 583 00:32:05,148 --> 00:32:08,088 We were not allowed to play outside. 584 00:32:08,155 --> 00:32:10,091 We had to stay indoors. 585 00:32:11,728 --> 00:32:13,464 Everything was secret. 586 00:32:15,469 --> 00:32:20,079 - We were taught a distrust for police, 587 00:32:20,145 --> 00:32:22,249 for FBI, for any kind of authority. 588 00:32:22,316 --> 00:32:24,788 They were instruments of Satan. 589 00:32:24,855 --> 00:32:27,694 If they were to ask us any questions, 590 00:32:27,761 --> 00:32:32,804 we were literally trained to say, "I don't know." 591 00:32:32,871 --> 00:32:34,040 What is your name? 592 00:32:34,106 --> 00:32:35,209 "I don't know." 593 00:32:35,275 --> 00:32:36,946 Are you hungry? 594 00:32:37,012 --> 00:32:38,715 "I don't know." 595 00:32:38,782 --> 00:32:40,887 Where did your dad go? 596 00:32:40,953 --> 00:32:42,724 "I don't know." 597 00:32:42,791 --> 00:32:45,563 - So we were taught to conceal 598 00:32:45,629 --> 00:32:48,267 the polygamous lifestyle that we lived. 599 00:32:52,442 --> 00:32:54,848 - So do you remember how many people we had living 600 00:32:54,914 --> 00:32:56,183 in that house at the time? - A lot. 601 00:32:56,250 --> 00:32:59,356 - So we had three wives, 602 00:32:59,423 --> 00:33:01,529 and we had all of their children. 603 00:33:01,595 --> 00:33:04,333 There were 20 children. Wow. 604 00:33:04,400 --> 00:33:08,776 - And three women living in a 1,500 square foot house. 605 00:33:08,843 --> 00:33:10,212 - I drove by that house. 606 00:33:10,279 --> 00:33:11,948 I drove past it, and I was like, oh, wow. 607 00:33:12,015 --> 00:33:13,953 That's the one that had the little dark room in the back 608 00:33:14,019 --> 00:33:15,355 where they hid all the guns. 609 00:33:15,422 --> 00:33:17,259 - Which dark room in the back with all the guns? 610 00:33:17,326 --> 00:33:19,163 What? - Yeah, so they wouldn't want-- 611 00:33:19,229 --> 00:33:20,332 - He's the only one that remembers. 612 00:33:20,398 --> 00:33:21,702 - What dark room with all the guns? 613 00:33:21,769 --> 00:33:22,737 - What? 614 00:33:24,641 --> 00:33:26,211 Just four months after the murder 615 00:33:26,277 --> 00:33:29,082 of Joel LeBaron, 616 00:33:29,149 --> 00:33:31,320 Ervil takes matters into his own hands. 617 00:33:31,387 --> 00:33:33,659 With the confidence only 618 00:33:33,726 --> 00:33:37,534 the One Mighty and Strong would have, 619 00:33:37,601 --> 00:33:42,544 he walks into the police station in Ensenada, 620 00:33:42,611 --> 00:33:46,919 and demands the charges against him be dropped. 621 00:33:46,985 --> 00:33:53,599 - Ervil sat in jail for about a year awaiting trial. 622 00:33:53,666 --> 00:33:55,970 - When Ervil was in jail for murdering 623 00:33:56,037 --> 00:33:57,406 his brother Joel, my Uncle Joel, 624 00:33:57,473 --> 00:34:00,679 my mother would take Ervil food. 625 00:34:04,521 --> 00:34:10,298 There was a guard outside the door, 626 00:34:10,365 --> 00:34:13,304 a bunk bed in his cell... 627 00:34:16,545 --> 00:34:18,414 A blanket thrown over the top bunk 628 00:34:18,481 --> 00:34:20,285 to shield the bottom bunk. 629 00:34:20,351 --> 00:34:24,159 And I guess they got it on, 630 00:34:24,226 --> 00:34:27,600 and I was conceived in an Ensenada jail. 631 00:34:34,212 --> 00:34:37,787 Ervil is put on trial. 632 00:34:37,854 --> 00:34:39,089 He's found guilty of being 633 00:34:39,156 --> 00:34:40,526 the intellectual author of the murder. 634 00:34:40,593 --> 00:34:42,763 He sentenced to 12 years in prison in Mexico. 635 00:34:44,300 --> 00:34:45,936 And then the next day, he's released 636 00:34:46,003 --> 00:34:48,441 by a higher court on a technicality-- 637 00:34:48,509 --> 00:34:50,747 a supposed technicality. 638 00:34:50,813 --> 00:34:53,318 So he walks. 639 00:34:53,385 --> 00:34:55,422 - Bribery was a big thing in Mexico. 640 00:34:55,489 --> 00:34:57,259 That's--it was a way of life. 641 00:34:57,325 --> 00:34:59,196 And Uncle Ervil played that well. 642 00:34:59,262 --> 00:35:04,741 He had grown up knowing how to manipulate and bribe people. 643 00:35:07,647 --> 00:35:09,383 It was very, very disheartening 644 00:35:09,450 --> 00:35:12,055 that he had been released from jail. 645 00:35:12,122 --> 00:35:15,428 It made his followers probably think, yeah, God's behind this. 646 00:35:15,495 --> 00:35:17,066 - Certainly in Ervil's mind and probably in the minds 647 00:35:17,133 --> 00:35:20,439 of his followers, the fact that he was able to beat this charge 648 00:35:20,506 --> 00:35:23,444 and--and walk away, it was just further proof 649 00:35:23,512 --> 00:35:25,381 that he was the One Mighty and Strong Prophet. 650 00:35:25,448 --> 00:35:28,922 Because not many people can get away with murder. 651 00:35:31,094 --> 00:35:33,098 Ervil is just getting warmed up. 652 00:35:33,164 --> 00:35:39,243 He is developing more power, more money, more women, 653 00:35:39,310 --> 00:35:43,150 more guns, more followers. 654 00:35:43,217 --> 00:35:47,225 - So after Joel, our prophet was murdered, 655 00:35:47,292 --> 00:35:50,131 my father, Verlan LeBaron, was left 656 00:35:50,198 --> 00:35:52,837 as president of the church. 657 00:35:52,904 --> 00:35:56,310 We lived in Los Molinos at the time. 658 00:35:56,377 --> 00:35:58,615 - Verlan knew that taking Joel's place 659 00:35:58,682 --> 00:36:02,556 would put him in a position of danger. 660 00:36:02,623 --> 00:36:05,328 He knew that he was a threat to Ervil. 661 00:36:07,365 --> 00:36:08,602 - He knows he's in the crosshairs 662 00:36:08,668 --> 00:36:10,740 of Ervil and Ervil's gunmen. 663 00:36:10,806 --> 00:36:14,915 Ervil's desperate-- desperate to kill Verlan. 664 00:36:14,981 --> 00:36:16,584 My dad wasn't safe anymore. 665 00:36:16,651 --> 00:36:18,254 None of us were safe. 666 00:36:18,321 --> 00:36:20,726 We were sitting ducks if they wanted to come in 667 00:36:20,793 --> 00:36:21,761 and murder us. 668 00:36:24,600 --> 00:36:28,240 So it's a quiet night the day after Christmas. 669 00:36:28,307 --> 00:36:30,378 Los Molinos seems quiet. The desert is quiet. 670 00:36:36,057 --> 00:36:40,131 When it's interrupted by the shrieks 671 00:36:40,198 --> 00:36:42,704 and terror of an explosion. 672 00:36:49,049 --> 00:36:51,453 The tower is on fire. It bursts into flames. 673 00:36:53,191 --> 00:36:55,429 All the people in town started running 674 00:36:55,495 --> 00:36:58,702 to help put the fire out. 675 00:36:58,769 --> 00:37:01,641 Once everyone gathered there, they opened fire. 676 00:37:04,179 --> 00:37:06,919 And then they proceeded to go through town 677 00:37:06,985 --> 00:37:09,356 shooting at every house they passed, 678 00:37:09,423 --> 00:37:11,360 filling the homes with bullets, 679 00:37:11,427 --> 00:37:16,070 and throwing Molotov cocktail bombs on top of the roofs. 680 00:37:20,680 --> 00:37:21,848 Women and children, 681 00:37:21,915 --> 00:37:23,719 mothers with their nursing babies 682 00:37:23,786 --> 00:37:26,591 are running from burning buildings 683 00:37:26,658 --> 00:37:28,494 and being picked off with guns. 684 00:37:30,098 --> 00:37:32,002 People are screaming, running in terror. 685 00:37:32,068 --> 00:37:34,674 They don't know where the violence is coming from. 686 00:37:36,377 --> 00:37:39,884 They're firing on their family members, their relatives. 687 00:37:39,951 --> 00:37:41,621 These are people they had known and loved 688 00:37:41,688 --> 00:37:43,692 and gone to church with. 689 00:37:52,843 --> 00:37:56,518 24 homes had been burned down. 690 00:37:56,585 --> 00:37:59,557 The place had been firebombed. 691 00:37:59,624 --> 00:38:01,828 People were injured by gunfire. 692 00:38:01,895 --> 00:38:03,766 Two were dead. 693 00:38:03,832 --> 00:38:07,807 This was just a bloody, terrible massacre. 694 00:38:07,874 --> 00:38:10,479 - There was a big shootout down near Ensenada, Mexico. 695 00:38:10,546 --> 00:38:11,848 There was a split-off polygamist group. 696 00:38:11,915 --> 00:38:13,652 Every home in the village 697 00:38:13,719 --> 00:38:15,288 was firebombed or simply burned. 698 00:38:15,355 --> 00:38:16,791 Two men died. 699 00:38:16,858 --> 00:38:20,533 19 other people were critically injured. 700 00:38:20,599 --> 00:38:22,536 - The Los Molinos raid was just Ervil 701 00:38:22,603 --> 00:38:24,974 getting back at-- at Joel's followers. 702 00:38:25,041 --> 00:38:28,448 Verlan was supposed to be there, but he was not. 703 00:38:28,515 --> 00:38:30,151 He kept moving around 'cause he knew 704 00:38:30,218 --> 00:38:31,588 Ervil was trying to kill him. 705 00:38:31,655 --> 00:38:33,023 - They caught everybody off guard. 706 00:38:33,090 --> 00:38:34,760 I mean, they took it to the next level 707 00:38:34,827 --> 00:38:37,432 of trying to burn us down and kill people. 708 00:38:37,499 --> 00:38:38,434 - None of these murders happened 709 00:38:38,501 --> 00:38:41,908 without Ervil's say-so. 710 00:38:41,975 --> 00:38:44,480 But he always made sure to be physically 711 00:38:44,548 --> 00:38:46,083 well away from them. 712 00:38:48,020 --> 00:38:50,491 This is part of his brilliance... 713 00:38:51,795 --> 00:38:53,598 As a criminal mastermind, really. 714 00:38:57,205 --> 00:38:59,577 He had his followers, his young men and women, 715 00:38:59,644 --> 00:39:01,714 carry out the attack. 716 00:39:01,781 --> 00:39:04,987 And he was nowhere in the area. 717 00:39:12,469 --> 00:39:13,805 We were living in Denver. 718 00:39:13,872 --> 00:39:18,080 We had a revolving door of other sister wives, 719 00:39:18,147 --> 00:39:21,220 older siblings tending us. 720 00:39:21,287 --> 00:39:24,560 - Two people that we really loved were Rena and Ramona. 721 00:39:26,564 --> 00:39:30,438 - Ramona was our oldest sister from our mother. 722 00:39:30,506 --> 00:39:32,877 And she was like a second mama to me. 723 00:39:32,944 --> 00:39:36,852 Ramona was married to Dan Jordan. 724 00:39:36,919 --> 00:39:40,559 She married him when she was 17. 725 00:39:40,626 --> 00:39:43,866 She had a little bit of a rebellious streak in her. 726 00:39:43,933 --> 00:39:47,673 I remember a tomato plant that she grew, 727 00:39:47,740 --> 00:39:50,779 and it actually was pot, so. 728 00:39:52,115 --> 00:39:56,123 Rena Chynoweth was Ervil's youngest wife. 729 00:39:56,190 --> 00:39:58,696 She was his 13th wife. 730 00:39:58,762 --> 00:40:00,766 Rena was maybe 16. 731 00:40:00,833 --> 00:40:03,037 She was still a teenager when she married Ervil. 732 00:40:03,104 --> 00:40:06,010 - We had no way of knowing how much darkness 733 00:40:06,077 --> 00:40:11,053 she had already endured by the time she was 16. 734 00:40:11,119 --> 00:40:16,296 - Well, he'd been after me since I was about 12 years old. 735 00:40:16,363 --> 00:40:19,002 Of course, they start early, pursuing the girls 736 00:40:19,069 --> 00:40:22,776 at a very young age in polygamous societies. 737 00:40:22,843 --> 00:40:25,248 He wasn't the only one, but he was very persistent. 738 00:40:25,315 --> 00:40:29,824 I didn't want anything to do with him in that respect. 739 00:40:29,890 --> 00:40:34,900 I--I felt respect for him as a leader and as a prophet, 740 00:40:34,967 --> 00:40:37,338 but I didn't want anything to do with him. 741 00:40:37,405 --> 00:40:39,644 I did not want to marry him. 742 00:40:39,710 --> 00:40:41,346 When you're 12 years old, you're pretty impressionable, 743 00:40:41,413 --> 00:40:44,721 especially when this big, tall, important man comes up 744 00:40:44,787 --> 00:40:47,192 and says, you're supposed to be my wife, 745 00:40:47,259 --> 00:40:49,296 and God has told me so. 746 00:40:49,363 --> 00:40:52,402 And so for a year or so there, I-- 747 00:40:52,468 --> 00:40:53,839 I believed him. 748 00:40:53,905 --> 00:40:58,281 And during that time, he sexually molested me. 749 00:40:58,347 --> 00:41:02,624 Later on, I-- I rebelled against the idea 750 00:41:02,690 --> 00:41:04,259 that I was going to marry this man. 751 00:41:04,326 --> 00:41:09,837 And, uh--but by the time I was 16--this was-- 752 00:41:09,904 --> 00:41:12,977 the division of the church had already taken place. 753 00:41:13,043 --> 00:41:17,185 Um, when I was 16, he forced me to marry him. 754 00:41:20,057 --> 00:41:21,762 - Of course, that was a revelation from Ervil 755 00:41:21,828 --> 00:41:23,632 that Rena had to marry him. 756 00:41:23,698 --> 00:41:27,573 So conveniently, that's the revelation he got. 757 00:41:27,640 --> 00:41:31,714 - The only way you can actually make sure 758 00:41:31,781 --> 00:41:34,888 that these girls will be compliant to marry old men 759 00:41:34,954 --> 00:41:39,195 is to get them before they're fully sexually mature, 760 00:41:39,262 --> 00:41:40,899 and to get them before they actually 761 00:41:40,966 --> 00:41:43,037 have a mind of their own. 762 00:41:45,643 --> 00:41:47,746 - It was creepy old men... - It was. 763 00:41:47,813 --> 00:41:52,322 - Marrying very young, underage girls for sex. 764 00:41:52,389 --> 00:41:54,059 - Yeah. 765 00:41:56,865 --> 00:42:02,409 Ramona was also coerced into marrying Dan Jordan. 766 00:42:02,475 --> 00:42:04,680 - Ervil wasn't just grooming 767 00:42:04,747 --> 00:42:06,984 Rena and Ramona to become wives. 768 00:42:07,051 --> 00:42:11,627 He was grooming them to become killers for God. 769 00:42:14,701 --> 00:42:19,008 In his campaign to try to kill his brother Verlan, 770 00:42:19,075 --> 00:42:22,081 Ervil settled on this new idea. 771 00:42:36,377 --> 00:42:40,553 Ervil announced that God had told him 772 00:42:40,620 --> 00:42:43,958 there was another couple of people 773 00:42:44,025 --> 00:42:45,996 that had to be eliminated. 774 00:42:46,063 --> 00:42:50,973 And, uh, that's when I first heard the name Rulon Allred. 775 00:42:51,040 --> 00:42:53,110 I had never heard of the man before. 776 00:42:53,177 --> 00:42:55,816 Ervil explained that he was the leader 777 00:42:55,882 --> 00:42:58,421 of a rival polygamist group, 778 00:42:58,487 --> 00:43:01,895 that this man was leading his people astray, 779 00:43:01,962 --> 00:43:04,900 and God wanted him out of the way. 780 00:43:07,840 --> 00:43:11,948 - My father was perceived to be a prophet of God. 781 00:43:12,015 --> 00:43:15,221 He felt that he was representing the Lord 782 00:43:15,287 --> 00:43:18,460 to his family and to his followers. 783 00:43:18,528 --> 00:43:24,372 He had 48 children with his 7 wives. 784 00:43:24,439 --> 00:43:29,049 He was also a naturopathic physician. 785 00:43:29,116 --> 00:43:32,122 - Even though polygamy was illegal in the United States 786 00:43:32,189 --> 00:43:35,695 at that time, there were still fundamentalist prophets 787 00:43:35,762 --> 00:43:38,100 who had large followings, like Rulon Allred, 788 00:43:38,167 --> 00:43:40,806 who was running his church out of Salt Lake City. 789 00:43:40,873 --> 00:43:43,144 Rulon Allred, even though he lived very modestly, 790 00:43:43,211 --> 00:43:46,017 a lot of money was coming in to Allred's church. 791 00:43:46,083 --> 00:43:49,122 And I think that-- that Ervil was-- 792 00:43:49,189 --> 00:43:52,596 cast a covetous eye to that money. 793 00:43:52,663 --> 00:43:58,407 Cast a covetous eye to the size of, uh, Allred's flock. 794 00:43:58,474 --> 00:44:01,915 - There was some jealousy there because my father was 795 00:44:01,982 --> 00:44:05,589 a very respected, influential person 796 00:44:05,655 --> 00:44:07,459 and had a huge following. 797 00:44:07,526 --> 00:44:12,101 And Ervil wanted that devotion for himself. 798 00:44:12,168 --> 00:44:15,374 - To Ervil's belief, he was the only prophet. 799 00:44:15,441 --> 00:44:17,679 Anyone else who said they were was a false prophet. 800 00:44:17,746 --> 00:44:20,952 Ervil's gonna take over the world. 801 00:44:21,019 --> 00:44:24,727 Once Ervil decided he had to kill Rulon, 802 00:44:24,794 --> 00:44:27,567 he called together his top lieutenants. 803 00:44:27,633 --> 00:44:30,706 And they had a meeting where Ervil announced 804 00:44:30,773 --> 00:44:34,246 he'd had a new divine revelation. 805 00:44:34,312 --> 00:44:38,988 - He commanded people to be executed 806 00:44:39,055 --> 00:44:42,663 and/or threatened to execute anyone 807 00:44:42,729 --> 00:44:43,998 that didn't agree with him. 808 00:44:46,003 --> 00:44:47,839 It got pretty scary. 809 00:44:57,793 --> 00:45:02,068 According to Rena, Ervil makes two women, 810 00:45:02,135 --> 00:45:04,205 his wife Rena Chynoweth 811 00:45:04,272 --> 00:45:07,647 and his stepdaughter Ramona Marston, 812 00:45:07,713 --> 00:45:09,482 go kill Rulon Allred. 813 00:45:11,220 --> 00:45:16,163 - In our cult, you had to do what Ervil said 814 00:45:16,229 --> 00:45:19,937 because if you didn't, it put a target on your back. 815 00:45:20,004 --> 00:45:23,176 - You were in danger for your own life.