1
00:00:06,798 --> 00:00:08,800
[spiritual music playing]
2
00:00:29,946 --> 00:00:31,364
[motorcycle engine revving]
3
00:00:31,448 --> 00:00:33,033
[tense music playing]
4
00:00:33,116 --> 00:00:34,826
[woman 1] When I was 14 years old,
5
00:00:35,618 --> 00:00:37,787
they forced me to marry my cousin.
6
00:00:39,247 --> 00:00:40,290
I asked Warren,
7
00:00:41,124 --> 00:00:42,124
begged him,
8
00:00:42,584 --> 00:00:44,794
"Please don't make me get married."
9
00:00:45,587 --> 00:00:49,257
And he said, "Do you believe
that you know better than the Prophet?"
10
00:00:50,300 --> 00:00:53,136
"That if you're questioning me,
you're questioning God."
11
00:00:54,220 --> 00:00:57,932
[reporter] Warren Jeffs is the leader
of a secretive religious cult
12
00:00:58,016 --> 00:01:01,227
called the Fundamentalist Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
13
00:01:01,311 --> 00:01:03,021
[man] Known as "FLDS."
14
00:01:03,104 --> 00:01:07,942
It's a far offshoot of the Mormon church
and supports the practice of polygamy.
15
00:01:08,902 --> 00:01:12,489
[woman 2] The more wives and children
you have, the higher in heaven you'll be.
16
00:01:12,572 --> 00:01:14,032
[tense music continues]
17
00:01:14,115 --> 00:01:16,034
[woman 2] We were so scared, you know?
18
00:01:17,869 --> 00:01:21,414
That we're gonna be condemned to hell
if we did anything different.
19
00:01:21,498 --> 00:01:23,500
You have to submit yourself.
20
00:01:23,583 --> 00:01:25,710
Because it was for our salvation.
21
00:01:25,794 --> 00:01:30,465
You did whatever it took,
even if it was wrong. You just did it.
22
00:01:31,007 --> 00:01:32,759
[tense music continues]
23
00:01:33,551 --> 00:01:36,638
[man 2] I saw this picture
of Warren kissing this girl.
24
00:01:38,139 --> 00:01:40,433
That's when I said, "I'm done."
25
00:01:41,309 --> 00:01:43,853
I have followed my heart
and I've spoken the truth.
26
00:01:43,937 --> 00:01:45,188
[motorcycle accelerating]
27
00:01:45,271 --> 00:01:48,233
[woman 3] To stand up against
a multi-million-dollar church,
28
00:01:48,983 --> 00:01:51,736
you're going up against
a lifetime of conditioning.
29
00:01:52,237 --> 00:01:53,905
A lifetime of fear.
30
00:01:53,988 --> 00:01:56,282
- [tense music continues]
- [motorbike engine revving]
31
00:01:56,366 --> 00:01:58,910
[woman 1] The other people
of the FLDS would say,
32
00:01:58,993 --> 00:02:01,538
"Why are you challenging
the Prophet's word?"
33
00:02:01,621 --> 00:02:04,082
"Why aren't you being obedient?"
34
00:02:06,251 --> 00:02:09,879
You don't know any better
until you get away from it.
35
00:02:10,547 --> 00:02:12,966
And getting away from it is the hard part.
36
00:02:13,049 --> 00:02:15,301
[engine continues revving]
37
00:02:15,385 --> 00:02:17,554
It happens to everybody eventually.
38
00:02:19,305 --> 00:02:21,683
You will come around and see the light
39
00:02:22,267 --> 00:02:24,602
and go, "What the fuck?"
40
00:02:24,686 --> 00:02:26,855
["Feel More" by Michelle Gurevich playing]
41
00:02:28,273 --> 00:02:32,694
♪ I was born for the road ♪
42
00:02:37,991 --> 00:02:41,619
♪ Only after a storm ♪
43
00:02:42,245 --> 00:02:45,915
♪ Can you feel the sun ♪
44
00:02:48,042 --> 00:02:52,088
♪ Ooh, I wanna feel ♪
45
00:02:53,047 --> 00:02:55,049
♪ More ♪
46
00:02:57,927 --> 00:03:02,015
♪ Ecstasy
In the shadow of ecstasy ♪
47
00:03:02,098 --> 00:03:05,727
♪ In the shadow of ecstasy ♪
48
00:03:08,021 --> 00:03:12,775
♪ Ooh, I wanna feel ♪
49
00:03:12,859 --> 00:03:15,612
♪ More ♪
50
00:03:19,657 --> 00:03:22,493
[children's music playing]
51
00:03:22,577 --> 00:03:23,745
[indistinct chatter]
52
00:03:30,585 --> 00:03:33,046
[woman 1] This is July 4th.
This is our happy day.
53
00:03:34,380 --> 00:03:35,757
[girl] Rebecca's on TV!
54
00:03:36,341 --> 00:03:37,341
[girl] Mother!
55
00:03:40,428 --> 00:03:41,971
Ma, don't do that!
56
00:03:44,224 --> 00:03:47,393
[woman 2] Even though I grew up
in the United States...
57
00:03:48,561 --> 00:03:49,979
we knew we were different.
58
00:03:51,064 --> 00:03:53,858
The way that we dressed
was obviously different.
59
00:03:54,943 --> 00:03:56,527
And, in my family,
60
00:03:56,611 --> 00:03:58,446
and in the culture I grew up in,
61
00:03:59,072 --> 00:04:03,451
I was taught that we were
the one and only true people of God
62
00:04:03,534 --> 00:04:05,119
on the whole face of the Earth.
63
00:04:06,871 --> 00:04:08,539
And we believed in polygamy.
64
00:04:09,249 --> 00:04:11,542
What we called plural marriage.
65
00:04:12,377 --> 00:04:14,629
- [indistinct conversations]
- [woman 1] Kyle!
66
00:04:15,129 --> 00:04:19,092
[woman 3] For those of us
who remember life prior to Warren Jeffs...
67
00:04:19,175 --> 00:04:20,468
[woman 1] Lacey.
68
00:04:21,928 --> 00:04:24,013
...we remember the good times.
69
00:04:24,973 --> 00:04:28,017
People who cared about each other,
that were working together
70
00:04:28,893 --> 00:04:33,773
to live the FLDS way
and continue to grow this community.
71
00:04:33,856 --> 00:04:35,316
[upbeat music playing]
72
00:04:35,858 --> 00:04:37,986
[Elissa] I was a part
of the younger set of kids.
73
00:04:38,069 --> 00:04:41,114
[girls vocalizing]
74
00:04:44,575 --> 00:04:46,494
[Elissa] I know I was my mom's eleventh,
75
00:04:46,577 --> 00:04:50,707
but I never remember exactly
which structure in my family.
76
00:04:50,790 --> 00:04:52,250
I think I was the nineteenth.
77
00:04:53,126 --> 00:04:54,752
Yes, I was the nineteenth child.
78
00:04:54,836 --> 00:04:56,838
[upbeat music continues]
79
00:04:58,089 --> 00:04:59,632
[Elissa] My dad had two wives.
80
00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:03,219
My mother was my father's second wife.
81
00:05:04,679 --> 00:05:08,016
And Myrna was my dad's first wife.
82
00:05:09,142 --> 00:05:11,769
Lloyd was my high school sweetheart.
83
00:05:11,853 --> 00:05:14,564
How could I share him with anybody else?
84
00:05:16,524 --> 00:05:20,570
But I got my mind all in tune
85
00:05:20,653 --> 00:05:25,116
with accepting another woman
in the family.
86
00:05:26,284 --> 00:05:29,245
A unique aspect of my dad is,
he was a convert,
87
00:05:29,329 --> 00:05:34,876
and he was trying to find a way
to create a life for himself
88
00:05:34,959 --> 00:05:38,087
that he couldn't find
in the mainstream Mormon church.
89
00:05:38,171 --> 00:05:42,342
[producer] It's unusual to convert
to the FLDS, isn't it?
90
00:05:42,925 --> 00:05:43,968
- Yes.
- [Myrna] It is.
91
00:05:44,052 --> 00:05:46,387
You gotta make a commitment.
A real commitment.
92
00:05:46,471 --> 00:05:47,305
Yeah.
93
00:05:47,388 --> 00:05:49,098
["Valley" by Kevin Morby playing]
94
00:05:51,642 --> 00:05:54,604
[Lloyd] In those days,
it wasn't even called FLDS.
95
00:05:55,730 --> 00:05:58,983
[Myrna] When we joined,
it was just called The Fundamentalists.
96
00:05:59,525 --> 00:06:01,444
[acoustic guitar continues]
97
00:06:01,527 --> 00:06:04,405
♪ In the valley below me ♪
98
00:06:07,658 --> 00:06:08,743
♪ In the valley... ♪
99
00:06:08,826 --> 00:06:11,371
[reporter] They call themselves
fundamentalist Mormons.
100
00:06:11,871 --> 00:06:14,540
They were forced out
of mainstream Mormonism
101
00:06:14,624 --> 00:06:17,251
when the church outlawed polygamy
over 100 years ago.
102
00:06:18,503 --> 00:06:21,881
♪ In the sky above me ♪
103
00:06:21,964 --> 00:06:26,219
My brother, he joined it, and he'd say,
104
00:06:26,302 --> 00:06:28,513
"You guys, you're drinking skim milk,
105
00:06:28,596 --> 00:06:30,848
you really need to have the meat."
106
00:06:30,932 --> 00:06:35,937
- There are a jillion polygamist groups.
- Yeah, there are a lot of them.
107
00:06:36,020 --> 00:06:40,358
But none of them were
trying to adhere to fundamentalism
108
00:06:40,441 --> 00:06:44,404
like the FLDS,
and that's what intrigued me.
109
00:06:44,487 --> 00:06:46,697
["Valley" continues playing]
110
00:06:48,658 --> 00:06:51,619
♪ In the valley below me ♪
111
00:06:55,039 --> 00:06:57,166
♪ In the valley below ♪
112
00:06:57,250 --> 00:07:00,211
[reporter] These polygamists
trace the religious justification
113
00:07:00,294 --> 00:07:01,294
for plural marriage
114
00:07:01,337 --> 00:07:04,090
back to the first prophet
of Mormonism, Joseph Smith.
115
00:07:04,966 --> 00:07:10,054
If you want to obtain
the highest degree of salvation,
116
00:07:10,138 --> 00:07:12,432
you must live this law.
117
00:07:13,057 --> 00:07:16,018
[Lloyd] According to my understanding
of the Gospel,
118
00:07:16,102 --> 00:07:20,356
plural wives was the whole picture
that Christ was after.
119
00:07:21,649 --> 00:07:23,025
[indistinct conversations]
120
00:07:23,109 --> 00:07:26,028
[Lloyd] And, one day at a Sunday meeting,
121
00:07:26,737 --> 00:07:30,450
the Prophet pulled me in real close
and he said to me,
122
00:07:30,533 --> 00:07:32,493
"Sharon belongs in your family."
123
00:07:32,994 --> 00:07:36,539
"Now let's get with it
and we'll get it taken care of tonight."
124
00:07:38,791 --> 00:07:41,419
[Myrna] That was the first time
he ever met her.
125
00:07:41,502 --> 00:07:43,212
- [Lloyd] Yeah.
- [Myrna] Or her him.
126
00:07:44,464 --> 00:07:47,383
And we took her home.
We took her home that night.
127
00:07:47,467 --> 00:07:49,552
[folk music playing]
128
00:07:49,635 --> 00:07:53,806
[Myrna] Sharon had fourteen
and I had nine beautiful children.
129
00:07:53,890 --> 00:07:55,057
[folk music continues]
130
00:08:08,029 --> 00:08:10,448
We had 30 good years together.
131
00:08:11,407 --> 00:08:13,659
- [producer] They were good years?
- For me.
132
00:08:13,743 --> 00:08:16,370
Oh, they were rocky, you know?
133
00:08:16,454 --> 00:08:19,165
Two women in... [chuckles]
...one house?
134
00:08:19,248 --> 00:08:20,666
Yeah, they were rocky.
135
00:08:21,292 --> 00:08:22,292
[indistinct]
136
00:08:22,835 --> 00:08:25,963
[woman] Let's go! We're gonna go pray
downstairs. Here we go.
137
00:08:26,047 --> 00:08:27,965
[Rebecca] We were the downstairs kids.
138
00:08:28,883 --> 00:08:30,843
We would sleep in the downstairs,
139
00:08:31,511 --> 00:08:33,221
my mom and her children.
140
00:08:33,721 --> 00:08:37,058
[girl] Mama, turn over here
and smile real cute and then I'll...
141
00:08:37,141 --> 00:08:39,268
[speaking indistinctly]
142
00:08:39,352 --> 00:08:42,730
[Rebecca] And then his first wife
and her kids were the upstairs kids.
143
00:08:42,813 --> 00:08:44,857
[kids shouting]
144
00:08:44,941 --> 00:08:48,611
[Rebecca] We were well aware
that plural marriage was illegal.
145
00:08:50,655 --> 00:08:53,533
And on my birth certificate, my dad lied.
146
00:08:53,616 --> 00:08:55,451
Instead of writing, "Lloyd Wall,"
147
00:08:55,952 --> 00:08:58,955
he filled in the father's space
as "Lewis Wilson."
148
00:09:00,164 --> 00:09:03,751
And my name was Rebecca Wilson
on my original birth certificate.
149
00:09:04,919 --> 00:09:06,337
It was just a made-up name.
150
00:09:06,837 --> 00:09:08,839
[indistinct conversations]
151
00:09:08,923 --> 00:09:12,093
[woman] We didn't really leave
our property in Salt Lake City.
152
00:09:13,219 --> 00:09:14,720
We didn't go to movies.
153
00:09:14,804 --> 00:09:19,433
We didn't go to theme parks
or any kind of large gathering places.
154
00:09:19,517 --> 00:09:23,187
So, there wasn't a lot of exposure
to the outside world.
155
00:09:23,688 --> 00:09:26,107
Our activities were within our own group.
156
00:09:26,190 --> 00:09:27,984
[young Rebecca] There's the parade!
157
00:09:29,318 --> 00:09:31,320
[patriotic music playing]
158
00:09:35,533 --> 00:09:37,118
[Elissa] As time went on...
159
00:09:37,201 --> 00:09:38,703
Hi, camera.
160
00:09:39,245 --> 00:09:43,165
[Elissa] ...we definitely got further
and further away from society,
161
00:09:43,249 --> 00:09:46,752
and all of us knew that our way of life
had to be concealed.
162
00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:52,842
[suspenseful music playing]
163
00:09:56,804 --> 00:09:58,889
[man] People are entitled
to believe what they want,
164
00:09:58,973 --> 00:10:01,183
but the law currently in the United States
165
00:10:01,267 --> 00:10:04,437
is that polygamy is not
a protected constitutional right.
166
00:10:05,521 --> 00:10:08,232
Plural marriage, polygamy, it's illegal.
167
00:10:08,774 --> 00:10:13,279
But as a practical matter,
it is almost never prosecuted.
168
00:10:14,238 --> 00:10:15,656
It's hard to prove,
169
00:10:15,740 --> 00:10:17,908
and law-enforcement and politicians
170
00:10:17,992 --> 00:10:20,411
are not very interested
in disrupting families.
171
00:10:20,494 --> 00:10:22,496
[suspenseful music continues]
172
00:10:23,623 --> 00:10:26,334
[Roger] I think most people in Utah,
173
00:10:27,209 --> 00:10:30,129
the mainstream Mormons, people like me,
174
00:10:30,796 --> 00:10:33,591
see polygamy as an embarrassment.
175
00:10:35,051 --> 00:10:38,346
But polygamy is really
not the problem anyway.
176
00:10:39,430 --> 00:10:42,058
It's the secondary crimes that occur
177
00:10:42,141 --> 00:10:45,519
in a closed religious society
controlled by men.
178
00:10:47,021 --> 00:10:50,232
That's when all sorts of mischief
can take place.
179
00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:54,070
And that's what happened with the FLDS.
180
00:10:55,655 --> 00:10:57,281
[cows mooing]
181
00:10:59,575 --> 00:11:01,452
[cows continue mooing]
182
00:11:03,245 --> 00:11:05,998
[man] I think most of the men in the FLDS
183
00:11:06,082 --> 00:11:08,709
just regard women as chattel.
184
00:11:09,794 --> 00:11:11,003
They were property.
185
00:11:11,587 --> 00:11:13,589
[cows continue mooing]
186
00:11:14,924 --> 00:11:18,219
When you're taught something from birth
from your mother and father,
187
00:11:18,302 --> 00:11:20,805
you believe them
'cause they're your parents.
188
00:11:20,888 --> 00:11:23,432
[tractor whirring]
189
00:11:24,016 --> 00:11:25,601
[Wallace] And it's your family.
190
00:11:26,227 --> 00:11:29,063
I was doing what I was taught to do.
191
00:11:34,151 --> 00:11:35,319
Crazy cows.
192
00:11:37,988 --> 00:11:39,824
But someday we get to eat them.
193
00:11:41,867 --> 00:11:45,746
We were taught from birth
that in order to get what they called,
194
00:11:45,830 --> 00:11:48,666
"the highest degree"
of the celestial kingdom,
195
00:11:48,749 --> 00:11:49,959
[ethereal music playing]
196
00:11:50,042 --> 00:11:52,628
...you had to have at least three wives
197
00:11:52,712 --> 00:11:54,463
while you lived on Earth.
198
00:11:55,131 --> 00:11:56,257
And if you did not,
199
00:11:56,841 --> 00:11:59,510
you could not reach that highest degree.
200
00:12:00,970 --> 00:12:02,888
If you reach the highest degree,
201
00:12:02,972 --> 00:12:06,434
you will be able
to create spirit children.
202
00:12:06,517 --> 00:12:08,185
You'll be able to create worlds,
203
00:12:09,019 --> 00:12:10,062
galaxies,
204
00:12:11,063 --> 00:12:12,063
universes.
205
00:12:13,649 --> 00:12:15,067
Basically become a god.
206
00:12:16,152 --> 00:12:19,280
[producer] And what happens to the women?
Do they become gods?
207
00:12:19,905 --> 00:12:22,658
[laughing]
208
00:12:22,742 --> 00:12:24,577
That is kind of a gray area.
209
00:12:24,660 --> 00:12:26,162
We were never taught...
210
00:12:28,205 --> 00:12:32,209
...what a woman becomes
on the other side other than a wife.
211
00:12:32,293 --> 00:12:36,630
[girls singing]
♪ My dad is American made ♪
212
00:12:37,131 --> 00:12:39,925
♪ Born and raised in the USA ♪
213
00:12:40,009 --> 00:12:41,802
♪ From his hard-working hands ♪
214
00:12:41,886 --> 00:12:43,345
♪ To his big-loving heart ♪
215
00:12:43,429 --> 00:12:46,599
♪ My dad is American made ♪
216
00:12:47,516 --> 00:12:50,853
[Rebecca] A man's status depends on
how many wives he has.
217
00:12:50,936 --> 00:12:53,147
[gloomy music playing]
218
00:12:53,230 --> 00:12:56,066
[Rebecca] My dad, he had two wives,
219
00:12:56,150 --> 00:12:59,570
and he couldn't figure out why other men
were getting more wives and he was not.
220
00:12:59,653 --> 00:13:01,447
[gloomy music continues]
221
00:13:01,530 --> 00:13:04,033
[Rebecca] So my dad always felt
like he was jilted.
222
00:13:04,700 --> 00:13:07,536
He built a very successful business.
223
00:13:08,537 --> 00:13:10,539
And he'd given money to the church.
224
00:13:11,081 --> 00:13:14,376
He'd given, you know,
his expertise as an engineer.
225
00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:16,504
I want the universe!
226
00:13:16,587 --> 00:13:18,339
[Myrna and Lloyd laughing]
227
00:13:18,422 --> 00:13:21,342
[Rebecca] And he was always
kind of frustrated.
228
00:13:22,551 --> 00:13:26,388
- But he also had this host of daughters...
- [gloomy music continues]
229
00:13:28,015 --> 00:13:31,644
that could be given to other men.
230
00:13:34,021 --> 00:13:36,607
And it's kind of like,
"I'll give you some if you give me some."
231
00:13:36,690 --> 00:13:40,861
Even though it's never spoken that way,
I think that's the general understanding.
232
00:13:40,945 --> 00:13:43,489
[marching band music playing]
233
00:13:50,204 --> 00:13:52,206
[marching band music continues]
234
00:13:55,501 --> 00:13:58,212
[Elissa] In the FLDS, you had the Prophet.
235
00:14:00,214 --> 00:14:03,175
The Prophet is a representation
of God on Earth.
236
00:14:03,259 --> 00:14:04,677
[eerie music playing]
237
00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:09,390
The best way to explain the Prophet
would be like the Catholic Pope.
238
00:14:09,932 --> 00:14:13,644
They've... They've got a Pope,
pretty much... pretty much runs everything.
239
00:14:15,521 --> 00:14:20,192
[Elissa] We were told that our Prophet,
Rulon Jeffs, would never die.
240
00:14:20,276 --> 00:14:22,903
That he would be renewed
to be young again.
241
00:14:23,696 --> 00:14:26,574
We believed that the Prophet
knew everything we did,
242
00:14:26,657 --> 00:14:29,243
knew every thought we had,
knew our dreams,
243
00:14:29,326 --> 00:14:31,328
knew our wishes, our desires.
244
00:14:32,413 --> 00:14:35,749
He also was the one
that created all arranged marriages.
245
00:14:35,833 --> 00:14:36,917
[eerie music continues]
246
00:14:37,001 --> 00:14:39,920
[Wallace] It's what's called
"The placement principle."
247
00:14:40,629 --> 00:14:43,132
You didn't court and decide
who you would marry.
248
00:14:43,215 --> 00:14:46,927
Only the Prophet could choose
who you married.
249
00:14:47,011 --> 00:14:49,013
[eerie music continues]
250
00:14:50,055 --> 00:14:52,600
[Rebecca] It was a big deal
in our culture,
251
00:14:52,683 --> 00:14:55,311
when a girl is ready to get married
252
00:14:55,394 --> 00:14:57,438
to "turn her in" to the Prophet,
253
00:14:57,938 --> 00:15:00,190
and that was to go to the Prophet and say,
254
00:15:00,733 --> 00:15:03,402
"Here is my daughter,
do with her as you will,
255
00:15:03,485 --> 00:15:04,904
whatever is God's will."
256
00:15:06,530 --> 00:15:09,909
And so, when I turned 19,
257
00:15:10,826 --> 00:15:11,826
my father,
258
00:15:12,870 --> 00:15:14,830
he brought me to Rulon Jeffs.
259
00:15:14,914 --> 00:15:17,124
[women laughing]
260
00:15:18,667 --> 00:15:21,295
[Rebecca] It had become known
that there was a specific handshake
261
00:15:21,378 --> 00:15:25,090
that he would give to girls
that would then later become his wife.
262
00:15:26,050 --> 00:15:28,135
And that day, he shook my hand,
263
00:15:28,218 --> 00:15:30,179
and he squeezed it three times,
264
00:15:30,262 --> 00:15:32,723
and it meant I was supposed to marry him.
265
00:15:33,724 --> 00:15:35,643
And my dad was so excited.
266
00:15:37,227 --> 00:15:39,271
For any man in the FLDS,
267
00:15:39,355 --> 00:15:43,275
to have their daughter marry
into the Prophet's family
268
00:15:43,359 --> 00:15:45,152
was a massive honor,
269
00:15:45,235 --> 00:15:47,279
and I think my dad felt like finally
270
00:15:47,363 --> 00:15:50,324
he was getting the respect
that he was entitled to
271
00:15:50,407 --> 00:15:51,659
and that he deserved.
272
00:15:52,701 --> 00:15:54,495
But I was just like, ' "Ew!"
273
00:15:54,578 --> 00:15:55,788
[eerie music continues]
274
00:15:55,871 --> 00:15:58,582
Rulon Jeffs was 85 when I married him.
275
00:16:00,834 --> 00:16:02,169
And I was 19.
276
00:16:04,713 --> 00:16:05,923
So, I got married.
277
00:16:07,299 --> 00:16:09,551
And then my father got his third wife.
278
00:16:23,065 --> 00:16:24,400
[intriguing music playing]
279
00:16:24,483 --> 00:16:26,485
[woman] Ever since I was a little girl,
280
00:16:26,568 --> 00:16:28,821
all I wanted was to be a really good wife
281
00:16:28,904 --> 00:16:31,573
and I was going to raise
a whole bunch of children
282
00:16:31,657 --> 00:16:34,326
and... do like everybody else was doing.
283
00:16:35,577 --> 00:16:37,913
So, after I got out of high school,
284
00:16:37,997 --> 00:16:40,290
I was just constantly going to my father
285
00:16:40,374 --> 00:16:42,334
and saying, "I want to turn myself in."
286
00:16:44,211 --> 00:16:45,546
When you turn yourself in,
287
00:16:45,629 --> 00:16:48,090
you wanna be married,
is what you're saying.
288
00:16:48,757 --> 00:16:51,760
And so, my mother and father
took me to the Prophet.
289
00:16:52,302 --> 00:16:55,597
We sat across from Rulon,
and, without hesitation,
290
00:16:55,681 --> 00:16:58,267
he said, "Well then, will you marry me?"
And I'm like...
291
00:17:01,061 --> 00:17:03,063
I was shocked a little,
292
00:17:03,147 --> 00:17:05,190
but, that night, we were married.
293
00:17:07,151 --> 00:17:09,862
I believe he was 86 when I married him.
294
00:17:11,530 --> 00:17:13,574
I think he had 23 wives already.
295
00:17:14,700 --> 00:17:17,161
Or maybe I was his 23rd wife.
296
00:17:17,244 --> 00:17:19,121
[intriguing music continues]
297
00:17:20,956 --> 00:17:22,458
After the ceremony,
298
00:17:23,292 --> 00:17:25,753
he gave me one heck of a smacker.
299
00:17:26,670 --> 00:17:29,923
I felt I was getting sucked in
and I was just trying to pull away.
300
00:17:30,007 --> 00:17:32,134
It was a lot for me
to take in all at once.
301
00:17:33,427 --> 00:17:34,803
I was 20 years old.
302
00:17:35,596 --> 00:17:36,972
That was my first kiss.
303
00:17:38,390 --> 00:17:42,478
And, you know, a young girl dreams
of fairy tales and all that kind of stuff.
304
00:17:42,561 --> 00:17:46,023
Your brain runs away with you
and you think it's gonna be magical.
305
00:17:46,106 --> 00:17:47,691
Yeah, it wasn't magical.
306
00:17:48,525 --> 00:17:50,527
[eerie music playing]
307
00:17:51,987 --> 00:17:55,074
[Rebecca] They didn't let us work.
They didn't let us go to school.
308
00:17:55,574 --> 00:17:57,659
All our sole purpose was
309
00:17:58,410 --> 00:18:00,162
to be with Rulon Jeffs,
310
00:18:00,245 --> 00:18:01,080
pray,
311
00:18:01,163 --> 00:18:02,706
and to be obedient.
312
00:18:03,749 --> 00:18:04,749
To be...
313
00:18:05,084 --> 00:18:07,211
[sucking teeth]
...uh, adoring at all times.
314
00:18:07,920 --> 00:18:09,922
[unsettling music playing]
315
00:18:11,590 --> 00:18:14,676
[Alicia] In Rulon's house,
on the wall in the dining room,
316
00:18:15,969 --> 00:18:19,473
is a picture of all the ladies
in the order he married them.
317
00:18:20,849 --> 00:18:25,521
Every night, every woman was
in a line outside his door,
318
00:18:25,604 --> 00:18:28,524
and each woman took their turn
to go say good night to him.
319
00:18:29,024 --> 00:18:32,152
And I'm telling you,
these lines were so bloody long.
320
00:18:32,653 --> 00:18:34,029
And it was such a pain.
321
00:18:34,113 --> 00:18:36,323
I was just like,
"It's just a freaking kiss."
322
00:18:36,406 --> 00:18:37,825
[unsettling music continues]
323
00:18:37,908 --> 00:18:40,577
I hated kissing the man
after he kissed other women.
324
00:18:40,661 --> 00:18:43,664
I used a lot of Listerine
is all I'm going to say.
325
00:18:45,666 --> 00:18:48,502
So, it was my turn to go in
and say good night to him,
326
00:18:48,585 --> 00:18:52,631
and he says, "I want you to stay with me
and we'll do a little lovemaking."
327
00:18:52,714 --> 00:18:55,634
And I'm like, "Lovemaking?
What the... What does that mean?"
328
00:18:56,176 --> 00:18:58,053
[hesitates] You do not know anything.
329
00:19:00,055 --> 00:19:02,724
I did not know how babies were born.
330
00:19:04,101 --> 00:19:06,520
I just thought that you made 'em
when you kissed.
331
00:19:07,688 --> 00:19:09,606
[unsettling music continues]
332
00:19:09,690 --> 00:19:11,692
[Rebecca] At 19, I did not know
333
00:19:11,775 --> 00:19:13,610
what it took to physically
334
00:19:15,028 --> 00:19:16,029
get pregnant.
335
00:19:16,113 --> 00:19:20,534
I did not expect Rulon Jeffs to touch me
in any way, shape, or form.
336
00:19:21,243 --> 00:19:22,243
Um...
337
00:19:22,578 --> 00:19:26,832
You got undressed and then you went down
to his bedroom and...
338
00:19:26,915 --> 00:19:28,417
[unsettling music continues]
339
00:19:30,002 --> 00:19:32,588
[Rebecca] I remember him rolling
on top of me
340
00:19:33,463 --> 00:19:35,299
and saying, "Spread your legs."
341
00:19:37,342 --> 00:19:40,262
I felt like, this is everything
that we were told was bad.
342
00:19:40,345 --> 00:19:42,931
Why... Why is a man doing this,
343
00:19:43,015 --> 00:19:45,559
let alone the Prophet of God
doing this to me?
344
00:19:47,144 --> 00:19:49,688
[Alicia] He went to sleep
for a few minutes after that,
345
00:19:49,771 --> 00:19:50,898
and the next thing I know,
346
00:19:50,981 --> 00:19:53,400
he's hitting me with his elbow,
and waking me up
347
00:19:53,483 --> 00:19:55,986
and saying,
"I need... I need to go to the bathroom."
348
00:19:56,069 --> 00:19:58,906
He can't walk, you know.
He's holding on to you.
349
00:19:58,989 --> 00:20:02,451
We went into the bathroom,
and he didn't quite make it,
350
00:20:02,534 --> 00:20:04,912
and that was my first introduction
to the blow dryer.
351
00:20:04,995 --> 00:20:08,081
[blow dryer whirring]
352
00:20:08,165 --> 00:20:10,751
[Alicia] You'd have to dry it
and clean him up and...
353
00:20:11,251 --> 00:20:14,671
uh, you know, one time
I stepped on his oxygen cord
354
00:20:14,755 --> 00:20:17,549
and that yanked his face
and he got pretty angry.
355
00:20:17,633 --> 00:20:19,176
[air hissing]
356
00:20:19,259 --> 00:20:21,011
[Rebecca] I... was clever.
357
00:20:23,096 --> 00:20:26,600
[chuckling] I knew he was tired,
so I'd have him get in bed
358
00:20:26,683 --> 00:20:28,363
and I'd rub his feet and get him to sleep.
359
00:20:28,435 --> 00:20:30,979
I'd do anything I could
to make him fall asleep.
360
00:20:31,063 --> 00:20:35,984
And then I would pass by another night
without having him touch me.
361
00:20:36,526 --> 00:20:37,526
And...
362
00:20:37,903 --> 00:20:38,946
um,
363
00:20:39,029 --> 00:20:40,364
it worked for a while
364
00:20:40,948 --> 00:20:42,157
until it didn't.
365
00:20:44,034 --> 00:20:45,494
[Rulan] Keep sweet,
366
00:20:46,203 --> 00:20:47,203
no matter what.
367
00:20:48,455 --> 00:20:51,416
That's the road to perfection.
368
00:20:52,209 --> 00:20:54,836
[girls singing] ♪ ...girls for you ♪
369
00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:57,339
♪ Keep sweet, keep sweet ♪
370
00:20:57,422 --> 00:20:59,841
♪ It's the motto, tried and true ♪
371
00:20:59,925 --> 00:21:02,386
♪ Keep sweet, keep sweet ♪
372
00:21:02,469 --> 00:21:04,805
♪ When you grow up good and kind... ♪
373
00:21:04,888 --> 00:21:08,392
[Alicia] "Keep sweet" was
Rulon saying to the people,
374
00:21:09,559 --> 00:21:11,395
"Keep sweet, no matter what,"
375
00:21:11,937 --> 00:21:15,065
and "For heaven's sakes, keep sweet,"
is what he would always say.
376
00:21:15,148 --> 00:21:16,858
[girls continue singing]
377
00:21:17,609 --> 00:21:19,611
[Myrna] Everybody had little stickers.
378
00:21:19,695 --> 00:21:21,947
"Keep Sweet. Keep Sweet. Keep Sweet."
379
00:21:22,030 --> 00:21:26,785
And he had shoes that had "Keep Sweet"
380
00:21:26,868 --> 00:21:30,956
on the bottoms of his shoes. [chuckling]
381
00:21:31,540 --> 00:21:33,375
I thought that was pretty cute.
382
00:21:34,418 --> 00:21:37,254
[Elissa] It meant to be in control
of your emotions.
383
00:21:37,337 --> 00:21:41,800
And you didn't display things
like anger or resentment or frustration,
384
00:21:41,883 --> 00:21:45,721
especially towards
the fathers and the husbands.
385
00:21:45,804 --> 00:21:47,681
[girls continue singing]
386
00:21:47,764 --> 00:21:49,641
[Charlene] Keep sweet no matter what.
387
00:21:52,144 --> 00:21:57,190
And it became more
and more drilled into us,
388
00:21:57,274 --> 00:21:58,191
the keep sweet.
389
00:21:58,275 --> 00:21:59,985
[somber music playing]
390
00:22:00,485 --> 00:22:02,904
But it wasn't Uncle Rulon that did it.
391
00:22:04,865 --> 00:22:05,991
It was Warren.
392
00:22:07,284 --> 00:22:09,286
[somber music continues]
393
00:22:09,995 --> 00:22:12,622
Warren is eight years older than I am.
394
00:22:14,249 --> 00:22:15,751
No, six, six years.
395
00:22:17,169 --> 00:22:19,838
[producer] How many siblings
did you have growing up?
396
00:22:19,921 --> 00:22:20,964
Sixty-two.
397
00:22:22,174 --> 00:22:26,345
Thirty... Thirty-two brothers
and 30 sisters.
398
00:22:27,137 --> 00:22:28,305
Not all of them I knew.
399
00:22:28,388 --> 00:22:31,808
There were... some sisters
that had grown up and gotten married
400
00:22:31,892 --> 00:22:33,602
before I even knew who they were,
401
00:22:34,102 --> 00:22:36,855
but there was 62 that we were aware of.
402
00:22:36,938 --> 00:22:38,940
[somber music continues]
403
00:22:39,566 --> 00:22:42,152
Marilyn, Mother Marilyn as we called her,
404
00:22:42,235 --> 00:22:43,653
she was Warren's mother.
405
00:22:45,072 --> 00:22:47,240
And she really pushed her sons
406
00:22:47,324 --> 00:22:50,619
to be close... to our dad
407
00:22:51,536 --> 00:22:55,123
to make them the next leaders
of the church after my dad.
408
00:22:56,541 --> 00:22:59,378
[producer] And she had
a special relationship with Warren
409
00:22:59,461 --> 00:23:01,338
even though he wasn't her oldest son.
410
00:23:02,089 --> 00:23:06,218
Oh boy.
That's a whole 'nother story. [chuckling]
411
00:23:06,301 --> 00:23:09,638
Mother Marilyn felt
that Warren was special
412
00:23:10,347 --> 00:23:12,557
because Warren was born...
413
00:23:13,475 --> 00:23:16,019
I believe it was eight weeks premature.
414
00:23:16,770 --> 00:23:20,023
And Mother Marilyn always
told the story about how...
415
00:23:20,524 --> 00:23:22,776
Warren was close to death at birth,
416
00:23:23,527 --> 00:23:27,697
and that previous prophets came to her
417
00:23:27,781 --> 00:23:31,660
and revealed to her that he would survive...
418
00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:34,871
and that Warren
would be "a very special" person.
419
00:23:36,164 --> 00:23:38,417
My dad also believed that.
420
00:23:38,500 --> 00:23:40,210
[somber music continues]
421
00:23:40,293 --> 00:23:42,421
[Wallace] You couldn't get close
to Warren.
422
00:23:42,921 --> 00:23:45,924
You know, he had
this holier-than-thou attitude.
423
00:23:46,007 --> 00:23:50,178
And even though he could be funny,
he came across kind of abrasive.
424
00:23:52,931 --> 00:23:56,560
[microphone rumbling]
425
00:23:57,352 --> 00:23:59,479
[Rebecca] I don't think he was liked much.
426
00:24:00,188 --> 00:24:01,398
[Warren clears throat]
427
00:24:01,481 --> 00:24:02,816
He was the awkward son
428
00:24:03,483 --> 00:24:04,985
of a man who had power.
429
00:24:05,068 --> 00:24:07,070
[piano playing]
430
00:24:09,322 --> 00:24:14,786
♪ I desire here today ♪
431
00:24:14,870 --> 00:24:19,833
♪ To sincerely point the way... ♪
432
00:24:19,916 --> 00:24:22,335
[Rebecca] Warren,
compared to his brothers,
433
00:24:22,419 --> 00:24:24,921
he was not anything to write home about.
434
00:24:26,006 --> 00:24:28,550
I mean, pretty smart. He could do math.
435
00:24:28,633 --> 00:24:30,302
I learned to do algebra from him.
436
00:24:30,385 --> 00:24:32,012
[Warren continues singing]
437
00:24:32,095 --> 00:24:35,390
Did he in the beginning foresee
what he would become?
438
00:24:36,099 --> 00:24:37,100
I don't think so.
439
00:24:37,184 --> 00:24:38,727
[Warren continues singing]
440
00:24:38,810 --> 00:24:42,189
[Rebecca] I think that he was keenly aware
441
00:24:42,272 --> 00:24:45,192
of how to pick up on
what is important to people
442
00:24:45,275 --> 00:24:47,235
and how to use that to manipulate them.
443
00:24:47,903 --> 00:24:54,868
♪ He will lead us to Zion's shore ♪
444
00:24:55,827 --> 00:25:01,541
[producer] When did you begin to see signs
of Warren's eventual character growing up?
445
00:25:03,418 --> 00:25:04,503
[audience applauding]
446
00:25:04,586 --> 00:25:06,129
[Wallace] When I was 16,
447
00:25:06,963 --> 00:25:10,050
Warren started getting very cozy...
448
00:25:11,009 --> 00:25:13,261
with... the sisters...
449
00:25:13,887 --> 00:25:14,971
of the family.
450
00:25:15,055 --> 00:25:16,973
[unsettling music playing]
451
00:25:17,057 --> 00:25:20,143
[Wallace] Uh, uncomfortably cozy...
452
00:25:20,685 --> 00:25:21,853
with the sisters.
453
00:25:23,271 --> 00:25:26,191
And it was seen by a lot of us brothers,
454
00:25:27,234 --> 00:25:29,819
and we reported it to our dad.
455
00:25:31,279 --> 00:25:32,364
Or at least I did.
456
00:25:33,740 --> 00:25:37,035
My dad's response was, "Drop it."
457
00:25:37,702 --> 00:25:40,956
"Don't talk about it. I'm handling it."
458
00:25:41,998 --> 00:25:44,918
"Forget about it.
Don't ever talk about it again."
459
00:25:45,001 --> 00:25:47,003
[ominous music playing]
460
00:25:48,296 --> 00:25:51,132
[drums playing]
461
00:25:51,216 --> 00:25:53,218
[footsteps marching]
462
00:25:54,261 --> 00:25:58,390
[Roger] One of the things
the Jeffs family did in Salt Lake
463
00:25:58,473 --> 00:26:01,226
was they operated
what was known as the Alta Academy.
464
00:26:01,309 --> 00:26:02,477
[joyful music playing]
465
00:26:04,563 --> 00:26:06,565
- [all singing]
- [audience laughing]
466
00:26:11,236 --> 00:26:15,699
Alta Academy trained and educated
467
00:26:15,782 --> 00:26:20,203
a large number of the FLDS people
in the FLDS way.
468
00:26:20,287 --> 00:26:23,373
Everything just had
a religious content to it.
469
00:26:23,456 --> 00:26:25,709
And, uh, you know, the...
470
00:26:26,918 --> 00:26:28,503
some things were omitted.
471
00:26:30,505 --> 00:26:34,426
[Rulan] I deeply appreciate the efforts
of these young people
472
00:26:35,385 --> 00:26:37,095
putting on this fine program.
473
00:26:37,762 --> 00:26:39,180
[Wallace] My dad,
474
00:26:39,264 --> 00:26:42,976
he didn't want the world's teachings
to be given to his children.
475
00:26:43,476 --> 00:26:46,855
He wanted them to get
what we called priesthood teachings.
476
00:26:46,938 --> 00:26:48,273
[tense music playing]
477
00:26:48,356 --> 00:26:50,358
[Wallace] Somebody had to be
the principal.
478
00:26:50,859 --> 00:26:55,905
And I remember my dad
very forcefully pushing Warren into that.
479
00:26:56,698 --> 00:26:58,617
It was almost like...
480
00:26:58,700 --> 00:27:00,493
[tense music continues]
481
00:27:00,577 --> 00:27:02,912
...this was the beginning of his calling,
482
00:27:02,996 --> 00:27:06,291
and this was going to be what taught him
483
00:27:06,374 --> 00:27:09,336
how to become
what my dad wanted him to become.
484
00:27:10,670 --> 00:27:16,426
So, as soon as he became Principal
and realized he had this authority,
485
00:27:17,218 --> 00:27:19,971
he started exercising it vigorously.
486
00:27:20,055 --> 00:27:23,391
"I'm the boss. Obey me at all costs."
487
00:27:23,475 --> 00:27:24,851
[eerie music playing]
488
00:27:25,852 --> 00:27:27,312
[Elissa] Warren had a saying,
489
00:27:28,396 --> 00:27:30,482
"Perfect obedience is led by a hair."
490
00:27:31,107 --> 00:27:33,735
Meaning, hair is so thin,
491
00:27:33,818 --> 00:27:36,738
and true obedience
492
00:27:36,821 --> 00:27:40,450
meant that you could be led by a hair
and you would not break it.
493
00:27:40,533 --> 00:27:43,203
So there could be absolutely no resistance
494
00:27:43,286 --> 00:27:44,454
to that obedience
495
00:27:44,537 --> 00:27:47,165
because any resistance
would pop that hair.
496
00:27:47,248 --> 00:27:48,708
[eerie music continues]
497
00:27:50,502 --> 00:27:52,879
[Rebecca] In the early days
of the Alta Academy,
498
00:27:53,546 --> 00:27:55,882
we had books from the outside world.
499
00:27:55,965 --> 00:27:59,052
And I remember Library Day,
Like, I loved it.
500
00:28:00,136 --> 00:28:03,181
My favorite books were
the Encyclopedia Brown books,
501
00:28:03,264 --> 00:28:04,766
and then the Nancy Drew books.
502
00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:08,978
They were so clever.
I wanted to be clever like that.
503
00:28:09,062 --> 00:28:10,605
[eerie music continues]
504
00:28:10,689 --> 00:28:13,108
[Rebecca] And then they took
all those books away.
505
00:28:13,191 --> 00:28:17,362
Anything that had
an outside influence was purged.
506
00:28:17,445 --> 00:28:20,740
The school libraries, they would take
any book that wasn't specifically approved
507
00:28:20,824 --> 00:28:22,409
by Warren himself.
508
00:28:22,909 --> 00:28:25,078
Those were completely banned
and taken out.
509
00:28:26,246 --> 00:28:29,416
[Rebecca] They would cut sections out
of our science books.
510
00:28:29,499 --> 00:28:32,585
[Elissa] Just razor it.
Like, cut whole sections out of them.
511
00:28:32,669 --> 00:28:35,797
Reproduction, the solar system,
or things like that.
512
00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:37,048
[eerie music continues]
513
00:28:39,342 --> 00:28:41,344
Warren created a curriculum
514
00:28:41,428 --> 00:28:45,724
that was specifically for women
of the FLDS that he would teach in school.
515
00:28:46,933 --> 00:28:48,601
[Alicia] Warren had a book called
516
00:28:48,685 --> 00:28:52,147
Purity in the New
and Everlasting Covenant of Marriage,
517
00:28:52,230 --> 00:28:55,066
and we were all required
to study and learn it.
518
00:28:56,234 --> 00:28:59,863
It taught us to basically have
nothing in your brain
519
00:28:59,946 --> 00:29:02,198
except to do the Prophet's will.
520
00:29:02,782 --> 00:29:05,660
To have a thought of a boy, to like a boy,
521
00:29:05,744 --> 00:29:09,330
to even think of a boy,
would cloud that channel.
522
00:29:09,414 --> 00:29:11,291
[eerie music continues]
523
00:29:11,374 --> 00:29:13,626
[producer] Did you ever have
a crush on a boy?
524
00:29:13,710 --> 00:29:15,378
Oh, yeah. I'm human.
525
00:29:16,504 --> 00:29:20,800
Even when I went to marry Rulon, I still
had a crush on a boy. He didn't catch it.
526
00:29:20,884 --> 00:29:23,845
That... I guess the channel was
clogged or something.
527
00:29:23,928 --> 00:29:25,388
[chuckling]
528
00:29:31,102 --> 00:29:32,979
[Rebecca] It was an August afternoon.
529
00:29:34,856 --> 00:29:37,192
Rulon was sitting on the sofa speaking,
530
00:29:37,901 --> 00:29:39,694
and we were just listening,
531
00:29:39,778 --> 00:29:42,030
and... he was talking and, um...
532
00:29:43,323 --> 00:29:45,700
all of a sudden,
he just slumped over like this.
533
00:29:47,076 --> 00:29:48,453
Almost like he fell asleep.
534
00:29:48,536 --> 00:29:52,415
And one of my sister wives kind of
shook him and said, "Father, Father?"
535
00:29:52,499 --> 00:29:55,668
He kind of came to
and just was like, "Where am I?"
536
00:29:55,752 --> 00:29:58,630
And he was really disoriented.
537
00:29:59,756 --> 00:30:02,300
And it turned out
he had had a massive stroke.
538
00:30:02,383 --> 00:30:03,802
[tense music playing]
539
00:30:03,885 --> 00:30:06,387
[Alicia] And they got him to the hospital,
540
00:30:06,471 --> 00:30:10,099
and when I saw him,
he just was very weak, limp.
541
00:30:10,183 --> 00:30:12,685
He could hardly walk or keep his balance.
542
00:30:12,769 --> 00:30:14,020
He was very unsteady.
543
00:30:14,646 --> 00:30:17,398
And he could not remember
any of our names.
544
00:30:17,482 --> 00:30:21,277
He would just look at me
and point his finger and go,
545
00:30:21,361 --> 00:30:23,530
"That's snicklefritz right there."
546
00:30:23,613 --> 00:30:25,615
[tense music intensifies]
547
00:30:27,283 --> 00:30:31,746
[Rebecca] After Rulon's stroke,
that's when things really took a turn.
548
00:30:32,622 --> 00:30:34,958
That's when Warren started taking over.
549
00:30:36,835 --> 00:30:39,754
[Charlene] Warren pretty much
removed everybody
550
00:30:40,463 --> 00:30:42,340
out of Rulon's life.
551
00:30:42,423 --> 00:30:43,675
After the stroke,
552
00:30:44,384 --> 00:30:46,761
he said that Uncle Rulon needed to heal.
553
00:30:49,430 --> 00:30:51,558
[Wallace] From the time he had his stroke,
554
00:30:51,641 --> 00:30:53,685
Warren never left my father's side.
555
00:30:54,435 --> 00:30:56,229
He controlled everything
556
00:30:56,729 --> 00:30:59,732
that my father did, who saw my father.
557
00:30:59,816 --> 00:31:03,778
He controlled his appointments,
controlled everything he did.
558
00:31:05,029 --> 00:31:09,784
[Myrna] Warren acted like it was
Uncle Rulon telling him what to say.
559
00:31:11,202 --> 00:31:13,246
And yet... it wasn't.
560
00:31:14,372 --> 00:31:15,832
It wasn't Uncle Rulon.
561
00:31:16,624 --> 00:31:18,167
[ominous music playing]
562
00:31:18,251 --> 00:31:22,005
[Alicia] That's when Warren's teachings
got so scary.
563
00:31:23,798 --> 00:31:29,470
The meetings were always just
fire and damnation and Joe Smith's dream
564
00:31:29,554 --> 00:31:32,891
of blood running down the gutters
of the Salt Lake streets,
565
00:31:32,974 --> 00:31:35,435
and things just pounded into our brains.
566
00:31:35,518 --> 00:31:37,812
Torch of the Prophets, in whom we believe...
567
00:31:37,896 --> 00:31:39,176
[Alicia] He was a great speaker.
568
00:31:39,230 --> 00:31:41,107
They have lighted the way.
569
00:31:41,190 --> 00:31:45,987
[Alicia] He knew how to tell us we were
all gonna be destroyed very vividly.
570
00:31:46,070 --> 00:31:50,074
There's going to be a great purging,
a great cleansing of the Earth.
571
00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:55,496
[Elissa] Warren had a lot of revelations
that the end of the world was coming.
572
00:31:55,580 --> 00:31:57,373
We'd been prepared for that for...
573
00:31:57,457 --> 00:32:00,001
hundreds of years 'cause it was always,
"Time is short."
574
00:32:00,084 --> 00:32:02,754
That's been part
of the Mormon narrative and theology.
575
00:32:02,837 --> 00:32:04,297
[ominous music continues]
576
00:32:04,380 --> 00:32:08,885
[Warren] Prepare ye, for the great day
of judgment is upon us.
577
00:32:09,928 --> 00:32:14,307
And those judgments
are going to be furious.
578
00:32:15,224 --> 00:32:18,937
All of you are not going to survive.
579
00:32:20,188 --> 00:32:23,650
We grew up under that belief system
580
00:32:23,733 --> 00:32:25,985
that any year now it was gonna happen.
581
00:32:26,069 --> 00:32:28,863
- [dramatic whoosh]
- [suspenseful music intensifies]
582
00:32:28,947 --> 00:32:31,324
[Wallace] That the whole Earth
would be on fire.
583
00:32:32,241 --> 00:32:33,451
[fire crackling]
584
00:32:34,661 --> 00:32:37,038
[Wallace] Everybody would die by fire...
585
00:32:38,581 --> 00:32:41,125
and the only way to be saved from that
586
00:32:41,626 --> 00:32:44,003
is a piece of the Earth being lifted up...
587
00:32:44,087 --> 00:32:45,296
[dramatic whoosh]
588
00:32:45,380 --> 00:32:47,507
...while the Earth gets burned.
589
00:32:51,052 --> 00:32:54,013
So if we're faithful enough,
we would be worthy
590
00:32:55,139 --> 00:32:57,642
to be on that piece of land
591
00:32:57,725 --> 00:32:59,936
that gets lifted up off of the Earth
592
00:33:01,062 --> 00:33:03,147
so that we would not die with the wicked.
593
00:33:04,607 --> 00:33:06,609
[fire crackling]
594
00:33:09,278 --> 00:33:11,948
We were told
that anyone who didn't subscribe
595
00:33:12,031 --> 00:33:15,576
to the FLDS belief system
would be wiped off the face of the Earth...
596
00:33:15,660 --> 00:33:17,453
[birds chirping]
597
00:33:19,205 --> 00:33:23,710
...so that it would be clean
and pure for the righteous.
598
00:33:23,793 --> 00:33:25,712
[water flowing]
599
00:33:26,212 --> 00:33:28,506
- [orchestral music playing]
- [crowd screaming]
600
00:33:28,589 --> 00:33:31,509
[reporter] The Olympic torch has arrived
in Salt Lake City.
601
00:33:31,592 --> 00:33:33,469
[orchestral music continues]
602
00:33:33,553 --> 00:33:35,680
The Olympics. Oh boy.
603
00:33:36,764 --> 00:33:38,725
That's when things really became...
604
00:33:38,808 --> 00:33:40,810
[orchestral music continues]
605
00:33:41,894 --> 00:33:42,894
...screwed up.
606
00:33:45,523 --> 00:33:49,819
Warren said, "If the Olympics come here,
it's gonna be the end of the world."
607
00:33:49,902 --> 00:33:51,988
[orchestral music continues]
608
00:33:52,071 --> 00:33:55,408
[Myrna] And he said, "We've got
to get everybody out of here."
609
00:33:57,035 --> 00:33:58,745
[crowd cheering]
610
00:33:59,954 --> 00:34:01,664
[fireworks bursting]
611
00:34:01,748 --> 00:34:06,294
[Wallace] Warren said that Salt Lake was
gonna be destroyed during the Olympics.
612
00:34:06,377 --> 00:34:08,963
[fire crackling]
613
00:34:09,047 --> 00:34:11,507
[Wallace] And if we didn't go
down to Short Creek,
614
00:34:12,341 --> 00:34:13,885
we would not get lifted up.
615
00:34:15,511 --> 00:34:20,308
[Roger] The FLDS were really located
primarily in two places:
616
00:34:20,391 --> 00:34:21,851
the Salt Lake area,
617
00:34:21,934 --> 00:34:24,812
and Short Creek
on the Utah-Arizona Border.
618
00:34:24,896 --> 00:34:26,105
[intriguing music playing]
619
00:34:26,189 --> 00:34:29,192
[Roger] Short Creek dates
back to the 1930s.
620
00:34:29,901 --> 00:34:35,698
When Mormon fundamentalists no longer
had a place in the mainstream LDS church,
621
00:34:36,616 --> 00:34:40,328
uh, one of the groups
started to homestead down there.
622
00:34:41,037 --> 00:34:43,206
[intriguing music continues]
623
00:34:43,289 --> 00:34:45,458
[Roger] The reason
I think it was picked is,
624
00:34:45,541 --> 00:34:49,670
it was just so far from... civilization
625
00:34:49,754 --> 00:34:51,380
and very hard to reach.
626
00:34:52,799 --> 00:34:57,470
That remoteness was a big deal
and very important to them.
627
00:34:58,096 --> 00:35:00,098
So, in 2002,
628
00:35:00,598 --> 00:35:03,810
Warren Jeffs ordered the FLDS people
629
00:35:03,893 --> 00:35:06,312
to gather to Short Creek.
630
00:35:06,395 --> 00:35:07,313
[engine whirring]
631
00:35:07,396 --> 00:35:10,942
[Roger] They sold their homes,
they gave up their businesses,
632
00:35:11,025 --> 00:35:13,027
because the end of the world was coming.
633
00:35:14,195 --> 00:35:16,739
"Sell everything you can."
634
00:35:16,823 --> 00:35:19,659
"Sell your houses and move down."
635
00:35:20,535 --> 00:35:23,412
We had two houses. We sold them both.
636
00:35:23,496 --> 00:35:25,164
[intriguing music continues]
637
00:35:25,248 --> 00:35:29,293
[woman] The crick went
from a small community,
638
00:35:30,336 --> 00:35:32,797
I'd say 1,000, 2,000 people, to...
639
00:35:32,880 --> 00:35:35,174
- what do you think it grew to, 8,000?
- [Jeff] Mm-hmm.
640
00:35:35,258 --> 00:35:37,802
10,000. Probably about 10,000 people.
641
00:35:37,885 --> 00:35:39,887
[horns honking]
642
00:35:41,639 --> 00:35:44,350
That was the biggest migration of people
643
00:35:44,433 --> 00:35:46,602
in our history that I knew of.
644
00:35:48,229 --> 00:35:52,150
[Wallace] I believe that Warren,
he thought,
645
00:35:52,233 --> 00:35:56,445
"I need to gather the people into
one place so that I can control them."
646
00:35:57,488 --> 00:35:59,240
[birds chirping]
647
00:35:59,323 --> 00:36:03,161
[Roger] So... they were all
gathered in Short Creek,
648
00:36:03,911 --> 00:36:07,748
ready for the destruction to come
and to be lifted up.
649
00:36:07,832 --> 00:36:09,709
[tense music playing]
650
00:36:09,792 --> 00:36:11,836
[Wallace] We were all scared to death.
651
00:36:11,919 --> 00:36:15,214
Just total fear that
this is the beginning of the end.
652
00:36:17,133 --> 00:36:20,303
We all kinda just waited
and just waited... [chuckles]
653
00:36:20,386 --> 00:36:21,721
...and it never came.
654
00:36:21,804 --> 00:36:23,055
[tense music continues]
655
00:36:30,146 --> 00:36:35,318
[Wallace] Warren couldn't explain why
it didn't happen the way he said it would,
656
00:36:36,068 --> 00:36:37,486
and I think he panicked.
657
00:36:38,654 --> 00:36:40,156
People are gonna wise up.
658
00:36:40,781 --> 00:36:43,576
It was very... confusing.
659
00:36:44,327 --> 00:36:46,704
There was no logical rhyme or reason.
660
00:36:48,706 --> 00:36:50,666
[man] Warren said it was just a test,
661
00:36:51,334 --> 00:36:54,295
and that God had granted us
a little more time.
662
00:36:54,837 --> 00:36:56,881
He said it was a gift to us,
663
00:36:56,964 --> 00:37:00,218
that God wants you to be more righteous,
so he's gonna gift you more time.
664
00:37:01,344 --> 00:37:05,348
That meant we needed to be more perfect,
we needed to be more obedient.
665
00:37:05,431 --> 00:37:07,099
And it was never enough.
666
00:37:07,934 --> 00:37:09,477
We were never good enough.
667
00:37:10,895 --> 00:37:13,648
[children singing]
668
00:37:21,113 --> 00:37:23,324
[children continue singing]
669
00:37:23,407 --> 00:37:25,368
[Rebecca] And then, one afternoon,
670
00:37:26,369 --> 00:37:29,247
Warren called over the intercom
and he said,
671
00:37:29,330 --> 00:37:31,666
"Come sing to Father.
He's not feeling well."
672
00:37:31,749 --> 00:37:33,751
[children continue singing]
673
00:37:34,835 --> 00:37:37,338
[Rebecca] So we all gathered
in the Prophet's room.
674
00:37:40,049 --> 00:37:41,217
Rulon was on his bed,
675
00:37:41,300 --> 00:37:44,095
and there was myself
and all of my sister wives.
676
00:37:44,178 --> 00:37:47,682
- [children continue singing]
- [Rebecca] And we were singing,
677
00:37:48,182 --> 00:37:51,310
and I will never forget
how gray he looked.
678
00:37:51,811 --> 00:37:53,813
Translucent and gray.
679
00:37:53,896 --> 00:37:55,231
[singing stops]
680
00:37:55,314 --> 00:37:57,441
[Rebecca] And then, the next day, he died.
681
00:38:00,319 --> 00:38:01,654
It was very confusing.
682
00:38:03,281 --> 00:38:04,824
He was not supposed to die.
683
00:38:05,950 --> 00:38:08,828
We were always told he was
supposed to be the last prophet
684
00:38:08,911 --> 00:38:11,664
that would bring us into the millennium.
685
00:38:12,456 --> 00:38:15,084
We were taught that, if we had the faith,
686
00:38:15,167 --> 00:38:18,421
he would suddenly, just
like Jesus walked out of the tomb,
687
00:38:18,504 --> 00:38:21,340
that he would come in the door a young man
688
00:38:22,758 --> 00:38:24,593
and give us all children.
689
00:38:24,677 --> 00:38:26,512
[eerie music playing]
690
00:38:26,595 --> 00:38:28,931
Of the many options
that could've happened,
691
00:38:29,015 --> 00:38:30,850
him dying was not on the table.
692
00:38:31,350 --> 00:38:33,352
[indistinct conversations]
693
00:38:34,729 --> 00:38:39,025
[Alicia] Before the funeral, Warren said
that we all needed to be in white dresses.
694
00:38:39,108 --> 00:38:41,902
And so, all the women
that were great seamstresses
695
00:38:41,986 --> 00:38:45,740
came forward and made
brand new dresses, like in two days.
696
00:38:45,823 --> 00:38:47,158
[eerie music continues]
697
00:38:47,241 --> 00:38:49,493
[Rebecca] It was this sea of white,
698
00:38:50,077 --> 00:38:52,413
all these young and old women.
699
00:38:53,122 --> 00:38:54,165
All of his wives.
700
00:38:54,915 --> 00:38:56,500
Sixty-five of us.
701
00:38:56,584 --> 00:38:58,377
[eerie music intensifies]
702
00:38:58,461 --> 00:39:00,212
[Warren] Our Father, who art in heaven,
703
00:39:01,088 --> 00:39:05,384
we rejoice in You in the privilege
of being under our Prophet's direction.
704
00:39:06,344 --> 00:39:10,306
In the privilege of being taught
how to come to You through him...
705
00:39:11,557 --> 00:39:14,185
[Wallace] The funeral was
very, very somber.
706
00:39:15,102 --> 00:39:19,190
I would say more of a spirit
of confusion than sorrow.
707
00:39:20,524 --> 00:39:22,151
What's going to happen now?
708
00:39:23,194 --> 00:39:28,240
So, here, our last prophet has died...
Is the Earth gonna come apart?
709
00:39:29,158 --> 00:39:31,452
It was... just a lot of
710
00:39:31,535 --> 00:39:33,537
apprehension and confusion.
711
00:39:35,456 --> 00:39:38,918
[Elissa] I truly believed that,
any minute, he was going to sit up
712
00:39:39,418 --> 00:39:40,920
and be renewed.
713
00:39:42,213 --> 00:39:46,092
They closed the casket and there was
this overwhelming fear inside of me.
714
00:39:46,717 --> 00:39:48,719
If they... put him in the ground,
715
00:39:48,803 --> 00:39:50,304
how is he gonna get out?
716
00:39:50,388 --> 00:39:52,264
[casket descending]
717
00:39:52,348 --> 00:39:55,768
[Erna] I believed as clear as day
that he was gonna be lifted up.
718
00:39:56,435 --> 00:39:57,561
And so I'm thinking,
719
00:39:58,062 --> 00:40:00,689
"So what is this you've been giving us
all these years?"
720
00:40:00,773 --> 00:40:04,819
And then... I... I think I may have
voiced it slightly to Jeff
721
00:40:04,902 --> 00:40:07,279
and I think I remember you said,
"I don't understand."
722
00:40:07,363 --> 00:40:09,115
"You just gonna have
put this on the shelf."
723
00:40:09,198 --> 00:40:10,825
'Cause that's what we were always told,
724
00:40:10,908 --> 00:40:13,202
"If you don't understand it,
put it on the shelf."
725
00:40:13,285 --> 00:40:15,663
[suspenseful music playing]
726
00:40:15,746 --> 00:40:21,168
[Wallace] My dad's funeral was
controlled 100% by Warren.
727
00:40:22,211 --> 00:40:23,211
He stood
728
00:40:24,255 --> 00:40:28,175
right next to my dad's coffin
during the viewing.
729
00:40:29,051 --> 00:40:32,972
Wouldn't let any of the other sons
stand next to him. He was the only son.
730
00:40:34,056 --> 00:40:37,852
That's what really
started showing Warren's true colors.
731
00:40:39,019 --> 00:40:41,021
[soft music playing]
732
00:40:42,815 --> 00:40:45,443
[Elissa] In the weeks
after Rulon's funeral,
733
00:40:45,526 --> 00:40:49,989
Warren was speaking
as though he was his father renewed
734
00:40:51,282 --> 00:40:53,576
and his father had assumed his body
735
00:40:53,659 --> 00:40:57,121
and was still leading the people
through Warren.
736
00:40:57,204 --> 00:40:59,874
And then it became, "I am my father."
737
00:41:01,250 --> 00:41:05,921
[Alicia] Then one day, he was sitting
in the office and he said, real quiet,
738
00:41:06,005 --> 00:41:08,174
"Who do you think the next prophet is?"
739
00:41:08,674 --> 00:41:11,427
And I... I was a people pleaser
740
00:41:11,510 --> 00:41:15,181
and I wanted to please him,
and I basically said, "I think you are,"
741
00:41:15,264 --> 00:41:16,724
and he just beamed at me.
742
00:41:16,807 --> 00:41:18,058
[ominous music playing]
743
00:41:18,142 --> 00:41:20,060
A lot of people didn't see that.
744
00:41:20,144 --> 00:41:22,980
So, yeah, he still had to convince people,
745
00:41:23,063 --> 00:41:25,566
but he couldn't come right out and say it.
746
00:41:25,649 --> 00:41:28,611
He couldn't come right out and say,
"I'm the next prophet."
747
00:41:28,694 --> 00:41:31,280
He had to make up a story to justify it.
748
00:41:31,822 --> 00:41:33,282
[ominous music continues]
749
00:41:33,365 --> 00:41:36,327
[Alicia] At the general meetings
where everybody gathered,
750
00:41:36,410 --> 00:41:39,413
he would call on certain of Rulon's wives
751
00:41:39,497 --> 00:41:44,335
to come and tell what they dreamed of and
who they felt like was the next prophet.
752
00:41:44,418 --> 00:41:48,422
He had people step to the pulpit and
753
00:41:49,757 --> 00:41:52,968
validate his claims
that he was the new prophet
754
00:41:53,844 --> 00:41:56,222
and that we were to get behind him.
755
00:41:57,806 --> 00:42:01,268
[Warren] I now call upon
one of father's wives,
756
00:42:01,352 --> 00:42:02,478
Mother Naomi.
757
00:42:02,561 --> 00:42:04,772
[ominous music continues]
758
00:42:04,855 --> 00:42:07,316
[Naomi] I first will ask a question.
759
00:42:07,399 --> 00:42:10,611
Do we really believe in Uncle Rulon?
760
00:42:11,695 --> 00:42:14,532
'Cause if we do, we believe
761
00:42:15,574 --> 00:42:18,118
that Warren Jeffs is the Prophet of God,
762
00:42:19,245 --> 00:42:21,413
and I need him to guide me.
763
00:42:22,331 --> 00:42:24,333
[ominous music continues]
764
00:42:26,043 --> 00:42:29,380
[Elissa] Looking back,
I see he was very smart.
765
00:42:29,880 --> 00:42:32,508
It was all done
very strategically and methodically.
766
00:42:33,509 --> 00:42:35,094
Once Warren became the Prophet,
767
00:42:35,928 --> 00:42:38,597
we were all just instruments
in the machine
768
00:42:38,681 --> 00:42:40,391
that was at his disposal.
769
00:42:40,474 --> 00:42:42,643
- [eerie music continues]
- [Elissa] The religion.
770
00:42:44,436 --> 00:42:47,940
[girls singing]
♪ What can we give to him? ♪
771
00:42:48,691 --> 00:42:51,694
♪ What can we do? ♪
772
00:42:51,777 --> 00:42:54,613
♪ All he asks of us is our faith... ♪
773
00:42:54,697 --> 00:42:57,408
[Roger] He was the man
who could take them into heaven.
774
00:42:57,491 --> 00:42:59,243
[eerie music continues]
775
00:42:59,326 --> 00:43:01,787
And so the stakes for them are eternal,
776
00:43:02,538 --> 00:43:05,082
and, to make a mistake
777
00:43:05,833 --> 00:43:10,421
and lose the favor of the Prophet
is just unthinkable.
778
00:43:10,504 --> 00:43:13,173
[all singing] ♪ If we believe in him... ♪
779
00:43:13,257 --> 00:43:15,843
[Roger] And so, Warren Jeffs
took over this religion
780
00:43:16,719 --> 00:43:18,971
with thousands of loyal followers,
781
00:43:19,054 --> 00:43:21,473
and he manipulated their beliefs
782
00:43:21,557 --> 00:43:24,268
and turned it into money
and power and sex.
783
00:43:24,351 --> 00:43:25,686
[eerie music intensifies]
784
00:43:25,769 --> 00:43:29,732
[children singing]
♪ Our lives will all be blessed ♪
785
00:43:31,442 --> 00:43:35,237
♪ Our faith will grow... ♪
786
00:43:35,321 --> 00:43:38,741
And they ended up
following him right off the cliff.
787
00:43:38,824 --> 00:43:43,704
[singing] ♪ Our faith will grow ♪
788
00:43:43,787 --> 00:43:46,832
[audience applauding]
789
00:44:01,305 --> 00:44:03,307
[emotional music playing]