FLDS may view Jeffs as a martyr

HILDALE — Outside the compound of Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs, a young woman in a green prairie dress got out of a car Tuesday and walked into the house through a side gate.

Down the street, a young man rode a horse as the sun set on the scenic cliffs above this polygamist border town. The FLDS faithful went about their errands, acting as if nothing had happened. If they were aware of Jeffs' conviction on rape as an accomplice charges, they weren't saying.

"They're kind of quiet," said Michelle Chatwin, who lives in Hildale with her husband, Andrew, an ex-FLDS member.

A law enforcement officer assigned to Colorado City, Ariz., said the FLDS faithful will likely view Jeffs as a martyr, just like Joseph Smith, the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The FLDS Church is a breakaway sect.

"I'm sure they're fasting and praying," said Gary Engels, an investigator with the Mohave County Attorney's Office.

The communities of Hildale and Colorado City have been under siege for some time. Events such as Jeffs' arrest and prosecution, the court takeover of the FLDS Church's financial arm, the town marshals being stripped of their badges, have taken their toll. For some of the ex-FLDS members still living here, these events are good things.

"It's a little bit of the black cloud over this area is being removed," Andrew Chatwin said of Jeffs' conviction.

Yet the FLDS faithful continue to resist. Huge fences are still being built around the houses in these communities, to shield them from prying eyes. There is still resistance to court-ordered reform efforts for the United Effort Plan Trust, which controls homes, businesses and property here.

Engels said he believes Jeffs still remains in charge of the FLDS Church, although others are now involved.

"I don't think Warren is able to run the day-to-day operations. Warren is still that symbol of a prophet," he said.

Engels said he has noticed some people leaving Hildale and Colorado City, headed for other locations. The FLDS Church has enclaves in Mancos, Colo.; Pringle, S.D.; Bountiful, British Columbia, in Canada; Pioche, Nev.; and Eldorado, Texas.

At the site of the FLDS Church's first-ever temple in Texas, Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran ordered patrols overnight around the YFZ Ranch. He also called a contact there.

"They said, 'Yes, we heard about the verdict.' I said, 'We just want to make sure everything's OK,'" Doran told the Deseret Morning News. "They said, 'Everything's fine.'"

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com

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