Jeffs drops Nevada evidence fight
Lawyers representing polygamist prophet Warren Jeffs filed documents Monday in a Las Vegas federal court, ending their fight to prevent prosecutors from using evidence seized when Jeffs was arrested on August 28th of last year.
Just last week, Utah District Judge James L. Shumate ruled that the traffic stop was conducted properly and that the seized evidence could be used against Jeffs when Utah brings him to trial in September on charges of Rape as an Accomplice.
But there are also federal charges pending against the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, one in Utah, another Arizona, both accusing him of Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution. And, it is the federal charges that would seem to offer prosecutors the best chance of using the evidence.
Jeffs hit with eight more indictments
A pair of Arizona grand juries have handed up eight more criminal indictments against Warren Jeffs, the jailed leader of FLDS Church. Jeffs is already facing life in prison in Utah on two charges of Rape as an Accomplice.
A pair of Arizona grand juries recently indicted Jeffs on eight additional counts. Included among the new charges are four counts of sexual conduct with a minor and four counts of incest. Both charges are felonies under Arizona law.
The indictments were handed up by two separate grand juries on May 10th and June 21st of this year. Charges were withheld from the public until they were released last week by Mohave County, Arizona prosecutor Matthew Smith.
Judge orders Jeffs to reunite man with son
 Warren Jeffs and his followers must assist in restoring the parental rights of a young father, or face stiff penalties, a Utah Judge ordered last week.
Fifth District Judge James Shumate ordered Jeffs, the jailed leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, to reunite Wendell Musser, 22, with his son, Levi.
Musser was separated from his wife, Vivian Barlow and their son just over a year ago. Musser had been serving as a caretaker to several of Warren Jeffs wives, but fell from favor with Jeffs after being arrested in Colorado for DWI.
At that time, Jeffs allegedly removed Vivian Barlow and the child from Musser’s home and reassigned them to another man. Musser was told to “repent from a distance,” FLDS-speak for being exliled.
Musser has been seeking the restoration of his family for months. Last Wednesday, Judge Shumate ruled that Jeffs had one-week to comply with his order that the father and son be reunited and that Jeffs and his followers stop interfering with Musser’s parental rights. Failing that, the judge ruled, Jeffs will be required to pay Musser $600 per day for the cost of a private detective employed in the search for young Levi Musser.
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Jeffs remains quiet on child’s whereabouts
Warren Jeffs, jailed leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, ignored an order Friday issued by Utah District Judge James L. Shumate and refused to answer questions regarding the whereabouts of 2-year-old Levi Musser.
Wendell Musser, 22, has been prevented from having contact with his young son ever since he was stripped of his “priesthood authority” in the FLDS Church just over a year ago.
Musser had been assigned to safeguard a number of Jeffs’ wives during the time he was listed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List. However, when he was picked up by Colorado authorities on a drunk driving charge, Musser was exiled from the FLDS church, and forbidden to see his wife Vivian and their infant son, Levi, while he “repented from a distance.”
AZ drops sex charges against former FLDS police officer
Alleged victim implicated in blackmail plot
Rodney Holm’s bigamy conviction in 2003 sent shockwaves through the fundamentalist Mormon communities of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona.
Now comes word that charges against him have been dropped in a similar Arizona case. In that case Holm was accused of conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. The charge stemmed from his polygamous marriage to an underage girl.
Holm, now 40, was a police officer in the twin towns that straddle the Utah/Arizona line. Back in 2002 his polygamous marriage to his wife’s younger sister was nothing new in the two communities. What was new, however, was the vigor with which the State of Utah pursued the case against Holm. His subsequent conviction set in motion a chain of events that led to the establishment of polygamous settlements in Colorado, South Dakota, and here in Schleicher County Texas where the YFZ Ranch blossomed from barren ranchland to become the second largest town in Schleicher County.
Building continues at YFZ as Jeffs nears trial
 If Warren Jeffs is in any legal jeopardy, you can’t tell it by looking at the ongoing construction at the YFZ Ranch where dozens, if not hundreds of his followers are busy erecting a new town. The frenetic pace of activity is awe inspiring. So is the sheer size of what’s been built on the 1,791 acre ranch since Jeffs’ followers first arrived here in the waning months of 2003.
Sheriff David Doran, one of the few locals to be allowed onto the property says that the buildings are even more impressive from the ground. “Everything they are building is large, very large,” Doran says.
The latest addition to the dozens of buildings already completed is a large white structure situated directly in front to the massive white limestone temple. Like the temple, the new building is also white, and is being clad in limestone, a wall appears to be going up around the structure and it has a sawtooth trim around the tops of the walls and the gable ends of the roof, just like the temple.
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