Transcripts For KNTV Dateline NBC 20130914

Destroyed in the flesh. Destroyed . Try again. She got out and helped investigators uncover the truth about this powerful prophet. This is a horrible thing to listen to. A sinister secret caught on tape. It will just rock you. For too long he had eluded the law. Could she finally bring him down . I looked in his grainy eyes as if to say we meet again. Im lester holt, and this is dateline. Tonight unbreakable. Heres keith morrison. Its a long way home, back to that place tucked away beneath the towering red cliffs between utah and arizona. The place she lived in that other lifetime. Its tough to be back. It brings up a lot of things that are still really raw. Then when she was known as sister becky and wore those colorful prairie dresses and piled up her long and braided hair and shared a husband with more than 60 other women. It was here in this place they call short creek, or just the creek, here where it happened, on the dark side of the real big love. A lot of us the same. And a lot has changed. And im not the same person that i was either. Her name is Rebecca Musser. She has come back to the creek for the first time in years, hoping to find family or friends she left behind. Anyone that is, who might actually speak to her, given what she did. Given what she caused. Oh, yes, shes the one. Youve heard perhaps about the strange religious leader, his shocking crimes, his dramatic undoing. Here is the incredible behind the headlines story, which she chronicled in a brand new book these are the secrets told for the very first time. The story of the woman in red versus one of the fbis most notorious fugitives, the unlikeliest soldier who went to war with a prophet and said if that is holy and that is divine and that is heaven, i will take hell. Short creek is actually the two little towns of hilldale, utah, and colorado city, arizona. The mountain that rises above them is called canin. Here lived some 80,000 souls, the core, the center of what they call the work. Most people know it as the flds, fundamentalist church of latterday saints. Not mormons. Mormons are considered doomed for eternity for the perceived sin of having rejected fundamentalist ideas. Like polygamy. We were taught you should want to be a plural wife because it was more holy. You were fulfilling a higher law by being a plural wife. No, not just allowed, required by god. Their measure of success for the women to marry a good faithful priesthood men where she brings forth as many children as she can, because the more children he has, the larger of a kingdom he has. Not exactly mainstream belief or even legal for that matter. But this is after all america, blessed with a constitution that quite pointedly shelters religious freedoms in all their stunning variety. Beckys father lloyd wall, a convert to the work was a College Educated engineer who lived in Salt Lake City and designed equipment for the space shuttle. In public he was very successful. But in private . In private lloyd was fully aware, as they all were, that polygamy was illegal, so he did all he could to keep his huge and growing family secret. My father had 25 children total. Nine from his first wife. 14 from his second wife and two from his third. Did you feel different from the people around you . They told us that we were different from the rest of the world. Your parents did . Yes, and our parents taught us we needed to be more obedient because we had this higher way of life, and so they just created a tremendous gap between us versus them. And terrified us of the outside world. There was a reason for that primal fear buried deep but unforgotten in the dna of the flds, the raid. It was july 26th, 1953, the governor of arizona ordered the arrest of every single man in short creek, and more than 250 children with their mothers were carted away. Some of those families werent reunited for years. Rebecca, like every flds child heard the story over and over again. From the time she was old enough to listen about the day they remembered as their most terrible, and about those awful things the outside world did when policemen came. And so they were watchful, wary of outsiders who lived around their crowded split level here in the Salt Lake City suburbs. My dads first wife and her children lived in the top floor, and my mother, the second wife, and her children lived in the downstairs t bottom basement floor. How did the two wives get along . Not so good. No . No. There was a tremendous amount of jealousy from my fathers first wife. Nevertheless, said rebecca, she practiced the work and studied the holy books and put her twus and favorite in the church and its prophet, rulon jeffs. To rebecca, uncle rulon, who ruled the church and his home in salt lake was more than just a man. By then he had ten wives and over 50 children, and as little becky was thought to believe, rulon spoke directly with god. He was our connection to the divine, and so yes, i did look up to him. So of course rebecca, along with everyone else in the flds, obeyed the prophets directive. To obey was the key to salvation. Obedience is the only act that you can perform and anything otherwise is damnation. But as rebecca entered her teens change was in the air. Behind uncle rulons gentle smile, rules hardened, control tightened. Not just for rebecca, of course, for all of them. This was her childhood friend, andrew chatwin. Rulon jeffs started teaching you dont have a choice anymore. You have to be perfectly obedient. Youre ordered to donate your time. Ordered to donate your car or make sack mices that you normally wouldnt do because it was hurting your family. It was more dictatorial. Yeah, very dictatorial. A lot of the members were going around and putting everybody on the spot constantly. They would say, well, are you for him or against him . Rebeccas father was very much for the prophet. He enrolled his children, including becky, in uncle rulons special flds school, called the alta academy. And there the elements of an explosion were mixed together. All that remained was to light the fuse. The principal of ala academy, rulons son, warren jeffs, a man who carried out docket rin with discipline. He gave me one beating and i couldnt sit down very good for a week. [ dad ] tv off dinners ready youve got one commercial break to impress me. Settle down. Three cheese chicken florentine . Ambitious for a thursday. Two sauces . I am loving the layers of flavor. Mmmhmm. Im getting some parmesan notes. Well, thanks, guys. Keep this up, you could have your own show, chef. You could have your own show, chef. [ male announcer ] introducing kraft recipe makers. Two complimentary sauces with your fresh ingredients. So you can get your chef together. And now, theres a plan that lets you experience that new phone thrill again and again. And again. Can you close your new phone box . Were picking up some feedback. Introducing verizon edge. The plan that lets you upgrade to a new verizon 4glte phone when you want to. Having what you want on the network you rely on. Thats powerful. Verizon. Upgrade to the new droid ultra by motorola with zero down payment. And its not exactly therwhat you might think. Town dannon oikos greek nonfat yogurt is packed with 12 grams of protein in every 5. 3 oz cup. Sink your teeth into that. Dannon oikos. The new protein. Dannon [ male announcer ] some things are designed to draw crowds. Others are designed to leave them behind. The allnew 2014 lexus is. Its your move. The allnew 2014 lexus is. Ahora esta cerrado, es here hundreds of children, as seen in their old yearbooks, were instilled with the teaching tenants of the flds faith, including Rebecca Musser, who was a student here for more than ten years. So this was your classroom. Fourth grade. Fourth grade through 12th grade would meet here in this room. And mr. Jeffs would teach morning class. Mr. Jeffs was warren jeffs, the principal of alta academy and one of rebeccas primary teachers. Tall, slender. Warren was one of uncle rulon, the prophets many sons. Warren was an authority in school. He was close to the prophet. And warren would talk to him every single day and kind of be his fathers messenger. This was the most private of private schools, away from the prying eyes of the outside world taught the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic. Thats when rebecca learned to play and love the violin. She also listened carefully to warren jeffs lessons and strict obedience. Even if that did not always come so easily. What was called holy was this level of obedience, this level of dedication and i strove for that. I didnt have boyfriends and i didnt sneak out and i didnt drink beer. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you. Warren jeffs knew how to have fun, though, or certainly seemed to be enjoying himself, in this rare video shot at school. He was kind of goofy, a little bit of the nerdy. But he ran the place with an iron hand, said rebecca, developing and dictating every aspect of the class curriculum. As if he had something bigger in mind. There was always a calculated part of him, about what was going on and what the dynamic was and how it affected him and what his best move was. Whether it was for power or position. But i fefr felt completely relaxed around him. And im not the only one. Very true, said fellow classmates. Heed doing things that were mentally abusive, and then it went physically abusive. How do you know. He implemented a school rule that if you got three outs or three late assignments he would beat you on the back of the legs with a yardstick. Including you . He gave me one beating, and it swelled up a half inch on the back of my legs. I couldnt sit down very good for a week. Principal warren jeffs pointed out exclusive, like evolution, for example, didnt happen. Or even men on the moon. Thats one small step for man. That didnt happen either. Which is how Young Rebecca first ran afoul of the prophets son. I got to kind kindergarten a remember so distinctly the day an astronaut came to visit our school and i was mesmerized. Then i go to alta academy and somehow there was a discussion about astronauts. I spout out that, yeah, theyve been on the moon. And perhaps that moment was the beginning of it. The first skirmish, oh, but not the last. Rebeccas outburst earned her the first of many trips down the hall to warren jeffs office. Where he very strictly and sternly reprimanded me saying theres no way god would allow any mortal man to walk on the moon. Its only a trick. It didnt really happen, and dont you ever bring this up again. By then the prophet rulon jeffs has announce that had the end times were upon them. He also announced that he would be the very last prophet. He personally would welcome back to earth jesus christ. In the meantime while they waited he told them they would have to be absolutely obedient to his every directive. The trouble was, rebecca was having more and more trouble being absolutely obedient to her principal, the prophets powerful son, warren jeffs. I was always in trouble for being stubborn. And i would ask the question why . If god is the god of reason, how come this doesnt make sense . Where is the missing link . All the while rebecca understand that the church was choosing a future for her. Just how it was. For the women, they are owned. Body, mind and soul. In their marriage covenance it says do you give yourself to your husbands of your own free will and choice . They all said yes. The alternative, after all, was damnation. Besides, as becky developed into a smart, still faithful and very beautiful young woman, her prospects were extremely good. Especially because of the particular person who expressed his interest, as everyone told her. Youll be blessed. Youll have your salvation made sure. Because rebeccas husbandtobe was the prophet himself. The by then 85yearold rulon jeffs. Coming up, though beckys grown up in the flds, she has no idea whats in store. I was horrified. When dateline continues. Come into sears, ill tell you on our exclusive kenmore elite dishwasher. Its amazing whatll happen when. Tall things have the right space. Also amazing, jd power ranks. Kenmore elite highest in customer satisfaction. One Appliance Store helps more people. Find savings and solutions than any other. This is sears. Olive gardens never ending pasta bowl. Its all unlimited just 9. 99. And even unlimited meatballs, sausage, or chicken for 2. 99. Go olive garden. Join us monday through thursday and kids eat free. Get the coupon at olivegarden. Com when your allergies start, doctors recommend taking one nondrowsy claritin every day during your allergy season for continuous relief. 18 days 12 days 24 days of continuous relief. Live claritin clear. Every day. Can i help you . Ahem. Excuse me. Hi. Uh, i wanted to find out about the unlimited for life guarantee. Sure. Sprint is guaranteeing unlimited talk, text and data for life. Cool. Cool, cool, cool. And, uh, what if, say, technically, you were not alive. Like maybe you were undead . Like a zombie. Whoa. Lets not go puttin labels on people. Im a zombie. [ male announcer ] switch to sprint and get unlimited for life. And now save up to 100 on any phone. Trouble hearing on the phone . Visit sprintcaptel. Com [ male announcer ] switch to sprint and get unlimited for life. These are the hands a pediatrician. These are pioneering advances in heart surgery. And these are developing groundbreaking treatments for cancer. Theyre the hands of the nations top doctors. Kaiser permanente doctors. And though they are all different, they Work Together on a Single Mission saving lives. Discover how we are advancing medicine at kp. Org join us, and thrive. So this is my wedding dress. Wow, you made that. There was no courtship. No romantic proposal. Just a short ceremony, to of all people, the prophet himself. Uncle rulon jeffs. Rebecca was his 19th wife. In the flds world, the age of the man doesnt matter. Its his standing with the prophet. How pure, how obedient, how honorable he is, and in my case this faithful man was the prophet himself. Rebeccas father told us he believed she wanted to marry the prophet, it was an honor for her. Oh no, said rebecca, her father was wrong. It was like a horror. I did not want to marry rulon jeffs. A man in his 80s, for heavens sake. He was 85, and i was 19. They held the wedding in the living room of uncle rulons sprawling house, september 17th, 1995. I had just resigned myself to the fact that that was my fate, just to surrender to it. This is my prince charming. This 85yearold. My prince charming. I just remember walking in and feeling like just stand up and do your duty. She wore the White Wedding dress she sewed herself. She did not walk down the aisle. No here comes the bride for her. Just a brief exchange of vows witnessed by her family and uncle rulons many other wives. He couldnt stand up. He was kind of leaning up against like a bench, and feeling what it felt like because his hand was real shaky, holding this old mans hand, i felt lost. Why dont i feel like this is the right thing inside . I was ashamed that i was not thrilled to be marrying a man more than four times my age. And Something Else, which was certainly no thrill at all. Because she was married to uncle rulon, his children were now her children. Which meant that the Authority Figure she had learned to fear, the man who tormented her for years at school, warren jeffs, was suddenly her son. After i married rulon jeffs, warren was strangely nice. But he could also be very stern and make sure that you knew your place, your duty, and what was required of you. And life as a married woman required serving the prophet, any way he wanted to be serve. They had a phrase for it, keeping sweet. To keep sweet means that you are absolutely without question obedient to what is being asked of you, is. No matter what that may be. No matter what that may be. With this sweet attitude there should be no anger, no resistance. No even we were told that asking the question why . Was wrong. So whatever uncle rulon wanted, he got. And though he was 85, he still wanted sex. When i first married him, it was two to three times a month. How can a man of 85 with 19 wives perform the functions of a husband . He was old, and even though he couldnt, he certainly did try. It was horrifying. I kept trying to say this is a man of god, and yet hes doing this to me. And if he talks to god then surely god will give him the message that im terrified. But neither god nor anyone else seemed to be paying attention. So the next time the prophet called for her, rebecca did the unthinkable. She refused to see him. I said no. I am not ready to come and stay with you. I was not going to go through that again. Thats a pretty big deal. It was a huge deal. Word of rebeccas refusal got to warren jeffs, and again, she says, she was called to his office. The petty skirmishing is was over. Now she was in real jeopardy. He used scripture to tell me it was your duty to be a comfort to kour husband, especially my husband, because he was a prophet, that he received direct revelation from god, and he said dont you ever, ever, ever, ever tell your husband no again. If you do, you will be destroyed in the flesh. Destroyed in the flesh. Well, maybe not rebecca. Maybe someone else. Coming up cataclysmic change comes to the creek, and beckys little sister will also pay the price. I finally just said, okay, with tears streaming down my face. Roof . Roll the proof [ male announcer ] ok, carl, im convinced. Taste whats new in the neighborhood. Like our new honey pepper grill. Now part of our 2 for 20 menu. One app, two entrees. Only twenty bucks. See you tomorrow. And late night for halfpriced apps. We need a new recipe. Hmmm. Let us consult the scroll of infinite deliciousness. Oh perfect. [ wisest kid ] campbells has the recipes kids love. Like easy chicken and cheese enchiladas. So good can i keep this . You already have it at campbellskitchen. Com. Nice. [ blows ] [ gong ] mm mm good [ blows ] what are you trying to make . . Tryin to make food, man. Are you recording this . Can you help me, instead of recording . Look, it has instructions, did you read em . Im bethand im michelle. And we own the paper cottage. Its a stationery and gifts store. Anything we purchase for the paper cottage goes on our ink card. So you can manage your business expenses and access them online instantly with the Game Changing app from ink. We didnt get into business to spend time managing receipts, thats why we have ink. We like being in business because we like being creative, we like interacting with people. So you have time to focus on the things you love. Ink from chase. So you can. Rebecca musser, wife number 19 to her prophet rulon jeffs, was not destroyed in the flesh. No, despite the threatening noises from rulons son warren, rebecca found other ways to keep her aging husband content, and anyway, there was lots of help in that department. As rulons predicted end times approached, he married more and more young women to ensure their salvation, he would tell them. By the time he was 90 he had Something Like 60 wives, and more than 60 children, and then, then basic biology stepped in. Three years into rebeccas marriage, the man they all believed was immortal, would live to see the Second Coming of christ, suffered a very human fate. I was in the room when it happened. He was sitting, talking, and then all of the sudden he was slumped over, and he didnt wake up. They rushed uncle rulon to the nearest hospital. A stroke, big one. He survived but only barely. Frail, confused. Couldnt remember his wives names, called them all sweety. Then warren jeffs said the severity of the prophet must be kept secret. Especially from the people of the flds. What he was telling the people was just that the prophet was doing fine, only that he needed to have some rest. As if to prove it the marriages continued. Rulon was eventually married to 65 women. Most of them young. The sign for the faithful of a healthy prophet. But an outsider was watching all this with very different eyes. A private investigator who made it his mission to write about the flds and its leaders. What concerned bower was not so much the sick old prophet and his wives as much as the old man pulling the strings. When he saw his father starting to deteriorate, he was able to kind of worm himself into a position of authority. Then when his father started having strokes, warren just proclaimed himself his fathers mouthpiece. First came an order, supposedly from the prophet passed on by his son warren. The prophet had a revelation. Salt lake city was the most wicked city on earth, the city marked for destruction in the Second Coming of christ. But in the meantime the faithful were told to gather here, here in short creek to await the end of times. Most of them came. Soon warren jeffs tactics, extremely effective, said rebecca, became apparent to her. He was gathering the church in a place he could more easily control it. And he was handing out political gifts to his male pillars. Went from having maybe two or three marriages a weekend to having five, six, seven, even sometimes eight marriages in a day. Because they were getting younger and younger and younger. Because they were running out of girls. Warren was appeasing the questions with, youve been so faithful. Heres a beautiful young bride for you. Heres your blessing. Heres a 16yearold. And then all of the 16yearolds get married, and then theres 15yearolds. One of the girls being pressured into marriage was a happy little blond named elisa, rebeccas little sister, who was just 14. When i found out that i was marrying allen, who was my first cousin, i was already resistant to the marriage, and i had on multiple occasions expressed my desire to not get married. Allen was allen steed. She despised him, knew him all her life. She knew nothing of marriage, let alone sex or having babies. I had never been taught about anatomy. I had never been taught about sex. It wasnt a term used in the flds. And so rebecca intervened, tried to stop the marriage. But warren told me its happening. There was no choice for her except to do what she was told. And so in a seedy motel owned by the flds, in a little town in caliente, nevada, a secret marriage took place, warren jeffs presiding. I knew this wasnt right. And i took those last moments to be defiance. I refused to take my vows. What did he do . He asked my mother to stand up next to me. She stood there and squeezed my hand and i finally just said okay. With tears streaming down my face. Elisa and her husband moved into a house in the creek. Rebecca lived nearby in uncle rulons house and was aware of what was happening to her little sister. Allen was very sexually abusive to me. From day one i was incredibly vocal about how much i did not want him to touch me. Yeah. That i didnt want to have a family with him. So to have the sexual relationship with him was so devastating. It was absolutely being raped. So did you go to rulon or warren and complain . I went to warren jeffs multiple times throughout my marriage with allen begging him for a way out. Explaining to him what was going on. He would ultimately reprimand me and tell me too home and give myself mind, body and soul. It was your fault. It was. It was always my fault. Meanwhile the millennium came and went. The world did not end, but something very unexpected did happen. In 2002, rulon jeffs, the seemingly immortal prophet, the man who said he would be alive for the return of jesus died. He was 92. And then as it started to sink in, i was scared. Because guess who was in charge now . Coming up, after years of quiet clashes with warren jeffs, things are about to explode. He pointed his finger at me and said i will break you. When dateline continues. Get whatever you want, baby. Lets just share a 20 piece. [ internal ] 20 mcnuggets, for only 4. 99 . Shes beautiful, smart and sensible. [ male announcer ] mcdonalds crispy, juicy chicken mcnuggets. Theres always more to love at mcdonalds. [ male announcer ] prep your lawn this fall. Get 20 off scotts seed and starter fertilizer when you buy both at lowes. Or how to get great deals the easy way. You do enough flying around. Thats why we give you real big club card deals. This week, a super low price on breakfast. Honey bunches of oats is only 1. 88 a box. Arrowhead water is just 3. 33 a case. Make it a triple scoop. Dreyers ice cream is just 2. 88. Real big deals this week and every week. Only at safeway. Ingredients for life. Onl at safeway. [ female announcer ] its time healthy gets a dose of happy. New yoplait greek. Byebye, stir. So long, sour. Hello, happy. Its time to lick the lid again. It was huge, the funeral. Like burying short creeks version of the pope, or more so. Because the prophet rulon, dead at 92, was supposed to be immortal and welcome the Second Coming of christ. The shock when he actually did die. I remember thinking, no, that cant be. That doesnt fit into what weve been told. And if we had enough faith, then he would live that long and he would be made young again. And so it was because of our lack of faith that this man that was in his 90s died. And that was when warren made his move. He just stepped into the vacancy and said thats me now. He did it suddenly but aggressively. By the time uncle rulon died, his son warren jeffs was untouchable. In short was officially declared prophet of the flds. He proceeded to kick any threats out of the church. He held a meeting and immediately kicked out 21 men who were threats to his authority. The only men that become gods in the eternal world are those that live plural marriage properly. Reb andrew who said he suffered beatings at the hands of head master warren jeffs . He knew several members of the church were getting the adult version. In some cases a man would go to work in the morning and come back that be evening and all his personal stuff is put out on the front yard of the house, and his wife is remarried. In one day. In one day while hes gone to work. No trial. No explaining yourself. They made a decision. Rapidly short creek changed. Paranoia wormed its way through the commune. Warren is not a stupid man. I think thats what is so dangerous about him. He made sure every Single Person had just enough dirt on them to keep them uncomfortable, and that is what allowed all that to flourish. Rebecca was 26 by then, a widow, and she believed vulnerable. I no longer had a layer of protection from the prophet, and warren had absolute say. For me it was scary. What were you afraid of . My biggest fear was that he would force us to remarry to anybody. Especially him. Sure enough warren spent little time arranging for weddings for dozens of the prophets widows. And when he did start to marry the wives off it was like a locomotive out of control. I would realize, yep, another one married him. It was very, very troubling. It felt just like being sent to auction. Rebecca, perhaps the prettiest of all the prophets wives, but no friend of warren, feared she would be next. I was very concerned about marrying warren. I had seen the way he had treated his wives and his family. And i knew that even the little freedoms that i had would be taken. And then one day rebecca and a young man named ben, also a member of the flds were hiking in the hills of short creek. Since rulons death the two had grown close. The trouble was, someone saw them kissing and told warren jeffs, and once again, she said, she was called into his disapproving presence. And then he said, i detect the seeds of apostsy in you. And that in the flds culture by far one of the worst acts. Thats next to murder. And then the new prophet issued the order, the one rebecca dreaded. You will be married one week from now. And i begged him. I said, please dont do this to me. And he said, you know thats what god wants. And i said no i dont. And he pointed his finger at me and said i will break you. And maybe only now in retrospect does the moment come into focus. The years of animosity, of building tension between rebecca and warren jeffs. Had become a declaration of war. Coming up, rebecca takes a life changing risk. When it sunk in i thought, what have i done . Oh my gosh. What am i going to do . Thanks to her double miles from the capital one venture card. Now what was mrs. Davis teaching . Spelling. Thats not a subject, right . I mean, spell check. Thats a program. Algebra. Okay. Persons a and b are flying to the bahamas. How fast will they get there . Dont you need distance, rate and. No, all it takes is double miles. [ all ] whoa. Yeah. [ male announcer ] get away fast with unlimited double miles from the capital one venture card. Youre the worlds best teacher. This is so unexpected. Whats in your wallet . This is so unexpected. Yowithout thinking officing sotheir own satisfaction. Really . Youre sacrificing that gorgeous complexion for this . Um. Its the playoffs enough with the sacrificing. Start here. Light fit greek nonfat yogurt. Thick, creamy, twice the protein and ps 80 calories. Its a home run right . Light fit greek. Dannon go cougars hello ladies. Hows book club . It must be hard to discuss literature with your mouths full of my kraft mac cheese. Ive got a book for you. Its called a mothers betrayal by timothy j. Koehler. Its an autobiography. [ male announcer ] gooey creamy delicious kraft macaroni cheese. You know you love it. She had a week to decide. This prophets widow. Marry warren jeffs or some other man of his choosing or what . Doubt and guilt played pingpong in her head. Maybe its just me thats wrong. And then theres the other part of you that says, hold on a minute, theres something really wrong here. For days the voices competed. Tick tock. Deadline coming. And then something clicked. And it hit me, you can leave. And i felt like this instant lift off of my shoulders. But how could she leave . Not like she could just stroll out of the place in her prairie dress and start a brand new life somewhere. The flds was all she had ever known. I so distinctly remember thinking, if i leave who will i become . Because we were taught that you would become evil and wicket and a diseased whore in the streets. Rebecca had no escape plan, no survival strategy. She did have a few brothers who left the flds, including one who lived in coos bay, oregon. And he said come live with me. Thats in coos bay, oregon. I remember thinking, oregon . Really . I had no idea how i was going to get there. She had neither car nor money to speak of. There was, however, ben, that young man she was caught kissing. Ben told me that he would help me get here. That was a sobering thing for him to do, full realizing what it was like for him, but he said, no, ill help you. Ben had a truck. They decided to leave in brens truck on sunday morning, the day before warrens deadline. They would leave very early, before dawn, before church. Over the next few days rebecca gathered her belongings, he precious possessions. Her photographs and violin. She took them over to her sisters house nearby. She did not tell anyone what she was doing. Not even elisa. Then it was time. A chilly sunday morning, november, 2002. I remember what it was like to shut the door to my room and feeling that click shut and knowing that on the other side of that door was everything that i had ever known in my bentire life. She scaled the tenfoot wall and walked through morning shadows to ben waiting down the road in his truck. Eni just kept thinking just walk, just walk, just walk. And i remember he opened the door and he said are you ready . And i said, yeah. So we got in and got out of town as quickly as we could. As dawn lit up the utah desert, sister becky was now just rebecca. When it sunk in i thought, what have i done . Oh my gosh, what am i going to do . And looking at the clock and thinking if we turn around i could slip in while everyone is in sunday school and it would be just fine. Struggled with that a little bit. Tremendously. Then you know what, no way. Im not going back to that. They drove 22 straight hours to oregon, to a world she had been taught was evil. Going cold turkey from being an flds prophet wife, my hair was down to my knees. Only having wore long dresses, everything felt foreign. For the very first time in her life she cut her hair. She learned to apply make aup. She got a job as a waitress, which wasnt easy, especially when it came to communicating. Even though i spoke the english language, words and phrases meant different things. I had no idea what people were talking about, and so it was overwhelming. And she pined for her family. I was able to stay in touch covertly with some of my family members, and elisa was one of them. Life was not good for elisa, then 17, not at all. There was lots of abuse. Psychological, physical, mental, sexual abuse. I think watching rebecca go and finding out later on that she wasnt dead, the lightning had not come down and struck her opened my eyes. With newfound courage, elisa left allen and fled the flds. I got the chance to go to oregon where she was living at the time. It gave me a very clear understanding that there was the possibility i would be okay. But back at the creek things were not okay for warren jeffs. Suddenly he was facing lawsuits, two of them. One was called the lost boys case. The boys claimed to have been thrown out of community. And the other was a young man who alleged that he had been sexually assaulted by warren as a boy. In 2004 when elisa left the church and the creek, word was spreading that things were getting worse. That more and more marriages were being arranged for pu pubescent girls, almost as warren jeffs was using them as bargaining chips or reward. One of the former flds members called rebecca and said, you still have two younger sisters there. The only way to stop what is going on is to stop warren. And what can be done is to bring charges against him. It was hard for me to hear that. Its like, yeah, i want warren to stop, but do i really want to be that person to step into those shoes . But as she thought about those little girls, sisters, cousins, she knew leaving the flds to save herself wasnt enough. I thought, i cant sit by and let this happen. If there was a way that i could have stopped it and i didnt, i dont know if i could have lived with myself knowing that. So rebecca and especially her brother, knowing elisa had a strok case, urged her to file charges against her husband to stop the abuse. I had known for a while that both arizona and utah were searching for a witness, and that they were hoping that i would come forward. Ultimately coming forward. Whatever the cost, but i owed it to myself. And the future of other girls to speak my truth. And so you came forward. We came forward. And so in 2006 elisa, by then cut off from family members still in the flds, made her accusations officials. Warren jeffs was charged with two counts of rape as an accomplice. Just one little problem, the prophet had disappeared. Coming up, a spiritual leader missing. Where on earth could he be . He went to disney land. He went to strip club and had a good old time. They picked up his eye popping trails, but could they find him . When dateline continues. Aflac. [ as a cowboy ] aflac. [ sassily ] aflac. Uh huh. [ under his breath ] i am so fired. Youre on in 5, duck. [ male announcer ] when youre sick or hurt, aflac pays you cash. Find out more at aflac. Com. [ male announcer ] prep your lawn this fall. Get 20 off scotts seed and starter fertilizer when you buy both at lowes. Get 20 off scotts seed and starter fertilizer it was very painful situation. The rash was on my right hip, going all the way down my leg. Im very athletic and i swim in the ocean. Shingles forced me out of the water. The doctor asked me did you have chickenpox when you were a child . The pain level was so high, it became unbearable. Returning to our story. Warren jeffs, the prophet of the fundamentalist church of lath r latterday saints is a wanted man. But hes disappeared. Even more disturbing, investigators are about to find out inside a gleaming white temple this man of god may have committed another crime, far darker than they knew. Here again, keith morrison. Where was warren jeffs . It was 2006. Warren jeffs was a wanted man, accused of arranging the illegal underage marriage of rebeccas sister elisa, thus sanctions rape. But warren jeffs had been underground for two years because this wasnt his only trouble. Remember the other two lawsuits he was already facing . Even the fbi couldnt seem to find him. Today warren jeffs was placed on the fbis ten most wanted fugitive list. Mind you, private investigator sam brown was hearing stories from his sources in the flds. He was traveling around the country going from state to state to state to state and trying to stay hidden and lead this life of a gentile. On the road, it appeared, the prophet wasnt exactly practicing what he preached. He went to disney land and went to mardi gras and went to the trip clubs and had a good old time. Warren also turned up here in west texas, very rural west texas, where he was helping to oversee the construction of a Brand New Community for the flds. The yearning for zion ranch. Far from the prying eyes of the world but in a state of consent when a person could marry was 14. Here they would build a shining white temple for the church. The project was, to say the least, ambitious. A whole town went up around the temple. These were the most faithful flds followers and this place literally their place to way for zion. They farmed the land, raised the livestock, built the big Quality Homes for their many children and schools and machine shops and factories. A self sufficient little world. They were no building codes in the county where he was building. They could just stard building something. In warrens mind it was god telling him to go out and find places of refuge. Warren jeffs oversaw construction and settlement of the ranch but never spent long stretches of time here or anyone else. One reason why he kept eluding Law Enforcement. And then in august 2006, on a lonely stretch of interstate 15 near las vegas, a nevada state trooper spotted a red Cadillac Escalade that appeared to have no plins plate. He flashed his lights, pulled over the suv. The driver was a tall thin man. His artery was open on the right side of his neck. I told him at one point is everything okay . You seem nervous . The cop ran the tall mans license. It was the prophet and fugitive, warren jeffs. I would like to announce the arrest of fbis top ten most wanted fugitive, warren steve jeffs. Sam broward hear right away about warren jeffs arrest and what cops found in the escalade. All kinds of disguises. Wigs, sunglasses, cell phones, thousands of dollars in cash. Prepaid c. C. S and phone cards. Everything somebody on the run from the law would need. Including several computer drives. Several. One in particular featured a rather odd recording of warren jeffs having a mumbled conversation with a young girl. 2 hizo una grabacion particular, when the outburst went public, he had an explanation. Warren made the statement that the devil appeared to him at the pail lar of the light in his jail cell and deceived him and thats why he was saying those things. And in spite of it all the vast majority of flds members continued to believe in warren jeffs, including rebeccas own mother who had no idea that her daughters were actively working against her prophet. After he was caught, my mother called me, and she asked me who has charge against our prophet, and i wasnt going to lie to her, but i certainly want going to tell her either. And she said to me, well, honey, i hope its not you or any of my children because i would rather see every single one of my children laid in the grave before any one of you stand up against our prophet. It was the fall of 2007 when warren jeffs went on trial in utah, facing two felon counts of rape as an accomplice for the arranging the underage illegal marriage of elise walls. And one of the women against him was the woman he once called mother becky. The last time that i had seen warren before that trial was in his office when he said i will break you. And he looked over at me, and i looked him square in the eyes and we both nodded slightly as if to say we meet again. Coming up, the stakes and the pressure on rebecca and her sister couldnt be higher. If they failed, warren jeffs stood to become even more powerful. If he was to walk away a free man, it would prove to him that he really was gods disciple. Introducing the first minivan with an available builtin vacuum. Start Something Special in the redesigned odyssey from honda. Ready in a minute dad. Whats the 411 . I can meet you in the car. Nah, bro im cool. Im just chillmaxin. Is there something that you wanted . We cant just spend a little qt as a posse . On the download . Dad, why are you talking like that . I was just hoping you would give me the last piece of bacon. Holler holla. I dont know. [ male announcer ] when it comes to common language we all speak bacon. The very best cuts naturally hardwood smoked. Its unanimous food. Its oscar mayer. [ female announcer ] introducing the windex touchup cleaner. Dab it. Clean it. Done. Its a onehanded clean from windex. That stays out to kill 99. 9 of bacteria. And quickly clean so you keep moving. What do we call this new dance move . The windex tushup. [ female announcer ] the allnew windex touchup cleaner. Sc johnson. A family company. Home of the meaty, melty mcdouble you love. And other amazing tastes for just a dollar each. Every day, as always, theres a lot to love for a little on mcdonalds dollar menu. On mcdonalds dollar menu. Goglossophobia, is the fear of public speaking. The only thing we have to fear is. Fear itself. Warren jeffs was about to make history. For the First Time Ever a prophet of the flds, a man who spoke to god was going to go on trial. And what made it more dramatic, the case was a direct asaul on the religious practice. Warren was facing two felon counts of rape as an accomplice of elisa wal, rebeccas sister. The most important thick to me was the real truth got out. Elise prepared to testify that warren jeffs ordered her to marry at 14 and ignored her pleas for help when she was sexually abused. Walking into the courtroom when warren was there, i remember looking at him and our eyes locking in an unbreakable death stare and holding my ground, facing him and not looking down, but to hold his gaze, it was like those shackles breaking away. Arranged marriages, underage brides, religious freedom all on trial. But it was also the first time that someone inside the flds would speak out publicly in a criminal case against the prophet. A grady courtroom camera rolls, alleging he enticed 14yearold elis a into marriage and insisted she obey her husband and his sexual demands. That man performed these ceremonies and told her thats why the defendant is an accomplice to rape. But the defense team insisted what happened between elisa and her husband was her husbands doing. Not warren jeffs. The prophet had only offered advice on improving the marriage. He talked about abstinence. He doesnt talk about promiscuity. Theres no evidence that warren told allen, go ahead and rape your wife. Elisa was 21 by this time. Because she was a minor when it happened, the camera didnt show her face when she was told how she was taught to always obey the prophet. He told me that i was not living up to my vows. I was not being obedient. But the prosecution needed more than elises story. They need what had rebecca could tell them. They said, we can prove that your sister was raped but your testimony links the whole thing to the crime. Because you were in a prophet family. You were schooled by him and you understand the training and culture of this. And so rebecca came to court and saw warren jeffs for the First Time Since she left short creek. And before she spoke, before she took the oath, she made a statement. Not in words, in what she wore. We were not allowed to wear the color red growing up. And warren had gone into extensive preaching about how evil and dark and immoral the color red was, so i thought, how could i send him a message that he never broke me . So i chose to wear the color red. She testified how warren jeffs created, condoned and encouraged a culture ripe for abuse. He would tell me that under no circumstances do you ever, ever, ever tell your husband no. For two weeks warren jeffs watched in silence as the case played out before him, and then the jury took up the question, protection of girls. I knew if he was to walk away a free man, it would just prove to the people that he had really truly was gods disciple. It didnt take the jury long to reach a verdict. Mr. Jeffs, would you please stand. Warren jeffs in his charcoal gray suit stood up to hear the krer verdict. Somber and quiet as always. Count one is guilty to the charge of rape as an accomplice. Guilty on both felon counts. Allen steve had been charged with one count of rape but denied the allegations. Later he pleaded to reduced charges. Two thirddegree felons and was sentenced to 30 days in jail along with three years probation. This has not been easy for us. The easy thing would have been to do nothing. But i have followed my heart, and ive spoken the truth. And rebecca finally felt vindicated. I spoke. I testified he was found guilty. And it wasnt like the world went into massive explosions or earthquakes. I just thought finally, its over. It wasnt over though, was it . No. In fact, it was just beginning. Because a whole new and much more complicated case was about to explode deep in the heart of texas. And soon rebecca would find herself smack in the middle of it. Coming up, investigators discover a mind boggling scene. While rebecca watches from affair, holding her breath. It felt like i was being ripped apart. And ask your gastroenterologist about humira adalimumab. Because with humira, remission is possible. Humira has been proven to work for adults who have tried other medications but still experience the symptoms of moderate to severe crohns disease. In clinical studies, the majority of patients on humira saw significant symptom relief. And many achieved remission. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infections, lymphoma or other types of cancer, have happened. Blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening Heart Failure have occurred. Before starting humira, your doctor should test you for tb. Ask your doctor if you live in or have been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. Tell your doctor if you have had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, or sores. You should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. Ask your gastroenterologist about humira today. Remission is possible. Uhoguess what day it is is . . Huh. Anybody . Julie hey. Guess what day it is . . Ah come on, i know you can hear me. Mike Mike Mike Mike mike. What day is it mike . Ha ha ha ha ha ha leslie, guess what today is . Its hump day. Whoot whoot ronny, how happy are folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico . Id say happier than a camel on wednesday. Hump day yay get happy. Get geico. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. I get out a lot. Except when its too cold. Like the last three weekends. Asthma doesnt affect my job. You missed the meeting again last week it doesnt affect my family. Your coughing woke me up again. I wish youd take me to the park. I dont use my rescue inhaler a lot. Depends on what you mean by a lot. Coping with asthma isnt controlling it. Test your level of control at asthma. Com, then talk to your doctor. There may be more you could do for your asthma. Am i right, carl . Applebees new honey pepper grill entrees combine the sweet taste of pure honey with just a hint of cracked black pepper. Theyre so good they made our 2 for 20 menu. Where we promise only the best make the cut. [ male announcer ] but, carl, how do we know these are really the best . You want proof . Roll the proof [ male announcer ] ok, carl, im convinced. Taste whats new in the neighborhood. Like our new honey pepper grill. Now part of our 2 for 20 menu. One app, two entrees. Only twenty bucks. See you tomorrow. And late night for halfpriced apps. The prophet was now in prison. It was spring 2008. But even behind bars warren jeffs was still very much in power and maintaining control over his lock, especially the flds community, which had recently sprung up in west texas. By this time the 1800 acre ranch and the sparkling new temple were complete. Local Law Enforcement was keeping a close eye on the ranch, curious about it but also concerned about what was taking shape out there in the desert. Texas ranger nick hanna. West texas people are generally friendly and welcoming individuals. But there was certainly concern because texas has a history of having incidents, whether it be waco. As it was under construction, the Texas Legislature changed the age at which a person could marry with parental consent from 14 to 16. Rebecca heard about the ranch, too. She wondered if any members of her family had lived there. She checked with the local sheriff to see what he knew. Nothing, it turned out. But he did begin using rebecca as a sort of interpret ter. He would call me periodically and ask me, can you tell me about this or what this means to them . Then on an early spring day in march of 2008, authorities in nearby san angelo got a call from a woman who said her name was sarah barlow, claimed she lived at the ranch, was being abused and held at will against her husband. She was a young girl. I think at the time of the phone call 16. She had already given birth to a child, and with her age, we were able to do the math and recognize that would have been a Sexual Assault of a child. So what was the plan then . To find sarah barlow. On april 3rd, 2008, the rangers, Child Protective Services in tow, arrived at the rampbl. And the women were in prairie dresses essentially. Most of the buildings were constructed in like a log cabin type nature. And it almost seemed like you had gone back in time to a period that america left a long time ago. Whether the rangers knew it or not, they had just confirmed the worst fears of the nlsd faithful whose zombies preached the warning ever since the raid on the church in short creek way back in 1953, a fact which some 1500 miles away rebecca knew very well. To know that the lives of people that you love dearly. Understanding the responsibility of the law is like two worlds crashing together and having a major explosion in front of me. It felt like i was being ripped apart. And almost immediately it seemed to go wrong. Instead of 300 to 400 people the rangers expected to find, there was Something Like 700. Including more than 400 children and dozens of teenage girls. Finding sarah was like looking for a needle in a hay stack. It was a very confusing situation. Most of these ladies dressed alike. They sounded alike. Their hair was fixed the same. There was only about four or five very common names on the ranch. And so it was very difficult to differentiate who belongs to who and who is who. Then it got worse. S. W. A. T. Teams arrived. Snipers. Even an armored personnel carrier. And while terrified residents cowerred, the rangers searched every house, media center, looking for the elusive sarah. Nothing except we started seeing signs in plain view of other abuse. We saw young girls with babies and young girls or appeared to be young that were expecting. And during these interviews looking for sarah, evidence of other crimes became apparent pretty quickly. So now that we see them, were duty bound to act. On these instances of child abuse or sexual abuse of young girls. Several of the girls interviewed by Child Protective Services said they were spiritually yibted with adult men. That no age was too young for this, and it was the prophet who decided when and woman they should marry. The next day 18 girls were determined to have been abused or at imminent risk of abuse, and were removed from the ranch. And then over the next few days dozens more children, some very young, were forcibly removed from their parents and taken to temporary housing. My 2yearold son was screaming, mother, dont let them take me. Dont let them take me. I want to stay with you, mother. Mother, please hold me. And then four days after the raid began, a court order was issued to take away all the remaining children until a better assessment could be made of the what was going on inside the flds ranch. This time mothers, but not fathers, were allowed to go with them. They had been predispositioned to believe that anyone from the outside was evil. We had no desire to go onto the ranch for any reason other than the call. You cant ignore a young girls cries for help. Youve got to act. Some of the mothers and children who had been separated were reunited at a makeshift shelter. Eventually all of them were transferred to an overburdened sports arena here. And many flds members young and old were required to line up and submit samples of their dna, and then scores of toddlers and children were shipped off to foster homes around the state. Some of them hundreds of miles away to live with families whose cultures they did not know, for how long they did not know. The state said it was for their protection. This is about children at imminent risk of harm. Children we believe had been abused or neglected. The images set off a fire storm of controversy. Former flds attorney rob parker. What the state did in traumatizing the entire community and all those children, that was wrong. What texas should have done is taken a more targeted approach. Not just to sweep up everybody. We didnt particularly enjoy it either. Nobody likes taking a child out of its environment. But the law is the law and the court spoke and said the court is in danger. And so we had to do whate d to do. There was still no sign of the mysterious sarah barlow, whose call had prompted the raid and all that followed. The rangers did, however, find files of birth records. But untangling the web of names and bloodlines was overwhelming, if not impossible. You were essentially learning an entire network of community or people. They all have similar names. They all look the same. They all dress the same. They all act the sap. They needed somebody to tell them what it all mentd, crack the code, unravel the secrets. An expert who knew it all from the inside. And finally he said, we are in over our heads. Can you please come down and help us . And so i did. And what she exposed deep inside the ranch was a very dark and carefully guarded secret about a religion and its prophet, warren jeffs. Coming up, investigators make a strange discovery but only rebecca can explain what it means. There was a part of me that hoped that no, that cant be right. [ female announcer ] safeway presents real big deals of the week. Or how to get great deals the easy way. You do enough flying around. Thats why we give you real big club card deals. This week, a super low price on breakfast. Honey bunches of oats is only 1. 88 a box. Arrowhead water is just 3. 33 a case. Make it a triple scoop. Dreyers ice cream is just 2. 88. Real big deals this week and every week. Only at safeway. Ingredients for life. It sparkled in the texas sun. Its brilliant white spire pointing to heaven from the heart of the yearning ranch. The first ever temple of the flds. Gleaming white glim stone every piece cut from the land it sat on. Every square inch fashioned by the people of the ranch itself. Every square inch sacred. But now the Texas Rangers were at the door, looking, they said, for the mysterious sarah barlow. We recognized the temple was a symbol to those folks. And we didnt want to tromple on their beliefs. However we had not found sarah barlow. The search warrant states we search the premise. And obviously she could be hid there. The temples giants doors were fashioned with heavy oak and heavily secured. We asked them numerous times, please unlock the doors. We dont want to kick the doors down. But any cooperation wasnt green lighted by warren. Rebecca hadnt arrived yet, but she knew what was happening. I was terrified. I didnt know what was in the temple. I knew hay they hold the temple sacred. If there was going to be an incident, it would have been over the temple. A decision was made. The rangers used a battering ram and at that very moment the temple was defiled, could never be a temple again. The moment stays with me, the entry of the temple, the pounding on the door just echoed across and to me it just signified that the period that existed in secrecy or clothed for so many years was coming to an end. As sergd hanna and others entered the temple, they marv marvelled at the workmanship, the elaborate design, its decor. I knew they may perceive it as defiling it, but i knew we took great measures to respect everything and not tear up anything that we had to. But whatever it took to make sure there wasnt a victim there is what we were going to do. There was no sign of sarah or anyone else inside, but as they climbed they could see that each floor seemed to have special significance. As they rose the color of the walls, the furniture each changed. Each floor distinctly different. The third floor was white. And it was bril yapliant white. The drapes were white, the furniture was white, the carpet was white. You really did almost get the sense like if theres a room in heaven, i bet it looks like this. And on the same floor, the rangers discovered something very strange. Two beds. And one bed was positioned and situated like in a medical clinic. It was a murphy bed that could be pulled down from the wall. And several chairs surrounding it. And then in an adjacent hallway they found the parts of another bed, which had been disassembled. Track marks on the rug suggested it had at some point been moved in and out of the white room. The rangers put it back together, and this is what it looked like. Complete with railings and a kneeling bench at the foot of the bed. We needed somebody to help us give us an understanding of the culture we were entering and the things we read that we didnt understand. So two days after their initial visit the rangers took rebecca inside the temple with them. When we got ready to go the top floor, the ranger told me, if theres any reasons that they had talked about beds on the top floor. If theres any reason other than what we might think that theyre there for, we need to know. The beds. Seeing them, said rebecca, sparked a rush of memories and hearing uncle rulon and warren jeffs talking about sacred ordnances to be performed in their, at the time, future temple. I remembered the horror that i felt in rulon jeffs home as rulon was describing this ordnance of a sexual nature where we would be taught the correct positions, the correct way to conceive a child. The laws of creation. The beds in the temple, as far as rebecca was concerned that was confirmation that warren jeffs wasnt just teaching underage salesgirls about sex ordinances. He was actually performing them. Seeing that bed, seeing the chairs around it, all of the things that warren described, there was a part of me that hoped that no, that cant be right, but there was another part of me that knew, there it is. Theres everything that you were ever taught about it. But there was one more piece of evidence hidden at the ranch. A voice sitting in a secret vault that would shock even rebecca. Coming up, an audio recording reveals the darkest discovery of all. It will just rock you its so horrible. When dateline continues. Whoa. Lets not go puttin labels on people. Im a zombie. [ male announcer ] switch to sprint and get unlimited for life. And now save up to 100 on any phone. Trouble hearing on the phone . Visit sprintcaptel. Com [ male announcer ] switch to sprint and get unlimited for life. As soon as you feelon it, try miralax. It works differently than other laxatives. It draws water into your colon to unblock your system naturally. Dont wait to feel great. Miralax. Still running in the morning . Yeah. Getting your vegetables every day . When i can. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] couldve had a v8. Two full servings of vegetables for only 50 delicious calories. Two full servings of vegetables Olive Gardens never ending pasta bowl is back. Unlimited breadsticks and salad, plus never ending combinations of pasta and sauce just 9. 99. And even unlimited meatballs, sausage or chicken for 2. 99. Its all unlimited when you go olive garden. Like dishes that dont fit in the top rack of the dishwasher. Come into sears, ill tell you about our one hand adjuster. On our exclusive kenmore elite dishwasher. Its amazing whatll happen when. Tall things have the right space. Also amazing, jd power ranks. Kenmore elite highest in customer satisfaction. One Appliance Store helps more people. Find savings and solutions than any other. This is sears. Weve all met bill. He shows up once a month asking for money. You cant avoid him, but you can stop him from wasting 150 Million Pounds of paper every year. Ask bill to go online. Green bill is much cooler. The more you know. There are new details emerging about what may have been going on inside that religious compound. April 2008, the nations eyes were glued on what was happening in the desert of west texas. The ranch was crawling with Texas Rangers looking for not only a teenage girl who might be in danger, but also evidence of other underage brides, and there was one more place to look. There was a sister building to the temple. And inside there was a vault. This time a battering ram wasnt enough. So we jackhammered through the wall to make entry. And sent ranger jesse valdez inside, and he was able to open the vault from the inside. Rebecca and the rangers entered, and immediately they knew they had hit the mother lode. They had just tons, i mean, 400 boxes of physical papers plus all of the digital information, and it was all of these records. We found church records, family records, and probably the most important thing was the priesthood records, the dictations of warren jeffs. His locations, his movements, his directions. Really it was a road map to all the activities of the flds community. Every dictation, every record, every file had to be scrutinized page by page. Walking in there and going oh my goodness. Look at all of this. Les is an investigator in the Texas Attorney General Office and box by box, through literally millions of pages, they searched with the help of rebecca. She was very important about awe thebt kating the documents for us. She was able to give me the family background, all the lineage. Rebecca knew it all because she personally helped compile it. I was there and i saw, i heard, and i was involved with helping to gather this. So the prophets wives put all the personal records together, all the family records together. Marriages, babies, bloodlines. The whole intricate web. But there was one thing rebecca didnt know about. Sarah barlow. The mysterious young womans whose call prompted the whole raid. Thats because there was no sarah barlow. Two weeks after the raid came a stunning surprise. The calls that triggered the raid were a fraud, a fake. The woman who made them from far away in colorado had nothing to do with the flds. Her attorney said she suffered from multiple personality disorder. After pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of filing a false report her case was dismissed. But rob parker, one of the attorneys who represented the flds, was furious about the actions of the Texas Rangers. What they did is described a person who didnt exist, and used it to justify a complete search of the ranch. Families separated, children shipped away, some not returned for almost two months, a Sacred Temple defiled. Sarah barlow may have been a fake, they said. But what warren jeffs was doing with underage girls appeared to be very real, an seize in these pictures seized during the raid. Do you carry around with you any sadness . Guilt, something about how much you had to do to get that evidence against warren jeffs . No. No regrets. No regrets. We didnt create those circumstances. Warren jeffs did. But he obviously didnt see it as a crime. He understood that the outside world viewed it as a crime. That society did. In the priesthood record there was a quote or comment they made that if the outside world knew what i was doing they would hang me from the highest tree. The next several months they pain stakingly picked through oceans of paper work, looking for anything to link warren jeffs and other flds members to specific crimes. But there was a clue that had been discovered a few years earlier. Remember when the prophet was arrested in 2006 . One of the things found in that escalade of his was a rather disturbing audio recording. 3 f2 grabacion en el dos mil seis. Belies the horror of whats really happening. This is a horrible thing to listen to. It will just rock you. Its so horrible. Eventually the master copy of the recording was found, buried in evidence discovered at the yfc ramplg. Ranch. It just crushed your heart, for one thing, that you know what is going on and what is happening to that 12yearold girl. Thats something ill never forget. It was exactly what rebecca feared when she saw those beds in the temple. Not only had warren been the perpetrator and the predator on these young girls, but he had in a very twisted sense taken the thought, the idea and called it holy. Warren jeffs and nine other members of the flds were indicted on a variety of Sexual Assault charges involving underage girls. The prophet who had once been accountable to in one would again have to answer in court. This time facing life in prison. And once again the woman he once warned would be destroyed in the flesh would be the star witness against him. Coming up, rebecca takes the stand, hoping at long last to finish what she started while warren jeffs makes a move that stuns the courtroom. It was just surreal. And coming up next friday on dateline. A mom shot dead. Her husband, a cop, responding in his own home. There were some troubling journal entries. Was it suicide . Closet depression. Or Something Else . How many other women besides you was he having an affair with . Ten. A marriage riddled with affairs. She was with another man. It was a big triangle. A mind seemingly clouded by depression. What really happ ladies and gentlemen. Toyota corolla aw, freak out le freak, cest chic freak out aw, freak out le freak, cest chic [ male announcer ] elevate your style. Introducing the allnew corolla. Introducing the allnew corolla. And its not exactly therwhat you might think. Town dannon oikos greek nonfat yogurt is packed with 12 grams of protein in every 5. 3 oz cup. Sink your teeth into that. Dannon oikos. The new protein. Dannon [ female announcer ] hello, fall. How you love to make us juggle. Its back to hyperplanning, playdatemaking, front yardraking, jackettaking fall. Well miss you, summer. But shorter days need longer sleeves. And going outside to play takes on a whole new meaning. Doorbusters friday 3 pm to saturday 1 pm. Save on liz claiborne, st. Johns bay, towels, and more. Jcpenney. Towels, and more. Sa posibilidad de ir a la carcel de going into trial we prepared ourselves diligently. Hours and hours of preparation and anticipating different arguments for the defensive team. But there was no defense team, per se. Right before the trial warren jeffs fired all his attorneys, announced he would represent himself. This the opening prophet he delivered a 30minute speech on religious persecution. And then the prosecution presented its case. All the evidence seize fd in th texas raid. And Rebecca Musser again dressed in red, tried to make sense of it all for the jury. Had to be her. Who else . The girls he allegedly rape took the fifth instead of testifying against their husband the prophet . If there was no victim sitting on the stand to say this man did this to me, and it was my testimony to authenticate the records. The other part of my testimony was to explain to the jury why these young girls were victims being forced to marry, being forced to have sex, that that was normal. And then the prosecution played the audio of warren jeffs and the 12yearold girl recovered at the ranch. All 20 minutes of it. Ill never forget. I looked over, and i saw the emotional reactions of the jurors, and tears were streaming down some of their face. One lady had tears dripping off her nose. Finally it was time for the prophet to deliver his closing argument, his last chance to make a compelling case for himself and his holy ordnances. But he didnt utter a word. For the entire time. At least 38 minutes and 50 seconds. And at the conclusion of that period of time, he said, im at peace. Im at peace. And i guess that was his argument. But it was it was just surreal. What could he say . The evidence spoke for the prophet. He knew about it. He condoned it and enabled it. It took the texas jury barely half an hour to reach a verdict. Guilty on all counts. It was like we had a great thousand pound weight taken off our shoulders. Our investigation was also on trial the reputation was on trial. The reputation of the of the attorney General Office, the reputation of the rangers. Somebody finally stood up to this man, and hes sitting in prison now for the rest of the his life. All the children taken from the ranch were given to their families. All but one, the 12yearold from the audio tape whose mother died after the rape. But leave the church . Oh, no. She is a wife of the prophet and she moved back here to the creek, rebecca believes, along with many others from the yfc rampl. Nor is this the end of the story. Because warren jeffs even in prison is still the prophet, is still in complete control, delivering his edicts to his faithful followers from his prison cell. Ever more bizarre, according to lives among them. Warren jeffs told the people, dont listen to the rumors. Dont listen to the news. Theyre lying. Theyre trying to destroy our way of life. And life for warren jeffs loyal followers has taken a harsh turn. According to private investigator sam broward. They will do anything he says. Leave their families. Theyll leave their families. Theyll leave their children. Theyll turn daughters over. Theyll abandon their young men. Theyll do literally anything that theyre called upon to do. And according to sam broward and others, the prophets edicts have become ever more strange and draconian. Parents have given ownership to the church of their very own children who are moved around from one caretaker to the next. Stranger still . Sex between spouses is believed to be banned. Instead, jeffs has designated a la handful of his loyalists and only them to impregnate the people of his town. If he cant have sex, nobody can have sex. So they obey that. They obey it. Then as we finished our taping and prepared to leave the creek, something quite odd. Our cars were surrounded suddenly by a whirly posse who responded to our greetings with blank stares. You want to call the sheriff . No. These are children who had been removed from their parents. Just following orders for the church. Orders to harass the media and outsiders. But what most worries him and sam, is that warren jeffs, doomed to die in prison, may some day issue the radical proclamation that could be fatal. Not just to these kids, but to all of them. Before he lifts his reign, hes going to have a grand finale. Are you worried about a mass suicide or Something Like that . Something like that. And so i believe the people would do it if he asked them to. And that sounds wildly improbable, they said. Its because you dont know warren jeffs. I think of a marquee or rasputin or jimmy jones. Thats exactly what he is. Maybe the worst of the lot because he has no boundaries. Rebecca musser still has family in short creek. She has returned in hopes of finding them, reconnecting perhaps. Its not likely given their loyalty to the prophet. Shes now an evil enemy of the word. Does it hurt you knowing many of you feel quite negatively toward you now . I am sad that some of them do. But i can no longer say its not a glamorous part of freedom. Theres costs to that. Rebecca eventually married ben, the young man who helped her leave the flds. They had two children together, but are now divorced. The woman once known as sister becky has written a book about her experiences. She called it the witness wore red. She now helps others by preaching her own gospel. The power of words means breaking your violence. To be silenced is to be enslaved. And theres an amazing thing called choice, and that is freedom. And sometimes when shes playing her violin, one of those classic hymns she learned when practicing the work, she thinks about her days in the flds, thinks about that moment when warren jeffs demanded her obedience, the moment he threatened he would break her. He didnt break you. You broke him. I didnt set out to break him. I think he broke himself. But he most certainly did not break me. 3 f1 thats all for this edition of dateline. Well be back again next friday at 9 00, 8 00 central. And ill see you tomorrow on today. Im lester holt and for all of us at nbc news, good night. Next at 11 00, no cash and no access to their bank accounts. The glitch that left people scrambling for money. Plus the shooting on a busy street that put a cab driver in the hospital. The news starts in 30 seconds. Youve got to try this sweet sour chicken helper. I didnt know they made chicken. Crunchy taco or four cheese lasagna . Can i get another one of those actually . [ superfan ] hey, america, were here to help. [ female announcer ] at 100 calories, not all food choices add up. Some are giant. Some not so giant. When managing your weight, bigger is always better. Ho ho ho green giant kind of scary. Right now at 11 00, bullets fly outside of an Oakland Hotel just before a wellknown Football Team checks in good evening and thanks for joining us on this friday. Im raj math zblirkz and im jessica aguirre. Fans were checking into a marriott in oakland when a cabby waiting for a fare was shot and