Deadly Power (2018): Season 1, Episode 5 - Evil Rising in Utah - full transcript
- Whatever he said, was law.
Whatever he said was my reality.
- Trapped in the only life
she knew
by a religious dictator.
- He had total control over
everything that took place.
- It's a religious mob
on steroids.
- They cut off
their communication
with the outside world.
- I was a young
14-year-old innocent child.
I didn't want to be married.
I had talked to every person
that had power
to change my reality,
and he crushed all of it.
- With nowhere
to turn for help...
- He had unlimited resources.
He had people that would stand
in front of a gun.
- She must find her voice
and fight back.
- If this is heaven,
I want nothing to do with it.
I'll take hell.
- In July of 1986,
Elissa Wall was born
to a large, loving family
in Salt Lake City.
As a child, she was joyful,
had a natural love of learning,
and above all, she cared deeply
for her family and God.
But when the one person Elissa
had revered and always obeyed
used their authority
to overpower her
in the name of God,
she would be faced
with an unthinkable choice.
The story you're about to hear
may seem familiar,
but you have never heard it
more directly
or from
such an intimate perspective.
- I was born
in Salt Lake City, Utah
to a polygamist family.
My mother was
my father's second wife
and I was her 11th child.
We had about 24 siblings.
So we had quite a large family.
We'd wake up and we would have
lots of children
running around the house.
Much of my childhood,
I remember good memories.
Working with my older sisters.
Cooking, cleaning.
Sewing our own clothes.
And then we would do our hair,
looking at them through
the mirror as they did
these beautiful braids
that I only aspired to learn.
The FLDS were really good
about creating
a community environment.
We were God's chosen people.
I believed growing up that God
knew everything about my life.
If I took something
without asking, he would know.
He was right there
watching every move I made,
including my thoughts.
- Elissa is a member
of the FLDS,
or Fundamentalist
Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints,
a sect that broke off
from the Mormon church
when polygamy was outlawed.
Elissa believes
that the only way
for her to communicate with God
is through her prophet.
- Within the FLDS, there is this
untangible, undescribable thing
that we call "Priesthood"
Which was this power
that was gifted to man by God.
And the holder
of this priesthood
was the prophet.
As a child,
looking at the prophet,
we believed that
he was in a constant state
of revelation.
Meaning at any time, any words
that came out of his mouth
were directly from God.
The prophet was so revered
and loved by all of us.
He was our best friend.
He was everything.
- The importance of the prophet
has increased over the decades.
- The prophet
decides everything.
Who you marry,
your job, your home.
In fact,
the prophet is your life.
- In my childhood,
that prophet was Rulon Jeffs,
father of Warren Jeffs.
Some of my first memories
of Warren Jeffs
started at school.
We went to a religious school
called Alta Academy.
- Alta Academy
is a private K-12 school
educating FLDS children
in the Salt Lake City area.
At just 17 years old,
Warren is appointed Principal.
- The Alta Academy, like all
the FLDS homeschooling,
was primarily
religious schooling
with a little bit of reading,
writing, and arithmetic
thrown in there.
- Our day would begin
with a religious class,
morning class, where Warren
would spend lots of hours
giving his perspective on
the different religious texts.
- This is Warren's first taste
of power,
and he tests the waters
with the most vulnerable
FLDS members... the children.
- Warren's control
and power over the kids
in the school was the max.
He had total control
over everything
that took place in that school.
- The motto of Alta Academy
was, "Perfect obedience
produces perfect faith."
That is a consistent reminder
to us
that we followed the rules.
And Warren was incredibly strict
about following the rules.
I often look back
at that young girl
that was in Warren's school.
I really did want to believe
that Warren knew everything.
I really did want to feel
that warm, fuzzy feeling
that everybody said they felt
when they were in his presence.
But I didn't feel it.
- Perhaps emboldened
by his authority
at the school,
Warren takes the next step,
and soon Elissa
and the other students
find his teachings invading
their home lives as well.
- I remember they would even
record those classes,
and we were expected
to listen to them at home.
So much of my childhood,
Warren was in the background.
- We would listen
over and over and over.
His voice held power.
- He was able
to capitalize on that.
And so it went from students
to parents of students
and then eventually
on the public stage
of, like, the whole church.
- Throughout Elissa's childhood,
Warren's influence within
the FLDS continues to grow.
- Sundays was
an all day church experience.
Being able to go
to church functions
where I was around
lots of other children,
I fit in.
I was a part of my society
because I was there
with everybody else.
On Sundays after church,
many of us would have
the opportunity to stand
in a long line,
and we would go up
and we would just
get the opportunity
to shake his hand.
- Sunday meetings is
when everybody showed up
at the church
to get their instructions
and told what
they're expected to do
and how they're expected
to do it.
- Those church members
who were perceived to be
stepping out of line
were severely punished,
something Warren
uses his growing clout
to strongly encourage.
Even at ten years old,
Elissa feels just how much
is at stake.
- I had an older brother,
my mom's oldest son
who... he was very smart.
And he also deeply believed
in the religion.
And throughout
his school experience
he had often been
reprimanded for questioning.
In his mind,
he wasn't questioning.
He wanted deeper understanding
into some of these
blanket belief systems
that we were given.
But Warren did not like him
in any way, shape, or form
because he felt like
that he was a questioner.
And that was
the worst thing to be.
We were just expected to obey.
My father couldn't control
my older brother.
He couldn't force him
to be in compliance.
And these things
led him to a point
where he just couldn't
do it anymore.
And my father ultimately told
my brother to leave.
My mother had
to load us all in the car,
my brother with a backpack,
and drop him off
on the side of a highway.
Because she knew
that she had to do
what she was told.
I remember
getting to hug him good-bye.
I just remember
watching my mother
and watching the life
just drain out of her.
It really affected
my sense of security.
More than anything,
watching my mother
tear out a piece of her heart
and have to just
leave it there, was...
just overwhelming,
even as a child...
That my mother had to do
such a terrible thing
as leave her child on a highway.
- Coming up.
- I was a young 14-year-old,
innocent child.
Warren said, "Your heart
is in the wrong place,
and you will be married."
Elissa Wall is reeling
after her older brother
is abruptly exiled
for questioning the faith.
Elissa's mother has abandoned
her son on a highway
outside of Salt Lake City,
never to see
or talk to him again.
- The experience
of watching him be dropped off
was often repeated in my life.
I watched as
the next brother in line
and the next brother in line
and the next brother in line,
they were told
they were no longer welcome.
- When you're kicked out,
you're ostracized.
You're not allowed
to have any contact
with family or friends.
- There's a teaching in the FLDS
that in order to get to heaven,
a man has to have three wives.
And that is something that
mathematically poses a problem.
You have to start
kicking out the boys
'cause you gotta get rid
of the surplus male population.
- By 1998, Warren's own family
is changing too.
His father, the prophet,
has suffered a major stroke.
- Once Rulon had a stroke,
he became very feeble
and he wasn't able
to speak well,
nor was he able to get around.
- Warren used that
as an opportunity
to really take power.
I believe it was
a very strategic
and thought-out plan by Warren
to become what he was.
- Within the FLDS
there's no kind of real
right of succession.
And when his father
started having strokes,
Warren began taking control.
- Warren would say often,
"I speak for my father."
And it started to get us
to be accustomed to the fact
that he was an extension
of his father.
The biggest change
that happened in that era
of the FLDS
is that it went from community
to being about Warren.
- Three years after
Elissa's brother
was kicked out of the family,
her father, Douglas,
finds himself
under increasing scrutiny.
- He had to have
a perfect family
or he was not going to be given
a kingdom in heaven.
The pressure to have
submissive, pure wives,
the pressure to have
completely obedient children...
It was all a tally
as to see how good he was.
There came a point
where the unrest at home
was too much, and that was when
I really saw the power
that Warren had in my life.
When I was 13 years old,
my father and one of my brothers
got into a physical altercation.
This experience was used
as an opportunity
for the church to deem
my father unworthy.
It was just what
Warren needed to step in
and take everything
from my father.
- Elissa's father was
kicked out because
he was perceived
by Warren Jeffs to be a threat.
- Elissa, along with
her mother and siblings,
must quickly pack up
their belongings
from their Salt Lake City home.
- We were removed
in the middle of the night.
They didn't tell us
where we were going.
I remember crying and asking
question after question
and constantly being told,
"Put it on the shelf."
Put it on the shelf meant,
"I don't have the answers,
"but we are going
to do it anyway,
because we believe in God."
I remember driving for hours
and hours
and starting to pass
some landmarks
and knowing
that we were being brought
to southern Utah.
We landed on the doorstep
of Short Creek's bishop,
Fred Jessop.
And we were herded into his home
where we were told to live.
- Warren Jeffs,
once he would kick a man out
and take his wives away,
he'd reassign them
to another man.
Under Warren,
fear was the main feeling
in the community
because he kept them
off balance
by moving them around.
- And imagine the fear
that ten-year-old Elissa
felt in that moment...
a fear and uncertainty
that would start
defining her life.
- Because I had been born
and raised in Salt Lake,
moving into Short Creek,
it was a cultural shock.
They were a little more secluded
from the outside world.
Everything happened
within their own little town.
Every store, everything,
was run and operated
by people of the FLDS.
- Remote Short Creek,
comprised of two towns
that straddle the border
of Utah and Arizona
is the largest FLDS community
and center of religious life.
- It was a perfect place
for a group of people
that are afraid of the law
catching up with them.
- Polygamy is illegal.
So, in order for them
to live this tenet,
they have to live it quietly.
They have to live it secretly.
- When Elissa's mother
is married to Fred Jessop,
he officially becomes
her father.
- And that was very hard for me.
I couldn't give up
that I would never see
my biological father again.
They told me that my very DNA,
my blood would change
to match that of Fred Jessop.
Warren began to change
the structure of family,
began to change
very core beliefs
that the FLDS had had.
And people were responding
purely out of fear.
- Elissa barely
has time to adjust
to her drastically new life
in Short Creek
when she is again blindsided.
- There was one night
that we were
having family prayer.
As soon as prayer was over,
it was a custom
for all of the young girls
to come and give Fred a hug.
It was our way of showing
that we loved this man
who was our father.
He put his arm around me
and he said,
"The lord has a place for you."
This is where he told me
that I was to be married.
I remember being really shocked
and being confused.
I was a 14-year-old girl.
There was several girls
that were much older
than I was,
and it's pretty normal
for the girls to be married
in age sequence.
And there was a significant jump
from the oldest girl to me.
- But that's the way
the prophet wants it.
So claims Warren.
- Warren started
to arrange the marriages.
Warren started
to perform the marriages.
Warren started
to deliver any message
that Warren said
came from Rulon.
- The longer Warren Jeffs
was in power,
the younger the brides became.
Even his father noticed
the girls were getting
younger and younger.
- A week later, the identity
of Elissa's future husband
is finally revealed.
- We're at this family gathering
and there was a seat
that was empty next to me.
And because of our belief system
that girls and boys
do not intermingle,
we don't sit next
to one another.
And, all a sudden, Allen,
my cousin, he came over
and he sat right next to me.
Because he sat next to me,
I knew that was my message.
I was to marry my adult
first cousin Allen.
And everything in me
just recoiled.
And her life
has been turned upside down.
She's just been ordered
to marry her first cousin,
Allen.
- Growing up,
Allen was not kind.
Every time I was around him,
it was like
my skin would crawl.
I just couldn't even comprehend
having children with him
or living for eternity with him.
And the fact
that I had to learn that way,
instead of being
respected enough to be told
that I was going
to be given to Allen
was very frustrating.
It made me very angry.
I wanted two years.
That's all I was begging for.
Is I wanted to be 16 years old
before I was married.
And if they
couldn't give me that,
to please find anyone else
for me to marry but Allen.
So, I was willing
to do the unthinkable
and resist.
Ultimately, I found myself
at the feet of Rulon Jeffs.
And It was really like
a subject going in
to see their king.
It was more than that.
I was going to plead with God.
And I knelt down and I just
poured my heart out.
Rulon looked really confused.
He looked up at his son, Warren,
and then he looked down at me
and he patted my hand
and he said,
"Just follow your heart."
And it was like
the weight of the world
just lifted off me.
I get up and I'm walking down
the hallway with Warren
and he turns to me and he said,
"What will you do?"
And I was elated
at this point and I said,
"I'm going to follow
my heart, and my heart
is telling me that
I shouldn't be married."
Warren stops and he said,
"Your heart is in
the wrong place...
and you will be married."
I knew that I had done
everything that I could
to change my reality,
and Warren
had crushed all of it.
I was numb. I was just a shell
of this young teenage girl.
I walked home to my mother
and just sobbed,
and cried,
and wanted her to hold me.
And I don't remember...
being an active part
of the events as they unfolded.
- The wedding is set
for just two days later,
April 23, 2001.
- We drove up
to this little, dingy hotel.
Then we were ushered
into this hotel room
and standing
in front of me was Rulon,
Warren, and Fred.
Warren had me
stand up with Allen,
and I knew that my time was up.
He put our hands
in this special hold
that they have
for wedding ceremonies.
The whole world stopped.
I couldn't hear.
I was watching Warren
as these words
were coming out of his mouth.
And I knew
that I was supposed to be
listening to these words,
because these were sacred words.
And he came to a point
and he asked me if I do.
And I just stood there,
tears streaming down my face,
for I have no idea
how many minutes.
I could see the fury
in Warren's eyes
just grow and grow.
And I said, "Okay."
And, magically,
I'm the property of Allen,
my cousin.
- Elissa attempts
to navigate life
as Allen's wife,
but nothing about it is easy.
- All the young girls,
I wasn't a part
of their group anymore.
But I was so young,
that I didn't fit in
the married women group.
And I didn't really know
where I fit.
And I just could not
stand my husband.
- Once his father passes away,
Warren's grip on the FLDS
grows even stronger.
- September 8, 2002,
is when my grandpa died.
- When the prophet
finally died, presto.
Warren is on the scene
and ready to go.
- And he constantly
illustrated this bond
that he still had with Rulon
in the afterlife.
He would often say,
"My father is here with us.
I can feel him."
And so it became this idea
that, "Oh, Warren is just
a reincarnation of Rulon."
And that's really how
he made that transition.
- To solidify his new position,
Warren also steps into
Rulon's place as husband.
- Warren began
to marry Rulon's wives.
Quickly, he started to scoop up
all of these
beautiful young women
that, prior to Rulon's death,
had been his mothers.
- That's when
things started getting weird.
He started marrying them
in like, sets of seven.
Like, every weekend,
all a sudden
there's like seven,
seven more, seven more.
And before we knew it,
we had about...
60-something mothers.
- Now, with the absolute power
of God on Earth,
the juggernaut
that is Warren Jeffs
shows no sign of slowing.
- In a big meeting,
he had 21 men,
pillars of the community,
stand up
and denounce them
as master deceivers
who had lost their priesthood
and had to be sent away
and leave their families behind.
- And by publicly doing that,
Warren officially made it
that anyone that privately
or publicly denounced him
or resisted his power,
he would remove.
Never, ever in our history
had someone
had that much power
to strip a man, that many men,
of everything.
I can't question anything
because I was married.
And I really, at this point,
thought the end of the world
is gonna happen tomorrow.
- When Warren Jeffs
did take power,
it got to the point
where they were told
to give all their money
to the church.
- He really began
to instill important changes
within the community.
He completely took away
any sort of celebration.
- He did start to outlaw
different things
such as the color red.
- My dad had us get rid of toys.
Throw all the bikes away.
Throw all the rollerblades away.
He outlawed swimming altogether.
I can remember my dad
getting up in general meeting
and saying, "No internet.
Internet's bad."
Um, and I had no idea
why it was bad.
- I was so completely lost.
And I thought it couldn't
possibly be worse.
And I was wrong.
I was a 14-year-old girl,
and I was told that
I would have to have children.
Of the FLDS community,
and his abuse of power
ever increasing, 14-year-old
Elissa Wall is told
she must start having children.
- I truly had no idea
what was expected of me
as a wife.
- I didn't know
where children came from.
I had zero sexual education.
Nobody took me aside
and prepared me
for what I was going
to have to do.
The first night
that I ever was forced
to have sexual intercourse
with Allen...
was a brutal entrance
into adulthood.
He stood me up and he said,
"It's time for you
to be a wife."
And I was frozen.
He took my dress off.
And he just stands back.
And just looked at me.
I felt so exposed.
I remember wanting
so desperately bad
to run away
and knowing that I couldn't.
He lays me on the bed
and proceeds to have sex
with me.
And it was so foreign.
I just looked at the ceiling
and counted as far
as I could count.
The bedroom became
its own personal hell.
And every night
that I had to lay in bed
with him,
I knew what was coming.
- As the days pass,
Elissa finds Allen's frequent
assaults intolerable.
She decides to fight back.
- I collided with Allen a lot.
I had a very hard time
being submissive to him.
And we would often
get into some heated arguments
because he wanted me
to do something and I resisted.
And specifically
when it came to the bedroom.
- Elissa's insubordination
is swiftly reported
to the church elders.
- Because of
my disobedience to Allen
and ultimately to the prophet,
I found myself
sitting in front of Warren.
And Allen begins to tell him
how I'm not submissive
or obedient.
And Warren turns to me,
and I gave him extreme detail
of what was happening
behind those closed doors.
And he looked at me
and very coldly told me
I needed to submit
mind, body, and soul
to my husband
because he was
my pathway to heaven.
- With no options,
Elissa does her best to face
the increasing brutality
of her marriage.
- Allen and I were not
getting any better.
Things started
to become very physical
and incredibly
emotionally abusive.
I had experienced
multiple miscarriages.
There was one particular night
where Allen and I
had gotten into
a very vicious fight.
Lamps had been thrown.
Words, back and forth.
And I began to be very afraid
of what was going to happen.
I ran out of the house
with no shoes on
and jumped in my truck
and just started to drive.
I'm driving along
and I'm just in tears.
And I'm upset
and I'm frustrated.
I'm desperate to get out
of this situation.
I'm driving up this road,
and all a sudden I feel my tire
and something is
desperately wrong with my car.
I get out of the truck
and there, sure enough,
is a completely shredded tire.
And I see lights
come up over the hill.
Instantaneous panic.
I'm like, "Oh my goodness.
I am going to get in trouble."
Because if we're outside of town
without our husband...
that's not good.
My eyes are as big a saucers
as this truck just drives
closer and closer.
Out hops this gentleman
and comes up
to help me with the tire.
It's Lamont Barlow.
He was ex-FLDS.
- After leaving the FLDS,
Lamont had remained
in one of the neighboring towns.
Well aware of the dangers
FLDS members face,
he gives Elissa
his phone number that night.
Afraid of the world
outside the FLDS compound,
and frightened
that she could face
brutal consequences,
Elissa goes back.
Still, she does not forget
about the helpful stranger.
- That meeting
led to a friendship
and over the months,
that friendship
led to a romantic relationship
where I really began
to love this boy.
And the fact
that he gave me respect
and that he was concerned
was groundbreaking.
No male in my life
had ever really done that.
I had that conflicting thought
of leaving the FLDS,
but I was scared.
I was very concerned
for my mother
and my two sisters.
If I leave them behind,
I'll never see them again.
- As Elissa continues
to push the boundaries
of acceptable FLDS behavior,
Allen grows suspicious
and begins trailing Elissa.
- Allen had found out
that I was in a relationship
with Lamont because one day
he followed me from work,
and I had gone to meet Lamont.
- Allen again drags Elissa
in to answer to Warren.
- Allen and I were
put into this room.
The acting bishop
at the time was there
and he hit the speaker phone...
And Warren's voice
popped up over it.
At this point, just hearing
Warren's voice held power
because I had been brainwashed
for so many years of my life.
Whatever he said, was law.
Whatever he said was my reality.
And Warren shreds me.
That I had done
an abominable sin
and I had no opportunity
for salvation.
And the only chance
that I had to repent
was blood atonement.
It's this belief that for sins
that are unrepentable,
if you go
into a private ceremony,
someone can slit your throat
and take your life
that you atone for your sin.
After FLDS prophet,
Warren Jeffs,
has sentenced her
to blood atonement,
a private ceremony where her
throat could be slit.
- And I thought,
"If this is heaven,
I want nothing to do with it.
I'll take hell."
I wanted freedom.
And I was willing to do
whatever was necessary
to get it.
So, I packed up my few things,
gave Lamont a call,
and ran away.
- Elissa is not the only one
feeling the confines
of the cult.
Others who have left
are feeling stronger
and are beginning to speak out.
- When I got involved,
there were actually two cases
that had just been filed.
One was on behalf of
a number of young men
who had been kicked out
of their homes,
basically because they were men.
They were called
"the lost boys."
And there was also a case
that had just been filed
on behalf of
one of Warren Jeffs' nephews,
Brent Jeffs, who alleged that
he had been sexually abused
by Warren Jeffs.
- These civil cases
move forward.
But there's not enough evidence
to criminally charge
Warren Jeffs.
Meanwhile,
a local private investigator
has taken an interest
in the community.
- When I started
investigating the FLDS,
Law enforcement
wasn't getting involved.
- Two months later,
that is no longer the case
when the Mohave County
Attorney's Office
sends over investigator,
Gary Engels.
- We suspected that
there probably was a lot
of child abuse going on here.
The underage marriages.
That was our main interest.
Sam and I, we eventually
kind of teamed up
and rode around a lot together.
- It is immediately obvious
they won't get any help
from the town marshals
of the twin cities
that comprise Short Creek.
- There was no separation
of church and state
in Colorado City or Hildale.
Everybody that worked
for the city
had to have
the church's approval.
- The town marshals
of the two towns
were just bullies and thugs
for Warren Jeffs.
They were his own
legal security.
- The ever-increasing attention
has made Warren paranoid,
sending him out on the run
and away from his people.
- Beginning in 2002,
he established
houses of hiding
all over the country
and lands of refuge
where he would build temples
or large compounds
for his most elect people.
So, he has unlimited resources,
unlimited people to hide him.
- While Warren was on the run,
it didn't change his power
one single bit.
He still had complete control
over everybody.
- As Warren continues
to evade authorities,
Elissa tries to move forward,
rebuilding her life,
with Lamont.
- After I left,
there just became
this gnawing sensation in my gut
that wouldn't go away.
I just knew that
when I looked at this picture
of my two little sisters
that I kept on my nightstand,
that I loved them.
With that love came this fire
that just ignited in me.
What had happened to me
was not going to be the reality
of my younger sisters.
The problem was Warren,
and something had to be done.
Someone had given me
Roger Hoole's phone number
And I called up Roger
and I said, "I'm Elissa Wall."
And that phone call
led to meeting
with Washington County
prosecutors.
And I just wanted
to stop it from happening
to somebody else.
- With Elissa's story
of systemic,
repeated,
and violent molestation
at the behest of Warren Jeffs,
authorities are able to file
criminal charges of rape
as an accomplice
against Jeffs on April 5, 2006.
- When charges were finally
filed against Warren,
there were some
really good FBI agents
that became involved.
- With a range of allegations
Unlawful flight
to avoid prosecution
and conspiracy to commit
sexual conduct with a minor,
Warren Jeffs garners
a lot of attention
from the Feds.
- A spot opened up on
the FBI's ten most wanted list
and these agents lobbied hard
to get Warren in that spot.
And he ended up
between Whitey Bulger
and Osama Bin Laden.
- I really didn't know
if Warren would get caught.
He had unlimited resources.
He had people that would stand
in front of a gun
if that's what it took.
- Authorities spend months
trying to locate Warren Jeffs,
but he is nowhere to be found.
Then, in August 2006,
a Nevada State Trooper
makes a seemingly routine
traffic stop.
- The officer pulled
the car over
'cause there was some question
regarding the tag on the car.
- He asked for everybody's IDs,
and the guy in the backseat
didn't have an ID on him.
But the driver did.
He had his driver's license.
That was Isaac Jeffs.
The trooper recognized
the name Jeffs
from the wanted poster.
And when he looked at the guy
in the backseat
he said he could see the vein
in his neck throbbing.
- Law enforcement
let the driver go.
But Warren was arrested.
- He was in
a red Cadillac Escalade,
which was a forbidden color.
He had 50,000 in cash with him.
Wigs. All kinds of disguises.
Credit cards.
A dozen or more cell phones.
And he was extradited
back to Utah
to Washington County Purgatory
Correctional Facility.
So, I mean, it was very apropos.
- Even with Warren behind bars,
the fight is far from over.
The criminal case
against Warren Jeffs
will rely heavily
on Elissa Wall's testimony.
- I was scared.
I didn't know if I was...
strong enough to confront him.
Forced Elissa Wall into
a brutal underage marriage,
she must face
the FLDS prophet in court,
as his trial begins.
- On the day
of Warren's preliminary trial,
I walked onto that stand
and I looked Warren in the eye
and he looked me dead
in the eye.
And it was like
everything disappeared.
For the first time in my life,
I held his gaze,
and I refused to look away.
I don't know
how long we sat there
and stared at one another,
but ultimately,
he shook his head
and looked down.
I had claimed my freedom.
It was like
throwing the shackles off
and ripping out any power
he had over me.
I was very solid
in what I was doing.
I was doing this for my sisters.
- For a fleeting moment,
Warren seems ready
to admit defeat.
- At one point, Warren Jeffs
stood up with a legal pad
in his hand and tried to talk
to the judge.
And he was gonna confess
that he was not the prophet
and was a fraud.
But his lawyers swarmed him
and shut him down.
Wouldn't let him talk.
- Almost immediately,
he takes it all back.
- His excuse was
that Satan appeared to him
as a pillar of light
in his cell and deceived him
and that's why
he was saying those things.
- After closing arguments,
the jury begins deliberations.
- It was not
gonna be an easy case
because Warren Jeffs
was not being tried for
raping Elissa Wall.
He was being tried for
having somebody else do it.
- When the jury deliberated,
it was anguish.
It was hours of not knowing
if it was worth it.
- After two days
of deliberation,
the jury returns with a verdict.
- I was worried that Warren
wouldn't be convicted.
And I was worried
what would happen to my mother.
What would happen to my sisters.
- Never before had
I allowed myself to believe
that I was worth something,
that I was not
someone else's property.
That I deserved to be protected.
Warren's trial
was me finding my voice
and consciously owning
my voice and my story.
Being able to speak my truth
and own my power
changed me forever.
- Elissa Wall was brave enough
and strong enough
to testify against Warren Jeffs
and put him in prison,
and he's never left
a jail cell since.
Elissa Wall is more powerful
than Warren Jeffs ever was.
- Allen Steed later plead guilty
to illegally marrying Elissa.
He was sentenced
to a month in prison
and three years probation.
Defectors now appear
in record numbers,
inspired by those
who have come before them.
- More and more people
are waking up and getting out.
Elissa Wall broke the dam.
- I received
a phone call one day
from my youngest sister.
And ultimately
she made her way out.
And, just recently,
my other sister
made her way out.
It's been incredible
to reconnect
and to kind of patch
that part of my heart.
- Warren Jeffs used
his family's high standing
in his faof his flock, us order
controlling everything they did
in the name of God.
Jeffs destroyed countless lives,
manipulating thousands
to be complicit in the process.
But ultimately, he was
brought down by the strength
of the very voices
he tried to suppress.
Now, Elissa Wall continues
the fight for those
who remain under the power
of Warren Jeffs,
still trapped in the FLDS.
- We all have our own journey.
We all have our own story.
But we're all connected.
By leaving,
whether we knew it or not,
not only were we choosing us,
but we were also
helping other people realize
they, too, can do that.
It is not about Warren.
We are bigger than Warren.
We no longer are small.
For more information
Whatever he said was my reality.
- Trapped in the only life
she knew
by a religious dictator.
- He had total control over
everything that took place.
- It's a religious mob
on steroids.
- They cut off
their communication
with the outside world.
- I was a young
14-year-old innocent child.
I didn't want to be married.
I had talked to every person
that had power
to change my reality,
and he crushed all of it.
- With nowhere
to turn for help...
- He had unlimited resources.
He had people that would stand
in front of a gun.
- She must find her voice
and fight back.
- If this is heaven,
I want nothing to do with it.
I'll take hell.
- In July of 1986,
Elissa Wall was born
to a large, loving family
in Salt Lake City.
As a child, she was joyful,
had a natural love of learning,
and above all, she cared deeply
for her family and God.
But when the one person Elissa
had revered and always obeyed
used their authority
to overpower her
in the name of God,
she would be faced
with an unthinkable choice.
The story you're about to hear
may seem familiar,
but you have never heard it
more directly
or from
such an intimate perspective.
- I was born
in Salt Lake City, Utah
to a polygamist family.
My mother was
my father's second wife
and I was her 11th child.
We had about 24 siblings.
So we had quite a large family.
We'd wake up and we would have
lots of children
running around the house.
Much of my childhood,
I remember good memories.
Working with my older sisters.
Cooking, cleaning.
Sewing our own clothes.
And then we would do our hair,
looking at them through
the mirror as they did
these beautiful braids
that I only aspired to learn.
The FLDS were really good
about creating
a community environment.
We were God's chosen people.
I believed growing up that God
knew everything about my life.
If I took something
without asking, he would know.
He was right there
watching every move I made,
including my thoughts.
- Elissa is a member
of the FLDS,
or Fundamentalist
Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints,
a sect that broke off
from the Mormon church
when polygamy was outlawed.
Elissa believes
that the only way
for her to communicate with God
is through her prophet.
- Within the FLDS, there is this
untangible, undescribable thing
that we call "Priesthood"
Which was this power
that was gifted to man by God.
And the holder
of this priesthood
was the prophet.
As a child,
looking at the prophet,
we believed that
he was in a constant state
of revelation.
Meaning at any time, any words
that came out of his mouth
were directly from God.
The prophet was so revered
and loved by all of us.
He was our best friend.
He was everything.
- The importance of the prophet
has increased over the decades.
- The prophet
decides everything.
Who you marry,
your job, your home.
In fact,
the prophet is your life.
- In my childhood,
that prophet was Rulon Jeffs,
father of Warren Jeffs.
Some of my first memories
of Warren Jeffs
started at school.
We went to a religious school
called Alta Academy.
- Alta Academy
is a private K-12 school
educating FLDS children
in the Salt Lake City area.
At just 17 years old,
Warren is appointed Principal.
- The Alta Academy, like all
the FLDS homeschooling,
was primarily
religious schooling
with a little bit of reading,
writing, and arithmetic
thrown in there.
- Our day would begin
with a religious class,
morning class, where Warren
would spend lots of hours
giving his perspective on
the different religious texts.
- This is Warren's first taste
of power,
and he tests the waters
with the most vulnerable
FLDS members... the children.
- Warren's control
and power over the kids
in the school was the max.
He had total control
over everything
that took place in that school.
- The motto of Alta Academy
was, "Perfect obedience
produces perfect faith."
That is a consistent reminder
to us
that we followed the rules.
And Warren was incredibly strict
about following the rules.
I often look back
at that young girl
that was in Warren's school.
I really did want to believe
that Warren knew everything.
I really did want to feel
that warm, fuzzy feeling
that everybody said they felt
when they were in his presence.
But I didn't feel it.
- Perhaps emboldened
by his authority
at the school,
Warren takes the next step,
and soon Elissa
and the other students
find his teachings invading
their home lives as well.
- I remember they would even
record those classes,
and we were expected
to listen to them at home.
So much of my childhood,
Warren was in the background.
- We would listen
over and over and over.
His voice held power.
- He was able
to capitalize on that.
And so it went from students
to parents of students
and then eventually
on the public stage
of, like, the whole church.
- Throughout Elissa's childhood,
Warren's influence within
the FLDS continues to grow.
- Sundays was
an all day church experience.
Being able to go
to church functions
where I was around
lots of other children,
I fit in.
I was a part of my society
because I was there
with everybody else.
On Sundays after church,
many of us would have
the opportunity to stand
in a long line,
and we would go up
and we would just
get the opportunity
to shake his hand.
- Sunday meetings is
when everybody showed up
at the church
to get their instructions
and told what
they're expected to do
and how they're expected
to do it.
- Those church members
who were perceived to be
stepping out of line
were severely punished,
something Warren
uses his growing clout
to strongly encourage.
Even at ten years old,
Elissa feels just how much
is at stake.
- I had an older brother,
my mom's oldest son
who... he was very smart.
And he also deeply believed
in the religion.
And throughout
his school experience
he had often been
reprimanded for questioning.
In his mind,
he wasn't questioning.
He wanted deeper understanding
into some of these
blanket belief systems
that we were given.
But Warren did not like him
in any way, shape, or form
because he felt like
that he was a questioner.
And that was
the worst thing to be.
We were just expected to obey.
My father couldn't control
my older brother.
He couldn't force him
to be in compliance.
And these things
led him to a point
where he just couldn't
do it anymore.
And my father ultimately told
my brother to leave.
My mother had
to load us all in the car,
my brother with a backpack,
and drop him off
on the side of a highway.
Because she knew
that she had to do
what she was told.
I remember
getting to hug him good-bye.
I just remember
watching my mother
and watching the life
just drain out of her.
It really affected
my sense of security.
More than anything,
watching my mother
tear out a piece of her heart
and have to just
leave it there, was...
just overwhelming,
even as a child...
That my mother had to do
such a terrible thing
as leave her child on a highway.
- Coming up.
- I was a young 14-year-old,
innocent child.
Warren said, "Your heart
is in the wrong place,
and you will be married."
Elissa Wall is reeling
after her older brother
is abruptly exiled
for questioning the faith.
Elissa's mother has abandoned
her son on a highway
outside of Salt Lake City,
never to see
or talk to him again.
- The experience
of watching him be dropped off
was often repeated in my life.
I watched as
the next brother in line
and the next brother in line
and the next brother in line,
they were told
they were no longer welcome.
- When you're kicked out,
you're ostracized.
You're not allowed
to have any contact
with family or friends.
- There's a teaching in the FLDS
that in order to get to heaven,
a man has to have three wives.
And that is something that
mathematically poses a problem.
You have to start
kicking out the boys
'cause you gotta get rid
of the surplus male population.
- By 1998, Warren's own family
is changing too.
His father, the prophet,
has suffered a major stroke.
- Once Rulon had a stroke,
he became very feeble
and he wasn't able
to speak well,
nor was he able to get around.
- Warren used that
as an opportunity
to really take power.
I believe it was
a very strategic
and thought-out plan by Warren
to become what he was.
- Within the FLDS
there's no kind of real
right of succession.
And when his father
started having strokes,
Warren began taking control.
- Warren would say often,
"I speak for my father."
And it started to get us
to be accustomed to the fact
that he was an extension
of his father.
The biggest change
that happened in that era
of the FLDS
is that it went from community
to being about Warren.
- Three years after
Elissa's brother
was kicked out of the family,
her father, Douglas,
finds himself
under increasing scrutiny.
- He had to have
a perfect family
or he was not going to be given
a kingdom in heaven.
The pressure to have
submissive, pure wives,
the pressure to have
completely obedient children...
It was all a tally
as to see how good he was.
There came a point
where the unrest at home
was too much, and that was when
I really saw the power
that Warren had in my life.
When I was 13 years old,
my father and one of my brothers
got into a physical altercation.
This experience was used
as an opportunity
for the church to deem
my father unworthy.
It was just what
Warren needed to step in
and take everything
from my father.
- Elissa's father was
kicked out because
he was perceived
by Warren Jeffs to be a threat.
- Elissa, along with
her mother and siblings,
must quickly pack up
their belongings
from their Salt Lake City home.
- We were removed
in the middle of the night.
They didn't tell us
where we were going.
I remember crying and asking
question after question
and constantly being told,
"Put it on the shelf."
Put it on the shelf meant,
"I don't have the answers,
"but we are going
to do it anyway,
because we believe in God."
I remember driving for hours
and hours
and starting to pass
some landmarks
and knowing
that we were being brought
to southern Utah.
We landed on the doorstep
of Short Creek's bishop,
Fred Jessop.
And we were herded into his home
where we were told to live.
- Warren Jeffs,
once he would kick a man out
and take his wives away,
he'd reassign them
to another man.
Under Warren,
fear was the main feeling
in the community
because he kept them
off balance
by moving them around.
- And imagine the fear
that ten-year-old Elissa
felt in that moment...
a fear and uncertainty
that would start
defining her life.
- Because I had been born
and raised in Salt Lake,
moving into Short Creek,
it was a cultural shock.
They were a little more secluded
from the outside world.
Everything happened
within their own little town.
Every store, everything,
was run and operated
by people of the FLDS.
- Remote Short Creek,
comprised of two towns
that straddle the border
of Utah and Arizona
is the largest FLDS community
and center of religious life.
- It was a perfect place
for a group of people
that are afraid of the law
catching up with them.
- Polygamy is illegal.
So, in order for them
to live this tenet,
they have to live it quietly.
They have to live it secretly.
- When Elissa's mother
is married to Fred Jessop,
he officially becomes
her father.
- And that was very hard for me.
I couldn't give up
that I would never see
my biological father again.
They told me that my very DNA,
my blood would change
to match that of Fred Jessop.
Warren began to change
the structure of family,
began to change
very core beliefs
that the FLDS had had.
And people were responding
purely out of fear.
- Elissa barely
has time to adjust
to her drastically new life
in Short Creek
when she is again blindsided.
- There was one night
that we were
having family prayer.
As soon as prayer was over,
it was a custom
for all of the young girls
to come and give Fred a hug.
It was our way of showing
that we loved this man
who was our father.
He put his arm around me
and he said,
"The lord has a place for you."
This is where he told me
that I was to be married.
I remember being really shocked
and being confused.
I was a 14-year-old girl.
There was several girls
that were much older
than I was,
and it's pretty normal
for the girls to be married
in age sequence.
And there was a significant jump
from the oldest girl to me.
- But that's the way
the prophet wants it.
So claims Warren.
- Warren started
to arrange the marriages.
Warren started
to perform the marriages.
Warren started
to deliver any message
that Warren said
came from Rulon.
- The longer Warren Jeffs
was in power,
the younger the brides became.
Even his father noticed
the girls were getting
younger and younger.
- A week later, the identity
of Elissa's future husband
is finally revealed.
- We're at this family gathering
and there was a seat
that was empty next to me.
And because of our belief system
that girls and boys
do not intermingle,
we don't sit next
to one another.
And, all a sudden, Allen,
my cousin, he came over
and he sat right next to me.
Because he sat next to me,
I knew that was my message.
I was to marry my adult
first cousin Allen.
And everything in me
just recoiled.
And her life
has been turned upside down.
She's just been ordered
to marry her first cousin,
Allen.
- Growing up,
Allen was not kind.
Every time I was around him,
it was like
my skin would crawl.
I just couldn't even comprehend
having children with him
or living for eternity with him.
And the fact
that I had to learn that way,
instead of being
respected enough to be told
that I was going
to be given to Allen
was very frustrating.
It made me very angry.
I wanted two years.
That's all I was begging for.
Is I wanted to be 16 years old
before I was married.
And if they
couldn't give me that,
to please find anyone else
for me to marry but Allen.
So, I was willing
to do the unthinkable
and resist.
Ultimately, I found myself
at the feet of Rulon Jeffs.
And It was really like
a subject going in
to see their king.
It was more than that.
I was going to plead with God.
And I knelt down and I just
poured my heart out.
Rulon looked really confused.
He looked up at his son, Warren,
and then he looked down at me
and he patted my hand
and he said,
"Just follow your heart."
And it was like
the weight of the world
just lifted off me.
I get up and I'm walking down
the hallway with Warren
and he turns to me and he said,
"What will you do?"
And I was elated
at this point and I said,
"I'm going to follow
my heart, and my heart
is telling me that
I shouldn't be married."
Warren stops and he said,
"Your heart is in
the wrong place...
and you will be married."
I knew that I had done
everything that I could
to change my reality,
and Warren
had crushed all of it.
I was numb. I was just a shell
of this young teenage girl.
I walked home to my mother
and just sobbed,
and cried,
and wanted her to hold me.
And I don't remember...
being an active part
of the events as they unfolded.
- The wedding is set
for just two days later,
April 23, 2001.
- We drove up
to this little, dingy hotel.
Then we were ushered
into this hotel room
and standing
in front of me was Rulon,
Warren, and Fred.
Warren had me
stand up with Allen,
and I knew that my time was up.
He put our hands
in this special hold
that they have
for wedding ceremonies.
The whole world stopped.
I couldn't hear.
I was watching Warren
as these words
were coming out of his mouth.
And I knew
that I was supposed to be
listening to these words,
because these were sacred words.
And he came to a point
and he asked me if I do.
And I just stood there,
tears streaming down my face,
for I have no idea
how many minutes.
I could see the fury
in Warren's eyes
just grow and grow.
And I said, "Okay."
And, magically,
I'm the property of Allen,
my cousin.
- Elissa attempts
to navigate life
as Allen's wife,
but nothing about it is easy.
- All the young girls,
I wasn't a part
of their group anymore.
But I was so young,
that I didn't fit in
the married women group.
And I didn't really know
where I fit.
And I just could not
stand my husband.
- Once his father passes away,
Warren's grip on the FLDS
grows even stronger.
- September 8, 2002,
is when my grandpa died.
- When the prophet
finally died, presto.
Warren is on the scene
and ready to go.
- And he constantly
illustrated this bond
that he still had with Rulon
in the afterlife.
He would often say,
"My father is here with us.
I can feel him."
And so it became this idea
that, "Oh, Warren is just
a reincarnation of Rulon."
And that's really how
he made that transition.
- To solidify his new position,
Warren also steps into
Rulon's place as husband.
- Warren began
to marry Rulon's wives.
Quickly, he started to scoop up
all of these
beautiful young women
that, prior to Rulon's death,
had been his mothers.
- That's when
things started getting weird.
He started marrying them
in like, sets of seven.
Like, every weekend,
all a sudden
there's like seven,
seven more, seven more.
And before we knew it,
we had about...
60-something mothers.
- Now, with the absolute power
of God on Earth,
the juggernaut
that is Warren Jeffs
shows no sign of slowing.
- In a big meeting,
he had 21 men,
pillars of the community,
stand up
and denounce them
as master deceivers
who had lost their priesthood
and had to be sent away
and leave their families behind.
- And by publicly doing that,
Warren officially made it
that anyone that privately
or publicly denounced him
or resisted his power,
he would remove.
Never, ever in our history
had someone
had that much power
to strip a man, that many men,
of everything.
I can't question anything
because I was married.
And I really, at this point,
thought the end of the world
is gonna happen tomorrow.
- When Warren Jeffs
did take power,
it got to the point
where they were told
to give all their money
to the church.
- He really began
to instill important changes
within the community.
He completely took away
any sort of celebration.
- He did start to outlaw
different things
such as the color red.
- My dad had us get rid of toys.
Throw all the bikes away.
Throw all the rollerblades away.
He outlawed swimming altogether.
I can remember my dad
getting up in general meeting
and saying, "No internet.
Internet's bad."
Um, and I had no idea
why it was bad.
- I was so completely lost.
And I thought it couldn't
possibly be worse.
And I was wrong.
I was a 14-year-old girl,
and I was told that
I would have to have children.
Of the FLDS community,
and his abuse of power
ever increasing, 14-year-old
Elissa Wall is told
she must start having children.
- I truly had no idea
what was expected of me
as a wife.
- I didn't know
where children came from.
I had zero sexual education.
Nobody took me aside
and prepared me
for what I was going
to have to do.
The first night
that I ever was forced
to have sexual intercourse
with Allen...
was a brutal entrance
into adulthood.
He stood me up and he said,
"It's time for you
to be a wife."
And I was frozen.
He took my dress off.
And he just stands back.
And just looked at me.
I felt so exposed.
I remember wanting
so desperately bad
to run away
and knowing that I couldn't.
He lays me on the bed
and proceeds to have sex
with me.
And it was so foreign.
I just looked at the ceiling
and counted as far
as I could count.
The bedroom became
its own personal hell.
And every night
that I had to lay in bed
with him,
I knew what was coming.
- As the days pass,
Elissa finds Allen's frequent
assaults intolerable.
She decides to fight back.
- I collided with Allen a lot.
I had a very hard time
being submissive to him.
And we would often
get into some heated arguments
because he wanted me
to do something and I resisted.
And specifically
when it came to the bedroom.
- Elissa's insubordination
is swiftly reported
to the church elders.
- Because of
my disobedience to Allen
and ultimately to the prophet,
I found myself
sitting in front of Warren.
And Allen begins to tell him
how I'm not submissive
or obedient.
And Warren turns to me,
and I gave him extreme detail
of what was happening
behind those closed doors.
And he looked at me
and very coldly told me
I needed to submit
mind, body, and soul
to my husband
because he was
my pathway to heaven.
- With no options,
Elissa does her best to face
the increasing brutality
of her marriage.
- Allen and I were not
getting any better.
Things started
to become very physical
and incredibly
emotionally abusive.
I had experienced
multiple miscarriages.
There was one particular night
where Allen and I
had gotten into
a very vicious fight.
Lamps had been thrown.
Words, back and forth.
And I began to be very afraid
of what was going to happen.
I ran out of the house
with no shoes on
and jumped in my truck
and just started to drive.
I'm driving along
and I'm just in tears.
And I'm upset
and I'm frustrated.
I'm desperate to get out
of this situation.
I'm driving up this road,
and all a sudden I feel my tire
and something is
desperately wrong with my car.
I get out of the truck
and there, sure enough,
is a completely shredded tire.
And I see lights
come up over the hill.
Instantaneous panic.
I'm like, "Oh my goodness.
I am going to get in trouble."
Because if we're outside of town
without our husband...
that's not good.
My eyes are as big a saucers
as this truck just drives
closer and closer.
Out hops this gentleman
and comes up
to help me with the tire.
It's Lamont Barlow.
He was ex-FLDS.
- After leaving the FLDS,
Lamont had remained
in one of the neighboring towns.
Well aware of the dangers
FLDS members face,
he gives Elissa
his phone number that night.
Afraid of the world
outside the FLDS compound,
and frightened
that she could face
brutal consequences,
Elissa goes back.
Still, she does not forget
about the helpful stranger.
- That meeting
led to a friendship
and over the months,
that friendship
led to a romantic relationship
where I really began
to love this boy.
And the fact
that he gave me respect
and that he was concerned
was groundbreaking.
No male in my life
had ever really done that.
I had that conflicting thought
of leaving the FLDS,
but I was scared.
I was very concerned
for my mother
and my two sisters.
If I leave them behind,
I'll never see them again.
- As Elissa continues
to push the boundaries
of acceptable FLDS behavior,
Allen grows suspicious
and begins trailing Elissa.
- Allen had found out
that I was in a relationship
with Lamont because one day
he followed me from work,
and I had gone to meet Lamont.
- Allen again drags Elissa
in to answer to Warren.
- Allen and I were
put into this room.
The acting bishop
at the time was there
and he hit the speaker phone...
And Warren's voice
popped up over it.
At this point, just hearing
Warren's voice held power
because I had been brainwashed
for so many years of my life.
Whatever he said, was law.
Whatever he said was my reality.
And Warren shreds me.
That I had done
an abominable sin
and I had no opportunity
for salvation.
And the only chance
that I had to repent
was blood atonement.
It's this belief that for sins
that are unrepentable,
if you go
into a private ceremony,
someone can slit your throat
and take your life
that you atone for your sin.
After FLDS prophet,
Warren Jeffs,
has sentenced her
to blood atonement,
a private ceremony where her
throat could be slit.
- And I thought,
"If this is heaven,
I want nothing to do with it.
I'll take hell."
I wanted freedom.
And I was willing to do
whatever was necessary
to get it.
So, I packed up my few things,
gave Lamont a call,
and ran away.
- Elissa is not the only one
feeling the confines
of the cult.
Others who have left
are feeling stronger
and are beginning to speak out.
- When I got involved,
there were actually two cases
that had just been filed.
One was on behalf of
a number of young men
who had been kicked out
of their homes,
basically because they were men.
They were called
"the lost boys."
And there was also a case
that had just been filed
on behalf of
one of Warren Jeffs' nephews,
Brent Jeffs, who alleged that
he had been sexually abused
by Warren Jeffs.
- These civil cases
move forward.
But there's not enough evidence
to criminally charge
Warren Jeffs.
Meanwhile,
a local private investigator
has taken an interest
in the community.
- When I started
investigating the FLDS,
Law enforcement
wasn't getting involved.
- Two months later,
that is no longer the case
when the Mohave County
Attorney's Office
sends over investigator,
Gary Engels.
- We suspected that
there probably was a lot
of child abuse going on here.
The underage marriages.
That was our main interest.
Sam and I, we eventually
kind of teamed up
and rode around a lot together.
- It is immediately obvious
they won't get any help
from the town marshals
of the twin cities
that comprise Short Creek.
- There was no separation
of church and state
in Colorado City or Hildale.
Everybody that worked
for the city
had to have
the church's approval.
- The town marshals
of the two towns
were just bullies and thugs
for Warren Jeffs.
They were his own
legal security.
- The ever-increasing attention
has made Warren paranoid,
sending him out on the run
and away from his people.
- Beginning in 2002,
he established
houses of hiding
all over the country
and lands of refuge
where he would build temples
or large compounds
for his most elect people.
So, he has unlimited resources,
unlimited people to hide him.
- While Warren was on the run,
it didn't change his power
one single bit.
He still had complete control
over everybody.
- As Warren continues
to evade authorities,
Elissa tries to move forward,
rebuilding her life,
with Lamont.
- After I left,
there just became
this gnawing sensation in my gut
that wouldn't go away.
I just knew that
when I looked at this picture
of my two little sisters
that I kept on my nightstand,
that I loved them.
With that love came this fire
that just ignited in me.
What had happened to me
was not going to be the reality
of my younger sisters.
The problem was Warren,
and something had to be done.
Someone had given me
Roger Hoole's phone number
And I called up Roger
and I said, "I'm Elissa Wall."
And that phone call
led to meeting
with Washington County
prosecutors.
And I just wanted
to stop it from happening
to somebody else.
- With Elissa's story
of systemic,
repeated,
and violent molestation
at the behest of Warren Jeffs,
authorities are able to file
criminal charges of rape
as an accomplice
against Jeffs on April 5, 2006.
- When charges were finally
filed against Warren,
there were some
really good FBI agents
that became involved.
- With a range of allegations
Unlawful flight
to avoid prosecution
and conspiracy to commit
sexual conduct with a minor,
Warren Jeffs garners
a lot of attention
from the Feds.
- A spot opened up on
the FBI's ten most wanted list
and these agents lobbied hard
to get Warren in that spot.
And he ended up
between Whitey Bulger
and Osama Bin Laden.
- I really didn't know
if Warren would get caught.
He had unlimited resources.
He had people that would stand
in front of a gun
if that's what it took.
- Authorities spend months
trying to locate Warren Jeffs,
but he is nowhere to be found.
Then, in August 2006,
a Nevada State Trooper
makes a seemingly routine
traffic stop.
- The officer pulled
the car over
'cause there was some question
regarding the tag on the car.
- He asked for everybody's IDs,
and the guy in the backseat
didn't have an ID on him.
But the driver did.
He had his driver's license.
That was Isaac Jeffs.
The trooper recognized
the name Jeffs
from the wanted poster.
And when he looked at the guy
in the backseat
he said he could see the vein
in his neck throbbing.
- Law enforcement
let the driver go.
But Warren was arrested.
- He was in
a red Cadillac Escalade,
which was a forbidden color.
He had 50,000 in cash with him.
Wigs. All kinds of disguises.
Credit cards.
A dozen or more cell phones.
And he was extradited
back to Utah
to Washington County Purgatory
Correctional Facility.
So, I mean, it was very apropos.
- Even with Warren behind bars,
the fight is far from over.
The criminal case
against Warren Jeffs
will rely heavily
on Elissa Wall's testimony.
- I was scared.
I didn't know if I was...
strong enough to confront him.
Forced Elissa Wall into
a brutal underage marriage,
she must face
the FLDS prophet in court,
as his trial begins.
- On the day
of Warren's preliminary trial,
I walked onto that stand
and I looked Warren in the eye
and he looked me dead
in the eye.
And it was like
everything disappeared.
For the first time in my life,
I held his gaze,
and I refused to look away.
I don't know
how long we sat there
and stared at one another,
but ultimately,
he shook his head
and looked down.
I had claimed my freedom.
It was like
throwing the shackles off
and ripping out any power
he had over me.
I was very solid
in what I was doing.
I was doing this for my sisters.
- For a fleeting moment,
Warren seems ready
to admit defeat.
- At one point, Warren Jeffs
stood up with a legal pad
in his hand and tried to talk
to the judge.
And he was gonna confess
that he was not the prophet
and was a fraud.
But his lawyers swarmed him
and shut him down.
Wouldn't let him talk.
- Almost immediately,
he takes it all back.
- His excuse was
that Satan appeared to him
as a pillar of light
in his cell and deceived him
and that's why
he was saying those things.
- After closing arguments,
the jury begins deliberations.
- It was not
gonna be an easy case
because Warren Jeffs
was not being tried for
raping Elissa Wall.
He was being tried for
having somebody else do it.
- When the jury deliberated,
it was anguish.
It was hours of not knowing
if it was worth it.
- After two days
of deliberation,
the jury returns with a verdict.
- I was worried that Warren
wouldn't be convicted.
And I was worried
what would happen to my mother.
What would happen to my sisters.
- Never before had
I allowed myself to believe
that I was worth something,
that I was not
someone else's property.
That I deserved to be protected.
Warren's trial
was me finding my voice
and consciously owning
my voice and my story.
Being able to speak my truth
and own my power
changed me forever.
- Elissa Wall was brave enough
and strong enough
to testify against Warren Jeffs
and put him in prison,
and he's never left
a jail cell since.
Elissa Wall is more powerful
than Warren Jeffs ever was.
- Allen Steed later plead guilty
to illegally marrying Elissa.
He was sentenced
to a month in prison
and three years probation.
Defectors now appear
in record numbers,
inspired by those
who have come before them.
- More and more people
are waking up and getting out.
Elissa Wall broke the dam.
- I received
a phone call one day
from my youngest sister.
And ultimately
she made her way out.
And, just recently,
my other sister
made her way out.
It's been incredible
to reconnect
and to kind of patch
that part of my heart.
- Warren Jeffs used
his family's high standing
in his faof his flock, us order
controlling everything they did
in the name of God.
Jeffs destroyed countless lives,
manipulating thousands
to be complicit in the process.
But ultimately, he was
brought down by the strength
of the very voices
he tried to suppress.
Now, Elissa Wall continues
the fight for those
who remain under the power
of Warren Jeffs,
still trapped in the FLDS.
- We all have our own journey.
We all have our own story.
But we're all connected.
By leaving,
whether we knew it or not,
not only were we choosing us,
but we were also
helping other people realize
they, too, can do that.
It is not about Warren.
We are bigger than Warren.
We no longer are small.
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