Another Lawsuit Against Warren Jeffs
Timothy Sandefur on May 20th 2007
KTAR radio has this report on a lawsuit filed by one of the formerly loyal supporters of polygamist petty theocrat Warren Jeffs, who has now filed a lawsuit against the dear leader. His goal? To learn the location of his family, whom Jeffs spirited away in punishment against Musser for having been arrested:
On an errand to Colorado Springs, Musser stopped for a drink and was later arrested for driving under the influence. He spent a few days in jail. Police noticed the Hildale address on his license and asked about Jeffs.
“I was pretty scared,”‘ Musser said. “And I was afraid to go back to the house because I was afraid (police) would be following me.”
He called his contact, Nephi Jeffs, and was told to dump the cell phones, GPS systems and anything else that would connect him to the house shared by the wives in Westcliffe.
After waiting several days, Musser returned to Westcliffe but found his family and Jeffs’ wives were gone. Someone else was living in the house.
Musser hasn’t seen his wife or son, who turns 2 on July 30, since last July. Sent back to Hildale and ordered to write repentance letters, Musser feigned obedience and then returned to Colorado to look for his family.
He’s been told Jeffs assigned Vivian and Levi to another “more worthy’” husband, a common punishment.
Filed in The Belfry
[...] Remember the lawsuit filed against Warren Jeffs by one of his former deputies, Wendell Musser, who was trying to find his family? The reunion happened–but it wasn’t a happy day: On Friday inside an auto parts store in Hildale, Utah, Musser saw Vivian Barlow Musser and their 18-month-old son Levi - but his wife rejected admonitions of love and refused to let the 22-year-old father cradle his son…. [...]
[...] Here’s a fascinating exchange between Kerry Howley and Timothy Sandefur regarding the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints (noted previously here and here). I should add that subsequent details about police and court procedure both before and after the raid on the FLDS compound have been very troubling to me, making me doubt my previous, uncomplicated endorsement of the state’s actions. [...]