| Show ' i 4 - - - -v- -- ' 4 J : 1 NM The Salt Lake Tribune 1 Sunday June A3 5 1988 : 1 1 1 - 111 1 - I i 7Tert4orism of Singers Le arons Incites Polygamists to Speak 1 I I ' f f! 1 f it flrtec ''And it shall come to pass that I the Lord God will send one mighty and strong holding the scepter of pow:er in his hand whose mouth shall utter words eterto set in order the house of God nal words 1 't Mormon "Doctrine and Covenants": Section 85 : By Bella Stumbo : Los Angeles Times Writer When Daniel Ben Jordan a polygamist leader from 's Colorado was murdered in Sanpete County last fall while on a camping trip with his family veteran law officers all over Utah felt the chilled hand of a man six years in his grave: ' The Lambs of God were back and killing again in the name of their late leader Ervil LeBaron ' One Mighty and Strong : Before LeBaron died of a heart attack in Utah State Prison in 1981 his Lambs ranked among the most infamous sects of recent times a little band of religious fanatics fully convinced that it was their divine right to murder any polygamist who refused to pay homage to LeBaron's throne And although LeBaron was convicted of mastermind' ing only one murder — and just one of his Lambs was ever convicted — police remain convinced that he was ' directly responsible for at least 16 other unsolved mur ders over two decades including those of his older broth: er and a pregnant teen-ag- e daughter There isn't much doubt in their minds either about 'wt the new Lambs are A manhunt headed by the FBI is on throughout half a dozen Western states and Mexico for at least three of LeBaron's children mere toddlers when dad was put away but big strapping teen-ag- e boys and girls now — one of them Heber is already wanted for a Texas bank robbery last summer As for motive authorities figure that Jordan formerly LeBaron's top lieutenant was probably murdered on grounds that he was a traitor having started his own church while the "true" One Mighty and Strong festered in prison ''That's how they think I know it all sounds crazy because it is" said Sheriff Chuck Ramsey in whose county 'Jordan was murdered "When you get into this stuff you walk into a whole different world It's hard - for the average citizen to believe any of it's for realBut if the specter of a new generation of Lambs appalls police that's nothing compared to the current of horror and fear that shot through the polygamist world —that scattered amorphous American minority of ex: communicated Mormon fundamentalists who still be lieye in taking multiple wives : From Utah to colonies throughout the West and Mexi: co their polygamist leaders are now double-boltin- g doors at night and looking over their shoulders on the : streets In Colorado Dan Jordan's four wives and 42 children are terrified that they may be next Rumors are : rampant that the new cultists even have a hit list : Until they're captured the LeBaron drama alone would be more than enough to keep polygamists every: where in turmoil But Jordan was barely cold in his grave when along -- '''' t I 1l 77 ' t' i 4 i' ' —17 q i 4 1 s 4 7 i 'N'N ' N ss If A-- - -- : b:e'"1 I teen-ag- e - ' instead who innocently spilled the beans one afternoon as she sat on the living room couch watching a soap i ' ' 1 ' ' ': - 1- ' w - '' 's '— : A c— 4: t rt :: t - i 4 I 5"'': 1I ' -- i i k i ' 0 ' :' - r : : 4ot I I 00 1 - 11r4"1 : si::::::::::: 11 '11 ' ::: a : t044-it- IQ - t - i—: - ::::: 'e? 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LeBaron Ervil's older brother is working on model of "celestial spaceships" Ross came another garish incident to catapult polygamists into the national spotlight local family the SingThis time it was a ers who snapped Still embittered over the police shoot ing of their patriarch 10 years ago the family bombed a Mormon church in January then holed up in their farmhouse where they vowed to remain until their fallen leader was resurrected Divine revelation they said had promised this miracle After a nationally televised standoff with lice the drama finally ended in a bloody shootout that left a state corrections officer dead and a polygamist wounded — and generally reinforced the public perception of all polygamists everywhere as a bunch of spooky flaky crazies well-know- r i':i:: ::: i 5 ? :' '''' :: :' 1 Ac4 1 s'---- " ' i':': fz55456 0 :::s: :ic --- ' q ! i 't'6'f'A4 I accept as their lot "My sister has been afraid to even be seen with me for 50 years" sighed one little woman whose husband has a dozen other wives "But we talk on the phone almost every day and sometimes I get to see her for a few minutes down at the market or at the funerals " when somebody in the family dies But others are far from cowed including several sedate old ladies and courtly polygamist patriarchs who still remember the days when entire families children too were routinely assaulted in their homes by vigilantes — routed from their beds in the middle of the night beaten reviled and thrown into jail They're not only unafraid to say what's on their minds but even willing to be publicly identified "Why not?" demanded Rhea Kunz a charming alert widow of 83 still a prolific author of fundamentalist literature "The church I love has forsaken our highest and most beautiful principles they've thrown me into jail and they've excommunicated me What else can they sweet-face- n 13-da- y d do?" Some of the younger set are going still further trotting TV crews right through the master bedroom if that's where they want to go which you betcha they do Still others particularly educated professionals who hold down respectable jobs by day then sneak home to a houseful of wives and children by night even envision s movement will make room the day when the for them too If the Amish can pull their kids out of public schools on religious grounds they ask then why doesn't the same constitutional protection apply to polygamy? Nowadays an occasional car on the freeways here even sports a bumper sticker reading: Polygs are People Too Last but not least are the would-b- e prophets who claim firsthand authority via direct revelation from God or one of His emissaries that they are It the One Mighty and Strong or alternately the Holder of the Keys (also mentioned in Mormon scriptures) dispatched to Earth to carry on in the tradition of Mormon Church founder Joseph Smith who both preached and practiced polygamy as a direct revelation from God until a mob murdered him for it in 1844 There are so many aspirants to title of One Mighty and Strong — alleged revelations are a dime a dozen in this state — that the average polygamist can only despair of ever selecting the right One Indeed if the law hadn't cut his career short Ervil LeBaron might have died an old man before he eliminated all his potential rivals Nothing divides polygamists more than their internal battles over precisely who's God's top man on Earth at any given moment exclusively authorized to lead and in particular perform plural marriages Most polygamist colonies argue that their leader is the One and are forever courting the multitude of unaligned independents At any given time at least half a dozen prophets roam the streets of Salt Lake City alone They call in to announce themselves on radio talk shows exhorting the populace to flock unto them One OMS in fact is Ross LeBaron Ervil's older brother a harmless gentle old eccentric with a hoary a talk show white beard who recently even guest-hoste- d on station KZZI operated by a brazen band of Texans who take open delight in antagonizing the Mormon Church leadership In his spare time Ross LeBaron 73 who says his " is working on a brother Ervil was model of the "celestial spaceships" that he says Adam and Jesus Christ among others used in their travels from heaven to Earth In any case an outsider quickly learns polygamists aren't kidding when they say their population is too disparate to fit any tidy stereotype Since polygamy is technically illegal (although no police agency in the country even attempts to enforce the law any more) estimates of their actual numbers vary wildly ranging from 10000 to 60000 nationally (with some say around 1200 in the Los Angeles area alone) The oldest largest and colony — and also still the most rigidly unfriendly to outsiders — is Colorado City Ariz (also called Short Creek) just across the Utah state line But Utah where Brigham Young finally settled with his flock still has the largest concentration by far estimated at anywhere from 10000 to 30000 Beyond their multiple wives however little else appears to bind polygamists not even religious conviction Although many devoutly believe it is God's will that they enter into plural marriages to "multiply and replenish the earth' others couldn't cite the proper scripture to save their lives g Amid the array of oddballs eccentrics "devil-possessed- best-know- n mind-bogglin- standoff with police the drama finally ended 4fter a nationally televised y in a bloody shootout that left a stale corrections officer dead and a polygamist wounded — and generally reinforced the public perception of all polygantists everywhere as a bunch of spooky flaky crazies 13-da- 4- i4c“:ds$MOW i k Times Photographs dren Two of his wives are daughters of another 2 wives from former marriages In short it would take a lifelong scholar to generalize about polygamists The best a casual visitor can offer is a visit with two of Utah's most visible and articulate polygamists diametrical opposites who between them provide a short course that is both fascinating and maybe even fair Tom Green 37 is an outspoken independent who spent 14 years in a monogamous Mormon marriage before he "came out of the closet" four years ago swiftly acquiring four wives Owen Allred 73 is a lifelong fundamentalist who became leader of the Apostolic United Brethren Utah's largest congregation of practicing polygamists with a membership of around 2000 after his brother Rulon was murdered in 1977 by two of Ervil LeBaron's assassins deadly efficient young women Charlie Manson might have admired It was for ordering Rulon Allred's murder that LeBaron was finally imprisoned (The actual killers got away) Allred had to be cajoled into an interview but he finally agreed to admit yet another stranger into his home a neat little blue house in a small immaculate family compound on the outskirts of Salt Lake surrounded by fermountains tile fields and A dignified old gentleman formally dressed for visitors in a conservative brown suit on a weekday after cold-eye- d snow-cappe- d hard-workin- Ak 4" 0 " FA ve s rS! f M 1W4 I eft -a be Linda only giggled Likewise she found nothing troublesome about her marriage at age 14 to mother's husband "Oh it's no problem" she shrugged eyes still glued to the TV "Your relationship just changes is all Its like well you become good friends instead of mother-daughte- r I mean Mom doesn't have authority over me anymore Tom does" Mom then spoke up which she rarely does A large reticent woman Beth Green is the only one of Green's wives who doesn't even pretend to enjoy the unending parade of reporters tromping through her house But speaking in the listless voice of a woman trying to do her duty she had this to say about the rotational sex routine: "It's really so much more exciting than being in a monogamous marriage I mean I wait four nights for my turn with him so I'm more excited about it than I would be if well uh I had him every night all to myself He takes us out on dates too at least once a month so you look forward to that too your night out on the town you know — getting all dressed up and stuff I'd be bored in a monogamous marriage" Tom Green was visibly ruffled to walk into his living room and find this particular conversation under way But the guy's quick on his feet and made the best of the situation "What I offer them is knowledge of the outside world and of the scriptures And though they may be young they've been bred to be wives and mothers at an early age In fact their innocence is one of the things about them that I find most appealing" he says casually patting June on the stomach in passing then settling onto the couch exhorting the populace to flock unto them chair stern and noon Allred sat erectly in a stiff until he relaxed The living room was an unpretentious place quiet and warm filled with well-use- d furniture walls lined with dozens of family photographs and yellow-tincture- d portraits of Joseph Smith his closest disciples and many of those early fathers of fundamentalism who refused to abide by the Mormon Church's ban on plural marriages in 1890 Declaring the ban an unholy act of political expediency aimed at winning statehood for Utah some of those early fundamentalists fled to Mexico: others organized the US colonies: many simply lied about having present-daextra wives But to this day major fundamentalist leaders like Owen Allred say their authority is based on appointments by various of those men Allred who avoids the title One Mighty and Strong preferring to call himself instead the Holder of the Keys says he and his brother before him were appointed by Joseph Musser one-tim- e member of the church's inner circle — although much to Allred's aggravation the Johnson clan in Short Creek claims Musser passed the power on to them That is not however an squabble that Allred intends to publicly discuss The LeBarons are another hard-backe- d "Besides" adds Green stroking a wife with each hand mother "just think how much easier it is for a here than in a monogamous marriage Here she's got three other women to help her out to teach her what she doesn't know You can't beat motherhood under conditeen-ag- e matter "The tactics of this new LeBaron crowd are nauseating" Allred bristled straightaway at his visitor "And it just makes me sick the way the press keeps calling them a 'rival sect' and all this talk about a 'power struggle' — as if we've got a thing in common with people like that Just once" he commanded "I wish you people would get it right" That much off his chest he relaxed a bit in his chair "I've known the LeBaron family for 40 years and some of the brothers are good men They disowned Ervil years ago because he was crazy only after power and money — he was always demanding that 1111101I tithe to him and he wouldn't That's why they killed him And this new bunch now" Allred finished sputtering for words "why they're just a pack of murdering thugs They shouldn't even be called polygamists (Most lawmen agree As the FBI's Calvin Clegg says: "At least 99 percent of all polygamists are peaceful people no threat to anybody Its unfortunate that they're stigmatized by a band of renegades") It's an entirely different scene over at the Tom Green household where almost no subject is taboo Green has no problems whatsoever with media attention To the contrary the more the better Green has long since discovered what a few flamboyant polygamists gosh-darne- I4 have always known: being a high-profil- iconoclast can e be both profitable and fun Ile especially loves the trips to appear on TV talk shows from San Francisco to New York Ile thoroughly enjoys all the lesser perks too including free dinners in fancy restaurants for himself and his brood (four wives and II children seven of them inherited from one wife's prior marriage) ranch-styl- e The Greens live in a comfortable house in a middle-incom- e suburban Salt Lake housing tract which he says he affords as a magazine salesman with the whole family pitching in g Green is a big man with piercing green eyes casually dressed in blue jeans A religious history major at the state university he instantly impresses one as both smart and smooth tailor-mad- e for the electronic age "It's time fundamentalists were seen for what they are — not a bunch of crazy sex perverts hopping from bed to bed but an overwhelmingly dignified responsible group of people" he declares "This is the most unselfish Christian way of life there is" Maybe so But Tom Green the consummate public performer has apparently decided nevertheless that sex is what sells and he doesn't waste much time getting to it "Unlike some polygamists I don't think it's a good idea to have my wives scattered around in different houses" he volunteers "In those situations you miss part of the joy of plural marriage having a lot of loving people together under one room sharing chores enjoying each other "So I've arranged it so that each of my wives has her own room and when it's their turn they come to me at night in my master bedroom" Each wife he explains has her own bureau drawer in his room where she stores her "special nighties- - and other female paraphernalia i OEPi 73'"'"-1- I -4' irk kit I-- ' v ' ' v ' t 1t" ' 4 '4' $ 1 '''1' ' ' o i1 : I ''t '''9:"1-'':'-)'i- - -'1-!: 1 v toz4' I i4e14— 1 )5 i 'I ''''- -' g' ' - i ' j 41 i' ''': 1 ' zt I c 4 ' '1 4 s ' ' o - : - i it ' i cg ' Lt" t t lp 1 "—' ' ' 1711 'Tr:- :it ' tit 3C'"- 1 doogo- - i ''' :ti ''' yr 11 : e 4 : ' i- ' ' - 1 'i--t 1 ! I 4 - - !''''o"t'i'''sr os c :: A n i5 ! & 1 r f' -- "'4''- - : 41 i ''' j ' '' oc- -- : I :i 4 - 0 toev 'i J ' '' '' ' ti'ir' ' :i wok A 1i:A kot 4": N 1 ' ' '" 4 I d law-abidi- ObP - tions like these- y 1 AP s At any given time at least halJ a dozen selfiproclaimed prophets roam the streets of Salt Lake City alone They call in to announce themselves on radio talk shows A ef half-sister- WOMIINMINIMMOIIMMa nice-lookin- fanatics cultists killers and illiterates who refuse to send their children to school are decent people of dignity intelligence and education For every fundamentalist dressed in tight collars long sleeves and pastel floral prints is one in Calvin Klein jeans and alligator polo shirts Alongside the welfare freeloaders breeding with abang citizens who don are countless industrious wouldn't dream of having more wives or children than they can support (One of the most fascinating clans the Kingstons of Salt Lake City are in fact shrewd austere millionaires owners of banks mines factories and farms although they reportedly live and dress like pauMormon clothing withpers still wearing out pockets in which to carry worldly goods) It is a population of fathers child brides prearranged marriages and sometimes gebut also one of men and netically appalling inbreeding women who are just as shocked by such practices as anybody else Some are so radiantly serene they can make plural marriages sound genuinely blessed others only make you want to throw up opera A pretty little blonde 16 and three months pregnant Linda is the daughter of Green's senior wife Beth 42 Furthermore she added absently sister wife Shirley 18 a frail little thing who looks closer to 11 also only just pregnant is the daughter of Green's most recent wife June 37 who looked ready to give birth any minute herself as she lay on the floor sweating and sometimes groaning through clenched teeth as sister wife Beth gently stroked her bulging stomach and placed cool compresses on her forehead Compounding the confusion June and Beth according to Linda are also Asked precisely what the relationship between all these upcoming babies would MMMNIM door-to-do- gin In the courtroom finale in early May family members were convicted on 20 charges And time was that would have been the end of it With alfew flamboyant exceptions polygamists have always been notoriously loath to expose or explain themselves to outsiders public opinion be damned hiding away instead in closed rural colonies or leading double lives behind locked doors in the cities and suburbs : But this time it's different Polygamists are about as : stirred up as they ever get and in stark departure from their usual reclusive ways are saying so in surprising : nUmbers : For some speaking out doesn't come easy They're so nervous that their voices crack they speak in whispers : and in public places tremble like Third World refugees who expect to be seized by the secret police any minute :That's one of the first lessons awaiting a visitor to Utah a : virtual theocracy where polygamists are not only kicked Saints for out of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Da- y 'their beliefs but also treated as social outcasts on the order of biblical lepers Which many seem to simply 4s1 four-bedroo- 26-year-o- ld : ' —I Utah polygamist Tom Green schools his 4 wives (with babies and in sweater) 11 chil- - -- 19 --- -- civil-right- 1 chores "And frankly" Green always adds -- I almost never know who's night it is The schedule is posted on the refrigerator door but they keep track of it better than I What Green doesn't say is that he's married to a pair of mothers and their respective daughters from former marriages It was Green's youngest bride Linda 4 : in and have we do" kt :' s And next generally sleep morning breakfast in bed- - That breakfast he explains is prepared and served by whichever wife's turn it is to do the daily cooking The "sister wives" rotate all domestic rge APol gt 4 k sT ovikKi Owen Allred 73 leads Utah's largest congregation of polygamists estimated at 2000 ambition is to someday "have at Green's least 50 children and a dozen wives" And "I agree it but I may be a double standard" he says pleasantly didn't make the rules God did" It's a good thing that Tom Green is an independent If he were a part of Owen Allred's congregation he'd be lucky to get even one wife much less a boudoir of mothers and daughters Although Allred does his best not to criticize other fundamentalists he can't conceal his disapproval of Green's brand of polygamy Nor can his wives and daughters They're so revolted that Mired temporarily took a back seat and let the women talk "Our lifestyle is based on genuine religious conviction and if you have that going for you its a truly beautiful thing I wouldn't trade it for the world" said Dauna Sandmeyer quietly "But one of the first principles is that sister wives must be absolute equals And how" she asks with a sad smile "can mothers and daughters ever be equals? Human nature prevents it- Likewise Allred's group insists that marriage partners be at least 18 But if the Al !reds are model fundamentalists others are far from it "In fact I'd say that today at least 80 percent of all polygamists are doing it simply because they like having more than one wife there's no religion concerned with it at all" sniffed Owen Allred And that includes members long-ter- tight-lippe- of his own flock "I make it plain I won't give anyone permission to have a plural wife unless I feel sure that the mans practically a saint That man's gotta prove to me that he's qualified to support them and is kind sweet honest and just a darned good man who'll make a fine husband and father otherwise I won't let him have even one wife" As a result he says probably no more than 10 percent of his followers although all believe in the principle of plural marriage actually have multiple wives For all their differences in ego lifestyle and personal position in the polygamist community Tom Green and Owen Allred share in common with every other even remotely serious polygamist an unyielding conviction that as fundamentalists they are in fact better Mormons See Column I hard-workin- A-- 5 1 g |
