From Deseret News archives:

Videotape reveals Jeffs' mannerisms

4-hour record provided to News may help in search for the FLDS leader

Published: Friday, June 9, 2006 3:25 p.m. MDT
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Jeffs is the master of ceremonies for a children's program of skits and musical performances. He stands before the microphone, a tall man wearing a dark suit and thick glasses. His dark hair is combed back and he walks slightly hunched over.

"I want you young ones to be sure to be quiet. Don't talk out. Listen," he tells a room full of young children. "We always begin programs with prayer. Even in our fun, we remember Heavenly Father. That's what we want you to have today."

The little children shift excitedly in their chairs, looking around the room.

Jeffs chastises some children in the back of the room for climbing on an organ.

"I will say the prayer to begin with," Jeffs says. "Please close your eyes, fold your arms."

After the curtain parts, teenage girls dressed in pioneer-style flower print dresses, their hair in long braids and boys in checkered shirts and dark colored denim pants stand and sing. The children are entertained by skits about eating too much, Cinderella, the Three Bears and musical numbers by their fellow students playing the violin, trumpet and clarinet.

Before each skit, Jeffs introduces the next number. Midway through the children's program, he pops out, wearing a Groucho Marx nose and eyebrows over his thick glasses. A ballcap on his head is tilted slightly.

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"Thank you! Thank you! Oh, thank you, ladies and gentlemen!" he says, excitedly. "I am going to play a violin song and you are going to sing along!"

With that, the man who would become prophet uses a toy violin to lead the children in a rendition of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."

"Sing it! Louder! Louder!" he shouts to the kids as he leads them through "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and "Frere Jacques." The children applaud excitedly. Jeffs did not repeat that number when the skits were performed for adults later that afternoon. In that portion of the tape, men can be seen sitting in the audience with their wives. Like any other elementary school production, parents stand to take photos of their kids.

Sitting behind Jeffs as he conducts a choir of teenagers is an older man who appears to be Rulon Jeffs, who led the FLDS Church until his death in 2002 at age 92. A polygamist rumored to have as many as 75 wives and dozens of children, Rulon Jeffs was succeeded by his son, Warren.

Now, Warren Jeffs remains a fugitive on the run. He faces rape-as-an-accomplice charges in Washington County, for allegedly forcing a teenage girl into a "spiritual" marriage with an older man. In 2005, Jeffs was charged in Mohave County, Ariz., with sexual misconduct related to arranging child bride marriages.

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A video shot in 1993 shows FLDS leader Warren Jeffs as principal of the Alta Academy, a now defunct FLDS school.

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