Kingston teen tells of murder plot

A teenage girl removed from the polygamist Kingston clan because she was abused testified that members of the group hatched plans to murder a judge and other state officials, as well as kidnap other Kingston children who are in state custody.

The girl also said some polygamist relatives wanted her to commit suicide on Feb. 22, the anniversary of her removal from her parents' custody.

The 16-year-old girl testified amid heavy security with a therapist by her side in the courtroom of 3rd District Juvenile Judge Andrew Valdez on Tuesday. She spoke at an emergency hearing convened to discuss "safety matters" involving the 11 children of John Daniel Kingston and Heidi Mattingly.

Valdez ordered an immediate end to the children's weekly supervised visits with Mattingly. Visits with John Daniel Kingston were previously terminated.

The judge also imposed no-contact orders on several Kingston clan members to keep them away from the children and said he hoped a "charging agency," presumably the district attorney's office, was "paying attention" to the claims voiced in court.

"Hopefully, some people are going to start going to jail," Valdez said.

Months earlier, Valdez ruled that both Mattingly and Kingston had abused the children, but the court was working toward reunifying them with their mother.

Ten of the couple's 11 children have been removed from the home and placed in foster care, with a relative or in a residential facility. Mattingly still has custody of an infant.

Six deputies eyed the crowd in court Tuesday, and extra deputies were deployed outside the building's parking garage. The judge said law enforcement officials showed up at his home this weekend, telling him he needed protection.

"Any members of the (Kingston) family who come to my home will pay a price," Valdez said.

The girl testified several clan members had discussed murder and kidnap plans with her. She said the plots included:

• "Blow up the courthouse" to assassinate Valdez.

• Murder state Guardian ad Litem Kristen Brewer, Assistant Attorney General Carolyn Nichols and Division of Child and Family Services case worker Curtis Giles by running their cars off the road or shooting them.

• Send masked clan members to kidnap Kingston children in foster care, even if it means killing foster parents, and spiriting the children to clan-owned ranches in Idaho to hide them.

A foster mother of two of the children testified she has been followed, suggesting her pursuers were Kingston clan members. At one point, Valdez suggested moving the children to secret locations, but Guardian ad Litem Brewer said the Kingstons would always be able to find them.