Videotape reveals Jeffs' mannerisms

To the world outside the Fundamentalist LDS Church, he has been known only as the fugitive polygamous prophet. The photographs show a warm, patriarchal smile betraying what authorities contend is Warren Jeffs' cruel legacy of child bride marriages, the dissolution of families, the excommunications and the bleeding of a community's financial resources.

Now, law enforcement want a purported videotape of Jeffs that shows him moving about as he speaks.

Warren Jeffs video 54-second segment of video showing Warren Jeffs. (File is in .AVI format, is 8.39 Mb in length and has no audio track.) Play video

The Deseret Morning News has obtained a copy of rare videotape of fugitive Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs.

"It's the first video I've heard of," Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said Wednesday. "I've heard of lots of (audio) tape recordings, but not a video of him."

The video, which is nearly four hours long, was provided to the Deseret Morning News by a source who wished to remain anonymous because of family who remain within the FLDS Church. The source contacted a reporter hoping to publicize Jeffs' moving images and assist police in apprehending the polygamist leader who is on the FBI's Most Wanted List.

"Hearing his voice with the pictures, his mannerisms. If that'll help them (law enforcement), that's all I care about," said the source, who also was said to be providing a copy to the Utah Attorney General's Office.

Shurtleff said if his office obtained a copy of the videotape, he would forward it to the FBI.

"To have some actual motion pictures would be very helpful. We've been using a pretty old photo anyway," he said.

The video was shot in 1993 when Jeffs was principal of the Alta Academy, a now defunct FLDS school at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon. The tape is old, it skips at times and the colors bleed a little. Dozens of FLDS children sit in a room, waiting to be entertained by the musical program.

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."