Jeffs hangs up the phone, stands up, and tells the guard he is ready to go. Breathing heavily, Nephi holds the phone to his ear and tells his brother, "We love you. We love you," and watches Jeffs leave the small room. Nephi remains behind silent, looking down at his notes, then removes his glasses and holds his arms over his eyes, wiping away tears.

It is several moments before Nephi puts his pen and notebook away, looks again at where his brother once sat. He stands and leans heavily against the wall, waiting, with his hands together as if he is praying, and finally leaves.

Besides criminal investigators, civil lawyers have already begun looking at transcripts unsealed by a judge on Tuesday.

"I think that helps us get a little flavor of what's going on," said Jeffrey L. Shields, an attorney representing the court-appointed special fiduciary in charge of the FLDS Church's real-estate arm, the United Effort Plan Trust.

He took particular interest in a Jan. 24 conversation between Jeffs and followers in Eldorado, Texas.

"I want you to tell the presiding elder that the Lord showed me that David Fischer and family should be sent back to Short Creek and be removed from the land and go in the house where Lindsay Barlow lives, make the move quietly," Jeffs said.

Administrators of the UEP Trust have faced resistance ever since the courts took control of the $110 million financial empire in 2005, amid allegations that Jeffs and other top FLDS leaders mismanaged it.

"The more information we get, the better we can make judgements," Shields said. "Warren has been totally non-cooperative."

Shields recently subpoenaed the Washington County prosecutors and the sheriff, seeking copies of the tapes. On Tuesday, lawyers representing Jeffs asked a judge in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court to quash it.

"Jeffs makes his motion on the grounds that the subpoena seeks government records which contain information 'the disclosure of which constitutes a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, which were created or maintained for ... criminal ... enforcement purposes,' and the release of which 'would create a danger of depriving a person of a right to a fair trial or impartial hearing,' " attorney Robert Keller wrote in court papers.

Lawyers representing ex-FLDS members, including the woman who testified against Jeffs, have also sought the tapes to use in their lawsuits against Jeffs.

In Arizona, Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith said the unsealed papers and tapes could be used as evidence in Jeffs' upcoming trial on charges of sexual misconduct with a minor as an accomplice, and incest as an accomplice. He is accused of performing more child-bride marriages.

"Because it could be potential evidence we can't comment on it," said Mohave County Attorney's investigator Gary Engels.