FLDS sect may splinter now that Jeffs is in prison

The Fundamentalist LDS Church could be in for a leadership shake-up — or it may splinter now that polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs is in prison, the attorney generals of Arizona and Utah say.

"It's awfully hard to have a leader in prison," Terry Goddard said in an interview with the Deseret Morning News.

Goddard was in Park City this past week for the conference of the National Association of Attorneys General. In the interview, he weighed in on Jeffs' recent sentence.

Jeffs was convicted of first-degree felony rape as an accomplice and sentenced to two terms of five-years-to-life in the Utah State Prison for performing a marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin. His attorneys have said they will appeal.

The FLDS leader is facing similar charges in Arizona, and a federal grand jury has indicted him for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution stemming from his time on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list.

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said there may be a split within the ranks of the closed polygamous society.

"I've heard from members of the FLDS Church who are standing by him 100 percent," Shurtleff said. "(They are) telling me how wrong we are, how godly a man he is and how we don't know the true Warren Jeffs."

Others are beginning to waver.

"We've heard there are a number who are hedging their bets and looking to the new potential leader," he said, adding that there may be divisions within FLDS enclaves scattered across the West and in Canada.

Goddard said he expects a challenge to Jeffs' leadership, especially since the FLDS leader renounced his role as "prophet" in a series of jailhouse conversations that were recorded.

Tape recordings

The Washington County Attorney's Office also has released 10 recorded telephone conversations in response to a records request by the Deseret Morning News.

On the CD, Jeffs announces that he had been "immoral" with a sister and a daughter when he was 20, but does not elaborate. His defense attorneys have said the conversations were made at a time when Jeffs was suffering from medical and mental problems, and he has since recanted his renunciation as the FLDS prophet. In one conversation a follower asks: "Are you just giving us a test right now?"

The tapes also coincide with a suicide attempt Jeffs made while incarcerated.

In one conversation, Jeffs orders people to move homes and tells one of his wives, Naomi, that she will be given to someone else.

"You will need to be re-baptized and that you'll be given to Brother William. So will all the ladies," he said. "You heard the recording? Did you hear the recording I made?"

"Yes," Naomi Jeffs replies.