Jailers keep Jeffs on medical watch

Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs remains under a medical/suicide watch in a Kingman, Ariz., jail.

"He's back in the quarters he was in," Mohave County sheriff's spokeswoman Trish Carter said Thursday. "He's under a medical watch."

Carter could not say if there were any special measures being taken for the polygamist sect leader in light of the health scare. He is already under 24-hour watch and is kept in isolation at the Mohave County Jail.

Jeffs was flown to a Las Vegas hospital on Tuesday after jail staff noticed he was lethargic, feverish and shaking. His exact medical condition is unknown, but Carter said it was not life threatening. He was released from the hospital late Wednesday.

Jeffs, 52, had attempted suicide while incarcerated in Hurricane's Purgatory Jail. Court documents filed in Utah said he also went through extended periods of a self-imposed fast and developed bleeding ulcers on his knees from spending so much time praying.

Jeffs was convicted in Utah of rape as an accomplice stemming from a marriage he performed between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin. In Arizona, he is facing sexual conduct with a minor as an accomplice charges, accusing him of performing more underage marriages.

A hearing on the charges scheduled for Friday in Mohave County Superior Court has been continued, but not because of Jeffs' medical problems. Court clerks said it was delayed because the judge has a jury trial that is running longer than expected.

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com