Police raided an FLDS compound in Texas where they found hundreds of women and girls. Every day, she inspires me to be better. Matt Spencer/Courtesy of Grand Central Publishing. When she was just 19 years old, she was forced to marry the 85-year-old Rulon. In 2011, Warren Jeffs was found guilty of sexual assault of a child and aggravated sexual assault against a child, relating to the raid. Defense witness Charlotte Jessop answers questions during Warren Jeffs trial September 18 September 2007 in St. George, Utah. Its tough to be back, it brings up a lot of things that are still really raw obedience is the only act that you can perform and anything otherwise is damnation, said Musser, adding, I was horrified it hit me. The story of Rebecca Musser vs. FLDS leader and notorious FBI fugitive Warren Jeffs. He had a wife and five children at the time of his conversion. See you out on the trails. Endlessly.. A former polygamist sect wife who played a major role in putting Fundamentalist LDS leader Warren Jeffs behind bars spoke outside of the courtroom this week for the first time. Who were Warren Jeffs wives and where are they now? SELF-PROCLAIMED prophet Warren Jeffs is a central figure in The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints(FLDS). In September 2019, she wrote a National Daughters Day post to Natalia, writing, One of the greatest gifts of my life is being mom to this beautiful, courageous, loving, kind, inspiring, sassy, adventurous, determined, brilliant, fun, sparkling, ABBA-loving soul, Natalia. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Love you, Kyle. Warren Jeffs' Children & Family: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know When Rebecca isnt working, she raises her two kids and enjoys playing the violin in addition to discovering what the state has to offer. The FLDS is entirely. One of his former wives, Rebecca Musser, sat down with Dateline: NBCs Keith Morrison for the Friday, May 8 episode, titled Unbreakable, to talk about what it was like being married to Jeffs and why she decided to leave the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS). Mildred "Millie" Blackmore & her sisters, Alyshia Rae Blackmore and Nolita Collen Blackmore. Be you. Eventually, Rulon passed away, which left Warren in charge. I was able to slip out past security guards and get away. It was considered a "massive honor" within the community, notes Rebecca, adding: "Rulon Jeffs was 85 when I married him. #nationaldaughtersday #rebeccamusser #wildchild #mygirl #mommy #instakids #fun #mum #toddler #beauty #parenting #mydaughter #mama #sisters #mybaby #motherdaughter #nature #sister #mumlife #c #cutebaby #handmade #art #myworld #babylove #a #girls #sweet #abba, A post shared by Rebecca Musser (@1rebeccamusser) on Sep 25, 2019 at 9:10pm PDT. RELATED:Who Killed A Former French Model Discovered Dead In Her Backyard Pool? Cult leader Warren Jeffs, the notorious leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS Church), had dozens of wives-nearly 80-and more than 50 children. I knew that even the little freedoms that I had would be taken, she said. Dateline NBC is the longest-running series in NBC primetime history and is in its 32nd season. Be wild and gloriously free. Rebecca took the stand as a key state witness against Warren Jeffs, the new, self-proclaimed prophet of the FLDS. Finally, Brielle Decker has also come forward as the 65th wife of Jeffs. However, a select few have opened up to the world through outlets like CNN and documentaries, sharing just how terrifying life was for them growing up. As a member of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), Musser grew up believing that the purpose of a woman was to get married and she was forced into marriage at 19 years old. GettyDefense witness Joanna Keate answers questions during Warren Jeffs trial 18 September 2007 in St. George, Utah. 'Dateline' Preview: Warren Jeffs' Behavior Examined As Rebecca Musser In 2007, Jeffs was tried and convicted on two counts of being an accomplice to rape. The next year, Musser and Wall would both serve as key witnesses against the man they once believed was their prophet in a sensational trial that captivated the nation. It wasnt easy since Rebecca talked about the abuse she faced as a child. The story of Rebecca Musser vs. FLDS leader and notorious FBI fugitive Warren Jeffs. GettyST. Rebecca opens up to Keith Morrison about life in the church and why she decided to leave the denomination. In 2009, Muyssers sister Elissa Wall published Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs. During that trial, one of his wives, Margaret Thomas, and several other members of his religious sect, were called by the defense team. If there was a way that I could have stopped it and I didnt, I dont know if I could have lived with myself, knowing that.. Warren Steed Jeffs (born December 3, 1955) is an American religious leader who has been convicted of several sex crimes and two assisted sex crimes involving children. He was not born and raised in the fundamentalist church, and he was converted to it. After his arrest, she was placed into foster care, then taken in by a cousin who was an ex-FLDS member. He is. Mussers father enrolled her and her siblings in the FLDS school known as Alta Academy, where they learned the tenets of the FLDS faith. The book received positive reviews including one from The Today Show, and it was also featured in their Today Books segment as well as on NPR, Secular News Daily and Publishers Weekly. Mildred was married to Jeffs at the age of 13. ", "An 85-year-old cult leader forced teens to have sex with him. You can leave. According to the Facebook page, the organization also helps people rebuild their lives and redefine themselves after abuse and oppression. [1] The book received a positive welcome from The Today Show and was featured in their 'Today Books' section. While Rulon passed in 2002 at the age of 92, Warren is still alive at 66, but is serving a life sentence plus 20 years at the Louis C. Powledge Unit in Palestine, Texas for sexually assaulting. Wall eventually left her husband and the FLDS community, too, and headed to Oregon to join her sister. The organization is a nonprofit organization aiming to inspire people to claim their human rights, provide education on the mechanisms of manipulation, abuse and control. She went to Oregon to live with her brother, who had also left the FLDS, got a job working as a waitress, and began to find her new normal but her encounters with Jeffs were far from over. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! 1. MUSSER: Their measure of success is for the women to marry a good, faithful, priesthood man, where she brings forth as many children as she can. Every day is a gift and what we choose to do with that gift becomes the sum total of our life. [8] After Jeffs' death, Musser was told by Jeffs' son and new church leader Warren Jeffs that she needed to remarry. As a child growing up, as a woman, I was taught that the very highest thing I could ever hope to attain was to become a mother in Zion, to be perfectly obedient to the prophet, and one day have the opportunity to be placed by a good priesthood man, to be perfectly obedient to him. Rebecca Musser was the state's key witness during Warren's trial. Though she later became the wife of Warren Jeffs, she ran away from the community compound and started a new life. Just three years into their marriage, Rulon suffered a stroke which left him debilitated, but Warren ordered the women to keep his fathers condition a secret and continued to marry his father off to more and more young women, eventually totaling 65 wives. In 2007, a breakaway extremist offshoot of the Mormon Church called the Fundamentalist Church of the Latter Day Saints made national news. It was first published by William Morrow and Company in 2008. Not only had Warren been the perpetrator and the predator on these young girls but he had in a very twisted sense taken the thought, the idea, and called it holy, Musser said. The Director Behind Warren Jeffs Doc Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey - Netflix Jeffs assumed the mantle of the "one true prophet" of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a radical offshoot of Mormonism, in 2002, using that position and power to . She scaled the wall surrounding Jeffs home, slipping past the armed guards stationed around and fled away, knowing that she would be brought back to the compound if she were caught while running away. When Rebecca was only 19-years-old in 1995, she was chosen to be one of Rulon Jeffs wives. Rebecca Wall, a participant in Keep Sweet: Pray and . She said, I had an older half-brother who sexually abused me and some of my sisters, and even though his mother found out, I was threatened as a 5-year-old little girl. The star witness in Jeffs' trial was a young woman named Rebecca Musser.. And I grew up with that kind of terror, and I did not tell anyone until I was an adult woman. Our sole purpose was to be in religious prayer and to be obedient, adoring. She Was a State Witness Against Warren Jeffs. A post shared by Rebecca Musser (@1rebeccamusser). Their seclusion would be interrupted, however, after a woman claiming her name was Sarah Barlow called into a Texas family crisis center to report that she was the teenage bride of a man named Dale Barlow and was being held at the ranch against her will, according to PeacocksPreaching Evil: A Wife on The Run with Warren Jeffs.. She only had some clothes, photos, a violin, and her sewing machine with her. Through Peacock's four-part docuseries titled ' Preaching Evil: A Wife on the Run With Warren Jeffs,' the viewers learn of the shocking incidents that took place behind closed doors in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Rebecca Wall Musser Escaped The FLDS Church By Scaling A 6-Foot - Yahoo Would love your thoughts, please comment. Rate. [4] She stated when Myrna found out about the abuse Musser was "threatened", and did not tell anyone again until she was an adult. Be wild, dear child.happiness awaits you. He used scripture to tell me it is your duty to be a comfort to your husband, especially my husband, because he was the prophet, Musser said. Musser was once again called to Warren's office. She worried that she could be next. [1] The title referenced when Musser wore her red dress to Jeffs' trial. Mussers sister Elissa Wall was just 14 years old when she was pressured to marry her first-cousin Allen Steed. MUSSER: We were taught you should want to be a plural wife because it was more holy. Testimony revealed a pattern of underage girls being married off to older men and fear-based worship, among other disturbing things. No one else can do it for you. Growing up, Rebecca lived in the houses basement along with her mother and thirteen other children. Rulon, who was in his 80s, was the prophet back then before his son, Warren, took over. . Rebecca opens up to Keith Morrison about life in the church and why she decided to leave the denomination.The story of Rebecca Musser vs. FLDS leader and notorious FBI fugitive Warren Jeffs. Musser found herself at odds with her now-stepson Warren Jeffs once again after refusing to visit Rulon when he had summoned her for sexual relations. Warren Jeffs had at least 78 wives, and at the time of his arrest, 24 of them were under the age of 17. . Most of Jeffs' children have sought to stay out of the limelight. Musser founded Claim Red Foundation in August 2013. That conviction was eventually overturned by the Utah Supreme Court on the grounds of erroneous jury instructions, but Jeffs was later convicted in Texas on two counts of sexual assault for his celestial marriages to a 12-year-old girl and a 15-year-old girl, the latter of which birthed his child. The artist currently lives and works in London. Outside, Rebecca met Ben, the grandson of Rulon and one of his many wives. What we were taught versus what was really going on. Rebecca added, Once in Oregon, I was paralyzed by fear of the outside world. I remember walking and thinking Just stand up and do your duty.. Rebecca opens up to Keith Morrison about life in the church and why she decided to leave the denomination, Friday, May 8 at 9/8c on NBC.May 5, 2020. Warren Jeffs had at least 78 wives, and at the time of his arrest, 24 of them were under the age of 17. Musser tried to intervene to stop the marriage, but Warren insisted the wedding would be carried out and he presided over the nuptials himself. Though Warren Jeffs was sentenced to life plus 20 years in prison for child abuse, rape, and arranging marriages between young girls and older men, many still consider him the leader of the FLDS today. Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey is a four-part. Tonight on 'Dateline: Unbreakable' meet the woman - NBC4 WCMH-TV The episode is hosted by NBC correspondent Keith Morrison. Every day, she amazes me. Netflix docuseries ' Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey ' explores at what happened inside the FLDS compound walls. Rebecca Musser, former polygamist sect wife, speaks out Warren Jeffs was at one time married to over 60 women. [3], Lloyd had nine children with Myrna and 12 with Sharon. When I found out that I was going to be married to Rulon Jeffs, it was tremendously hard because on one hand, I had all this principle going on in my head telling me this is right, this is holy, this is what I've been taught that I've lived for my entire life. The church's leader, Warren Jeffs, was sentenced to life plus 20 years behind bars for sexually assaulting children. You were fulfilling this higher law by being a plural wife. 'Keep Sweet' Netflix: Where is FLDS Survivor Rebecca Wall - Newsweek This religious sect had Warren Jeffs as its president.He took on many wives (many being underage) and fathered several children with them. Warren Jeffs ordered the FLDS membership to sell . Every day, I am endlessly grateful for her. Musser tells the harrowing story of her childhood, her marriage, and her eventual escape in her book, The Witness Wore Red: The 19th Wife Who Brought Polygamous Cult Leaders to Justice. Warren Jeffs Found After Months of Hiding from Authorities, Musser, a former member herself, helped put Jeffs away for life with her testimony while wearing a color that had been forbidden in their strict, religious community, according to, Musser, one of 25 siblings, was once a devout member of the FLDS, where she was known as Sister Becky.. Because the more children he has, the the larger of a kingdom he has. Rebecca Warren - Wikipedia (NBC) Tonight, an all-new two-hour Dateline features the behind the scenes story of Rebecca Muser versus Warren Jeffs, one of the FBIs most notorious fugitives. The story of Rebecca Musser vs. FLDS leader and notorious FBI fugitive Warren Jeffs. Every day, I am endlessly grateful for her., She also shared a photo of herself and Kyle, writing Every day, Im inspired by this handsome guy. She was very important for authenticating the documents for us, Wes Hensley, an investigator in the Texas Attorney Generals office, told Dateline: Secrets Uncovered.. [4] One of Mussers sisters is Elissa, author of the memoir Stolen Innocence, an account of her own escape from the church. Warren was an authority in the school. Elissa Wall, Rebecca Musser's Sister: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know Take the power to make your life happy. ~ Susan Polis Schutz ~~~ Labor Day/Birthday backpacking trip with my boy, Jaxe. The story of Rebecca Musser vs. FLDS leader and notorious FBI fugitive Warren Jeffs. For more information on cookies including how to manage your consent visit our. Mussers sister Elissa Wall was just 14 years old when she was pressured to marry her first-cousin Allen Steed. Heres what you need to know about Warren Jeffs many wives, some of which were underage and are why he is currently in prison. Not exactly mainstream belief, or even legal, for that matter. Dateline: NBC airs Mondays and Fridays at 10 p.m. ET/PT and Saturdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. IE 11 is not supported. By using the site, you consent to these cookies. On the show, she talked about feeling lonely and mentioned not really understanding pop culture references that others made in the beginning. If you do, you will be destroyed in the flesh.. "Every crime he committed, he recorded on tape, or audio or journals." Listen to Rachel Dretzin's full interview with Rebecca Lavoie on the latest episode of You Can't Make This Up. Would love your thoughts, please comment. 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