Utah Targets Polyg Prophet

While Arizona authorities languish, the Utah Attorney General's Office focuses on the leader of the fundamentalist Mormon Church

Comments (0) By John Dougherty Thursday, Aug 21 2003

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In addition to being attorney general, Shurtleff is a member of the POST panel that rules on officer certification in Utah.

Arizona law enforcement certification officials are waiting to see what action Utah takes against the Colorado City department. If Utah permanently revokes officer certification for the department's failure to protect Ruth Stubbs, Arizona may also take action, said Arizona POST director Tom Hammerstrom.

Rand Carlson

Nick Adams,The Spectrum

Ruth Stubbs testified before Judge G. Rand Beachum that she routinely had sex with her "spiritual" husband, a police officer, while she was underage.

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The murky status of the Colorado City department combined with the presence of Warren Jeffs' armed vigilante force raises serious security issues for the town, AG's investigators and citizens believe.

Colorado City police chief Sam Roundy refused to assist Shurtleff's office when it attempted to serve Jeffs with a subpoena for records last winter. When they went to the Hildale compound Jeffs shares with his more than a dozen wives, Utah investigators said, they were confronted with men who admitted they were carrying concealed weapons.

That confrontation ended without incident. No arrests were made.

But Colorado City citizens like Benjamin Bistline believe that any effort by Utah to take Jeffs into custody will result in an armed confrontation with the "God squad."

"If they went after him with a SWAT team," Bistline contended, "I'm sure there would be a battle with bloodshed."