this week with our thanks for being there with us, have a good weekend unless you have other plans. on the half of all our colleagues on at the networks of nbc news, goodnight. it was one woman's battle, with a shadowy tea church where teenage girls were ordered to marry a man old enough to be their grandfather. >> he was 85, and i was 19, it was horrifying. >> a place where they had no voice, and no choice. >> i finally just said, okay, with tears streaming down my face. >> but rebecca resisted, define the leader who ruled them all. >> he said you will be destroyed in a flash. >> instead, she got out, and help them uncover the truth

about this powerful profit. >> this is a horrible thing to listen to. >> a sinister secret caught on tape. >> now prepare, the your sister, for the relations have gone on your behalf. >> for too long, he alerted the law, can she bring them down? >> i looked him square in the eyes as if to say, we meet again. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> it's a long way home, back to that play is tucked away but needed towering -- between utah and arizona. the play she lived in that other lifetime. it's >> tough to be back, brings up a lot of feelings

that are still really raw. >> then, when she was not a sister becky, and wore those colorful prairie dresses, and pouted up her long and braided hair, and shared a husband with more than 60 other women. it was here in this place will called short couric, or just a quick, here where it happened. >> a lot of us, the same, a lot of it has changed, and about the same person that was either. >> the name is rebecca foster, she has come back to the critic for the first time in years, hoping to find family or friends she left behind anybody that is who might actually speak to her given what she did given what she caused. oh yes, she's the one marie. >> you've heard, perhaps, about

the strange religious leader, his shocking crimes, his dramatic and doing. here, is incredible behind the headlines story, the story of the woman in red versus one of the fbi's most notorious fugitives. the unlikeliest soldier who went to war with a profit, and said, if god is wholly and that is divine and that is having, i will take hell. >> short crick is actually the two little towns of hill ville utah and colorado city arizona, the mountains above them is called cannon, here love some 8000 souls, the core, the center of what they call the work. how most people know of the nfl diaz, the fundamentalists church of lathered aces saints. not elvis, regular mormons were considered apostates around here, and doomed for attorney,

for the perceived sin of having rejected fundamentalists tenants like floral marriage, polygamy, a life into which becky muster was born. >> you should taught you which want to be a poor wife, you now we are fulfilling this high lobby and up your wife. >> weren't just allowed, required by god. >> the measure of success is, for the women to marry a good, priestly man, where she brings forth as many children as she can. because, the more children he has, the larger the kingdom he has. >> not exactly mainstream believe, or even legal for that matter. this is after all america, blast by a constitution that quite pointedly shelters religious freedom in all their starting were virality. becky's father lloyd wall, was

a college educated engineer who lived in salt lake city, and designed equipment for the space shuttle. first in public he was very successful, but in private? in private, lloyd was fully aware, as we all were, the polygamy was illegal, so we did all he could to keep his huge and growing family a secret. >> my father had 25 children total, nine from his first wife, 14 from his second, and two from his third. >> did you feel different from people around you? >> they told us that we are different from the rest of the world. >> your parents? >> yes. our parents taught us that we had this higher life, so they just created this tremendous gap between us versus them, and terrified us of the outside world. >> there was a reason for that primal fear, very deep button forgotten on the dna of the nfl ds. the raid.

it was july 26 1953, the governor of arizona boarded the arrest of every single man in short crick. and more than 450 children with their mothers were carted away, some of those families weren't reunited for years. rebecca, like every nfl diaz child, heard the story over and over again, and the time she was old enough to listen, about the day they remembered as their most terrible, and about those awful things the outside world. when the policeman cain. >> and so they were watchful, wary of outsiders who lived -- my dad's first wife and her children lives in the top floor, and my mother the second wife and, her children lived in the downstairs, the bottom basement floor. >> how does it suez get along? >> not so good. >> no? >> now.

there is a tremendous amount of jealousy for my father's first wife. >> nevertheless, said rebecca, she practiced the work, and so did the holy books, and put her trust and faith in the church and its profit, mulan jeff's. to rebecca, uncle rule on, hoof he was more than just a man, by then he had ten wives and more than 50 used children as little becky's talk to believe ruined spoke directly with god he was our connection to the divine sway did look at him. >> of course, rebecca, along with everyone else in the nfl ds, to obey was a key to salvation. >> obedience is the only act that you can perform, and anything otherwise's domination. >> but, as rebecca entered her teams, changes appear, a caught

behind uncle rulon jeffs, those hard, and control tightened. not just for rebecca, for all of them. this was her childhood friend, andrew check-in, now rulon jeffs started chi teaching you don't have a choice anymore. you have to be perfectly obedient. you are ordered to donate your time, your car, or make sacrifices that you normally wouldn't do because of his footing or family. >> really, more autocratic, more dictatorial. >> very dictatorial. all of the members were putting everyone on the spot constantly, saying are you for him or against him. >> rebecca's father was very much for the profit, he enrolled his children, including becky, in uncle rulon jeffs definitely a store, called the al to academy. there, the elements of an explosion or mix together, all that remained was to light the fuse rulon now.

>> there was always a calculated part of him. >> the principle of all-time county, rule on son, warren jeff's, man who carried out dr. with discipline. >> i never felt completely relaxed around him. and i think i'm not the only one. >> he gave you one beating, i couldn't sit down for a week. >> when dateline continues. continues the airport can be a real challenge for new homeowners who have become their parents... okay, everybody, let's do a ticket check. paper tickets. we're off to a horrible start. ...but we can overcome it. we're not gonna point out our houses, landmarks, or major highways during takeoff. don't buy anything. i packed so many delicious snacks. -they're -- -nope. would you say, ballpark, when group two is gonna get boarded? 2 hours and 58 minutes.

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seen through their yearbook photos were schooled in the nfl diaz faith, including rebecca musser who is a student here for 12 years. >> fourth grade through 12th grade would meet here, and mr. jets would teach for one class. mr. jabs was rulon jeffs, warren jeff's, -- many sons. >> warren was enough authority within the school, he was close to the profit. and warren would talk to him every single day, and kind of beat his father's messenger. >> this most private of private schools, away from the prior knives of the outside world, tell the basics of reading writing richmond sick, and that was when rebecca discovered a natural musical talent. she learned to play in love the

violin. she also live in carefully to warrant jeff lessons instructed medians, even if that did not always calm so easily. >> what was called wholly was this level of obedience this level of dedication and i didn't have boyfriends and i didn't sneak out, it didn't drink beer. warren jeffs knew how to have fun, in this rare video shot at school, he was kind of goofy a little bit, a little bit of the nerdy. >> but he ran the place with an iron hand, said rebecca. developing in dictating every aspect of the class curriculum, as if he had something bigger in mind. >> there is always a calculated part of him, about what was going on, and with the dynamic was, and how it affected him. whether it was power or position, but i never felt completely relaxed around him, and i think i'm not the only

one. >> very true, said rebecca's fellow students, and your chapman. he started doing things that were mentally abusive, and then it went physically abusive. >> how do you know? >> how do i know, he implemented a school rule that if you got three abs, or three latest diamonds, he would beat you on the back of legs with a yardstick. he gave me one beating and its fold off like a half inch on the back of my leg, i couldn't sit down for next week. i was 14, 15 years old, just a young man. so it almost as tall as him, so i took the beating. >> principal warren jeffs pointedly excluded techs that conflicted with nfl diaz technologies, evolution didn't happen, or even men on the moon that didn't happen either, which is how young rebecca first ran afoul of the prophet

sun. i >> got to dinner in the first grade out of public school, and i remember so distinctly the day an astronaut came to visit our school. and i was mesmerized. so then i go to the academy, and somehow there is some discussion about astronauts. i spat out that, yeah they've been on the moon. >> and perhaps that moment was the beginning of it, the first skirmish, albeit not the last. rebecca's out first or to the first of many trips down the hall, to warren jeffs office. >> where he very strictly and sternly reprimanded me, and saying there's no way that god wait let any mortal man to walk on the moon, it's only a trick, it can really happen, and don't you bring this up again. >> by then the profit rulon jeffs had announced at the end times were upon them. he also announced that he would

be the very last profit, he personally would welcome back to earth jesus christ. in the meantime, while they waited, they would have to be absolutely avian to his every directive. trouble was, rebecca was having more and more trouble been absolutely obedient to her principal, the profits powerful son warren jeffs. >> i was always in trouble for being stubborn, so i asked the question why? that doesn't make sense to me. if god's got a reason, how come this doesn't make, sense where there is a missing link? >> all the while, of course, rebecca understood the church was planning her future for her. she would bear many children, should be given to a husband of the profits choosing, and share him with other wives, just how it was. >> for the women, they are owned, naughty, mind, and so, in their marriage confidence, it says, do you give yourself to your husband? of your own freewill in choice.

>> they all said, yes. >> the alternative after all was nation. now besides, as becky developed into a smart and beautiful young woman, her prospects were extremely good. especially because of the particular person who expressed his interest, as everyone told her. >> you will be blessed, you will have your salvation major. >> because, rebecca's has been to be, was the profit himself now, the by then 85-year-old rulon jeffs. now >> coming up. >> i remember walking in and feeling like just stand up and your duty. >> though becky has grown grown up in the flds, she has no idea what's in store. >> how can a man of 85 with 19 wives, perform the functions of a husband. >> even though he couldn't, he

certainly did try now, it was horrifying. >> when dateline continues. ohdateline continues oh

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>> there was no courtship, no romantic proposal, just a short ceremony, to involve people

profit and self, profit rulon jeffs. rebecca was his 19th wife. >> in the flds his age doesn't matter, it's his standing with the profit, how pure, or how obedient, how honorable he is. and in my case, this faithful man was profit him self. >> rebecca's profit has told us that she believed he wanted to marry him. but oh no rebecca said, it was more like a horror. >> i did not want to marry him. >> he was 85, and i was 19. >> they held the wedding in the living room of rwanda's sprawling house, september 17th 1985. >> i just resign myself to the fact that that was my faith. just to surrender to it. >> this is my prince charming this 85-year-old man. >> i, my prince charming. i just remember walking in and feeling like, just stand up and

do your duty. >> he wore the white wedding dress she sewed herself. but she did not walk down the aisle, now here comes the pipe for her. just a brief exchange of vows, witnessed by court family, and uncle realigns many other wives. >> he couldn't stand up, he was kind of leaning against a bench, and feeling what it felt like because his hand was real shaky, holding this man's hand. i felt, lost. why don't i feel like this is the right thing inside? i was ashamed that i was not thrilled to be marrying a man more than four times my age. >> and something else, which was certainly no through a little, because she was married to uncle rulon, his children were now her children. which meant that the authority figures she had learned to fear, the man who tormented her for

fear as school, warren jeffs was suddenly her son. >> after i married rulon jeffs, warren was strangely nice. but he could also be very stern, and make sure you knew your place, your duty, and what was required of you. >> and life as a married woman required serving the profit, anyway he wanted to be served. they had a phrase for it, keeping sweet. >> to keep sweet means they you are absolutely, without question, a vivian to what is being ex to view. >> no matter what that might be. >> no matter what that might be. with his sweet attitude but, there should be no anger, no resistance, even we were told, asking the question why that is wrong. >> so, whatever uncle rulon wanted, he got, and though he

was 85, he still wanted sex. >> when i first married him is 2 to 3 times a month. >> how can a man of 85 but 90 wives perform a function of a husband. >> he was old, and even though he couldn't, he certainly did try. it was horrifying. i kept trying to say, this is a man of god, and he's doing this to me, and if you talk to god surely god will give him the message that i am terrified. >> but, neither god nor anyone else seemed to retain attention. so the next time the profit called for her, rebecca did the unthinkable, she refused to see him. >> i said no. i'm not ready to come and stay with you. i was not going to go through that again, and i was it -- was a huge deal. >> word of rebecca's refusal got to warren jeffs, and again,

she said, she was called to his office. the penny skirmish-ing was over now, now she knew she was in very real jeopardy. hugh scripture tell me, it is your duty to be a comfort to your husband, especially my husband because he was the profit, that he received direct revelation from god. and he said don't you ever, ever, ever tell your husband no again. if you do, you will be destroyed in the flesh. >> destroyed in a flash? well, maybe not rebecca, maybe someone else. coming up. >> i was in the room when it happened, he was sitting, talking, and all of a sudden he was slumped over and he didn't wake up. >> capitalism is change comes to the crick, and becky's little sister will also pay the price. >> she has another stand up

next to me. she stood there and slows my hand, and i finally just that okay. the tears streaming down my face. >> when dateline continues. continues ere. if you're on medicare and you want to explore your options, the deadline to enroll is ere. december 7th. so, you should act now. where do i find the right medicare plan? at healthmarkets, they search many of the nation's most recognized carriers so they can help you find the right plan, at the right price that's the right fit for you. how long does it take? you could find a medicare plan in just minutes. my current plan only covers 80% of my costs. well, healthmarkets may find plans that cover the rest ... let you keep your doctor with benefits like zero dollar copays, zero dollar deductibles and zero dollar monthly premiums. they'll even search plans with prescription drug coverage, vision, dental and hearing aids. you may even qualify for free gym memberships!

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happening, the united states supreme court said it will hear multiple challenges related to the abortion ban, the law remains in place for now, sonia sotomayor called it cold comfort for texas women seeking abortion care. and a former associate of rudy giuliani was found guilty of multiple campaign finance violations, he's convicted of illegally only money to foreign campaigns, and he made illegal pack donations. now, back to dateline. obviously >> rebecca mouse her,

wife number 19 to her profit rulon jeffs, was not destroyed in the flash. despite the threatening noises for from rulon sun warren jeffs, content now and where there is lots of help in that form and. as rulon predicted and times approached, he married more and more young women to ensure their salvation, he would tell them. by the time he was 90 he had something like 60 wives, and more than 60 children. and then, then basic biology stepped in. three years into rebecca's marriage, the man they all believed was a mortal, would leave to see this second coming of christ, suffered a very human faith. >> i was in the room when it happened, he was sitting, talking, then all of a sudden he was slumped over, and he didn't wake up. >> they rushed uncle rulon to the nearest hospital, a stroke,

a big one, he survive but only barely. frail, confused, couldn't remember his wife's names. call them all, sweetie. then, warren jeffs issued instructions. no one was to know, the severity of the prophet severity speak kept secret, especially to the members of the flds. when it is time the people is that the profit was doing fine, only that he needs some rest. as if to prove it, the marriages continued. rulon was eventually made to 65 women, most of them young. his sign for the fateful of a healthy profit. >> an outsider was watching all of this with very different eyes. a private investigator who's made it is business to track and right about the flds and's leaders, many sour sam brower, but concerned brower was not so much the sickle profit and is wise, as it was the young man

who's pulling the strings. when you saw his father starting to deteriorate, he was able to kind of worm himself into a position of authority, and then when his father started having these strokes, warren just complain himself his father's mouthpiece. first came in order supposedly from the profit passed on by some warren, the profit had a revelation, salt lake city had become the wichita city on earth, a city marked for destruction in the second coming of christ. but in the meantime, the faithful were old to carry their here, here in short creek to await the end of times. most of them came. >> soon, warren jeffs tactics, extremely effective, became apparent to her. he was gathering the church in a place where you can more easily control it himself.

it was handing out political gifts to its male pillars. >> it went from maybe having two or three marriages but weekend, to having five six, seven, sometimes eight marriages in a day. >> but they were getting younger, and younger, and younger. >> because there are running out of girls. warren was appeasing the questions with, here is a beautiful new bride, here's a 16 year olds. then all of the 16-year-olds get married, and then there's 15-year-olds. >> one of those girls being pressured into marriage, was a happy little blonde named elise of wall, rebecca's little sister, who is just 14. >> when i found out that i was marrying allen, was my first cousin. i was resistant to the marriage, and i had on money to belittle occasions express my desire to not get married. >> allen was alan steed, lisa

despised him, had known him all of her life, and besides she knew nothing of marriage, let alone mitt sex or having babies. >> i had never been taught about anatomy, i had never been taught about sex, it wasn't even a term used in the flds. >> and so rebecca intervened, tried to stop the marriage. >> warren told me, it's happening, there's no choice for her, so to do which she is told. >> and so, in a seedy motel owned by the flds, in little out of the way town of kellyanne to nevada, a secret marriage took place, oranges presided. >> i knew this wasn't right. and i took those last moments to be defiant. i refuse to take my vows. >> they were just waiting for you to say the right words. >> i remember --

and him turning to me and asking how to recount them, and i just stood there. my last defense. >> so what did they do. >> now -- she sits there and slows my hand, i finally just said okay. the tears streaming down my face. >> alicia and her husband moved into a house in the correct. rebecca lived nearby in uncle rulon giant house, and was aware what was happening to my little sister. >> from day one i was incredibly vocal about how much i did not want him to touch me, and i did not want to have a family with him. so to have the sexual relationship with him was so devastating. it was absolutely been raped.

>> so did you go to either rulon ruin or warren jeffs to complain. >> i went to warren jeffs several times throughout my marriage with allen begging him for a way out. explaining him to what was going on, and he ultimately would reprimand me, and tell me to go home, and give myself a new body and soul. >> it was, there is always my fault. now >> meanwhile, the millennium came and went. the world did not end. but something very unexpected did happen. >> in 2002 oh rulon jeffs, they seemingly immortal profit, manu prophesized he'd be alive for the return of jesus, died at 92. >> as it started to sink in, i was scared. >> because, guess who was in charge now. now coming up.

now >> warren is a brilliant man, he is diabolical genius. >> after years of quiet classes with warren drafts, things are about to explode. he said i will break you. >> when dateline continues. ne continues een the merrier. food is her love language. and she really loves her grandson. like, really loves. dog barks

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karen shortcakes version of a pope, only more so. because, the profit rulon that at 92, was supposed to be in mortal and welcomed the second coming of christ. >> the shock when he actually did die, i remember thinking, no that can't be. that doesn't fit into what we've been told. and if we had enough faith, then he would live that long, and he would be made in the eye again. and so is because of our lack of faith that this man who is in his 90s died. and that was when warren made his move. >> he just stepped into the vacancy and said that's it it's me now? >> he did it very subtly, but very aggressively, warren is a brilliant man, he is diabolical genius. now >> by the time investigator rulon died, his son warren jeffs was untouchable. in short he was declared profit

of the flds. >> he proceeded to kick any threats out of the church. he held a meeting, and immediately kicked a 21 man, who is threats to his authority. >> remember angela chapman who said he suffered of eating at the hands with warren jeffs. he news several members of the church we get in the adult version. >> in some cases a man we go to work in the morning, and come back that evening and all his personal stuff is put out on the front yard of the house, and his wife's remarried in one day while he's gone to work. no trial, no explaining yourself, they've made a decision. how >> rapidly, for quick change, said andrew chapman, paranoia wormed his way through the commune. >> but warren, he's not a stupid man, and that's what's so dangerous about him. it's sort of like he made sure that every single person had just enough dirt on them to keep them uncomfortable from

speaking up. and that is wet allowed all of them to flourish. >> rebecca was 26, and a widow, and she believed, vulnerable. >> i no longer had a layer of protection from the profit, and warren had absolute say oh. so for me was scary. >> but were you afraid he was going to do? >> my biggest fear that he was going to force us to be remarried. now to anybody, especially him. >> sure enough, in short craig, some warren jeffs wasted no time organizing weddings to, and when he did start tomatoes waves off, it was like a locomotive that was out of control. now and i would realize, yeah he remarried them. it was very low, but it is like being sent to auction. rebecca, perhaps the prettiest

of all the profits wives, but no friend of warren. feared she would be next. >> i was very concerned about marion warring, i had seen the way he treated his wives and his family, and i knew that even the little freedoms that i had would be taken. >> and then, one day, rebecca and a young man named ben, also a member of the flds were hiking in the hills above short crick, since rulon how they had been close. the problem is someone saw them kissing, and told warren jeffs, and once again he was caught called into his disapproving presence. >> he said how i detect the seeds of apostasy and you, and that is in the flds culture, by far the worst acts, that's next to murder. >> and then the new office issued the order, when rebecca dreaded. oh you will be married one week

from now. now i begged my said please don't do this to me. >> he said you know that's what's called ones. i said no i don't. and he pointed his finger at me and he said i will break you. >> and maybe now in retrospect as the moment come into focus. the years of animosity, the building tension between rebecca and warren jeff's had just become but a declaration of war. coming up. >> on the other side of that door is the only thing that i had ever known my life, rebecca takes a life-changing risk. when it sunk and i thought, what have i done. oh my gosh, what am i gonna do. >> when dateline continues. how she had a week to decide,

this profits widow or, another mary man of his choosing. or what. doubt and guilt played ping-pong in her head. >> well, maybe they know better than i know, for them is the other part of you that says hold on a minute, there's something really wrong here. >> four days, the voices competed, tiktok, deadline coming. and then something clicked. >> and it hit me, you can leave. and i felt like this instant lift off of the strollers. >> but how could she leave? not like she could just roll out of the place in her prairie dress and start her brand-new life somewhere. the flds was all she had ever known. >> i was so distinctly remember thinking, if i leave who will i

would come? because we were taught that you would become evil, and wicked, and diseased horror in the streets. >> rebecca had no escape plan, no survival strategy, she did have a few brother who lefty flds, including one who left in goose bay oregon, and he said come live with me. and that's goose bay oregon, i'm a utah, i have no idea. i had no idea how i was going to get there. >> and she had neither car nor money to speak of. >> there was, however, ben, that young man she was caught kissing on tape and mountain, then told me that he would help me get their. and it was how -- he said no help you. >> ben had a truck, they decided to leave and then struck on sunday morning, the day before warren jeffs deadline, they leave very early before dawn, before church.

over the next few days, rebecca gather together her belongings, her most precious possessions, her photographs, her violin, she took them over to her sister, she did not tell anyone what she was doing. not evening at lisa. >> then, it was time, a chilly sunday morning, november 2002. >> i remember what it was like to shut the door to my room and feeling that click shut and knowing that on the other side of that door was everything ever known in my entire life. >> she climbed over the wrought iron gate of rulon manchin, and watch the morning shadows to ben waiting down the road in his truck. >> i kept thinking just walk, just walk, just walk. and i'm mp open the door, and he said are you ready. and i said yeah. so we got in, and we got on the turns as quickly as we could.

now >> i was don lead of the utah desert, sister becky was now to his tribeca. >> when it sunken i thought, would have i done, oh my gosh what am i going to do? and looking at the clock and thinking, okay if we turn around right now i can probably sleep in while everyone's in sunday school, and it was fine. but you know wet, no way i'm i going back to that. >> they drove 22 straight hours to oregon. to a world she had been taught was evil. >> going cold turkey from bean and flds profits wife, my hair is almost down to my knees, only ever having work shot long dresses, everything felt foreign. >> the very first time in her life, rebecca qatar hair, learn to apply makeup, she got a job as a waitress, and found that

communicating with customers wasn't easy. she didn't know saying words like cool and hip. she took them literally. >> even though i spoke to u.s. language, i had no idea what people were talking about. so, it was overwhelming. >> and she pine for her family. >> i was able to stay in touch, covertly, with some of my family members, and at least it was one of them. >> life was not good for at lisa, then 17, not at all. >> there is lots of abuse, psychological, physical, mental, sexual because. i think, watching rebecca go, and finding out later on that she wasn't dead, the lightning had not come down and struck her. open my eyes. >> with, newfound courage at least so left allen, and then fled the flds. >> i got the chance to go to oregon, where she was living at the time, and my brother and her where there. and i look back on that moment as a very pivotal point in my

experience, because it gave me a very clear understanding that there is a possibility that i feel okay. seeing my family again after the pain of them leaving, interesting lena, it was just joy. there is no judgment, there was no how dare you. i was so happy to see them again. and to realize that i love them no matter what the religion sat, or warren, for my teachings told me. >> but back in the correct, things were not going okay for warren jeff's, he was suddenly facing lawsuits, two of them. attorney read park was hired by the flds, that we no longer represents them. one was called the lost boy's case, the boys claim to have been thrown out of the community, and then the other one was a young man who alleged that he had been sexually assaulted by one at savoie.

>> by 2004, when elissa left the church, and crick, we are spreading, mostly through the ex members objected by warren jeff's, things were getting worse. more and more marriages were being arranged for a few dozen girls, almost as if warren jeffs i was using them as bargaining chips, or rewards. former flds called rebecca, you have two sisters there, the only thing to stop what's going on is to stop warren jeffs, and what can be done is to bring charges against him. it was hard for me to hear that because i want worn to stop, but i do i really want to be that person to step into their shoes. >> when she thought about those little girls, sisters, cousins, innocence, she knew leaving the flds to save herself wasn't enough. >> i thought, i can sit by and let this happen, if there's a way that i could've stopped it, i didn't.

i don't think i could have live with myself knowing that. >> so rebecca, and especially her, brother knowing that lisa had a strong case, or sort of file charges against her husband alice, steve and warren jabs to stop the abuse. >> i had known for a while that both arizona new tower searching for a witness, and they're hoping that i would come forward. ultimately, coming for it was a choice i made. i realized, whatever the pressure, one of the cost, that i voted to myself and the future of other girls, to speak my truth. >> and so, you came forward. >> we can for. >> so, in 2006, you lisa, by then cut off from family members still in the flds here in the crick made her accusations official, warren jeffs was charged with two counts of rape as an accomplice, just one little problem, the

profit had disappeared. coming up, a spiritual leader, missing. where on earth could he be. he >> was traveling around the country going from state to state to state, just trying to stay hidden. he went to disneyland, he went to strip clubs, and at a good old time. they pick up his eye-popping trail, but today find him? when dateline continues. ateline continues. ateline continues. colon cancer. that's big because when caught in early stages, it's more treatable. hey, cologuard! hi. i'm noninvasive and i detect altered dna in your stool to find 92% of colon cancers, even in early stages. early stages! yep, it's for people 45 plus at average risk for colon cancer, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your provider if cologuard is right for you. count me in! me too! in 2016, i was working at the amazon warehouse when my brother passed away.

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where was warren jeffs? it was 2006. warren jeffs was a wanted man. accused of arranging the illegal underage marriage of rebecca's sister and thus of sanctioning rape. but warren jeffs had been underground more than two years by then because this wasn't his only trouble. remember those two lawsuit it is

-- the prophet was already facing? incentive to take a very long trip. even the fbi couldn't seem to find him. >> today, warren steed jeffs was placed on the fbi's 10 most wanted fugitive list. >> reporter: mind you, private investigator sam brower was hearing stories from his sources in the flds. >> he was traveling around the country going from state to state to state and just trying to stay hidden. >> reporter: on the road, it appeared, the prophet wasn't exactly practicing what he preached. >> he went to disneyland. he went to mardi gras and went to the strip clubs and had a good old time. >> reporter: warren also turned up here in west texas, very rural west texas, where he was helping to oversee the construction of a brand-new community for the flds, a place called the yearning for zion ranch, or yfz. far away from the prying eyes of the wider world but in a state where the age of consent, the age at which a person could

marry, was 14. here they would build a shining white temple for the church. the project was, to say the least, ambitious. a whole town went up around the temple. these were the most faithful flds followers and this little settlement literally their place to wait for zion. they farmed the land, raised the livestock, built the big, quality homes for their many children, and schools and machine shops and factories. a self-sufficient little world. >> there were no building codes in the county where he was building. they could start building something. of course, in warren's mind, it was god telling him to go out there and do this to find places of refuge. >> reporter: warren jeffs oversaw construction and settlement of the ranch but never spent long stretches of time here or anywhere else. one reason why he kept eluding law enforcement. and then, in august 2006, on a lonely stretch of interstate

15 near las vegas, a nevada state trooper spotted a red cadillac escalade that appeared to have no license plates. he flashed his lights, pulled over the suv. the driver was a tall, thin man. >> his carotid artery was pulsating on the right side of his neck. at even one point i told him, "is everything okay? you seem nervous." >> reporter: the cop ran the tall man's license. it was the prophet and fugitive, warren jeffs. >> i'd like to announce the arrest of fbi's top 10 most wanted fugitive, warren steed jeffs. >> reporter: sam brower heard right away about warren jeffs arrest and about what cops found in the escalade. all kinds of disguises, wigs, sunglasses, cell phones, thousands of dollars in cash, prepaid credit cards and phone cards. >> everything somebody on the run from the law would need. >> reporter: including several computer drives.

several. one in particular featured a rather odd recording of warren jeffs having a mumbled conversation with a young girl. >> please get on the other side of the bed. >> reporter: a few days later warren jeffs appeared at a hearing to extradite him back to utah to face charges in elissa's case. >> are you warren jeffs? >> yes. >> all right, mr. jeffs. >> when i found out that he was caught, i was shocked. surely now, the rest of the flds people can see he's just a fake. everything that he was telling them that was evil and dark and wicked to do, he was out doing. >> reporter: and for a moment at least, it seemed as if the self proclaimed prophet was having some doubt of his own. this is a jailhouse meeting with one of warren jeffs' brothers which just happened to be caught on camera. >> i am not the prophet. i never was the prophet, and i

have been deceived by the powers of evil. >> reporter: but? his stunning revelation, if that's what it was, didn't last. when the outburst went public, he had an explanation. >> warren made the statement that the devil appeared to him as a pillar of light in his jail cell and deceived him and that's why he was saying those things. >> reporter: and in spite of it all, the vast majority of flds members continued to believe in warren jeffs. including rebecca's own mother who had no idea that her daughters were actively working against her prophet. >> after he was caught my mother called me and she asked me who has charges against our prophet. and i wasn't going to lie to her, but i certainly wasn't going to tell her either. and she said to me, "well, honey, i hope it's not you or any of my children because i would rather see every single one of my children laid in the grave before any one of you

stand up against our prophet." >> reporter: it was the fall of 2007 when warren jeffs went on trial in st. george, utah, facing two felony counts of rape as an accomplice for arranging the underage, spiritual marriage of elissa wall. and one of the key witnesses against him was the woman he once called mother becky. shoe was on the other foot now. >> the last time that i had seen warren before that trial was in his office when he said, "i will break you." and he looked over at me, i looked him square in the eyes, and it was as if we both nodded slightly, as if to say we meet again. coming up -- the stakes and pressure on rebecca and her sister couldn't be higher. if they failed, warren jeffs stood to become even more powerful. >> if he was to walk away a free man it would prove to them that he really truly was god's disciple.

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>> reporter: warren jeffs was about to make history. for the first time ever, a prophet of the flds, a man who spoke to god, was about to go on trial. and what made it all the more dramatic, the case was a direct assault on the prophet's religious practice. warren jeffs was facing two felony counts of rape as an accomplice of elissa wall, rebecca's sister. >> the most important thing to me was that the real truth of what was happening got out. >> reporter: elissa prepared to testify that warren jeffs ordered her to marry at 14 and then ignored her pleas for help when she was sexually abused by her husband. >> walking into the courtroom and seeing warren there, i remember looking at him and our eyes locking in an unbreakable death stare and holding my ground facing him and not looking down. but to hold his gaze was like

those shackles breaking away. >> reporter: arranged marriages. underage brides. religious freedom. all on trial. but it was also the first time that someone inside the flds would speak out publically in a criminal case against the prophet. a grainy courtroom camera rolled as the prosecution presented its case against warren jeffs, alleging he enticed 14-year-old elissa into marriage and insisted she obey her husband and his sexual demands. >> that man performed a ceremony and told her to multiply and replenish the earth. that's why the defendant is an accomplice to rape. >> reporter: but the defense team insisted that what happened between elissa and her husband was her husband's doing, not warren jeffs. the prophet had only offered advice, they said, on improving the marriage.

>> he talks about abstinence. he doesn't talk about promiscuity. there is no evidence that warren told allen, go ahead and rape your wife. >> reporter: elissa wall was 21 by this time. because she was a minor when the alleged crime happened, the camera didn't show her face when she told how she was taught to always obey the prophet. >> he told me that i was not living up to my vows. i was not being obedient. >> reporter: but the prosecution needed more than elissa's story. they needed what rebecca could tell them. >> they said, "we can prove that your sister was raped, but it's your testimony that links warren to the crime because you were in the prophet's family. you were schooled by him, and you understand the training and the culture of this." >> reporter: and so rebecca came to court and saw warren jeffs for the first time since she left short crick. and before she spoke, before she took the oath, she made a statement. not in words.

in what she wore. >> we were not allowed to wear the color red growing up. and warren had gone into extensive preaching about how evil and dark and immoral the color red was. so i thought, "hmm, how could i send him a message that he never broke me?" so i chose to wear the color red. >> reporter: rebecca testified how warren jeffs created, condoned and encouraged a culture ripe for abuse. >> he would tell me that under no circumstances do you ever, ever, ever tell your husband no. >> reporter: for two weeks, warren jeffs watched in silence as the case played out before him. and then, the jury took up the question protection of girls versus the prophet's idea of correct religious practice. >> i knew that if he was to walk away a free man it would just ingrain the people of the flds because it would prove to them that he really, truly was god's disciple.

>> reporter: it didn't take the jury long to reach a verdict. >> mr. jeffs, would you please stand? >> reporter: warren jeffs, in his charcoal gray suit, stood up to hear the verdict. somber and silent as always. >> count one, that the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crime charged of rape as an accomplice. >> reporter: guilty on both felony counts. the prophet was sentenced to ten years in prison. allen steed had been charged with one count of rape, but denied the allegations. later he pleaded to reduced charges. two third-degree felonies and was sentenced to 30 days in jail along with three years probation. >> this has not been easy for us. the easy thing would have been to do nothing. but i have followed my heart and i have spoken the truth. >> reporter: and rebecca finally felt vindicated. >> i spoke. i testified. he was found guilty. and i wore red.

and it wasn't like the world went into massive explosions or earthquakes. i was so relieved. and i just thought finally, it's over. >> wasn't over though, was it? >> no. >> reporter: in fact, it was just beginning. because a whole new and much more complicated case was about to explode deep in the heart of texas. and soon rebecca would find herself smack in the middle of it. coming up -- investigators discover a mind-boggling scene. while rebecca watches from afar holding her breath. >> it felt like i was being ripped apart. >> when "dateline" continues. hospital care, prescription drugs, and more. this kind of insurance, called medicare part c, may also cover dental care, eyeglasses, hearing aids, fitness programs, vitamins, even healthy meals and rides to the doctor.

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i'm dara brown. here's what's happening. sheriff's office in santa fe, new mexico, filed a search warrant to investigate the shooting of a cinematographer on

the set of "rust." they want to analyze baldwin's clothes for evidence. and covid vaccines in kids seem to be highly effective at preventing hospitalizations and deaths for ages 5 to 11. a panel will evaluate the data next week. a final recommendation could come from the cdc early november. now, back to "dateline." >> reporter: the prophet was now in prison. it was spring 2008, but even behind bars, warren jeffs was still very much in power and maintaining control over his flock. especially the flds community which had recently sprung up in west texas. by this time the 1,800-acre yearning for zion ranch and its sparkling new temple were complete. local law enforcement was keeping a close eye on the

ranch, curious about it, but also concerned about what was taking shape out there in the desert. nick hanna was a texas ranger. >> west texas people are generally pretty friendly and pretty welcoming individuals. but they were certainly concerned because, you know, texas has a history of having some incidents involving, whether it be waco or, you know, the branch davidians. >> reporter: as yfz was under construction, the texas legislature changed the age at which a person could marry with parental consent from 14 to 16. rebecca heard about the ranch, too. she wondered if any members of her family had moved there. so she checked with the local sheriff to see what he knew. nothing, it turned out. but he did begin using rebecca as a sort of interpreter. >> he would call me periodically and ask "can you tell me about this or can you tell me what this means to them?" >> reporter: then on an early spring day in march 2008, authorities in nearby san

age -- angelo got a call from a woman who said her name was sarah barlow. claimed she lived at the ranch and was being abused and held against her will by her husband. >> she was a young girl and i think at the time of the phone call 16, she had already given birth to a child and with her age, we were able to do the math and recognized that that would have been a sexual assault of a child. >> so what was the plan then? >> to find sarah barlow. >> reporter: on april 3, 2008, the rangers, child protective services in tow, arrived at the ranch. >> and the women were in prairie dresses essentially. most of the buildings were constructed in like a log cabin type nature, and so, it almost seemed like you had gone back in time to a period that america, you know, left long ago. >> reporter: whether the rangers knew it or not, they had just confirmed the worst fears, here and everywhere, of the flds faithful whose prophets had

preached the warning for generations. ever since that still vividly remembered raid on the church in short crick way back in 1953. a fact which some 1,500 miles away rebecca knew very well. >> to know that the lives of people that you love dearly, feeling their terror, understanding the responsibility of the law, it was like two worlds crashing together and having a major explosion inside of me. it felt like i was being ripped apart. >> reporter: and almost immediately it seemed to go wrong. instead of the 300 to 400 people the rangers expected to find, there were something like 700, including more than 400 children and dozens of teenage girls. finding "sarah" was like looking for a needle in a haystack. >> it was a very confusing situation. most of these ladies dressed alike. they sounded alike. their hair was fixed the same. and there was only about four or five very common names on the ranch. and so it was very difficult, as you might imagine, to

differentiate who belongs to who and who is who. >> reporter: then it got worse. s.w.a.t. teams arrived. snipers. even an armored personnel carrier. and while terrified residents cowered, the rangers searched every house, every classroom, meeting room, birthing center looking for the elusive "sarah." nothing. except -- >> we started seeing signs in plain view of other abuse. we saw young girls with babies and young girls, or at least appeared to be young, that were expecting. and during these interviews looking for sarah, evidence of other crimes became apparent pretty quickly. so now that we see them, we're duty-bound to act on these instances of child abuse or sexual abuse of young girls. >> reporter: several of the girls interviewed by child protective services said they

had been spirituality united with adult men that no age was too young for this. and it was the prophet who decided when and whom they should marry. the next day, 18 girls were determined to have been abused or at imminent risk of abuse and were removed from the ranch. and then over the next two days dozens more children, some very young, were forcibly removed from their parents and taken to temporary housing. >> my 2-year-old son was screaming "mother, don't let them take me. don't let them take me. i want to stay with you mother. mother, please hold me." >> reporter: and then, four days after the raid began a court order was issued to take away all the remaining children until a better assessment could be made of what was going on inside the yfz ranch. this time, however, mothers, but not fathers, were allowed to go with them. >> they had been pre-dispositioned to believe

that anyone from the outside was evil. we had no desire to go onto the ranch for any other reason other than the call. you can't ignore a young girl's cries for help. you've got to act. >> reporter: some of the mothers and their children who had been separated were reunited at a makeshift shelter. eventually all were transferred to an overburdened sports arena here in san angelo. many flds members, young and old, were required to line up and submit samples of their dna. and then scores of toddlers and children were shipped off to foster homes around the state. some of them hundreds of miles away, to live with families whose culture they did not know, for how long they did not know. this, said the state, was for their protection. >> this is not about numbers. this is about children who are at imminent risk of harm, children that we believe have been abused or neglected. >> reporter: the images set off a firestorm of controversy.

former flds attorney rod parker. >> what the state did was in traumatizing that entire community and all those children, that was wrong. what texas should have done is taken a more targeted approach, not just sweep up everybody. >> we didn't particularly enjoy it either. nobody likes taking a child out of his environment. even in the worst of circumstances. but the law's the law and the courts spoke and said, "these kids are in danger" and so we had to do what we had to do. >> reporter: mind you, there was still no sign of the mysterious sarah barlow whose call had prompted the raid and all that followed. rangers did, however, find files of birth records. but untangling the web of names and bloodlines was overwhelming, if not impossible. >> you were essentially learning an entire network or community of people. and they all had similar last

names and they all sound the same, they all look the same, they all dress the same, they all act the same. >> reporter: they needed somebody who could tell them what it all meant, crack the code, unravel the secrets. an expert who knew it all, literally from the inside. >> and finally he said, "we are in over our head. can you please come down and help us?" and so i did. >> reporter: and what she exposed, deep inside the yearning for zion ranch, was a very dark and carefully guarded secret about a religion and its prophet, warren jeffs. coming up -- investigators make a strange discovery. but only rebecca can explain what it means. >> there was a part of me that hoped that, no, that can't be right. >> when "dateline" continues. nus

♪♪ >> reporter: it sparkled in the texas sun, its brilliant white spire pointing to heaven from the heart of the yearning for zion ranch. this first-ever temple of the flds. gleaming white limestone, every piece cut from the very land it sat on. every square inch of it fashioned by the people of the ranch themselves. every square inch sacred. but now the texas rangers were at the door. looking, they said, for the mysterious sarah barlow. >> we recognized the temple was a symbol to those folks. and we didn't want to trample on their beliefs. however, we had not found sarah barlow. all right? the search warrant dictated that we search the premises. and that includes any place that she could be secreted or hid and obviously, she could be hid there. >> reporter: the temple's giant doors were fashioned in heavy oak and were tightly secured. >> we asked them numerous times, "please open the doors. please unlock the doors. we don't want to kick the doors

in. we don't want to use force to gain entry." but any cooperation evidently wasn't green lighted by warren. >> reporter: rebecca hadn't arrived yet. but she knew what was happening. >> i was terrified because i didn't know what was in the temple. i knew how they hold that temple as sacred. and i was scared because if there was going to be an incident, it would've been over that temple. >> reporter: a decision was made. the rangers used a battering ram. and at that very moment, said the members of the flds, their temple was defiled. could never be a temple again. >> the moment that stays with me is the entry of the temple. the pounding on the door just echoed across, and to me it just signified that the period that existed in secrecy or cloaked for so many years was coming to an end. >> reporter: as sergeant hanna and the other investigators entered the temple, they marveled at its workmanship, its elaborate design, its decor.

>> i knew that they might perceive it as defiling it, but i knew that we took great measures to respect things and not to tear up anything that we didn't have to. but whatever it took to make sure that there wasn't a victim there is what we were going to do. >> reporter: there was no sign of sarah or anyone else inside. but as they climbed they could see that each floor seemed to have special significance. as they rose, the colors of the walls, the floors, the furniture changed. each floor distinctively different. >> the third floor was white, and it was brilliant white. the drapes were white, the furniture white. the tables were white. the chairs were white. the carpet was white. you almost needed shades when you walked up there and you really did almost get the sense like, if there's a room in heaven, i bet it looks like this. >> reporter: and on the same floor the rangers discovered something very strange. >> two beds. and one bed was positioned and

situated like in a medical clinic. >> reporter: it was a murphy bed that could be pulled down from the wall, with several chairs surrounding it. and then in an adjacent hallway they found the parts of another bed which had been disassembled. track marks on the rug suggested it had at some point been moved in and out of the white room. the rangers put it back together, and this is what it looked like. complete with railings and a kneeling bench at the foot of the bed. >> we needed somebody to help us give us an understanding of the culture we were entering and the things we read that we didn't understand. >> reporter: so two days after their initial visit, the rangers took rebecca inside the temple with them. >> when we got ready to go up to the top floor, the ranger told me, he said, now, if there's any reason that this, these beds -- they had talked about beds in the top floor -- if there is any reason other than what we might think they

are there for we need to know. >> reporter: the beds. seeing them, said rebecca, sparked a rush of memories. of hearing uncle rulon and warren jeffs talking about "sacred ordinances," to be performed in their, at the time, future temple. >> i remembered the horror that i felt in rulon jeffs' home as warren was describing this ordinance of a sexual nature where we would be taught the correct positions, the correct way to conceive a child, the laws of creation. >> reporter: the beds in the temple? as far as rebecca was concerned that was confirmation that warren jeffs wasn't just teaching underage girls about sex ordinances. he was actually performing them. >> seeing that bed, seeing the chairs around it, all of the things that warren described, there was a part of me that hoped that, no, that can't be right. but there was also another part of me that knew, there it is. there's everything that you were ever taught about it.

>> reporter: but there was one more piece of evidence hidden at the ranch. a voice sitting in a secret vault that would shock even rebecca. coming up -- an audio recording reveals the darkest discovery of all. >> it will just rock you. it is so horrible. >> when "dateline" continues. what can i du with less asthma? with dupixent, i can du more....beginners' yoga. namaste... ...surprise parties. aww, you guys. dupixent helps prevent asthma attacks... ...for 3!... ...so i can du more of the things i love. dupixent is not for sudden breathing problems. it's an add-on-treatment for specific types of moderate-to-severe asthma that can improve lung function for better breathing in as little as two weeks.

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>> reporter: april, 2008. the nation's eyes were glued on what was happening in the desert of west texas. the yearning for zion ranch was crawling with texas rangers. looking for not only a teenage girl who might be in danger but also evidence of other underage brides. and there was one more place to look. >> there was a sister building to the temple and it was referred to as the temple annex. inside there was a vault. >> reporter: this time, a battering ram wasn't enough. >> so we jackhammered through the wall to open the vault from the inside. >> reporter: rebecca and the rangers entered and immediately

they knew they had hit the mother lode. >> they had just tons. i mean, 400 boxes of physical papers, plus all of the digital information, and it was all of these records. >> we found church records, family records and probably the most important thing was the priesthood records which are the dictations of warren jeffs. his locations, his movements, his directions. really it was a road map to all the activities of the flds community. >> reporter: every dictation, every record, every file had to be scrutinized page by page. >> walking into there and going, "oh, my goodness, look all this." >> reporter: wes hensley is an investigator in the texas attorney general's office. and box by box, through literally millions of pages, hensley and hanna and others searched with the help of rebecca. >> she was very important about authenticating the documents for us.

she was able to give me their family background, all the lineage. >> reporter: rebecca knew it all. because she personally helped compile it. >> i was there. and i saw, i heard, and i was involved with helping to gather this so it was the prophet's wives who came and helped sort them out. the different kinds of records putting all of the personal records together, all of the family records together. >> reporter: marriages. babies. blood lines. the whole intricate web. but there was one thing rebecca didn't know about. sarah barlow. the mysterious young woman whose call prompted the whole raid. that's because there was no sarah barlow. two weeks after the raid came a stunning surprise. the calls that triggered the raid were a fraud. a fake. the woman who made them from far away in colorado had nothing to do with the flds. her attorney said she suffered from multiple personality disorder. after pleading guilty to a

misdemeanor charge of filing a false report, her case was eventually dismissed. but rod parker, one of the attorneys who represented the flds, was furious about the actions of the texas rangers. >> what they did is they described a person who didn't exist and used it to justify a complete search of the ranch. >> reporter: families separated, children shipped away, some not returned for almost two months. a sacred temple defiled. but neither the rangers nor rebecca had second thoughts. sarah barlow may have been a fake, they said, but what warren jeffs was doing here with underage girls appeared to be very real as seen in these pictures seized during the raid. >> do you carry around with you any sort of sadness, guilt, something, about how much you had to do to get that evidence against warren jeffs? >> no. >> no regrets? >> no regrets. >> no.

we didn't create those circumstances. warren jeffs did. >> he did. >> but he obviously didn't see it as a crime. he saw it as him doing his priestly duty, right? >> he understood that the outside world viewed it as a crime, that society did because even in the priesthood records, there was a quote or a comment that he made that, "if the outside world knew what i was doing, they would hang me from the highest tree." >> reporter: for the next several months hanna and hensley painstakingly picked through oceans of paperwork looking for anything to link warren jeffs and other flds members to specific crimes. but there was a clue that had been discovered a few years earlier. remember when the prophet was arrested in 2006? one of the things found in that escalade of his was a rather disturbing audio recording. >> thank you for letting her feel the heavenly burning peace. >> reporter: this was warren jeffs performing one of his

sacred ordinances with what sounded like a young girl. because he said her name on the tape, it was a simple matter of matching her to church records seized in the texas raid. it turned out she was just 12 years old. the tone -- quiet, almost soothing -- belies the horror of what's really happening. >> that feels good. now repeat the words from your mouth. >> this is a horrible thing to listen to. it will just rock you, it's so horrible. >> reporter: eventually the master copy of the recording was found buried in evidence discovered at the yfz ranch. >> at this young age to come to know god and his power and feel his presence. >> and it just crushed your heart for one thing that you know what is going on and what is happening to that 12-year-old girl.

and that's something i'll never forget. >> reporter: it was exactly what rebecca feared when she saw those beds in the temple. >> 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. >> reporter: warren jeffs and nine other members of the flds were indicted on a variety of sexual assault charges involving underage girls. the prophet, who had once been accountable to no one, would again have to answer in court, this time facing life in prison. and once again the woman he once warned would be destroyed in the flesh would be the star witness against him. and if the stakes weren't high enough, they were about to go up. in 2010, just before his texas trial was to start back in utah,

the state supreme court overturned his earlier conviction in the elissa wall case, citing wrong instruction of the jury. while prosecutors were deciding whether to retry the prophet, he was extradited to texas where something dramatic was about to happen on day one of the warren jeffs trial. coming up -- rebecca takes the stand, while warren jeffs makes a move that stuns the courtroom. >> it was surreal. >> when "dateline" continues.

finally yasso! a ridiculously creamy, crunchy, chocolatey dipped ice cream experience with 25% less calories because it's made with greek yogurt. so, thanks for everything ice cream, but we'll take it from here. yasso audaciously delicious ♪♪ >> reporter: san angelo, texas. cattle country on the banks of the concho river. in the center of town, a stately old courthouse. the stage for the 2011 trial of prophet warren jeffs, now facing charges for sexually assaulting

two underage girls alleged to be his spiritual wives. >> mr. jeffs, did you rape those two girls? >> reporter: this time, if convicted, the prophet could face life in prison. >> we'd prepared ourselves diligently, anticipating different arguments from the defense team. >> reporter: but there was no defense team, per se. because right before trial warren jeffs fired all his attorneys and announced he'd represent himself. in his opening argument, the prophet delivered a 30-minute speech on religious persecution. and then the prosecution presented its case, all that evidence seized in the texas raid. and rebecca musser, again dressed in red, tried to make sense of it all for the jury. the girls warren jeffs allegedly raped took the fifth instead of testifying against their husband and prophet. >> there were no victims sitting on that stand to say, "this man did this to me." >> sure. >> and it was my testimony to

authenticate the records. to explain to the jury what these young girls were victims being forced to marry, being forced to have sex, that that was normal. >> reporter: and then the prosecution played the audio of warren jeffs and the 12-year-old girl, recovered at the yfz ranch. all 21 minutes of it. >> perform this ordinance in the name of jesus christ. amen. >> amen. >> i looked over and i saw the emotional reactions of the jurors. and tears were streaming down someone's face. >> reporter: finally it was time for the prophet to deliver his closing argument. his last chance to make a compelling case for himself and his holy ordinances. he stood and faced the jury but -- >> he didn't utter a word for at least 38 minutes and 50 seconds. and at the conclusion of that

period of time, he -- he said -- >> i'm at peace. >> i'm at peace. and i mean, that -- i guess that was his argument, but it was -- it was just surreal. >> reporter: it took the texas jury barely half an hour to reach a verdict. guilty on all counts. >> it was like we had a great thousand-pound weight taken off your shoulders. our investigation was also on trial. the going onto the ranch, the search warrant was on trial. >> i bless the state of texas, that somebody finally stood up to this man. and he's sitting in prison now for the rest of his life. >> reporter: three months after jeffs was handed the life sentence, prosecutors in utah decided they would not retry him in the elissa wall case, and they dropped all charges. a decision made with elissa's consent. much has happened since we first brought you this story. all the children taken from the yfz ranch were eventually returned to their families.

all but one. the 12-year-old from the audio tape, whose mother died after the raid. but leave the church? oh no. the last time we spoke to rebecca, she told us the girl, now a woman, still considers herself a wife of the prophet and is thought to be living in an flds compound somewhere in the u.s. the state of texas seized the ranch and sold it. this former religious commune was transformed into a miitary and law enforcement training base, of all things. a few years later -- >> we received a tip of the public of someone matching his description. >> reporter: warren's brother and second in command lyle jeffs was arrested. after slipping out of his ankle monitor while awaiting trial on food stamp fraud. he was convicted, sentenced to just under five years. and short crick?

the crick once flds ground zero, back in 2013 as we finished taping and were preparing to leave, suddenly, we were surrounded by a posse of teens on horseback. they responded to the greetings with blank stares. >> you want to call the sheriffs now? >> these are the children taken from their parents, said rebecca's old school friend. they were just following church orders to harass the media. but that was then. now, said andrew, the crick is ground zero no more. >> the majority of the flds, about 90%, are not in short crick anymore. >> reporter: court rulings wrested the control of the town away from the church and warren jeffs and the devout just left. >> they have been told not to cooperate with the courts, and they would rather walk away from

their homes than to cooperate. >> reporter: so much change. in 2017, hildale elected the first non-flds mayor, a woman. in the town's 100-year history. >> she was an ex-flds member, and she understands a lot of how people think in this community. so she was a perfect candidate on how to help build a bridge between ex-flds and the community and the direction it's going. >> reporter: they welcome visitors. there's even a bar. >> it's starting to be a lot warmer. people wave to you. the fences are coming down. what i've been telling people, we're living in the aftermath of the jeffs. now, we're here cleaning up and rebuilding. >> reporter: but, the end of the story? no, not at all. because though his flock has scattered, warren jeffs, even in

prison, is still the prophet. issuing edicts to its faithful followers now in neighboring utah and beyond. private investigator sam brouwer. >> they will do anything he says. >> leave their families? >> leave their families. they'll leave their children. they'll turn daughters over to old lechers. they'll do literally anything they're called upon to do. they see it as their path to salvation. >> reporter: and rebecca musser? to the lds faithful, she is an enemy of the work. does it hurt you knowing that many of them feel quite negatively towards you now? >> i'm sad that some of them do but i could no longer stay. it is not a glamorous part of getting freedom. there's a cost to that. >> reporter: when we last spoke, rebecca was working in real estate and had two children, but she was estranged from her own parents. her mother, she said, still

wouldn't speak to her. her father, too. believed the teachers of the flds, though he no longer believed warren jeffs was the prophet. the woman once known as sister becky wrote a book about her experiences calling "the witness wore red." she's helped counsel former flds members. >> the power of words means breaking your silence. to be silent is to be enslaved. and there's this amazing thing called choice and that is freedom. ♪♪ >> reporter: and sometimes when she is playing her violin one of those classic hymns she learned when practicing the work, she thinks about her days in the flds, thinks about that moment when warren jeffs demanded her obedience. the moment he threatened he would break her. he didn't break you. you broke him. >> i didn't set out to break him. i think he broke himself. but he most certainly did not

break me. ♪♪ i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline." my friend called me and she was hysterical. and she said, sandra's been killed. i was like, oh, my god. as soon as she was killed, we all knew who did it. as the months went on, we just realized that this guy's going to get off. how is this happening? just keep praying, that's all we can do. >> there aren't a lot of murders in paradise. people still talk about this one. >> just a darling girl with two darling children. it's a story keith morrison has