Stolen Innocence - Lisa Pulitzer [162]
Lamont returned home one day to report that an investigator from the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona had unexpectedly joined him and his friend for breakfast. Apparently, there was great interest in my story and this investigator was eager to speak with me about my marriage to Allen. From what Lamont told me, Kassandra and Craig had been misinformed when they were told that the statute of limitations would run out for me that past April. There was still plenty of time for them to file charges against Warren based on what happened to me, and even without my cooperation, this investigator could subpoena me and force me to testify against my will.
The more I heard, the more I came to see that somehow I was going to get sucked into this once again, and the possibility frightened me to no end. Lamont was also scared, and neither of us was prepared to take on the preisthood. We had family members and friends still there, and going up against the priesthood was like going against them.
My determination to stay out of the spotlight grew firmer as I watched another young FLDS woman get thrown to the wolves that spring. Like me, she’d been driven across state lines to Caliente, where at age sixteen she was sealed by Warren to a man twelve years her senior who already had a wife and four children. Like me, she’d been unable to bear her marriage, but when she escaped the community she eventually went to the police. Authorities in Mohave County convinced her to bring rape charges against her FLDS husband and Warren, and she testified before a grand jury. But before they could hold Warren accountable in a court of law, her name was leaked to the press. Her family members who were still in the FLDS hunted her down and “loved her” out of testifying. Soon after that, she disappeared for a long stretch.
Because they’d lost their only other accuser, the investigator from Mohave County redoubled his efforts to convince Lamont to have me come forward. They’d lost their star witness, and they were eager to recruit me in her place. I, however, was unwilling to be that girl, and Lamont made it clear that they should leave me alone.
My panic only heightened when a lawyer from Salt Lake City began calling Lamont in early May. Roger Hoole was representing “the Lost Boys” and Brent Jeffs in their civil suits against Warren Jeffs and the church and its financial arm, the UEP Trust. They’d won a victory in Utah, with the state court agreeing to take control of the UEP Trust away from Warren and his cronies and assign it to a court-appointed trustee. But everyone knew that this was not enough to completely stop the FLDS prophet from controlling the lives and homes of the people. They needed a witness to file criminal charges against Warren, and that, they hoped, was where I would come in.
Though Roger was also interested in bringing Warren to justice, his methods were more relaxed than those of the Mohave County investigators. He wanted to help me come forward on my terms, without the pressure of Utah and Arizona on my shoulders. In a series of calls, he told Lamont that he believed he could protect me from being called to testify against my will. He was already representing a number of former FLDS members and had gained their trust. I continuously declined to speak with him, but as the days passed, I grew anxious about the possibility that Arizona prosecutors would subpoena me.
Eventually I became tired of hearing everything second- and thirdhand, so in mid-June I picked up the phone and dialed Roger Hoole. “Roger,” I began as soon as I heard a man’s voice on the other end of the line. “This is Elissa Wall. If you guys want to know about me, then you should talk to me directly.” I could sense that I had caught him completely off guard, and there was a momentary pause before he answered me.
“Well, hello there,” he replied in a kind tone. It sounded as though he was smiling when he said, “Well, all right then.”
That conversation was the first of many. I quickly learned