Town marshal pledges his allegiance to Jeffs Letter says towns' officers are loyal to 'Uncle Warren'

By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News

Hildale/Colorado City Town Marshal Fred Barlow has pledged his allegiance to Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs. "I fill (sic) that without priesthood I am nothing," he wrote in a letter obtained by investigators for the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training board. The letter was given to the Deseret Morning News after a request under the Government Records Access Management Act (GRAMA.) The letter was written in October 2005 when Jeffs was still a fugitive and begins, "Dear Uncle Warren." In it, Barlow says all of the police officers in the polygamous border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., are loyal to Jeffs and are working under his directions. He updated Jeffs, who has since been captured, on a series of investigations by the Arizona Attorney General's Office and Arizona POST. "I do not know exactly what we have ahead of us, but I do know that I and all of the other officers have expressed our desire to stand with you and the priesthood," Barlow wrote. Arizona POST officials are investigating Barlow and two other members of the police force over their loyalties to Jeffs and refusal to answer investigators' questions about the FLDS leader. Fred Barlow is facing several misconduct charges, along with officers Preston Barlow and Mica Barlow. "In October 2005, Marshal Fred Barlow sought directions from and acknowledged previous direction on the operation of the Colorado City Marshal's Office from a federal fugitive," said Bob Forry, the manager of Arizona POST's Standards and Compliance Unit. He added that the officers have refused to answer investigators' questions. Administrative hearings on their police certification have been scheduled for February in Phoenix. All law enforcement officers take an oath to uphold the laws of their respective states. "These officers are truly conflicted between their religion and their duties as police officers," Forry said. The Utah POST Council voted on Wednesday to begin an investigation into the actions of the entire Hildale/Colorado City Town Marshal's Office. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said Friday the letter makes him want to move quickly on suspending the police authority in the border towns. "It's pretty alarming," Shurtleff said Friday. "They were taking directions from him (Jeffs) and they were doing his bidding." Barlow's letter says he was praying Jeffs would be protected while he was on the lam. "I love you and acknowledge you as my priesthood head," he wrote. "And I know that you have the right to rule in all aspects of my live (sic). I yearn to hear from you." The letter is signed, "Your servant Fred J. Barlow Jeffs." Arizona POST officials obtained the letter after Warren Jeffs' brother, Seth, was arrested in October 2005 outside Pueblo, Colo. Search warrant returns from the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office that were obtained by the Deseret Morning News show a number of documents were being taken to Warren Jeffs, who was a fugitive at the time. Among the items seized: a large box containing numerous envelopes addressed to "Warren Jeffs," "The Prophet," "Uncle Warren Jeffs," and other names; a banker box with miscellaneous documents titled, "Saturday Work Project January 2005-June 2005"; credit cards; 14 gift cards, valued at $500 each; VHS tapes, media cards, CDs, a Sony digital recorder, audio cassettes, computer floppy disks, a laptop, a Palm Pilot, seven cell phones, a donation jar with a picture of Jeffs marked "Pennies for the Prophet; and more than $135,000 in cash. Seth Jeffs later pleaded guilty to a federal charge of harboring a fugitive and was sentenced to probation. Warren Jeffs, 50, is in the Purgatory Jail facing charges of rape as an accomplice, accusing him of forcing a 14-year-old girl into a marriage with her 19-year-old cousin. His preliminary hearing is to resume in St. George's 5th District Court next week. E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com

deseretnews.com Originally published Saturday, December 9, 2006

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