They are paid not in cash but in scrip, an arcane form of credit used by the Mormon pioneers that can only be redeemed at company stores. Paul E. Kingston, considered the top man, signed as a witness for four of the marriages that The Tribune found outside Utah. DeRieux did marry the next year at age 18 to a cousin who was 19. I strongly believe they are an organized-crime family, Shurtleff says. Investigators have said 52-year-old Maggie Murdaugh was shot four or five times with a rifle, while 22-year-old Paul Murdaugh was killed by two shotgun blasts near kennels on the family's . The education figures he cited would be a few percentage points higher than the average for Utah as a whole, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. They both have the same high cheekbones, the same pale skin, the same wide-set eyes. And it would be several years after that before he stole from his father for the first time. His life was in danger, the voice on the other end warned. He charged across the field and started brutally beating Stephens cousin. To her horror, all that remained was a ring of dust, marking the place where a chest of gold coins had once stood. Contact. J.O. Mrs. He later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor. A state court website says the judge must conclude that the marriage is voluntary and in the best interests of the minor.. They threw away their possessions, donned matching blue overalls, and pitched canvas tents on a patch of land north of Salt Lake that would come to be known as the Home Place.. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Businesses and individuals have the autonomy to choose and operate as they see fit as evidenced by a huge diversity of industry and management styles among members. But mostly he talked about the history of the Order and his ancestors, the men who had started the clan. Jessica is hardly the only girl to make such a choice. He had yet to lose his hair, and thanks to his fanatical devotion to healthy food and alternative medicine, he had the ropy build of a well-toned athlete. According to All Famous Birthdays, Paul Vallas has a staggering net worth of $5 million. A nationwide debate is underway about teens, especially girls, marrying. The groom was 21. The woman who married in 2014 at age 16 and asked not to be identified is still with her husband. It was February in Salt Lake, cold and gray, and in the foothills above the city, a low fog hung over the mountains. Shortly after that meeting, the complaint continues, Mrs. 1:03. The boys also bought cigarettes wholesale through a small clan-owned market run by their older brother and sold them at school. To get out of this s----y situation, I have to get into another s----y situation, said Kollene Snow, who married at 16 and is DeRieuxs full sister. The Mormon Church officially banned polygamy in 1890, and some of the defiant bands of fundamentalists who refuse to give up the practice have been pushed out of the city and into the desert, where they eke out an existence in rusted-out trailers and sprawling compounds. Mary Nelson grew up in the sect and names her father, David Kingston, as a defendant. Were fucked, they told their cousin. Paul Kingston succeeded his father John Ortell Kingston as the leader of the Kingston Clan on his father's death in 1987. By the time he was 30, he would have more than 10. Like other teenagers who leave fundamentalist Mormon communities, Stephen was not prepared to enter the world at large. As he grew older, Stephen turned out to be as rebellious as his own father had been as a boy. The lawsuit from Michaels and the Nelsons asserts the defendants are liable for up to $27 million in damages and another $20 million in penalties. To go to Colorado, DeRieux said, she and her fianc drove to Price, where they jumped into a 15-passenger van carrying their parents, the other two sets of brides and grooms and their parents. Mysterious cars followed his girlfriend, and he once came home to find that someone had rifled through his drawers. The couples wedding certificate says Stoddard officiated the ceremony April 26, 2008, in West Valley City. I dont think theyre organized crime in that regard, but the racketeering statute defines it as any conspiracy or pattern of illegal activity done in concert with others. Nor are youths from polygamous sects the only teens who marry in Utah. Jessica suspects her dad was pushing her toward another man. After the wedding, Richaun chose the name Knight randomly a practice designed to prevent prosecutors from proving that men in the Order have multiple wives. Former members of the sect say there may be dozens or even hundreds more marriage certificates at county clerk offices across the West. She, in turn, wrote a letter to the judge on their behalf, and the case was settled without a trial. Duringa 2020 trialfor a California businessman accused of carrying out a nearly $500 million biodiesel fraud scheme with a member of the Kingston Group, attorneys for the businessman called the Kingstons an incestuous polygamous group that is always scheming to defraud the US government in what the group calls bleeding the beast., A spokesman for the group, Kent Johnson, called those allegations categorically false.. Lawful marriage and the way it binds people together legally and financially, Hansen said, is seen as a way to keep the more rebellious girls in the Kingston Group. The Order stays as far away as possible from police, and this was like inviting them in your front door., With its vast wealth suddenly exposed to public view, the clan moved quickly to hush up the scandal. When Elden died in 1948, leadership of the Order fell to Stephens grandfather, J.O., a short, miserly man with bony shoulders and thinning hair. But Jessica knew the longer she waited to wed, the more likely she would have to become a polygamist and the more likely her husband would be far older than she was. You could be such an asset to the Order., Trending The group has drawn legal attention before. Trump Melts Down Over Murdoch Admitting Fox Lied About Election Fraud Like Stephen, the boys were considered troublemakers by the Order and like Stephen, they knew a lot about how the clan handled its money. Theyre trying to paint a picture, Markey said, give the judge and, frankly, the defendants, when they see the complaint, give them the context, which is to the effect, We know what's up. Tennessee Ex-Cop Sues After Becoming Porn Meme, Claims She Was 'Groomed' for Sex With Coworkers Paul Kingston wore secondhand suits that hung off his slender shoulders, and he spoke in a flat, emotionless monotone. A husband and wife died while on a fishing trip after falling through thin ice in the region. When a girl doesnt want to be a polygamist, that information is shared among boys and men in the sect. She said her father didnt think the suitor was a good student. The clan, known privately as the Order, runs what prosecutors believe is one of the largest organized-crime operations in Utah, overseeing its far-flung empire from a string of secret locations and backrooms. Do you think if I took $5 million in gold, Id be working out here?. Much of what we have reviewed appears frivolous and unfounded, Gustafson said in an emailed statement. Children born into the clan make up much of the labor force. We want to hear it. The groups, whose members believe polygamy brings exaltation in heaven, are offshoots of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. On February 26th, 2009, the Salt Lake County Sheriffs Office got a call of suspicious activity in the foothills above the city. If they are money-laundering or making money in support of polygamy and incest, then they probably meet the statute.. Had Snow been a better behaved, more devout member of the Kingston Group, Hansen said, there may not have been a push to have her legally marry at 16. Boys are taught they will need to receive revelation from God on whom to marry. J.O. Its hard to leave when thats all youve known, says one former member, who was forced to marry her cousin when she was 15. Paul Kingston and his wife, Mary Kelly, were natives of Moinies (Meenies) townland, Drimoleague, Co. Cork, Ireland. The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity and contributions are tax Sometimes his father read the Book of Mormon from the pulpit and talked about things regular Christians would recognize, like tithing or repentance. They and Mafi also accuse a sect-affiliated tax preparer of falsifying tax returns for Kingston Group members to report lower incomes, partly to boost student financial aid. The family believed that discipline would rein in the boys and that hard labor would make the girls more supplicant to their husbands back in the city. The young women ranged from about age 18 to 22. One baby deemed to have too many deformities was allegedly put in a shoe box and left to die. While some despised Ben for his apostasy and refused to speak with him, Stephen had remained in touch with his brother. Another brother, Ben, showed him how to mend fences. When one of his favorite wives died, he missed her so much that he dug her up from her grave. While the Kingston Group, founded in 1935, is not affilated with the FLDS, members practice a fundamentalist version of Mormonism that involves polygamy. A recent estimate is that he has 34 wives and more than 500 children, as several of his wives have had as many as 16 children each! The Kingston Group is not affiliated withthe Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) based on the Utah-Arizona line that is run by imprisoned leader Warren Jeffs, who is serving a life sentence in Texas for sexually assaulting girls he considered brides. It wasnt forced, said the woman, who asked not to be identified because of stigmas that often come with being associated with a polygamous sect. Then, moving quickly, the boy at the door let himself in and got to work. Jessica as well as Snow, DeRieux and Hansen all favor raising the legal marriage age in Utah and other states to 18. 180+ Jonathan Jacob Meijer View Site Google Maps He went days at a time without eating, convinced it helped provoke visions, and believed that by the laying on of hands he could heal his followers from sickness and disease. He kept his office on a side street in central Salt Lake. Jessica said, strictly speaking, she and the other teen brides she knows chose to get married, but added: Its not much of a choice when theyre groomed to do that.. 1 choice [of whom to marry] in The Order, Jessica Kingston said. Thats your Uncle Paul, she said. It would be several more years before Stephen learned that Paul Kingston was his father, and that his mother was just one of his dads many wives. For parents, there can be other practical considerations in letting a teen marry, Hansen said. It didnt take long for them to break down and confess that they had robbed their aunt. In summer, the kids swam in the reservoir as their mother, Richaun, watched, the boys doing back flips off the rope swing into the water; at night, as the sun set behind the mountains, they all sat together to watch the clans buffalo herd grazing in the pastures. Messages sent to Paul and David Kingston as well as representatives of the Latter Day Church of Christ, the Kingston Groups religious organization, and other named defendants in the lawsuit were not returned. But we paid it all back.. Polygamist John Daniel Kingston, left, in attendance at a memorial for the 13 (and one still missing) victims of a Sept. 14, 2015, flash flood. We figured it was ours anyway, says Stephen, explaining that the clan hadnt paid the boys for bagging coal. It was also around then that Stephen, at the age of 14, began to see the clan for what it really was. Look around, Stephen says. . During the approval process, the young man had begun texting Jessica something forbidden but that she says is common among Order teens who have an interest in one another. Marriage preparation can accelerate at puberty. Mafi had another meeting with Paul Kingston during which he made sure that she had completed her [applications] and told her that she could only attend college if her grades were sufficient to qualify for financial aid.. That usually means marrying a Kingston descendant. The plans fizzled because her mother didnt believe DeRieux had received direction from God to marry the man. And they avoid the police, opting to handle any disputes in their own brutal manner. By 18, she was pregnant with her first child and ended up having four children in four years. A week later, the two were profiled on the CBS program Whistleblower for their work in exposing fraud at Washakie Renewable Energy, the biofuel company operated by two of Mary Nelsons first cousins. For now, Utah law says a 15-year-old may marry with the consent of a parent or guardian and the permission of a juvenile court judge. Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune The plaintiffs argue a plan to defraud such well-known student aid benefits as Pell Grants and the Ford and Perkins loans began in 2004 or 2005. Paul Kingston, the top man within the Davis County Cooperative Society, also known as the Kingston Group or The Order, is accused of overseeing what the lawsuit calls a scheme. The father preferred another who had inquired about marrying Jessica. It was Mothers Day in 2000, and Stephen and two of his brothers were speeding up a dirt road for dinner at an aunts house. Very little is publicly known about her or their marriage but Paul shared a heartfelt Facebook about . It passed a bill adding forced marriage into the states definition of sexual abuse. Colorado does not require an officiant or a ceremony to marry. They had eight children whose baptisms are recorded in the same church. Johnson said the Davis County Cooperative Society takes no position on the issue. He said the college has controls to ensure compliance with federal aid guidelines. Unlike other girls in the Order, Richaun was refined she didnt wear hand-me-downs, and at clan dances, a long line of boys waited to dance with her. They were married in Drimoleague parish church 02 February 1834. When Jessica Kingston was 15, her father told her she had four choices apparently the number of suitors who had spoken to him about marrying her. Death: January 25, 1867 (75-76) Immediate Family: Husband of Lydia Kingston. Her parents placed her in what she called a repentance home, where she wasnt allowed to communicate with anyone without supervision. COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) Jurors in Alex Murdaugh's murder trial will get to see for themselves the rural hunting estate where his wife and son were killed, following in the footsteps of . Girls are told they will need to pray to God so he might show them who their No. In Utah, Rep. Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, plans a bill that would raise the minimum marriage age to 18. The teenagers sitting in the driveway on South Bonner Circle that afternoon in 2009 knew the operation well. We will continue to do so. They were the type of kids you didnt mess with, says Robert Owen, a former member of the clan. Earlier in its history, the Kingston Group had plural wives under age 18. Members of The Order are taught they need to be in a plural marriage to reach the highest heaven. deductible, Report a missed paper by emailingsubscribe@sltrib.comor calling801-237-2900, For e-edition questions or comments, contact customer support801-237-2900or emailsubscribe@sltrib.com. Heaven, are offshoots of the marriages that the clan for what it really was man, signed a. Utah, Rep. Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City paul kingston wives plans a bill adding forced marriage into states... 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