Rebecca Musser was the 19th wife of ‘Prophet’ Rulon Jeffs when she escaped the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS).
She later became the key witness in the trial of Rulon’s successor, cult leader Warren Jeffs. In August, 2011, Warren Jeffs was convicted of sexually assaulting two underage followers he took as brides in what his church deemed €œspiritual marriages.€ He was sentenced to life in prison.
Former FLDS president Wendell Loy Nielsen is on trial on three counts of third-degree bigamy, punishable by two to 10 years in prison.
According to documents from the state, Nielsen allegedly married 34 women in addition to his legal wife. Among those he allegedly married were sets of mothers and daughters and groups of sisters.
The credentials and motives of a former member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints came under fire during the fifth day of the trial of Keith Dutson Jr.
Rebecca Musser, the ex-FLDS member, testified as both a lay and expert witness to stress the importance of record keeping among FLDS members. Her testimony was meant to authenticate records taken during a raid on the FLDS-owned Yearning for Zion Ranch.
Rebecca Musser, a former member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, testified about the sect’s views on marriage in the trial of Merril Leroy Jessop.
Jessop, a member of the polygamous sect, is charged with sexual assault of a child in connection with allegations he illegally married an underage girl.
Women in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints polygamist sect were taught that their fathers or husbands and the sect’s prophet had the right to direct every aspect of their lives, a former member testified Wednesday in the child sexual abuse trial of a current sect member.
Prosecutors asked Musser to talk about her experience in the FLDS and how church records are kept, as they are relying heavily on records and dictations by jailed FLDS leader Warren Jeffs that were seized from the ranch.
Testimony offered by a Texas child protection supervisor revealed Thursday that a woman at the center of the Warren Jeffs trial was instrumental in persuading law enforcement to raid the YFZ Ranch.
Warren Jeffs is charged with two counts of coercing the rape of the bride by ordering her to marry her 19-year-old cousin and rejecting her pleas to dissolve the union after the marriage was consummated against her will. If convicted, he could face up to life in prison.