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	Witness Recounts 'Complete Despair,' Betrayal in Testimony against Polygamist Leader Jeffs By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News September 14, 2007 http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695210106,00.html St. George — The star witness in the state's case against polygamist-sect leader Warren Jeffs testified on Friday she felt "complete despair" the night before her arranged marriage at age 14 to a first cousin. "I was completely emotional," the now 21-year-old woman testified. "I felt betrayed by the people I trusted most." Among those trusted people was Jeffs, who was then the first counselor to the Fundamentalist LDS Church's prophet, Rulon Jeffs, Warren Jeffs' father. "Warren completely overlooked the fact that it was something that I did not want to do or was willing to do," she testified. Jeffs conducted the wedding at a Nevada motel in April 2001, with the girl's mother and other family members in attendance. Jeffs married two other couples that day, including another 14-year-old bride. Members of the FLDS Church practice the concept of placement marriages, which are arranged by the sect's prophet after he receives a revelation naming the couple. Couples often do not know each other or are not told which person they are going to marry until a few days before the wedding. The woman testified she was shocked to learn she was expected to marry her 19-year-old first cousin, a boy she knew and didn't like. Contact: nperkins@desnews.com
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