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John Hollenhorst ReportingWarren Jeffs as Groucho Marx !?!? It's the first videotape ever to surface, showing the polygamist leader who's been on the FBI's Most Wanted list for nearly a year. The video may not bring authorities any closer to arresting the fugitive polygamist leader, but it offers a rare glimpse into the lives of Warren Jeffs and his followers.
The video was shot in 1993. A disgruntled former follower turned it over to the Deseret Morning News. He hopes that by displaying Jeffs' personality and mannerisms, the video might help authorities track him down.
It's a stage show in 1993, with a little known MC, slated to become a famous fugitive.
Warren Jeffs, 1993: "Our next skit is called, 'The cross to the best.'"
Warren Jeffs is in a room packed with kids and parents, believers in the FLDS Church. Rulon Jeffs was FLDS prophet then, his son Warren was headmaster of Alta Academy, where the video was shot.
The room where the performance was held still exists. The Alta Academy building is still in Sandy, at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon. The Jeffs vacated the compound in 2001 after predicting a nuclear explosion or terrorist attack during the Olympics.
Warren Jeffs, 1993: "LaRae Draper will now sing us a song."
Jeffs's humorless, unassertive monotone, proves charisma is not crucial to a religious leader. In four hours of videotape, only one scene with Jeffs in Groucho drag suggests a possible sense of humor.
Warren Jeffs, 1993: "Ok, ho ho. I'm going to play and you're going to sing along. Yes you, and you, and you, and you."
Although his manner with children may seem relatively genial, Jeffs is accused in a civil suit of sexually abusing his own nephews, who was one of the students at the Alta Academy.
Thirteen years later, Jeffs is hiding from the law, protected by fiercely loyal followers, charged with using his religious authority to help another man rape an underage bride.
It's conceivable the tape will help authorities arrest Jeffs. But it's worth noting that, for years, the government's had numerous videos of Osama Bin Laden and they still haven't tracked him down.
