As time passed, his dogma became even stranger. Known variously as "Brother Paul," "the leader," and "the man on the watchtower" by Order members, this unremarkable, balding middle-aged man reportedly has 27 wives and over 300 children. A short, blustery man with a hair-trigger temper, Daniel Kingston had reportedly once kidnapped two boys at gunpoint and led them out to the Great Salt Lake (the charges were later dropped). There shouldnt really be a reason for an age limit, she said. Donate to the newsroom now. Its a quiet, haunting place, with massive hayfields that stretch to the horizon. She said the marriage disintegrated when her husband married spiritually one of her half-sisters, who was 22 at the time. 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. Johnson said neither he nor any other representatives of the cooperative society were aware of the lawsuit until contacted by The Salt Lake Tribune recently for comment. Johnson said the Davis County Cooperative Society takes no position on the issue. The grift was exposed decades later, in the 1980s, when the clan paid a $350,000 settlement for swindling the government through welfare fraud. We dont expect any of the claims to prevail in a court of law.. 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.. 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. They both have the same high cheekbones, the same pale skin, the same wide-set eyes. Very little is publicly known about her or their marriage but Paul shared a heartfelt Facebook about . One is a first cousin. Come and get me, Stephen said. 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. Many consider Kingston the top man in the group. During his tenure Kingston has followed his father's practice of plural, child, and intra-family marriage. Paul passed away on month day 1973, at age 92 at death place, Oregon. It was a total spur of the moment thing, Brown says. In 2006, it was estimated that Paul Kingston had up to 27 wives (including three half-sisters of his), [5] some . That Stephens father sat atop a mafialike organization was a secret kept from him for most of his childhood. All rights reserved. It wasnt like we thought about it a lot. Wed sleep on the chicken coop in the summer and shoot raccoons. DeRieux says she was still high school age when her father told her she needed to pray about whom to marry, get married and build The Order. Her father also started calling her mother and prodded her to pressure DeRieux to get married. When they arrived in Grand Junction, all three couples filled out the papers for a marriage license. The Order's top man, Paul Kingston, counts a half-dozen such relatives among his 20-plus wives, according to ex-members and Attorney General's investigator Ron Barton. Among those Kingston Group brides who marry as minors and for whom The Tribune was able to find birthdates, the average age was 16 years, 7 months and 12 days. Photo Credit: Sullivan County Sheriff's Office. Earlier in its history, the Kingston Group had plural wives under age 18. We figured it was ours anyway, says Stephen, explaining that the clan hadnt paid the boys for bagging coal. Over 75 years, the Kingstons have amassed a fortune worth an estimated $300 million, but the operation skirts the edges of the law. ", "United by fundamentalist Mormon beliefs, one polygamous group helps another by bringing truckloads of food", "Young Brides Stir New Outcry on Utah Polygamy", "Shurtleff: Child bride polygamous marriages appear to have stopped", "Polygamists are urged to make public statement", "No longer performing child-bride marriages? The lawsuit does not allege any wrongdoing by SLCC. A passerby might catch a glimpse of children in the windows, but for the most part, the Young family kept to themselves. It passed a bill adding forced marriage into the states definition of sexual abuse. 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.. Jessica has begun working with Hope After Polygamy, a charity started by the cast of Escaping Polygamy and other former Kingston Group members to assist people leaving polygamous sects. While some despised Ben for his apostasy and refused to speak with him, Stephen had remained in touch with his brother. The lawsuit was filed May 24 in Salt Lake Citys federal court by Mary and Bryan Nelson. He snapped the padlock on the first crate and began stuffing the silver ingots into duffel bags, lugging them back out to the waiting Honda. John Daniel Kingston, who according to court testimony once had 14 wives, was on hand in 2011, when his sons held an open house at the Washakie production plant in Plymouth near Interstate 15 and . Andrea Johnson was buried on June 13, 1992, at the Bountiful Memorial Park. Paul Kingston, they said, has 17 wives and nearly 50 children. But women who are disobedient and fail to bear children including because they miscarry face ostracism, the lawsuit claims. When youre three years old, they start training you what to say if people talk to you, recalls Jeremy Tucker, a 32-year-old former member of the cult, who now works in construction. Now, former members say, girls who will be plural wives meaning they have only a spiritual marriage to their husband are left alone until they are 18 so laws about sex with a minor wont apply. It was February in Salt Lake, cold and gray, and in the foothills above the city, a low fog hung over the mountains. She's since left the marriage and wants the legal marriage age raised to 18. Then one of them exhaled slowly, his breath shuddering in the cold air. Boys work its coal mine and stack boxes at Standard Restaurant Supply, a massive discount store. One of them approached the front door while the other kept a lookout. 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. The issue is available now on newsstands and in the digital archive. 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 in polygamous Kingston Group continue to marry as young as 15, records show, sometimes leaving Utah to marry cousins", "Inside 'The Order,' One Mormon Cult's Secret Empire", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paul_Elden_Kingston&oldid=1136713473, This page was last edited on 31 January 2023, at 19:29. If the Order doesnt have it, the clan teaches, we dont need it., Editors picks Send us a tip using our anonymous form. Former members estimate Paul has 30 wives and more than 50 children. Its all political, Jessica said. Not desiring to be a plural wife doesnt necessarily mean she hoped to leave the Davis County Cooperative Society, also known as the Kingston Group. [10][11]. Jessica said her husband was on a group text that went around listing girls or women who had not yet married with jokes about how old the females were getting. But because they were the sons of the prophet, they got away with it., Stephen vehemently denies that he or his brothers had anything to do with the heist. Mysterious cars followed his girlfriend, and he once came home to find that someone had rifled through his drawers. She received no sex education or premarital counseling. The accusers also claim that the group arranged child marriages so that girls would become pregnant and beholden to their husbands and the religious sect. Not every Kingston Group follower marries as a juvenile. Mary Nelson grew up in the sect and names her father, David Kingston, as a defendant. Snow said she was forced to fast, pray and read the Bible. Hanging up the phone, she rushed to her closet. The woman who married in 2014 at age 16 and asked not to be identified is still with her husband. 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. At 15, Snow ran away from home, wound up in a foster home and later was returned to her mother. Boys are taught that the prophet demands absolute loyalty and that they should be prepared to defend the clan. If I had done it, the Order probably would have killed me. All of their children who survived the Great Famine emigrated. The lawsuit describes crimes and issues within the Kingston Group that have no direct relationship to the student aid applications. Murdaugh is accused of fatally shooting his son, Paul, 22, with a shotgun and his wife, Maggie, 52, with a rifle near the dog kennels at the family's hunting estate known as Moselle. Every now and then, as hes driving around the ranch, his phone will ring. When one of his favorite wives died, he missed her so much that he dug her up from her grave. The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity and contributions are tax 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. He charged across the field and started brutally beating Stephens cousin. In Utah, Rep. Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, plans a bill that would raise the minimum marriage age to 18. In qui tam cases, the federal government can either join the plaintiffs in recouping losses and pursuing damages and fines, or let the plaintiffs prosecute the lawsuit on their own. She and her husband had four children with whom they share custody. Over the last four years, these audits have occurred for DCCS members at a rate 9.5 times higher than the average population. So it means being a first [wife]. Women and girls, after theyre married, submit to their husbands and men answer to higher-ranked men, the suit alleges. In its place, someone had left a note. Four of those appear to be couples from polygamous groups. He trained the women how to rip off the government, a scheme the Order called Bleeding the Beast. At first, the two boys denied any involvement in the break-in at Youngs house. One day, not long after the gold disappeared, Knight got an anonymous phone call. 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. Most of the time, said Shanell DeRieux, a former Kingston Group member now seen on Escaping Polygamy, the girls only choice is to have babies because thats how we build The Order by population.. This is an indication that an experienced qui tam firm looked at the facts, Markey said, and realized it was a case that was worth pursuing.. 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. 03/01/2023 9:00 a.m. Police divers cut a path through the ice to reach the victims. Youre just supposed to get married as young as you can, said the now-26-year-old. So when her husband pushed for that daughter to marry, too, Hansen thought she was mature enough. Complete statement from Davis County Cooperative Society: For decades, the DCCS has encouraged its members to be well-educated, well-informed, independent thinkers. They were the type of kids you didnt mess with, says Robert Owen, a former member of the clan. presided, while Richauns father officiated the wedding, promising the bride that if she obeyed her husband, she would be guaranteed a spot in the Celestial Kingdom, the highest level of heaven. On this much, though, mother and daughter agree: Snows father was the primary driver. The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Jessica Kingston was wed at age 16 in what she says was a marriage she felt pressured into by her parents and others in a polygamous sect. These days Stephen works on a cattle ranch near the Idaho border, just down the road from where he grew up. Im done with this shit.. A review of wedding certificates shows how the teen marriages are sanctioned at the highest levels of the Kingston Group. The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity and contributions are tax Some people say they funneled the money through Mexico. I think it scared them.. So far, however, despite Shurtleffs efforts, the insular and highly secretive nature of the Order has prevented him from finding sufficient evidence to bring a case strong enough to dismantle the clan. Kiki Kannibal: The Girl Who Played With Fire. Paul lived in 1935, at address, Washington. Paul Kingston succeeded his father John Ortell Kingston as the leader of the Kingston Clan on his father's death in 1987. (Courtesy photo) Paul E. Kingston, seen here in this undated photo. But the Kingstons have remained in Salt Lake, operating virtually undetected in a city of more than 1 million people. Inseparable: Twins Peter (left) and Paul have lived. Some children are born blind, others with missing fingernails or undersize heads. Tennessee Ex-Cop Sues After Becoming Porn Meme, Claims She Was 'Groomed' for Sex With Coworkers She is the fifth of her mothers 12 children. Everyone in the Order knew that she controlled the purse strings for the operation but few were aware that she was sitting on a hidden stash of silver. Birthdate: 1791. Home. She also felt a religious call to wed and saw herself as mature enough to undertake such a commitment. I was scared to death when I left. From a clan ranch in Nevada, Stephen called his brother Ben, who had left the Order a few years before. LDS Church wants to light up a temple in a place that prides itself on dark skies, For husband-and-wife team, this new restaurant is the culmination of a decadeslong dream, offered such statistics to counter the stereotype, Nicole Mafi, one of Paul Kingstons daughters. There are thousands of members in the group. With the Orders leaders taking so many wives for themselves, the clans younger men were often unable to find anyone to marry. That daughter was born with a form of heart disease and had long acted responsibly in caring for it, Hansen said. Paul E. Kingston, considered the top man, signed as a witness for four of the marriages that The Tribune found outside Utah. By the time he was 30, he would have more than 10. As lore has it, Elden was the one mighty and strong predicted by Scripture, who holding the scepter of power in his hand would set in order the House of God. With thick white hair, a lantern jaw and a commanding presence, he had no problem attracting followers. 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. Her top choice the one whom she felt God told her to marry was a man five years older than she and to whom she was related on both sides of her family tree. The teenagers sitting in the driveway on South Bonner Circle that afternoon in 2009 knew the operation well. 180+ Jonathan Jacob Meijer View Site Google Maps That usually means marrying a Kingston descendant. After the lawsuit was filed, attorneys representing the U.S. government asked a judge to seal the case, according to entries that can still be found on a webpage maintained by DocketBird.com, a commercial site that collects and sells court records. 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. He also shared his brothers fascination with herbs and natural medicine. He no longer believed in the Order, but he knew that leaving would mean being shunned by his own family, and because he had been forbidden from making friends outside the clan, there would be few people in the world he could turn to. Her parents placed her in what she called a repentance home, where she wasnt allowed to communicate with anyone without supervision. If you would like the full family tree and I feel your request is legitimate I will email it to you. At a minimum, the statement said, two employees review every student file flagged for verification to ensure quality assurance in our processes.. That cousin is also a defendant in the lawsuit. 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