If you would like the full family tree and I feel your request is legitimate I will email it to you. They sat there for a moment, warming their hands against the sputtering heater. That cousin is also a defendant in the lawsuit. 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. He seemed like the most amazing guy, Stephen recalls. One woman who was married in 2014 at age 16 said she did so for the same reason most people do: She fell in love. Colbert Reimagines Disney Park as 'De-Wokeified' DeSantis World, Sex, Drugs, and the Biggest Cybercrime of All Time, I could boil down what theyre about in three words, says a member who broke with the Order. 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. The ones that misbehave, they try to push them to marry as soon as they can, Hansen said. Mark Shurtleff, the Utah attorney general, has spent years investigating the clan, gathering birth certificates and genealogical data, and has come to believe that the cult is guilty of a long list of crimes, including child labor, tax evasion, welfare fraud, polygamy and the sanctioning of underage marriages to blood relatives. Their divorce was finalized in July 2012 a little more than three years after they married. In the past, we have worked closely with DWS, DOE and financial aid counselors at local colleges and universities to ensure proper training and that all applications adhere to every guideline. On the surface, the operation is legit: From Salt Lake, the Order controls some 100 businesses spread out over the Western states, from a casino in California to a cattle ranch in Nevada to a factory that makes lifelike dolls in Utah. That wasnt the only reason Jessica liked him. We really know what your game is.. 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. All rights reserved. Snow said the classes also taught the girls to be submissive to their husbands and to keep a good house for them. Her father, John Daniel Kingston, has 14 wives. In a search of public records created since the start of 1997, The Salt Lake Tribune found 65 marriages among members of the Kingston Group in which the bride was 15, 16 or 17. Former members of the sect say there may be dozens or even hundreds more marriage certificates at county clerk offices across the West. Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune. Boys work its coal mine and stack boxes at Standard Restaurant Supply, a massive discount store. If God gives him direction on whom to marry, he goes to his dad. He then severed her index finger, cleaned off the three bones, and carried them with him the rest of his life, believing that the totem kept her spirit with him. From the outside it seemed like a typical suburban home, offering few clues of the secrets that were contained inside. (Like most kids in the clan, Stephen wasnt told who his father was until he was old enough to be trusted to lie to protect the Order.) Carl Kingston is believed to have fathered 20 children from two wives and another child from a third wife who has left him. 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. But within the Order, where drinking soda pop was against the rules, it was a pretty big deal.. Women and girls, after theyre married, submit to their husbands and men answer to higher-ranked men, the suit alleges. When people hear organized crime, they think of mobsters. Sometimes his father read the Book of Mormon from the pulpit and talked about things regular Christians would recognize, like tithing or repentance. 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. They should refrain from this decision until they can be well informed to make a mature and thoughtful decision before entering into marriage.. He was born Jan. 7, 1928, in San Diego, Calif., a son of the late Paul and Evelyn . While the Kingston Group, founded in 1935, is not affilated with the FLDS, members practice a fundamentalist version of Mormonism that involves polygamy. If the Order doesnt have it, the clan teaches, we dont need it., Editors picks Im done with this shit.. After the boys were taken into custody, one of their first calls was to Stephen. [9], He is believed to have practiced polygamy in the past, potentially accruing as many as 40 wives and fathering up to 300 Children. In 2006 it was estimated that Paul Kingston had up to 40 wives (including two half-sisters of his), some of whom have up . Others say they buried it out in the desert and are slowly cashing it out. The suitor had asked her to dance a few times at The Orders youth social events. If the father believes his son received true direction from God, the son is sent to Paul Kingston or one of the people he designates to consider marriages. Paul E. Kingston, considered the top man, signed as a witness for four of the marriages that The Tribune found outside Utah. If the father believes his son received true direction from God, the son is sent to Paul Kingston or one of the people he designates to consider marriages. Mafi followed Paul Kingstons instructions, the lawsuit states, and never again saw those funds.. The father preferred another who had inquired about marrying Jessica. Another brother, Ben, showed him how to mend fences. 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 . The other seven are brothers or sons of Paul Kingston. She was definitely the pick of the litter, and thats why Paul got her, Ron recalls. The families of 19-year-old Stephen Smith who was rumored to be . Kingston taught his followers that they are the literal descendants of Jesus and one of his wives, who had come down to Earth to found a race of chosen people. The roof sagged, the carpet was worn, and the place reeked of cheap cologne. Andrea Johnson was buried on June 13, 1992, at the Bountiful Memorial Park. He even had charts showing who were the higher families in the sect so his daughters knew where to look for a mate. Chuck Lepper, vice president for student affairs and enrollment management, said that no review is planned at this time. 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. Snow says she chose to get married to escape an abusive living situation. Birthdate: 1791. Donate to the newsroom now. She said marrying at 16 mitigated the pressures U.S. society places on her to have statuesque looks and be immodest. A nationwide debate is underway about teens, especially girls, marrying. Tennessee Ex-Cop Sues After Becoming Porn Meme, Claims She Was 'Groomed' for Sex With Coworkers 180+ Jonathan Jacob Meijer View Site Google Maps The Knight brothers were driving new trucks, and so were their friends, says Levi Kingston. Snow said her marriage fell apart over her not liking the Kingston Group and her husband wanting to have another wife. A lawyer and an accountant by trade, Stephens father hardly looked like the sort of man who could command the unquestioned loyalty of thousands of followers. The DCCS is a financial cooperative established by his uncle Elden Kingston in 1935. 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. Were fucked, they told their cousin. Log In Once logged in, you can add biography in the database. At first, the two boys denied any involvement in the break-in at Youngs house. She and her husband had four children with whom they share custody. 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. Paul passed away on month day 1973, at age 92 at death place, Oregon. Because of the clans distrust of banks, the Order had cash hidden all over the place, a poorly kept secret within the family. His followers erected a crude stone cross nearby in his honor, covered with inscriptions of the letter K (for Kingdom or Kingston). 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 . Current members dispute those characterizations. (Photo courtesy of Kollene Snow) Kollene Snow, 16, poses in her dress before her 2009 marriage in West Valley City. The grift was exposed decades later, in the 1980s, when the clan paid a $350,000 settlement for swindling the government through welfare fraud. Jessica was given the list of suitors. Now, two years later, Stephen still sleeps with a gun near his bed. Everyone knows it., After the gold disappeared, the Knight brothers suddenly seemed to have a lot of money especially for young men on their own in the world for the first time. They also knew that much of the clans wealth was stashed inside the unassuming suburban house on the corner. Shortly after 10 p.m. on June 7, 2021, Alex Murdaugh called 911 from his property in Islandton, South Carolina, to report that he had found his 22-year-old son Paul and his wife Maggie, 55, murdered. To deaden his feelings of isolation, he started smoking a lot of pot and sitting around the house all day listening to country music. (Paul W. Kingston, (Ph.D. Columbia University, 1980) is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Virginia. Copyright 2023 Penske Business Media, LLC. 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. 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.. Two teenage boys had been spotted entering Rachel Youngs home. 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). If they are money-laundering or making money in support of polygamy and incest, then they probably meet the statute.. During his tenure, some members have continued the practice of plural, and intra-family marriage,[3] although neither is practiced by the majority of members and the practice is not required to gain status in the group. He charged across the field and started brutally beating Stephens cousin. In the months after the robbery, Stephen couldnt shake the feeling he was being watched. A copy of the lawsuit also is available there, though no other filings in the case are. She said the marriage disintegrated when her husband married spiritually one of her half-sisters, who was 22 at the time. He bragged that he had worn the same black shirt every day for a year. She and her husband had moved to Billings, Mont., to work for a coal mine. had some 80 children by 13 wives, but his favorite was Paul, an excellent student who made friends easily. He slept with a different one each night, in accordance with their ovulation cycles, and sometimes disappeared during lunch to have sex with a favorite. Some people say they funneled the money through Mexico. Many of these men are also given stewardship of the Orders business holdings sent out to run the clans coal mine or ranches, or to oversee one of its many storefronts. The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity and contributions are tax Older teenagers were crammed five and six to a room, sleeping on the floors of trailers. Family photo: Kollene's father, John Daniel Kingston has 14 wives, and she is the fifth of her mother Shirley Hansen's 12 children +9 View gallery Controlling: They got married in March 2009,. Then, moving quickly, the boy at the door let himself in and got to work. We figured it was ours anyway, says Stephen, explaining that the clan hadnt paid the boys for bagging coal. There shouldnt really be a reason for an age limit, she said. A Tale of Two Chads: More Drama From Nineties Band Live. Jessicas dad told her the wife can get only as high as her husband rises. It felt like it was us against the world. His older brother Richard, a burly diesel mechanic, taught him how to fix cars. Order girls are taught from birth that their primary purposes in life are to be obedient, a submissive wife, and to bear as many children as possible, the suit states. Each daughter married one of their cousins, who also are pictured with their parents. This is your fault, he thundered, glaring at them. J.O. I felt for his pulse, but he was already gone., That night, Paul Kingston arrived at the ranch. Home. DeRieux says the other two girls were her half-sisters, both age 16. The well-kept yellow house sat on the corner of a tidy cul-de-sac called South Bonner Circle surrounded by a black wrought-iron fence. Girls who reach their mid- and late teens can start to feel the pressure to wed. Jessica Kingston said when word gets out that a boy or young man has asked a girls father for permission to marry her, friends and family are walking up to that girl asking, Did you pray about him?. Hansen, 50, in a recent interview, said she told her daughter that wanting to leave home was the wrong reason to get married. Do you think if I took $5 million in gold, Id be working out here?. Thats when Nicole Mafi, one of Paul Kingstons daughters, says in the lawsuit she was called into a meeting of recent high school graduates to discuss going to college. Come back, his dad will say. The group has drawn legal attention before. It was all on me, and, for the most part, thats the case where it is the girls decision whether she wants to get married at that age., She said she knows of a few cases in which the girl was pressured by family or faith leaders to marry, but I can count them all on one hand.. Michaels and Mary Nelson describe similar experiences with their financial aid applications and awards. He was angry and confused, says a former member of the cult. 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. The group sought to maintain Pure Kingston Blood by arranging marriages between cousins and other close relatives, and shunning relationships that werent between white people, the lawsuit alleges. In the kitchen, he opened a closet and popped a hatch in the floor that led down to a dark, musty basement. To her horror, all that remained was a ring of dust, marking the place where a chest of gold coins had once stood. It was also around then that Stephen, at the age of 14, began to see the clan for what it really was. She's since left the marriage and wants the legal marriage age raised to 18. Mysterious cars followed his girlfriend, and he once came home to find that someone had rifled through his drawers. Look around, Stephen says. He then pinned her on a bed, the documents say, and wouldnt let her call for help. As time passed, his dogma became even stranger. As the first of Paul Kingstons many wives, Patty enjoyed a privileged role in the Order including access to vast wealth. 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. He also had dozens of children a brood that would eventually grow to around 300 and he had a hard time telling them apart. But age alone wont determine her answer. Members who have left in recent years say that changed after some of Paul Kingston's brothers were convicted of. Paul married Frances G Chez Kingston. There are thousands of members in the group. 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. So it means being a first [wife]. 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. His most bizarre beliefs, though, concerned the occult. During his tenure, Kingston has followed his father's practice of plural, child, and intra-family marriage. The couple have since divorced. Over the last four years, these audits have occurred for DCCS members at a rate 9.5 times higher than the average population. According to people who have left the Order, the cult exploits its 2,000 members as virtual slave labor and hides profits from tax collectors. Donate to the newsroom now. As he talked to the woman who lived there, Luke Brown came out of the house, and his brother Scott soon joined him. (Paul Kingston and other leaders of the family ignored repeated requests for comment for this story. On February 26th, 2009, the Salt Lake County Sheriffs Office got a call of suspicious activity in the foothills above the city. But women who are disobedient and fail to bear children including because they miscarry face ostracism, the lawsuit claims. Its hard to leave when thats all youve known, says one former member, who was forced to marry her cousin when she was 15. J.O. A few days later, the groom-to-be picked up Jessica and took her to Murray Park. 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.. Eventually, Stephen was sent back to Washakie and was placed under the supervision of his uncle, one of the familys most feared enforcers. He directed some of his own children the plaintiffs estimate he has 27 wives and more than 300 offspring to seek more financial aid than they would have otherwise been entitled to, the suit cites one of his daughters as saying, and when the assistance exceeded what the student needed to attend college, the sect kept the proceeds. The Order was founded by Elden Kingston, Stephens grand-uncle, at the height of the Great Depression. They did so July 3, 2008, in Grand Junction, Colo, where records show two other couples from the Kingston Group married that day. No record of the case is available at the court clerks office. Boys as young as 14 labored in the workshop. Johnson did not provide the raw data to support those statistics. Inseparable: Twins Peter (left) and Paul have lived. No recordings or photos were allowed during the ceremony. For this article we will focus on forced child labor in the context of modern day slavery that takes place in the Kingston polygamous group. If they kill me, they kill me, he says. She is the fifth of her mothers 12 children. Those two unions happened in Colorado, where its legal to marry your cousin. She said her father didnt think the suitor was a good student. Paul Elden Kingston is an accountant and attorney who has served as the Trustee-in-Trust of the Davis County Cooperative Society (DCCS), a Mormon fundamentalist denomination,[2] since 1987. Stephens father seemed to marry a new girl every year, each one younger and prettier than the last. Girls, many of them teen brides, answer phones at the Orders law office, bag groceries at its supermarket or tend to the clans many children. Incest is endemic in the clan, with uncles marrying much younger female relatives; in 2003, police showed up at an Order barbecue and arrested a clan member for marrying his underage cousin. His life was in danger, the voice on the other end warned. [5][6][7][8] Members generally seek the blessing of parents and religious leaders before choosing to marry. There, stacked on the concrete floor, were crates filled with bars of silver. Whether she gives her blessing, she said, will depend on the answers to those questions. Such lawsuits typically are sealed to give the government time to investigate the allegations. Very little is publicly known about her or their marriage but Paul shared a heartfelt Facebook about . Their grooms were 22. She does not favor a change in the marriage age. It wasnt like we thought about it a lot. Kingston clan into a multimillion-dollar business empire while allowing many of his purported 13 wives and dozens of children to survive on government assistance.

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