UTAH SUPREME COURT RULING - PART 2

            Shugart remained friends with Dennis Matthews, a member of AUB.  Thinking that he and Matthews were soul mates, loyal buddies in the preexistence, he asked Matthews to broker the purchase of the DI Ranch for Virginia.  Matthews didn’t feel qualified to put together such a large, complicated deal and talked Virginia and Shugart into bringing in his fiend, John Putvin, another AUB member and experienced realtor.

            The two men were given 1.5 million dollars in cash, the selling price of the DI Ranch.  Instead of purchasing the ranch they went directly to Owen Allred where a conspiracy to steal the money and convert it to their own use was devised.  The money was deposited in the closet of Vera Allred, one of Owen Allred’s plural wives.  John Putvin, who had had his broker’s license revoked by the Board of Realtors for unethical practices, put together an elaborate plan involving the creation of shell corporations in which to launder the money back into AUB. 

            J. LaMoine Jenson, Jeff Norman and Jim Sandmire were brought into the machination.  Jeff ultimately served a two year prison term for
“structuring,” (money laundering) and was adequately rewarded by AUB for not ratting on Allred, Jenson, Matthews and Sandmire. 

            These men, the Defendants, were all supposedly ultra religious polygamists living the highest principles known in Mormonism.  But the introduction of Virginia’s millions brought to the surface selfish instincts resulting in double-crosses and intense hatreds.

            The real story, I think, in the fleecing of Virginia Hill, is the nature and nurturing, especially the religious nurturing that influenced the defendant’s criminal activity. Equally intriguing is the refusal of the true believers to accept the fact that their leaders were guilty of wrong doings.  Corrupt religious and political icons, that is men in positions of trust, is nothing new; but the motivation behind good men turning bad I don’t think has been adequately explored.  Take Owen Allred for example an extremely likable, charismatic man who presented himself as an altruistic and egalitarian religious leader.  Even after the Fourth District Court judgment sullied his reputation he was still treated with dignity and respect by the media.

            I have to admit that I too liked Owen Allred in spite of his weaknesses.  When I met him in court he was as cordial and gentlemanly as ever, exhibiting no resentments whatsoever.

            The background of Virginia, the background of the defendants, and the circumstances that brought them together is incredible and a good story in itself.  However, when you take into consideration the genetic nature of men merging it with their religious, sociological nurturing, it makes the story that much more gripping.  Owen Allred was revered as the only man on earth who had the authority to speak for God. He and LaMoine Jenson were portrayed by adherents as the paradigms of virtue – models of celestial principles – the ideal mentors, yet they took part in, and helped perpetuate, a “criminal enterprise.  Why? 

            LaMoine Jenson, who has succeeded Owen as leader and prophet, once told me that because AUB was the only group of people living all of God’s laws, they must possess all the priesthood keys of authority. Remember, these are men in positions of trust. When Dennis Matthews and John Putvin approached Owen Allred and informed him that they had in their possession one million dollars in cash (the 1.54 million was obtained in two increments), Putvin asked Owen to inquire of the Lord, asking the Lord what they should do with the money - give it back, purchase the DI Ranch as they had agreed, or keep it.

            The conversation was tape recorded by Owen Allred.  A copy of the tape recording and a transcript was entered as evidence during the trial in the Fourth District Court.  After Putvin asked Owen to inquire of the Lord, Owen hesitated for a few seconds and then said, “we will not give the money back, we will pay off the Granite Ranch and purchase the DI Ranch for ourselves.  And we will help out Rocky Ridge.”  The cabinet shop at Rocky Ridge had recently been damaged by fire.  Two days later the unpaid balance on the Granite Ranch was paid off.

            If you believe that Owen Allred was a prophet and communicated with God then you must believe that when God gave Owen the okay to steal Virginia’s money, God became a coconspirator in a “pattern of criminal activity.”

            There is a school of thought among some people who think that the AUB leaders don’t really believe in God; they only pretend to believe in God because it is profitable. 

            Of course this is opinion or conjecture, or sour grapes, but not without an element of logic.  Would an honest, benevolent God condone or authorize his chosen people to steal?  (And that’s who the AUB members think they are, the chosen people).

            It has been pointed out to me that LaMoine Jenson is “scripturally ignorant.”  He seldom, if ever, refers to the scriptures in his sermons.  Nor can anyone remember him testifying that Jesus Christ is the Savior.  I know that when I severed all ties with AUB in 1994 the AUB priesthood was emphasizing the infallibility of its priesthood and reassuring the laity that God would not let the priesthood lead the people astray. 

            I think the whole story of the fleecing of Virginia Hill would make an excellent, unabridged book.  Few people know of the lying, deception, disinformation, hatred and outright treachery that went on among the defendants.  John Putvin is dead.  He died a penniless pauper, brought on by extreme stress (hypertension). He was the most colorful, brainy but diabolical of all the defendants.  He had humor and class.  He was the most challenging and I miss jousting with him.  All the defendants at one time put their trust in him by allowing him to take the lead in their defense.  The irony of it all is that it was Putvin’s hatred for Owen Allred that made the law suit possible; and after his death, the courts made me the administrator of his impoverished estate.  He died vowing that if Virginia ever won, there would be nothing left of his for her to recover.

            Dennis Matthews’ mentor was John Putvin .  Dennis has attempted to emulate Putvin.  As an unprincipled manipulator Dennis has the lack of scruples, but just doesn’t have the swank to pull it off.