POLYGAMY DIARIES
 In one of the most remote corners of America's Southwest desert sits the little dusty town of Colorado City, Ariz., home to the largest concentration of polygamists in North America.
It is a town run almost entirely by the all-male leaders of a fundamentalist sect and where critics say women and girls are often victimized on a scale that rivals the brutality of the Taliban. 
A $100,000 reward is being offered for the capture of Warren Jeffs, the leader of thousands of practicing polygamists living in Colorado City. Battle brewing over control of UEPWith Warren Jeffs on the run, a battle is now brewing over control of the multi-million dollar trust
known as the United Effort Plan or the UEP. It's a battle that will ultimately be decided by a judge in Utah. The search for Warren Jeffs 3TV
Mike Watkiss runs into Seth Jeffs, the brother of fugitive polygamist prophet Warren Jeffs, as he leaves a Denver court. Follow 3TV reporter Mike Watkiss as he crosses the Western United States in search of fugitive polygamist prophet Warren Jeffs.
E-mail Mike WatkissNational media outlets like CNN and MSNBC are turning to 3TV reporter Mike Watkiss with questions about polygamy. Now, here's your chance. If you have a question for Mike about his coverage, Warren Jeffs or anything else related to polygamy e-mail Mike Watkiss here. |
"Colorado City and the Underground Railroad"-- Winner of a 2005 Edward R. Murrow Award-- Winner of a 2005 Rocky Mountain Emmy for Best Documentary-- The most watched, locally produced prime time news special in Arizona history"Colorado City and the Underground Railroad" is an extraordinary journey inside America's Taliban and an even more extraordinary journey out. It is the harrowing story of some courageous women who escaped the polygamist culture of Colorado City, Ariz., and are now risking their own safety to help other women and children to do the same. |
It's a secretive society hostile to outsiders where the practice of polygamy -- one man, multiple wives and often dozens of children -- is the norm, a place where young girls are routinely married as "plural wives" to much older polygamist men and where the larger families are often subsidized by tax dollars.
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Featured Story
The strange case of polygamist gardener Arvin Shreeve
Before you watch HBO's new series glamorizing polygamy, watch this cautionary tale about the realities of the polygamist lifestyle. |
Featured Story
Deputy Eric Medina
On a dark night in October 2005, Pueblo County Sheriff's Deputy, Eric Medina, pulled over an SUV on a dark Colorado road -- a routine traffic stop that turned out to be anything but. |
Featured story
Ruth Stubbs -- Four years later
She's a 23-year-old mother of four who fled her polygamist police officer husband. Mike Watkiss catches up to her four years later. |
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Pennie Petersen: Pennie Petersen is highly respected anti-polygamy activist who has played pivotal role in the indictment of several men on charges related to polygamy. She now works to try to break what she calls the cycle of slavery. |
Cheri Taylor:
John Singer:| Polygamy Diaries ... "credible reporting on polygamy in Arizona and Utah." -- Phoenix New Times, Jan. 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Kris Knowlton: Utah prosecutors make their case against a polygamist cop.
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Elizabeth -- We're not abused: Pro-polygamy women gather to defend plural marraige at Utah's first polygamy summit in August 2003.
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Jason Williams: Jason Williams says his life has been torn apart by polygamy. The same religious leaders who allegedly place teens in polygamist marriages also arranged for Williams' wife, Suzanne, to become the second wife of another man.
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Elizabeth Smart: Child bride?
Was Elizabeth Smart kidnapped for the purpose of making her a child bride?
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Governor Napolitano:
As Arizona Attorney General, Janet Napolitano acknowledged that it was Mike Watkiss' work that first prompted her to order a probe into alleged polygamist wrongdoing, thus reversing a half century of neglect and indifference. But as governor, Napolitano seemed to abandon the issue and in this fiesty November 2004 interview, Watkiss asks the governor "why?"
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Alvin Barlow: Despite claims of malfeasance and misuse of public funds, Alvin Barlow remains head of the Colorado City school district.
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Warren Jeffs: The man many polygamists consider a religious prophet is reportedly in trouble with the law and planning a possible move to Texas.
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Floyd Spencer: Floyd Spencer is a practicing polygamist living in Mexico and in a February 2004 interview said his lifestyle is very different from the polygamists of Colorado City.
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Dan Barlow: The former Colorado City mayor was one of several men ousted from the town under the leadership of Warren Jeffs in January 2004.
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Linda Walker: Anti-polygamy activists take their case to the capitol in September of 2002 during the gubernatorial campaign.
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Dan Fischer: In August 2004, Salt Lake City philanthropist tries to help the lost boys of polygamy -- young men kicked out of Colorado City to decrease competition for women.
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Lenore Holm: An Arizona mother fights to save her teen-age daughter from a polygamist marriage and faces eviction from her Colorado City home in May of 2003.
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Debbie West: Debbie West lives next door to the large polygamist community of El Dorado and like many in the town, she said in April 2005, she's not happy about it.
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Gary Engles: Career police officer Gary Engles has been shot and wounded in the line of duty, but he says his toughest assignment is working in Colorado City.
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Randy Barlow: Randy Barlow is among eight alleged polygamist men who recently turned themselves in to Mohave County Sheriff Tom Sheahan. Their surrender came after the men were charged with sex crimes against teenage girls.
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Seth Jeffs: The brother of fugitive polygamist leader Warren Jeffs was arrested in Colorado. Now authorities are hoping they are one step closer to the man who has a $10,000 bounty on his head.
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Deb McCarley: FBI special agent Deb McCarley could neither confirm nor deny whether FBI agents raided a community meeting in the polygamist town of Colorado City on Jan. 14, 2006. However, sources say the raid was an attempt to hand out subpoenas to the followers of polygamist prophet Warren Jeffs. |
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Matthew Smith:
Ruth Stubbs:
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Video: Reporter's Picks
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About Mike Watkiss
3TV's Mike Watkiss has been interviewed by the national media for his coverage of polygamy over the past three decades. Find out what people are saying about his original, investigative and bold reporting. |
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