Mormon Leader On Death Watch
Mormon leader Warren Jeffs tried to hang himself earlier this year,
according to court documents unsealed by a Utah judge on Tuesday.
Jeffs, the leader of the 10,000-member Fundamentalist Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints, was sentenced to 10 years for two counts
of being an accomplice to rape. He officiated at a marriage ceremony
of a girl under 18.
Among the documents is a competency report on Jeffs completed in
April, in which social worker Eric Nielsen wrote that throughout the
month of January, Jeffs refused food and drink and developed joint
problems from kneeling in prayer for hours.
Prison officials finally recognized that Reverend Jeffs' physical
condition was precariously close to death due to his refusal to eat.
"He is weaker and more debilitated. . . . His vital signs are worse,"
wrote Dr. Kirsten Mortensen. "His death could be imminent without
immediate medical intervention."
