Utah Finds Link Between Freemen, Polygamous Cult
Authorities on Tuesday confirmed a link between a religious cult whose leader is jailed in Utah for forcing his 13-year-old daughter to marry a 48-year-old man and the freemen holed up in Montana.
Court records reveal a bogus check for $400,000, originating from Justus Township near Jordan, Mont., was used in a failed attempt two months ago to bail cult leader John Perry Chaney out of the Utah County Jail.
In addition, Assistant Utah Attorney General Craig L. Barlow, who is prosecuting Chaney, said a Utah woman inside the 960-acre freemen compound with her two daughters is a Chaney follower wanted in Utah on a felony charge of custodial interference.
He identified the woman as Tamera Joy Mangum.
Also, Chaney’s pregnant 15-year-old “wife,” in foster-care in Michigan, is Mangum’s daughter, Barlow said.
Mangum, also known as Gloria Ward, was with Chaney when he was arrested in Battle Creek, Mich., on Oct. 31 following a standoff with police.
Barlow suspects, but can’t confirm, that others with links to the Chaney group may be inside the Montana compound. He said his office is cooperating with the FBI, which has surrounded the Montana ranch.
“I am concerned, and I think the office is concerned, about the safety of these kids, irrespective of the warrants,” Barlow said Tuesday. “We know Tammy Mangum has some kind of connection with John Chaney.”
Barlow did not recognize the names of any of the dozen people named in a federal indictment who are believed to be in the compound. The exact number of people at the compound is not known.
The freemen are wanted for financial fraud and threatening public officials.
Bluffdale resident Stephen Mangum, Tamara Mangum’s ex-husband and father to 8-year-old Jaylynn Mangum - inside the compound with her mother - has been keeping vigil in Montana all week.
In 1994 divorce documents, Stephen Mangum claimed in an affidavit that his wife had moved in with a “polygamous cult” and was claiming to be married to a man identified as Elwin Ward. Mangum, who described Ward as an “arms dealer,” believes Ward also is inside the Montana compound.
Bogus checks reach Idaho
Bogus drafts, many signed by jailed freemen leader LeRoy Schweitzer, have turned up in Idaho, said the state attorney general’s office.
The drafts are written for personal property items, and for government fees and fines, said Lawrence Wasden, deputy chief of staff.
“They ran those schemes on local business people as well as government entities,” Wasden said. “I’ve seen quite a number of these in the past few months.”
The drafts typically are written for twice the amount of the debt and then a refund is demanded.
Injury changed freemen leader
Rodney O. Skurdal, a leader of the besieged freemen compound, underwent a dramatic behavioral change after suffering a skull fracture in a 1983 oilfield accident, according to a published report Tuesday.
The Casper Star-Tribune, in a copyright story Tuesday, cited statements filed by prospective witnesses in a U.S. District Court lawsuit filed by Skurdal.
The documents obtained by the Star-Tribune showed that if Skurdal’s lawsuit against Exeter Drilling Co. had gone to trial, witnesses would have testified that after the accident, Skurdal became preoccupied with constitutional issues and refused to use his Social Security number.
Skurdal is among the freemen holed up in Justus Township.
In 1983, Skurdal was injured in the collapse of an oil drilling rig. He sued Exeter, a lawsuit that was settled out of court in 1992 after several appeals.
Skurdal’s gunnery sergeant in the U.S. Marines said Skurdal became “preoccupied with constitutional rights” after the accident.
His ex-wife, Susan Deleano, told attorneys that since the injury, “he has an odd personality and refuses to use a Social Security number or driver’s license.”