This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Who was the man seated in a Las Vegas courtroom during polygamous sect leader Warren S. Jeffs' brief appearance Thursday?
Not Isaac Jeffs, it turns out.
News media, including The Salt Lake Tribune, identified the man as Isaac Jeffs, 32, the brother who was with Jeffs when he was captured Monday during a traffic stop.
The man now has been identified as Nephi Jeffs - another brother who loyally served Warren Jeffs in the past - by former classmates and former members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Isaac, Nephi and Warren are full brothers, children of former FLDS leader Rulon T. Jeffs and his wife Marilyn Steed. Rulon Jeffs is said to have had about 65 children.
Other full brothers include Lyle Jeffs, described as the most senior FLDS church official in the twin towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz.; and Seth Jeffs, a church courier who was arrested in an October traffic stop in Pueblo, Colo.
Leroy Jeffs, another full brother said to have been expelled from the faith by Jeffs, was released Tuesday from the Central Arizona Correctional Facility. He had been detained on contempt of court charges for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury investigating Jeffs' whereabouts.
Nephi Jeffs, who is in late 30s, declined to talk to reporters before and after the hearing. As his brother left the courtroom, Nephi Jeffs rose from his seat in what appeared to be a display of respect.
Nephi Jeffs later visited his brother at the Clark County Detention Center on Thursday, according to a visitor log released by the jail. He and Jacob Jessop paid the visit at around 9 p.m.
- Brooke Adams