This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Vance Allred is a history teacher. Near the outset of a conversation with the "Mormon Stories" podcast posted this week, he says there's always another side to any historical account.
Over the next 66 minutes, Allred describes the account of the Allred Group, formally known as the Apostolic United Brethren, that he knows. He discusses his father, Rulon Allred, who led the group and was later assassinated by the LeBarons in 1977.
Actually, Vance Allred's discussion lasts about four hours spread over three parts. The first part is about his father and the start of the AUB. The second part is about the events leading to his father's murder. The final part discusses sex abuse within the AUB and why Vance Allred left the LDS Church.
You can listen to all three parts by clicking here or going to http://www.mormonstories.org.
I've only had time to listen to the first part, and it's pretty interesting. Vance Allred discusses fundamentalist Mormonism's relationship to Lorin C. Woolley, who claimed he received special instruction from LDS Church president John Taylor, and polygamy in Mexico.
But Vance Allred doesn't have many compliments for fundamentalist leaders. At about 29 minutes, he says of those leaders, "with very few exceptions, they're just idiots."
"Most of them are perverts," he continues moments later. "They're sexual predators, and my father was not one of them."
Near the 53 minutes mark, Vance Allred has an interesting story about how a sheriff's deputy tipped off his family that their home was going to be raided.
Twitter: @natecarlisle