01x03 - He Wore a High Paranoia

[bunniefuu]

[melancholy music playing]

[Julia] It's very difficult
to explain to people

how all of this happened.

A slide of snow coming down the mountain,

and it begins to roll like a snowball.

Compromise by compromise,

how does something so small as a snowflake

build up till an avalanche
was over our heads?

I grew up knowing
that you have a conscience.

There's a certain fear
that comes over you.

The fear that you know you're doing wrong.

The fear of God.

One of the subtle things
this wicked man did

was to destroy conscience.

I was groveling in sin.

I didn't want to live like this.

I envied the corpse.

I envied the corpse a lot.

We weren't living very far
from the police station.

I could have simply walked over there.

But I just kept thinking,

will they hear one woman's cry?

Once I knew that Christine
was the one I could go to

and ask for this help,

I thought, "Okay,
now we've got two women, not just one."

Will they hear it?

[music fades]

[crickets chirping]

[pensive music playing]

[Christine on recording]
Thursday, July 28th, with Julia.

[Christine] When Julia began
disclosing to me, I began recording.

-[Julia] I just want to do right.
-[Christine] Yeah. Yeah.

[dog barking]

[Christine] Following Samuel to Hell
is not doing right.

[Julia] It isn't.

And a woman does not
have to follow a man to Hell.

-[Christine] Right.
-[Julia] She doesn't.

[Christine] It was hard for her at first.

She started by telling me

how Sam was getting more and more cruel.

[Julia] It was tough for me
to tell Christine

how much of a fake front
is being put on in her presence.

-Bye-bye.
-Bye.

-[Christine] I'm gonna go.
-[Tolga] Bye.

Thank you, bye.

-[Sam's wife] Thank you.
-[baby cooing]

[Julia] The minute that she would leave,

he would attack 'em
with the most vulgar language,

and effing 'em and all sorts of stuff
that was just disgusting.

[indistinct chatter]

[Julia] I just watched as he began
to feed himself off everybody.

He's home on the computer
twiddling around,

and they were out

cleaning motel rooms
and Airbnbs and working hard.

Even when they were expecting babies,

sick or not sick, they would go to work

to earn the money for him.

It's one of the girls' notebooks, and…

and we knew they'd been doing affirmations

to increase their inner self.

And then when they were home,
he would make 'em do hours of writing.

Everything has to do with Samuel.

[Christine] Everything is Samuel!

[Julia] "And thus saith the Lord
unto my servant, Samuel."

I wanted to show Christine what
he was doing to manipulate their minds.

"Samuel, I am
in holy f*cking love with you."

"Samuel, I am
in holy f*cking love with you."

[brooding music playing]

It just became an absolute drill.

It's like…

-[Christine] A mind-control technique.
-Yeah.

[crickets chirping]

[Dawn] In a week's period of time,

Julia went to Christine,
I think, three or four times

just crying and sobbing
and talking for hours.

Julia never agreed
with giving her daughters,

especially her minor children,
to Sam Bateman.

[Norma] You can grab those Kleenexes.

She knew it was wrong,

but she had to obey what the prophet said
and what her husband said.

[chuckling]

[Dawn] Bateman also threatened Julia

that he was going to take
her one-year-old son away from her

if she did not obey him.

[keyboard clacking]

Eventually, Christine asked Julia

if she wanted to talk to somebody about it

and told her about me.

[Christine] Julia was terrified
of law enforcement,

but she knew something had to be done
and didn't know what else to do.

[voice breaking] I just want
to get back to my God.

[toddler babbling]

[inhales deeply] And my true religion.

And soon thereafter,

Dawn was in town,
and Julia agreed to meet with her.

[Julia] I thought, you know, this man

cannot go on and keep hurting people.

And so I went and started

telling it all.

It was very emotional, and it was…

[inhales shakily]

…it was the hardest thing to do.

[intriguing music playing]

[Dawn] Julia had information
on certain sex acts that occurred

and where they occurred,

what occurred,

what happened during those sex acts.

This is gonna get gross.

Um…

Sam Bateman chose
the people he wanted to be there,

which would include
adults and minor girls.

To not get caught by law enforcement,

Sam was taking precautions not
to get any of the minor girls pregnant,

but having sexual relations with them.

He wanted to have
people watching him have sex.

He wanted other people to be having sex
while he was having sex.

He would have, uh,

the fathers having sex with other women,

with their daughters in the room.

Sometimes he would have
people watching by video.

[Julia on recording] I don't know
who was all on video.

Watching it.

But you could see Sam on the other bed.

The goal was to try
to teach the young girls

how to please Sam Bateman.

[intriguing music continues]

[Christine] It was clear

that what I knew

before meeting Julia
was the tip of the iceberg,

and it just kept getting worse
and worse and worse.

Julia knew something had to be done,

and she was going to help me
nail this m*therf*cker.

[suspenseful music playing]

Julia and I were now working with the FBI.

[footsteps treading]

Julia, bless her heart,

she was so good about documenting things.

She had access
to all the identifying information

for the wives and for the girls.

[Julia on phone] I've got
those birth certificate records.

Any of them that they want,
I'll give them to them.

Yeah, that's great.

[Dawn] She was able to provide a lot
of the group communications on Signal.

[message tone chiming]

[Julia] I just gave 'em anything
that they asked for.

Notes I'd made on my phone,

pictures on my phone,

pictures of people I love so much.

My sisters, my daughters.

It was very grievous, but I had to do it.

[Julia on phone] My emotions
are just right at my eyelids.

'Cause I'm just at the beginnings
of what's gonna happen.

-You know?
-[Christine] Yeah.

[Julia] It's gonna be big,
like for Moroni.

[pensive music playing]

[Christine] Julia's husband Moroni
was still a very strong believer.

She had to hide, even from him,

that she was meeting with me.

[Julia] I tried to delete
as much of the trail.

You know, I double-checked my phone.

Made sure everything
was deleted out of cut-and-paste.

Everything.

If Sam sensed anything,

or if anybody saw me
going to Christine's a lot

or conversating with her,

he would question Moroni about it.

We mostly did it inside.

I'd even park in such a way that
you couldn't see that my vehicle was here,

inside the gate.

[perilous music playing]

[Tolga] We were taking evidence
in the middle of the night.


we'd go to a secret location.

Christine would get out of the car,
enter into another car.

That's just to exchange evidence.

[Christine] Julia and I would come up
with ways to keep it hidden.

We met at Kahuna Burger.

We met at Tropical Smoothie.

We drove around a lot.

[Julia] I didn't take this

and, you know, have a conversation
with Moroni or anything,

because if there's any questioning,
the pressure gets on him, you know?

[Christine] Yeah.

[Julia] And Moroni
is very obedient to him, okay?

-[Christine] He reports every minute?
-[Julia] He reports everything.

[Sam's wife chuckling]

[Sam speaking]

[Christine] Sam sensed

that Julia was not going with the program.

Hi. I love you. Hi.

[Julia] He knew.

I… I just wasn't believing all that.

[ominous music playing]

When you say, "I fear what's happening."

"Something's wrong,
and I don't feel good about it,"

and he would say, "Fear and faith
cannot remain in the same person

at the same time."

"And you need to go
and, you know, humble yourself

because you're giving way to fears."

[sinister music playing]

[keyboard clacking]

And he's been very concerned

to the point he's turned
those girls away to me… from me.

And has them entirely convinced

the word he calls me
over and over in their minds,

day after day,

which was a word we never ever
even used or brought into our vocabulary,

was "a b*tch."

[sinister music continues]

He made her stand in front of the group
and confess that she was a b*tch.

She had to take on this identity

and say terrible things about herself
and how bad she was.

Sam was constantly

coming up with stories
to make all her daughters

believe things about her
that were not true.

[sobbing] My children hate me.

[sobbing, sniffling]

[indistinct chatter]

[music fades]

[Christine] Julia told me

that Sam was trying to get
more and more control over the girls.

[enigmatic music playing]

Sam and his group had two houses.

There was a blue house
that was big and full of bedrooms.

At first,
most people lived in the blue house,

but as Sam became more sexual,

he took all of his wives and their babies

and moved them a couple of blocks away

to the green house,

which was a tiny house
with only two bedrooms.

[Julia] He took these ladies

and crammed 22 of 'em
into a teeny-tiny, rundown place.

[Christine] Sam had a giant bed,

and he extended it with another bed
so they all slept together.

[ominous music playing]

[indistinct chatter]

[Julia] He wanted to be completely
in his own little corner

and have full control over 'em.

[Sam's wife giggles]

Who he did not allow
in the green house was

Julia and the other male followers.

[intriguing music playing]

Sam was getting more and more jealous.

[keyboard clacking]

He was so insecure.

And he began to find reasons
to punish the men.

There's principles in our religion

of punishment.

If men do wrong, they just get punished.
That's all there is to it.

[Sam] They've got to suffer a pain of mind

because they have done wrong.

[Tolga] They were lusting
after your wives?

They're lusting after my wives.

That's adultery.
It's the same thing as adultery.

It's like the second-wickedest thing
that we know about.

[tense music playing]

[music fades]

[Christine] Sometimes Sam
would have the wives

go over to the blue house for a dinner,

and the male followers were not allowed
to interact with them.

In fact, Moroni had
a room in the basement.

He was not allowed
to eat in the dining room.

He was to stay in his room

unless he was working.

They're living in the basement.

Lud, big smart Lud,

he can't leave his room.

[melancholy music playing]

[Julia] Sam just turned on them.

For no reason.

They've given their all.
They've given literally their family,

their monies, everything,

and then they just get turned on.

[Christine] Sam became
this controlling monster over Moroni.

And Moroni just kept obeying Sam.

[Julia] You obey because
there's a certain mind frame

that even I went through, and that is,

"Oh God, this has got to be right

because if it's not right,

I'm no good."

"I'm not even worthy to be on this earth."

But it's a mind frame
that you have to get past

and say, "Something's wrong."

[Tolga] Get the girls back,
and you're gonna be fine.

They need to come home, and they need
to get out of that green house.

Yeah.

[music continues]

[crickets chirping]

[music fades]

[Dawn] Julia was able to provide
a lot of information

that helped solidify the case.

We were pushing to get warrants
to search Sam's home.

We were hoping
we would have something to indict Sam on

so that we could arrest him
when we conducted the search warrants,

but without a disclosure
from an underage victim,

the United States Attorney
for the District of Arizona

would not approve
child sexual abuse charges

in order to be able to arrest him.

[indistinct chatter]

[Dawn] We still needed
more evidence against Sam,

so we needed Christine
to keep playing her part

and stay close to Sam.

You know, give him a rope
and let him hang himself.

[intriguing music playing]

Pretty! That's pretty!

-I told her to show Christine, so she is.
-Come over here.

It's not comfortable

living a life that is not real to you.

I was so trusted.

-Love you, guys.
-[Sam's wife] We love you.

[Tolga] You're better off.

[Christine] I mean,
they named a baby after me.

Bye, Christine Marie.
One little kiss for you.

[chuckles]

[Christine] I knew
that in order to help them,

I had to betray them.

-You were the first wife.
-[giggles]

[Sam's wife] I don't look at myself
that way because we're all equal.

I know. I know.
But you were the first wife.

You were the courageous one
that started this whole thing.

[chuckling] It was Heavenly Father.

[Christine] Yeah.

At times, the things Christine had to do
truly became ridiculous.

I have some new pieces of information.

[Dawn on phone] Okay.

[Christine] Remember how I told you
that… that he thinks

that the Queen of England belongs to him?

[Dawn] Right.

[inhales deeply] Well, um,

he's been having impressions
that he needs to do a music video.

It's not for self-aggrandizement.

It is for the sole purpose
to get the Queen to come over here

because that's the next step
in… in my mission.

I don't know why. I don't care why.

But that's the next thing
that needs to happen.

And he wants to put it on YouTube

and so somehow it will get to the Queen,

and the Queen will come here
and become his wife.

So we are going along with everything.

See how this is like… This is so, uh…

-[Sam's wife] Flowy?
-Yeah.

This would make, like,
for the background or something.

[intriguing music continues]

The music video gave us
all this time to interact

as we kept gathering evidence.

It's called behind the scenes.

When you make a music video,
it's very common to get behind the scenes.

[sewing machine whirring]

We'll start doing it
at two o'clock or something.

-Okay.
-Go, like, two to nine should be good.

Tolga, obviously, was the director.

I guess you would say
that I was the art director.

-Were you thinking this would go behind?
-Yeah.

Wondered if we should drape it
with like a sheet or something?

We could do that.

I was working with the girls.

"We need a better background."

"Let's make an arch with flowers."

Oh, you used paperweights.

-[Sam's wife] Yeah.
-That's amazing. I never thought of that.

You know, "What are you gonna wear?"

And really make it seem real.

[music continues]

[Sam's wife] Yeah, probably.

[Christine] Oh, that's so beautiful.
Everything turned out so beautiful.

Pretty straight.

That one.

Yeah, let's just have them line up
and just see the first shot.

[Christine] Can we-- Can you guys line up?

Who's gonna lead us?

[Christine] We wanted to show
how little the littlest ones were.

And one of 'em was so small,

she didn't even fit in the lineup.

-Wait a minute.
-[Tolga] I'm just gonna wait.

[Christine] I just want to make it
a little more uniform.

[Tolga] No, you're fine
on the wide shot. You're fine.

-You're gonna make her taller now.
-I know.

It's better. It shows that she's… Yeah.

[Christine] Sing it with feeling, okay?

Do you know what I mean
by "sell it with your face"?

Like, if we want to believe
what you're saying,

let us see it in your facial expressions.

-Okay.
-[Christine] Okay.

[Tolga] And music.

[piano music playing]

♪ So much lies in store ♪

♪ For the little girl
Who enters at the gate ♪

♪ If you continue on this path ♪

♪ Every promise God has given
Will come true ♪

[vocalizing]

[Christine] You guys really sold it
on that one. It was really good.

[excited chatter]

[Christine] So, why…
why is this song important?

It just tells the story
of a girl's life in our religion.

[piano music playing]

She's born, and she's given
a name and a blessing.

When she's eight years old,
she's baptized.

Then, when she's married,
she pretty much has a rebirth and…

[chuckles] …and goes into her life.

[piano music continues]

[music ends]

[Christine] It really
is like an orchestra,

the way you work together.

I'm very impressed.

-Heavenly Father gets the credit.
-[wives agreeing]

-Anybody want to take any credit?
-[wives] No.

[giggling]

Thank you, Heavenly Father,
for this good experience.

[pensive music playing]

[Christine] After the video,

we offered to take photos
of each woman with Sam.

Our goal was

to get

Sam with each of his underage wives.

But when it came to the underage girls,

Sam said,

"We better not do that because
that's how they took Warren Jeffs down."

"Because they had that photo evidence."

And I said,
"Of course. What was I thinking?"

Wait, one more.

Got it.

[pensive music continues]

I'm waiting and waiting for the FBI
to conduct the search warrant.

We'd been filming Sam for almost a year.

We were on pins and needles.

When is the arrest gonna happen?

[crickets chirping]

And Julia was panicking.

She was living in a swirl of suspicion.

[child] Is you comin' with us?

[Julia] Sam wore a high paranoia,

and he…

he was watching.

[Julia on phone] I had a conversation
with Moroni.

[Christine] Was it just you?

[Julia] Yeah, it was just me and him.

He turned to me and he said,

"Are you having temptations
to report Samuel to the law?"

-[Christine gasps]
-[Tolga] What?

[Julia] He asked me that.

[tense music playing]

[Dawn] Julia was distraught
with the situation that she was living in,

and we were concerned about the threats

that Sam Bateman would make to her

and to her daughters.

[Julia] If Sam found out
what I was doing with Christine,

he will… take my children,

and he will take those people,
and he will flee.

Did you end up coming over to my house?

[Julia on phone] I didn't go
to your place.

Moroni called me
and said, "Come go for a ride with me."

How'd that go?

-[Julia] He drove us up to the cabin.
-Uh-huh.

[Julia] As we got up onto the freeway,

he said, "You need to sign some papers…"

-[Christine] What?
-Who said it?

"…over guardianship
of [bleep] and [bleep]."

[gasps]

[Julia] Yeah.
He said we need to do that

so that Samuel can do with them
as he wants.

-[Christine] Oh.
-Wow.

[indistinct speech]

[Dawn] Sam had been trying
to get all of his

wives and children to get passports.

[Tolga] There is stuff going on.
There's movements.

They're buying a plane
for a quarter million bucks.

[Christine] Oh my goodness.

[Tolga] He's gonna leave
any second. He's ready.

I mean, he's gonna go out of town.
He's gonna take the girls and go.

I mean, he's getting a plane. Hello.

[tense music continues]

[Dawn] Even though we did not have
enough evidence to arrest Sam

on the child sexual as*ault charges,

there was concern as to what he might do

if we did not… act quickly,

act decisively

to alleviate the situation.

[line ringing]

So we finally made a plan
to serve the search warrant the next week.

[line ringing]

-[Tolga] We have been aced out.
-[Christine] Maybe go over here.

-Maybe the other end there.
-[Tolga] Oh, they're not here.

[line continues ringing]

[on voicemail] Hi. This is Samuel Bateman.

[automated voice] The mailbox is full

and cannot accept any messages
at this time. Goodbye.

[Tolga] I'm supposed
to meet Sam and the girls,

but I went to the building,
they're not there.

And I went to the blue house,
they're not there,

and I called, and his mailbox is full.

[music intensifies]

[music fades]

[pensive music playing]

[beeping]

[dispatcher] District Two units.
Copy attempt to locate southbound 89.

Suspicious vehicle.

Unknown box trailer full of people,
including children inside the vehicle.

[officer 1] Service 292.

And there's fingers sticking
out the top of the door on the trailer.

[dispatcher] 10-4, fingers sticking
out the top of the door of the trailer.

[officer 2] 232 on 97.

[dispatcher] 232…

There's little fingers
coming out of the right door

in the trailer.

[speaking indistinctly]

[officer 3] 230, copy, 28.

Come over here, please.

-I'm gonna get that knife off you, sir.
-[Sam] Yeah.

-Any other weapons on you?
-[Sam] No.

[officer 3] Stop reaching in your pockets.
What's your name?

-What's that?
-What's your name, sir?

-Samuel.
-Samuel? Samuel what?

What is your name?

Samuel.

Samuel what?

You have to identify yourself.

-You understand that, right?
-I don't know. Yeah, Samuel Bateman.

[officer 3] Samuel Bateman?

-I don't understand. What…
-Hmm?

[officer 3] What are you doing?

Samuel, I just got here.
Explain to me what's going on.

-Stuff.
-[officer 4] Stuff?

[officer 3] We're out here because
there is supposedly people back there.

How many other people are in the truck?

How many other people are in the truck?

[suspicious music playing]

[banging]

[officer 5] Open the driver's side door.

Hello. How many people do we have in here?

-[Naomi] Four.
-[officer 5] Okay.

[officer 6] Want to step out
of the car, ma'am?

Ma'am. Step out of the car.

Are there people back here?

No.

[officer 6] What about in the trailer?

How many people are in the trailer?

How many people are in your trailer?

-Let's start heading back there.
-[officer 6] Hey, hey.

Come with me. Okay.

Start walking 'em back.
They don't need handcuffs.

We just need to get 'em outta here.

[officer 7] We'll go from there, so…

This is the police!

We're gonna be opening the door.

I want your hands empty
and above your head!

If you do not,
you will suffer the consequences.

Where are the hands? Let's see the hands.

[officer 8] Let's get
that other door open.

[officer 9] There were hands sticking
out of the top of the trailer earlier.

Let's see 'em!

[suspenseful music playing]

Let's see your hands.

-There they are, in the front.
-Behind the curtain.

[officer 10] Okay.
Keep your hands up for me.

Is there anybody else inside the trailer?

No? Perfect.

[sirens wailing]

Thank you, guys.

Just head back there
with your siblings, okay?

We're gonna head back there with them.
Thank you so much.

[music fades]

What about him?

[officer 3] At this point,
he's detained right now.

[Naomi] You have to let him go.

[officer 11] No, ma'am. You're not gonna
decide the outcome of this.

We will decide, and we'll let you know
how everything's gonna happen here, okay?

Sound okay?

[unsettling music playing]

The 14-year-old,
she had a ring on her ring finger.

She had a ring on her finger.
They've all kind of, like, hidden those.

And you are Naomi?

Yes.

[officer 6] The one in the red dress
he's talking to…

-[officer 4] Mm-hmm.
-…is basically the ringleader.

She's basically telling them all
not to talk.

We need to talk to parents,
whether they come here and pick 'em up

or we get 'em on the phone.

So we'd like to call and actually talk
to the parents for all the juveniles.

[Julia] I got a call
from one of my daughters

saying, "Hey, we've been stopped,"

and…

and three of the young girls
were in the trailer.

[officer 5] So I just want
to, uh, make sure that you are…

Do you know
where your daughters are right now?

-[Julia] Yes, I do.
-[officer 5] Okay.

[Julia] I knew that the FBI was coming,

and I was under
such carefulness at the time.

I had to just play it on,

or it would have blown apart
everything we'd done so far.

And you're aware of who they're with?

Um, I believe his name's Samuel?

-[Julia] Yes.
-[officer 5] Okay.

[Julia] And so it was agreed
that my underage daughters could be there,

but I also got the officer's information

and a phone number,

and then I contacted FBI.

[music ends]

[Dawn] Julia was frantic
because Sam was possibly being arrested.

My biggest thing was,
"Hold on. Do you have information?"

"Can I get a hold of this person?"

I didn't want our case to be blown,

and, luckily, Julia had gotten
the trooper's information.

[line ringing]

-[Christine] Hi.
-Hi.

So the trooper charged three felonies,

which means Sam should be held
at least until tomorrow morning.

[Tolga] So we do want to keep him there?
Is that what we… what we want?

[Dawn] The longer he stays in
the better it is for me, but, um,

we're still having a lot
of discussions about that, so--

-[line beeping]
-Hey, listen.

One of the girls is on the other line.
Do you want me to…

Did you wanna mute your phone,

and I'll three-way and talk to her,
and you can listen?

-[Dawn] Sure.
-Okay.

[Christine] Hi… What's going on?
You know, I got the--

[Sam's wife] Tell me everything's going
to be okay. I just had to cry on you.

It's okay. You can cry.

-[Sam's wife sobbing]
-It's okay.

This is a traumatizing experience.

-[Tolga] What's happening?
-What's happening?

[Sam's wife] I feel like I'm out
in a b*ttlefield with nowhere to go.

[Christine] Oh my goodness.
This is such a scary situation.

Remember, these people
don't even know who Samuel is.

This has nothing to do

with your mission

or with his calling.

Nothing like that.

This is really just about
having the girls in the back of the truck.

So let's remember, um,

to not give it bigger meaning
than it really has.

And…

-[Sam's wife] I think I was.
-Yeah.

So. Okay, so I'll call you back
when I learn more.

-[Sam's wife] Okay. Thank you so much.
-Okay, thanks.

Thank you. Love you. Bye-bye.

[Sam's wife] Thank you. Bye-bye.

[Dawn] Okay. Um…

Very good. Very good.
You do so well with them.

Oh, I don't know if I had to grade myself,
if I would give myself an A.

-[Dawn laughs]
-Probably not. Anyway, um…

[Tolga] The thing is,
it's gonna get media.

It's gonna get all kinds of things.

-You know?
-[Dawn] Right.

-And that's what we don't want.
-[Tolga] Yeah.

[contemplative music playing]

[reporter 1] New tonight,

the leader of a small polygamous sect
in northern Arizona

facing several charges

after law enforcement found him
transporting several young girls

inside a trailer in Flagstaff.

[reporter 2] That man still behind bars
tonight. He pleaded not guilty.

[Christine] The media
got interested in the story.

And the girls were afraid
for their safety.

If a lot of you show up
in your FLDS dresses,

the question would be
whether that would create media

that you don't want.

[Sam's wife] Yeah, 'cause people
just drive right up and video us.

We can't even hide.

[Christine] Does anybody
have any gentile clothes?

[Sam's wife] No,
but we can figure out how to get 'em.

[Christine] The question is,
what kind of gentile do you want to be?

-A modest gentile, a badass gentile?
-[Sam's wife] A modest.

-[laughing] I don't want to be a gentile.
-[Christine laughs]

Yeah, look at that. That one's perfect
'cause it's like a shirt dress.

What about something like that,
with like a tee underneath?

[Christine] Sure.

Something that kinda hangs down,
but not like a dress.

[Christine] Uh-oh.
You talking about the girls at home?

[laughing] You can tell us.

[Christine] They took us to the trailer,
and they explained what happened.

It's quite a bit different than it was,
but you can kinda look.

There's two chairs,
two big chairs in the back.

-Camping stuff. Stroller.
-[Christine] Oh, yeah. Okay.

Oh, and that's your bathroom?

It was obvious that this was
a system that they had used before

to transport… these children.

[officer] I want your hands empty
and above your head!

[pensive music playing]

[indistinct conversation]

[Julia] Later finding out
that the trailer doors weren't secure,

and that's how somebody
even knew they were in there.

It's 'cause they reached
to hold those doors shut

because they started coming unlatched.

[Anna] Yeah, that's how it was.

The slightest thing had gone wrong,

and those girls would've been flung
onto the freeway.

The thought is sickening.

Tolga and I are in Flagstaff. [exhales]

How you feeling?

It's really nuts.
I feel crazy sick to my stomach.

Anyway, we're gonna go.

We're gonna pick up the prophet from jail.

Torrance is coming in from the Crick.

With $150,000.

No joke.

Cash bond, whatever. Cash bail.

-[Christine] Okay.
-I'm gonna take two of the girls with us.

[car door opens]

[Christine] Okay. I'll be back.

[car door closes]

[automated voice] Call from an inmate
at Coconino County Jail.

T is over there with the bail money.

-In about ten minutes or so.
-[Sam] Okay.

Okay.

We'll see you in not very long.

[Sam] Yeah, thank you. Bye.

We need you. Bye.

We are driving
out of Flagstaff with Father today.

[Tolga] How do you like being
a gentile for 15 minutes?

It's nice to kinda fit in
every once in a while, just like--

[Anna] No, not the "fit in."
It's just doing it for him.

I don't want to fit in,

so I'm actually
extremely comfortable living like I am.

Not like this,
but, like, I don't care what they think.

-[Tolga] Yeah.
-Because in our minds, we're celebrities.

-[Tolga] Right.
-We're different. We're…

[Tolga] Right.

We've chosen to live higher standards

so all it shows people
is that we're living higher standards

because we love God and the prophets.

[suspenseful music playing]

[car door closes]

[Tolga] She's doing the paperwork
to get the bond.

Biggest bail she's ever seen

in this county as cash.

-[Christine] Wow.
-[Torrance] Yeah.

[Christine] What you here for?

-Me?
-[Tolga] You want a friend like this.

I'm here to find our friend. [laughs]

And get him.

-[Christine] That's right.
-Our dear, dear friend.

[pensive music playing]

[officer clearing throat]

Get you out of here.

We're gonna go over to that gray door.

And…

[Dawn] We really didn't want Sam
to be released.

It was just not something
we could prevent.

We worked with it. We worked with it.

Looks like my phone fell out or something.

[officer 1] No, we took your phone.

We're putting it into evidence.

-[officer 2] Please, what's happening?
-[officer 1] One male.

Your phone will be
at the Department of Public Safety,

here in Flagstaff at the crime lab, so.

[door buzzing]

-[officer 3] Hello.
-[Sam] Hello.

[Christine] Sam posted bail.

-[Naomi] Did they give you your phone?
-[Sam] No, they stole it.

-Are you serious?
-[Sam] Won't give it back either.

[Christine] But the FBI made sure
they took his phone.

[Tolga] They won't give you your phone?

If they're holding it,

there's a good chance
you're not gonna get it back.

You're gonna lose it for sure.

[Christine] Sam got in our car

and immediately started committing crimes.

Um, what I'm wondering is… is, uh…
is there a way to factory data reset?

I think? At home?

[tense music playing]

[Sam] They stole my phone
with all that stuff on it.

-There's not anything on it, really.
-It has your life story on it.

[Tolga] Well,
whatever you were busted with,

they take it and make it evidence, so.

There might not be anything there,
but just… They keep it.

You had your life story on it, though.

-[Tolga] What do you mean?
-Then all your Signals.

-[Tolga] Is there anything bad on it?
-Not really.

Can you shut down Signal?

-I… I deleted it. I deleted my account.
-[Tolga] Yeah.

[Anna] Oh.

-[Sam] Okay, so…
-[knocking on door]

[Sam] Hi.

[wives] Hi.

[chuckling, sobbing]

[Sam's wife] How are you doing?

-Good to see you.
-I love you.

[sobbing continues]

[Christine] When Sam was arrested,

it sort of confirms
to his wives that he's a prophet

because he's being persecuted.

So they felt honored.

I mean, this was like

being part of biblical history.

[Sam] I wanna tell you something.

Going to prison is not a big deal.
It's just like camping.

But when Heavenly Father
takes away a spirit from me?

-[sobbing]
-That's when it gets serious.

[Tolga] Okay, we're gonna take off.

We're glad you're out.

Okay? Call us if you need anything.
Love you, guys. Take care.

[Sam's wife] Thank you, Christine.

[door closes]

I couldn't film anymore.
I couldn't do it anymore.

I couldn't see any more
of their love and their… you know.

I mean, they… they're crying.
They love him.

I'm just imagining
how much they're gonna hate us.

You know, how much
they love us and trust us, and…

The whole thing just…

[sighs, sniffles]

When he was talking about, um, deleting--
I mean, his phone?

-[Tolga] Yeah.
-I filmed that.

[Tolga] Oh, good.

I was sitting in the back,
and I filmed them

saying, "Well,
maybe we can factory reset."

-We gotta get that. You know? I sent it.
-[Tolga] Yeah.

[contemplative music playing]

[Christine] So have you all
kind of calmed down,

and you feel okay now
after all that experience?

It feels like my heart
is still trying to catch up.

The whole thing's weird.

It's almost like they changed it
from a misdemeanor to a felony.

I just have to wonder

if it might have had something to do with,
like, the police from here knew something

and called them.
Is there a way to do that?

[Tolga] No, they probably…
it probably showed up in the…

it probably showed up
in the police record.

-Okay.
-[Tolga] They might have called.

And say, "Hey,
what happened with you guys?"

Yeah. I don't know.

[Tolga] After the Flagstaff arrest,

he just knew, like, something was up.

So we were like,
"You gotta just calm down."

[Christine] I don't think
it's gonna be a big deal.

-If we worry about it, we will attract it.
-Yeah.

If we worry about it, it's gonna happen.

I just, I don't trust
the government at all.

[Christine] I just don't think
you have anything to worry about.

[contemplative music continues]

[Dawn] Sam felt like he was
being targeted by law enforcement,

but at that point,

I think he believed that it was
strictly local law enforcement after him.

He was still unaware that there was
any federal investigation against him.

He didn't know that his phone
was in federal custody at that time,

where they were looking
for additional evidence.

The crazy thing is that Sam's phone
was not the treasure trove of evidence

that I was hoping for.

He did not have
inappropriate photos of the girls.

He did not have

inappropriate conversations
with the girls, to… to a large extent.

Nothing definitive for… for crimes.

But it was when he was released from jail,

he was trying to factory reset
his entire phone.

Christine was able
to surreptitiously record that.

[Sam] Is there a way to factory reset?

[Dawn] And that evidence
allowed us to bring

federal obstruction
of justice charges against Sam.

[music fades]

We finally had what we needed
for the arrest of Sam Bateman.

Hey, anything else you need to talk about?

[Tolga] Can I film the prayer room,
get a tour of the prayer room?

[Sam] Yeah, of course.

[Tolga] Oops, sorry.

[Christine] The FBI
was planning a big raid

that involved 50 FBI agents
from around different states.

[Tolga] See here.

The FBI said, "Film everything."

This is coming from this.

They want to see the entrance
from inside the house.

You know, where the cars are.

We had to go in prepared for the worst.

[Dawn on phone] Do they keep their doors
locked or unlocked?

-[Christine] Locked.
-[Dawn] Okay.

They're under strict orders

never to open the door to law enforcement.

[Dawn] We won't stand out there
for probably even five minutes.

It usually doesn't take us long
to open the door ourselves.

I… was shaky

'cause I didn't know
if there would be violence.

Julia had concerns about g*ns.

Did you guys take the g*n
from Moroni's closet?

[Julia] That's still there.

I believe that they had access
to some r*fles for hunting.

[Christine] Do you guys have g*ns?

[Sam's wives laughing]

[Christine] Huh?
It must be yes! It must be yes!

There had been reports
that Sam had taken some of the girls

out to practice sh**ting with handguns.

So the reports were there
that it was a potential.

[Tolga] They told me.

They looked me in the eye, and they said
if anything happens to Father Samuel,

that they will k*ll, and they will
level the state with violence.

[Julia] The paranoia is going
to tighten them up.

I think Nomz is going to be
very, very, very aggressive.

-[Tolga] Yeah.
-She's the one that'll do any dirty work.

Absolutely anything.

[Christine] Oh, I know.

He has essentially
complete control over her mind.

[Sam's wives singing indistinctly]

[Naomi] Uh, proposing a toast
for the most luckiest girls on Earth.

[Christine] Aw.

Why do you feel lucky?

Because we are married to the best man.

When I married Samuel,

it was one of the most beautiful things
I had ever witnessed.

And we could feel
Heavenly Father's spirit.

He wants our whole heart.

And we cannot tie it
to anything on this earth

more than God.

I do this cheerfully.

And there is zero resistance.

Because I will obey.

[melancholy music playing]

[music fades]

[Naomi] I believed he was my only way

to Heaven.

Back to God.

If he held the keys to my salvation,

anything I did would damn me
if… if he didn't approve of it.

[pensive music playing]

This world's gonna change. The Lord
is gonna use me to change this world.

[Naomi] So I was going to be
submissive and obedient.

Becoming the perfect wife.

I mean, why did our Savior
hang on the cross and spill blood?

Because blood is an atoning principle.

I became a master

at gauging how he wanted me to respond.

And that was how I'd respond.

I promise there will be men who beg

to have their blood spilled.

[Naomi] And then, eventually,

I would do

whatever he wanted.

[music intensifies]

[music fades]

[enigmatic music playing]

[music fades]