Witness in Fugitive Polygamist Case Speaks Out
May 19, 2006 — -- The crux of the FBI's case against one of its Top 10 Most Wanted fugitives rests on the shoulders of a 20-year-old Colorado woman who is reluctant to testify but spoke exclusively to ABC News about her case.
When Candi Shapley was just 16, she was forced into an abusive polygamist marriage arranged by Warren Jeffs, a self-proclaimed prophet and leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Jeffs has been on the run since 2004, accused of sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to conduct sexual conduct with a minor. Yet, despite numerous allegations of forcing minors into sex, Shapley is the only victim who has gone on the record even though she said she is not angry at Jeffs.
"They're not going after Randy for raping me, they're going after Warren for marrying us," Shapley told ABC News in her first public interview. "He's on the 10 Most Wanted List with Osama bin Laden. I think that's unfair. I'm not for Warren Jeffs, but I'm not against him."
In March 2002, Shapley was summoned to a Nevada hotel where she was surprised that her father and Jeffs had arranged her marriage to Randolph Barlow, a 28-year-old man she had never met.
"We just walked in right in front of Warren Jeffs and we were getting married," Shapley said.
Within hours of her wedding, Shapley found herself sharing a two-bedroom double-wide trailer with Barlow, his first wife and their four children.
"You're going into another family," Shapley said. "He has another wife and children. They do things a certain way."
Shapley described her life as lonely and said Barlow forced her to have sex.
"One time he held me down, ripped my clothes off, held his hand over my mouth so I couldn't scream," Shapley said. "That was because I told him I didn't want to have children, that I was too young."
After 18 months, Shapley sought drastic measures to get out of her marriage.
"Finally I decided the only way out was ... to have an affair," she said.
Related Stories
ABC News Live