The Witness Wore Red

The 19th Wife Who Brought Polygamous Cult Leaders to Justice

By: Rebecca Musser, M. Bridget Cook

Narrated by: Rebecca Musser

Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

You've watched Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey, the top 5 true-crime docuseries on Netflix. Now discover the revealing memoir of one woman featured in the series who was forced into polygamous marriage and her brave struggle to protect others from the same fate.

Rebecca Musser grew up in fear, concealing her family's polygamous lifestyle from the "dangerous" outside world. Covered head-to-toe in strict, modest clothing, she received a rigorous education at Alta Academy, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' school headed by Warren Jeffs. Always seeking to be an obedient Priesthood girl, in her teens she became the 19th wife of her people's prophet: 85-year-old Rulon Jeffs, Warren's father. Finally sickened by the abuse she suffered and saw around her, she pulled off a daring escape and sought to build a new life and family.

The church, however, had a way of pulling her back in—and by 2007, Rebecca had no choice but to take the witness stand against the new prophet of the FLDS in order to protect her little sisters and other young girls from being forced to marry at shockingly young ages. The following year, Rebecca and the rest of the world watched as a team of Texas Rangers raided the Yearning for Zion Ranch, a stronghold of the FLDS. Rebecca's subsequent testimony would reveal the horrific secrets taking place behind closed doors of the temple, sending their leaders to prison for years, and Warren Jeffs for life.

The Witness Wore Red is a gripping account of one woman's struggle to escape the perverse embrace of religious fanaticism and sexual slavery, and a courageous story of hope and transformation.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2013 Rebecca Musser (P)2013 Hachette Book Group

Critic reviews

"Compelling . . . the book speaks to the ways isolation, fear and secrecy can shelter insidious abuses until someone has the courage to step forward as a witness."—Kirkus Reviews

it was a decent book.

it was a good book. I enjoyed it! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

The Texas accent is awful and offensive

Her story is well told and I appreciate how difficult it must have been to write and recount it.
She’s brave and I’m amazed.
But holy moly the Texas accent is horrendous! I genuinely wish they would re-record the offensively inaccurate accent when she uses when recalling speaking with the TX sheriff. It’s impossible to listen to it.
You can tell us someone is from a state without butchering how they talk. No Canadian accents were used- why use any?

Stunning...Shocking...Amazing...Gripping

This book is truly incredible -- you may have read other books about the the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (e.g., John Krakuer's "Under the banner of heaven") but none reveal the inner workings of this bizarre world like this book does. Rebecca Musser was married to the top person in the church ("The Prophet") and witnessed first-hand events that are truly hard to believe are real.

At many points during my listen I felt compelled to talk out loud (to myself!) about how truly astonishing and shocking this world was: Guys "marrying" 60+ wives, some of them 70 years younger than their husbands; women with basically no rights who are forced/brainwashed into being totally subservient to their husbands; men abusing pre-teenage girls "in the name of God," and so on.

Rebecca Musser was very brave to escape the church, agree to be a key witness in Warren Jeff's prosecution, and write this book.

All I can say is: listen to it. you won't be disappointed.

This is a great story!

I loved this book from start to finish. Becky Musser is a real hero. The adversaries and odds she was fighting were overwhelming but she fought her foes with a growing confidence and dignity. Becky did the narration and it too was very well done. She expressed the emotions she was feeling in the various situations in such a way that you could feel the situations in a more personal and authentic way. I loved her interpretations of the Texas sheriff. :) I have read Under the Banner of Heaven and Escape and enjoyed them all but Witness gives you the best description of life inside the FLDS.

WOW ~ An Incredible Read by an Amazing Woman!!!

What made the experience of listening to The Witness Wore Red the most enjoyable?

First, I prefer the author to read their own book, and knowing that this is Rebecca's own story added to my interest. Secondly, this is a shocking and amazing story, of what happens when people are born into a belief. They don't know any better, and it's so sad.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Witness Wore Red?

I love the trials, where finally, there is justice, and Rebecca faces the men who abused women and children for years.

Have you listened to any of Rebecca Musser’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No I haven't.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

The Witness Wore Red is the best title for this book, and for a movie.

Any additional comments?

I just love and applaud Rebecca Musser, for having the courage to question what was going on in her community and for having the incredible strength and tenacity to actually end the abuse and suffering within the community of people she loves. It was not about revenge, it was about exposing the truth to free innocent children, and to free herself. Revenge isn't wiinning, but LOVE is, because that's the ultimate victory for all. Thank you Rebecca, for
telling your incredible story. I wish I could give you a BIG HUG!

Rough

At one point you want to stop listening but you want to see the author push through. Insight to disgusting people using religion to push their agendas. Eye opening that this happens in the U.S. in such mass volumes, it brought me out of my bubble.

A jaw dropper

The FLDS is truly fascinating. I've read alot of books lately on this "religion" and this is a must read. It actually has some positives, which was a nice turn and was told from someone who started out life with a pretty normal existence...or normal in their world. Lots of detail and it filled in some blanks for me since most others are horrifying...not that this isn't. Narration was tolerable except for some funky Texas accents, but by then you're already into the book. Well worth the credit to learn just how disgusting people are under the guise of religion. Evil at its core! If this doesn't make you want to volunteer to help these poor people, nothing will.

Intriguing

This book kept me entertained the ENTIRE time, highly recommend! Thank you for sharing your story.

Eye Opening!

Would you listen to The Witness Wore Red again? Why?

Yes, It's a great insight into a world I knew nothing about. Definitely worth another listen.

One of the Wives Tells her Story

I gave this 5s all around, but it's not a perfect book. It is, however, a very interesting book. This is the story of a woman who grew up believing in the faith of this cult offshoot from the Mormon religion. She was married to one of the leaders and basically raped on her wedding night. It tells of both good and bad within that closed society. One of the important issues is how young girls are routinely given in marriage to men who are often much older than they are. If you read other stories of cult survivors, it is fascinating how often powerful men convince others, including the parents of young girls, that God has commanded them to have sex with the girls.

Another fascinating topic is how easily power can be misused when there is no countervailing force. There are always people who will take advantage of their position to do evil and power attracts this scum like honey does flies. In this small cult, a few men took power and used it to get what they wanted, all under the guise of religion. Sound familiar?

This book also explores the evolution of the author's thinking as she went from total belief, to hurt, to thinking differently, and finally how she made her decision to leave. It wasn't easy and it was dangerous. When she got to the outside world she was unprepared to take care of herself, both emotionally and financially. She was afraid and had been told how cruel people were on the outside, but instead she found kindness. Everyone wasn't kind, and it is clear that most of us have little idea of the challenges that these cult members face when they leave their communities.

After being in the outside world, she came to the conclusion that she had to try to rescue some of the girls who were likely to share her fate of forced marriages. She was one of the leading forces in having the state of Texas raid the compound and remove many women and children. We still await stories from some of those women and children to know what happened to them, but there is a lot to learn about the raid from this author. It is clear that the members felt that they had a right to lie about when they were married and whether the marriages were forced. They lied about who their children were (some of the was due to the communal nature of their lives). Law enforcement had to do genetic analysis to prove that some of the children were born to women who had clearly been very young (sometimes 14) at the time they had the children.

Some of the concepts that we take for granted in Western society, such as the right of self-determination, were completely foreign to her. Many of her experiences were difficult. If we ever meet people who have left this group or another cult, reading this book will help us to help them.