Salt Lake City, USA - A woman who claimed she was bilked by leaders and members of a polygamist church will be allowed to seek more money in damages, the Utah Supreme Court has ruled.
In a decision handed down Friday, the high court ruled that Virginia Hill is entitled to more than just the $1.54 million she lost when she invested it with members of the Bluffdale-based Apostolic United Brethren in 1989.
"It's obviously a disappointing verdict," said AUB attorney Drew Briney. "We've got to look at our options."
Hill, a one-time South American movie actress and ex-wife of a bookie, moved to southern Utah and sought help from polygamist preacher John Shugart to purchase a ranch near St. George. A friend of Shugart, Dennis Matthews, agreed to help negotiate the purchase and suggested she hire John Putvin to help.
Hill was ready to pay for the ranch in cash, but the owner didn't want that so Shugart, Putvin and Matthews invested her money to generate cash flow to make payments, the Supreme Court ruling said. Hill agreed.
"Once Mr. Matthews and Mr. Putvin received Ms. Hill's money, they became concerned about how the purchase of the ranch would affect their relationship with the Corporation of the Presiding Elder of the Apostolic United Brethren, a religious group with which they were affiliated," Supreme Court Justice Ronald Nehring wrote. "Mr. Shugart had previously attempted to purchase the ranch with the help of the AUB, but the ranch had been foreclosed upon. The AUB lost a significant amount of money as a result, and it blamed Mr. Shugart for its loss. Additionally, then-leader of the AUB, Owen Allred, considered Mr. Shugart to be a threat to his ecclesiastical leadership."
Loyal to Allred, Matthews and Putvin met with the AUB leader and claimed that Hill gave them the money to "atone for … past sins." They revealed that Shugart wanted to give Matthews control over the ranch under the title of "bishop," the ruling said. In what was apparently a deal, Allred got Matthews to side with him by ordaining him "bishop" to pre-empt Shugart, the court said.
Hill handed over a total of $1.54 million to Matthews and Putvin, but she never got the ranch nor did she get her money back. Instead, the court said, the money was divided out among other members, including current AUB leader J. LaMoine Jenson. Her money was used to purchase other businesses and investments, but they were all deeded to the AUB.
"Ms. Hill soon became concerned about the status of her money," Nehring wrote. "She and Mr. Shugart met with both Mr. Matthews and Mr. Allred. Mr. Matthews told her that Mr. Putvin had all her money and was nowhere to be found. Mr. Allred denied knowing anything about her money."
Shugart later told Hill that he had received divine revelation "that it was God's will that she not pursue litigation to recover her money." After a private investigator she hired obtained a tape recording of the meeting between Allred, Matthews and Putvin and she learned what happened to her money, she sued the church, its leaders and some of its members' businesses.
Briney disputed some of the facts of the case and the level of involvement of Allred, who was in his late 80s at the time.
Hill's attorney, Clark Nielsen, said they were pleased with the ruling.
"I think the ruling's correct. We won the major issues that were important," he said Friday.
The case was thrown out and resurrected by the Utah Supreme Court in 2001. Hill won in 2003, but a judge refused to give her more than her original money, saying that she had "unclean hands" and could not show that she initially got her million-plus dollars legally. She appealed the judge's decision and AUB lawyers also filed appeals.
In its ruling, the Utah Supreme Court said it didn't matter.
"The hygiene of her hands was never at issue," Nehring wrote. He also denied a request by Hill to portion out who pays her back.
The court also denied requests by AUB lawyers to know how much the church should pay and whether interest applies. Nielsen said both sides were expected to be back in court soon to hash out payment details. Briney said the AUB posted a bond after the initial judgment was handed down, and Friday's ruling left him confused about how much the church is expected to pay.
"It could end up being double or four times the amount; it's really hard to read what the court intended," he said. "It's likely going to result in a second appeal."