Heber and Aaron LeBaron: Where Are Ervil LeBaron’s Sons Now?

Lifetime’s ‘The Thirteenth Wife: Escaping Polygamy’ or ‘The 13th Wife: Escaping Polygamy’ is a two-part movie that can only be described as equal parts baffling and harrowing, considering the way it delves deep into the real-life tale of Rena Chynoweth. As the title suggests, she was the 13th wife of the Mormon fundamentalist polygamous group Church of the First Born of the Lamb of God, self-proclaimed prophet Ervil LeBaron. She managed to escape following Ervil’s arrest, but his sons, especially Heber and Aaron LeBaron, actually continued to follow in his footsteps, reining terror across Mexico and the US.

Heber and Aaron LeBaron Never Waivered in Their Faith

While William Heber LeBaron was born around the early 1960s, Aaron LeBaron was born around the late 1960s to Ervil LeBaron and his fifth wife, Lorna Chynoweth, the elder sister of Rena Chynoweth. As a part of a Mormon fundamentalist group, they spent their initial few years in Utah before they all relocated to Mexico to continue expanding their family’s mission. However, when their father had differences in views with his elder brother, he split from the family sect and established his own, where some of his significant teachings revolved around blood atonement.

Heber and Aaron were just teenagers when their father was apprehended for his crimes in 1979, but they’d been ingrained in the work that they continued following his word even as a lot of others left. So, when Ervil penned The New Book of the Covenant and named one of their half-brother Aruto LeBaron the leader, they followed him as he decided to execute their father’s word. This book had a hit list of all people who Ervil believed had strayed from the path of god, so many followers defected, that is, until the sect was being led by Ervil’s sons, their wives, stepsons, and other family members.

Aruto was actually killed in December 1983 over the leadership of the sect, so at the age of 20, Heber took over, and that’s when he really decided to follow everything his father had penned. However, because he became a little too violent and rough, it caused stress in the sect, so he was asked to step down, and Aaron attained priesthood, with Heber as his second-in-command. Like Heber, Aaron was also dedicated to carrying out Ervil’s commands and hit list, yet his methods were allegedly much slower and gradual. It was brutal but more planned out, even if it included the sect breaking up into two.

Aaron LeBaron Orchestrated Several Killings, With Heber Allegedly Carrying Them Out

According to records, in 1987, Heber took Ervil’s wives and teenage children with him to the US, where they expanded on the sect’s criminal activities like an auto theft ring. On the flip side, the younger children stayed in Mexico alongside Aaron, that is, until the latter himself knocked on Ervil’s once right-hand man, Dan Jordan’s, door asking for help and shelter. Dan reportedly didn’t trust the young man or his siblings by his side, but he allowed him to stay, even taking them on hunting trips alongside the family. However, a mere 2 months later, Dan was killed on one such hunting trip, and it is believed that Aaron orchestrated it all, allegedly telling his brother Heber where to hide and how to get the perfect shot without being seen.

Heber LeBaron

A mere week later, Aaron was arrested after pulling a gun on Jordan’s wives and children and telling them he had been given a revelation giving him authority over the family. However, he was soon let go, resulting in his return to Mexico. What no one realized is that Aaron was making plans from there too, as he orchestrated the now-infamous 4 o’clock murders. In this incident, three former church members across the us were killed at exactly 4 o’clock on June 27, 1988, by individuals in the same disguises. Ed Martson was killed in Irving by Douglas Barlow, Mark Chynoweth was shot to death by Heber while accompanied by his half-sister and wife Patricia, and Duane Chynoweth was killed by Richard LeBaron. Richard also killed Duane’s 8-year-old daughter after realizing she was at the scene, worried she might be able to recognize him.

Heber and Aaron LeBaron Remain Incarcerated for Their Crimes

It was reportedly a few weeks following the 4 o’clock murders that Heber was arrested in Arizona on the charge of auto theft, with Aaron later being caught in Chicago for false identification. Officials suspected the brothers of the murders, but they had no real proof, so they eventually let go of the brothers, that is, until Richard and Patricia confessed and came forward to testify against them. It took some time before Heber was finally apprehended for his major crimes, and in May 1993, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. According to records, he has since left his past behind and embraced Christianity, while remaining incarcerated in a Federal Correctional Facility.

Aaron LeBaron

As for Aaron, it was in 1997 that he was ultimately arrested and brought to face the truth in court, where he was ultimately convicted for his involvement in the 4 o’clock murders. He was also found guilty of racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, and conspiracy to violate the civil rights of the victims, for which he received 45 years. During his sentencing, he showed he had no remorse by stating that his “goal and purpose in life is the hope of doing in my life more good than Ervil LeBaron did bad.” So today, at the age of 57, he is incarcerated at the low-security Federal Correctional Institution, Bastrop in Camp Swift, Texas. He is expected to remain here until October 9, 2033.

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