A lawsuit dismissed three years ago against the leader of one of Utah's largest polygamist churches has been resurrected.
The Utah Supreme Court Friday reversed an earlier ruling by a judge in Juab County, who found that the fraud case had expired under the state's statute of limitations for civil suits.
Virginia Hill, who was never a member of the Bluffdale-based Apostolic United Brethren Church, charges that its leader, Owen Allred, and other key members of the group, stole more than $1 million from her more than a decade ago.
The former Detroit actress sued in 1997, contending Allred and three others took money from the house of her uncle, one of 10 members belonging to an offshoot church of the AUB in St. George. She says the money was used to pay off a ranch owned by the church, and the rest was spent on a variety of other things, including a car and a used car lot in Murray.
Hill says those purchases and numerous other bank deposits and transfers were an effort to conceal the fact they'd taken her money.
Owen, who is in his 80s, always denied the allegations but never had to face the public scrutiny of a trial, since the case was thrown out by 4th District Judge Anthony W. Schofield.
But in an unanimous opinion penned by Justice Christine M. Durham, the high court ruled that "in an action alleging fraud, the statute expressly provides that accrual of the cause of action is not complete until discovery of the pertinent facts."
Hill says she did not learn about the facts of the fraud until November 1994, long after most of the money allegedly had been laundered.
Hill's story began when she divorced her husband and liquidated her assets in 1989. She said she moved to Las Vegas to be near her mother. She took her life savings in small bills with her and hid much of it in her uncle's house in St. George.
According to the lawsuit, the uncle, John Shugart, introduced Hill to a man named Dennis Matthews, who tried to convince her to invest $1.5 million in a ranch in southern Utah where members of the small church group could live.
Hill said she declined the investment offer, but gave Shugart $40,000 to hire a real estate broker to help buy the ranch. While Hill believed the rest of her money was safety hidden in her uncle's house, it allegedly was taken by Shugart, Matthews and the broker and given to Allred.
Hill's attorney, who said she is still living in southern Utah, was pleased with the court's decision.
"I assume this will end up in the 4th District again," said Don S. Redd.
Ronald C. Barker, who represents other defendants in the case but not Allred, stressed that the justices only ruled that some of the issues of fact surrounding the statute of limitations in the case are in dispute.
"They said it should be resolved by a judge or a jury, after hearing evidence," he said.
Barker said he disagreed with the ruling and indicated he would file a motion for rehearing.
David K. Smith, who represents Allred, did not return calls for comment.
E-mail: mtitze@desnews.com