Fatal Visions

Behold, my beloved brethren, I will unfold this mystery unto you.

Jacob 4:18

To understand what happened to Faylene Grant - if it can be understood at all - you have to focus a magnifying glass on the last weeks of her life, in the summer of 2001. Eventually a jury would do that... Literally.

But at the time, her parents and siblings say, they were just mightily puzzled at what seemed to them an incomprehensible decision: Faylene remarrying Doug Grant. Faylene, characteristically, wrote about it, in a letter to her sister, Jody, and Jody's husband.

Jody: She wrote me and Shan a letter. And the first thing it said is, "I hope you're sitting down when you read this."

And I just started bawling.

Faylene had divorced Doug a year earlier after she received a vision of his infidelity...which turned out to be true.  Faylene's family says Doug was demanding and controlling throughout the marriage.

Jody: Doug had no respect whatsoever for Faylene. He would roll his eyes at her. He was always ten feet ahead of her, ten feet behind her.  Never held her hand. You would have never known they were a married couple if you were watching them from the outside.

Faylene seemed much happier without him, and Doug quickly moved on... Especially after Hilary Dewitt came to work at his company. Faylene's brother Douger still worked there.

DOUGER: I mean she was 19 years old. And obviously, we thought it was a very bad situation.

But Doug and Hilary started dating as soon as Doug's divorce went through... And it got pretty serious. Hilary loved Doug... And she loved the two sons he'd had with Faylene.

Josh Mankiewicz: Doug told you he was thinkin' about gettin' married to Hillary.

Tammy Fuentes: Right. They had dated for almost a year.

Josh Mankiewicz: And then all of a sudden, Faylene reappears.

Tammy Fuentes: Mm-hmm (affirm). Yeah.

Danny Fuentes: We were as shocked as anybody, 'cause we never-- we never thought that would ever be a possibility.

It all happened with lightning speed in July 2001.  Doug and Faylene were plaintiffs in a lawsuit relating to Doug's business... A lawsuit filed when Doug and Faylene were still married.  They traveled together to a mediation conference in Dallas, where they won a 350,000-dollar settlement.

And apparently, they also got to talking.

Tammy Fuentes: And it must've started her really thinking that, "Hey, maybe-- you know, maybe this could work again." 

Earlier that year, Doug had appeared before a Mormon Church court and confessed his infidelity.  He was excommunicated and told to atone for his sins.

Josh Mankiewicz: Faylene was a big believer in redemption?

Group: Yes. Yes.

But Faylene still wasn't sure she wanted Doug back.  The temple in Arizona was closed for renovation, so she drove all the way to the San Diego temple, where she apparently received inspiration. 

Faylene: in the San Diego temple I was told Doug was accepting the atonement and to remarry him.

Apparently, she told Doug the same thing.

Tammy Fuentes: He told me what Faylene had been told in the temple, that they needed to get their family back together.  And, you know, here I am the big sister.  And I said, "You're right.  That's the right thing to do.”

Was it Heavenly father talking?  Or their own consciences?  They were both two-time divorcees, in a church that frowns on divorce.

Danny Fuentes: I think that Faylene-- was looking for a way to-- to fix the things that were broken in her life. Doug didn't wanna get divorced.  It was very painful for him. I don't think that he ever really thought that there was gonna be a possibility that that could ever be reconciled.  So when that opportunity presented itself--

Josh Mankiewicz: He jumped at it.

Danny Fuentes: Absolutely.

Doug broke up with Hilary, gathered up the young sons he had with Faylene, and flew to San Diego to meet her.  They drove home by way of Las Vegas, and got married again. A quickie wedding at the Excalibur Hotel-- a name you'll want to remember.

Danny Fuentes: I've never seen either one of them more happy.

Josh Mankiewicz: And you're thinkin', "Well, all's well that ends well."

Danny Fuentes: Correct.

Faylene's family saw it differently.

Glenna: What strained our relationship with Faylene is, we could never seem to see her alone, 'ya know, or spend any time with her.  Even when they came to family things, Doug was right there.

Josh Mankiewicz: Is it not possible that that was Doug tryin' to be an attentive, good husband--

Cherlene: No, it's not.

A leopard does not change its spots. 

Maybe so... But at the time, Faylene seemed to feel her prayers had been answered.

Faylene, 9/5/01:  I finally have a husband who treats me w/ love & respect & is even beyond what I could dream of!

Two months after the wedding, Doug and Faylene left the kids with Tammy and Danny, and went on a second honeymoon.  Faylene wanted to visit Nauvoo, Illinois-- a place full of historic, sacred Mormon sites.

Doug Eaves: All of the old style homes that the prophet Joseph Smith and his brother and family and all of them that they lived in. It's a beautiful, interesting experience.

But Doug and Faylene were in Nauvoo for just a day before they took an unexpected detour-- to Utah.  To this park.  And soon there was a strange phone call from Doug Grant.

Josh Mankiewicz: What did he tell you on the phone?

Douger: That Faylene had had a fall, and that she was fine.  And that was, you know, about it at that time.

Josh Mankiewicz: It sounded like she tripped over a curb or something?

Douger: No.  He said she had a fall, you know, a 60-foot fall, off a cliff. 

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