OBITUARY
Jahnihah Wrede

Proponent of Zion principles (with an iron fist)

Q. Is he really dead, or is the announcement of his passing a hoax?

Jahnihah Wrede and Sterling Allan "falling", with Cheri Moon (Allan)
Ren Carter and Tahnie Moon Roska holding on
and Jessalyn Carter watching on.  Winter 1999.  St. George, Utah.
Photo taken by Susan Carter, mother of Cheri and Tahnie,
step-mother of Jessalyn.

Announcement of Passing (A Hoax?)

A Hoax?

Jan. 11, 2006; 1:00 pm

I phoned Utah County Sheriff's office (801-343-4100; Sgt. Pershon), which has jurisdiction over Box Elder peak near American Fork, named in the above account.  After asking around the office and searching their database, they said that they do not know of any such name or situation in the time frame given.  If the situation had been actual, it would have gone through their office, and would have been discussed in their briefings.

There are no obituary reports for "Jahnihah" or "Wrede" in any newspapers according to a Google News search.

Granted, Jahnihah was not one to do things in the system.  He may have had a suicide note attached to his person, with a phone number to call; and the person who responded from the phone call may have disposed of the body illegally according to Jahnihah's wishes, unbeknownst to the people who came upon the body and called the number.

I phoned the Utah State Government: Medical Examiner Office (801-584-8410), and they "have no apparent knowledge" of such a name or situation.  Furthermore, they said that it takes 8-10 weeks to determine drug levels in the body.  Perhaps the knowledge of alleged dose of sleeping medication was affixed in a suicide note to tell cause of death.  Otherwise, this give additional evidence to this being a hoax.

I also phoned the Salt Lake County Sheriff's office (Dispatch: 743-7000).  They have no record of any such name or circumstance described.

Then I phoned Wasatch County Sheriff's office (Dispatch 435-654-1411).  They have no record of any such name or situation.  "Nobody knows anything about that.  I then asked, "If something like this really did happen, wouldn't it be covered in the news?"  She responded, "Usually."

There are no such reports in the local news that can be retrieved by a Google search.

Todd Jumper reported: "There are several things dubious about the email: it's coming from a fake law firm (even claims its fake on the website), traced the email coming from up near Seattle, not Missouri or New Zealand."

We can safely conclude that if this report of Jahnihah's passing is factual, then it was handled outside of the legal system -- which is actually par for the course for Jahnihah.

Either he didn't die when and where and how the email described, or the body was disposed of illegally.

I sniff a hoax.  That is also something Jahnihah might do.

My wife points out another discrepancy.  The above report says Jahnihah "died of exposure in the record cold".  However, we live two towns removed from American Fork, and our recollection is that it has been unseasonably warm.  It was raining on New Years Eve.  I checked the archives at weather.com and it shows usual winter temperatures in this area during the Dec. 24 - 27 time stated.

Evidence that the above report of death is contrived, not factual.

There is no such thing as "practical joke" in such cases.  "Hoax" is the kindest word that could be used.

-- Sterling D. Allan; Jan. 11, 2006

Sister spoke with him after Christmas

Memorial Comments by Sterling D. Allan

I met Jahnihah on Jan. 2, 1999, at the same party where I first met my wife, Cheri Moon.  Jahnihah was one of the potential suitors Cheri's mom had invited in hopes of finding a suitable companion/friend for Cheri.  And it was Rev. Jahnihah who nearly married us a few months later when Randy Jarvis was late for the wedding, having gone to the wrong destination.  Jahnihah courted Cheri's sister, Tahnie.

The photo at the top of this page was taken during the days of my engagement with Cheri and his courtship with Tahni.

In those days, we were mostly friends.  He was ever proselytizing one way or other of getting "out of the system".  His favorite movie was The Matrix, which he watched over and over again.

All in all, I enjoyed the Jahnihah that I knew then.  He was jovial, had a great sense of humor, and a bright mind that was mostly fun to engage in conversation.

The common law system he got me and several others involved in through Christian Disciples International (Randy Jarvis) ended up folding under legal problems several years later.

His zeal for Zion was palpable -- but not in a warm fuzzy way; it was more like a cold prickly most of the time.  He could be extremely obnoxious and incendiary in his polemic.  I tried to advise him on numerous occasions regarding his approach and the language he chose to use, but it was to no avail.  It only resulted in more abusive words being heaped upon me and upon others. 

I banned him from David's Outcasts discussion list twice, several years apart -- the most recent instance of which was two or three months ago.  And now I discover that "Brian (RWBH)" was also Jahnihah.  I also banned Brian.  No wonder I didn't get along with Brian either!

I was dumbfounded that Jahnihah could not see the inconsistency of using hellish language to promote heaven.  He just never got it.  A look at his website shows a ghoulish image -- very inconsistent for a site allegedly promoting the utopia of Zion.

He disappeared for more than a year, running from being able to be found by his wife who was trying to track him down for child support, which he refused to give because of something to do with a social security number.

I was not surprised in the least at the news that he poisoned himself to the point of then freezing to death.  Quite fitting and ironic.

Two days ago I composed the first obituary page here at GreaterThings.com, for Dr. W. Cleon Skousen.   I noted to myself that it was odd that I hadn't ever posted an obituary page in the near eight years I've been running the site. Now I find myself two days later in the mode of composing another obituary (or Jahnihah's passing a hoax, as indicated above).  I labeled Dr. Skousen "a quintessential patriot saint." In contrast, I would label Jahnihah "a quintessential anarchist".

The first time I banned him from David's Outcasts discussion list, he went and formed a new list with the name anarchy in it.  The list fizzled after a few months.

I don't think the report of his death is factual, so I'll not wax mushy.  Before I discovered the probability of hoax, I was going to say something to the effect, "Jahnihah will probably not go to the hell described in some near death experiences of those who take their own lives; he's been living in a hell he's created for himself here on earth.  As punishment, he'll probably be assigned to be one of my guardian angels."

-- Sterling D. Allan; Jan. 11, 2006

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