Marriage certificates entered as evidence at polygamy trial

BOUNTIFUL CASE: Expert testifies on breakaway sect’s history

CRANBROOK — Dozens of marriage certificates, some citing two wedding ceremonies occurring on the same day, were entered as evidence Wednesday at the trial of a fundamentalist church leader charged with polygamy.

Winston Blackmore is the head of a religious group in Bountiful, a community in southeast B.C. where residents are known for practising a faith that condones plural marriage.

Blackmore is accused of marrying 24 women and is standing trial with James Oler, who an indictment says has four wives.

Each is charged with one count of polygamy at the trial in Cranbrook.

Both men served as bishops in Canada for the Utah-based Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-Day Saints, which is often referred to as the FLDS.

Marriage records presented in court were seized in 2008 when police raided the church’s Yearning for Zion Ranch in Texas.

Nick Hanna, a Texas ranger involved in obtaining about 700 boxes of evidence from the ranch, presented the marriage certificates in court.

The certificates include a space where “duration” is noted, after which the majority of them read “time and eternity.”

Brian Hales, an expert in the history of the Mormon church, told the court Mormons believe that in some cases marriages can last forever.

The FLDS broke away from mainstream Mormonism over the latter’s move to renounce polygamy around the turn of the 20th century, after endorsing the practice about 50 years earlier, Hales said. Mainstream Mormons dispute the FLDS being an offshoot of the dominant Mormon church, which is based in Salt Lake City.

Hales, who has written several books on polygamy and Mormonism, testified that fundamentalists who practise polygamy would have to leave all but one of their wives if they wanted to join the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-Day Saints.

A former polygamist could remain friends with his previous wives but could no longer live with or have sexual relations with them, he said, though they would be expected to support any children they may have had with their wives.

“So, in the parlance of today they could be friends, but not friends with benefits?” asked Blair Suffredine, Blackmore’s lawyer.

“In today’s parlance, yes,” Hales replied.

The judge-alone trial is expected to last several weeks and include testimony from Blackmore’s first wife, who is also Oler’s sister.

— CP FILES Texas Ranger Nick Hanna, right, arrives to testify at the trial of Winston Blackmore and James Oler, who are both accused of practising polygamy in a fundamentalist religious community.