Prosecution wraps up case against two in polygamy trial

CRANBROOK — The prosecution in the trial of two B.C. men accused of having multiple wives has wrapped up its case.

Winston Blackmore is the head of a religious group in Bountiful, a community in southeastern B.C. where residents follow the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints, a faith that condones plural marriage.

Blackmore is standing trial in B.C. Supreme Court in Cranbrook, alongside James Oler, and each is charged with one court of polygamy.

Blackmore allegedly has 24 wives, while Oler is accused of marrying four women.

Crown attorney Peter Wilson summarized his evidence against the pair on Wednesday, emphasizing the importance of marriage records seized by law enforcement from a ranch in Texas that is owned by the FLDS church.

He said the records are important because testimony from experts on Mormon doctrine and church history shows that practitioners of the faith believe that what is sealed on Earth is sealed in the afterlife.

Other key pieces of evidence for the Crown include a video-recorded RCMP interview with Blackmore, and statements Oler made to the police.

The trial heard that both men told police officers they had multiple wives.

Blackmore’s lawyer, Blair Suffredine, asked for the polygamy charge to be stayed, arguing that evidence in the case was collected amid confusion over the legality of Canada’s laws on plural marriage.

The trial is unfolding more than 25 years after RCMP began investigating allegations that residents of the community were practising plural or “celestial” marriage in the early 1990s.

But B.C. Supreme Court Justice Sheri Ann Donegan ruled Wednesday that the challenge can be put forward only after a verdict has been reached.

She also ruled in favour of an application to amend Oler’s indictment that adds a fifth woman to the polygamy charge, based on evidence that emerged.