#WINSTON BLACKMORE CASE TRIAL#

He said his client's case could come down to religious freedom. Liberal MLA for Nelson-Creston from 2001 to 2005 and visited Bountiful on a number of occasions. Upon a recent visit to his residence by a journalist, a woman who identified herself as one of his wives said he was out of town and unavailable for an interview.īlair Suffredine, Winston Blackmore's lawyer, said he first met his client when Mr. Winston Blackmore's home is down the road from Bountiful's community hall. Oler was in Bountiful at the time of the alleged offence and committed a crime in this country. However, he was acquitted on that charge, with Justice Pearlman ruling the Crown had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt Mr. Oler was also charged with removing a child, a 15-year-old girl, from Canada and was tried alongside Brandon Blackmore and Ms. His co-accused, James Oler, was alleged to have four wives. When he was charged in 2014, the Crown alleged he had two-dozen wives.

#WINSTON BLACKMORE CASE TRIAL#

Winston Blackmore is one of the two men who will go on trial in April for practising polygamy. Winston Blackmore and Brandon Blackmore are brothers. One of Bountiful's early leaders was Raymond Blackmore, whose son Winston would become the community's bishop in 1984. Ron Toyota, the mayor of Creston, said in an interview that while he might not agree with all of the beliefs Bountiful residents hold, they are an integral part of the community. border, was established in the mid-1940s. Blackmore's home because two of her mother's sisters were married to him.īountiful, which sits within the community of Lister, just outside the town of Creston, B.C., and near the U.S. She said she spent summers in Bountiful when she was nine, 10, and 12 and stayed at Mr. Musser said she remembered visiting Bountiful as a child – seeing the homes and landscape in October was difficult. She said a wife was expected to obey her husband completely and had no right to resist if he wanted to do something to her body.

Musser also testified about the treatment of women within the FLDS. She told the court spiritual acts, or ordinances, directed by the FLDS prophet are important and that keeping accurate records is essential. Musser as an expert on religious doctrines foundational to the FLDS church, including the religious importance of keeping accurate and comprehensive records. police in 2008 and Justice Paul Pearlman recognized Ms. case, the Crown relied heavily on FLDS records seized by U.S. Musser testified against him, and in the case involving the Blackmores. Warren Jeffs is currently serving a life sentence in the United States after being convicted of sexual assault. The friend then drove her to her brother's home in Oregon – the brother had been kicked out of the church years earlier for questioning FLDS leaders and for trying to shield his siblings from a beating, Ms. She snuck past security guards and surveillance cameras and walked about half a mile before she was picked up by a friend.

Winston blackmore case