Missing key witness in polygamy case is located
 
By Ben Winslow
Deseret Morning News
 
A woman considered a key witness in the case against a Colorado City, Ariz., polygamist has been arrested in southern Utah after the man's trial was postponed.

The 23-year-old woman failed to respond to a subpoena ordering her to testify in the case against Randolph Barlow, 31. Barlow is charged with sexual abuse and sexual conduct with a minor. The charges stem from his polygamous marriage to the woman when she was 16.

Barlow was originally scheduled to go on trial in Kingman, Ariz., March 13. When the woman did not respond to a summons to testify in the case against her purported husband, a $10,000 warrant was issued for her arrest.

"We located her on the warrant," Washington County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Rob Tersigni said Monday. "She was taken to jail and taken right before Judge (James) Shumate. He reduced the bail to $5,000 cash or bond."

Records show the woman bailed out of the Purgatory Jail on March 17.

"She has a subpoena that tells her when she has to appear," Mohave County Attorney's investigator Gary Engels told the Deseret Morning News.

Barlow's trial has now been rescheduled for June 5.

Barlow is one of eight men indicted by a Mohave County, Ariz., grand jury in 2005 on sexual misconduct charges related to so-called child bride marriages within the Fundamentalist LDS Church based in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz.

Also in 2005, Mohave County authorities indicted Warren Jeffs, the leader of the FLDS Church, on charges relating to performing child bride marriages. Jeffs remains a fugitive and has been listed on one of the FBI's Most Wanted lists. A $60,000 reward has been offered for information leading to his arrest and conviction.

E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com
 
deseretnews.com
Originally published Friday, March 31, 2006
 
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