Herbert and Catherine Schaible of
Pennsylvania, who believe in faith healing,
were sentenced earlier this year to
between 3 and one half and 7 years in
prison following the death in 2013 of their
8-month-old son, Brandon. At the time of
Brandon’s death, the couple was on 10
years’ probation following a jury
conviction in 2011 of involuntary
manslaughter in the death of their 2-year-
old son, Kent, who died of untreated
bacterial pneumonia in 2009. The 2011
decision included orders for them to seek
medical care if any of their other children
got sick.
The Schaibles are third-generation
members of a small Pentecostal
community in northeast Philadelphia, First
Century Gospel Church, which teaches
that to call on the help of a doctor is a sin.
In a 2013 police statement, Herbert
Schaible said, “We believe in divine
healing, that Jesus shed blood for our
healing and that he died on the cross to
break the devil's power. … [Medicine] is
against our religious beliefs.”
Testimony at the couple’s preliminary
hearing described Brandon’s symptoms of
diarrhea, vomiting, and breathing
difficulties, and the prosecution has
described both boys’ symptoms as “eerily
similar.” Although Catherine Schaible’s
lawyer said her client had tried to feed
Brandon and had applied baby powder to
keep him comfortable when he was ill, the
parents had requested a church pastor to
come pray with them in their home as
they rocked him instead of taking him to
the doctor. Philadelphia Deputy Chief
Medical Examiner Dr. Gary Collins’
testimony at the preliminary hearing
indicated Brandon’s death was the result
of dehydration and bacterial pneumonia,
which he could have survived if he had
received antibiotics and fluids.
The couple expressed remorse for
violating the earlier court order and not
seeking medical care for Brandon. In
November 2013, they pleaded no contest
to third-degree murder charges in his
death. Their pastor Nelson Clark has said
the Schaibles lost their sons because of a
“spiritual lack” in their lives, and he insisted
they would not seek medical care even if
another child appeared near death.
After completing their sentences, the
couple will face 30 months of probation.
The Schaibles have seven surviving
children, six of whom are under the age of
18 and are now in foster care. (Huffington
Post, 2/19/2014)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
A Justice Department civil-rights lawsuit
alleges that the Fundamentalist Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS),
rather than elected leaders, runs the towns
of Hilldale, Utah and Colorado City,
Arizona, and that this violates the
separation of church and state demanded
by the Constitution. The suit documents
requests by the mayor of one of the
majority polygamist towns for detailed
advice on governing from jailed FLDS
leader Warren Jeffs. The mayor, for
example, asked the imprisoned Jeffs who
he thought ought to be police chief and
who should be sent to the police academy.
The suit, as well as statements of former
church members, provide a great deal of
evidence to support previous allegations
of a wide range of illegal links between
church and state: The town allegedly
withheld water services from a nonchurch
family it practiced housing discrimination
and it developed intimate fiduciary
relationships with the FLDS. (Salt Lake
Tribune, 11/3/13)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
St. Paul Guardian Insurance Company and
The Travelers Indemnity Company filed a
lawsuit against Colorado City, Arizona and
Hilldale, Utah in December 2013 to get out
of covering the two predominantly
polygamous towns accused of operating
as arms of the FLDS Church. The lawsuit
was prompted by a Department of Justice
(DOJ) case that accuses the twin towns on
the Arizona border of policing and
housing discrimination. In court
documents, the insurance companies
argue that their coverage does not include
defending the towns in the DOJ case.
Colorado City disagrees, according to
court documents, arguing that the
companies’ contracts mean they do have
to pay up so the towns can defend
themselves in the DOJ case. Attorneys and
a spokesman for Travelers Indemnity
declined to comment on the case, saying
they could not speak about active
litigation.
The DOJ case also remains in a holding
pattern while the towns fight another
lawsuit filed by the Cooke family. In that
case, the nonpolygamous Cooke family
claims the towns violated their civil rights
by refusing them a water hookup, among
other things. No hearings have been
scheduled yet in the insurance case
lawsuit. (Salt Lake Tribune, 1/21/14)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Former Canadian bishop of the
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints (FLDS) Winston
Blackmore has voluntarily admitted under
oath and without a lawyer that 10 of his 22
wives were underage when he married
them, and three were only 15, according
to the transcript of his February 28
deposition in Salt Lake City for a civil case
involving church property. Blackmore,
whose uncle originally established the
community known as Bountiful, British
Columbia, admitted to having married one
15-year-old, whom he repeatedly
described as being “just about 16.” He was
42 at the time. In addition to admitting to
having married underage girls, Blackmore
acknowledged that as the FLDS bishop he
also performed plural marriages involving
girls under the age of 19. But after Warren
Jeffs forced him out of the FLDS,
Blackmore said he has refused to perform
any plural marriages involving girls under
18. Because the deposition was voluntary
and done under oath, Blackmore’s
statements are public and could be used
by criminal prosecutors in both Utah and
British Columbia. It’s likely that if he had
had a lawyer with him, the lawyer would
have advised him not to answer the
questions on the grounds that doing so
might incriminate him. Maybe now
prosecutors in British Columbia and Utah
finally will need to take action against
Blackmore.
Blackmore was the bishop responsible for
the congregations in Bountiful, British
Columbia and the Alberta communities of
Rosemary and Cardston and was a trustee
for the United Effort Plan from the mid-
1980s until Warren Jeffs kicked him out of
the FLDS in 2002. Since then, Blackmore
has continued as the spiritual leader to
about 500 people in those communities.
In 1992, the BC attorney general refused to
lay charges of polygamy or sexual
exploitation against Blackmore and
another church elder, Dalmon Oler,
because of concerns that Canada’s
antipolygamy law might be found to be
unconstitutional. Only in January 2009
were Blackmore and then-FLDS bishop
James Oler (Dalmon’s son) each finally
charged with one count of polygamy,
charges that were subsequently dropped
after Blackmore’s lawyer successfully
argued that the special prosecutor who
recommended the charges had been
improperly hired. In 2010, the provincial
government launched a constitutional
reference case in the BC Supreme Court to
determine whether the federal law was
valid. The law was upheld in a decision
released in November 2011. Having
recently received more files from the Royal
VOLUME 5 |NUMBER 2 |2014 31
Pennsylvania, who believe in faith healing,
were sentenced earlier this year to
between 3 and one half and 7 years in
prison following the death in 2013 of their
8-month-old son, Brandon. At the time of
Brandon’s death, the couple was on 10
years’ probation following a jury
conviction in 2011 of involuntary
manslaughter in the death of their 2-year-
old son, Kent, who died of untreated
bacterial pneumonia in 2009. The 2011
decision included orders for them to seek
medical care if any of their other children
got sick.
The Schaibles are third-generation
members of a small Pentecostal
community in northeast Philadelphia, First
Century Gospel Church, which teaches
that to call on the help of a doctor is a sin.
In a 2013 police statement, Herbert
Schaible said, “We believe in divine
healing, that Jesus shed blood for our
healing and that he died on the cross to
break the devil's power. … [Medicine] is
against our religious beliefs.”
Testimony at the couple’s preliminary
hearing described Brandon’s symptoms of
diarrhea, vomiting, and breathing
difficulties, and the prosecution has
described both boys’ symptoms as “eerily
similar.” Although Catherine Schaible’s
lawyer said her client had tried to feed
Brandon and had applied baby powder to
keep him comfortable when he was ill, the
parents had requested a church pastor to
come pray with them in their home as
they rocked him instead of taking him to
the doctor. Philadelphia Deputy Chief
Medical Examiner Dr. Gary Collins’
testimony at the preliminary hearing
indicated Brandon’s death was the result
of dehydration and bacterial pneumonia,
which he could have survived if he had
received antibiotics and fluids.
The couple expressed remorse for
violating the earlier court order and not
seeking medical care for Brandon. In
November 2013, they pleaded no contest
to third-degree murder charges in his
death. Their pastor Nelson Clark has said
the Schaibles lost their sons because of a
“spiritual lack” in their lives, and he insisted
they would not seek medical care even if
another child appeared near death.
After completing their sentences, the
couple will face 30 months of probation.
The Schaibles have seven surviving
children, six of whom are under the age of
18 and are now in foster care. (Huffington
Post, 2/19/2014)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
A Justice Department civil-rights lawsuit
alleges that the Fundamentalist Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS),
rather than elected leaders, runs the towns
of Hilldale, Utah and Colorado City,
Arizona, and that this violates the
separation of church and state demanded
by the Constitution. The suit documents
requests by the mayor of one of the
majority polygamist towns for detailed
advice on governing from jailed FLDS
leader Warren Jeffs. The mayor, for
example, asked the imprisoned Jeffs who
he thought ought to be police chief and
who should be sent to the police academy.
The suit, as well as statements of former
church members, provide a great deal of
evidence to support previous allegations
of a wide range of illegal links between
church and state: The town allegedly
withheld water services from a nonchurch
family it practiced housing discrimination
and it developed intimate fiduciary
relationships with the FLDS. (Salt Lake
Tribune, 11/3/13)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
St. Paul Guardian Insurance Company and
The Travelers Indemnity Company filed a
lawsuit against Colorado City, Arizona and
Hilldale, Utah in December 2013 to get out
of covering the two predominantly
polygamous towns accused of operating
as arms of the FLDS Church. The lawsuit
was prompted by a Department of Justice
(DOJ) case that accuses the twin towns on
the Arizona border of policing and
housing discrimination. In court
documents, the insurance companies
argue that their coverage does not include
defending the towns in the DOJ case.
Colorado City disagrees, according to
court documents, arguing that the
companies’ contracts mean they do have
to pay up so the towns can defend
themselves in the DOJ case. Attorneys and
a spokesman for Travelers Indemnity
declined to comment on the case, saying
they could not speak about active
litigation.
The DOJ case also remains in a holding
pattern while the towns fight another
lawsuit filed by the Cooke family. In that
case, the nonpolygamous Cooke family
claims the towns violated their civil rights
by refusing them a water hookup, among
other things. No hearings have been
scheduled yet in the insurance case
lawsuit. (Salt Lake Tribune, 1/21/14)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Former Canadian bishop of the
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints (FLDS) Winston
Blackmore has voluntarily admitted under
oath and without a lawyer that 10 of his 22
wives were underage when he married
them, and three were only 15, according
to the transcript of his February 28
deposition in Salt Lake City for a civil case
involving church property. Blackmore,
whose uncle originally established the
community known as Bountiful, British
Columbia, admitted to having married one
15-year-old, whom he repeatedly
described as being “just about 16.” He was
42 at the time. In addition to admitting to
having married underage girls, Blackmore
acknowledged that as the FLDS bishop he
also performed plural marriages involving
girls under the age of 19. But after Warren
Jeffs forced him out of the FLDS,
Blackmore said he has refused to perform
any plural marriages involving girls under
18. Because the deposition was voluntary
and done under oath, Blackmore’s
statements are public and could be used
by criminal prosecutors in both Utah and
British Columbia. It’s likely that if he had
had a lawyer with him, the lawyer would
have advised him not to answer the
questions on the grounds that doing so
might incriminate him. Maybe now
prosecutors in British Columbia and Utah
finally will need to take action against
Blackmore.
Blackmore was the bishop responsible for
the congregations in Bountiful, British
Columbia and the Alberta communities of
Rosemary and Cardston and was a trustee
for the United Effort Plan from the mid-
1980s until Warren Jeffs kicked him out of
the FLDS in 2002. Since then, Blackmore
has continued as the spiritual leader to
about 500 people in those communities.
In 1992, the BC attorney general refused to
lay charges of polygamy or sexual
exploitation against Blackmore and
another church elder, Dalmon Oler,
because of concerns that Canada’s
antipolygamy law might be found to be
unconstitutional. Only in January 2009
were Blackmore and then-FLDS bishop
James Oler (Dalmon’s son) each finally
charged with one count of polygamy,
charges that were subsequently dropped
after Blackmore’s lawyer successfully
argued that the special prosecutor who
recommended the charges had been
improperly hired. In 2010, the provincial
government launched a constitutional
reference case in the BC Supreme Court to
determine whether the federal law was
valid. The law was upheld in a decision
released in November 2011. Having
recently received more files from the Royal
VOLUME 5 |NUMBER 2 |2014 31
