A couple accused of kidnapping their daughter to prevent her from getting married, claiming she was breaking the Bible’s Fourth Commandment, which says to honor parents, were ordered to stand trial Wednesday.
Julianna Redd Myers, 21, emotionally described in court how her parents grabbed her by the hair and drove her out of state while describing her fiance as “wicked and evil.”
Myers said her parents, Lemuel and Julia Redd, picked her up Aug. 4 to buy special religious clothing a day before her scheduled wedding at the Mormon temple in Salt Lake City.
But Myers said they instead drove toward neighboring Colorado, where the Redds already had a hotel reservation.
At one point, Myers testified her parents forcibly grabbed her by the wrists and hair, claiming she was breaking the Fourth Commandment.
They spent a night in Colorado and returned to Utah the next day.
Julianna and Perry Myers were married Aug. 8.
The judge did not immediately set a trial date on the second-degree kidnapping charge, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.
Attorneys for the parents said they would talk to prosecutors about a plea bargain.