Latest news with #LatterDaySaints
Al Arabiya
28-07-2025
- Al Arabiya
What to know about the trial of a Colorado dentist accused of poisoning his wife
The trial of James Craig, a Colorado dentist accused of killing his wife Angela Craig by gradually poisoning her, is winding down. Jurors have heard from some of her relatives and also women James Craig had been having affairs with, all called by prosecutors. Closing arguments are expected this week. Who was Angela Craig? Angela Craig, 43, was a mother of six children who friends and family say was devoted to her family. She was the youngest of 10 siblings herself and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Described as organized and dependable, she had taken over her mother's role as the genealogist for her birth family, an important role in their faith. Her older brother Mark Pray said she had been happy and positive since she was a child. But her sister Toni Kofoed testified that her sister had confided in her about struggles she was having in her marriage. However, pushing back against defense suggestions that her sister may have killed herself, Kofoed said her sister had a broken heart but not a broken mind. What killed Angela Craig and how? Angela Craig died in 2023 during her third trip to the hospital in a little over a week. Toxicology tests later determined she died of poisoning from cyanide and tetrahydrozoline, an ingredient found in over-the-counter eye drops. Early on, James Craig had purchased a variety of poisons before his wife's death and had put some in the protein shakes he made for her, according to police. During the trial, prosecutors alleged that he also gave her a dose of cyanide as she lay in her hospital bed on March 15, 2023, as doctors tried to figure out what was ailing her. She was declared brain dead soon afterward and never recovered. What does James Craig say? In a notes file later found on James Craig's phone by police, he said Angela Craig had asked him to help kill her with poison when he asked for a divorce after having affairs. In the document, which was labeled timeline, Craig said that he had eventually agreed to purchase and prepare poisons for her to take but not administer them. Craig said that he had put cyanide in some of the antibiotic capsules she had been taking and also prepared a syringe containing cyanide. According to his timeline, Craig wrote that just before she had to go to the hospital on March 15, 2023, she must have ingested a mixture containing the tetrahydrozoline, the eye drop ingredient because she became lethargic and weak before then taking the antibiotic laced with cyanide that he said he prepared for her. Mark Pray, who was visiting to help the Craig family because of his sister's mysterious illness, testified that he gave Angela Craig the capsules after being instructed to do so by James Craig who was not at home. Pray said his sister bent over and couldn't hold herself up after taking the medicine. He and his wife then took her to the hospital. What do investigators and the defense say? The lead investigator, Detective Bobbi Olson, testified that James Craig's timeline account differed from statements he had made to others about what had happened, including accusing Angela Craig of setting him up to make it look like he had killed her. Craig is also charged with trying to hire a fellow jail inmate to kill Olson. The defense argues that the evidence doesn't show that James Craig poisoned and killed his wife and have seemed to suggest that Angela Craig may have taken her own life. They introduced into evidence Angela Craig's journal from the years before she died in which she talks about the struggles in their marriage and her husband's infidelity. In one entry she wrote, 'He doesn't love me and I don't blame him.' In opening statements, one of Craig's attorneys, Ashley Whitham, repeatedly described Angela Craig as broken partly by Craig's infidelity and her desire to stay married since they were part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
ABC News
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Reality TV, Mormon wives, and guilty pleasures
What do dancing Mormons, blind dates, and superyachts have in common? They've all featured on so-called 'reality TV' shows. But just how 'real' are they? Some argue reality tv is anti-feminist – yet the genre is consistently popular with young women, and a new reality TV show is breaking records with religious women at the centre of it – The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. It's not the first time The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints has been featured on reality TV, and it certainly won't be the last. So why the interest in the 'real' lives of religious people? And can 'trash' tv teach us complex lessons about gender, shame, and religion? Guests: First broadcast 19 October 2024
The Sun
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Who was Tanner Martin? Utah influencer who died from colon cancer aged 30
UTAH influencer Tanner Martin has died after a battle with colon cancer. After five years fighting the illness, Martin shared the news of his death in a pre-recorded video, which was posted to social media on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. 4 In the video, Martin said: 'Hey, it's me, Tanner, if you're watching this, I am dead. 'I had a heck of a life," he added. "I decided to make this video announcing my death because I saw someone did that, like, a year or so ago, and I think it's a good opportunity to get all your thoughts out and also you can be thoughtful about what your partner or spouse might need and she probably needs some time to grieve.' In the video, the 30-year-old thanked his followers with whom he had been so candid and honest over the years, sharing so many aspects of his life. Who was Tanner Martin? Martin was born on December 22, 1994, and is a Utah-based content creator. Since he started making content with his wife Shay, the influencers built a community of over 450,000 supportive followers on Instagram as of June 2025. 4 They also documented their life and struggles with fighting the illness to more than 580,000 followers on TikTok and in a regular blog written by Shay. Tanner is a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and has noted that this faith is the source of his strength during his illness. How did Tanner Martin die? After noticing regular stomach aches in 2020, it took six months for a doctor to realize this could be a symptom and recommended a colonoscopy. At the age of just 25 years old, days after Shay and Tanner's second wedding anniversary, Martin was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer in November 2020 and since then documented his journey online until his death. Between November 2020 and October 2024, Tanner had to endure more than 50 rounds of chemotherapy and radiation, and six major surgeries, according to People. 4 He shared with his followers the whole journey of his illness, including a video which was pre-recorded, sharing with his followers that he had died. Who is Tanner Martin's wife Shay and how many kids do they have? As part of their journey fighting colon cancer, the couple have shared details about their relationship and experiences starting a family. Shay and Tanner tied the knot in 2018 and formed their joint social media pages together. They have one daughter together called AmyLou, who was born just 41 days before Tanner died. Despite only being married for six years, the couple made use of every moment, renewing their vows in Ireland and travelling to Mexico and Italy. 4 In May the couple also hosted a living funeral for Tanner, it featured a red carpet and was held at a movie theatre so that those saying goodbye could watch a film about his life. Shay revealed to their followers that Tanner wanted to be a father, and so she opened up about her experience of IVF. She revealed that they experienced many hurdles, including sepsis and implications of Tanner's cancer treatment. However, finally, the couple shared pictures from a photo shoot in November 2024, announcing that they were expecting a baby. In the video, the couple were holding newspapers which read: "Breaking News. Baby on the Way!" Tanner witnessed the birth of their first child AmyLou on May 15. After his death, Shay shared one more video with Tanner's last wish. He asked his followers to donate to his GoFundMe to raise money for his family and provide them security.
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Opinion: Will we stand idly by as a son is torn from his Utah family and deported to one of the world's most inhumane prisons?
The story of the U.D.M.C. family of Holladay, Utah, is as compelling as any refugee story since President Trump's immigration crackdown began on January 23, 2025. That mass expulsion campaign is striking fear in the hearts of millions of immigrants — not just those who come illegally, but also families like the U.D.M.C family, who followed all the rules to enter the U.S. legally. The U.D.M.C family — a father, mother, two sons and a daughter-in-law — are Latter-day Saints from Venezuela, a failing country where living conditions are dire, marked by political instability and economic collapse; where 70% of the population lacks adequate access to food, healthcare, clean water, electricity and educational opportunity. Venezuela is also one of the most violent and corrupt countries in the world. When U.D.M.C and his family took to the streets to protest corruption and election fraud in the Maduro government, police detained them and confiscated their ID cards. Soon they began receiving death threats. A lawyer friend advised them to leave the country or face arrest and imprisonment. In 2019, they fled Venezuela hoping to emigrate to the U.S. The family's path was long and difficult. After living for a few years in neighboring Colombia, they trekked mostly on foot through Guatemala and Honduras to Mexico, reaching Mexico City last year. There, they used U.S. Customs and Border Protection's CBP One mobile app to apply for humanitarian parole and permission to enter the U.S. legally, which was approved. After crossing the Mexican border legally on August 22, 2024, the family traveled to Utah and settled in Holladay, where they were embraced by their neighborhood and local Latter-day Saint congregation. They located housing, obtained work permits, found employment and applied for asylum. They are now self-supporting and law-abiding taxpayers. The family was granted an asylum hearing date in 2028, entitling them to reside in the U.S. legally until their asylum applications are ruled on. The makings of a true American success story? It wasn't to be. Someone was left behind. As the family entered the U.S. last August, their 19-year-old son Uriel David, a young man without any criminal history who speaks no English and suffers health problems, was torn from his family, arrested and detained. He has since been swallowed up in a harrowing saga of human tragedy that is stealing national headlines and rapidly becoming a stain on our national character. Originally detained in San Diego, Uriel David's path has been traced by his family to ICE's El Valle Detention Center in Texas. There, according to the findings of a federal judge in Washington, D.C., in the early morning hours of March 15, 2025, 140 Venezuelans held by the Department of Homeland Security 'were awakened from their cells, taken to a separate room, shackled and informed they were being transferred. To where? That they were not told.' They were loaded onto planes. 'As the planes waited on the tarmac,' the court found, 'many passengers aboard reportedly began to panic and beg officials for more information, but none was provided.' The planes eventually landed in El Salvador, where the detainees were transferred into CECOT, a brutal Salvadoran mega-prison known for torture, beatings and death. Based on video from a news report, Uriel David's family identified him among the detainees transferred to CECOT. New cases are being filed every week in federal courts across the U.S. alleging similar deportations of immigrants spirited away to CECOT or other foreign prisons without notice, hearings or any other semblance of the Fifth Amendment due process rights to which every person in the U.S. is entitled, citizen or noncitizen. In every case so far, courts have found that the Trump administration stripped these detainees of their rights by not allowing them a meaningful opportunity to challenge their removal before being flown to El Salvador. Judges are ordering the government to vindicate the detainees' rights, even if it means returning them to the United States. In some cases, Trump officials blame administrative error for their actions. In other cases, they stonewall, daring the courts to punish them for contempt of court. In one case, a judge ordered a flight of detainees to turn around midair, an order which was ignored. In three other pending cases, federal judges determined that Trump officials expelled people from the country in violation of standing court orders. In one of these cases, federal appeals court judge Roger Gregory wrote, 'We are confronted again with the efforts of the executive branch to set aside the rule of law in pursuit of its goals.' Illegal deportations can never in good conscience be brushed off as mere administrative errors or excusable violations of law. They are matters of life and death. CECOT, where Uriel David is believed to be held, is the largest prison in Latin America. It houses up to 40,000 of the most violent criminals — rival gang members whose internecine wars for decades terrorized all of El Salvador, plunging it into the grip of economic and social chaos and triggering mass emigration. Prisoners in CECOT are held for life in an 'exception' to the Salvadoran constitution and without any semblance of real due process. Housed 23.5 hours per day in harsh conditions, they are crowded 80 to 100 per cell. Inmates sleep on rows of metal bunks stacked three high without mattresses, pillows or blankets. CECOT has no rehabilitation, recreation or education programs. Visits by lawyers and family members are strictly banned. No telephone calls are allowed. No cell phone service exists within two kilometers of the prison. The Salvadoran government admits that some inmates are held in CECOT without cause, claiming as an excuse that it is sometimes difficult to determine which inmates are guilty of crimes and which are innocent. In El Salvador, incarceration of innocents is considered the price of law and order. That policy suits the Trump White House fine — it pays El Salvador $6 million a year for the privilege of deporting our immigrants to CECOT. In Uriel David's case, his family has been unable to learn the reason for his detention and deportation. It is possible that a border guard misinterpreted his tattoos as gang-related? No. His tattoos are innocuous: the word 'familia,' his birthdate, his mother's signature, a crown of thorns, two wings and the lucky number '777.' None of these are gang-related. Uriel David has a constitutional right to prove this to an immigration judge before being expelled from the country. Shouldn't that matter? Apparently not to Trump officials. A federal judge recently found that 'significant evidence has come to light indicating that many of those currently entombed in CECOT have no connection to [a] gang and thus languish in a foreign prison on flimsy, even frivolous, accusations.' One thing is certain: no one, including Uriel David, would knowingly agree to be transferred to CECOT. Yet, CECOT is Uriel's life now and for its duration, absent a public outcry loud enough to secure his release. To begin with, his family, their neighbors, our Salt Lake City community and all Americans are entitled to know exactly what happened to him and why. That is not a demand — it is a necessity in a society that considers itself civilized and loyal to a constitution like ours, which protects citizens and noncitizens alike from being held in custody without due process. A nation that tramples individual rights in pursuit of political gain will not last long as a democratic republic. I ask all Utahns: Will we stand idly by while Uriel David is torn from his Utah family and deported to one of the world's most inhumane prisons? A few days ago, the Trump White House brought Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran immigrant unlawfully deported to CECOT, back to the U.S. after falsely claiming for months that this was not possible. Obviously, it is possible. The rallying cry should now be: 'YOU BROUGHT BACK KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA — NOW BRING BACK URIEL DAVID!'
BBC News
10-06-2025
- BBC News
Man in his 60s dies after crashing into Watford church wall
A man in his 60s was killed after the car he was driving crashed into a church wall. Hertfordshire Police said a black Ford Focus was travelling on the A41/M25 roundabout on Hempstead Road, Watford, at about 04:15 BST on Sunday. The car crossed over the road and hit the wall of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, by Russells Nursery, it added. The man, the only person in the car, was found unresponsive and died at the scene. Sgt Tim Davies from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Roads Policing Unit said: "Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the man at this difficult time."As part of our investigations into what happened, I am appealing to anyone who either witnessed the collision or was driving in the area at the time of the incident to please contact me." Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
