Manacled Mormon case

Manacled Mormon case
1984 mugshot taken of perpetrator Joyce McKinney when subsequently arrested in 1984 in Salt Lake City, Utah, on charges she again was stalking her 1977 victim, Anderson
Duration14–17 September 1977 (1977-09-14 – 1977-09-17)[1]
Location
  • Alleged abduction: Near Epsom, England, UK
  • Assault: Devon, England, UK
MotiveMcKinney's self-professed lovesickness or "all-consuming passion".[2]
OutcomeAnderson says he escaped by feigning to alleged captors that he would inform church authorities of his soon elopement with McKinney.
ArrestsMcKinney and alleged accomplice Keith May
Charges
Verdict(No trial on main charges)
ConvictionsMcKinney and May, in absentia, for skipping bail[3]
SentenceOne year's imprisonment if bail money (£1,000 each) not returned[3]
In April 1978, McKinney and May absconded on false passports. McKinney remains a fugitive from justice in the UK.[4] May died in 2004.[5]

The Manacled Mormon case,[6] also known as the Mormon sex in chains case, was a case of reputed sexual assault and kidnap by an American woman, Joyce McKinney, of a young American Mormon missionary, Kirk Anderson, in England in 1977. Because McKinney and her accomplice skipped bail and fled to the United States before the case could be tried and were not extradited, they were never tried for these specific crimes. According to Anderson, he had been abducted by McKinney from the steps of a church meetinghouse, chained to a bed and raped by her.

After the case, McKinney absconded from the United Kingdom and was allowed to reside in the U.S. with a falsified passport.

McKinney extensively discusses the case in the 2010 documentary film Tabloid; she filed lawsuits against the film's director, Errol Morris, in 2011 and 2016, both of which were dismissed in court. In 2019, McKinney was homeless and living in her vehicle when she was charged with the hit-and-run manslaughter of a 91-year-old pedestrian; the court found her a mentally incompetent defendant and sent her for psychiatric treatment in 2019, confirming in 2020 that she would remain in a psychiatric hospital, with reviews of her competence at future dates.

  1. ^ "Joyce McKinney and the battle of the tabloids". The Guardian. 15 October 2011. Archived from the original on 9 April 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  2. ^ Sheridan, Peter (16 January 2016). "Return of Joyce, the kidnap beauty queen". Archived from the original on 9 April 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Times19780621 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Brunton2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Means, Sean P. (8 July 2011). "Seeking the truth behind a 'Tabloid' story". The Salt Lake Tribune. Archived from the original on 21 May 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  6. ^ Greenslade, Roy (17 October 2013). "Judge finds for filmmaker in 'manacled Mormon' case". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 April 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2018.