Authorities Seek DNA From Kingston Clan

Associated Press/October 1, 2006

Salt Lake City -- Investigators are seeking DNA samples, fingerprints and photographs from some members of the Kingston family, a polygamous clan believed to have more than 1,000 people and nearly 100 businesses, a newspaper reported Tuesday.

Meeting in chambers Monday, 3rd District Judge Glenn Iwasaki denied a request to temporarily block delivery of the warrants, The Salt Lake Tribune said in a copyright story.

Attorney Bill Morrison, acting on behalf of Paul Kingston, later said he would seek to quash the warrants, claiming they are unconstitutional.

"Once again, we have an unwanted intrusion of the attorney general into the private lives of people who just want to live their religion," Morrison said.

A spokesman for the state Attorney General's Office, Paul Murphy, declined to comment on the investigation.

Paul Kingston is the leader of the Latter Day Church of Christ, a fundamentalist sect based in the Salt Lake Valley with about 1,500 members.

A state investigator, Jim Hill, notified Kingston on Oct. 17 that he was the target of a criminal investigation, the Tribune reported, citing a court document.

The newspaper said the search warrants do not describe the reason for the investigation. A written statement from family member Rachel Young suggested it was related to marriages within the Kingston clan.

"We are a small group of people," she told the Tribune. "We encourage our young people to choose companions within their own faith. This makes some related marriages inevitable. To deny the right to marry within our faith would in effect deny us the right to exist."

She also said those involved were "consenting adults." Women named in the warrants range in age from 25 to over 40.