“Just last month, attorneys for condemned child-killer James Edward Wood in Pocatello, Idaho, argued that his defense was undermined by a visit from local [Mormon] church leaders who talked to him about shedding his own blood…His [Wood’s] attorneys contend Wood is a victim of a Mormon belief in ‘blood atonement.’ …Judge Lynn Winmill…heard hours of testimony during the past week about Mormon doctrine on apostasy and forgiveness of sin. Wood’s lawyers even asked the bishop who presided over the church court that excommunicated Wood about secret temple rituals involving symbolic throat and slashing or disembowelment, but Winmill did not require him to respond.”

Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, UT: Salt Lake Tribune, 5 November 1994), D1, D5 – UNVERIFIED