Daughter says mom needs mental help

PROVO — A woman whose parents are accused of kidnapping her the day before her wedding to prevent her from getting married said she hopes the criminal charges will result in mental-health counseling for her mother.

"We're really hoping to get my mom some mental help," Julianna Redd Myers, 21, said after a preliminary hearing Wednesday in 4th District Court.

At the end of the hearing, a judge ruled there was enough evidence to require Lemuel and Julia Redd to stand trial on second-degree felony kidnapping charges. They each face one count.

The judge entered not-guilty pleas on the couple's behalf and set a scheduling conference for Jan. 11. At that time, a trial date will be set.

Myers wept on the stand as she testified how her parents drove her to Grand Junction, Colo., on Aug. 4 while using twisted religious logic to try and change her mind about the eminent wedding. She had gotten into the van believing her parents were taking her on a pre-wedding shopping trip.

"Everything they're using against me are things I believe in and that are sacred to me," Myers testified. "They're starting to confuse me, using threatening things, I (felt) really manipulated."

Myers said that during the drive her parents told her if she married her fiance, she was violating the Biblical commandment to "honor thy father and mother."

She also testified that her parents said that Perry Myers, her then-fiance, was "wicked" and "evil" because he hadn't proposed with a diamond ring. Julianna Myers said she and Perry decided together to buy a gold band.

Myers was scheduled to attend a pre-wedding party on Aug. 4 and marry Perry Myers the next day. Both are seniors at Brigham Young University.

Instead, the bride-to-be was driven against her will away from Provo, she said.

During the trip, when they stopped at a gas station in Salina, she testified she was shoved back into the van and driven to Colorado, where she said she spent the night scared and physically ill.

At first Julianna Myers said she thought the drive was just her parent's last-minute attempt to change her mind. However, after a while, Myers realized her parents had no intention of returning her in time for her wedding.

That's when she said she began demanding they return her to Provo.

They finally returned her the next day after she agreed to not call Perry Myers. However, he was at her apartment when they returned and she was able to leave with him, she said.

The couple was married two days later on Aug. 8 and is expecting their first child in May.

Defense attorney Dean Zabriskie questioned Julianna Myers about why she never called out for help at the rest stop. She said she was afraid.