Stolen Book of Mormon is returned to Ariz. woman

The Associated Press

Published: January 17, 2013 5:45 pm
This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Phoenix • A mostly intact first-edition Book of Mormon stolen from a Mesa bookstore has been returned to the store owner now that it's no longer needed as evidence against a man who has pleaded guilty to theft in the case.

Helen Schlie smiled when she read her late husband's signature on a back page after Mesa police detectives returned the book on Monday.

Schlie discovered the book was missing last May.

The Arizona Republic (http://bit.ly/W02ixA ) reports that 49-year-old Jay Michael Linford is to be sentenced Feb. 12 in Maricopa County Superior Court. He was arrested at a friend's apartment in northern Virginia.

A plea agreement calls for Linford to pay $7,500 of restitution to a Dallas book dealer, Reid Moon.

Moon purchased the book from Linford without knowing it was stolen.

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