The family of slain polygamist leader Rulon Allred was awarded $52.2 million by a federal jury late Wednesday - believed to be the largest wrongful death award in state history.
Jurors said the vast sum was prompted by their outrage that Rena Chynoweth, Allred's killer, escaped punishment by the justice system for her crime. A jury acquitted Chynoweth of the murder in March 1979 after she lied under oath, claiming she was nowhere near Utah when Allred was murdered.Juror Kris Gillman said she was outraged that Chynoweth got away with killing Allred and then turned around and wrote a book about it.
But the jury's award, which included $50 million in punitive damages, was more theatrical than practical. Chynoweth has little money, said E.G. Cutler, Chynoweth's attorney.
Her book, "The Blood Covenant" - which contains her confession of the May 10, 1977, murder - brought in less than $4,000 in total revenues, Cutler said. Chynoweth received between 12 percent and 15 percent of the book's revenues, according to trial testimony.
Less than two years old, "The Blood Covenant" is already out of print. The publisher, Diamond Books, didn't reprint "The Blood Covenant" after its original hardback publication in the spring of 1990, he said. The book sold so poorly the publishing house declined to put it out in paperback, Cutler said.
Chynoweth has little money, he said. She works part time at work Cutler described as "semi-skilled labor."
The trial to determine how much Chynoweth should pay Allred's survivors lasted less than two days. Chynoweth declined to put on a defense after U.S. District Judge Aldon Anderson ruled that she was guilty of the murder.
Although Chynoweth freely confessed to that murder in her book, she plans to appeal Anderson's ruling to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals later this month, Cutler said.
Anderson's ruling simplified this week's trial. The Allreds didn't have to prove that Chynoweth murdered the 71-year-old patriarch. They only had to prove that Allred's murder devastated his vast family in a way that could only be compensated with a considerable cash award.
Allred had seven wives and 48 children. Twenty-eight of his survivors, including his first wife, Myrtle, filed the wrongful death suit against Chynoweth.
The Allreds' attorney, James McConkie, urged the jury to use the size of its award to tell the world that calculated murder will not go unpunished. "The strength of your message will be the size of the award," he said in closing arguments Wednesday.
The jury heard McConkie's plea. "We're just elated," McConkie said. "It's a moral victory for the family. As important, it has been a healing process for them to finally bring this chapter to a close and be reassured that there is some justice in the court system."
The jury awarded $75,000 in compensatory damages to each of Allred's children except the two children from his first marriage. The jury awarded $200,000 to Allred for the pain and fear he suffered at the moment of death. That award will be divided among Allred's heirs, including the children from the first marriage, McConkie said.