A woman was taken into custody for allegedly orchestrating a secret marriage ceremony, convincing a reverend and county clerk to allow her to marry her ex-boyfriend without his knowledge or consent.
According to a news release from the Beverly Hills Police Department obtained by Law&Crime, a man called 911 after he received a disturbing package on his front porch from an ex-girlfriend.
The 42-year-old man reported that he had been out of his house all day when he returned home to find a “package from his ex-girlfriend sitting on the property,” with the ex-girlfriend being identified as 36-year-old Kristin Spearman.
The man said that he opened the box to find a gift bag from Bath & Body Works full of products from the store, per the release. Beneath the bag were two documents – one was a picture of Spearman “holding what appears to be a marriage license showing them married and officiated by a local reverend,” and the other was “a copy of the marriage certificate filed with the county clerk’s office,” the outlet reported.
The man told police that he had been in a relationship with Spearman and that the pair decided they would get marriage licenses with the intent of getting married, but they had an argument shortly after applying for the licenses and the victim decided that he did not want to marry her.
Despite that, Spearman allegedly received a marriage license, although it still required certification and filing.
“It was found during a follow-up investigation with the reverend that Kristin Spearman pursuant to the scheme of obtaining a marriage certificate, convinced the reverend to certify the victim and Kristin in the Holy Union of Matrimony without the knowledge of the victim and his required presence,” the release reportedly said.
Spearman then allegedly took the certified license to the county clerk’s office, where it was filed as a “certificate of official marriage.”
After the marriage was made official, Spearman reportedly created the package, put together the gift bag, and placed it on the victim’s front porch.
Police confronted Spearman at her home and arrested her on a charge of third-degree felony stalking. She has since been released from custody.
“I don’t think in 23 years I’ve never heard of anybody who managed somehow to get married to someone who wasn’t present for a ceremony,” Beverly Hills Chief of Police Kory Martin told local outlet KWKT. “I’ve talked to the victim and he’s going through a significant process to try to fix this at this point, so that’s a whole [different] situation.”
