Stolen Book of Mormon is returned to Arizona woman

The Associated Press

First Published Jan 16 2013 02:56 pm • Last Updated Jan 24 2013 09:28 pm

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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