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CRANBROOK, B.C. — The usually voluble Winston Blackmore was mostly silent Tuesday as he stood accused of polygamy in B.C. Supreme Court.

After the charge of one count of polygamy and the names of 24 women were read out, Canada’s best known polygamist and the leader of the fundamentalist group from Bountiful remained silent. He left it to Justice Sheri Donegan to record his silence as a not guilty plea.

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His co-accused was also largely silent, although James Oler did manage to say not guilty after his charge of one count of polygamy was read out, including the names of four women.

It was a quiet start to this most unusual trial that involves a Criminal Code section that dates back to the 1890s, a time when Mormons were fleeing to Canada to escape polygamy prosecutions in the United States.

Photo by Jeff McIntosh / THE CANADIAN PRESS

At his first appearance in 2014 on the count of polygamy, Blackmore arrived at court with nine of his daughters — some of his 145 progeny and some of the children of the women named on the charge.