Bigamist Kept List Of Prospects, Lies He Told

GLENDALE, Ariz. - Charmaine Whalen called police when her husband, who said his job kept him on the road, disappeared for longer than usual.

She wasn't the only wife looking for him.

Officers who went to Vernon Pierce's townhouse in this Phoenix suburb found a second wife knocking on his door. Then they found a third wife, and a fourth, and a list of "Who to Marry" with two more potential brides on it.

Pierce, who police had been looking for since September, was charged with bigamy after unexpectedly turning himself in Tuesday. He faces up to four years in prison and a $300,000 fine.

The 33-year-old said he surrendered so he could start a new life - and that other men shouldn't envy his escapades.

"I've wasted five years of my life with this," he said yesterday, free on $1,500 bail. "That kind of life is not what it may seem to be."

He said things got so complicated he had to keep notes of what he had told which wife. He carried a little black book in his wallet.

Pierce said he fantasized about having many wives but didn't offer a more detailed explanation of why he was simultaneously married to four women in Arizona, California and Nevada.

Pierce said that once he gets his troubles behind him, he wants to start over - with LeMitri Reed, his newest wife.

"She's the one who's really standing by me," he said.