Marcus Shorten, Houston, Texas man discovered to be married to second woman while wife is scrolling through Facebook as wanted man now faces bigamy charges.
‘Do you take this man to be your scoundrel husband for better, for (much) worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness, arrest, litigation, to hate and condemn, till death do you both part …?’
A Houston, Texas man has been charged with bigamy after his wife came to discover that her husband was married to another woman.
Marcus Andra Shorten, 53, who had married his current wife, Tammie in 2012, was revealed to have married another woman earlier this year, while the unwitting spouse was scrolling through Facebook. The marriage makes Shorten technically married four times now (after previously being married to other women prior to Tammie).
‘You can’t go around lying and misleading individuals at your self-satisfaction!’
Tammie married Shorten in 2012, but separated in 2019. The woman claimed the pair never formally divorcing because Shorten feared being viewed as a ‘failure.’
Shorten’s latest wife came into the picture in December, when Tammie found a wedding registry for her and her husband online. The couple’s ceremony took place in January the dailymail revealed.
That woman’s name remains unknown, and there is no indication she was aware of Shorten’s illicit activities. Cops are now searching for him, after finding two marriage licenses but no divorce decrees (beyond the two prior divorces before 2012). He is currently charged with bigamy.
‘You can’t go around lying and misleading individuals at your self-satisfaction,’ scorned former flame, Tammie told ABC13. ‘I told him, “Before you let the whole world know what you’re doing, make sure your business is right,”
‘It’s not like you don’t know what a divorce is because you’ve been married several times before. I was made a fool of,’ the aggrieved woman added.
‘Congratulations to my one and only big brother.’
According to Tammie, she had confronted Marcus Shorten with the fact she knew about his upcoming wedding.
She reportedly reminded him they were still wed, but he went through with the bigamous nuptials anyway, it is alleged.
Social media posts from Shorten’s family from around this time show them celebrating the nuptials, with his sister Monica Shorten writing over a reel overlaid with wedding photos, ‘Congratulations to my one and only big brother.’
Reached out by ABC13, Shorten denied being married to anyone and said he was unaware of the bigamy charge.
Bigamy is a third degree felony that carries a max sentence of ten years.
Bigamy vs polygamy
Bigamy while rare, is defined as the act of going through a marriage ceremony with one person while legally wed to another – not to be confused with polygamy.
Polygamy is the practice of having one more than one spouse at a time, meaning one must engage in bigamy to experience polygamy.
Both are considered crimes, and the Texas Bigamy law gives cops the right to arrest one they believe wed someone while still married to someone else.
In addition to prison time, Shorten could face a fine of up up to $10,000 because of the state law.
Not immediately clear is if Shorten’s newest wife was aware that her spouse was still married at the time of their wedding and that Shorten now faces potential jail time after the man tying the knot for the fourth time.
