Vegas wedding gets Lynnwood undercover cop fired

It seemed like a routine match for the Little White Wedding Chapel, famed for hitching the rich, the famous and the quirky.

The Lynnwood cop and his bride — then an operator of a Seattle escort agency — flew to Las Vegas last September, exchanging vows at the storied chapel.

Just one problem: The groom, then-Officer Chad Link, already had a wife.

Jaime Link, whom Chad Link married in 2001 on a boat on Lake Washington, filed for divorce in November — two months after her husband's Vegas nuptials.

Lynnwood police fired Chad Link on Feb. 12 after an internal investigation confirmed he had married his new bride, Robyn Lahey, before divorcing his wife.

"There are codes of conduct, and officers are hired to uphold the law," Deputy Chief Karen Manser said.

Link, 31, was an undercover narcotics detective, she said, and his fellow officers triggered the investigation.

"He was wearing a ring, and they knew he'd been in Las Vegas," she said. "He'd been telling them for three months he had the south wife and the north wife."

Bigamy is a class C felony in Washington, with a standard sentencing range of zero to 12 months in jail. Only one or two cases are prosecuted each year, and those found guilty rarely face jail time, according to the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys.

Lynnwood police forwarded its documentation to Las Vegas authorities for prosecution, Manser said. The case is dead, however, because Jaime Link declined to participate, said Martin Wright, spokesman for Las Vegas Metropolitan Police.

"He knew we weren't divorced, no matter how he tries to spin it," Jaime Link said in a recent interview. "But I didn't want to see a felony on his record — even though he committed it."

The couple, who had no children, are selling the Snohomish house they shared. She took custody of their cocker spaniel, Cody; he got the boat. Their divorce could be final in September.

Though he offers no explanation why, Chad Link still says he thought he was single when he flew to Vegas for his wedding Sept. 17.

"I would later find out that my first divorce had not been finalized like I thought and I was now legally married to two women," he said in a written statement he provided The Seattle Times.

"That would be 'illegally married' to two people," quipped Deputy Chief Manser.

Link said he met his new love, Lahey, in July — the same month he separated from his wife.

"At the time I met Robyn she was running a very successful escort agency in Seattle with 100's of high-profile clients, both locally and nationally," he wrote. "Instantly upon meeting, we fell deeply in love and knew we were soulmates."

He declined to elaborate upon Lahey's former profession.

After Link's firing, he and Lahey obtained real-estate licenses, he said. The couple is listed as a "husband and wife power team" for a downtown Bellevue office.

Link, a graduate of the University of Washington, joined Lynnwood police in 1998.

"He had a good performance record," Manser said. "Most people liked him. We didn't ever have any problems with him."

He still owes Lynnwood $775 he was provided to make undercover drug buys, she said.

Link, however, said the cash is gone, lost in a recent move. His "buy wallet" was packed in one of several boxes of personal possessions that disappeared, he said.

While bigamy cases are rare in Washington, allegations are more common in Las Vegas, where last year 27 cases were reported to police. But, for many reasons, those bigamy cases rarely reach court.

Charolette Richards, owner of the Little White Wedding Chapel, says it happens all the time.

Just a few weeks ago, she said, a couple brought 25 friends to a wedding that collapsed midceremony.

"They got into the chapel and he said, 'Honey, I want to tell you, I'm still married.' She was so mad at him, she took her flowers and just smashed his face with them," Richards said. "That was the end of that."

Diane Brooks: 425-745-7802 or dbrooks@seattletimes.com