Man Arrested in Arizona Faces Bigamy Charges : Matrimony: Police say the ex-model was married to four women, including one in Palmdale.

PALMDALE —  Charmaine Whalen is nobody’s fool.

When her husband, Vernon Pierce, failed to fly out and meet her family after the couple’s April 29 wedding, Whalen decided it was time to do a little poking around.

Now Pierce, 33, is facing bigamy charges and Whalen, 24, is considering a job change: from bank teller to police officer.

“My dream was to go into the LAPD, and I put my dreams on hold for him,” Whalen said. “Now I really want to do it.”

Pierce, an ex-model, turned himself in Tuesday to authorities in Glendale, Ariz. He was charged there with two counts of bigamy. Authorities said he was married to four women--two in California and two in Arizona.

He had eluded investigators since June 6, when Whalen asked police to go to his Arizona home.

Instead of finding Pierce, detectives found another wife.

After the two women compared notes, police found records of at least four marriages, one in 1989 and three this year.

“Obviously, there was a lot of lying going on. I did the best I could, but I still made mistakes,” Pierce told the Arizona Republic.

Pierce, who was free on $1,500 bail Wednesday on bigamy charges, said he was dating other women, keeping track of some of them on a 3-by-5-inch card labeled “Who to Marry.” He also carried a little black book in his wallet to keep his stories straight.

Said Lois James, 64, Whalen’s grandmother: “He was one smooth talker.”

Pierce said he told his wives that his job required him to travel. The truth, he said, was altogether different. “I didn’t have a job. I didn’t have time,” he said.

Pierce said it was difficult to juggle the four relationships.

“People say guys fantasize about something like this, and I guess I did,” he said. “But you don’t have your own life.”

Now police say Pierce is awaiting trial at the home of his latest wife, Lemitri (Mimi) Reed of Culver City, whom he married June 5.

“She’s standing by her man,” Whalen said of Reed. “Well, she can have her man.”

Meanwhile, Whalen feels fortunate not to have had any children with Pierce. After getting an annulment, she hopes to marry again.

With one difference, she said: “There will be a strict background investigation.”

Associated Press contributed to this story.