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Author Topic: Elizabeth Smart, Woman charged in her kidnapping seeks forgivness..  (Read 23352 times)
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« Reply #20 on: May 21, 2010, 02:40:51 PM »

oops.. Sister posted while I was posting. Sorry! Dunno if a mod needs to delete. Thanks

Samantha, different stories on same topic.  I'm sure it's ok.
 
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« Reply #21 on: May 21, 2010, 02:43:01 PM »

oops.. Sister posted while I was posting. Sorry! Dunno if a mod needs to delete. Thanks

Samantha, different stories on same topic.  I'm sure it's ok.
 

Thanks pointing out.. for some reason I glanced and thought they were the same Smile
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« Reply #22 on: November 05, 2010, 08:40:49 AM »

http://thecrimereport.org/2010/11/05/elizabeth-smart-kidnapping-trial-halted-over-jury-selection/
Elizabeth Smart Kidnapping Trial Halted Over Jury Selection
Friday, November 5th, 2010 5:10 am
Utah’s Elizabeth Smart kidnapping trial was interrupted just after it had started when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit agreed to review jury selection, says the Salt Lake Tribune. Attorneys for homeless street preacher Brian David Mitchell’s argue that the jury seated yesterday has already assumed his guilt of kidnapping then 14-year-old Smart in 2002.
“I have never heard of a case where that’s happened,” said University of Utah law professor and former federal judge Paul Cassell of the timing. “The fact that they stayed a trial shows they’re thinking about it.” Prosecutors argued that six potential jurors the defense  identified as showing “actual bias,” were “not actually seated on the jury,” and were only part of the panel of 32 from which the jury was selected. The defense says the case should be moved to a different venue if it was determined Mitchell could not receive a fair trial in Utah.
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« Reply #23 on: November 05, 2010, 08:45:54 AM »

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/elizabeth-smart-trial-hold-12064227
Elizabeth Smart Trial On Hold Appeals court is deciding where to hold the trial. 11/05/2010
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« Reply #24 on: November 10, 2010, 08:43:57 AM »

http://abcnews.go.com/US/elizabeth-smart-testifies-alleged-abductor-brian-david-mitchell/story?id=12097885
Elizabeth Smart Tells Court Kidnapper Tried to Snatch Her Cousin Too
Cable Used to Tie Smart to Tree, Knife, Shown to Jury

9 comments
By ALEX STONE and EMILY FRIEDMAN
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah Nov. 9, 2010
Elizabeth Smart described in court today a deranged life on the lam with a kidnapper who was an alcoholic, who loved porn, and would rape her in a tent he called the Altar of Emanuel.
During her nine month nightmare with accused kidnapper Brian David Mitchell, Smart says she was not only raped repeatedly but was fed garbage, forced to drink alcohol and do drugs, and when she got sick would be forced to sleep in her own vomit.

Smart also says that Mitchell was constantly on the lookout for other girls to kidnap and make his wives, even targeting Smart's cousin.

Smart, now 23, testified for a second day in the trial that she believes her own mention of her cousin Olivia Wright - whom she described as her "closest friend at the time" - spurred Mitchell's interest in the teen.

"I would just mostly talk about times we shared together because she was one of my closest friends at the time. He would act interesting and engaging, but I didn't think anything else about it at the time," said Smart. "Then he prepared to go down to Salt Lake and kidnap my cousin."

"I watched him pack the green bags that he had used to kidnap me," Smart told the courtroom, matter-of-factly. "I saw him pack into the green bags some change of clothing, different ropes. I saw him pack duct tape, I saw him pack a knife."

The knife believed to have been used by Mitchell was passed around members of the jury for inspection while Smart, who was just 14 at the time she was abducted, testified.

It's been eight years since Smart was snatched from her bed in Salt Lake City and forced to spend nine months on the run. After passersby reported spotting Smart in a Salt Lake City suburb, authorities arrested Mitchell and Wanda Barzee, charging them with Smart's kidnapping and sexual assault.
Now living in Paris while she works on a Latter Day Saints mission, Smart maintained her composure on the stand again today, appearing calm and collected, showing very little emotion while providing details of her nightmare, her strategy for survival, and a missed chance at being rescued.

Smart testified that Mitchell even dressed in the same clothes to go get her cousin as he had the night she was kidnapped.

"It was dark clothing. It was the same clothing he used to kidnap me," said Smart. "Stocking cap, gloves, dark shirt, sweats."

"He said that he was going to try the same way he kidnapped me and then he would take her back up into the canyon and hike over the mountains until they came to the canyon we were in," Smart.

Smart would later learn from Mitchell that his play went awry upon arriving at Wright's house. When trying to sneak into an open window, the blinds hit some objects on the ledge and he got scared.
"He came back and he said that we weren't ready to receive another wife yet," Smart said.

Mitchell failed at another kidnapping attempt when the trio moved to California, according to Smart, who remembers the bus ride from Utah as nearly 14 hours long.

Upon arrival, Mitchell set up a new camp near a lake that was also home to many homeless camps, according to Smart.

"He raped me within 24 hours of arriving in California," said Smart.

Mitchell also forced her to look at a pornography magazine, one of many he would bring into their camp.

"He said that he'd received a revelation, been instructed to look at pornography," said Smart. "He said that we all needed to look at it."

Mitchell prepared to kidnap the daughter of a family he met at a Mormon church in San Diego, making sure that there was enough bedding for her to be able to have her own place to sleep, said Smart. Mitchell took the same green bag of kidnapping tools with him, she recalled.

When he returned without the girl, Smart said Mitchell told her, "That we were not prepared enough to receive another wife and that our faith needed to be stronger."

Mitchell also told her that a person snoring in the house had moved when he opened the door and he had been scared away.
At one point, Mitchell showed Smart a newspaper clipping with her parents photo and asked her if she was surprised they hadn't given up, according to Smith.

Continued here......... http://abcnews.go.com/US/elizabeth-smart-testifies-alleged-abductor-brian-david-mitchell/story?id=12097885&page=2
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« Reply #25 on: November 11, 2010, 07:01:26 AM »

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/ijvm.html
November 10, 2010
• Does Letter Hold Key to Mom`s Murder?; Elizabeth Smart Gets Angry in Court
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« Reply #26 on: November 11, 2010, 07:03:45 AM »

http://www.kansas.com/2010/11/11/1583478/elizabeth-smart-ends-testimony.html
Posted on Thu, Nov. 11, 2010
Elizabeth Smart ends testimony
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SALT LAKE CITY — The man accused of abducting Elizabeth Smart was a crude, vulgar, self-serving person who used religion to justify his actions, including her kidnapping and rape, she told jurors on her third and final day of testimony.

Smart gave a spirited rejection of Brian David Mitchell's defense contention that he suffers from an escalating mental illness and holds extreme religious beliefs that lead him to think he is directed by God.

Smart called him a hypocrite.

"He was his number one priority, followed by sex, drugs and alcohol, but he used religion in all of those aspects to justify everything," Smart said in a clear voice, confidently expressing her own religious knowledge.

Mitchell, 57, is charged in federal court with kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor across state lines. If convicted, he faces a life sentence.
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« Reply #27 on: December 01, 2010, 03:06:00 PM »

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AH6AX20101118
Woman who helped kidnap Elizabeth Smart testifies
November 18, 2010

(Reuters) - The woman convicted of helping her husband kidnap  Elizabeth Smart broke into tears on the witness stand on Thursday as she told jurors her marriage to the homeless street preacher was "hellish."

Wanda Barzee, who is serving a 15-year sentence for her role in Smart's 2002 abduction and was brought into court in shackles and prison garb, portrayed Brian David Mitchell as controlling, possessive and dominating.

Asked by a defense attorney to characterize her first year of marriage to Mitchell, she responded: "It was hellish."

Barzee said things improved somewhat when she became more submissive and obedient to Mitchell, but that he remained prone to bouts of fury or tears, sometimes screaming into a pillow.

"He would have these anger outbursts," she said. "He would leave the house and come back and apologize saying that he was sorry he nearly destroyed me."

Mitchell, 57, is charged with kidnapping Smart, who was then 14, from her Salt Lake City home on June 5, 2002 with the intent of forcing her to live as his young bride.

Barzee, 64, pleaded guilty to kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor and was sentenced in May to 15 years in prison.

As part of her plea agreement she is cooperating with authorities.

Prosecutors declined to call Barzee as a witness before resting their case earlier this week, but she was put on the stand by defense attorneys -- who are expected to argue Mitchell was insane at the time of Smart's kidnapping.

As he has on most days, U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball ordered Mitchell removed from court after the defendant refused to stop loudly singing hymns and Christmas Carols.

'WEIRDER AND WEIRDER'

In often emotional testimony, Barzee said she met Mitchell in 1985 at a Mormon church, during a group counseling session while they were both going through divorce, and married him nine months later.

She described her now-estranged husband as "consumed with fear and doubt" and angry over his first marriage, saying they had trouble communicating and fought often until she became more submissive.

Barzee said Mitchell criticized her for watching television and made her throw darts at a picture of her ex-husband.

In the 1990s, she said, Mitchell decided they should no longer be affiliated with organized religion. The couple ultimately sold their belongings and began traveling across the country, pulling a cart that they built by hand, so he could spread their beliefs and she could play organ recitals, often in nearly empty halls and auditoriums.
Barzee's testimony ended for the day before she could be asked about the details of Smart's kidnapping.

During the morning court session, Mitchell's brother told jurors that five years before Smart was abducted he began worrying his sibling was becoming "increasingly emotionally disturbed."

Tim Mitchell, a 50-year-old mental health counselor, testified that after his older brother, Brian David Mitchell, began demanding his family call him "Daveed," he wrote to him encouraging him to get help.

"He's just getting weirder and weirder," Tim Mitchell recalled thinking.

Smart, now 23, has returned to Utah from Paris for the trial, where she is on a mission for the Mormon church, and has watched the proceedings from the courthouse gallery, surrounded by family members.

She testified during the prosecution case that Mitchell kidnapped her at knife-point from the bed she shared with her sister Mary Katherine, marched her several miles into the foothills above her Salt Lake City home and raped her.

Smart said her time with Mitchell and Barzee as "nine months of hell," during which she was raped nearly every day.

Smart's baffling disappearance made international headlines in 2002, and the search for the missing 14-year-old girl gripped much of America.

She was ultimately rescued after passersby spotted her walking with Mitchell and Barzee on a street in the Salt Lake City suburb of Sandy.
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« Reply #28 on: December 01, 2010, 03:07:52 PM »

http://**/sltrib/home/50776875-75/mitchell-seizure-defense-lewis.html.csp
Mitchell’s seizure in court halts Smart kidnap case
November 30, 2010

For past coverage of the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping trial, including transcripts of testimony by Smart and Brian David Mitchell’s wife Wanda Barzee, visit http://**/topics/mitchell.

Brian David Mitchell collapsed as Tuesday’s session of his federal kidnapping trial got under way.

Mitchell, who is usually escorted from court after he begins singing hymns, yelled out in a strangled voice about 8:50 a.m., ending up beneath the defense table. His attorneys then shouted for EMTs, saying he appeared to have suffered a seizure.

He was conscious and alert while being taken to University Hospital, but further updates on his condition were not available.

The jury had not yet been seated. They were told simply that an issue came up and asked to return on Wednesday.

Mitchell, 57, is on trial for the 2002 kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart. Defense attorneys have been trying to convince jurors that their client is legally insane.
Mitchell entered the courtroom singing “O Holy Night.” Moments later, after U.S. Judge Dale Kimball was talking to prosecutors and defense lawyers about reading a statement to jurors that apparently would inform them about Mitchell’s 2005 mental competency proceedings in state court, Mitchell went into seizure.

As Kimball was explaining his decision, Mitchell stopped singing and dropped his head for a few moments. Defense attorney Wendy Lewis locked eyes with him and then he flailed back, making a loud bleating sound. He then fell to the left and his head came back.

At 8:40 a.m., Lewis told the judge, “He’s having a seizure your honor.”

Then Lewis and a U.S. Marshal laid the defendant onto the floor.

“You might want to take him out and see if he needs medical [assistance],” Kimball said.

A marshal called 911. There was no sound for a minute or two, and then Mitchell could be heard breathing heavily.
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« Reply #29 on: December 01, 2010, 03:11:03 PM »

http://www.wtvr.com/news/kstu-elizabeth-smart-kidnapping-trial-resumes-medical-delay,0,7105880.story
(video)
Elizabeth Smart storms out of courtroom at Mitchell trial
December 1, 2010
SALT LAKE CITY —
Elizabeth Smart, visibly upset, stormed out of the courtroom Wednesday at the trial of her accused kidnapper.

Smart left the courtroom during the testimony of Dr. Paul Whitehead, a forensic psychiatrist at the state mental hospital who treated Brian David Mitchell from 2005 to 2008. Whitehead, who is a witness for the defense, was asked about Mitchell seeking to have children with Smart.

Mitchell, 57, was back in the courtroom this morning after suffering an apparent seizure Tuesday.

The homeless street preacher is accused of kidnapping then-14-year-old Elizabeth Smart from her bedroom back in 2002. Now 23, she testified that she was held captive for nine months and raped nearly every day.

Watch here for live updates from Fox 13's Ben Winslow in the courtroom:

UPDATE at 12:37 p.m.: Under more cross-examination, Dr. Paul Whitehead testified about Brian David Mitchell's life at the Utah State Hospital.

"It's your opinion that his degree of conviction in his beliefs is moderate?" prosecutor Alicia Cook said.

"We saw some change, we did think it was on a moderate level," Whitehead replied.

Mitchell's beliefs were not 100-percent fixed and Whitehead acknowledged doubt in Mitchell leading up to the kidnapping, Cook noted.

Mitchell's beliefs were bizarre, Whitehead said, such as Barzee giving birth in her 60s despite having had a hysterectomy.

"I thought the majority of evidence was that it wasn't particularly bizarre," he said.

Cook asked if Mitchell has extreme religious beliefs, not necessarily mental illness.

"I think if you just say it's a guy with extreme beliefs much as people who commit terrorist acts on behalf of an organization, I would say that's not mental illness," Whitehead said.

Cook asked about Mitchell changing his appearance based upon his friendship with a fellow patient at the Utah State Hospital. He also made efforts to make amends with his family.

"It was weird. It was a change," Whitehead said.

Asked about it, Whitehead said that Mitchell believed that people could change and "prophets" are imperfect people.

"He was basically saying we can all learn and we can all change and evolve," Whitehead said.

After more questioning, the judge called for a break.

UPDATE at 11:59 a.m.: As Dr. Paul Whitehead was testifying about Mitchell's desire to bear children with Elizabeth Smart, she became visibly upset.
(more...)
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« Reply #30 on: December 10, 2010, 01:45:49 PM »

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20025320-504083.html
December 10, 2010 1:17 PM
Elizabeth Smart Verdict: Jury Finds Brian David Mitchell Guilty
Posted by Carlin DeGuerin Miller 3 comments
SALT LAKE CITY (CBS/AP) The federal jury in the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping case returned guilty verdicts on both counts against street preacher Brian David Mitchell: kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor across state lines for the purposes of illegal sex.
The jury rejected the defense's insanity claims less than 12 hours after beginning deliberations.

Mitchell faces a possible sentence of life in prison.

The jury started deliberating just after 5:30 p.m. Thursday and deliberated for a little over three hours before adjourning for the night. Court officials  announced jurors had reached their verdict just after 10:30 a.m. Friday.

The facts of the case were undisputed - even Mitchell's attorneys say there's no question he kidnapped Smart and raped her almost daily until she was found nine months later, walking a suburban street with Mitchell and his now-estranged wife.

At issue was whether Mitchell could be held legally responsible for his crimes.

Defense attorneys argued that Mitchell suffers from a delusional disorder that prevents him from realizing right from wrong.

Prosecutors  painted an altogether different picture of an anti-social psychopath who used the illusion of mental illness and religious fervor to get people to do what he wanted and to manipulate others' perception of him.
Pectures:Elizabeth Smart  http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-504083_162-10005394.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody
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« Reply #31 on: December 10, 2010, 07:26:33 PM »

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20025320-504083.html
December 10, 2010 1:17 PM
Elizabeth Smart Verdict: Jury Finds Brian David Mitchell Guilty

 sweet justice at work
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« Reply #32 on: December 10, 2010, 09:18:22 PM »

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20025320-504083.html
December 10, 2010 1:17 PM
Elizabeth Smart Verdict: Jury Finds Brian David Mitchell Guilty

 sweet justice at work
I hope this gives Elizabeth and her family closure.
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« Reply #33 on: December 11, 2010, 11:03:35 AM »




Brian David Mitchell knew right from wrong, and what he did to Elizabeth Smart was wrong and he knew it. It's time for him to face the consequences.  JMHO

   for Elizabeth Smart.
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« Reply #34 on: May 22, 2011, 08:27:30 AM »

http://www.digtriad.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=176291
Elizabeth Smart To Speak At Kidnapper's Sentencing
5:36 AM, May 21, 2011  |   comments

Salt Lake City, UT -- Elizabeth Smart is home from her LDS Mission in France enjoying time with her family. But soon she will be back in the national spotlight. On May 25th, she plans to speak during the sentencing hearing for her kidnapper Brian David Mitchell.

Her goal is to not only speak for her case, but also other victims of crime like her.

"I hope it gives others hope that they can speak out and not be scared to face their captor," said Elizabeth.
 ::snipping2::

Video at link
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« Reply #35 on: May 22, 2011, 12:20:03 PM »

Trimm -  I'm sorry, but I removed one of your posts today, and I should have left the post, but edit out everything in it and marked it "Blocked Website".  It is helpful to preview an article and the ** will show up in the link, and that way you can know not to post it.  For others that may not know, here is a thread Klaas made called "Important to Read" that addresses the blocked websites and why we do this:
http://scaredmonkeys.net/index.php?topic=9451.msg1303911#msg1303911
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« Reply #36 on: May 25, 2011, 07:23:59 PM »

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/05/25/utah.elizabeth.smart.sentence/
Judge sentences Smart kidnapper to life in prison
May 25, 2011

A federal judge Wednesday sentenced the man who kidnapped Elizabeth Smart to life in prison, prosecutors said.

"We believe it is an appropriate, just and long overdue result for our community, for the Smart family and of course, most importantly, Elizabeth," said Carlie Christensen, acting U.S. district attorney in Utah.

A jury found Brian David Mitchell guilty in December of kidnapping Smart in 2002 and transporting the 14-year-old girl across state lines with the intent to engage in sexual activity.

"Mitchell's heinous conduct, the evidence of his propensity to reoffend mandated such a sentence," Christensen said.

Beaming before a group of reporters gathered outside the federal courthouse, Smart, now 23, said she was "thrilled" with the sentence.
 ::snipping2::
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« Reply #37 on: July 07, 2011, 06:06:06 PM »

Trimm -  I'm sorry, but I removed one of your posts today, and I should have left the post, but edit out everything in it and marked it "Blocked Website".  It is helpful to preview an article and the ** will show up in the link, and that way you can know not to post it.  For others that may not know, here is a thread Klaas made called "Important to Read" that addresses the blocked websites and why we do this:
http://scaredmonkeys.net/index.php?topic=9451.msg1303911#msg1303911
I just saw this.Sorry Muffy.   an angelic monkey
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« Reply #38 on: July 07, 2011, 06:08:01 PM »

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/07/elizabeth-smart-abc_n_892199.html
Elizabeth Smart To Work As ABC Commentator
JENNIFER DOBNER   07/ 7/11 10:40 AM ET

SALT LAKE CITY — Elizabeth Smart is taking a job with ABC News as a commentator focusing on missing persons and child abduction cases.
 ::snipping2::
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« Reply #39 on: July 06, 2018, 06:39:08 PM »

https://www.statesman.com/news/national/elizabeth-smart-kidnapper-wanda-barzee-denied-parole/b7asDOB80ZMG9zcHHAkDHO/
Elizabeth Smart kidnapper Wanda Barzee denied parole
July 6, 2018

DRAPER, UTAH —
One of the two people convicted in the 2002 kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart has been denied parole and will remain in the Utah State Prison until at least 2023.

Wanda Barzee, 72, is serving up to 15 years in state prison for a plot she and her husband, Brian David Mitchell, had to kidnap Smart’s cousin in July 2002, about a month after they abducted the then-14-year-old Smart from her bedroom. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Barzee was released from a federal prison in Texas in 2016, having completed her sentence for kidnapping Smart.

The Utah Board of Pardons & Parole determined in their decision, which was released Tuesday, that Barzee’s time in federal prison will not count as time served toward her state prison sentence, the Tribune reported. She served only eight years of a 15-year federal sentence because the judge who sentenced her in 2010 gave her credit for seven years already served.

If Barzee serves the entire 15 years of her state sentence, she will be released in 2024. Her next parole hearing is slated for a year before her sentence ends.

Last month’s parole hearing was Barzee’s first, but the inmate refused to attend, FOX13 in Salt Lake City reported. She has also refused to participate in psychological exams that are mandatory for her to achieve an early release.

“That has not been done to date,” Angela Micklos, a member of the parole board, told the news station last month.  

Psychological evaluations are required in the case because Barzee pleaded guilty but mentally ill to the attempted kidnapping charge. The Tribune reported that if mental health experts had given positive evaluations of Barzee, the Smart family would not have objected to her release.

Like Barzee, Elizabeth Smart did not attend the hearing, but her father, Ed Smart, got to the hearing after it had already concluded, FOX13 reported. He told reporters that he believes Barzee is still loyal to her husband, whom she helped abduct Elizabeth Smart so the teen could serve as a “sister wife” for Mitchell.

“I recently heard she’s still following Mitchell,” Ed Smart said. “(She) carries around his little bitty Bible and her refusal to come today seems like an indicator that she’s still of the same mindset she was at the time she took Elizabeth.”

Elizabeth Smart remained missing for nine months before a sharp-eyed witness spotted her with Mitchell and Barzee in Sandy, a city just about 20 miles from the Smart home in Salt Lake City. She later testified that she was kept tied up and was repeatedly sexually assaulted by Mitchell.

Mitchell also threatened to kill her and her family if she attempted to escape.

Mitchell was not unknown to the teen, but she knew him as Immanuel, a local homeless man who her father once hired to do work on the family’s house. Smart’s then-9-year-old sister, who witnessed the abduction, realized months after the kidnapping who her sister’s abductor was and the family alerted authorities.

Smart was found with Mitchell and Barzee a few weeks later, ABC News reported in 2005.

Mitchell was sentenced to life in federal prison in 2011 following years of delays in the case because he was found mentally unfit to stand trial. When his trial was able to proceed, he repeatedly had to be removed from the courtroom because he would break out in song, CBS News reported.  

Smart, now 30, is an author and activist for child safety, according to her website. She and her husband have two children.

 




« Last Edit: July 06, 2018, 06:45:23 PM by MuffyBee » Logged

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