Brian David Mitchell

Sources

1. Mitchell's Journey to 'Immanuel', Salt Lake Tribune, March 30, 2003.
2. Kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart - Wikipedia - Accessed 2023-03-08, Wiki Pedia / Elizabeth Smart, June 5, 2002.
3. Where Are Brian Mitchell and Wanda Barzee Now? -The Cinemaholic - 2020-08-01, The Cinemacholic, August 1, 2020.
4. Elizabeth Smart Says Brian David Mitchell Raped Her Daily - 2009-10-01, ABC News, August 1, 2009.

• 1. Mitchell's Journey to 'Immanuel'

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  A decade ago, Brian David Mitchell was a clean-cut husband and father, a Salt Lake Temple worker and a diecutter at O.C. Tanner. Today he is a bedraggled prisoner at the Salt Lake County Jail, charged with kidnapping Elizabeth Smart.

  What happened to him? Doug Larsen believes he has a clue.

  In the early 1990s, Larsen was perhaps Mitchell's best friend. The two devout Mormons shared an office at O.C. Tanner, where they discovered a mutual interest in religious philosophy and scripture. Isolated somewhat from their co-workers, they talked for hours about their beliefs.

  Mitchell left the jewelry company in late 1993. When Larsen next saw his friend, in April 1994, Mitchell and wife, Wanda Barzee, were hawking books by C. Samuel West, the Orem doctor known for preaching holistic health. Smiling like a hyena, Mitchell gave Larsen one of West's books and asked for a $350 donation.

  "He was different. He was a little too exuberant. It was a little too much," says Larsen, who knew Mitchell had mental-health expenses. "I knew they had thrown away their medication. In light of subsequent events, he must have been medicated when he and I worked together. I don't know how else to explain the"

  See MITCHELL, A14

  Page 14 (continuation): "Mitchell: From Diecutter to 'Prophet'"

  Continued from A1

  …change."

  A few months later, Mitchell quit working for West. Within a year he had sold his possessions, donned a robe, changed his name and left Utah to wander the country with Barzee, sleeping in the woods and preaching his peculiar gospel on the streets. Authorities say his misguided religious fervor and deteriorating mental state led Mitchell to snatch 14-year-old Elizabeth as the second of eight potential wives, sexually assault her and hide her under a veil for nine months.

  The bearded Immanuel, as Mitchell has called himself in recent years, is familiar to many who saw him walking the streets of downtown Salt Lake City. But who is Brian David Mitchell? In the days after Elizabeth was found March 12, everyone from her father Ed Smart to District Attorney David Yocum to CNN's Larry King had a short answer: Sexual predator. Homeless wacko. Jesus freak. Polygamist fanatic. Soft-spoken Svengali. A "monster."

  The long answer, as always, is more complex. Like all people, Mitchell is the product of many conflicting human, environmental and intellectual forces. Born Oct. 18, 1953, he grew up in a low-slung brick rambler on a winding street of 1950s-style homes just south of lower Parleys Canyon. Brian was the third of six children born to his mother, a schoolteacher, and father Shirl, a social worker.

  Neighbors remember the Mitchells as Mormon, frugal and a little weird. All six children were born at home. The parents served only whole-wheat bread, steamed vegetables and other health foods, a stricture from which the children sometimes rebelled. Cousin Bill Christiansen recalls the Mitchell kids coming over to his house and gobbling down plates of beef. "They just seemed starved for meat."

  Relatives describe Mitchell's mother as doting and conscientious. But by his own admission, Shirl Mitchell was not a model father. He once punished Brian by slapping him with a garden hose and tried to educate the 8-year-old boy about sex by showing him explicit pictures from a medical book. Another time he dropped off Brian, then about 12, in Salt Lake City's Rose Park neighborhood and made him find his way home. Shirl Mitchell characterizes his son as a "maladjusted" misfit who coveted his parents' love.

  "There was a chronic, deep-seated craving for attention, for an identity," says the elder Mitchell, who has penned a rambling, 900-page manifesto of his own unusual philosophical and religious beliefs. "Even negative attention was better than none, as far as he was concerned."

  Signs of Trouble: On the surface, Brian Mitchell had a prototypical American boyhood: He was a Cub Scout and played Little League. But his teenage years showed signs of trouble ahead. He was caught exposing himself to a neighborhood girl. He spent time in juvenile detention. He squabbled so much with his parents that at 16 they sent him to live with his grandmother, a full-time nurse who couldn't supervise him. Mitchell turned to alcohol and drugs and dropped out of high school.

  "He was just left to fend completely for himself," says a sibling, who asked not to be identified. "And that's when the problems started."

  At 19, Mitchell married his first wife, who now goes by Karen Minor, after getting her pregnant. They had a son, Travis, and a daughter, Angela, but the marriage lasted less than two years. Karen recently told TV's "Inside Edition" that Mitchell hit her and forced himself on her two days after the birth of their second child. In divorce records, Mitchell said Karen's alcohol abuse, infidelities and emotional problems made her an unfit mother. When Karen remarried soon afterward and was to be awarded custody of the children, Mitchell instead took them to New Hampshire for two years to "protect" them from her.

  By 1980 Mitchell returned to Utah, kicked drugs and rededicated himself to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He found work as a janitor at the Beehive House near Temple Square and met his second wife, Debbie Mitchell, at a lecture on the Old Testament by LDS author W. Cleon Skousen. Debbie had three young daughters from a previous marriage when they wed in 1981.

  "I remember feeling I was the luckiest woman alive to marry a man who loved my girls," Debbie Mitchell says. The couple quickly had two more children of their own. Perhaps seven children in one small house was more than they could handle, because in 1983 Brian Mitchell placed Travis and Angela, then 10 and 8, in a foster home. Angela says her father was following orders from Debbie, who threatened to divorce him if he did not find another home for his kids.

  "It's not a decision I would make, but I can understand why he did it," says Angela, 28, who declined to give her last name for privacy reasons. "He was trying to save his marriage."

  Debbie Mitchell denies giving her husband any such ultimatum. But their marriage was already in deep trouble. The gentle man she married, she says, had become strange, controlling and cruel. Once he brought home a stack of books about Satan "because he wanted to know what he was fighting against." Mitchell told her what to eat, forbade her from wearing bright colors and put dead mice in her stove to scare her. And sometimes, she said, he beat her.

  "I used to go to church with black eyes," says the Salt Lake City woman, now 52. "I remember just literally cringing because he was so mean to me. And people in the ward thought he was such a wonderful man."

  Mitchell, who filed for divorce from Debbie in 1984, told a different story. In divorce papers, he said he yelled at Debbie and broke things in anger but never hit her. Debbie was cruel to Travis and Angela, flew into violent rages and vowed repeatedly "to discredit him in the eyes of the children," he wrote.

  Claims of Abuse: Those who view Brian Mitchell as a pedophile look to this second marriage for proof. Ten months after he and Debbie separated, she accused him of molesting their son, then 3. Debbie said she became concerned when the boy began acting in a sexual manner toward his little sister, and, when questioned, said he learned such behavior from his father.

  Police were summoned and the case was referred to the state Division of Child and Family Services. A caseworker interviewed the boy twice and found no direct evidence that he had been sexually abused by his father. However, she determined the boy was more sexually interested than average and recommended that Mitchell's weekend visits with his son be supervised. Debbie Mitchell has had custody of the kids ever since.

  Around the same time, one of Debbie's daughters came forward to say Mitchell had molested her for almost four years, starting when she was 8. Rebecca Woodridge, who since Mitchell's arrest has gone public with her story, said her stepfather repeatedly snuck into her bedroom, fondled her and made her touch him. Ashamed and scared, Woodridge told no one.

  "I can still see him coming down the stairs towards me," says Woodridge, now 29, who has told her story on NBC and "Larry King Live." "He would tell me not to say anything because nobody would believe me. And he was right."

  Debbie Mitchell says she reported the abuse in 1985 to LDS Church officials who doubted the girl's accusations and discouraged her from pressing charges. The case was never prosecuted.

  "They could have stopped this," Debbie Mitchell says. "But we're talking 18 years ago when nobody in the church thought this kind of thing happened."

  Dale Bills, a spokesman for the LDS Church, could not comment specifically on Mitchell's case. But he says the church abhors child abuse and has established several programs to help its local leaders prevent sexual abuse and protect and treat victims. Today, bishops and other church leaders have access to a 24-hour help line staffed by professional counselors.

  Brian Mitchell's attorney, David C. Biggs, did not return calls seeking comment on the sexual abuse allegations. But Mitchell's relatives doubt the abuse occurred.

  "He told me that wasn't true," says daughter Angela, who recalls Mitchell as a caring father who bought her a necklace with her birthstone. "He was never abusive to my brother or me, physically or sexually. And someone who's abusive usually has a history of that."

  Woodridge, however, stands by her story. She cannot help but wonder how things might be different now had her stepfather been prosecuted 18 years ago.

  "Every time I see [Elizabeth Smart], I think, 'That was me,'" she says. "There's a part of me that feels sorry for him. He needed help. And if people had believed me, he might have gotten help and none of this would have happened."

  Seeing a Change: On Nov. 29, 1985, the day his divorce to Debbie became final, Mitchell married Wanda Barzee. He was 32; she was 40 and, like him, a single parent recovering from a nasty divorce. He proposed by giving…

  See NEXT PAGE (the story continues on a page that is not in these two files)

  Photo caption (page 14): Shirl Mitchell, right, characterized his son, Brian David Mitchell, left, as a "maladjusted" teen who coveted his parents' love. "There was a chronic, deep-seated craving for attention, for an identity," he said. (Mitchell family photo)

  Sidebar (page 14): Wanda Barzee and Brian Mitchell's work in the LDS Temple is noted in The Salt Lake Temple, A Centennial Book of Remembrance 1893-1993. As their marriage continued, the couple attended church services less often. The sidebar also lists Brian Mitchell as an ordinance worker for 3 years, born October 18, a diecutter, and Wanda Mitchell as an ordinance worker for 1 year, born November 6, an organist.

• 2. Kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart - Wikipedia - Accessed 2023-03-08

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  Kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart

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  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart
  Smart's missing person flyer distributed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation
  Date June 5, 2002 – March 12, 2003
  Location

  Abduction:
  Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
  Confinement:
  Salt Lake City, Utah, and San Diego County, California, U.S.

  Type Kidnapping, child abduction, child rape
  Motive Sexual abuse
  Perpetrators

  Brian Mitchell
  Wanda Barzee

  Verdict Guilty
  Convictions Various offenses, including kidnapping and child endangerment
  Sentence

  Mitchell: Life imprisonment without the possibility of parole
  Barzee: 15 years in prison (paroled after 9 years)

  The kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart occurred on June 5, 2002, when 14-year-old American girl Elizabeth Ann Smart was kidnapped from her home in Salt Lake City, Utah by Brian David Mitchell.

  Mitchell abducted Smart at knifepoint, from a bedroom shared with her younger sister Mary Katherine, who pretended to be asleep out of fear. Mitchell, who claimed to be a religious preacher,[1] was acquainted with the Smart family having worked for them as a handyman. Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee, held Smart captive in a crude campsite on the outskirts of Salt Lake City, and later, in San Diego County, California. Mitchell repeatedly raped her and made threats against Smart and her family. Smart accompanied her captors in public on various occasions dressed head-to-toe in white robes and went largely unrecognized despite contact with the public on several occasions.[2] Her captivity lasted about nine months before police identified her in Sandy, Utah, approximately 18 miles (29 km) from her home.[3][4]

  After her rescue, Smart became an advocate for missing persons and victims of sexual assault. Barzee was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison in 2009 for her role in the abduction, although she was granted early release on September 19, 2018, for previously uncredited time served.[5] Mitchell was diagnosed by forensic psychologists as having antisocial and narcissistic personality disorders. Extensive disputes over his competence to stand trial lasted several years before he was deemed mentally capable in 2010; Mitchell was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in 2011.[6]
  Backgrounds of the kidnappers

  Brian David Mitchell was born on October 18, 1953, in Salt Lake City, Utah, the third of six children in a family belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). His mother was a teacher and his father was a social worker. In order to teach Mitchell about sex, his father reportedly showed his adolescent son explicit photos from a medical journal, and, in order to teach him about independence, would drive him to unfamiliar parts of the city, drop him off, and leave him to find his way back home.[7]

  At age 16, Mitchell exposed himself to a child and was sent to a juvenile hall. At age 19, he married sixteen-year-old Karen Minor, with whom he had two children. After their divorce, Minor was awarded custody of both children, after which Mitchell temporarily fled with the children to New Hampshire.[7] He resided there for two years, joining a Hare Krishna commune.[8]

  Mitchell had a history of drug and alcohol abuse in his adult life but, upon returning to Salt Lake City, he was inspired to seek sobriety by his brother, who had recently returned from an LDS Church mission. In Salt Lake City, Mitchell had two more children with his second wife, Debbie, who herself had three children from a previous marriage. Debbie alleged that Mitchell was abusive during their marriage, and they divorced in 1984. After their separation, Debbie alleged that Mitchell had sexually abused their three-year-old son. The abuse claim could not be medically confirmed, but Mitchell's future visitations with his children were ordered to be supervised by the Division of Child and Family Services. One of Debbie's daughters from her previous marriage would later claim Mitchell had sexually abused her for four years.[7]

  On the day his divorce from Debbie was finalized, Mitchell married Wanda Elaine Barzee (b. November 6, 1945, in Salt Lake City), a then-40-year-old divorcée with six children.[7] Barzee had a troubled relationship with her children; one of her daughters would later refer to Barzee as a "monster" who had served a pet rabbit as dinner.[9]

  Together, Mitchell and Barzee became actively involved in the LDS Church. Eventually Mitchell began going by the name "Immanuel David Isaiah," claiming to be a prophet of God who experienced visions.[7] The name relates to Mitchell's belief that he was the "Davidic Servant" spoken of in Avraham Gileadi's book The Literary Message of Isaiah.[10] For these unorthodox beliefs and statements, the two were excommunicated from the church in absentia in June 2002.[11][10] Barzee began going by the name "Hephzibah Eladah Isaiah", and the two would panhandle and preach in downtown Salt Lake City. Mitchell presented himself in an image that was akin to the image of Jesus, dressing in white robes and tunics and growing a beard.[7]
  Abduction
  Federal Heights, the neighborhood where Smart resided, and from where she was kidnapped

  In the early hours of June 5, 2002, Mitchell broke into the home of Ed and Lois Smart in the Federal Heights neighborhood of Salt Lake City, where they lived with their six children.[12] He abducted fourteen-year-old Elizabeth Smart from the bedroom she shared with her nine-year-old sister, Mary Katherine.[13] Mary Katherine was awakened but pretended to be asleep,[14][15] and later reported that:

  The man was white, about the height of her brother Charles (5 ft 8 in; 172 cm),[16] about 30 – 40 years of age, and wearing light-colored clothes and a golf hat.[12][17] (In fact, he was wearing black, did not have a golf hat, and was 48 years of age).[18]
  The man had dark hair, and also had dark hair on his arms and on the backs of his hands.[17]
  The man threatened Elizabeth with a knife (which 9-year-old Mary Katherine thought was a gun at the time).[18]
  She never got a good look at the man's face,[19] a fact kept secret by the police during the investigation.[20]
  When Elizabeth said "ouch" after stubbing her toe on a chair, the man said something that sounded to her like "You better be quiet, and I won't hurt you."[21]
  When her sister Elizabeth asked "Why are you doing this?" the man's reply was not clear to her, but Mary Katherine thought he may have said "for ransom."[21][22]
  The man was calm and soft-spoken—even polite—and nicely dressed.[17]
  The man's voice seemed somehow familiar to her, despite the fact that he only spoke quietly to her sister Elizabeth throughout. However, Mary was unable to pinpoint the circumstances under which she might have heard his voice before.[23]

  When she thought Elizabeth and the abductor had gone, Mary attempted to go to her parents' bedroom, only narrowly avoiding being seen by Mitchell and Elizabeth, who were outside the boys' bedroom.[24] She crept back into her bed, where she hid for an undetermined time—possibly over two hours.[14]

  Just before 4:00 a.m. Mary Katherine woke her parents and told them what had happened.[25] Thinking she had been dreaming, her parents did not believe her until they found a window screen that had been cut with a knife.[26]
  Search and investigation

  On June 6, 2002, Ed and Lois went on television and pleaded for the kidnapper to return their daughter.[27]

  A massive regional search effort, organized by the Laura Recovery Center, involved up to 2,000 volunteers each day, as well as dogs and planes.[28] Various websites carried flyers that could be printed or circulated via the internet.[citation needed] After many days of intensive searching, the community-led search was ended and efforts were directed to other means of finding Elizabeth.[citation needed]

  Mary Katherine's observations were of little use, and there was little usable evidence found at the scene such as fingerprints or DNA. A search using bloodhounds was unsuccessful. Police questioned and interviewed hundreds of potential suspects including a 26-year-old who was cleared after being located in a West Virginia hospital. The investigation had the side effect of returning several at-large criminals to prison, but Elizabeth was not found.[29][failed verification]

  The Salt Lake City police considered Richard Ricci a person of interest early in the investigation.[30] Ricci was a handyman with a history of drug abuse who had worked for the Smarts; he had been jailed on an unrelated parole violation prior.[31] Ricci died of a brain hemorrhage in August 2002.[32][33]

  To keep Elizabeth's name in the press, her family used a variety of strategies, including making a website about her abduction and providing home videos.[34]
  Captivity

  After her kidnapping, Mitchell repeatedly told Smart that she was blessed that this was happening to her, and that she should be thankful, though Smart refused to believe him.[35] Mitchell forced Smart to walk four miles in her red pajamas into the woods to an encampment outside of Salt Lake City, where she was met by Wanda Barzee.[36][37] According to Smart's testimony, Barzee "eventually just proceeded to wash my feet and told me to change out of my pajamas into a robe type of garment. And when I refused, she said if I didn't, she would have Brian Mitchell come rip my pajamas off. I put the robe on. He came and performed a ceremony, which was to marry me to him. After that, he proceeded to rape me many times."[38] Mitchell claimed to be an angel and he also told Smart that he was a Davidic King who would "emerge in seven years, be stoned by a mob, lie dead in the streets for three days and then rise up and kill the Antichrist."[39] Smart, he insisted, was the first of many virgin brides he planned to kidnap, each of whom would accompany him as he battled the Antichrist.[39][40]

  To keep Smart from escaping, she was shackled to a tree with a metal cable around her leg, which allowed her limited mobility outside of the tent she occupied, or hidden in a hole covered by boards.[36][37] During her captivity, she was forced to take a new name, and she chose the name Esther, after Esther of the Old Testament (Mitchell also called her Shearjashub).[41] It was later revealed during court testimony that Mitchell repeatedly raped Smart, sometimes multiple times a day, forced her to look at pornographic magazines, and regularly threatened to kill her.[38][42] He often forced her to drink alcohol and take drugs to lower her resistance, and both starved her and fed her garbage.[36][43] Smart's abuse was facilitated with the assistance of Barzee, whom Smart would later refer to as the "most evil woman" she had ever met.[36]
  Public appearances
  The Salt Lake City Public Library building (The Leonardo museum from 2011 to 2025), one of several public locations where Smart accompanied her captors

  Smart accompanied Mitchell and Barzee in public on numerous occasions, but her presence was either obscured or unnoticed via various methods of concealment, which often consisted of her wearing a headscarf and a face veil.[2][36] In August 2002, around two months after Smart's kidnapping, Mitchell devised a plan to leave Salt Lake City with Barzee and Smart, possibly to Boston or New York City.[36] To research potential places to relocate, Mitchell and Barzee visited the Salt Lake City Public Library with Smart. There, they were noticed by a library patron due to their unusual styles of dress; each wore full-length robes with veils which concealed most of their faces. The patron was convinced to call police after looking closely at Smart's eyes.[44] A police detective arrived at the library and confronted Mitchell, Barzee, and Smart; however, he was deterred by Mitchell, who claimed that Smart was his daughter (named Augustine Marshall[45]), and they were unable to remove their veils or garb on religious grounds.[36] When questioned by the detective, neither Barzee nor Smart spoke, and Mitchell stated that their religion prohibited women from speaking in public.[44] Smart would later say that Barzee signaled her not to move, and she gripped her legs under the table.[36][46] She later recalled the incident: "I felt like hope was walking out the door. I was mad at myself that I didn't say anything, mad at myself for not taking the chance. So close. I felt terrible that the detective hadn't pushed harder. He just walked away."[46]

  Smart also visited grocery stores and a restaurant but went unnoticed.[2] In the fall of 2002, she attended a party with Mitchell and Barzee and was photographed wearing a veil and robe with Mitchell and another party guest.[47]
  Move to San Diego

  In September 2002, Mitchell and Barzee left Salt Lake City with Smart, relocating to San Diego County, California, where they held Smart in an encampment in a dry creek bed in Lakeside.[48] Mitchell and Barzee relocated with Smart several times to different encampments in San Diego County, often moving in the middle of the night.[42] On February 12, 2003, Mitchell was arrested in El Cajon for breaking into a church and spent several days in jail over the incident.[42] Smart heard Mitchell and Barzee talking about how they would move to bigger cities, such as New York. Very far from the West of America, she came up with a plan to lie. She went to them and said; “I think we might be supposed to return to Salt Lake, and I know God wouldn’t really speak to me but I know if you were to ask him, he would confirm to you whether or not that was the right path because you truly are his servant and you truly are his prophet.” Mitchell and Barzee were so happy about Smart’s ‘interaction’ with God that they agreed to go back to Salt Lake.
  Discovery

  In October 2002, Smart's sister Mary Katherine had an epiphany while looking through a Guinness World Record book that the abductor's voice was that of an unemployed man the family knew as Emmanuel,[19][49] whom the family had hired for a day to work on the roof and rake leaves.[50][51][10]

  The police were skeptical because of the short time "Emmanuel" had worked for the family, the long time that elapsed, and the short time Mary Katherine had heard the abductor's voice; however, the family had a sketch artist[52] draw "Emmanuel's" face from their descriptions, and in February this drawing was released to the media; it was shown on Larry King Live and America's Most Wanted. The drawing was recognized by relatives of Mitchell, who gave police contemporary photographs of him.[53]

  On March 12, 2003, Mitchell was spotted with a woman and a girl in Sandy, Utah, by two separate couples who had seen photos of Mitchell on the news.[2] The woman was Wanda Barzee, and the girl was Elizabeth Smart—disguised in a gray wig, sunglasses, veil, and t-shirt wrapped around her head.[37][54] Both couples reported their recognition of Mitchell to the Sandy Police Department, which immediately dispatched police officers to the location.[54] When asked, Smart told the officers that her name was Augustine Marshall.[37] However, she was recognized as Elizabeth Smart during questioning by the officers, who then rescued her and arrested Mitchell and Barzee.[55][56] Even after Smart was separated from Mitchell and Barzee, she insisted her name was Augustine Marshall. Officer Karen Jones handcuffed Smart, according to regulations, and Sergeant Victor Quezada asked again, "Are you Elizabeth?" "Thou sayest," Smart replied.[37]

  "Today, Elizabeth was introduced to the AMBER Alert when she asked about a videotape in my office. After watching the coverage, Elizabeth asked why the legislation has not passed when it saves so many children's lives ... I could not give her an answer."

  — Section of open letter penned by Ed, Lois and Elizabeth Smart to the United States House of Representatives. March 18, 2003.[57]

  One month after the recovery of Elizabeth Smart, the state of Utah superseded the then-existing Rachael Alert[58] with the nationwide Amber alert child abduction alert system—in part to conform with recently implemented nationwide procedures. Although the Rachael Alert was superseded, this system had been a success in the two years of its existence.[59][n 1]
  Aftermath

  Smart was put in a car to be taken to a local police station. While in the car, she began to cry and asked, 'What's going to happen to them [Mitchell and Barzee]? Are they going to be okay?"[37] However, in her 2017 television film I Am Elizabeth Smart, she denied having Stockholm syndrome.[61] She then arrived at the police station, where she was reunited with her family.[62] Once she was back at home, she watched a film, read emails sent by well-wishers, played her harp, met her family's two new dogs, and slept in the same bed Mitchell had taken her from. The next day, her family threw a party to make up for her 15th birthday, which had passed when Smart had still been in captivity. Though she did not attend, she sent a poster board to the party that read "I am the luckiest girl in the world!" That day, Smart painted her nails and opened birthday presents. The same day, she had her hair cut by a family friend.[37]

  Smart married Matthew Gilmour in February 2012, after meeting while on a Mormon mission in 2009.[63] They have three children, a daughter born in February 2015,[64] a son born in April 2017,[65] and a daughter born in November 2018.[66] As of 2023, the family lives in Wasatch County, Utah.[67]
  Legal proceedings
  Competency evaluations

  The court requested that Mitchell undergo a competency evaluation,[6] based on his claims of being a religious prophet.[68] While awaiting the evaluation, Mitchell was incarcerated at the Utah State Hospital. Stephen Golding, a psychologist hired by the defense, distinguished between zealous belief and delusion, and concluded that Mitchell's beliefs transcended zeal and were in fact delusional. It was Golding's opinion that Mitchell was not competent to stand trial as a result of his delusions. The court, however, overruled Golding's opinion and found Mitchell to be competent in 2004.[69] Plea negotiations subsequently began between the defense and the prosecution. The defendant was willing to plead guilty to kidnapping and burglary for a 10- to 15-year sentence on condition that Smart should not testify. The prosecution refused to drop sexual assault charges against Mitchell, and no agreement was reached.[69]

  On December 18, 2006, Mitchell was again declared unfit to stand trial in the Utah state courts after screaming at a judge during a hearing to "forsake those robes and kneel in the dust."[6][70] Doctors had been trying to treat Mitchell without drugs, but prosecutor Kent Morgan said after the scene in court that a request was likely to be made for permission to forcibly administer drugs. On December 12, 2008, it was reported that Mitchell could not legally be forcibly medicated by the State of Utah to attempt to restore his mental competency, also claiming that it is "unnecessary and needlessly harsh," and therefore a violation of the Utah state constitution, to prolong trial proceedings to this length.[71]

  In October 2008, Mitchell's case was transferred to the federal United States District Court for the District of Utah. Issues of competency proved to be the crux of the case, and the court held an evidentiary hearing on Mitchell's competency on October 1, 2009, and November 30 through December 11, 2009. On one occasion during a hearing in October, it was reported that Mitchell burst out singing hymns in court.[6] During one of these hearings, Smart described Mitchell as "smart, articulate, evil, wicked, manipulative, sneaky, slimy, selfish, greedy, not spiritual, not religious, not close to God."[72]

  Competency evaluations conducted by Noel Gardner, Michael Welner and Richart DeMier were presented at the hearing.[citation needed] Gardner maintained that he believed Mitchell was fully aware of his actions and was attempting to deceive the court.[citation needed] Welner, another witness in the case, reviewed 210 sources and 57 separate interviews including Mitchell, his wife Wanda Barzee, his family, and Elizabeth Smart.[citation needed] The Court credited Welner with presenting a 206-page report.[73][non-primary source needed] Welner concluded that Mitchell was competent to stand trial, and diagnosed him with non-exclusive pedophilia, antisocial personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, malingering and alcohol abuse in a controlled environment.[68] Welner believed that Mitchell was highly manipulative and used his religious expression as a way to coax people into overlooking his high function and dismissing him as delusional.[68] Experts for the defense including Dr. DeMier, a clinical psychologist, did not dispute these diagnoses; they maintained he had a concurrent fixed delusional disorder, believing that Mitchell was mentally ill at the time of the crime, and this greatly impaired his judgment.[citation needed] Mitchell was deemed competent to stand trial on March 1, 2010.[74][75]
  Prosecution and sentencing

  Wanda Barzee eventually pleaded guilty and was sentenced to concurrent terms of 15 years in state and federal prison. However, due to the delays and mental evaluations, it took Mitchell's case almost eight years to come to court.[76]

  Mitchell's trial began on November 8, 2010. The defense acknowledged that Mitchell was responsible for the crimes, but contended that he was legally insane at the time of the crime, and should therefore be found not guilty by reason of insanity.[69] The insanity defense for Mitchell was rejected on December 11, 2010, when the jury found him guilty of kidnapping and transporting a minor across state lines with intent to engage in sexual activity.[77] U.S. District Judge Dale A. Kimball sentenced Mitchell to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Mitchell is currently serving his sentence at FCI Lewisburg, a medium-security federal prison in Kelly Township, Pennsylvania.

  In 2016, Barzee's federal imprisonment was terminated and she was transferred from the Federal Medical Center, Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas, to the Utah State Prison in Draper, Utah, to begin serving her state prison sentence. She was released in September 2018, which Smart protested.[78]
  Timeline

  Oct–Nov 2001 – Approximately seven months prior to the abduction, Elizabeth's mother found Mitchell, calling himself "Emmanuel," begging for change in downtown Salt Lake City, and hired him to repair the family's roof and rake leaves, a job lasting about five hours.[79]

  Abduction and investigation

  June 4, 2002 – The Smart family arrives late at the Bryant Middle School awards function; Elizabeth receives awards in physical fitness and academics but does not play her harp as planned. Family returns home and retires to bed.[36]
  June 5, 2002 – Elizabeth is abducted from her bedroom in the early hours of the morning. Mary Katherine, her sister, is a witness to the crime. Elizabeth is held prisoner at a camp in Dry Creek Canyon, the entrance to which is a short distance from the Smart family house.
  June 6, 2002 – A reward for her rescue is set at $250,000.
  June 7, 2002 – A milkman reports suspicious activities of Bret Michael Edmunds in neighborhood.
  June 9, 2002 – Ed Smart is questioned and polygraphed.
  June 12, 2002 – Manhunt for Bret Michael Edmunds.
  June 14, 2002 – Suspect Richard Ricci is arrested on unrelated charges.
  June 21, 2002 – Bret Michael Edmunds caught at City Hospital in Martinsburg, West Virginia, and questioned the next day.
  June 24, 2002 – Richard Ricci arrest announced.
  July 11, 2002 – Richard Ricci charged with theft in the Smart home. Denies any involvement with Elizabeth's kidnapping.
  July 24, 2002 – Attempted kidnapping at the house of Elizabeth's cousin.[80]
  August 2002 – Salt Lake City Detective Richey, based on a tip, confronts Smart and her kidnappers at the City Library. He is deflected from examining Smart's face by a religious argument. Smart later testified, "I felt like hope was walking out the door", as the detective accepted the argument and left.[36]
  August 2002 – Mitchell, Barzee, and Elizabeth leave Dry Creek Canyon and go to Salt Lake City.
  August 27, 2002 – Richard Ricci collapses.
  August 30, 2002 – Richard Ricci dies of brain hemorrhage.
  September 17, 2002 – Police suspend regular briefings with the Smart family.
  September 27, 2002 – Police arrest Mitchell for shoplifting and later release him.
  September 28, 2002 – Barzee and Elizabeth are spotted in the town of Lakeside, California, in San Diego County.
  October 12, 2002 – Mary Katherine remembers the voice of the kidnapper as that of the man they knew as "Immanuel".
  February 3, 2003 – Smart family releases the sketch of the man known as Immanuel.
  February 12, 2003 – Mitchell is arrested in El Cajon, California, in San Diego County, for breaking into a church. He was not recognized as the criminal wanted in Utah.
  February 15, 2003 – America's Most Wanted features "Immanuel" and requests responses.
  February 16, 2003 – Mitchell's family identifies him to police as the man known as "Immanuel".
  February 17, 2003 – Newly published, more recent photographs of Mitchell made available.
  March 5, 2003 – Mitchell, Barzee, and Elizabeth leave San Diego County, California.
  March 12, 2003 – Elizabeth Smart is found alive in the city of Sandy, Utah.

  Aftermath
  Smart with her mother, Lois, and President George W. Bush at the signing of the PROTECT Act of 2003

  March 18, 2003 – Mitchell and Barzee are charged with aggravated kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault, and aggravated burglary.
  April 30, 2003 – Elizabeth makes her first public appearance after her return.
  October 27, 2003 – Dateline NBC interview with Elizabeth.
  July 26, 2005 – Mitchell declared mentally incompetent to stand trial.
  December 18, 2006 – Mitchell again declared unfit to stand trial.
  April 30, 2008 – Ed Smart appears on Madeleine McCann One Year On.
  November 17, 2008 – People magazine features Elizabeth Smart as one of their heroes of the year. In the article Elizabeth says she plans to live in England next year.
  October 2009 – In a court hearing Elizabeth Smart described Mitchell as "smart, articulate, evil, wicked, manipulative, sneaky, slimy, selfish, greedy, not spiritual, not religious, not close to God."[72]
  November 17, 2009 – Barzee sentenced to 15 years for her role in the kidnapping.
  March 1, 2010 – Mitchell ruled competent to stand trial.[81]
  December 10, 2010 – Mitchell convicted in Smart abduction.
  May 25, 2011 – Mitchell is sentenced to two life sentences in federal prison for the kidnapping of Smart.[82][83]
  September 11, 2018 – The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole announced Barzee is scheduled to be released on September 19 because the board had failed to give her credit for time served in federal prison.[84]
  September 19, 2018 – After serving nine years in prison 72-year-old Barzee is released from prison. She will be on parole, under federal supervision, for five years.[85][86] Upon release, she is a registered sex offender (Identification #: 1134472) in the state of Utah.[87]
  December 31, 2018 – Three months after Barzee's release, it is revealed that she is living near a Salt Lake City elementary school. There appear to be no restrictions to how close she can live to a school, though Utah's state rules disallow her from going on school property.[88]
  May 1, 2025 – Barzee is arrested for visiting parks in violation of Utah law restricting sex offender movements.[89]
  2025 – Mitchell (BOP #15815-081) is moved to FCI-Lewisburg after a prison attack.[90]

  Media
  Television interviews

  In October 2003, Elizabeth Smart and her parents were interviewed for a special segment of Dateline NBC. The interview, conducted by the Today show's Katie Couric, featured Elizabeth's first interview with any media outlet. Couric questioned Elizabeth's parents about their experiences while Elizabeth was missing, including the Smarts' personal opinions concerning Elizabeth's captors. Couric then interviewed Elizabeth about school and her life following her kidnapping.

  Shortly after the Dateline interview, Elizabeth Smart and her family were featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, where Winfrey questioned the Smarts about the kidnapping.

  In July 2006, legal commentator and television personality Nancy Grace interviewed Elizabeth Smart, purportedly to talk about pending legislation on sex-offender registration, but repeatedly asked her for information about her experience. In response to the questioning, Elizabeth told Grace, "I really am here to support the bill and not to go into what, you know, what happened to me." When Grace persisted, asking Elizabeth what it was like to see out of a niqab her abductors forced her to wear, Elizabeth stated: "I'm really not going to talk about this at this time ... and to be frankly honest I really don't appreciate you bringing all this up." Grace did not pursue further questioning about the abduction.

  Smart discussed child abductions on the January 22, 2024, season premiere of the rebooted America's Most Wanted with John Walsh and his son Callahan Walsh.[91]
  Literature

  The Smart family published a book, Bringing Elizabeth Home (ISBN 978-0385512145). Elizabeth's uncle Tom Smart co-authored a book with Deseret News journalist Lee Benson, titled In Plain Sight, which criticized the investigation process by the Salt Lake City Police Department, as well as noting the media influences that led to her successful recovery.[92][page needed]
  Film depictions

  The kidnapping was depicted in the 2003 television film The Elizabeth Smart Story, which was directed by Bobby Roth, and based on the book Bringing Elizabeth Home. It starred Amber Marshall as Elizabeth Smart, Dylan Baker and Lindsay Frost as her parents, and Tom Everett as Brian David Mitchell.[93] It was nominated for three Young Artist Awards in 2004. The film first aired on CBS on November 9, 2003, eight months after Elizabeth was found.

  In 2017 on the 15th anniversary of her abduction, Lifetime aired the made-for-TV film titled I Am Elizabeth Smart, narrated and produced by Smart, which tells the story of her kidnapping from her own perspective. The film starred Alana Boden as Elizabeth Smart, Skeet Ulrich as Brian David Mitchell, and Deirdre Lovejoy as Wanda Ileen Barzee.[94] Also airing in 2017 was Elizabeth Smart: Autobiography from Biography, a two-hour telefilm.
  See also
  Portals:

  flag Utah
  Biography
  Latter Day Saints

  List of long-term false imprisonment cases
  List of kidnappings
  List of messiah claimants
  List of solved missing person cases (2000s)
  Child abduction scare of 2002

  Notes

  The Rachael Alert system was named after a three-year-old named Rachael Runyan, who had been abducted and murdered in 1982. Prior to the implementation of the Rachael Alert child abduction alert system in Utah, her parents had relentlessly campaigned for the implementation of an effective method to alert the public and law enforcement of child abductions and general child safety in Utah. Rachael Alert was formally inaugurated in May 2002[59][60]

• 3. Where Are Brian Mitchell and Wanda Barzee Now? -The Cinemaholic - 2020-08-01

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  Elizabeth Smart’s kidnapping case is known nationwide, not only because of it’s gory details but also because of what the survivor was able to turn her life into after the rescue. From being a victim to being a child safety activist, an advocate for missing persons, and a journalist, her story is invigorating. We even saw a glimpse of her head-strong nature on the Lifetime special ‘Elizabeth Smart: Finding Justice,’ the companion documentary to ‘A Murder to Remember’: a movie that brought light to another kidnapping case like hers.

  Elizabeth was kidnapped by Brian David Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Eileen Barzee, back in 2002. She was rescued 9 months later, on March 12, 2003, and her captors were arrested right there and then. Since it’s been over 17 years, some things have, unfortunately, changed, so here’s where they are now.
  Where Are Brian Mitchell and Wanda Barzee?

  Brian David Mitchell was born on October 18, 1953, in Salt Lake City, Utah, in a Mormon family. Apparently, to teach him about sex, his father, a social worker, showed his adolescent son explicit photos from a medical journal. Brian was just 16 when he was arrested for the first time, for exposing himself to a child. At 19, he married a 16-year-old girl named Karen Minor. After their divorce, Karen got complete custody of their two kids because Brian had temporarily kidnapped them and fled to New Hampshire.

  He found faith while he was living in New Hampshire, and left his drug and alcohol abuse habits behind when he got inspired by one oh his brothers, who had recently returned from a mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He remarried and had two more children, but his second wife, Debbie, divorced him in 1984, alleging abuse. After that, she claimed that he had sexually assaulted their three-year-old son. Even one of her daughters from her previous marriage claimed that Brian had sexually abused her for four years. On the day his second divorce was finalized, Brian married Wanda.

  Wanda Barzee, a mother of six children herself, had a troubled relationship with each of them. One of daughters even called her a monster and alleged that when she was little, Wanda had fed her pet rabbit to her for dinner. Together, the newly married couple joined the LDS Church. When Brian started going by the name “Immanuel” and claimed that he was a prophet of God who had visions, he was excommunicated from the Church. Wanda started going by the name “Hephzibah,” and together, the two began preaching in downtown Salt Lake City, that is, until 2002, when they kidnapped Elizabeth and started moving around.
  Where Are Brian and Wanda Now?

  Although the couple was arrested and charged with kidnapping and child endangerment in 2003 itself, their cases didn’t go to court for a long time. They were both to undergo competency evaluation before they could stand trial in court. In 2006, when a bill in Utah allowed prosecutors to forcibly medicate defendants to restore their competence level, a judge approved Wanda’s medication. Wanda ultimately pled guilty and was sentenced to 15 years in state and federal prison. In 2016, she moved from the Federal Medical Center, Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas, to the Utah State Prison in Draper, Utah. Then, in September 2018, she was released, which Elizabeth was obviously not happy about.

  According to The Salt Lake Tribune, Wanda is currently serving her five years of federal supervised release while residing a few blocks away from Parkview Elementary School in Salt Lake City. As a sex offender, although the State of Utah prohibits her from stepping foot on any school ground, her release guidelines don’t seem to set the limits on how close she can live to one.

  For Brian, the proceedings took even longer. On December 12, 2008, it was reported that he couldn’t legally be forcibly medicated by the State of Utah. So, he had to be proved medically competent to face trial. After years of reviews and interviews, a doctor diagnosed him with non-exclusive pedophilia, antisocial personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, malingering, and alcohol abuse in a controlled environment. And, the defendant’s doctor maintained that Brian also had a delusional disorder. Brian was deemed competent to stand trial on March 1, 2010.

  When his trial began, the defense said that Brian was, in fact, responsible for the crimes, but argued that he was legally insane at the time, and thus, should not be found guilty. The insanity plea was rejected, and the judge and jury found him guilty of kidnapping and transporting a minor across state lines with the intent of engaging in sexual activities. Therefore, he was sentenced to serve two life terms in federal prison without the possibility of parole. Currently, Brian Mitchell is behind bars, incarcerated at the United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute, a high-security federal prison in Indiana. (Featured Image Credit: Salt Lake City Police Department)

• 4. Elizabeth Smart Says Brian David Mitchell Raped Her Daily - 2009-10-01

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  SALT LAKE CITY Oct. 1, 2009 — -- Elizabeth Smart testified today she was raped "on a daily basis up to three or four times" by Brian David Mitchell, the homeless preacher who allegedly kidnapped Smart when she was 14 and held her captive for nine months.

  Smart was never face to face in court with Mitchell, who was removed from the courtroom with his hands and feet shackled after he refused the judge's orders to stop singing a church hymn.

  Smart, who is now 21, testified that on the first night she was taken from her home in 2002 she was guided on a three-mile hike to a canyon behind her home where Mitchell performed an impromptu wedding ceremony.

  "He performed a ceremony to marry me to him and after that he proceeded to rape me," said Smart, clad in a white blouse and black pants.

  Smart never became emotional during her two hours of testimony and remained poised, clenching her fists as she spoke.

  Mitchell kept Smart from escaping by attaching chains around her ankles and tying them to nearby trees. He would wear the key to unlock the chains around his neck, said Smart.

  When Mitchell's wife, Wanda Barzee, became jealous of his relationship with Smart, Mitchell organized a system where he would rotate between the two women, she testified.

  "Wanda would get very upset with him," said Smart. "She'd say 'All you do is lust after her.'"

  Smart said "There wasn't an actual 24-hour period he wasn't able to rape me."

  There was at least one time when Smart was able to rebuff Mitchell. During a hike to get water from a stream, Smart said that Mitchell tried to convince her to have sex with him despite it being Wanda's turn.

  "He said how much he needed me to have sex with him right then and there, and that Wanda would never know, she would understand and she would be OK, and it would be OK," said Smart, who testified that she had refused him sex.

  Asked by U.S. Attorney for Utah Brett Tolman how it felt to say 'No' to Mitchell, Smart responded, 'Wonderful."

  Lois and Ed Smart, Smart's parents, accompanied their daughter to court. Ed Smart visibly winced as his daughter described how she was treated during her captivity.

  Smart also said that Mitchell had attempted to break into the home of another family who he knew had a young daughter, but stopped after entering the home and hearing a man snoring.

  According to Smart, there was a week-long period when she was away from Mitchell after he got arrested for breaking into a church in San Diego. She did not explain and she wasn't asked why she did not flee during that period.

  At another point, Mitchell and Smart came into contact with police at a Salt Lake City library. Smart testified that Mitchell had told the officers that she was wearing a face-covering burka for religious reasons and could not remove it when they asked her to do so.

  Throughout her captivity, Smart said she was consistently given alcohol and drugs by Mitchell and was shown pornography.

  Asked by Tolman to describe Mitchell in a few words, Smart responded, "Evil, wicked, manipulative, sneaky, selfish, greedy, not spiritual, not religious and not close to God."

  Smart testified U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City as part of proceedings to determine Mitchell's mental competency to stand trial.

  Smart was 14 when she was taken from her home at knife point. Today in court, Smart recalled the details of the night she was taken from her bedroom.

  "A man broke into my house and held me at knife point and kidnapped me," said Smart.

  According to Smart, Mitchell had whispered to her to stay quiet and that if she disobeyed he would kill her and her family.

  Once they had left her home, Smart said Mitchell became worried the police would spot them and forced her to duck underneath a bush when a cop car drove past.

  In the months following Smart's disappearance, her parents made multiple television appearances, pleading for their daughter's return. Hundreds of people scoured the region hunting for her.

  Smart was found nine months later in March 2003 with Barzee and Mitchell, a self-proclaimed prophet who called himself "Emmanuel" and once had done work at Smart's home.

  Both Barzee and Mitchell have been repeatedly declared mentally incompetent to stand trial for charges including kidnapping, sexual assault, burglary and conspiracy to commit kidnapping.

  According to U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball, who determined Smart should be allowed to testify, Smart's inclusion in this latest review was necessary because Mitchell has refused to submit to any psychological evaluations or diagnostic tests, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

  For Smart's father, Ed Smart, there is no question about Mitchell's competency.

  "He is the ultimate manipulator," Ed Smart told "Good Morning America." "He's manipulated the system to the nth degree. He is competent. He is a pedofile and he needs to be brought to trial.

  "He hasn't been held accountable yet and I'm hopeful that this will really bring him to accountability," he said.