Smart and her two captors are discovered walking the street in Sandy, Utah, a few miles from Salt Lake City. The teenager is taken to the police station in her hometown, where she joyfully reunites with her family.
One year after Barzee is deemed unfit for trial , a state judge issues the same ruling for Mitchell, putting the case on hold as both are confined to Utah State Hospital. A federal grand jury indicts Mitchell and Barzee on charges of interstate kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor across state lines. In October, after the state judge denies a request to forcibly medicate Mitchell, the case is transferred to the federal court system.
Two weeks before another competency hearing commences for Mitchell, Barzee formally admits to her role in the kidnapping and enslavement of Smart. After years of disrupting hearings by delivering admonishments and singing hymns, Mitchell is found competent to stand trial.
Barzee is sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for kidnapping and sexual assault and one to 15 years at the Utah State Prison for the attempted kidnapping of Smart's cousin, the sentences to run concurrently. The defendant also receives a stern admonishment from Smart's mother: "What you did to our family and our girl Elizabeth was wrong. It was wrong, and it was evil," Lois tells Barzee. Mitchell's long-awaited trial on felony kidnapping, sexual assault and burglary charges begins with jury selection.
A few days later, after the trial's sudden halt over a request for a new venue, an appeals court rules that proceedings can continue in Salt Lake City. Returning from her international Mormon missionary work for three days of testimony, a composed Smart details the sexual abuse and horrific conditions she endured over nine months in captivity.
She also recalls a situation in which she was nearly rescued by a detective in a library, but was too scared to ask for help. Taking the stand as part of her plea deal, Barzee explains the "revelation" that drove her husband's desire to abduct girls until he had wives, and describes how she followed orders to prepare the first campsite for Smart's arrival.
Rejecting the defense's insanity argument, the jury finds Mitchell guilty of kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor across state lines for sexual activity. Smart, who is seen exchanging smiles with her mother when the verdict is announced, afterward says she is "thrilled" with the outcome. Smart, who has launched the Elizabeth Smart Foundation to combat sexual violence, confronts her abductor shortly before he receives a life sentence for his crimes.
Now married , Smart publishes her first memoir of the ordeal, My Story. She won't be homeless. Elizabeth Smart says she fears for her safety if her kidnapper is released.
Most likely, she will live alone in a private residence and follow standard release conditions plus a special condition that she must participate in a mental health treatment program, he said. She will not have an ankle monitor or any sort of GPS monitor. According to conditions of release that Barzee agreed to in , she must report to a probation officer each month and she cannot leave the Salt Lake City area without permission.
She must also register as a sex offender, cooperate in DNA collection, find a job and notify law enforcement of any change in residence and employment. A probation officer may visit her at any time and she cannot possess a firearm.
Smart has said that Barzee's release came as a complete shock and that she had expected her to remain in prison until But she acknowledged that there was nothing she could do to prevent it.
Smart said a source, whom she did not identify, told her that Barzee had not complied with treatment or medication requirements while in prison. In a hearing on June 12, the state parole board noted that Barzee "had refused to meet with the psychologist and the evaluations had not been completed," spokesman Greg Johnson said.
Not complying with treatment requirements could be grounds to deny an early release on parole, Johnson said. Get out of bed and come with me, or I will kill you and your family. Mitchell believed he was a prophet named Immanuel, and after performing a bizarre wedding ceremony — he was also a polygamist — he declared Smart to be his wife and raped her.
Mitchell and Barzee held Smart captive for the next nine months as they moved between California and Utah. Mitchell raped Smart daily — sometimes multiple times per day — and frequently kept her tethered to a tree.
He forced her to consume vast quantities of alcohol and drugs and often did not feed her for days, bringing his captive to the brink of starvation. All the while, Mitchell attempted to indoctrinate Smart in his bizarre religious beliefs and convince her that he was a prophet.
The night of Smart's kidnapping, her younger sister Mary Katherine had pretended to be asleep in the other bed while silently attempting to observe her sister's kidnapper in the dark. I couldn't do anything. I was just shocked, petrified. I didn't know what to do, knowing someone had come into my bedroom and taken my sister. After several months, it suddenly occurred to Mary Katherine that the kidnapper resembled a man who had once worked on their home as a handyman—a person who called himself Immanuel.
Police discovered that Immanuel was a man named Brian David Mitchell, and in February , the popular crime detective show America's Most Wanted aired his photograph in an episode. On March 12, , a passerby recognized Mitchell walking with Smart, who was veiled and wearing a wig and sunglasses. Authorities arrested Mitchell and his wife and returned Smart to her family that evening.
The prosecution against Brian David Mitchell stretched on for years, complicated by questions about his mental fitness to stand trial. Finally, on December 10, , more than eight years after the kidnapping, a jury in a federal courtroom in Salt Lake City found Mitchell guilty of kidnapping and transporting a child across state lines for sexual purposes.
He was sentenced to life in prison, and Brazee was sentenced to 15 years behind bars for her part in the crimes. Remarkably, Smart managed to return to a relatively normal life shortly after rejoining her family. Only weeks after her return, she hiked with her family to the camp where Mitchell had taken her nine months before. I felt triumphant," she said of the experience. If I feel like I want to [retell my story to someone], I will.
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