Two life sentences for Brian Mitchell, man who put the 14-year-old girl through 'nine months of psychological hell'
For nine months, Elizabeth Smart was the victim. There was little she could do but succumb after she was snatched from her bed at knifepoint as a 14-year-old in 2002, kept tied to a tree like an animal and raped repeatedly by a religious fanatic after what he claimed was a wedding ceremony.
But a very different Smart was finally able to confront her kidnapper, Brian Mitchell, in court as he was sentenced to two life sentences for the abduction and rapes that stunned a country not unused to violent crime.
"I don't have very much to say to you. I know exactly what you did," said the composed 23-year-old as she faced Mitchell. "I know that you know what you did was wrong. You did it with a full knowledge. I also want you to know that I have a wonderful life now, that no matter what you do it will never affect me again.
"You took away nine months of my life. That can never be returned, but in this life or next, you will have to be held responsible for those actions, and I hope you are ready for when that time comes."
Mitchell, a self-proclaimed prophet who called himself Emmanuel and ministered to the homeless, did not look back at Smart and sang hymns as she spoke.
The confrontation was a long time coming. Mitchell's trial was delayed for years by legal disputes over whether the street preacher was mentally fit to stand trial.
Once he finally appeared in the dock, Smart testified about the night Mitchell, now 57, took her from her home in Salt Lake City. She described waking up in the early hours to find that Mitchell had "placed his hand on my chest and then put the knife up to my neck. He told me to get up quietly and if I didn't then he would kill me and my family".
Smart was forced to a camp Mitchell had built in the foothills of the city. There, Mitchell's wife, Wanda Barzee, ordered her to strip out of her pyjamas and wear white robes. "When I refused, she said if I didn't, she would have Brian Mitchell come rip my pyjamas 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," Smart told the court in earlier testimony.
Much of the time the teenager was kept tied to a metal cable slung between two trees and frequently forced to drink alcohol or take drugs between almost daily sexual assaults.
Mitchell also forced Smart to keep a diary. Knowing that he would read the entries, she wrote that she liked being at the camp and that Mitchell was nice to her. But underneath she added other comments in French including one entry which said: "I hate it here. I hate them. I want to be back with my family."
The nine-month hunt for the blonde girl gripped America.
Smart's nine year-old sister, Mary Katherine, was also in the bedroom and pretended to sleep as she watched the kidnapping. She was able to confirm that Elizabeth had been abducted and describe Mitchell.
Several months later, Mary Katherine remembered that Mitchell was among the homeless people the Smarts sometimes hired to do odd jobs and he was identified as the kidnapper.
The day after the case was featured on a crimewatch television programme, America's Most Wanted, a motorcyclist who had seen the report spotted Smart walking with Mitchell and his wife about 18 miles from where she had been abducted.
Mitchell was convicted in December of kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor across state lines for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity for taking Smart to California for a period. On Wednesday he was given two life sentences.
Barzee, 65, is serving a 15-year sentence in Texas for her part in the kidnapping.
Mitchell had tried to plead insanity and the defence called doctors to testify that he was delusional, paranoid and not responsible for his crimes. But several prosecution witnesses told the court that Mitchell was putting on an act and that unusual behaviour, such as the constant singing of hymns, only occurred in court or when he wished to appear deranged.
Smart's father, Ed, also spoke to Mitchell at the sentencing: "Your perversion and exploitation of religion is not a defence. It is disgusting and it is an abuse that anyone should despise. Regardless of what the defence has proposed, you put Elizabeth through nine months of psychological hell."
"I hope at some time in your life you find what out you have done is wrong. Whether it's your time on Earth or in eternity, you're going to have to face the guilt."
Elizabeth Smart said she was "deeply grateful" for Mitchell's conviction and life sentences.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/26/elizabeth-smart-faces-rapist
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