Elizabeth Smart kidnapping

19 Stories

Elizabeth Smart Has a Surprising Reveal About Her Parents

She never directly told them about the abuse she suffered during her kidnapping ordeal

(Newser) - Responding to a question from a follower asking when she told her parents about the abuse she suffered during her kidnapping ordeal, Elizabeth Smart revealed on Instagram on Sunday that she actually never did so directly. "I never sat them all down and had a 'tell all' experience...

Elizabeth Smart Describes Wanda Barzee's Apology

Meanwhile, Barzee is released from prison

(Newser) - As Wanda Barzee was released from prison Wednesday morning, another portion of Elizabeth Smart's interview with Gayle King aired on CBS This Morning —and in it, Smart says the woman who along with Brian David Mitchell kidnapped her in 2002 has never shown remorse. "Part of her...

Elizabeth Smart Kidnapper Unexpectedly Being Released

Smart's father says family had been told Wanda Barzee wouldn't be freed for years

(Newser) - The woman who helped kidnap Elizabeth Smart in 2002 and held her in captivity for nine months will be freed next Wednesday following a surprise announcement from the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole. The somewhat confusing development is a technical one: The Salt Lake Tribune reports the board denied...

Elizabeth Smart: Porn Made My Ordeal Even Worse

She records video for anti-porn group

(Newser) - Elizabeth Smart has shared new details of her horrific kidnapping ordeal in a video for an anti-porn group , in which she says she has witnessed firsthand how damaging porn is. Smart—who was kidnapped in 2002, when she was 14, and raped repeatedly over the next nine months—says captor...

Former Kidnap Victim Elizabeth Smart Is Engaged in Utah
 Elizabeth Smart Engaged 
Jan 20, 2012 5:11 PM CST

Elizabeth Smart Engaged

Former kidnap victim will get married next summer

(Newser) - Nice news out of Utah: Elizabeth Smart is engaged, reports the Salt Lake Tribune . The 24-year-old BYU senior will marry in the summer, says a spokesman. Don't expect many details about the groom—the Tribune thinks he's a fellow Mormon named Matthew Gilmour—or the wedding. Smart, who...

Elizabeth Smart Recounts 9 Months of 'Hell'

First time she has spoken publicly about ordeal details

(Newser) - Kidnap victim Elizabeth Smart "couldn't feel more worthless and degraded" than the day she was raped by her captor, she revealed. "It was the worst feeling I could ever have felt," the now 24-year-old university student recounted yesterday. Smart, who was abducted from her Utah bedroom...

Elizabeth Smart Hired by ABC News

Kidnapping victim will discuss missing person cases

(Newser) - Elizabeth Smart knows firsthand what it's like to be kidnapped—and she'll soon be sharing that perspective as an ABC News contributor. She'll appear on Good Morning America and possibly other programs "when there are missing children or missing-person cases in the news," an ABC...

Elizabeth Smart to Abductor: 'I Have a Wonderful Life'

She confronts kidnapper before he is sentenced to life

(Newser) - Brian David Mitchell got a life sentence today for kidnapping Elizabeth Smart , but she got the last word in court. Confronting him for the first time, she kept it short and sweet:
  • "I don't have very much to say to you. I know exactly what you did. I
...

Elizabeth Smart Not All That Damaged: Defense

Kidnapper's attorney argues to prevent Brian David Mitchell from getting life sentence

(Newser) - Elizabeth Smart’s kidnapper shouldn’t get a life sentence, his attorney argued yesterday, because Smart isn’t all that psychologically damaged. “In a legal sense, the story is not the extreme psychological injury. The story is her overcoming the extreme conduct of my client,” said Robert Steele...

Elizabeth Smart Kidnapper Found Guilty
Elizabeth Smart Kidnapper Found Guilty
breaking news
Dec 10, 2010 12:11 PM CST

Elizabeth Smart Kidnapper Found Guilty

Federal jury finds Brian David Mitchell guilty on both counts

(Newser) - A federal jury has convicted a former street preacher of kidnapping Elizabeth Smart more than eight years ago. The verdict reached today finally brought justice for Smart and her family after the ordeal that began when Brian David Mitchell took her from her home at knifepoint and held her captive...

Elizabeth Smart Storms Out of Trial

Loses cool after shrink testifies Mitchell intended to impregnate her

(Newser) - Losing her cool for the first time, Elizabeth Smart stormed out of her alleged kidnapper's trial yesterday, glaring at a state psychologist as he testified that Brian David Mitchell intended to impregnate her and that the two had talked about baby names. Paul Whitehead, who evaluated Mitchell for three years,...

Mitchell: Elizabeth Smart Had a 'Glorious Experience'

Witness testifies he was controlling, not delusional

(Newser) - Trial resumed in the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping case today, with jurors hearing testimony that Brian David Mitchell was not delusional, but rather deliberately controlling and intimidating, reports the Salt Lake Tribune. Mitchell "has a personality that is much larger than I’ve ever encountered," testified a former cop...

Elizabeth Smart Takes the Stand Against Alleged Kidnapper

She recalls 'begging' him not to rape her

(Newser) - Elizabeth Smart took the stand today against the man accused of kidnapping and raping her, recounting in a calm voice how Brian David Mitchell allegedly woke her up on the morning of June 5, 2002, with a knife to her throat. He said, “Come with me or I will...

Judge Boots Elizabeth Smart Defendant From Court
Judge Boots Elizabeth Smart Defendant From Court
CAN'T STOP SINGING
Nov 1, 2010 5:52 PM CDT

Judge Boots Elizabeth Smart Defendant From Court

Brian David Mitchell couldn't contain his urge to sing hymns

(Newser) - Brian David Mitchell may have been found mentally competent to stand trial, but that doesn't mean he's capable of controlling his urge to sing hymns in court, reports the AP. The serenading of Elizabeth Smart 's alleged kidnapper lasted about a half-hour during jury selection before the judge kicked him...

Elizabeth Smart Kidnapping Trial Begins Today

Smart will testify against Brian David Mitchell

(Newser) - More than seven years after she was found, Elizabeth Smart is preparing to take the stand against the man accused of kidnapping her. Brian David Mitchell’s trial begins today in Salt Lake City, and Smart will fly back from her Mormon mission in Paris this weekend for it. After...

Elizabeth Smart Kidnapper Gets 15 Years

Barzee has already served nearly half her sentence

(Newser) - Wanda Barzee was sentenced to 15 years in prison today for her role in the 2002 kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart. Barzee, who pleaded guilty in November, has spent 7 years in jail or a mental hospital during a dispute over whether she was mentally fit to stand trial, the Salt ...

Judge: Smart's Alleged Abductor Fakes Mental Illness

Brian Mitchell ruled competent to stand trial

(Newser) - The man charged in the 2002 kidnap and rape of then-14-year-old Elizabeth Smart has been faking mental illness and is in fact competent to stand trial, a Utah judge ruled today. Nothing “impedes his rational and factual understanding,” Dale Kimball writes of Brian Mitchell, 56. “It is...

Smart's Co-Abductor: 'I Am So Sorry, Elizabeth'

Barzee expected to serve another 9 years in prison

(Newser) - A woman charged in the 2002 kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart pleaded guilty today as part of a deal with prosecutors and asked Smart to forgive her. Wanda Eileen Barzee is expected to receive a 15-year sentence, with credit for about six already served. "I am so sorry, Elizabeth, for...

Elizabeth Smart's Co-Kidnapper to Plead Guilty

Wanda Barzee in court on kidnapping charges today

(Newser) - A woman accused of helping kidnap schoolgirl Elizabeth Smart in 2002 is expected to plead guilty today. Wanda Barzee could face a life sentence on kidnapping charges, although her lawyer declined to comment on whether her guilty plea is coming as part of a deal. Barzee was ruled competent to...

19 Stories