Ideas of me: Teen Abduction

In Salt Lake City, Utah, Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped by Brian David Mitchell. Brian had Elizabeth with a knife at her throat when he came into her room at night. Brian told Elizabeth that if she didn't want her and her family killed she would obey his orders. He took Elizabeth into the foothills behind her home, she had one request, she said to Brian, "If your gonna rape and kill me, do it near the trail so my remainings can be found." Smart had to justify her case to a jury, which had to be difficult for her to explain the terrifying memories of that night where she was abducted. Brian told Elizabeth that he wanted her the first moment he saw her. He had BIG plans for Elizabeth, himself, and......his wife! Brian planned on having Elizabeth be involved with him and his wife in a celestial plural marriage. Brian was hired by Elizabeth's mother to fix a skylight and rake leaves. Elizabeth seen him around the house often but never spoke to him.

On June 5, 2002 Elizabeth woke up to the sound of a mans voice and a cold blade against her throat. When they left her house he had her waking on a trail which took 3-5 hours. When they got to their destination, she realized it was some campsite. At the campsite he announced Elizabeth as his wife, and raped her. She begged him to stop but he would not listen and she could not fight him off. She was just a helpless little girl. When she woke up the next day Brian told her that she was lucky and that God had chosen her to be by his side as he prepared for the second coming of Jesus Christ. Elizabeth was now 23 and living in Paris, France. She spent Monday on the witness stand describing her nine months of captivity by Brian and his wife, Wanda Barzee. They raped Elizabeth daily and forced her to smoke, and drink hard liquor and wine. Mitchell was now 57, if convicted he will be facing charges of kidnapping and taking a minor across state lines for sex. He will face life in prison. Mitchell's attorney tried to say that he was insane at the time and not in control of his actions. Smart was found 9 months later walking down the street with Wanda and Mitchell in Sandy, Utah. Wanda Barzee, now 64 pleaded guilty in November 2009. She was sentenced 15 years in federal prison for kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor. As part of a plea agreement she cooperated in the State and Federal cases against her husband.