Elizabeth Smart Says She Was Raped Repeatedly, Calls Alleged Kidnapper 'Evil'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Elizabeth Smart said Thursday that the man accused of snatching her from her Utah bedroom seven years ago, when she was a 14-year-old girl, raped her repeatedly — three or four times a day — during the nine months he held her captive as one of his wives.
Smart, now 21, testified for the first time against suspect Brian David Mitchell, though the two never came face-to-face in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City. Mitchell was removed before Smart arrived and taken to a holding cell where he could listen to the proceedings.
Smart said Mitchell, 55, raped her for the first time at the secluded mountain campsite where he took her right after her June 2002 abduction — which occurred in the dead of night in her Salt Lake City home.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She told the court that the rapes continued three to four times a day for nine months, and that Mitchell told her she would be killed if she yelled or tried to escape.
She described Mitchell as "evil, wicked, manipulative, stinky, slimy, selfish, not spiritual, not religious, not close to God."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Salt Lake City Tribune Provides Running Coverage of Smart Testimony
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It marked the first time Smart has testified against Mitchell, who is accused of abducting Smart and making her his "wife" to fulfill a religious prophecy.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"He told me he was a prophet," Smart said under cross-examination by Mitchell's lawyer. "He said he was the voice of God on Earth and that he would reign over God's children until Jesus came."
The court was holding a competency hearing for Mitchell, who has twice before been deemed mentally unfit for trial. A judge ruled earlier this week that Smart's testimony is relevant to determining Mitchell's mental competency.
Smart was poised and composed while testifying for just under two hours.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She said Mitchell abducted her in her bedroom at knifepoint in the middle of the night, took her to a mountain camp and performed a ceremony she said was intended to "marry" the two.
"After that, he proceeded to rape me," Smart said.
Click here for the charges against Mitchell and Barzee (FindLaw)
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She said he held her captive with a cable attached to her leg that had a 10-foot reach. She said the line was attached to another cable strung between two trees.
Smart said Mitchell plied her with alcohol and drugs to lower her resistance.
"He said that he would kill anybody that would come into the camp, or kill me if I ever tried to escape or yell out," she testified.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Smart said Mitchell was motivated by sex and used religion to get what he wanted.
Mitchell's defense attorneys had sought to limit Smart's testimony to her experiences with Mitchell, without her opinions about his mental state.
The defense objected to the 39 "lay witnesses" proposed by prosecutors, including Mitchell's family, friends or workers at Utah State Hospital, because they lacked the expertise to evaluate competency.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In a ruling Monday, U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball rejected the argument as it related to Smart, saying her testimony may help the court settle differences in the findings of experts who have evaluated Mitchell.
Those experts have offered split opinions of Mitchell's competency and have relied on statements from others — including Smart — and past evaluations to prepare reports for the court. Kimball's ruling said Mitchell has been uncooperative with evaluators and refused to participate in diagnostic tests.
In the state court system, Mitchell was twice found incompetent to stand trial.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Mitchell and his estranged wife were found with Smart in March 2003, nine months after her abduction. She was rescued after a motorist spotted her walking through a suburb with Mitchell and his estranged wife, Wanda Eileen Barzee.
Last year, Mitchell was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor.
Once an itinerant street preacher, Mitchell is said to have wanted Smart as a polygamous wife and may have taken her to fulfill a religious prophecy he laid out in a 27-page manifesto drafted in April 2002.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In letters written to Smart's mother, Barzee, 63, sought forgiveness for any pain she had caused and said she expects to spend the rest of her life in prison.
Barzee, however, made just one reference to Smart in the 12 letters sent to her mother. And she didn't provide details about the nine months the girl allegedly spent with her and Mitchell.
Last year, Mitchell was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A 10-day competency hearing is scheduled to begin Nov. 30.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.