Criminology - Elizabeth Smart

Episode Date: January 16, 2022

In 2002, 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart was abducted from her home near Salt Lake City, Utah. Elizabeth's younger sister was in the same room when a man came and took Elizabeth. Her captors kept her up in the mountains for much of the time she was held. All the while, her case received a lot of media attention and many people were searching for her. Join Mike and Morf as they discuss the infamous abduction of Elizabeth Smart. She experienced unspeakable acts during the nine-month period of time that she was held. During that time, a number of police officers encountered Elizabeth and her captors Brian Mitchell and Wanda Barzee. But, Elizabeth was kept covered and was so fearful of her captors that she was unable to ask for help. After she was finally rescued, Elizabeth's inner strength was on full display as she stared down her abductor in court and detailed what he had done to her. You can help support the show at patreon.com/criminology An Emash Digital production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Criminology is a true crime podcast that may contain discussion about violent or disturbing topics. Listener discretion is advised. Hello everyone and welcome to episode 190 of the criminology podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson. And I'm Mike Morford. Mr. Morford, what's going on with you, buddy? Not a whole lot. Just excited to do this episode. It's a big one and looking to knock it out. Yeah, this is a big case. I mean, it's a case that a lot of people are familiar with, but I'm excited to talk about it as well. I was going to say the thing that was surprising to me too is it's it's a 20 year old case now and it seems in some respects like it was yesterday. So it just sort of proves how time flies as well. Well, that comes with age that you and I unfortunately have. I mean, or fortunately, I mean, you can look at it a couple different ways. But, you know, obviously the older you get looking back at something 20, 30 years ago sometimes seems like it.

it was really just a few years ago. And it's a strange feeling. But before we do that, let's get into our Patreon shoutouts. We didn't have many, but we had Nancy and OKC, Paul Du Bois, and Coffee Brown. So we appreciate that. Anytime somebody makes that decision to support us on Patreon. Yeah, we can't thank you enough for that. And anyone that signs up for Patreon will get access to ad-free episodes, any kind of bonus content that's in there.

So, you know, thank you for signing up. And anyone that wants to can go to patreon.com slash criminology. All right, man, let's jump right in. And like we mentioned, this is a big case. It made national headlines almost 20 years ago. It's a case that started out as an abduction. But as time went on and the truth began to emerge, it became clear that there were a number of unusual aspects to this case.

And the truth of how bizarre things. were related to this case was hard to believe. At the center of the case was one strong and courageous teenager who didn't give up hope and survived this terrible ordeal. We're talking about the case of Elizabeth Smart. On Tuesday, June 4th, 2002, the Smart family, faithful members of the Church of Latter-day Saints, said their regular family prayer at around 9 p.m. before going to sleep in their rooms. Soon, the whole family was fast asleep in their home in the federal heights. neighborhood of Salt Lake City, Utah, a home that they thought was safe and secure. Fourteen-year-old Elizabeth and her sister, nine-year-old Mary Catherine, were both asleep in their

queen-sized bed that they shared in their room on the second floor of the home. Elizabeth had read Ella enchanted aloud for some time before the two drifted off the sleep. Sometime between two and three a.m., Mary Catherine thought she heard something near her side of the bed, but it wasn't loud enough to completely wake her up. She felt like she had been nudged a bit. but thinking it was just Elizabeth. She quickly closed her eyes and fell back to sleep. Elizabeth still sleeping next to her began to wake up. There was someone in the room, and he was talking to her, touching her chest.

What really roused her was the feeling of something cold and sharp being pressed against her neck. It was a knife. The man standing next to her bed, dressed all in black, was repeating something which Elizabeth would recount later in court proceedings. I have a knife to your neck. Don't make a sound. Get out of bed and come with me. confused and half asleep. Elizabeth got out of bed,

which woke up Mary Catherine, who now realized that she hadn't been dreaming. She pretended to be asleep because she didn't want to be taken too. Through the tiny slits in her barely open eyes, she thought she saw the intruder holding a gun, but it was actually a knife. The man told Elizabeth that he was taking her hostage for ransom.

He led her to the closet and told her to get her shoes. When she reached for slippers, he stopped her, directing her to grab her tennis shoes instead. Mary Catherine crept out of bed and headed to her parents' room. But when she opened the door to her room, she saw Elizabeth and the man standing in the hallway, so she ran back into bed hiding. Outside of the top of her yard, the man told Elizabeth to put her shoes on. He led her up the mountainside of Dry Creek Canyon. As the man pushed Elizabeth up the mountain, he told her that his house.

his wife was waiting for them at their camp. Elizabeth's mind was still racing, but she thought maybe this man just wants a daughter. Inside of the smart home, Mary Catherine waited to make sure she wouldn't be discovered, alerting her parents. She heard the grandfather clock chime, but she was frozen with fear, so much so that she stayed in bed petrified for two hours. Finally, she mustered up the courage to leap from bed, running to tell her parents what had happened. She yelled that Elizabeth was gone, that a man with a gun had taken her. Their parents, Ed and Lois, thought Mary Catherine had surely had a nightmare. But when they rushed into the bedroom, they realized that Elizabeth was gone. Ed and Lois scrambled throughout the home looking for Elizabeth

when they noticed a large gash in a kitchen window screen. The kitchen window itself had been left open to air out the kitchen after potatoes had been burned at dinner. It was then that it sank in for the horrified couple that their daughter Elizabeth was gone. And just after, After four in the morning, Ed called 911, and police responded to the smart home. They quickly had search dogs out that were able to track Elizabeth's scent up until a few feet from the home, but they lost assent. At around 7.30 a.m. a Rachel Alert, which was Utah's precursor to the now National Amber Alert system, was broadcast. This alert was named after Rachel Runyon, a three-year-old girl who was abducted and murdered in Sunset, Utah, in 1982. We covered Rachel's case back in episode 99 in criminology.

Elizabeth was the first of two Rachel alerts broadcast before the switch from Rachel Alert to Amber Alert. While alerts were going out in Elizabeth's case, Elizabeth and her abdoctor were reaching the end of their climb up a secluded mountainside. Elizabeth heard her captor yell out Hepsaba and from a grove of trees a voice responded. Emmanuel. Soon Elizabeth could see a tent, a large mound of dirt, and multiple tarps. A woman wearing white robes appeared. Immediately Elizabeth knew that the woman was not there to help or to protect her in any way. As Elizabeth got closer, the woman put her arms out and embraced her. The abductor who Elizabeth now knew as Emmanuel told Elizabeth that she was no longer Elizabeth, but instead, she would be called

Shirjushab. Elizabeth was frightened. All she wanted to do was get back to her parents. She told Emmanuel this, and his response to her was to stop talking about her parents so much, and when she did, to call them Ed and Lois, instead of mom and dad.

The woman Hepzabah took her into the tent and told her that she needed to bathe her. Elizabeth refused. She was already clean. She had just showered the night before, and of course she didn't want to undress around two strangers who had just abducted her. Hepsaba yelled out to Emmanuel asking him if Elizabeth was clean enough, and he decided that a shower the night before was good enough. Hepsabah then told Elizabeth to change into a white robe, and when Elizabeth refused this, she told her that she would have Emmanuel. come and tear them off of her. So Elizabeth reluctantly covered herself with the robe and then took the pajamas off. Emmanuel entered the tent and told Elizabeth that he was taking her as his wife,

which he could do because he held something called the Melchizedic priesthood. Elizabeth frantically refused his suggestion. She didn't want to be his wife. She also told him that she was just a little girl, even going as far as to say she didn't even have her period yet. She was trying to say anything to stop him from doing anything else to her. Elizabeth's words didn't stop him. Emmanuel then began to, in his words, taken from court proceedings, consummate the marriage. Sadly, this would only be the beginning of the first of many sexual assaults that Elizabeth would soon be forced to suffer through. Emmanuel then put a chain around Elizabeth's ankle.

It was connected to a tether secured between two trees. It kept her confined to the camp area, only letting her go far enough to use the bucket that was their bathroom. The key to the lock was in a lanyard around Emmanuel's neck. It was a hellish scene like something out of a horror movie. Elizabeth was forced to destroy her pajamas. She couldn't bear to cut them into pieces, so she dropped them into the fire. She saw the safety pin she used to make the neckline of her pajama top higher, keeping the collar closed, and she grabbed it out of the fire. She also grabbed a piece of the soul of one of her shoes. She now wore a piece of pair of sandals, Emmanuel had given her. Elizabeth's safety pened a piece of shoe to a piece of

paper and kept it hidden in case she could somehow use it down the line. While Elizabeth was dealing with the horrendous situation, she had been forced into, her parents were going through a hell of their own, wondering where their daughter was. On June 6th, the smarts offered a $250,000 reward for Elizabeth's safe return. The third day that Elizabeth was being held captive, she heard a voice calling in the distance. She thought that it was someone calling out her name. Then she heard it again, and she knew someone was searching for her, calling for her. But before she even had a chance to be excited that someone was looking for her,

Emmanuel warned her to stay silent. And she did, sitting silent, still, and terrified, until the voice faded away back down the mountain. Elizabeth's hopes of being free from this terrible situation faded as well, and the ordeal for her would only get worse. During one of Emmanuel's sexual assaults of Elizabeth, she tried anything she could to fight back, which included biting his tongue. As per Elizabeth's testimony transcript, Emmanuel said that if she ever did that again, he would never have sex with her again, and she would be the most miserable woman in the world. Despite the warning, and Elizabeth's attempts to keep him away, Emmanuel would not leave Elizabeth alone. It wasn't long before Hepzbo became very jealous of Elizabeth.

The two got into a fight because Emmanuel, as Hepzab would later describe, was lusting after Elizabeth too much and he wasn't fulfilling her needs. Trying to keep Hepsaba happy, Emmanuel gave her a blessing and told her that there would be a schedule. Going forward, mornings until afternoons would be reserved for time with Hepzabah, and from afternoon until mornings would be his time with Elizabeth. Elizabeth hoped that somehow, some way, she could get away or that someone would find her. For their part, investigators were working hard to find Elizabeth and they dug through potential suspects, a man named Richard Ritchie, a handyman from Salt Lake City, who had done work for the smarts in 2001 and had a history of substance abuse became

a suspect. He was arrested on a parole violation on June 14th and later charged with burglary and theft of items in the smart home, as well as other homes in their neighborhood. Another man, a drifter named Brett Michael Edmonds, was also wanted for questioning. A milkman in Elizabeth's neighborhood had recalled seeing his car just two days before her abduction. He was found after a short manhunt at a hospital in West Virginia where he was using a fake name. But Mary Catherine did not recognize him. And he had no information about Elizabeth's abduction, nor could the police tie him to it. Well, police were working hard trying to find Elizabeth's abductor. Emmanuel is working hard to establish his control over Elizabeth.

He tested her by giving her the lanyard he wore with the key to the lock that bound her. He let her wear it around her neck all night. When she didn't try to escape, he untethered her. But he threatened her, and the lives of her family she tried to flee. If Elizabeth had any thoughts of escaping, the threats to her family made her rethink those ideas. When Emmanuel found the piece of shoe Elizabeth had hidden, he made her get rid of it. A pattern soon emerged. Emmanuel would leave the camp and travel into Salt Lake City where he would plunder or shoplift.

Each time he stole alcohol, which he would bring back to the camp in the mountains. He wouldn't leave again until the alcohol was gone. Eventually, he would go what was described as plundering three to five times each week. On one occasion, he and Hepsaba got very drunk, though they had forced Elizabeth to drink with them and smoke marijuana too, she still had her wits about her. They began to fight with each other, as they often did, and Elizabeth tried to escape while they were distracted. Elizabeth would later say in transcripts that she felt like she could try to escape at that

point because she had nothing to lose. She felt that with what they had done to her, that she was marked. She wasn't clean, she wasn't pure, that another person would never love her, and she felt like she could take the risk of being killed and to try to escape. Elizabeth tried to quietly slip away, and she started to go down the trail, but her captors noticed her almost immediately and warned her that if she tried to escape again, she would be killed. Emmanuel also threatened to tether her again.

The threat seemed real to Elizabeth, and she abandoned her escape plans. For each despicable thing that Emmanuel made Elizabeth do, his reasoning was that they needed to lower themselves to the dust to be worthy enough for a higher spiritual calling. But Elizabeth felt terrible about these things. She had nightmares that her family hated her and didn't want her anymore because she had smoked, drank, and been touched by a man that wasn't her husband. She began to believe that another person couldn't love her again, and that was Emmanuel's intent. He broke her down and made her feel that she had no value to anyone but he. him. Emmanuel wasn't happy with just two wise, and soon, Emmanuel declared it was time for a third wife. He prepared the camp with extra bedding, more robes, and another headpiece. He packed the green

bags he had with them when he broke into Elizabeth's home. He told Elizabeth it would be her duty to show his new wife what he had shown her. On July 24th, more than six weeks after Elizabeth was abducted, there was an attempted break-in at the home of Elizabeth's cousin, Olivia Wright. The police brushed it off as a prank. But back at camp, Emmanuel told Elizabeth that he had attempted to take Olivia as his wife. Elizabeth was heartbroken because she had talked about her cousin, Olivia, and so she felt that this was her fault. Emmanuel had made it all the way to the Wright's home where he cut a window screen, as he had done at Elizabeth's house, as he pushed on the blinds. Nicknacks and books that were on the windowsill began to fall to the floor,

making noise, Emmanuel heard footsteps coming down the hall, and someone yelling a name as lights began to turn on. So he went back to camp and declared that he wasn't ready to receive another wife after all. Emmanuel wasn't the only one to venture out of camp, and he even took Elizabeth with him on some runs that he made. There was a man named Dan Trotta who worked at the grocery store called Wild Oates, who would pretend to scan items for Emmanuel so he could shop with without getting caught. He even let Emmanuel, his wife, and Elizabeth, who they passed off as their daughter, and whose name they never said, stay with him in his apartment, just blocks from the police station. in August Salt Lake City Police Detective Richie was called to the Salt Lake City Library

because someone believed that they had spotted Elizabeth Smart. Detective Richie was cautious. He wanted to respect the civil rights of whatever religious group he was encountering, but someone had specifically thought this girl was Elizabeth Smart, but her face was mostly covered. Richie stopped Emmanuel and asked to see the girl's face. but Emmanuel told him that she was his wife and that only her husband could see her face due to their religion. Detective Ritchie asked Emmanuel if he could join their religion for one day just so that he could prove that this was not the missing girl, but Emmanuel refused.

Richie was at the library for about half an hour interacting with the trio and the girl wearing the face veil didn't signal him in any way. that she was in trouble or asked for help. Detective Ritchie, based on what he could see of her face, felt that she appeared to be about 18 years old. Most importantly, he expected a kidnapping victim would take advantage of such an opportunity with a police officer directly asking her if she was the missing girl. But Elizabeth never gave any indication that she was in danger, and the detective allowed them to go on their way.

And more, if I think this encounter just shows you how terrified Elizabeth Smart was at that time, she didn't even feel as though she could take the chance to, you know, say something to this detective who was standing right in front of her. And I think that just shows the control that Emmanuel had over her because he got inside her, her mind to where something was. would happen to her, happen to her family, and after a while she was just so afraid that even when she had the chance to not be able to say something or to run or to ask for help, I think it's sort of along the lines of Stockholm syndrome. I'm not an expert, but I think with Stockholm syndrome, someone that's kidnapped, abducted, whatever, they start to feel a loyalty or an allegiance to their captor. And I wonder if some of that was going.

on as well. Or maybe, you know, for my way of thinking, it was the threats. And most specifically, the threats against her family that maybe stopped her from doing that. I don't know, but there's no doubt that she was very, very fearful of saying anything. On August 30th, 2002, Richard Ritchie, who was on police radar for Elizabeth's abduction, passed away from a brain hemorrhage while still in custody. I don't say while still in custody because it makes it sound like he was in custody for her. Let me just change it. He passed away from a brain hemorrhage. Passed away from a brain hemorrhage. But he remained the sole suspect in Elizabeth's disappearance. We don't know all the reasons that police were so high on him as a suspect. But even after his death, they felt that he was likely the

right person. And they worried that his death might lead to Elizabeth never being found. Apparently, the run-in with police inquiring if Elizabeth was with them didn't worry Emmanuel and Hepzabah. They were regulars at Super Salad and all you can eat buffet-style restaurant in Midvale just 10 miles south of Salt Lake City. Once in August, they brought Elizabeth with them. They dined for almost two hours, during which time Elizabeth got up multiple times alone to get her own food at the salad bar. she never asked anyone for help. As they walked out the door, they walked right past a missing person's poster for Elizabeth Smart on the wall.

Nobody knew by this point that Elizabeth was being hidden almost in plain sight. In September, Emmanuel took Elizabeth into Salt Lake City, where they attended a party where the three stuck out in their white robes. Before going to the party, Emmanuel instructed Elizabeth to stay near him and Hepzabah. and not to talk to anyone. Dan Gorder, who was at the party taking photographs, even took their picture. Emmanuel didn't try to stop him. Elizabeth didn't say one word at the party, and she stayed close to Emmanuel and his wife as instructed.

Emmanuel made Elizabeth drink absinth from a Red Solo Cup. Though he ate food, neither Elizabeth or Hepzibu were allowed to. Some people confronted Emmanuel asking what religion wouldn't even allow someone to speak, and eventually, Emmanuel was asked to leave the party because he was arguing religious points too belligerently. As winter and Elizabeth's birthday approached, the weather in Utah got colder. Her family wondered where she was. And if she was okay, Emmanuel declared that the Lord wanted him to take another wife from a different state. So they got on a bus and headed to Lakeside, California in San Diego County seeking one. Even in Lakeside, the trio didn't hide. They were out

and about, Emmanuel would go alone to different churches in the area, posing as an investigator, someone who is looking into the LDS church. On these occasions, he would wear plain clothes, not the robes that he normally wore. On Thanksgiving, Emmanuel and Hepsaba actually took Elizabeth to a dinner held by the Salvation Army. There are photographs online of this day, showing the three of them, with Elizabeth and Hepsuba covered with white veils over their head and face. Elizabeth would only lift her veil enough to make room to get the utensil into her mouth.

It was at these public outings that Emmanuel would try to fool people and gain their trust. And when he did, he knew he could take advantage of them, whether that be to get food or other materials. In December, Emmanuel met a couple named Virgil and Patty Kemp and was invited by them back to their home. They gave him food while he listened to them talk about. about their faith, which he pretended to be mostly unfamiliar with. During this visit, Emmanuel saw a photograph of the Kemp's 12-year-old daughter Amanda, among the family photos. He asked Peggy if she was their granddaughter.

But she explained that she was her daughter from a previous marriage who visited every other weekend and on Wednesdays. Virgil Kemp told him to call if he needed anything and gave him a ride to Linda. the lake. They never saw Emmanuel at church again. Their Australian Shepherd started barking more at night that winter. They sometimes felt that someone was moving around their property after dark. What they didn't know was that Emmanuel had planned to kidnap Amanda Camp. But fortunately, he never did. Mary Catherine Smart often thought about her older sister and the night she was taken from the smart home. It was during one of these times that she was looking back on the

night Elizabeth was taken, that she suddenly remembered who the man who took Elizabeth was. Her mother had hired a man named Emmanuel to work on their home in November before Elizabeth was taken. Police had her work with a sketch artist and a composite was drawn, but it wasn't released to the media. Police didn't want to harm the investigation by tipping off that they had a possible name and sketch of the suspect. Some people might say, how could Mary Catherine not remember something like that sooner. But she was nine years old, terrified, and half asleep when Elizabeth was taken. So it may be something that she were pressed at the time due to the trauma. And Morph, I think this is an interesting aspect in a lot of cases, right? So police get information.

In this instance, it's in the form of a composite sketch of the person that they believe took Elizabeth. They have to make a decision. Do we release this out to the media? And then, does it go public? Or do we keep it to ourselves? You know, on the one hand, if it goes public, obviously there's a much greater chance that someone is going to see it, recognize this person, and then call in a tip or a lead. I think on the other hand, by releasing it, do you then scare the perpetrator, which leads to them making, you know, a decision to possibly get rid of Elizabeth. It's a very tough decision.

Yeah, I can see maybe in a murder investigation where the victim is deceased, you're not going to be able to save them. So things you can hold back until you can find the right person making arrest. But in this case, in Elizabeth's case, I think time is of the essence. So I was a little surprised when they didn't release it immediately because of, you want to find her as soon as possible. Again, so I'm not a detective, you know, working in Elizabeth's case, obviously, but they have the reasons for doing certain things. But I just could see where they would want to get that out there as soon as possible and maybe for some reason they didn't feel the same way. Well, and again, I think that's why it's such a tough decision. I don't know that

two people would look at it and respond the same way, right? You can definitely have different opinions because of the possible outcomes of taking each approach. And I was just thinking back to when we did the Richard Ramirez episode, when they put his name in face out on all the newspapers, there were sightings of him all over the place. People were actually going after him in big groups, hunting him down and securing him so that the police could take him away. So in that situation, putting a name and a face out there helped the police. apprehend him. So I wonder if it would have made apprehending a manual a lot easier.

Yeah, I get you. But there again, I think the difference there is the police didn't believe that Richard Ramirez was holding a hostage. So they didn't have to worry about that part of the equation where obviously in Elizabeth's case, they do. Yeah, I think as you put it, it's a tough decision and they have to weigh the pros and cons. In the suburbs of D.C., a woman fails to show up for work and is found brutally murdered. I wonder what's emergency? We just walked in the door and there's blood in the foyer. For the next two decades, the case remained unsolved until new technology allowed investigators to do

but had once been impossible. A new series from ABC Audio in 2020, blood and water. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts. While police were working to try an ID Emmanuel, he was still in Southern California, trying to find another wife. Emmanuel told Elizabeth of another unsuccessful attempt to take a wife. At the Kemp's home, he had found an easy way in, but when he heard snoring from a larger male, he left with no new wife. Amanda Kemp remembered waking up to see someone inside her room, closing her door. When she sat up, he started walking to her, and she covered herself with her blanket terrified.

She waited under the covers for so long, she fell asleep and woke up later screaming. Though the light near her room, which was usually on, was off and the door that was always locked was unlocked, the family believed Amanda had had a nightmare. They didn't find anyone in their home, and they dismissed the incident. On February 12, 2003, Emmanuel was arrested for breaking into and vandalizing a church in El Cajone, California. He gave police the name Michael Jensen. A check of his fingerprints matched a man named Brian Mitchell. During the time he was away from camp, Elizabeth and Hepsibo were starving. Eventually, they only moved to go to the bathroom.

The only drinking water they had was collected rainwater. Emmanuel, aka Michael Jensen, aka Brian Mitchell, was released. on probation on February 18th, after six days in custody, and made his way back to camp, bringing cans of steel reserve. A high alcohol percentage beer sold in tall cans. He also brought back KFC. Elizabeth was feeling understandably very upset about the situation and wanting to escape. She told Emmanuel she'd wanted more to drink. She didn't finish half of it before she felt sick. At the time in Utah, alcohol could only be 3.2% alcohol by volume. but not in California.

This beer, at 8.1% was twice as strong as anything Elizabeth had been made to drink up to that point. Emmanuel gave her a steel bowl to throw up in, but he took it away from her just before she threw up, and it ended up getting on her face and in her hair. She laid in the same position all night, covered in vomit, until she woke up the next day. Elizabeth felt hopeless, but she just didn't have the strength to try and escape. The Salt Lake City Police finally shared the scatown. of a manual to the public. It was quickly aired on America's Most Wanted and Larry King Live, and it didn't take

long for tips to come in. The Salt Lake City Police Department soon received photos of a man from his family members who believed that he was the one in the sketch that police were looking for. It turned out they were right about their suspicions. On March 1st, police publicly identified their suspect as Brian David Mitchell. Amanda Kemp also saw the sketch and knew immediately that the man on TV was the man who had come into her bedroom. Brian David Mitchell, aka Emmanuel, had no idea that the police were looking for him. Elizabeth, meanwhile, felt disconnected in California.

It was so far away from her family, and she felt that she would never be found there. Though she had once felt that no one would want her again, she now realized that her parents would always love her, no matter what she had gone through. and if they could find her, they would take her back with open arms. Once that realization came to Elizabeth, she decided that no matter what, she would make it through this hellish experience and make it back to her family. Elizabeth soon began to play into Emmanuel's own tactics. She asked him about going back to Utah, saying, I just have a very strong feeling about going back to Salt Lake.

What do you feel like God's telling you? She also told him about Mormon girls' camps in the mountains where there would be more wives for him. Elizabeth's plan worked, and Emmanuel made the announcement that they were heading back to the Utah Mountains. But Emmanuel didn't want them to continue wearing their ropes as they traveled since it was not that long after the 9-11 attacks, and he felt that people would think they were Muslim and pay extra attention to them. So they ditched the robes, and he got a scraggly short gray wig for himself and oversized sunglasses for Elizabeth. On the way back to Utah, they stopped at a Burger King off Interstate 15 in Las Vegas. Here, there was an encounter with a police officer who was responding to a loitering report.

The officer approached the trio and asked them their names. They gave the names Augustine, Juliet, and Peter Marshall. Elizabeth stated, as Emmanuel had taught her, that they had no fixed address because they were traveling ministers. No police report was filed, and the three went on their way to Utah. Even though Elizabeth knew she wanted to be free, she still couldn't bring herself to ask for help from this police officer. Further indication of the power that Emmanuel held over her and the fear she had of him. On March 12, 2003, the three were in a Walmart on State Street in Sandy, Utah, just 25 miles south of Salt Lake City.

Emmanuel shoplifted a few things. He paid for some others. So it wouldn't seem as though they were really stealing anything. Elizabeth looked at the wall of missing person photos and didn't see her poster. Elizabeth felt that maybe people had given up and were no longer looking for her. They left the Walmart and were walking down the street when a police car approached them. They kept walking, trying not to see. seemed nervous. A second police car pulled up and stopped next to them. It turned out that multiple

people had called police after they noticed two homeless women and a man walking down the street. They thought that the man looked like Brian David Mitchell. The man Salt Lake City Police were looking for in connection with Elizabeth Smart's disappearance. They had seen America's most wanted as well. But no one recognized the women that were with him. It didn't even register that one of the people with this man may be Elizabeth herself. Because as Alvin Dickerson, one of the people who called police, stated to the Salt Lake Tribune, I hate to say this, but I think everybody thought she was dead, except her father. Now, police were there, creeping along behind the three homeless people walking down the street,

and they thought one of them was a suspect they were looking for, and they weren't going to let him get away. An officer asked Emmanuel to stop that he, wanted to see his ID. Emmanuel and Hepsabaa tried to keep walking. An officer asked Elizabeth what her name was, and she didn't answer. Elizabeth was terrified. The officer again asked Elizabeth her name. And Emmanuel blurted out, her name is Shirjeshub. She's my daughter. But the officer, Sergeant Victor Keizade, was suspicious. He questioned the trio for half an hour, but got nowhere. He was getting frustrated. Officers separated Elizabeth from Emmanuel and Hepsabah, handcuffing her and placing

her in a police car. The police asked Elizabeth, point blank, are you Elizabeth smart? They told her that their family missed her so much and that they loved her and wanted her back. Elizabeth was still silent, but she started crying. The officer again asked, are you Elizabeth smart? And Elizabeth reluctantly nodded and said yes. Her nine-month ordeal was over. Emmanuel and Hep'sobile were both taken into custody. And I got to be honest with you more, if that part right there gives me the chills. Because You know, as we've gone through this episode, think back. There have been a number of times where people and even police officers were there in the presence of Elizabeth Smart. We mentioned it, right?

She was just too fearful to say anything. Emmanuel had such a hold over her. But once she was separated, she was in the car alone with these officers, she was still scared and didn't come right out and just blurt it out, but eventually said, yes, I am Elizabeth smart. And I can't even imagine what that feeling must have been like for her to be in a constant state of fear for, you know, nine months. And then all of a sudden feel somewhat safe, right? In the presence of police officers separated from her abductors, knowing that she has, is going to be reunited with her family?

What jumps out to me is that she's alive. That was the main thing because so many cases we've talked about, someone's identified. They eventually are taken into custody. And the person they abducted has been killed and left someplace. And they're just making an arrest. And then it's a murder case. Here, Elizabeth lived to tell her story and go back to her family.

Now, getting separated from these awful people was just the beginning. beginning because after everything she had been through, I'm sure that her road to healing was going to be a long one because there's so many disgusting things, Dawn, and so much she had to endure. But the main thing was that she was alive, which is something we just don't see in most of these kinds of cases. On March 12, 2003, Ed Smart received a call from the Salt Lake City Police. He needed to get to the station in Sandy, Utah, fast. Once he got there, Ed saw a sunburn young woman. He immediately started crying. He ran to her and grabbed her asking Elizabeth if it was really her. The father who had never given up hope that his daughter was alive had been right all along

and was now reunited with her. The first night back at home, Elizabeth played her heart and watched her favorite movie The Trouble with Angels. Days later on March 18th, Brian David Mitchell, aka Emmanuel and his wife Wanda Barzzi, aka Hepzaba, were each charged with two counts of aggravated burglary and aggravated sexual assault and one count each of aggravated kidnapping and attempted aggravated kidnapping.

Brian Mitchell quickly began bargaining and was willing to plead guilty to burglary and aggravated kidnapping as long as Elizabeth Smart would not testify and the sexual assault charges would be dropped. understandably, prosecutors weren't willing to make that kind of deal. The legal proceedings were drawn out due to complications with the competency status of both defendants. Barsey was found to have symptoms of mental illness that prevents one from seeing themselves as having any illness,

though Barzie waved her right to a competency hearing. Both the state of Utah and her defense team agreed that a competency hearing was needed, and on February 4, 2004, it was found that Wanda Barzzi wasn't competent to proceed with trial. In July 2003, the original $250,000 reward fund offered by the smart family was split between eight people, including the Dickersons and the Montoyas, who called the police a leading to Elizabeth being recovered. The other four people have asked to remain anonymous. On November 10th, 2004, Wanda Barsey filed for divorce from Brian David Mitchell after 19 years of marriage. She cited irreconcilable differences. In February 2005, the Utah Attorney General's office filed a motion

for a medication hearing to get a ruling on whether Barsey could be forcibly medicated or not. Then on July 26, 2005, Mitchell was deemed incompetent to stand trial. Mitchell tried to seem as delusional and as religious as Barsey, but doctors and eventually judges saw through it. Doctors who interviewed her in custody, and examined her records, believe that Barsey's symptoms of mental illness began around 1994. Unlike Barzzi, Mitchell has no records of any impatient psychiatric treatment, and though he encountered authorities and professionals many times, he was never deemed to have any limited capacity or any psychotic condition.

Mitchell knew what he was doing when he chose his victims. He was intentionally targeting young girls who would be emotionally vulnerable and less able to physically resist, his advances. To Mitchell, choosing girls who were from an LDS background would mean choosing a victim raised with obedience to elders, making them easier target for him to control. Brian Mitchell was apparently well aware of the LDS religion because he also carefully planned what he was doing around important days in the LDS religion. It was clear to those who knew him and to professionals that Mitchell's behavior and treatment of Elizabeth was not due to mental illness or tied to any religious. beliefs. He was simply a sadistic person who wanted to seem mentally ill. In August 2005, Mitchell reportedly told a fellow patient that if people think you're crazy, you can get away with more. During Mitchell's

trial, he had to be kicked out of the courtroom for loudly singing hymns and act to be able to stay in the hospital rather than be taken to prison. He was never reported by Marshall singing in custody before and after his court appearances. It was an act to sway the judge, but it didn't work. What it did do was cause the court proceedings to drag on and on due to constant delays. In May 2008, Wanda Barsey began to be forcibly medicated with antipsychotics for her mental illness. In October 2008, Jude Atherton ruled that Mitchell would not be forcibly medicated and the case was moved to federal court. In early February 2010, Wanda Barzzi pleaded guilty to the conspiracy to commit aggravated kidnapping for her role in the attempted abduction of Elizabeth Smart's cousin, Olivia Wright.

This was in order to avoid facing kidnapping charges in Elizabeth's abduction. She was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison. On March 1st, 2010, almost eight years after Elizabeth Smart's abduction, Mitchell was deemed competent to stand trial. On November 8th, the trial for Mitchell began at the federal courthouse in Salt Lake City, Utah. When Elizabeth testified against him, she never needed the tissues provided for her on the witness stand. She had found her courage, and she looked Mitchell straight in the eye as she detailed out the horrible things that he had done to her. Finally, on December 10, 2010, Brian David Mitchell was found guilty of kidnapping and the unlawful. transportation of a minor across state lines to engage in sexual activity.

Mitchell was sentenced to life in prison without parole and remains in custody today. And again, Morp, another part of this story that gives me the chills. We've talked about this before, how hard it must be for some victims to sit in a courtroom with their victimizer sitting, what, 15 feet away? give or take, and have to recount things that you really don't want to have to say out loud. You don't want to have to tell anyone. And for Elizabeth to be able to do this, to summon up the courage and to look this guy straight in the eye, basically, you know, being defiant and saying, I'm putting you away.

I'm going to tell everyone what you did. It's unbelievable. It's amazing. Yeah, and I think it just proves how strong a person she was when she was out of this guy's control and able to stand on her own and summon that courage. On September 19, 2018, after serving only eight years, Wanda Barzzi was released from custody early. Elizabeth was shocked because Barzzi wasn't simply a victim of Mitchells like Elizabeth was. She was present for his sexual assaults, which she would encourage. And she would say things like, do what he says.

he's not joking after he threatened Elizabeth. Any number of times, Wanda Barzi could have helped Elizabeth escape, but she didn't. She was culpable. And to be walking out of prison after just eight years, it didn't make a lot of sense. Well, and I can tell you right now, it doesn't make a lot of sense to me either. Now, I do understand that there are times where prosecutors have to make a deal, right, to get the testimony of one person against another. I understand that's how the system works. It doesn't make it fair. You know, it doesn't, it doesn't make it sit well with people.

Yeah, and I think the justice system obviously is not perfect, but it's almost like they're going for the bigger fish. So to do that, they have to help the smaller fish get a easier deal or an easier sentence to get that cooperation. And again, this is an adult who was, you know, in many ways, just as guilty as Brian Mitchell that she never tried to help, that she could have, you know, done something to help to allow Elizabeth to get away or gone to the police herself and said this is out of control and this guy's been doing this. But she never did. She never tried to

get any kind of help and just continued to stand back while this all happened. So I think she's, you know, 100% almost as, you know, as responsible as he. was. Well, I think the one thing that really does get me is that not only was she given, you know, a deal, she was never really convicted for any charge that had to do with what happened to Elizabeth. That part really kind of rubs me the wrong way. The 15 year sentence that she got only had to do with the attempted abduction of Olivia Wright, Elizabeth's cousin. I find that one kind of hard to swallow. Over the years, many people have asked the question,

why wouldn't Elizabeth just run away and escape? Why not tell police or anyone who she was during those times where she had the chance to? Elizabeth Smart took to Reddit, responding to critics. She stated, everything I did, I did to survive. There were many headlines about how she experienced Stockholm syndrome, or felt love or sympathy for Mitchell. And that's why she stayed with him for so long instead of running. But Elizabeth wanted the world to know that she never identified with her captors or cared

about them. Every decision she made was made with survival in mind. And I absolutely get that. What I find heartbreaking is that Elizabeth Smart has to respond to critics. I mean, are you kidding me? And more if I know that's kind of the world we live in as we've kind of as social media has evolved. But you can't say it's not a little sad that she has to take to Reddit to respond to critics about how she handled herself while she was abducted at a young age. It's kind of sick in my opinion.

Yeah, it's almost like she's on the defense defending her actions, and I agree with you. It's just stupid. No one knows what they would do in that situation unless they're in that situation. And especially a young girl that's taken from her home in the middle of the night, it had to be a shock to her at the time. And I think anyone that's critical of what she did and how she survived, it doesn't make sense. And it's just incredible that she did what she did in order to survive and made it through this. Yeah, I think we need to stop putting victims on trial. That is something that really bugs me.

You know, I understand. Everybody has freedom of speech. They're free to express their ideas. It just bothers me, I guess. Yeah, and unfortunately, it's something that's been around for a long time and it'll probably continue to be around. Everything Brian David Mitchell did to Elizabeth was terrible, and people explored his background, wondering if there were some answers to be found to explain why he did what he did.

Exploration of his background revealed that he was the third of six kids born to Irene, a teacher, and Cheryl Mitchell. Mitchell's paternal grandfather, Franklin Harry Mitchell, was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. His father, Cheryl, had himself spent years writing a long religious manuscript, called spokesman for the infant god and goddess, where he described himself as a divine emissary. He reportedly believed that he was a prophet. Cheryl was also a self-admitted neighborhood peeping Tom, who loved to watch pornography.

Brian Mitchell's parents ultimately divorced, but they both noticed a behavioral problem. He would act out negatively to seek attention. When Brian was a young child, he got in trouble along with a few other children for being inappropriate with his. each other sexually. His family recognized signs of mental illness in him when he was around 13 years old and he began to relate to Cheryl more and more. When he was 15, he was arrested for soliciting

sexual activity from his next door neighbor who was only four years old. At the age of 17, a psychologist found him to have early signs of a psychological disorder. He was increasingly violent and inappropriate. He broke his brother's collarbone, and he told his mother, he wanted to screw her eyes out, something he would later tell to Elizabeth Smart

during his time with her. When Brian Mitchell was a teenager, he had a baby with a woman named Karen, and then he married her. The two had two children together. In 1974, he was arrested for assaulting Karen, and they divorced in 1975. In 1977,

Karen remarried, and petitioned the court for custody of their children. When she won, Mitchell took their two children to New Hampshire and hid out. When Mitchell wasn't in New Hampshire, the children were hidden at his mother Irene's house. Mitchell eventually returned to Utah. He was 26 years old and sober. He became devoted to the church, and he met his second wife Debbie in 1980. They had two children together, divorcing in 1984, after Mitchell was investigated by social services due to complaints.

These complaints included molestation regarding his own young children. Debbie found very sexually suggestive photographs of Mitchell's two children hidden in the basement. She claimed she went to the church with all of her concerns, but was told if she filed for divorce, she would lose her temple recommend and that she needed to work out their issues in the home. In 1983, Mitchell tried to place two of his children up for adoption. This act required a psychological evaluation. And on December 22nd of that year, Dr. Randall Oster declared that Brian Mitchell was not mentally ill.

In 1984, Mitchell met a woman named Wanda Barsey in a group therapy session. They were married in a civil ceremony the next year when he was 31 and she was 39. The pair seemed made for each other. Both of them were cruel to humans and animals. Wanda had once served the family's pet rabbit as dinner to her daughters. And then she mocked them afterwards. Barzzi's son Mark recalled trying to find the missing family dog. When Brian Mitchell told him coldly that he had killed it, shooting it in the head.

Wanda Barzzi's daughter, Lou Rie Gaylor, publicly stated that Mitchell molested her and her sister over a long period of time. She felt that not just Mitchell, but her own mother should be locked away permanently. The marriage between Wanda and Brian was sealed in an LDS temple in 1987. Sometime in the early 1990s, Mitchell became increasingly preoccupied with religious themes and his ability to interact with people eroded. By 1997, Brian and Wanda were wearing the white robes, which Barzie would make, and then they wandered the street.

In June 2001, Brian and Wanda were staying with a man named, named Carl West and his family, they were watching TV and saw a story about a child's kidnapping and Brian talked to Carl West basically rationalizing the kidnapping. Wanda then claimed that they had received a revelation that they would receive a girl to raise as their own named Augustine. Brian moved her out of the room as if she had said too much and she didn't say anything more about their soon-to-be child. So, Morph, I mean, I think when you look back on the life of Brian Mitchell, it's pretty clear.

There were a lot of warning signs about him. There was really never enough action taken to stop him before he abducted Elizabeth Smart. It seems now that he is locked away for good where he belongs and he'll never be able to hurt another child. But it is interesting, right, to look back on. on his childhood, his own family. And it came out saying that, you know, they thought he demonstrated signs of mental illness.

Obviously, as we talked about, you know, when it came to his trial, he was deemed competent. Professional said that he wasn't mentally ill on a number of occasions, even before the trial. But there's no doubt that he did some terrible things, even before the kidnapping of Elizabeth. of a smart. And then you have this union of Brian Mitchell and Wanda Barsey. It sounds to me as though they were not good people on their own. Then they get together until you have this union of kind of two despicable people who go on to do, you know, some really bad things. Yeah, it seems like they probably fueled each other and let each other on to do more and more. And I know the experts said that Brian Mitchell wasn't mentally ill.

And maybe he wasn't, but no question about the things that he did were terrible. And maybe that's just because he was a bad person, even though he knew right from wrong, he still did it. Well, and we said that, you know, they were made for each other. Normally when you make that kind of statement, you're saying that in a good way, right? These are two great people. They're in love. They're made for each other.

these two individuals were made for each other in the worst possible way. They were just two despicable people who had some of the same interests, but not a good union. It's like you're upping the factor of bad things happening exponentially. Elizabeth Smart survived her ordeal and went on to do great things with her life. She's worked as a correspondent for ABC News and has now done. deeply involved in the Elizabeth Smart Foundation, which she founded in 2011. The Foundation's mission statement is to bring hope and to end the victimization of sexual

assault and abuse through prevention, recovery, and advocacy. Hope for families, peace for victims, empowerment for all. In February 2012, Elizabeth married Matthew Gilmore at the LDS Temple in Hawaii. They have three children and still reside in Utah. In 2017, Elizabeth narrated and produced the Lifetime film I Am Elizabeth Smart and backed the two-hour biography special, Elizabeth Smart autobiography. Elizabeth also appeared on TV with Chris Hanson, where she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for sharing her story. On Reddit, Elizabeth stated, the hardest thing about speaking out and becoming an advocate was the fear of having everyone know, what has. happened to me. Because of this, she believes the most important thing to tell a survivor about speaking

out is no matter what people's reactions are, you deserve happiness, you deserve love, you deserve support, and you deserve to know that you are worthwhile. Elizabeth Smart has not only survived what happened to her, but she's gone from survivor to thriver to someone who helps people that need it the most. And, you know, more of I think that's a really powerful thing. And I know, you know, when we did our Golden State killer episodes, we talked to a lot of women who went from survivors to thrivers. I think these are very powerful stories. Yes, something terrible happened. But you have these individuals who make the decision. You know, that they're not going to let that define them.

They're going to own their life. They're going to do what they want to do. And in a lot of cases, they're going to give back and make things better for other people. And that's really admirable. Yeah, to me, that's what jumps out the most when someone goes through something so terrible and that most of us can't imagine what they've been through, then they somehow come out of it stronger and they're able to channel what they've gone through into something positive that can help others that just, you know, that blows me away.

And I'm always these kinds of stories when I hear them, they mean a lot. It's very moving. Well, and the other thing it does, it makes me feel as though I should be doing more with my life. You know, I didn't go through what Elizabeth Smart went through. I feel like she's so much stronger than I am. I'm not saying I'm not strong, but you know what I'm saying? I get that feeling as though she's amazing. Yeah, I think, you know, she's a good role model and someone that, you know, we talk

about heroes. We hear people talk about heroes. I think she's a hero, someone that that goes through this, comes out, shares it with the world, and is going to try and help prevent other people from having to go through what she went through. In my book, that's a hero. Yeah, I think the, the hero. word gets thrown around quite a bit, I would definitely call her a hero, no doubt. Thanks go out

the Sunny Landon for writing and research assistance in this episode. As always, if you love the show, but haven't done so yet, take a minute, go out, give us a five-star rating. Keep telling your friends, the word of mouth about the criminology podcast really goes a long way. If you want to find us on social media, we're on Twitter with the handle at Criminology Pod. You can also find us on Facebook by searching for criminology podcast or by joining our Facebook discussion group criminology podcast discussion and fans. So, Morph, that's it for the very powerful story on the abduction of Elizabeth Smart. I'm so glad that she is where she is now today. And I think you really have to say she's an amazing woman to be able to do what she's done. And to continue to do it,

it's just a like you said a very powerful story but we'll be back next week with everyone with a brand new episode of criminology so until then for mike and more we'll talk to you next week take care everyone