A brave and determined 21yo Elizabeth Smart took the stand today to face her kidnapper who abducted and raped her when she was 14yo. She gave a horrific account of being repeatedly raped, bound and threatened on a daily basis. She was held captived for 9 months.
SALT LAKE CITY -- It was a moment six years in the making. Elizabeth Smart took the stand at U.S. District Court Thursday during a competency hearing for her accused kidnapper Brian David Mitchell.
For two hours, the 21-year-old recounted the details from the nine months she was held in captivity.
She testified Brian David Mitchell came into her bedroom on the night of June 5, 2002, held a knife to her throat and told her to get up quietly, or he'd kill her and her family.
She said he told her to get her shoes on. When she reached for slip-on shoes, he told her to get some tennis shoes.
She asked him why he was taking her. She said he told her he was taking her hostage and keeping her for ransom. She then said that was a lie.
Smart said Mitchell took her to a camp in the mountains, about three miles from her home, where she met Mitchell's wife Wanda Barzee. Smart said Mitchell took her into a tent and performed a marriage ceremony. She said after the ceremony, Mitchell raped her.
She testified that Mitchell raped her on a daily basis, three to four times a day. She also told the court he chained her to a tree to keep her from leaving.
She said, "There was no actual 24-hour period where he wasn't able to rape me."
She said for the nine months that she was held captive, the dominant focus for Mitchell was sex. She said he gave her alcohol and drugs to lower her resistance. He also made her watch pornography. He said it was to humble her.
She recalled a time when she vomited from too much alcohol, and Mitchell forced her to lie face down in it, saying it would show her "true state".
She said, "Anything I showed resistance or hesitance to, he would turn to me and say, 'The Lord has commanded you to do this. You have to experience the lowest form of humanity to experience the highest.'"
She said he used religion to get whatever he wanted. He would use methods like singing if he couldn't get what he wanted to fool people.
Smart said they moved to San Diego when it began to get cold in Utah, and because Mitchell wanted to find another wife. She said it was in California that Mitchell met a family while he pretended to be an LDS investigator, someone who wanted to learn more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Smart said Mitchell saw a picture of the family's teenage daughter when he was invited to their home for dinner. She said Mitchell wanted to kidnap the girl, but his plans failed.
She described Mitchell as "smart, articulate, evil, wicked, manipulative, sneaky, slimy, selfish, greedy, not spiritual, not religious, not close to God."
She remained calm and composed throughout her testimony.
Brian David Mitchell was not in the courtroom while she testified because as soon as he was brought inside the courtroom, he started singing. He was taken to a room where he had an audio/video feed of the events happening the courtroom. Link
Brian David Mitchell is a complete loon!
But maybe he is smart to play the mentally ill and incompetent defendant to get a lighter sentence. Even Smart testified Mitchell was always in control:
Never in nine months did Mitchell appear confused or out of control, Smart testified: "He was a very capable, intelligent human being."And such an outrageous asshole to be rambling and evoking the name of Jesus Christ as his Savior!
He has better get Life in Prison and forgive me for saying this, but I hope he gets raped repeatedly in prison - without a condom (and lube)!
