Smart: Kidnapper a danger; treatment center best option
SALT LAKE CITY — Elizabeth Smart said Thursday that the news that one of her kidnappers will be released from prison next week was “a big shock,” and she hopes there is a way the woman can be committed to a treatment facility, since there is no legal recourse to keep her behind bars.
Wanda Barzee is expected to be freed next week after 15 years in custody, following a surprise announcement that Utah authorities had miscalculated the amount of time the 72-year-old woman should serve.
Standing on the steps of the Utah State Capitol, Smart, now 30, recalled some of the horrors she experienced after she was snatched from her home in 2002.
“She is a woman who had six children yet could co-conspire to kidnap a 14-year-old girl, and not only sit next to her while being raped but encourage her husband to continue to rape me,” Smart said. “So do I believe she’s dangerous? Yes.”
Barzee is expected to be released on Wednesday.
Attorney Scott Williams has said Barzee has been diagnosed with several mental illnesses, but he’s not concerned about her being a danger.
The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole set a January 2024 release date in June, but Williams questioned whether that included time she’d served in a federal prison. On Tuesday, the board decided that she had served her sentence.
“I only found out shortly before everybody else,” said Smart, who is now a married mother and an activist for victims’ rights.
If Barzee had shown more clear signs of rehabilitation, Smart said, she would likely feel differently about her release.
Smart was abducted from her Salt Lake City bedroom at knifepoint by street preacher Brian David Mitchell, who came in through an open kitchen window. The kidnapping triggered waves of fear around the country.
Smart was found while walking with Barzee and Mitchell on a street in the suburb of Sandy, Utah, by people who recognized the couple from media reports.