Elizabeth Smart's abductor found guilty
A self-styled prophet has been found guilty of kidnapping Elizabeth Smart, a 14-year-old girl who was held captive and abused for nine-months.
Elizabeth Smart walks after she testified for the first time in a competency hearing for her kidnapper Brian David Mitchell on October 1, 2009 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Photo: GETTY
The jury rejected defence arguments that street preacher Brian David Mitchell, 57, who spent much of his month-long trial singing hymns in court, was insane.
Miss Smart, now 23, gave a slight smile as she heard the guilty verdicts on charges of kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor across state lines for the purpose of illegal sex.
She attended the entire trial and provided gripping testimony, describing how she was taken at knifepoint from her home in Salt Lake City, Utah and thrust into "nine months of hell" in a mountainside camp.
She was tethered to a metal cable, forced into a polygamous marriage and endured nearly daily rapes.
The search for Miss Smart gripped the US and she was eventually discovered while walking along a street in Salt Lake City with Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee, on March 12, 2003.
Prosecutor Carrie Christensen said: "The beginning and the end of this story is attributable to a woman with extraordinary courage and extraordinary determination. She is a remarkable young woman." The trial turned on the question of Mitchell's mental health and a parade of experts took to the witness box to say he had an array of diagnoses, from a rare delusional disorder and schizophrenia to paedophilia, anti-social personality disorder and narcissism.
Prosecutors said he was faking mental illness to avoid a conviction and called him a "predatory chameleon."
There is nothing remarkable about a woman who is a liar.
The search for Miss Smart gripped the US and she was eventually discovered while walking along a street in Salt Lake City with Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee, on March 12, 2003.
Prosecutor Carrie Christensen said: "The beginning and the end of this story is attributable to a woman with extraordinary courage and extraordinary determination. She is a remarkable young woman." The trial turned on the question of Mitchell's mental health and a parade of experts took to the witness box to say he had an array of diagnoses, from a rare delusional disorder and schizophrenia to paedophilia, anti-social personality disorder and narcissism.
Prosecutors said he was faking mental illness to avoid a conviction and called him a "predatory chameleon."
There is nothing remarkable about a woman who is a liar.
