Elizabeth Smart kidnapper Wanda Barzee refuses to attend parole hearing

barzee
Wanda Eileen Barzee, one of Elizabeth Smart's two kidnappers, has been released from prison. Photo Courtesy: Salt Lake County

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, June 12, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — Wanda Eileen Barzee, one of Elizabeth Smart’s two kidnappers, refused to attend her Tuesday morning patrol hearing in Salt Lake City, officials said.

She has also refused required psychological evaluations, required by law, Utah Board of Pardons & Parole officials said. The parole board has not yet said if and when another hearing will be held.

Barzee, now 72, was denied parole at her last hearing, held in February 2011.

Barzee pleaded guilty in 2009 to kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor in connection with Smart’s abduction. Barzee was sentenced in 2010 to 15 years in federal prison, but got credit as part of a plea bargain for the seven years she’d already spent behind bars in both the Utah State Hospital and Salt Lake County Jail.

At the time Barzee was sentenced, she was also ordered to serve one to 15 years in the Utah State Prison for state kidnapping charges in the Smart case.

She was transported back to the Utah State Prison in April 2016 after completing her federal prison term in Texas.

In 2002, Brian David Mitchell, Barzee’s then-husband, snatched the then 14-year-old Smart out of her bed. The couple held the teen captive for nine months.

Mitchell, now 64, was convicted in 2010 of aggravated kidnapping and illegally transporting a minor across state lines for sexual purposes. He is serving a life sentence in a federal prison in Arizona.

Elizabeth Smart-Gilmour is now 30 years old, and lives in Park City with her husband and their two young children. The couple met while each served a France-Paris mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Earlier this year, she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for her work as a special correspondent on “Crime Watch Daily.” She also runs a foundation dedicated to helping kidnap victims and their recovery.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here