Elizabeth Smart Kidnapper to Be Released From Prison

By Townhall. . .Barzee, 72, will reportedly be released September 19th because the parole board did not give her credit for time served in federal prison.

“Upon further review and advice from legal counsel, the board must count time spent in federal custody toward Ms. Barzee’s state sentence,” wrote Greg Johnson, the director of administrative services.

After her arrest in 2003, Barzee admitted to helping her husband Brian Mitchell kidnap then-14-year-old Smart from her bedroom in Salt Lake City in the summer of 2002. They held her captive for nine months. Barzee also admitted to plotting to kidnap Smart’s cousin.

They board denied Barzee an earlier release date in July because they did not want to count the eight years she served in federal prison as time served on state charges. They had initially calculated that her sentence would continue through January 2024. . .

The Tribune also notes that Barzee “has refused to meet with a psychiatrist at the Utah State Prison, a board member had said — a mandatory requirement for parole after Barzee pleaded ‘guilty but mentally ill’ to the attempted kidnapping charge.” (Read more from “Elizabeth Smart Kidnapper to Be Released From Prison” HERE)

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Elizabeth Smart Calls Decision to Free Captor ‘Incomprehensible’

By New York Post. One of Elizabeth Smart’s abductors is getting out of prison next week — a decision that the kidnapping victim says is “incomprehensible.” . . .

The teen was forced to “marry” Mitchell in a sham ceremony and was raped nearly every day for the next nine months. . .

Smart, who is now 30 and a child-safety activist, said in a statement that she was “surprised and disappointed” to learn that one of her tormentors would be free next week.

“It is incomprehensible how someone who has not cooperated with her mental-health evaluations or risk assessments and someone who did not show up to her own parole hearing can be released into our community,” Smart said. (Read more from “Elizabeth Smart Calls Decision to Free Captor ‘Incomprehensible’” HERE)

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