Cutting Edge:
The Kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart 

First shown on Channel 4 in May 2005

How did a suburban teenager become the veiled follower of a religious fanatic? Elizabeth Martyn reports

The facts | Timeline | In captivity
The Stockholm Syndrome | The power of cults
Exploiting vulnerability | Help for families | Find out more

The facts

On the night of 5 June 2002, 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart was abducted at knifepoint from her bedroom in Salt Lake City and vanished without trace. The police investigation focused on Richard Ricci, a former convict, who had worked for the Smart family. But Ricci consistently denied involvement, and in August 2002 collapsed and died of a brain haemorrhage.

Four months later, Elizabeth’s sister, Mary Katherine, witness to the abduction, realised that the intruder might be a man called Emmanuel, who had worked at the Smarts’ home the previous year. The authorities didn't pursue this lead as vigorously as Elizabeth's family wanted.Frustrated, Elizabeth’s family pursued their own investigations, and identified Emmanuel as Brian David Mitchell, a self-styled prophet and street dweller, who, his father says, had preyed sexually on young girls from an early age.

Mitchell’s wife, Wanda Barzee, like him, suffered personality problems. Mitchell’s photo was shown on the TV programme America’s Most Wanted and, on 12 March 2003 he was spotted, bearded and robed, in the street in Salt Lake City, with Barzee and Elizabeth. Elizabeth was disguised in a wig and sunglasses. The police arrested Mitchell and Barzee. Elizabeth, who at first insisted that her name was Augustine, was identified and returned to her family.

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Timeline

2002
5 June	Elizabeth Smart abducted.
6 June	Fruitless search by volunteers.
10 June	Elizabeth’s father and uncles questioned by police.
14 June	Police question Richard Ricci.
24 July	Break-in attempt at home of Elizabeth’s cousin.
3 August	Ricci collapses in cell and later dies of a brain haemorrhage.
17 September	Police suspend twice-daily briefings with Smart family.
12 October	Mary Katherine realises abductor might be Emmanuel.
October	The police didn't pursue this lead as vigorously as Elizabeth's family wanted. Elizabeth’s captors take her to Lakeside, California.
2003
January	Smart family hold press conference. Emmanuel’s sister calls the police identifies him as Brian David Mitchell.
February/March	America’s Most Wanted runs the story
March	Mitchell and Barzee bring Elizabeth back to Salt Lake City
12 March	Elizabeth and captors spotted on street and apprehended. Elizabeth is reunited with her family.
August	Angela Ricci sues Salt Lake City Police and the State Department of Corrections.
2004	Utah Department of Correction, without admitting wrongdoing, pay Angela Ricci, widow of Richard Ricci, $150,000 in an out of court settlement.
2005
May	Officials continue to argue about the mental competence of Mitchell and Barzee to testify. The the court have found Barzee not competent to stand trial and are still deciding whether Mitchell is mentally compentent.

 

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In captivity

Elizabeth Smart has never spoken publicly about her experiences. We know that she was shackled, threatened, raped, and told that God commanded her to be Mitchell’s second wife. Yet her captors often took her out in public. Why didn’t she call for help? Why, when the police found her, did she refuse to admit to her real identity?

Elizabeth has never answered those questions, but an examination of how other captives have been made alter their normal behaviour, throws light on her experiences.

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The Stockholm Syndrome

This psychological phenomenon was named after a 1973 hostage-taking in a Stockholm bank-raid. Despite being threatened and abused for four days, the four hostages bonded with their captors, and were reluctant give evidence against them in court.

Forming a bond with an abuser becomes desirable when the victim sees it as the only way to survive. Similar effects can arise for battered women, prisoners of war, victims of incest, or in any situation where, as in Elizabeth Smart's case, the abuser has total authority and the abused or captive person:

• fears that their life or sanity is threatened,
• is isolated,
• receives kindness, such as food or shelter, from the abuser
• is powerless to escape.
  

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The power of cults

It’s easy to imagine Mitchell and Barzee as cult leaders, ensnaring other young women. The police believe that Mitchell may have tried to abduct Elizabeth's cousin, Jessica.

There's no agreed definition of the word 'cult', and there are many small, benign religious groups that may come into this category. However, a widely accepted view is that a cult is a religion or sect that has extreme or false beliefs, often under the leadership of an authoritarian or charismatic leader.

Longstanding, more established religions are at pains to distinguish themselves from cults but, while some cults or sects are simply small groups of people living in a particular way with a particular set of beliefs, there have been highly publicised cases of totalitarian groups, led by self-appointed, dogmatic and unaccountable leaders, which have indoctrinated their members through psychological coercion, in some cases even leading them into mass suicide.

Cult members may be subjected to a battery of techniques designed to weaken their mental resistance, such as:

• devaluation of previous values and beliefs
• removal of freedom
• desensitisation by bombardment with abuse
• disorientation through malnutrition and exhaustion
• constant emphasis on wickedness of outside world
• enforced separation from family and friends
• fear, used to maintain compliance.

It is known that even a short time within the confines of such a totalitarian cult can lead to loss of free will, diminished power to think clearly or reason rationally, impaired judgement and identity confusion. Elizabeth Smart is believed to have experienced all these abuses, and others. Small wonder that she found it impossible to engage with the outside world, even when given the opportunity.

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Exploiting vulnerability

The methodology of cults is often described as brainwashing, but many psychologists question the existence of techniques that can reliably alter people’s thought patterns. The key lies in the victim’s vulnerability. Many people are intrigued by cults but few actually join. Those who are vulnerable to being sucked in may be seeking ways to solve to their life problems, or have emotional needs that the cult seems to answer.

Did Elizabeth Smart, described by her parents as ‘obedient’, have a vulnerability that Mitchell was able to exploit to his own perverted ends? Was there a shared vocabulary, that gave him a hold over her? ‘He knew the right words to say,’ explains Steven Alan Hassan, cult expert and mental health professional, ‘because he was an excommunicated Mormon, and she was a Mormon too. He probably began saying in a fanatical way that he was a prophet, and she was meant to be his wife. And Barzee acted as a role model in submission.’

We shall probably never know the full story of Elizabeth Smart’s experiences. We can only be glad that she was rescued from her tormentors, and is now living, in her own words, as ‘a regular teenager’.

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Help for families

If you fear a member of your family is involved with a cult

• Keep in contact even if you don’t get a response.
• Don’t give money to the cult group
• Don't express anger towards the cult.
• Keep records of all contacts you have with leaders and members of the cult.
• Get information from support and help organisations such as the Cult Information Centre.

 

Recent programmes

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Find out more

Websites

Channel 4 Webchat
www.channel4.com/community/showcards/K/
Kidnapping_of_Elizabeth_Smart.html
Read the transcript of the live webchat in which viewers discussed The Kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart with the programme's director, James Kent, and producer, Mary-Jane Robinson.

Summary of the Elizabeth Smart case
www.answers.com/topic/elizabeth-smart-kidnapping
Detailed resumé of the events surrounding the case.

Update on recent events in the case
http://tv.ksl.com/index.php?sid=3395&nid=80:
Ongoing case updates from KSL News in Salt Lake City.

Details of the court case
http://www.courttv.com/news/smart/
Regularly updated articles on key events concerning the prosecution of Mitchell and Barzee.

The Stockholm Syndrome
http://search.localcolorart.com/search/encyclopedia/
Stockholm_syndrome/
Encyclopaedia article about the syndrome, with links to information about the original case.

Love and Stockholm Syndrome: The Mystery of Loving an Abuser
http://www.mental-health-matters.com/articles/
article.php?artID=469
Detailed article about the wider implications of Stockholm Syndrome, written by a clinical psychologist.

The Cult Information Centre
www.cultinformation.org.uk/home.html
Offers support and information to families of those who have become involved with cults and can be contacted at: BMC Cults, London WC1N 3XX.Tel: 0870 777 3800

Allegations of brainwashing within religious 'cults'
www.religioustolerance.org/brain_wa.htm
Outline of the arguments over whether brainwashing exists or not.

Books

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