Wanda Barzee is one of two people convicted in the 2002 kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart from Salt Lake City. She served roughly fifteen years in federal and state custody, walked free in September 2018 under conditions that included lifetime sex-offender registration, and, at age seventy-nine, was arrested again in May 2025 after admitting she had visited two Salt Lake City parks where registered sex offenders are not allowed. As of mid-2026, now eighty, she is working toward a plea in abeyance on two misdemeanor counts.
How Barzee Came Into the Smart Case
Born November 6, 1945, Barzee was a mother of six when she met Brian David Mitchell in 1985 at a church-sponsored counseling session during both of their divorces.1Biography. Elizabeth Smart Kidnapper Wanda Barzee Now They married nine months later. Barzee testified that the first year was “hellish” and that she responded by becoming “more silent” and “submissive and obedient.”2CNN. Elizabeth Smart Trial Coverage Mitchell, who called himself Emmanuel and wrote a twenty-seven-page personal gospel, drew her into a transient life organized around his religious revelations.3Biography. Elizabeth Smart Kidnapper Brian David Mitchell
Barzee’s own children later pushed back on the idea that she was simply a follower. Daughter LouRee Gayler described childhood neglect and told reporters her mother once slaughtered her pet rabbit and served it for dinner. Daughter Andrea said she spoke publicly to “expose her for the monster she is.”4ABC News. Wanda Barzee’s Children Speak Out
The Kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart
On the night of June 5, 2002, Mitchell broke into the Smarts’ Salt Lake City home and took fourteen-year-old Elizabeth from her bedroom at knifepoint. Barzee helped hold her for the next nine months. Smart later testified that Mitchell raped her daily and that Barzee frequently sat beside him and encouraged the assaults.1Biography. Elizabeth Smart Kidnapper Wanda Barzee Now Smart said Barzee treated her like a “slave” and a “handmaiden” and “did appalling things while I was in captivity.”5ABC News. Elizabeth Smart’s Captor Wanda Barzee Released From Prison
Police found Smart alive on March 12, 2003, with Mitchell and Barzee in Sandy, Utah. Both were charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, burglary, and conspiracy.3Biography. Elizabeth Smart Kidnapper Brian David Mitchell
Why the Case Took Seven Years to Resolve
Barzee was declared incompetent to stand trial three separate times between 2003 and 2006. Eight mental health professionals agreed she suffered from a psychotic disorder featuring grandiose and persecutory delusions, including a belief that God spoke to her through a television set.6The New York Times. Utah Court Upholds Forced Medication of Smart Kidnapping Suspect7Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. Folie à Deux and Forensic Assessment8FindLaw. State v. Barzee, 177 P.3d 48
The state asked a judge to compel antipsychotic medication to restore her competency. Barzee resisted on religious grounds. The dispute reached the Utah Supreme Court, which applied the four-factor test from Sell v. United States and, on December 14, 2007, upheld the medication order 3-2 in State v. Barzee, 177 P.3d 48. Chief Justice Christine Durham dissented, calling the forced medication “impermissible” and arguing that restoration was “not likely.”6The New York Times. Utah Court Upholds Forced Medication of Smart Kidnapping Suspect Once medicated, Barzee was eventually found competent.
Guilty Pleas and Fifteen-Year Sentence
On November 17, 2009, Barzee pleaded guilty in federal court to kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor across state lines.9FBI. Wanda Barzee Pleads Guilty She also pleaded guilty in state court to conspiracy to commit aggravated kidnapping, and her plea deals required her to cooperate against Mitchell. At the hearing, she told Smart, “I am so sorry, Elizabeth, for all the pain and suffering I have caused you and your family.”1Biography. Elizabeth Smart Kidnapper Wanda Barzee Now
On May 21, 2010, U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball sentenced her to fifteen years in federal prison, less the roughly seven years she had already served.10CNN. Elizabeth Smart Kidnapper Sentenced Her state sentence of one-to-fifteen years for aggravated kidnapping was ordered to run concurrently.11KUTV. Timeline: Wanda Barzee
The 2018 Release That Caught Everyone Off Guard
Barzee finished her federal time in 2016 and was transferred to Utah state custody. The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole initially set her state release for 2024 and denied an early-parole request in June 2018. A week later, the Board reversed itself. Barzee’s attorney, Scott Williams, argued that her federal time should have counted toward her state sentence, and the Board agreed it had “miscalculated.” Under that recalculation, she had already served the maximum fifteen years available under her state conviction.12KSL. Elizabeth Smart Reacts to Barzee Release Announcement
She walked out of Draper Prison on September 19, 2018. The Board said she “cannot legally be held in the Utah State prison beyond the length of her sentence,” adding that it could not extend a sentence “even if the person is not participating in treatment programs.”5ABC News. Elizabeth Smart’s Captor Wanda Barzee Released From Prison13CNN. Elizabeth Smart Kidnapper Wanda Barzee Released From Prison Elizabeth Smart called the decision “incomprehensible,” noting that Barzee had refused to cooperate with mental health evaluations, had skipped her own parole hearing, and was still promoting Mitchell’s “revelations.”12KSL. Elizabeth Smart Reacts to Barzee Release Announcement Fellow kidnapping survivor Jaycee Dugard expressed “outrage.”
What Her Release Conditions Require
Barzee came out under five years of federal supervision and lifetime sex-offender registration. Her conditions include participating in mental health treatment, taking all prescribed medications, maintaining no direct or indirect contact with the Smart family, abstaining from alcohol, avoiding firearms, notifying probation of address changes, and staying away from other convicted individuals.12KSL. Elizabeth Smart Reacts to Barzee Release Announcement As a registered sex offender under Utah law, she is barred from places where children congregate, including public parks and schools.14ABC4. Wanda Barzee Charged After Claiming She Was Commanded by God to Enter Public Park
She was initially placed in a South Salt Lake motel and later moved to a halfway house.15KUTV. Elizabeth Smart Kidnapper Transferred to Halfway House By early 2019 she was living a couple of blocks from Parkview Elementary School. The federal supervised-release terms did not appear to set a minimum distance from schools, though Utah law bars her from school grounds themselves.16ABC7. Elizabeth Smart Kidnapper Living Near Elementary School Smart publicly criticized the housing choice.17KTXS. Elizabeth Smart Unhappy With Kidnapper’s Housing Near Elementary School
The 2025 Arrest at Liberty Park
On May 1, 2025, Salt Lake City police arrested Barzee, then seventy-nine, after she admitted visiting Liberty Park to “sit on benches and feed the ducks.” A probable cause statement said she had also been to Sugar House Park. Both visits violated her sex-offender registration, which keeps her out of community parks. She told officers “God had told her to go to the parks.”18KUTV. Wanda Barzee Formally Charged With Sex Offender Violations19ABC7 Amarillo. Woman Convicted in Elizabeth Smart Abduction Arrested at Liberty Park
On May 9, 2025, the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office filed two counts of “violation by a sex offender of a protected area” in Third District Court. Each is a class A misdemeanor carrying up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.18KUTV. Wanda Barzee Formally Charged With Sex Offender Violations
The Elizabeth Smart Foundation called the park visits “deeply troubling” and described Barzee’s invocation of divine command as “a reminder of her past and a warning of the risk she poses to the community.”14ABC4. Wanda Barzee Charged After Claiming She Was Commanded by God to Enter Public Park Ed Smart, Elizabeth’s father, questioned whether “God told me to” should excuse violations of conditions meant to protect children.1Biography. Elizabeth Smart Kidnapper Wanda Barzee Now
Where the Case Stands in 2026
As of mid-2026, Barzee is eighty and the misdemeanor case is still open. Her attorney, Scott Williams, has been negotiating a plea in abeyance: the plea would be held for one year and, if she complies with specified conditions during that period, would not be entered as a conviction.20East Idaho News. Elizabeth Smart Kidnapper Plans to Enter Plea in Abeyance for Violating Sex Offender Terms At a hearing on May 8, 2026, Third District Judge Thaddeus May denied a defense request to let Barzee enter her plea by written statement and ruled that she must appear in person. The plea hearing was scheduled for June 5, 2026.21KSL. Elizabeth Smart Kidnapper Plans to Enter Plea in Abeyance for Violating Sex Offender Terms Her lifetime sex-offender registration remains in effect regardless of how the current charges resolve.