SALT LAKE CITY (Scripps News Salt Lake City) — Wanda Barzee, the woman who kidnapped Elizabeth Smart over two decades ago, has been arrested for violating the terms of her probation as a registered sex offender.
Wanda Barzee was convicted of kidnapping 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart and holding her captive for nine months. (Scripps News Salt Lake City)
According to court documents, Barzee, 79, was found to have visited Liberty Park in Salt Lake City. Conditions of Barzee’s parole from the Smart case prohibit her from going to any community parks.
When apprehended at her home on Thursday, Barzee claimed that she went to the park because “she was commanded to by the lord,” and that she likes to “sit on benches and feed ducks.”
MORE | Elizabeth Smart shares insights into abduction 20 years after rescue
Barzee also admitted to having been “commanded” to visit Sugar House Park.
In 2002, Barzee and her husband, Brian David Mitchell, kidnapped the 14-year-old Smart from her home, holding her captive for nine months. After she pleaded guilty in 2009, Barzee spent nearly nine years in prison until she was released on parole in September 2018.
Mitchell is serving a life sentence in federal prison.
This story was originally written by Jeff Tavss for Scripps News Salt Lake City, an E.W. Scripps Company.
