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The wife of the man who kidnapped Elizabeth Smart from her bedroom 16 years ago will be released on September 19 after more than a decade behind bars, confirms PEOPLE.
Parole officials in Utah tell PEOPLE that the move – which cancels a refusal in July of Wanda Barzee's parole – came after "additional legal counsel's review and advice." the time she had served in prison and a public hospital.
In a statement, Smart described Barzee's publication as "incomprehensible" and said it "was trying to understand how and why it happens".
Shortly after her arrest in 2003, Barzee told investigators that she had helped her husband, Brian David Mitchell, remove Smart from Smart in Salt Lake City in June 2002.
Smart, then aged 14, was held against her will and abused regularly for nine months.
Next week, Barzee will leave the Utah state prison where she spent the last two years. It has been nearly nine years since she pleaded guilty to kidnapping for her role in Smart's kidnapping.
CONNECTION: Elizabeth Smart says her sensor reportedly tried to kidnap another girl as a Mormon
Elizabeth Smart
Peter Kramer / NBC / NBC NewsWire via Getty Images
Barzee pleaded guilty in federal court in November 2009 and agreed to testify against Mitchell, who was sentenced in December 2010. He is serving two life sentences.
In 2010, Barzee also pleaded guilty, but mentally, to one count of conspiracy to commit an abduction attempt following an unsuccessful plot to take Smart's cousin.
Barzee began serving a sentence of one to fifteen years for this crime in April 2016, after serving his sentence in the abduction case by the federal government.
LINKS: Elizabeth Smart has seen her movie "Creepy" for life – "I never want to watch it again"
Prior to last week's decision, her sentence would have continued until January 2024 and the authorities stated that she probably would not have been released until 2023, the Salt lake tribune reported.
In her statement, according to the local KSL television channel, Smart said she was both "surprised and disappointed" by the release of Barzee.
"It is incomprehensible that someone who has not cooperated with his mental health assessments or his risk assessments and someone who has not presented himself to his own hearing of parole can be released in our community, "said Mr. Smart. "I'm trying to understand how and why this happens and explore the possible options."
She continued: "I appreciate the support, love and concern that has already been expressed and will work diligently to address this issue of Barzee's release and to ensure that changes are made." to ensure that it does not happen to anyone else. to come up."
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In the years following her teenage release, Smart, now 30, triumphed over her tragedy: she became an author, TV correspondent, motivational speaker, philanthropist and advocate for victims' rights.
She is expecting her third child with her husband, Matthew Gilmour.
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