[ad_1]
Still in disbelief after hearing her kidnapper Wanda Barzee free herself, Elizabeth Smart urges the authorities to reconsider their decision.
At a press conference Thursday, Smart recounted the countless months during which she was detained.
"Wanda Barzee saw me as her slave. She called me her maid and she never hesitated to voice her dissatisfaction, "Smart said.
"I believe that she is a threat. It's a woman who has had six children and who could yet conspire to kidnap a 14-year-old girl and not just sit beside her. [I was] being raped, but encouraged her husband to continue to rape me.
"So, do I think it's dangerous? Yes, but not only for me. I believe that it represents a danger and a threat to every vulnerable person in our community. That's why our community should be concerned, "Smart said.
Smart was kidnapped by Barzee and her husband Brian David Mitchell at his Salt Lake City home in 2002. She was raped every day and forced to spend several days without eating.
"It was a big shock," Smart said of Barzee's release. "Just a few months ago, I was heading for a parole hearing when we were told that she would never be released until 2024 … so yes, it was a big shock.
That being said, I would like to urge the powers that be, and whoever works under their direction, to seriously reconsider this situation, to examine all the facts, to examine his mental state and to see if they are truly and honestly sincere. to feel that she is no longer a threat and that she is ready to be released. "
Wanda Barzee
AP / REX / Shutterstock
• Do you want to track the latest coverage of crime? Click here to get news about the crime, coverage of ongoing trials and details of intriguing cases not resolved in the actual crime news bulletin.
Utah parole officials have already told PEOPLE that Barzee's release was decided after "further review and advice from a legal advisor".
Barzee has also spent time in jail and in a public hospital.
After being arrested in 2003, Barzee confessed to the kidnapping. She told the authorities that she had helped her husband remove Smart from Smart.
Barzee pleaded guilty in federal court in November 2009 and agreed to testify against her husband, who was sentenced in December 2010. Mitchel is serving two life sentences.
Elizabeth Smart and her family
Elizabeth Smart / Instagram
A year later, Barzee pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit an abduction attempt. She had planned to take Smart's cousin but did not succeed.
RELATED: The Incredible Story of Elizabeth Smart: Kid Kidnapped to Survivor and Married Mom
Since being rescued by the police, Smart has become an author, a motivational speaker, a wife and a mother.
She and her husband Matthew Gilmour are expecting their third child together.
Source link
