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Elizabeth Smart talks about the "wicked and crooked" woman who helped her husband kidnap her 16 years ago and should be released Wednesday.
Wanda Barzee pleaded guilty in 2009 to kidnapping and illegally transporting a minor across the country to engage in sexual activities during the Smart kidnapping at the age of 14. She agreed to testify against her husband Brian David Mitchell, sentenced in December 2010 to the same charges and serving two life sentences.
Utah parole officers tell PEOPLE that the move – which cancels July's refusal of Barzee's parole – came after "additional legal counsel review and advice." she had already served in prison and in a public hospital.
Smart sits with CBS This Morning & # 39; s Gayle King and spoke frankly about his ordeal, describing Barzee as a danger to the public.
Smart described his first days after his kidnapping at his first meeting with Barzee.
RELATED: A woman who helped kidnap Elizabeth Smart will be released next week: "Incomprehensible," says Smart Says
"I remember thinking," That's it. [Mitchell’s] just to rape me and kill me. And then, at some point, he finally told me that he had a woman waiting. This moment has given me a little comfort. But as soon as I saw her, I no longer had that hope, "she told King. "Just the feeling that emanated from her – it was just dark. And it was bad. And I just knew that she was not there to help me, that she was not there to protect me.
RELATED VIDEO: Elizabeth Smart's kidnapper will be released from prison
Smart testified that during the nine months she was detained, she was drugged, tied to a tree and raped as often as four times a day. Barzee has been a witness to all this, says Smart.
"She would encourage him to rape me. She would be sitting next to me. The side of his body would touch me while he was raping me, "Smart said. "There were no secrets. She knew what was happening.
RELATED: Elizabeth Smart testifies to her kidnapping by appalling detail
After the rescue of Smart and the arrest of Barzee, the 72-year-old woman also pleaded guilty, but mentally, to a charge of conspiracy to commit an abduction attempt following an unsuccessful plot to take Smart's cousin.
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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.
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 a statement obtained by the local television channel KSL, Smart said she was both "surprised and disappointed" by the release of Barzee.
Smart told King that she did not know the conditions for Barzee's release, but that she was informed by sources that the authorities would be watching closely.
RELATED: The Incredible Story of Elizabeth Smart: Kid Kidnapped to Survivor and Married Mom
"As soon as it gets messy, which reassures me, it will be returned to federal prison for five years," Smart said.
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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