I'm Dawna Kaufmann, a freelance true crime investigative journalist and co-author (with Dr. Cyril Wecht) of A Question of Murder, about the lives and deaths of Anna Nicole Smith and her son Daniel, Danielle van Dam and Stephanie Crowe, and a doctor who committed "involuntary euthanasia" on hospital patients in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Like many of you, I was riveted by the abduction of Elizabeth Smart from her Salt Lake City bedroom in June of 2002. I wrote three early articles, including at least one for Globe magazine, suggesting that her abductor might be a Mormon off-shoot "prophet" who was seeking a sister-wife. Nine months later when Smart was recovered in the company of Brian David Mitchell and his wife Wanda Barzee, it turned out that my theory was correct.
There has been a long road toward taking Mitchell and Barzee to trial for their crime. Initially the local district attorney decided to try the case, but their experts determined that Mitchell was mentally incompetent. More recently, federal prosecutors took over the case and did their own psychiatric evaluations. They determined that Mitchell is a "malingerer," who should indeed stand trial. (Barzee was found competent and a date for her trial will be announced soon.) A federal judge is reviewing information from both prosecutors and Mitchell's defense attorney, and will decide at the end of November whether Mitchell, now 56 and in jail, is fit to face trial.
If Mitchell is tried and convicted, he will likely get a long prison sentence, maybe even life behind bars. If he is deemed incompetent, he will be returned to a mental institution where he has the chance of being released in a couple of years.
I know what a powerful force Websleuths and Forums for Justice can be for victim advocacy and I come to you now in hopes that readers here will be able to help on this case. From my study of Mitchell, and of sexual predators in general, I believe it would be a grave mistake for him to ever be set free.
Mitchell was first arrested at 16 years of age, after exposing himself to a girl. Because he was a juvenile, that arrest was sealed. He didn't learn from that experience and adjust his criminal instincts. Instead he just became more careful to choose passive targets as he continued his decades-long history of sexual assaults. He is the ultimate predator -- a great white shark with an unquenchable thirst for sex with minors.
Mitchell had a habit of getting close to women who had children, even marrying two of them, giving him easy access to their kids. He had four children of his own and lived at various times in households where there were plenty of young ones. Although girls were his preference, one three-year-old boy also complained of molestation by Mitchell. To ensure the children kept his secrets, he would threaten their families and kill their pets. He shot one dog in the head and cooked the family bunny and served it for dinner. (This is not uncommon behavior for a child molester.) In one case when a young girl complained to her mother and Mitchell was expelled from the home, he was forced into treatment. But the counselor was buffaloed by Mitchell's gift of gab and there was no real punishment.
During the time Mitchell had control of Elizabeth Smart, he regaled her with how he could talk his way out of trouble for crimes he committed. There is video proof of this when he, Barzee and Smart traveled to San Diego. While Mitchell left the females to seek out drugs and/or alcohol he was busted for breaking into a church and held in jail for a week. TV footage shows him explaining himself to the judge and acting like a rational individual, not the raving lunatic who shouts out Bible verses and songs in the Utah courtroom where he wants to be seen as mentally incompetent.
On Oct. 1st, Elizabeth bravely told a federal judge what happened to her during her nine months with Mitchell and Barzee, how she feared for her life and that of her family, and his sexual assaults on her which even her family had not known about. From the night she was taken and marched to a hilly campsite three miles away, where she was chained to a tree, through her last days with Mitchell, she was raped -- sometimes three or four times per day. There was not a 24-hour period where she was not assaulted. Sometimes he would ply her with drugs or alcohol to make her more compliant.
Mitchell's dream was to have Barzee be his "Queen," with a team of 49 young and beautiful sister-wives to serve his sexual needs. Elizabeth was just his first step; he also attempted to kidnap her young cousin and cozied up to another Mormon family who invited him for dinner where he obsessed about a female teenager in that household. Luckily those two girls were never abducted before he was arrested.
Elizabeth testified that Mitchell was "evil, wicked, manipulative, sneaky, slimy, selfish, greedy, not spiritual, not religious, not close to God." Throughout her months of knowing Mitchell, and his claims of being a godly prophet, she never once saw him do anything kind or helpful to another person or entity. His main drive was sexual -- a trait he seems to share with other self-styled radical cult leaders from David Koresh of the Branch Davidians to David Berg of the Children of God. Phillip Garrido, the accused kidnapper of Jaycee Dugard, who snatched her off the street, impregnated her and kept her for 18 years, spouted religious verses as a cover for his pedophilia. Mitchell has a lot in common with him too.
Elizabeth wants Mitchell to go to trial, as does her family. That could depend on the quality of corroboration that can prove a criminal pattern to Mitchell's behavior.
Throughout his adult life, Mitchell has traveled extensively across the U.S. He would zero in on Mormon communities because they were receptive to giving him money or occasional work---he held temporary jobs as a handyman and janitor---and because they had a plentiful assortment of pretty young girls. He has studied psychology, mind control and hypnosis, and is a vegetarian -- and he likes to lecture on those subjects.
Before he grew his beard and became gray, his hair was naturally brown. He's about 5'3" and scrawny, and his eyes are blue. (One of Philip Garrido's previous victims never forgot his piercing blue eyes.) Mitchell's known aliases include Immanuel Davis, Isaiah, Michael Jenson or David Shurlson, and there could be others.
If anyone has had an encounter with Mitchell, I'd appreciate if they would come forward. I have set up an account for leads:
briandavidmitchellvictim@gmail.com.
Even if the encounter with him wasn't sexual, there might be details to help fill in some blanks on his personal timeline. If one has had an unwelcome sexual encounter with him, telling the story to prosecutors might provide important closure and strengthen one's resolve.
I am not requesting this information for a story. Any real leads will be given to federal authorities. Time is short, however. The judicial decision comes next month and anyone with information needs to be checked out in advance.
Thank you very much.
