Elizabeth Smart kidnapper plans to enter plea in abeyance for violating sex offender terms
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Emily Ashcraft, KSL
SALT LAKE CITY (KSL) — The woman convicted of kidnapping Elizabeth Smart is expected to accept a plea bargain to charges filed against her after she was seen in two parks, which she is forbidden to visit as a registered sex offender.
Wanda Barzee, 80, kidnapped Smart, along with her husband Brian David Mitchell, in 2002 and held her captive until they were arrested nine months later.
She is now charged with two counts of being a sex offender in a protected area, a class A misdemeanor, after police said she was spotted in April 2025 in Liberty Park and Sugar House Park.
Her attorney, Scott Williams, said in a hearing Friday that they are close to reaching a settlement with prosecutors where she would enter a plea in abeyance, and a hearing for her to enter that plea was scheduled for June 5. Under a plea in abeyance, her plea would be placed on hold and as long as she follows certain conditions over the next year, it would not be entered as a conviction.
Williams asked if Barzee could enter that plea by written statement instead of coming to the courthouse, noting that it is hard for Barzee to attend court in person. Third District Judge Thaddeus May denied the request.
Barzee admitted to going to the parks because she said “she was commanded to by the Lord,” according to a police booking affidavit. She told police she was there to sit on benches and feed ducks.
After her arrest, Smart said the justification Barzee had for attending the parks “unfortunately is very familiar,” and is how Barzee and Mitchell justified kidnapping her.
Barzee pleaded guilty in federal court in 2009 to kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor. In 2010, she pleaded guilty and was found mentally ill for attempting to kidnap Smart’s cousin and was sentenced to up to 15 years in prison. She was released from her federal sentence in April 2016 and was released on Sept. 19, 2018, after getting credit for time served in federal prison and completing the full 15 years.