SALT LAKE CITY, (Reuters) – A homeless street preacher was found guilty yesterday of the 2002 kidnapping of a Utah girl who was abducted from her bed in the middle of the night and endured a harrowing, nine-month ordeal in captivity.
A U.S. federal court jury in Salt Lake City convicted Brian David Mitchell, 57, on two counts: kidnapping and unlawful transportation of minor across state lines to engage in sexual activity.
The self-styled prophet, who had been ejected from court daily for disrupting the trial, loudly sang the hymn, “He Died, the Great Redeemer Died” in the packed courtroom as the verdicts were read.
Smart, who was 14 at the time of the abduction and is now 23, testified in graphic detail about her abduction at knife-point, rape and captivity. She exchanged smiles with her mother, Lois, in the front row of the courtroom gallery.
Mitchell’s step-daughter, Rebecca Woodridge, sobbed.
Prosecutors told jurors during the six-week trial that Mitchell kidnapped Smart from her Salt Lake City home on June 5, 2002, with the intent of forcing her to live as his bride.
