Elizabeth Smart Kidnapper Wanda Barzee Pleads Guilty in Related Case

(Feb. 9) -- Elizabeth Smart's kidnapper, Wanda Barzee, pleaded "guilty but mentally ill" in a Utah court on Monday to charges tied to the attempted kidnapping of Smart's 15-year-old cousin in 2002. Barzee also agreed to testify against her estranged husband, Brian David Mitchell.

According to court documents and police reports, Barzee and Mitchell attempted to abduct Smart's cousin on July 24, 2002, about seven weeks after Smart's kidnapping. The couple allegedly planned to hold the two girls together but were scared off when the girl's 18-year-old sister awoke.

In exchange for Barzee's plea, prosecutors dropped state charges against her in Smart's abduction and agreed to recommend that Barzee's state sentence of one to 15 years be served concurrently with her federal time.

Last year, Barzee, 64, entered a guilty plea to federal charges in connection with Smart's abduction in exchange for a 15-year federal prison term. Sentencing in that case is scheduled to take place May 19.

In Smart's case, prosecutors allege that Barzee and Mitchell kidnapped the 14-year-old girl from her Salt Lake City home in 2002. During Mitchell's October 2009 competency hearing, Smart testified that she was taken to a campsite not far from her home, where Barzee and Mitchell performed a religious ceremony in which they said that Smart was married to Mitchell.

During her nine months in captivity, Smart said she was raped almost every day. The ordeal did not end until March 12, 2003, when a viewer of "America's Most Wanted" spotted the trio in Sandy, Utah, and notified police. Mitchell and Barzee were taken into custody, and Smart was reunited with her family.

Mitchell and Barzee were both found incompetent to stand trial for Smart's kidnapping. The cases remained in limbo until last year, when a court finally ruled that Barzee, who has been forcibly medicated since 2006, was competent to stand trial. A judge has not yet ruled on Mitchell's competency.

If Mitchell is ultimately found to be fit to stand trial, he faces a lifetime prison sentence if convicted.