SALT LAKE CITY — The abduction of Elizabeth Smart may have been part of a delusional plan to collect seven wives for Brian David Mitchell, a self-proclaimed prophet and polygamist who also may have tried to kidnap Elizabeth's 18-year-old cousin, authorities said Friday.
Salt Lake City police would not say whether Elizabeth, 15, was sexually abused. But more information has emerged regarding Mitchell's deep religious belief in polygamy as expressed in a 27-page manifesto police said he penned.
The practice of polygamy has haunted the state of Utah since its 19th-century founding by Mormon settlers. If polygamy turns out to be the motive in the Smart case, it would be the latest in a series of recent high-profile cases of illegal and abusive multiple marriages involving young girls.
Salt Lake City Sheriff Aaron Kennard said Friday he also had evidence suggesting Mitchell -- arrested Wednesday with his wife, Wanda Barzee, in the Smart kidnapping -- tried to pry open the bedroom window of Elizabeth's cousin Jessica Wright in July.
The attempt failed when the noise of the screen being cut woke the girl and the family called police. A chair was found beneath the window, which had been partially pried open, a method nearly identical to that used to gain entry into Smart's house, according to Kennard.
The attempted kidnapping was apparently aimed at Wright, said to be Elizabeth's favorite cousin, police said. Kennard said he will present the evidence next week to the Salt Lake City District Attorney's Office and expects prosecutors to file attempted kidnapping charges. The couple already face aggravated kidnapping charges.
"The evidence we have developed has led us to believe that the perpetrators of the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping had something to do with this incident," Kennard said. "If I wasn't confident I wouldn't let my people take it to this level."
The incident happened seven weeks after Elizabeth's abduction. On July 24, at about 3:30 a.m., Wright heard a noise that sounded like breaking wood outside her window. The family let their dog out and called 911. Detectives scoured the area but didn't find anything. They listed the incident as an attempted burglary.
A friend who visited Barzee, 57, in jail Friday said Mitchell's revelations began around Thanksgiving of 2000 and compelled him to collect women as wives. Mitchell claimed to be God and called himself Emmanuel.
