Brian David Mitchell Sentence: Life Imprisonment

Life imprisonment for Brian David Mitchell — that is what U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball handed down as sentence in the Salt Lake City courtroom Wednesday. Mitchell kidnapped and abused then-14-year-old Elizabeth Smart in 2002. He kept her for nine months, but Smart miraculously escaped in 2003.

Elizabeth Smart testified in court saying:

“I don’t have very much to say to you. I know exactly what you did.”

“I know that you know what you did was wrong. You did it with a full knowledge. I also want you to know that I have a wonderful life now, that no matter what you do it will never affect me again. You took away nine months of my life. That can never be returned, but in this life or next, you will have to be held responsible for those actions, and I hope you are ready for when that time comes.”

Mitchell will be in federal prison for life, without the possibility of parole. The state of Utah still has a pending case against him. Even if that proceeds, it will seem anticlimactic. The perpetrator never again will be free.