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The twisted messiah and the angel he made his own

The kidnapping, serial rape and brainwashing of a teen by a religious fanatic in 2002 has been described as 'a horror film'. Valerie Shanley reports on a trial that has transfixed America

Brian David Mitchell is led into custody

Smart at the time of her kidnap

Smart meeting President Bush at the White House in 2003

Elizabeth Smart last month outside the courthouse in Salt Lake City

Wanda Barzee: Mitchell's wife

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The soft-spoken drifter was homeless and needed money. To help him out, the concerned couple gave him $5 for a day's work, repairing the roof of, and raking leaves outside, their home in Salt Lake City.

Although they told "Emmanuel" he was welcome to lend a hand any time, they assumed they would never set eyes on the eccentric, self-styled preacher again. By that stage, Brian David Mitchell, despite having been excommunicated from his Mormon church, considered himself a living deity. A "revelation" had set him on a messianic mission to re-instate the "blessing" of polygamy. In the early hours of 5 June 2002, seven months after helping the Smarts at their home, he came calling again. But this time he was not invited. After cutting a hole in a screen window, he crept to the bedroom where two of the couple's young daughters lay sleeping. The nine-month abduction and disappearance that followed transfixed America, and continues to resonate even after Mitchell's trial in a federal court ended with his conviction earlier this month.

With its elements of religious fanaticism, and, at the heart of it, a 14-year-old girl forced to become a "celestial" bride, Elizabeth Smart's kidnapping and rape has been described by one Utah law experts as "the script of a horror movie".

Smart, now 23, was the prosecution's star witness, testifying for over three days during the trial. She spoke of waking up in her bedroom to find a man holding a steel blade at her throat. He ordered her to stay quiet, and forced her from the house and to his remote camp in the nearby Wasatch mountains. Her young sister, Mary Katherine, witnessed it all but was too terrified to move and alert her parents until two hours later. Smart was ordered by Mitchell's legal wife, Wanda Barzee, to change from her red pyjamas into a shapeless robe. He had found the first of his seven brides. Mitchell told her their "marriage" was pre-ordained. She testified that she was tied between two trees with a length of metal cable, repeatedly raped and plied with alcohol and cigarettes. The first three months of her captivity were spent in the camp, just miles from her home where her parents had begun twice-daily press briefings appealing for her release. Apart from the sexual and physical abuse, the police later said that the "strong psychological impact" she endured contributed to her inability to attempt any escape. "I felt that because of what he had done to me, I was marked," Smart testified during the trial. "My personal value had dropped. I was nothing. Another person could never love me. I felt like I had a burden the size of a mountain to carry around with me the rest of my life."

Mitchell told her they would both be raised up in God's new kingdom. They also both shared the same religion – but with a very different interpretation of the Mormon faith. Smart is now seen as exemplifying the modern, more liberal face of what is one of the world's fastest-growing religions; Mitchell was described by the assistant US attorney Diana Hagan as a "fundamental extremist" on "the Mormon fringe".

The local police have come under criticism after it emerged they missed several opportunities to get their man. Three months into the kidnapping, Mitchell, Barzee and Smart made regular trips to downtown Salt Lake City, although the women would have been difficult to identify, clad in billowy robes, their heads covered in burqa-like veils. Within the space of one month, the then 49-year-old Mitchell had two brushes with the law for shoplifting. When asked for his name, he told police it was "Go with God". But it was the other name that the self-proclaimed prophet used which would eventually prompt a revelation of sorts in the mind of Smart's younger sister.

In late October, 10-year-old Mary Katherine, the only witness to the abduction, began remembering what she saw with more clarity. She had seen the abductor somewhere before. She told her parents: "I think I know who it might be." It was the man who helped to fix the roof almost a year before: "Emmanuel". But the police were initially unconvinced. Lois and Ed Smart felt the police should have followed up on the lead, and it was not until February that a sketch of the man's face was released. It was screened on Larry King Live and on America's Most Wanted. Emmanuel's estranged family recognised it and reported his real name, Brian David Mitchell to the police, as well as providing photographs.

The trio had crossed the state line by then, and were touring around San Diego County. They were spotted by a store manager who recalled something strange about the man with two robed and veiled women walking subserviently behind him. "Their behaviour stood out more than their dress. It was like they weren't human. They acted like robots." It was during their sojourn in California that Mitchell was arrested briefly after throwing a brick through a church window. He gave a false name and was released without anyone recognising his true identity.

On 12 March 2003, nine months after Elizabeth's abduction, the police were alerted by a biker who had seen Mitchell's image on the television and then recognised him outside a Wal-Mart in Sandy, Utah. Smart, disguised by her veil and also a wig and sunglasses, at first insisted Mitchell and Barzee were her parents. "If you're in a situation where someone threatens your life, and you can tell they're deliberating and decide not to kill you, you're very gracious. You start to form this bond," Mark Zelig, a forensic psychologist in Salt Lake City later remarked.

But Smart's initial concern that her "parents" would be okay faded when she was re-united with her real family. It was Mitchell's threats to kill them as well as her that had kept her captive, more so than any physical shackles, she told the court. The trial was delayed until this year because in 2005 Mitchell was declared mentally incompetent to face the state court. Federal prosecutors stepped in, but admitted that making the case against him would be a challenge because over six years had elapsed between the time of the kidnapping and the time the case came into their justice system. Mitchell's former stepdaughter told jurors she was shocked that they couldn't see he was mentally ill and that "he honestly believes God tells him to do these things". Mitchell sang hymns in court and on one occasion collapsed in an apparent seizure while singing a Christmas carol. His defence concluded with evidence from a psychologist who had diagnosed Mitchell as a paranoid schizophrenic in 2008.

Earlier this year, federal prosecutors did a deal with Barzee, sentencing her to 15 years in prison in exchange for testifying against her husband. "We were given the commandment to take young girls, between the ages of 10 to 14, snatch them out of the world and train them in the ministries of God," the now 64-year-old testified. "He's a great manipulator," she said. The prosecution went further in their assessment, describing Mitchell as a sadistic paedophile, and a narcissist with a personality disorder. He could turn his religious beliefs on and off at will, particularly his commitment to restoring polygamy – officially outlawed by the Mormon church although some breakaway groups on the fringe still adhere to it. And it was Mitchell's extremist views, not any doubts about his mental stability, that decided the case for the prosecution. "It provides a perfectly natural, non-psychotic explanation for why Brian David Mitchell behaves the way he does," Diana Hagan told jurors. "There is no reason to resort to a mental-health explanation in this case. The facts you have heard in this trial explain it all."

Mitchell was found guilty of kidnapping Elizabeth Smart and taking her over the state line with the intent to engage in sexual activity. He could be given life imprisonment when his sentencing comes up next May, although the prosecution also believes a judge may impose a lesser sentence. Summing up, US attorney Carlie Christensen praised Smart, saying the entire trial hinged on her precise testimony and describing her as "a woman with exceptional courage and determination". For others, the name Elizabeth Smart will be forever associated with the disturbing story of an abducted, abused teenager at the mercy of a drifter convinced he was following orders from God.