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Elizabeth Smart Tells Court Kidnapper Tried to Snatch Her Cousin Too

Smart testified today again at the trial of alleged abductor Brian Mitchell.

ByABC News
November 8, 2010, 2:38 PM

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah Nov. 9, 2010— -- Elizabeth Smart described in court today a deranged life on the lam with a kidnapper who was an alcoholic, who loved porn, and would rape her in a tent he called the Altar of Emanuel.

During her nine month nightmare with accused kidnapper Brian David Mitchell, Smart says she was not only raped repeatedly but was fed garbage, forced to drink alcohol and do drugs, and when she got sick would be forced to sleep in her own vomit.

Smart also says that Mitchell was constantly on the lookout for other girls to kidnap and make his wives, even targeting Smart's cousin.

Smart, now 23, testified for a second day in the trial that she believes her own mention of her cousin Olivia Wright - whom she described as her "closest friend at the time" - spurred Mitchell's interest in the teen.

"I would just mostly talk about times we shared together because she was one of my closest friends at the time. He would act interesting and engaging, but I didn't think anything else about it at the time," said Smart. "Then he prepared to go down to Salt Lake and kidnap my cousin."

"I watched him pack the green bags that he had used to kidnap me," Smart told the courtroom, matter-of-factly. "I saw him pack into the green bags some change of clothing, different ropes. I saw him pack duct tape, I saw him pack a knife."

The knife believed to have been used by Mitchell was passed around members of the jury for inspection while Smart, who was just 14 at the time she was abducted, testified.

It's been eight years since Smart was snatched from her bed in Salt Lake City and forced to spend nine months on the run. After passersby reported spotting Smart in a Salt Lake City suburb, authorities arrested Mitchell and Wanda Barzee, charging them with Smart's kidnapping and sexual assault.

Now living in Paris while she works on a Latter Day Saints mission, Smart maintained her composure on the stand again today, appearing calm and collected, showing very little emotion while providing details of her nightmare, her strategy for survival, and a missed chance at being rescued.

Smart testified that Mitchell even dressed in the same clothes to go get her cousin as he had the night she was kidnapped.

"It was dark clothing. It was the same clothing he used to kidnap me," said Smart. "Stocking cap, gloves, dark shirt, sweats."

"He said that he was going to try the same way he kidnapped me and then he would take her back up into the canyon and hike over the mountains until they came to the canyon we were in," Smart.

Smart would later learn from Mitchell that his play went awry upon arriving at Wright's house. When trying to sneak into an open window, the blinds hit some objects on the ledge and he got scared.

"He came back and he said that we weren't ready to receive another wife yet," Smart said.

Mitchell failed at another kidnapping attempt when the trio moved to California, according to Smart, who remembers the bus ride from Utah as nearly 14 hours long.

Upon arrival, Mitchell set up a new camp near a lake that was also home to many homeless camps, according to Smart.

"He raped me within 24 hours of arriving in California," said Smart.

Mitchell also forced her to look at a pornography magazine, one of many he would bring into their camp.

"He said that he'd received a revelation, been instructed to look at pornography," said Smart. "He said that we all needed to look at it."

Mitchell prepared to kidnap the daughter of a family he met at a Mormon church in San Diego, making sure that there was enough bedding for her to be able to have her own place to sleep, said Smart. Mitchell took the same green bag of kidnapping tools with him, she recalled.

When he returned without the girl, Smart said Mitchell told her, "That we were not prepared enough to receive another wife and that our faith needed to be stronger."

Mitchell also told her that a person snoring in the house had moved when he opened the door and he had been scared away.

At one point, Mitchell showed Smart a newspaper clipping with her parents photo and asked her if she was surprised they hadn't given up, according to Smart.