Newly Released Video of Elizabeth Smart Kidnapper Brian David Mitchell Singing Hymns in Competency Interview
Brian David Mitchell in an interview to determine his competency to stand trial.
Aug. 19, 2011— -- Videotape of Brian David Mitchell, the self-proclaimed prophet who was convicted of kidnapping and repeatedly raping then-14-year-old Elizabeth Smart, having singing outbursts during an interview to determine his competency to stand trial was released by the U.S. District Court.
In response to a request made by "Nightline," Utah District Federal Court released video of the interview Dr. Michael Welner conducted with Mitchell in 2009. One of the country's top forensic psychiatrists, Welner is the chairman of The Forensic Panel as well as an ABC News consultant. The video has never been seen outside of the courtroom until now.
Federal prosecutors hired Welner to examine Mitchell, a 57-year-old homeless street preacher who claimed he was a Mormon prophet, and perform a complete evaluation of his mental state.
Welner, who also testified as the principal government witness in Mitchell's competency and insanity phases of his trial, determined that while Smart's kidnapper suffered from anti-social personality disorder, pedophilia, psychopathy and alcohol abuse, he did not suffer from a severe mental illness that would prevent him from standing trial.
"Mitchell knew what he was doing was wrong. He was a pedophile with a particularly high frequency of violating children in his custodial care, be they children or stepchildren." Welner told "Nightline." "Religious ideas did not drive his choices, sexual indulgence and a parasitic, responsibility-free lifestyle did."
Read Dr. Michael Welner's full report on Brian David Mitchell HERE
As Welner attempted to interview Mitchell, the man behind the wild gray beard can be seen on the video in stoney silence with his eyes closed for the majority of the over five-hour-long interview.
Submit your questions to Dr. Welner HERE
Mitchell would only break his silence to sing hymns, singing repeatedly, "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
"The singing derailed questions and was disarming at first," Welner said. "It derailed conversation and thwarted scrutiny, and enabled him to take control over a situation."
Welner explained that while examining Mitchell, he discovered that Smart's kidnapper was putting on the front of being very religious to throw off his previous examiners.
"Pertinent to the competency controversy, Mitchell's well-timed singing fed the mistaken idea of Mitchell as religion-obsessed when he needed to impress examiners, and he knew it," Welner said. "When I ignored his singing, for example, it extinguished. Even when the interview became stressful."
The court allowed the tapes to be released after Mitchell was convicted last December of kidnapping and transportation of a minor across state lines to engage in sexual activity, and then waived his right to appeal his conviction. He was sentenced to life in prison on May 25, 2011.
Earlier this month, the court also released a video of the two-hour interview Salt Lake City Police Detective Cordon Parks and FBI Special Agent Jeffery Ross conducted with Smart's abductor hours after he was arrested in Sandy, Utah in 2003.
That video was released in response to a motion filed by attorneys for The Salt Lake Tribune and KUTV.
When the investigators told Mitchell what he was being accused of during the 2003 interview, his response was defiance. He told detectives Smart had had a "glorious experience" with him.
"You're under arrest for aggravated kidnapping because the girl told us you took her, against her will, out of her house, at knife point," Parks tells Mitchell during the interview. "You're under arrest for aggravated sexual abuse on a minor ... both of these charges carry life in prison."
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