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Brian David Mitchell, the Utah street preacher convicted of kidnapping Elizabeth Smart, has begun serving his life sentence in an Arizona prison.
Mitchell, who kidnapped Smart — who was then 14 — from her bedroom in 2002, was brought to a prison about 10 miles south of Tucson. The prison is the same prison where Tucson shooter Jared Loughner was held before he was transferred to a federal prison in Missouri.
Mitchell — then known as “Emmanuel” — had done odd jobs for the Smart family at their home prior to the kidnapping, which is what led him to Elizabeth.
The case appeared on several national TV programs, including America’s Most Wanted, which is what led to Mitchell’s arrest.
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Smart was recovered on March 12, 2003, when an alert biker spotted her and Mitchell traveling with another woman, Wanda Barzee, near Sandy, Utah, after seeing the Smart case on America’s Most Wanted the night before.
When she was recovered, Smart was disguised in a gray wig, sunglasses, and a veil.
Mitchell was moved to the Arizona prison on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.
