Elizabeth Smart to Testify on Sanity of Her Kidnapper

Official says they're targeting suspected kidnappers al-Shabab

(NEWSER) - Kenyan troops crossed the border into Somalia yesterday in an attempt to crack down on militants suspected in a rash of kidnappings, residents say. A Kenyan official confirms to the BBC the country’s troops are targeting al-Shabab, the Somalia group suspected of crossing the border and seizing four Europeans and killing one over the past month. Witnesses report up to 40 Kenyan vehicles, as well as some tanks, carried hundreds of soldiers and towed “big guns” through the Somali border town of Dhobley yesterday. More»

Kidnapping victim will discuss missing person cases

(NEWSER) - Elizabeth Smart knows firsthand what it's like to be kidnapped—and she'll soon be sharing that perspective as an ABC News contributor. She'll appear on Good Morning America and possibly other programs "when there are missing children or missing-person cases in the news," an ABC spokesperson tells Howard Kurtz. But Kurtz is not convinced: "Other than fame—as the victim of a horrifying crime—what exactly are her qualifications?" he wonders in the Daily Beast . On Gawker , Seth Abramovitch concurs: "Eep. Uncomfortable." More»

She confronts kidnapper before he is sentenced to life

(NEWSER) - Brian David Mitchell got a life sentence today for kidnapping Elizabeth Smart , but she got the last word in court. Confronting him for the first time, she kept it short and sweet:

• "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. 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."

Kidnapper's attorney argues to prevent Brian David Mitchell from getting life sentence

(NEWSER) - Elizabeth Smart’s kidnapper shouldn’t get a life sentence, his attorney argued yesterday, because Smart isn’t all that psychologically damaged. “In a legal sense, the story is not the extreme psychological injury. The story is her overcoming the extreme conduct of my client,” said Robert Steele in a motion he filed in an attempt to get Brian David Mitchell’s potential sentence reduced. Mitchell held a then-14-year-old Smart for eight months and sometimes raped her numerous times a day, Fox News reports. More»

Lawyer hopes Nancy will avoid life sentence

(NEWSER) - Phillip and Nancy Garrido have confessed to kidnapping Jaycee Lee Dugard and holding her for 18 years, Nancy's defense attorney says. The confession was made in an effort to reduce Nancy's sentence, the Los Angeles Times reports: Authorities have offered her a plea deal of nearly 242 years to life, but her attorney says 20 to 30 years is more appropriate. "She's guilty, obviously, of kidnapping and a bunch of other charges," but "as far as being involved in any of the sexual stuff, she wasn't," he says. More»