Elizabeth Smart Recounts Daily Sexual Abuse

NC 5-year-old was asphyxiated, arrest warrant says

(AP) - A 5-year-old North Carolina girl was raped and killed the same day she was taken from her home, according to an arrest warrant released today. Shaniya Davis was sexually assaulted and asphyxiated Nov. 10, the day her mother reported her missing from the trailer park where she was staying, according to the warrant. After a nearly weeklong search, the girl's body was found dumped off a rural road. More»

Accused kidnapper 'a changed man': lawyer

(NEWSER) - Phillip Garrido, Jaycee Dugard’s accused kidnapper, says he “would like to apologize to every human being for what has taken place.” In a letter—his third sent to KCRA from prison—Garrido adds that, “through the spirit of Christ,” a “sexual problem believed to be impossible” was ended. Garrido’s lawyer calls him “a changed man” but says he may not be competent to stand trial. More»

Stockholm syndrome turned victim into abductor's defender

(NEWSER) - Kidnap victim Jaycee Dugard lied to a suspicious parole officer in a desperate bid to protect her abductor when she was discovered, according to just-released report of her questioning. Jaycee, kidnapped when she was 11 in her northern California town, called herself Alyssa and presented herself as Phillip Garrido's wife. She laughingly explained that she was often mistaken as someone young enough to be the sister of her daughters, fathered by Garrido. More»

(NEWSER) - Phillip Garrido picked out Jaycee Dugan as his next kidnap victim on a "child shopping" trip when he spotted the "cute" 11-year-old in a store with friends, his wife has told investigators. "That's the one I want," he told his wife, Nancy, but he decided to wait to snatch Jaycee when she was alone, reports the Telegraph, citing law enforcement sources. "Let's come back later and get her," said Garrido. The couple apparently tailed Jaycee to her home and grabbed her at a school bus stop the following day. More»

She recalls 'begging' him not to rape her

(NEWSER) - Elizabeth Smart took the stand today against the man accused of kidnapping and raping her, recounting in a calm voice how Brian David Mitchell allegedly woke her up on the morning of June 5, 2002, with a knife to her throat. He said, “Come with me or I will kill you and your family,” Smart said, adding, “I thought I was having a nightmare. It was indescribable fear.” After Mitchell and Smart met up with Mitchell’s wife Wanda Barzee, they performed a ceremony “sealing” Smart and Mitchell, CNN reports. More»