Elizabeth Smart Kidnapper Allegedly Says She Violated Sex Offender Parole Because She was 'Commanded by the Lord'

• Wanda Barzee, 79, was arrested by the Salt Lake City Police Department on May 1 after an investigation determined she violated restrictions placed on her as a sex offender.
• A probable cause affidavit alleges that Wanda visited a park despite being banned from entering the public spaces because “she was commanded to by the Lord.”
• Barzee served 15 years in prison after she and her husband kidnapped Elizabeth Smart and held the 14-year-old captive for nine months

The woman who helped kidnap Elizabeth Smart and then held her captive for nine months allegedly spoke with police officers about why she violated the conditions of her release as a sex offender by visiting two parks in Salt Lake City.

Wanda Barzee, 79, allegedly said “she was commanded to by the Lord” to visit Liberty Park on April 9, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Salt Lake City District Court and obtained by PEOPLE.

She said that she was again “commanded” to visit Sugarhouse Park as well while speaking with officers from the Salt Lake City Police Department.

Barzee also allegedly told officers that she sat on benches and fed ducks during her trips to the park.

The affidavit notes that because Barzee is a convicted felon who kidnapped a person under the age of 18, she is “prohibited from going to any community parks.”

After seeing the affidavit, a judge ruled that the arresting officer was justified in taking Barzee into custody without a warrant on May 1. Judge Amber Mettler signed off on releasing Barzee from custody later that same day.

Her case is not yet listed on the court docket so it is unclear when her first hearing will take place.

Brent Weisberg, a spokesperson for the Salt Lake City Police Department, previously told PEOPLE that Barzee’s arrest came after detectives “developed information” about her through an investigation which led to her arrest.

Since this is her first violation as a sex offender, Barzee is charged with a class A misdemeanor, which can carry a sentence of up to 364 days in prison. Further violations could land her a felony charge.

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Barzee held Smart captive and both physically and sexually abused the then-14-year-old after the girl was abducted from her bedroom at knifepoint by Barzee’s husband, Brian David Mitchell.

The transient couple and their victim managed to move between campgrounds and rundown homes in the Utah and San Diego areas for close to a year despite a nationwide manhunt for Smart.

Smart said she was sexually abused on a near daily basis over those nine months, and on the first night in captivity she was forced to marry Mitchell.

It was Smart’s sister who cracked open the case when she identified the man whose voice she heard the night of the abduction as belonging to someone who had briefly done handiwork around the family’s home – Mitchell.

Sketches and then actual photos of Mitchell and Barzee then ran on the popular television program America’s Most Wanted.

By the time the show aired, Smart had started to appear in public with Mitchell and Barzee, though she was often heavily disguised by her captors.

It would still be months though until someone recognized Mitchell and contacted authorities, noting that a woman and young girl were also with him at the time.

That tip resulted in Smart’s rescue on March 12, 2003. She then returned home for the first time since she was taken from her bedroom on June 5, 2002.

Mitchell would eventually be convicted and sentenced to life in prison while Barzee received a sentence of 15 years for her role in the operation.

In 2018, a judge approved Barzee’s release over the objections of Smart.

In comments she made at that time, Smart plainly stated that she viewed Barzee to be just as culpable for what happened to her as her husband and a threat to society.

She also said in multiple interviews around that time that Barzee was an “evil woman.”