Wanda Barzee is among list of surprise witnesses in Elizabeth Smart case

SALT LAKE CITY — A list of potential witnesses for Brian David Mitchell was submitted over the weekend that includes some people who might be considered surprises.

Mitchell's long-awaited kidnapping trial is scheduled to begin today, more than eight years after Elizabeth Smart was taken from the bedroom of her Federal Heights home at knife point. Much, if not all, of the first week is expected to be spent finalizing a jury.

Topping the alphabetical list of 24 potential witnesses for the defense is Mitchell's estranged wife and former r Wanda Barzee, who pleaded guilty earlier this year and was sentenced to federal prison.

Barzee struck a plea deal for both her federal and state court proceedings. As part of the deal, Barzee agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in Mitchell's federal competency hearing as well as preparing for his trial. Yet prosecutors did not include her on their witness list.

Another seemingly surprise pick for the defense is Howard Lemcke, a career prosecutor with the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office who has since retired. Lemcke has written novels and at one time may have been working on a fictionalized book involving the Elizabeth Smart case.

Also on the list are at least four relatives of Mitchell, including his parents, Irene and Shril Mitchell, and the father of one of Mitchell's alleged targets, Virl Kemp.

Kemp met Mitchell at his LDS meetinghouse in Lakeside, Calif., during the time Mitchell and Barzee had allegedly taken Smart to San Diego. Mitchell called himself "Peter" and said he was investigating the Mormon church.

Kemp invited Mitchell to his house for dinner.

Investigators say Mitchell returned later in the middle of the night in an apparent plot to kidnap Kemp's 12-year-old daughter, but ultimately could not break in and aborted his attempt.

Also on the defense's proposed witness list are doctors who testified at Mitchell's competency hearing, including Dr. Richart DeMier, who examined Mitchell at a federal facility in Springfield, Mo., where prisoners are sent for mental evaluations; Dr. Paul Whitehead, Mitchell's attending physician at Utah State Hospital; and Dr. Stephen Golding, who also testified in Mitchell's state competency hearing.

Not on the list is Dr. Jennifer Skeem, one of the defense's key expert witnesses during the state competency proceedings, but who later became the center of controversy during Mitchell's federal competency hearing when questions were raised about her reports.

The prosecution earlier released its list of proposed witnesses. Elizabeth Smart, her younger sister Mary Katherine Smart, her mother Lois Smart and Barzee's mother, Dora Corbett, all are expected to testify. Elizabeth Smart has temporarily returned home from France, where she has been serving as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She is expected to return to her mission after the trial.

The trial is expected to last more than a month.

e-mail: preavy@desnews.com TWITTER: DNewsCrimeTeam