This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The father of Brian David Mitchell, the man who kidnapped and raped Elizabeth Smart, has died.
Shirley Vaughn Mitchell, who went by Shirl, died Friday at the age of 88, according to a newsletter distributed throughout the LDS ward where Mitchell lived.
He was married to Irene Sidwell Mitchell for 30 years. They had six children, one of whom died.
He graduated with a bachelor's degree from the University of Utah and attended Berkeley for a period of time, the posting states. He served in World War II as a bomber pilot in the European Theater.
He worked as a social worker at the Veterans Administration until he retired.
During his son's trial, Shirl Mitchell testified he was deer hunting when his son was born, and his wife harbored resentment that was subliminally transferred to the child.
He also spent a good part of his life penning a constantly changing tome titled, Spokesman for the Infant God or Goddess. "I propose a supermagnetic being that can take a memory impression of individuals ... that can remember all of us," Shirl Mitchell said.
He believed his son to be mentally ill. "I'm hopeful he'll go to a rehabilitative situation where it will be recognized he's not normal, he's not sound," he said.
Shirl Mitchell's funeral is planned for Saturday, Feb. 4, in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Yale Ward. An obituary with further information is expected to be released later in the week.
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