Mental health experts who testified during six days of hearings were divided over what makes Elizabeth Smart's alleged kidnapper tick.

Two psychologists for the defense claim Mitchell is preoccupied to the exclusion of all else by the delusional belief that he is a prophet of God who must be sacrificed in a manner similar to Jesus Christ.

But a psychiatrist for the state said Mitchell's ideas are no more extreme than those held by the thousands of Mormon fundamentalists who populate Utah's religious landscape.

On Tuesday, 3rd District Judge Judith Atherton ended the dispute by ruling that Mitchell is not competent.

Mitchell had been standing at a legal crossroads of sorts, and the judge's decision sends him to the Utah State Hospital for treatment rather than to a trial by a jury.

But Mitchell's fate is still in flux.

As doctors try to restore him to competence, Mitchell will initially spend 90 days at the hospital, followed by one-year and 18-month stints. If he is not found competent by the end of any of those terms, he could be indefinitely committed to the state hospital.

Prosectors said Tuesday that they were "disappointed" in the judge's decision, but believe Mitchell can be made well within the two years and nine months of treatment provided by statute.

"It's going to take some time, but eventually he will be tried . . . and convicted," Salt Lake County District Attorney David Yocom said.

Lead prosecutor Kent Morgan said that even if Mitchell were to be committed to the hospital, the criminal charges would remain active and the case could proceed should Mitchell be deemed competent in the future.

Elizabeth's father, Ed Smart, said he and his wife were ''relieved'' by the judge's decision. "We really didn't want to have to have Elizabeth testify [at a trial], although I'm sure she's capable of doing it. And I don't have any hope of him improving, competency-wise."

He said a long-term hospital stay for Mitchell would be a satisfactory resolution to the case as long as the suspect is kept off the streets.

In her 60-page decision, Atherton said that while Mitchell passed some portions of the competency test, he flunked others.

The judge appeared to place significant weight on her own observations of Mitchell's in-court antics.

Ten times between December 2004 and July 7, Mitchell was removed from the courtroom for singing hymns or shouting commands and warnings peppered with biblical references.

Atherton said Mitchell has an "adequate capacity" to comprehend the charges against him, appreciate the possible penalties and understand the adversarial nature of the proceedings.

But the judge said Mitchell ultimately failed the competency test because of an impaired ability to communicate with his attorneys, engage in reasoned choice of legal strategies and options. He also is unable to manifest appropriate courtroom behavior or testify relevantly, she said.

That means Mitchell, 51, will join his wife and co-defendant, Wanda Eileen Barzee, 59, who has been at Utah State Hospital since March 2004, after she was judged mentally incompetent.

Placing Mitchell back in proximity with Barzee may be problematic. One expert who examined Barzee said she suffered from a "shared psychotic disorder" with Mitchell. One potential cure would be to isolate her from Mitchell's dominant personality.

Janina Chilton, spokesperson for the state hospital, said the couple would "most definitely be kept apart."

Meanwhile, Barzee has not improved with the limited treatment available to doctors, who are now suggesting forced medication with anti-psychotic drugs. That issue will be discussed at Barzee's competency review hearing, set for Aug. 10 before Atherton.

Mitchell's court-appointed defense attorney Vernice Trease said in a written statement that Atherton's decision regarding her client's competency was "the right one and is well supported by the wealth of information provided to her during the competency hearings."

On June 5, 2002, Mitchell allegedly kidnapped Elizabeth, then 14, at knifepoint from her Federal Heights home to make her the first of seven plural wives, according to prosecutors.

Nine months later, the girl was found walking down a Sandy Street with Mitchell and Barzee, who were indicted by a grand jury on first-degree felony counts of aggravated burglary, aggravated kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault.

Ed Smart said he is of two minds about Mitchell's competency.

Smart believes Mitchell knew "darn well" what he was doing the night his daughter was kidnapped.

"He was hiding behind a bush with Elizabeth as cars drove by on Tomahawk Drive," Smart said. "He knew he had to do this secretly, not blindly."

And Smart believes Mitchell's courtroom outbursts have been "completely intentional."

''I think the bigger question is, 'Why did he do it in the first place? And why say that God told him to do it?' '' Smart asked. ''I do believe he is delusional in that he thinks he is this superman or this man called by God. He is completely delusional there.''

Smart said he is not planning to be in court for Mitchell's upcoming court reviews.

"I'm not going to waste any more of my time on it," he said. "When and if it comes to trial or if they want our input, we'll certainly be there."

Key dates in the Elizabeth Smart saga

l Elizabeth Smart disappears from her family's Salt Lake City home on June 5, 2002.

l Police zero in on Richard Ricci, an ex-convict who admitted to burglarizing the Smart home a year earlier. Ricci is never charged but is sent back to prison on a parole violation and dies in August 2002 of a brain aneurysm.

l Wearing a veil on her face, Elizabeth accompanies Brian David Mitchell to a party at an apartment not far from the police station in the fall of 2002. Nobody recognizes her.

l Elizabeth's sister, Mary Katherine, provides police with new information in October 2002, eventually turning their attention to an itinerant street preacher named Brian David Mitchell, who calls himself "Emmanuel."

l Police confront Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee, as the couple walk with Elizabeth down a street in Sandy on March 12, 2003.

l Mitchell and Barzee are charged with kidnapping, assault and sexual assault six days later. Prosecutors ask for mental competency evaluations.

l Barzee is sent to the Utah State Hospital after a judge rules in January 2004 that she is incompetent to stand trial.

l Mitchell stipulates on Aug. 31, 2004, that he is competent to stand trial. He pleads not guilty on Sept. 2 to charges contained in a grand jury indictment unsealed the day before.

l Defense attorneys file a motion in November to reverse the competency stipulation, saying Mitchell's emotional state has deteriorated.

l After six days of testimony between February and July, a judge rules Tuesday that Mitchell is incompetent and sends him to Utah State Hospital for treatment.