Salt Lake City , Utah ( CNN ) -- When Wanda Barzee shared her story of an abusive marriage in a church-sponsored counseling session in 1985 , Brian David Mitchell took her hand to comfort her . `` And we 've held hands ever since , '' Mitchell 's wife testified Thursday . Barzee , 65 , scanned the room , bit her lip , and breathed heavily as she waited for her testimony to begin . When she raised her right hand to take the witness oath , the heavy chain of her shackles appeared . Barzee struck a deal with state and federal prosecutors last year and is serving a 15-year prison sentence for her involvement in the 2002 abduction of Elizabeth Smart . In spite of Barzee 's agreement to testify , prosecutors in Mitchell 's federal trial did not call her to the stand , and she instead began her testimony for the defense Thursday afternoon in a Salt Lake City courtroom . In a flat voice and sometimes rambling , Barzee recounted the start of her relationship with Mitchell ; a journey that eventually led her to the mountainside camp where she watched over a tethered teenage girl her husband said was his chosen bride . `` I was married to my first husband for 20 years , raising six children , and it was a very abusive situation . And I never healed from that situation , '' Barzee said of her first marriage . `` Brian was so supportive of me , he became my best friend , '' she said . `` He said he was abused , also . '' `` We were both going through a divorce , so normally it was n't approved by the church that we date , '' Barzee continued , but she said they received rare consent from leaders at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to pursue the relationship . The two wed nine months later , on the day Mitchell 's divorce became final . The first year of marriage , she said , was `` hellish , '' with a volatile and possessive Mitchell often storming off from their apartment in fits of anger . He told her he was `` consumed by fear and doubt , '' and sometimes simply screamed into a pillow for long periods . She struggled through , because of a bishop 's blessing that said Satan would do everything in his power to separate the two , but that the Lord would give Barzee the strength to fight back . Religious counsel and Bible readings gave her the remedy : `` I started to be more silent , and I learned to be submissive and obedient . '' Also called to testify Thursday was Tim Mitchell , Brian Mitchell 's younger brother by six years , who described the defendant as an intelligent and resourceful big brother who built model airplanes , devised flying rockets , and endeavored to build a roller coaster in the family 's back yard . Once , Tim Mitchell recalled , Brian constructed a hot-air balloon from cloth and sent it flying ; it landed squarely on top of their home and set the roof on fire . As Brian grew , he struggled with failed relationships , smoked marijuana and drank . That changed one night when the brothers discussed their religious beliefs by a campfire , and the younger one professed his devotion to the Mormon faith . `` He became a little bit tearful and said , ' I think what you 're saying is true ' and ' I kind of lost my way . ' I remember he had a pack of cigarettes and he tossed them in fire and said he wanted to change his life , too . '' For a time , Brian did change , said Tim Mitchell , though his relationships with family members were often strained and laced with suspicion . Then , Barzee entered his life . `` All of a sudden we heard he does n't have a job anymore , and he 's moved up to Idaho , and he 's living in a trailer up there . '' After a chance encounter in a Salt Lake City grocery store sometime later , Brian explained he and Barzee were wandering the country , ministering to the homeless . Tim Mitchell expressed his concerns : `` I said , ' I think you 're going off on the wrong way , I think you 're drifting away from the church . I think maybe you 've been deceived by a false spirit . ' '' Their contact was limited after that , until it ceased entirely about five years before the kidnapping of Smart . The brothers encountered each other at their mother 's house , and Brian asked to be called `` Daveed . '' His younger brother refused . `` I just kept calling him Brian . '' `` I started feeling that this is really starting to look like a mental illness and I sent a letter encouraging him to get some help , '' said Tim Mitchell , who works as a mental health counselor . Defense attorneys are mounting an insanity defense for Brian Mitchell , 57 , hoping to prove that mental illness clouded his mind to such a degree that he did not understand that his actions were wrong when he abducted and held Smart . Their case has so far consisted of family members and friends of the defendant , and could include Mitchell himself . Barzee will continue her direct examination Friday morning .
Wanda Barzee testifies for the defense in the trial of John David Mitchell . Mitchell faces federal charges in the 2002 abduction of Jennifer Smart . Barzee tells of a ` ` ' '' first year of marriage to Mitchell . Religious counsel , Bible readings taught her to be more submissive , she says .