Posted on 10/26/2002 5:29:22 PM PDT by Palladin
Expert Offers 'Some New Leads' in Smart Case
Saturday, October 26, 2002
BY KEVIN CANTERA and MICHAEL VIGH
As police investigating Elizabeth Smart's kidnapping became stymied by a dearth of solid leads over the months, the case has grown conspicuously cold.
That could change following a recent visit from renowned forensics expert Henry Lee, who was recruited to examine evidence in the mysterious kidnapping. Lee, who has worked on such high-profile cases as the O.J. Simpson trial and the disappearance of congressional intern Chandra Levy, told The Salt Lake Tribune this week he gave investigators "some new leads to follow" in Elizabeth's June 5 abduction.
Citing a confidentiality agreement with police he signed before gaining access to forensic evidence in the case, Lee wouldn't discuss his findings specifically.
Chris Thomas, speaking on behalf of Elizabeth's father Ed Smart, confirmed Friday that Lee gave law enforcement "many recommendations" on how to proceed. "The police said they would pursue those leads. . . . From our understanding, investigators have been very busy, since [Lee] left," Thomas said. "It has given the family a lot of hope that things are progressing in a positive way."
The 14-year-old girl was snatched from her bedroom in the early morning hours by a gun-wielding intruder -- a crime witnessed only by her younger sister.
Lee's examination of a kitchen window screen led him to back an early police theory that the screen was cut from inside the home, possibly as a diversionary tactic by the abductor, multiple law enforcement sources tell The Tribune.
Police have been unable to determine if the kitchen window was the actual point of entry into the Federal Heights home. Investigators' skepticism is grounded in the lack of scuff marks around the kitchen window and the belief that anyone squeezing through the small window would have awakened family members.
"I went through the house and did look at a lot of evidence . . .I examined the screen and the window," said Lee, refusing to say what he determined from the analysis.
Thomas said Lee did not discuss his findings with Ed Smart or other family members because of the confidentiality agreement.
While Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse welcomed Lee's input, he said: "I don't think there was anything that [Lee] found that will change much." Dinse said he expects Lee, who was originally recruited into the investigation by Ed Smart, to provide police with a written report.
Though Dinse has not publicly ruled anyone out, the chief has called the late Richard Ricci, who worked in the Smart home as a handyman last year, the No. 1 potential suspect. Ricci, who was being held at the Utah State Prison on alleged parole violations, died in August from a massive brain hemorrhage.
He was also charged with robbing the Smart home of jewelry and other items and an earlier night-time burglary of a home nearby while he worked in the neighborhood.
Not if they're golf gloves.
I will say in your favor, as far as I've seen, you have never threatened bodily harm to anyone on these threads. Nor have you "taken up the Cross" to give yourself an air of spiritual superiority.
It has been said in one of the media reports that the kidnapper was reported (by MK) to have had black hair on his arms and the backs of his hands. Because of this, I always discounted the idea that the kidnapper wore gloves.
BUT I was recently reading the book about the Zodiac killer by Robert Graysmith. A lot of the letters written by the Zodiac are reprinted in that book. In one letter, Zodiac boasts of leaving no fingerprints because he had covered the tips of his fingers and parts of his palms with airplane glue, which he then let dry, to form a coating. There is also a product called (I think) New Skin. I have used this on small cuts, such as paper cuts. It is a liquid bandage. You brush it across the skin and it dries in a film. It does not come off through mere exposure to water--you have to scrub or peel it off. It protects small cuts very well.
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