Posted on 12/26/2002 2:56:18 PM PST by Palladin
KING: All right, let's talk about the Elizabeth Smart case, which the media has kind of left now. What is your best read on that tragedy in Utah?
WALSH: I spent yesterday by coincidence with Ed and Lois Smart. I had them on "The John Walsh Show" to kind of give an update to the case. You know, Ricci, the guy that was the main suspect, died in prison of an aneurysm. He's the guy that was the handyman at the house that put 1,000 miles on his pickup truck during the two days that she was missing. He was a burglar. He also had a rap sheet, which a lot of the media doesn't understand. He spent 10 years in jail. He tried to blow the head off of a cop with a shotgun. This is a real bad guy.
I hope that he didn't take the secret of Elizabeth Smart to the grave with him. I talked to Ed and Lois yesterday. I said, don't give up hope. Justice delayed isn't justice denied.
What's killing them is the fact of the not knowing. I think they're prepared for the worst. Most parents of missing children are prepared for the worst. But their young daughter has now said that she believes that Ricci wasn't the guy in there that night, that it may have been another guy that did some work on their roof, an itinerant guy that worked at a homeless shelter, and he may be a suspect in this. And I don't want to give away a lot of breaking information here, but "America's Most Wanted" is going to take a look at the Smart case, because I know one thing, we have been able to solve crimes after 10 years.
So I gave the Smarts, you know, the best encouragement I could and said, look, don't give up hope. We'll relook at the case. It is normal for the media tension to die down, and to try to have a good holiday. This is going to be the first Christmas without this beautiful girl, and the Smarts have five other beautiful children. So they're trying to hold that family together.
I said, you know, do the best you can with your five children. Don't give up hope, and, you know what, we'll take another look at this case and try to keep it alive.
(Excerpt) Read more at silenter.com ...
Ed, whether he knows it or not, isn't helping the case with these off-the-wall ideas. John Walsh may have all the sympathy in the world for the Smarts, pushing this roofer as a suspect - or he may be more interested in raising his ratings.
An already confused case gets more confused, and one has to wonder why those closest to Elizabeth would want to do that?
I didn't see the Hannity & Colmes t.v. show you mentioned. But don't you think it is odd that these guys would comment on "innuendos," or implicating any of the Smarts? I say this because the Free Republic is the only place where I've seen innuendos or outright accusations, although there are other Internet chat rooms debating this issue who also do.
The Smarts, unlike the Ramseys, haven't been put on trial in media. There haven't been any hard questions put to them....not that I recall.
Some of us, such as landerwy, have family and friends in law enforcement. Others of us may, or may have been, officers. And that's why we often will rely on the intuition and first-hand knowledge of those people, who well know that LE doesn't slap out facts to media. It is often to their advantage to mislead.
That's why I've tried to tell you that Ricci was more than likely a distraction. Now that he's dead, the Smarts (Ed) evidently feel they have to conjure up another dark shadow in order to keep this story alive in the publics' eye.
Knowing they are not detectives and realizing emotions are an issue, it's not something most parents would do. Most allow the professionals to handle the specifics and do the job for which they are trained.
But that's where we have another dilemma - is Salt Lake City PD sophisticated enough, or are they another Boulder City goof-off department? And how much time and manpower can the FBI expend on a cold case?
Ed Smart has become unbelievable. He DID say that Ricci was capable of taking Elizabeth - that Ricci had admitted to entering his home a year before. Remember?
I feel very sorry for Mary Katherine.
They were and still are serious about Ricci. They wouldn't have thrown him in jail and kept him there for drinking beer on parole if they weren't serious. If he would have cleared himself by admitting he had the Jeep, explained where he got it muddy on Jun 8, and told them what he did with the stuff he took out of it and who picked him up at Mouls, they would have let him out that night.
I wouldn't be surprised if Ed is going to America's Most Wanted just to keep the story alive.
The only thing I've heard Ed Smart say is he believes Ricci was involved as a co-conspirator. I've heard Ed say this several times specifically and I have never heard him say he thinks Ricci was the person that came in the house and took Elizabeth. He did say Ricci may have gotten a key to the house while working there. I've never heard Ed Smart say anything that doesn't line up with my view of the case which of course gives him impeccable credibility.
As I recall, Ed HAS said Ricci was capable. He pointedly referred to the fact that Ricci had come into the Smart home a year prior to Elizabeth's disappearance, and stolen some articles. One was the seashell-filled jar. This assertion was made quite a while ago - may be on a Larry King transcript.
If you've been following this case, daily press interviews in the beginning, t.v. transcripts, etc., you'll know that Ed has made many contradictory statements - and timeline of the 911 call and events of June 5th disturbs a few of us.
True, Ed may have wanted to convey messages to not only his daughter, but especially to the culprit. Which means he thought she was alive and, possibly, that he also had an idea of who she was with.
This is all old stuff, Platero. FReepers have hashed and re-hashed it till it's mush. You might be able to salvage a few threads through Google and Alta Vista by typing in Jolly Green. Be forewarned, there are flames galore.
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