Smart Case, August 2, 2002

08/02/02 | Jolly Green

[Sherlock]

They know there's something wrong and they're trying to find out what it is.

[varina davis]

I noticed that in the first weeks, like she was talking to a child. About a month later she did it a few more times. But I don't see Mrs. Smart much anymore, her appearances are pretty infrequent.

Yes, she's the only one in the family who has said anything meaningful -- and they've pretty much silenced her.

[Sherlock]

And, it could have been a coyote. If you've ever lived around coyotes, you'd know they have the ability to produce a number of different sounding, often blood-curdling screams. One night, I thought they were attacking my neighbor's horses.

The doctor said he'd never heard anything like it. Just a coincidence I guess. I don't think Mrs. Smart's scream would have carried 3 blocks and started the dogs 3 blocks away all barking, especially when the doctor looked checking out the other direction which is where the scream came from. He was waken up and heard the car race by 2:30, he dozed, then was waken up again by the scream and went outside to check it out.

[cookiedough]

Was no one else in the neighborhood awakened by that scream?

[cookiedough]

Wait a minute ... are you serious?

[varina davis]

I think reporters routinely stick "allegedly" into just about everything, even when it isn't necessary -- to avoid possible litigation.

That's absolutely correct and woe to the reporter who forgets to do that. And it's not only to avoid litigation, it's also because in this country, everyone is innocent until PROVEN guilty -- commonly referred to as the presumption of innocence.

[lakey]

Did you get any new news from your SLC cop friends? We are all anxiously awaiting some insider stuff that only you can provide.

[cookiedough]

Actually, I think it's more to avoid libel suits.

With the rape example, it is safer to say a certain person is an alleged rapist, rather than calling him a rapist because of the huge potential for a libel suit. But to say a woman is "allegedly" raped is nonsense -- there is no libel connected with it.

The presumption of innocence technically applies only in a legal setting.

[lakey]

Has the doctor taken a polygraph & been before the Grand Jury? Has he been interviewed by media?

[Sherlock]

http://maps.yahoo.com/py/maps.py?BFCat=&Pyt=Tmap&addr=850+E+300+S&city=Salt+Lake+City&state=UT&csz=Salt+Lake+City%2C+UT+84102-2332&slt=40.762763&sln=-111.866427&Ds=n&mlt=40.777066&mln=-111.852188&zip=84102-2332&country=us&mag=9&cs=9&BFClient=&BFKey=&poi=&poititle=&map.x=302&map.y=6

'Definitely Something': They say that when a coyote kills a rabbit, the yelp resembles a child's cry. What Steve Voss heard in the early hours of June 5 sounded much more human.
Voss, a gynecologist, was on call so he was sleeping in the back bedroom of his Federal Heights home. He was awakened by his wife who was in the bathroom. They heard a car racing down the street. It was 2:30.
"I drifted and then I heard what I thought was a yell or a scream. It sounded female," Voss says. "I've never heard anything like it before."
Dogs started barking and Voss went downstairs to check on theirs. He looked at the hills behind Tomahawk Drive and saw nothing unusual. He went back to bed.
At 6 a.m., a neighbor dropped by and said, "Go check your kids.'' The Smarts' 14-year-old daughter has been kidnapped from their home on Kristianna Circle, the street below Tomahawk.
An hour later, a police officer knocked on the door and Voss recounted what he had heard.
"I suppose it could have been a coyote. I was half asleep," he says. "But it was definitely something."

This is a map of the area. The Smarts' street, Kristianna Circle, is the cul de sac labeled Arlington Park (the park is at the corner at Virginia Street). The article says the doctor lives on Tomahawk Drive which is above the Smarts. He's awakened, hears a car race by, then nods off and is reawakened by the scream. When he heard the scream and the dogs started barking he went outside and looked at the hills behind Tomahawk Drive which implies that's where he thought the scream came from. I would guess the hills are north of Tomahawk which looks like an undeveloped area. This indicates Elizabeth may have been taken up into these hills north of Tomahawk on the map.

[cookiedough]

I wish he had called the police. But I can understand that he was sleepy and figured it must have been an animal, until he reconsidered what he had heard after finding out that Liz had been abducted. Most people who live in a safe, upscale neighborhood would not leap to the conclusion that a crime was afoot.

[lakey]

2:30 a.m. "It sounded female." There's our connection to MK awakening her parents before 4 a.m.

[cookiedough]

Only if it was Mrs. Smart's scream, and the sound would have carried the 3 blocks referred to by Sherlock in #143.

[lakey]

Believe me, cookiedough, it was Mrs. Smart's scream.

JG - how about asking your pals for the Smart's phone records for early June 6th from 2:30 a.m. to when they called the police?

[Sherlock]

I wish he had called the police.

I know. I also wish the police would have asked Ricci about the Jeep Ed Smart gave him and followed up on it's whereabouts the first time they interviewed him on Jun 5 or 6. I fear that whatever he did with the Jeep on Jun 8 that left it covered with white mud, bugs, and pine needles was real bad news for Elizabeth. I'd also like to know what happened with the 911 call the security guard at Shriners Hospital made when the guy was acting funny at the entrance of the hospital. On one of the first interviews I saw him he said he made a 911 call about it but he didn't say anything about the police response and I never heard him mention it again. The hospital is just below Popperton Park at the next intersection down where it says 1000.

[varina davis]

Actually, I think it's more to avoid libel suits.

With the rape example, it is safer to say a certain person is an alleged rapist, rather than calling him a rapist because of the huge potential for a libel suit. But to say a woman is "allegedly" raped is nonsense -- there is no libel connected with it.

It is certainly to avoid libel suits, no question. It is also used (the word alleged) by responsible journalists because of ethics.

I can't agree that to say a woman is "allegedly raped is nonsense." There are instances when people are falsely accused of rape.

It is rare in the print media that much is said at all about rape, except to note the arrest and/or conviction of the assailant. Most newspapers opt to not publish the name of an alleged rape victim because of the history of such a victim being shunned by society (fair or not). It's even more rare to use names of juveniles (under 18 or 21) in felony or misdemeanor cases.

[Sherlock]

Believe me, cookiedough, it was Mrs. Smart's scream.

I think only if this is some kind of an Alfred Hitchcock movie or something. He was checking out the other direction, lakey.

[lakey]

Up in the hills, sounds carry.

The Smarts were awake before 4 a.m. Mary Katherine told them who took Elizabeth! If you don't know that, then you don't know much about kids.

[Sherlock]

JG - how about asking your pals for the Smart's phone records for early June 6th from 2:30 a.m. to when they called the police?

I haven't heard them mention this. Police have probably checked them out. It's a tremendous shame they probably have not checked out Ricci's phone records.

[Sherlock]

Mary Katherine told them who took Elizabeth!

Well? Who took her?