Elizabeth Smart Case - Ricci Dies in Hospital

FoxNews | 8/30/02

[stlnative]

Richard Ricci Dies in Hospital

AP
Richard Ricci

Friday, August 30, 2002

SALT LAKE CITY — Richard Albert Ricci, the top potential suspect in the kidnapping of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart, died at a hospital Friday.

Ricci, 48, had been hospitalized for three days after suffering from a brain hemorrhage and collapsing in his jail cell, doctors said.

Earlier Friday, doctors had said Ricci had an irreversible injury to the brain stem after the hemorrhage Tuesday night.

The former handyman for the Smart family was not charged in the disappearance and denied involvement. He was in prison for a parole violation.

Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse this week reaffirmed that Ricci remained at the top of the list of potential suspects in Elizabeth's abduction. However, investigators were no closer to finding the missing 14-year-old than they were June 5, when a gunman took her from the bedroom she was sharing with her younger sister.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[Sherlock]

I am sure they will be video taping to see who comes and goes from the funeral home and burial of Ricci.

I doubt many will show other than family members, police officers, and bella & varina.

[sandude]

I think after Ricci is in the ground it will get real interesting

I agree. If it doesn't then this could turn cold and that would really be tragic.

[Sherlock]

My strongest suspicion is that it was a ransom plot gone bad but with no ransom demand it is hard to be sure.

That makes sense but I'm leaning to something more basic. I'm thinking, based a lot on the personality change Thurber mentioned seeing on the morning of Jun 5, he may have just wigged out and, with or without a friend, under the influence of alcohol, did it out of lust. Thurber said he was sweating profusely from digging the next morning and the FBI tore the porch off the trailer over where he had been digging. As you said he would have thought he had some time if he didn't know MK had awakened and seen him. I don't know how big a hole he was digging but he may have been whacked out and trying to bury the body under Thurber's trailer. He got caught doing that and could have moved it temporarily to another location while Thurber was watching the movie, or kept it in his trunk.

Remember the doctor that lived a couple of blocks up from the Smarts had his wife wake him and he first heard a car race by, then he dropped back off, then he was awakened again by a blood curdling scream like he had never heard before that sounded like a lady. All the dogs in the neighborhood started barking and he went out and looked up into the hills north of Tomahawk (indicating that is the direction the scream came from) but he didn't see anything and went back to sleep. If Ricci didn't have a partner and couldn't take her home and didn't have money for anything else he might have taken her up to an abandoned area there but then couldn't control her. He may have well have been loaded and intoxicated. Pretty gruesome thinking, I know.

[stlnative]

I get the impression, that if Angela knows anything at all after the fact of all of it, she will be telling police or will be working with police now, she is a parent herself. I would bet she is under police protection right now. I like the little tidbit about her saying let the family grieve and after that she will be making a statement. The police I bet are high on her coat tail and may even try to convince her to help them sweat the guy out even if they or she does not know who it is. Think about it... she could come on TV and say that she knows who it is because Ricci told her but she is working with police to clear Ricci's name as the kidnapper and/or the killer of Liz before she tells them who Ricci was working with or for. (Head games with Ricci's helper)

If Ricci is involved with this he probably was not the one that went into the house and he may not be the one that killed her, her partner may have been the one, but Ricci was there and now Ricci is dead, but his partner will be facing full charges if caught even if Ricci was there with him and did most of the dirty work.

Police have had at least 3 days to work on her at the hospital. They pretty well knew right away he was not going to make it. Most people with this type of illness only live about 30 days, also it is possible that he may have responded early on (they said he did when they poked him).
I think if I was the police I would be bluffing some and would start telling the public that he was able to respond early on to some questions by moving his toes or something. What we are reading in the media is what the media has been told but alot more could have happened while he was laying in that bed for 3 days. They did day he could breath on his own at some point, who is to say he was not able to respond in some way to some questions? (LOL... I think I watch too much ER, but it possible isn't it?)

[whenigettime]

"They did day he could breath on his own at some point, who is to say he was not able to respond in some way to some questions? (LOL... I think I watch too much ER, but it possible isn't it?)"

Well, considering he died after 12 minutes off the ventilator, I'm willing to bet a Pepsi that Ricci was brain dead on arrival to the hospital.

I sure do hope Angela sings as you have said.

[Sherlock]

I get the impression, that if Angela knows anything at all after the fact of all of it, she will be telling police or will be working with police now, she is a parent herself.

The one thing that makes me believe in the ransom theory is the supposed phone call from Angela to Moul. If she knew Ricci bailed the Jeep out and wasn't parking it at the trailer park she would know why and if he was letting someone use it she would know who.

I like the little tidbit about her saying let the family grieve and after that she will be making a statement.

I think either she will give out some information or she will announce she's suing the Smarts, the SLCPD, sandude, and anyone else she can get her hands on. It's possible she will need to give friends that know information hope to stand by her rather than going for the $3000 (maybe even $25,000). But she may decide to cut a deal (may, as you say, already have) and tell what she knows because she knows one of her confidants may tell and she will be implicated for hiding evidence or some involvement in the kidnapping.

The police I bet are high on her coat tail and may even try to convince her to help them sweat the guy out even if they or she does not know who it is. Think about it... she could come on TV and say that she knows who it is because Ricci told her but she is working with police to clear Ricci's name as the kidnapper and/or the killer of Liz before she tells them who Ricci was working with or for. (Head games with Ricci's helper)

Really good thinking. One thing that impressed me was not only did LE move right into gear with the statement implying they are about to give the identity of other suspects that may have ties to Ricci, but the Smart camp also sprung into action, first saying Ricci potentially had a key then offering the $3000 rewards. Both LE and the family seem to have well oiled PR machines.

I think if I was the police I would be bluffing some and would start telling the public that he was able to respond early on to some questions by moving his toes or something. What we are reading in the media is what the media has been told but alot more could have happened while he was laying in that bed for 3 days. They did day he could breath on his own at some point, who is to say he was not able to respond in some way to some questions? (LOL... I think I watch too much ER, but it possible isn't it?)

Exactly, great points.

[cherry]

"I sure do hope Angela sings as you have said."

Angela won't sing....she will sue...

[Sherlock]

Angela won't sing....she will sue...

My bet's with sue. We need an FR poll.

[stlnative]

SUE!!! (sue for what? Ricci was in prison on breaking his parole then he confessed on his own about the burglaries.) If the autopsy shows nothing but a natural illiness due to hypertension or past drug use, she has nothing to sue about. Now unless the autopsy shows something different, then she may be able to sue... but it up to her and her lawyers to prove that foul play was involved in his death.

[stlnative]

Tell me on what grounds will she be able sue on? (As it stands right now and if the autospy shows a "so called" natural death she has nothing to sue about)

[cherry]

I think she with her lawyer will tell the cops to put up or shut up.....indict him and convict him or stop "sullying " his "good" name...

I don't like it....but that is where this is headed....not only that...I can not see how any judge would let a trial go on if the defendent is dead....

the POlice have been very careful with their words up to this point...I do think they think its him....but I suspect that they will become very quiet now....at least on Ricci.....sad, sad case.....

[sandude]

I don't know how big a hole he was digging but he may have been whacked out and trying to bury the body under Thurber's trailer.

I don't think this is possible. We know that the Jeep wasn't at the theme park. I think that the Jeep was stored in the accomplice’s garage and that Elizabeth was secured in his basement. Ricci's sweat was real. He had no idea how much MK had seen. For all he knew the police were going to arrive any minute. I think he was burying the gun under Thurber's trailer. He moved it while Thurber and his step son were at the movies.

[sandude]

All the dogs in the neighborhood started barking and he went out and looked up into the hills north of Tomahawk (indicating that is the direction the scream came from) but he didn't see anything and went back to sleep.

I've said before that if this was a sex crime that it is possible that the molestation of Elizabeth began in the Hills above the Smart home. This would account for the scream. I don't think they killed her on that first day. They wouldn't have had time to properly dispose of her body. She would have shown up by now with all the searching that has gone on in the Salt Lake area.

[stlnative]

I hope your wrong and I hope she does not go on TV crying about how unfair all this was. Right now if the cops go quiet then it tells me they don't have anything on Ricci. Personally they need to come out and possible tell SOME of what they know and they should announce that they know he had partner (if they truly believe this). I am sorry but I don't think anything will break in this case if they continue to keep quiet. If they do not take advantage of the Ricci dying, then they are making a big mistake. I liked to see her try to sue them. She is an ex-con, he is a dead ex-con many times over, it will be laughed out of court. She needs to come clean and clear his name or help the police find out how it all happened and who may have helped him and where Liz is.

[sandude]

she will announce she's suing the Smarts, the SLCPD, sandude, and anyone else she can get her hands on.

The Smarts and the SLPD have never actually leveled a charge at Richard. As for me, I better get a lawyer.

[lakey]

Any chance that LE will soon have to come up with Boylan's drawing?

[stlnative]

Here is the new weekly thread

I think this thread will have to be put back on a daily thread as I think the case will probably come alive again with the death of Ricci.

[Sherlock]

If they do not take advantage of the Ricci dying, then they are making a big mistake. I liked to see her try to sue them. She is an ex-con, he is a dead ex-con many times over, it will be laughed out of court. She needs to come clean and clear his name or help the police find out how it all happened and who may have helped him and where Liz is.

In some liberal state she might be able to try to bring a lawsuit for defamation of character but I agree that wouldn't fly in Utah, they wouldn't stand for it. After all, the other thread says the Catholic Church already gave Ricci an OK to go into heaven, what more does she want (by the way, I certainly don't think Ricci got any pass from anyone into heaven after he died, that's not what my bible says).

[cherry]

I don't think that the police can go on throwing Ricci's name out there now....they can not bring him to trial imo...maybe bella knows that answer...

we are supposed to be able to face our accuser...but that implies the defendent has a "face" and is alive....

Slander..libel...you name it...some big time civil attorney will come on in and demand millions....

Remember that Angela is a druggie...she would sell her own mother to get money....

I do suppose however, if she had any info she could try to claim some of that reward money...maybe that is what the Smart family is thinking..

I am keeping track, and I find that there are three new pieces of information just released by Ed....that the car across the street from MOUL's was a blue van..that Ricci might have had a key ( but that was a possibility all along) and that there was a chair under the window in the kitchen...

If the perp left a chair there....he left prints....we know or guess that he did not wear gloves because MK saw hairy hands ...so why have we not heard about any prints...

this is like a chess game....I think we are going to be reaching "checkmate" ......none of this adds up, folks...