Ricci Dies in Coma
Saturday, August 31, 2002
BY ASHLEY BROUGHTON and KEVIN CANTERA
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
Richard Albert Ricci died Friday evening at University Hospital after family members made the decision to remove him from life support, hospital officials said.
Ricci, who had been in a deep coma since suffering a brain hemorrhage Tuesday night in his cell at the Utah State Prison, was taken off life support at 7:16 p.m. and died at 7:28. His wife, Angela, was by his side, as were Ricci's mother, brother and sister.
Ricci, 48, who police had at the top of the list of possible suspects in the June 5 disappearance of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart, had shown no brain activity Friday except initiating breathing on his own, hospital officials said.
A brain scan performed Thursday night showed Ricci's brain stem, including the area responsible for consciousness, was severely damaged from the brain hemorrhage, said neurologist Elaine Skalabrin.
Members of the Smart family, meanwhile, hope that information Ricci may have had regarding Elizabeth's whereabouts did not die with him.
"The family wants to express their condolences to Angela, she has been through so much," said Chris Thomas, Smart family spokesman. "As far as the investigation, [Ricci's death] might help. People who may have been involved can now step forward and tell all. There are still so many questions."
The family on Friday announced additional rewards for information in the case, including the identity of a person seen with Ricci three days after the abduction.
Although police had said Ricci never fully answered their questions, Ricci was never charged in connection with the kidnapping and he maintained his innocence. He had been in prison since June for alleged parole violations. After Ricci was hospitalized in critical condition, Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse said that, if Ricci died, "that would be a big impact on the [Smart] case." He added, "There are questions about things that [Ricci] did . . . [his death] will have an impact on if we can ever clear him."
Angela Ricci released a statement shortly after her husband died. In it she said, "Although I know that Richard would not have wanted to be kept alive by artificial means, six months ago when we married, saying good-bye was unthinkable. Like other new brides I had planned a life with the man I loved. . . . I know that the world will never know the Richard that his family and I knew, but I will always remember him as a kind and gentle man who was a loving husband to me and a caring father to my son." Ricci received an LDS blessing Friday evening before life support was removed, said spokeswoman Nancy Pomeroy. The blessing asked that "the will of the Lord be done." Angela Ricci is Mormon; her husband was raised in the Roman Catholic Church.
Doctors do not know what caused Ricci's hemorrhage, Skalabrin said, but it was not an aneurysm. Common causes include a small malformation in blood vessels or a weakening of blood vessels stemming from long-term high blood pressure.
No malformation was found in Ricci's case, Skalabrin said. While Ricci previously took blood-pressure medication, his blood pressure was normal when he received a physical exam upon entering the prison in June. Although staffers continued to monitor it, he was judged not to need medication, Ford said.
In addition, there would probably have been physical signs that Ricci's body was affected by years of high blood pressure, Skalabrin said, and he reported no such symptoms. An autopsy is planned.
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http://www.sltrib.com/08312002/utah/767062.htm
Not Knowing: Bundy Victim's Parents Sympathize With Smarts
Saturday, August 31, 2002
BY LINDA FANTIN
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
With Richard Ricci dead and unable to answer any more questions about Elizabeth Smart's disappearance, it is hard to imagine there are people out there who understand what Ed and Lois Smart are going through.
But once upon a horrible time, the Kent family was spiraling down a similar path.
Their 17-year-old daughter, Debi, was abducted Nov. 8, 1974, from Viewmont High School in Bountiful and, despite exhaustive searches, was never found. The man believed to be responsible was in jail for other crimes and facing certain death. Police had only circumstantial evidence tying Ted Bundy to the Kent case, but it was enough to torture the Kents into believing the serial killer would die before he could confess or clear his name.
The Smarts have now landed in the Kents' nightmare.
Fourteen-year-old Elizabeth is gone, kidnapped June 5 from her Salt Lake City home, and Ricci, the man at the focus of the police investigation, was taken off life support Friday night.
Ricci repeatedly denied any involvement in Elizabeth's kidnapping, and his wife said he was home in bed with her at the time.
A year ago, the Smarts hired the 48-year-old handyman to perform odd jobs at their home, unaware that he was a paroled criminal. He had a history of petty crime, shot and wounded a law officer and was a longtime drug user. He even told a neighbor the day after Elizabeth disappeared that he thought police would suspect him.
But law enforcement only nodded in Ricci's direction. They searched his trailer and that of his in-laws but apparently never uncovered enough physical evidence to tie Ricci to the crime.
Ricci's conduct cannot and should not be compared with that of a serial killer like Ted Bundy. But both men were unwilling and later unable to answer critical questions about the abductions, leaving the Smarts and the Kents haunted.
"We are very, very sympathetic to the Smarts. We know the anguish those folks are feeling," said Dean Kent, Debi's father. "Hardly a day in my life goes by that I don't reflect on the unknowing."
Bundy ultimately confessed to killing 38 women. But in Debi's case, he did so 15 years after the fact and only because he thought it might delay his execution. All those years of Bundy's silence, of not knowing whether Debi was dead or alive, robbed the Kents of any peace of mind.
"Every time the phone rang, every time I left the house, I was watching and looking for my daughter, right up until the time Bundy confessed," Kent told The Salt Lake Tribune. "It's a feeling of pure frustration. You just don't know what to expect."
Other families were caught in the same turmoil. Nancy Wilcox, a 16-year-old Olympus High cheerleader, disappeared a month before Debi. She was last seen in a yellow Volkswagen similar to the one Bundy drove. Nancy Baird, 23, vanished from a Layton gas station July 5, 1975. Their bodies were never found.
In the days leading up to his execution, Bundy toyed with Utah investigators, agreeing to interviews and then backing out at the last minute. Finally, he confessed to killing eight women. He mentioned Debi Kent and Nancy Wilcox by name. Bundy also told investigators where to find their bodies, but searches turned up nothing conclusive.
Dean Kent said he listened to Bundy's taped confession, but Bundy had played the judicial system for so long that Kent wasn't sure what to think.
"It was a real anxious moment for us, and candidly, I think there was some relief. We had been led to believe and I think our subconscious told us he was responsible for all those years. But there was always that question -- 'What if?' "
Last week, Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse said Ricci's death would be a blow to the Elizabeth Smart investigation, but not necessarily a final one. Police are looking at several other people who might have information about the kidnapping, he said. They have Ricci's blood, hair and tissue samples that, should more evidence surface, could once and for all clear him, or link him to the crime. Then there is always the possibility investigators could solve the case and still not find Elizabeth.
"We live with that. We're haunted by that every day," Dinse said. "You think about it all the time, and it's a reality. But it's one we're not willing to give into right now."
How's an LDS blessing done, is this when they baptize their dead by dunking them into the font?