Posted on 09/04/2002 8:39:12 PM PDT by IamHD
ES missing since 6-5-2002 and will have been missing for 3 months in a few hours, so I thought that this would be an approriate time to start a new thread.
MAGNA Friends and family gathered one last time Friday night for an emotional tribute to the late Richard Ricci named as the top potential suspect in the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart.
![]() Angela Ricci receives a hug from a friend at the funeral of her husband, Richard. ![]() Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News |
"To me, he was a very choice individual, a choice son of our Father in Heaven," said Bishop David Morrow, of the LDS Kearns 10th Ward into which Ricci's stepson was recently baptized. "He certainly is not the type of individual that has been played up in the news media."
Ricci, 48, suffered a severe brain hemorrhage Aug. 27 in his cell at the Utah State Prison. His family took him off life support three days later. Since his arrest June 14 on alleged parole violations, police have labeled Ricci as a possible suspect in the June 5 kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart.
A small crowd of about 50 people gathered at the Peel Funeral Home and shared their belief that Ricci was not capable of such a horrific crime.
Several posters lined the walls of the mortuary featuring e-mail from people around the country expressing their support for Ricci's wife and the opinion that Ricci has been unfairly targeted in the Smart case. The kidnapping was not specifically mentioned by any of the speakers.
"I found that Richard was a very loving individual, a very sweet individual, easy to talk to and easy to be around," Bishop Morrow said. During the brief service an emotional Angela Ricci, who married her "soulmate" on Valentine's Day this year, described the tenderness and sense of humor her late husband possessed.
Many in the small congregation shed tears during the service.
Rick Olsen met Ricci several years ago while working as a Department of Corrections employee when Ricci was incarcerated. Olsen said he last saw Ricci in April shortly after the ex-con had completed a treatment program and seemed to be turning his life around.
"He told me how good life was," Olsen said. "He told me things were looking so up. He had the thing in life that made him happy."
Ricci faced state charges of theft and burglary, which included allegations he stole items from the Smart home in April 2001.
In light of his death, Richard Albert Ricci no longer faces federal court charges related to a November 2001 bank robbery.
U.S. District Judge David Winder on Friday granted a motion brought by federal prosecutors to dismiss charges of armed bank robbery, possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime and restricted person in possession of a firearm.
Ricci's alleged associates, John Russell Remington and Douglas Rex Young, remain charged and are poised for an Oct. 30 jury trial.
The men are accused of robbing Far West Bank, 8520 S. 1300 East. Ricci, a former handyman for the family of Elizabeth Smart, was allegedly the mastermind and gunman of the robbery that netted $1,713.
Ricci also faced unrelated state charges of theft and burglary, which included allegations he stole items from the Smart home in April 2001.
Curious! The same could be said of you and Bella.
This isn't the Smart's church. Their church is 2-1/2 blocks from their home on Fairfax - directly across the street from Shriners Childrens Hospital.
I will provide more details about the Smart neighborhood later today or tomorrow.
I've asked the liberals to leave before. If they would it would eliminate 95% of the troublemakers that post here.
That's an absolute crock! The posters referred to all had a common theme - wild-eyed, far-fetched theories which smeared the Church or the Smarts and had no basis in fact. Each of those posters was asked nicely to provide evidence supporting those claims by me and others. Each was asked specific questions to get them to support their claims. None did. None of those posters want to deal with reality and many have bigoted views against the Mormons and the Smarts.
Just the facts!
Although we already knew that there had been some delay in securing the crime scene, this is the first I have heard of it being a 3 HOUR delay. The only possible explanation for this would seem to lie in Dist. Atty. Morgan's comment at the end of the article, where he refers to the scene as "the ward function of the year" which required police to "undo the chaos before they could begin reasonable forensic procedures."
And in spite of all this, police are "downplaying the impact" that this could have on the investigation.......
``But that number is extremely low,'' said Brent Jex, detective with the Salt Lake Area Gang Project. He said documented members are constantly bringing in new people through an initiation process involving committing some type of violent crime.
I wonder if Angela has received varina's check yet?
ROTFLMBO!!!!!
A poor widow the SLCPD believes is stonewalling them on information about a kidnapped and possibly murdered child. It's hard to believe you are a political conservative, Palladin, you come across as a 'thinking liberal' if I've ever heard one.
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