Smart Case, July 31, 2002

07/31/02 | Jolly Green

[Jolly Green]

Time Line
04/01/01	Sunday	Ricci burglarizes a Smart neighbor's home taking various items.
06/05/01	Tuesday	Ricci steals items from the Smart home while he is employed there as a handyman. Ricci is charged in July of 2002 of 1 count of theft related to the Smart incident.
05/30/02	Thursday	~ Ricci returns to pick up his Jeep at the auto repair shop before the shop has a chance to fully fix it He tells the repairman that it needed for an emergency.
06/04/02	Tuesday	~ Ricci is at work from about 9am to 5:30pm ~ Ricci claims he spends the evening with friends
06/05/02	Wednesday	~ 1:05am - 2 cars are spotted on the SLC Shriner's Hospital Parking Lot by a hospital security guard, two blocks from the Smart residence ~ 1:30am (approx) - Elizabeth is kidnapped from her home ~ 1:30am - Ricci claims to be in bed asleep with his with wife. ~ Ricci is scheduled to be off work all day today. ~ 7:21am - Rachel/Amber alert is issued and national media is involved. ~ 8:30am - Ricci and his neighbor talk about the kidnapping of Elizabeth, Ricci seems to know too much information about it. ~ Sometime during this day Ricci is visited by police in regards to Elizabeth's kidnapping as reported by Angela Ricci (Richard A. Ricci's Wife which is an ex-convict herself) ~ Ricci is seen by his neighbor digging a hole by his (Ricci's) trailer early in the morning. (heard the neighbor say this on TV)
06/06/02	Thursday	~ Ricci is scheduled to work from 9am to 5:30pm today, but instead works from 10:30am to 7:00pm ~ Police talk to Ricci this day about the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping. (The media is reporting this, so it could be wrong)
06/08/02	Saturday	~ Ricci returns the Jeep to the repair shop to get it fixed. The Jeep is muddy and the repair shop owner sees Ricci remove seat covers from the back of the jeep and place them into a plastic garbage bag that already contains other stuff in it. Also the repair shop owner said a muddy post hole digger was in the back of the Jeep, Ricci removes this also. Ricci has a man waiting across the street to give him a ride. Ricci takes the plastic bag and contents along with the post hole digger with him. Also there is 500 to 1000 extra miles on the Jeep since Ricci picked it up on May 30th, 2002.
06/14/02	Friday	~ Ricci is taken into custody for a parole violation, this being drinking while on parole and association with other ex-cons.
07/11/02	Thursday	Formal charges are filed against Ricci (2 counts of theft & 1 count of burglary) on the theft & burglary of the Smart neighbors home which occurred in April 2001, and 1 more count of theft for stealing from the Smart home on June 6th, 2001.
Special thanks to Brigette for starting this timeline.

[IamHD]

Mr. Smart is both a real estate agent/broker, and he also owns a Mortgage Company. He is listed with both. If you want the details, you can FReepmail me.

[Iwo Jima]

How would Thurber know what time Angela and Ricci went to bed that night? Does he sleep with them?

How does Thurber know if Angela took any pain medication that night? Is he her keeper?

I'm not trying to pile on here, but I think that you are not accurately remembering and/or relaying Thurber's comments. Also, he seemed to be not very sharp or credible.

If I understand your posts correctly, it seems that we have many common opinions -- that Ricci was involved but not the actual abductor or the ringleader. So I don't understand why you are so hung up on this point of what Ricci was doing that night.

I think that Ricci has as good an alibi as anyone could expect that he would under the circumstances. He and his wife say he was at home in bed, and she has passed a lie detector test. His test results were inconclusive but we don't know what that means. Whatever his involvement was, it was not the actual kidnapping.

[sandude]

I'll certainly try to be nicer. My views have been attacked so often on this thread by sherlock and J.G. -- I guess I just got carried away for a moment.

There certainly could be more civility from all quarters on this thread. I don't mean to be singling you out Varina. I'll pick on JG next time. While I agree with many of his idea's he could sure chill out a little.

[varina davis]

I'll pick on JG next time. While I agree with many of his idea's he could sure chill out a little.

He probably just thinks it's cool to be real strack.

[Bella]

and we know that the doc could hear the scream because the window was open ....isn't that the way the abductor came in?????....well, at least we know someone opened the window....

http://www.thewgalchannel.com/sh/news/stories/nat-news-151030920020613-060641.html

Police: Utah Girl's Family Only One Focus Report Says Utah Teen's Kidnapper May Be Family Member

The Salt Lake Tribune said detectives haven't been able to explain how the kidnapper could have gotten into the house through a small window that appeared to be the entry point.

It also said investigators think a window screen in the home appears to have been cut from the inside -- perhaps to make it look like a break-in.

The newspaper said the information is from four law enforcement agencies, which it isn't identifying. It said investigators have surmised that someone who was already inside the home may have tried to make the window look as though a break-in occurred.

Elizabeth Smart's family said they're "disappointed" by Thursday's article in the Salt Lake Tribune.

The family said it continues to cooperate fully with the investigation.

A spokesman said investigators have not ruled out anyone as a suspect.

[Sherlock]

Because Moul, who Ricci thought didn't keep mileage records, etc., would afford him the perfect alibi for the whereabouts of the jeep i.e. it was in the shop the entire time. It would have just been Ricci's word against Moul's - except for those darn records.

And because he was afraid the cops would be hot on him he wanted to make sure he got it turned back in as soon as possible and definitely before closing on Jun 8.

This does, however, make me really wonder if the police even asked Ricci about the Jeep when they first interviewed him after the kidnapping. If they had asked about it and tracked down what Ricci told them they would have blown the case wide open early.

[stlnative]

Thanks again everyone for the Birthday Wishes today!

This 36 year old kid... did go to Red Lobster and had the bottomless bucket of crab legs! - I will not confess how many pounds I ate, but I feel like I growing crab claws as I type this. We gave the waitress an $17.50 tip, which made her day. She was such a great waitress and she really worked her butt off for us making sure I had hot crab legs when I we were ready for them. I did find out she is a college student. Well this crab is off to check out whats on eBay tonight (I love looking around) and hopefully tomorrow I will be back on desktop with my ping list handy. Goodnite all and prayers will be said again tonight for Liz & her family and all missing children. Brigette

[varina davis]

The Salt Lake Tribune said detectives haven't been able to explain how the kidnapper could have gotten into the house through a small window that appeared to be the entry point.

It also said investigators think a window screen in the home appears to have been cut from the inside -- perhaps to make it look like a break-in.

The newspaper said the information is from four law enforcement agencies, which it isn't identifying. It said investigators have surmised that someone who was already inside the home may have tried to make the window look as though a break-in occurred.

Elizabeth Smart's family said they're "disappointed" by Thursday's article in the Salt Lake Tribune.

Wow! Good find, Bella.

[Iwo Jima]

Glad your had a nice birthday and a good evening. Nite.

[sandude]

Whatever his involvement was, it was not the actual kidnapping.

I'm not so sure. I think, along with the police, that his alibi is shaky. I couldn't help but notice at today's hearing that his height looks about right for the perp. It's tough to tell but it appeared that way as he stood next to his lawyer. As I looked at his long hair I also imagined how a golf hat would work better than a baseball cap if someone was going to tuck their hair into it. His unshaven face could be an attempt to "not look like the perp" as reported in the press. He was handcuffed with his hands behind so we couldn't get a look at the amount of hair. This is all speculation on my part but perhaps others will find it interesting.

[Bella]

Some of us want to see the real culprit apprehended, not a stooge just because he's an easy mark. Ricci is being used as a distraction on this thread.

We want Elizabeth returned to her parents alive.

Most definitely!

[sandude]

I've got an early start so I'll look for your thoughts tomorrow. Goodnight.

[Sherlock]

>How does Thurber know if Angela took any pain medication that night? Is he her keeper?

He wasn't asked how he knew but I'm sure that is what he testified to the grand jury. Before the kidnapping he was a very close friend of Angela and by his sureness in saying she was somatosed I would say either he was there or more probably she told him. Newhouse said Angela told her she was somatosed and didn't know if Rick left or not.

I don't think Ricci went into the house but I believe it was probably Ricci that met the kidnapper at the Shriners Hospital. I'm pretty confident the FBI knows the makes and models of the two cars and that will come out if an arrest is finally made and this goes to trial.

[Jolly Green]

Elizabeth Smart Thread - August 1, 2002

FYI: We keep getting downgraded to "Chat" status, so I'll just post it there from now on.

[Iwo Jima]

My recollection of what I heard Thurber say was that Angela was a heavy user of Soma and described how she had once done a nosedive into her food at dinner. I don't recall him saying anything about what she had or had not taken that night. IIRC Angela said that she hadn't taken anything that night.

I don't remember Thurber saying anything about when Angela and Ricci went to sleep. That's something that I feel sure that I would have remembered because it just screams out for the question "and just how would you know that?"

I hate to see us get crossways over something that may not be that significant a fact in our respective theories. I have Ricci down as an accomplish before and after the fact and a conspirator. You have him down as that and more -- just not the actual abductor inside the home. Either way, he's in major legal trouble and likely has information which can solve this crime.

[Bella]

It would be great to see sweet Elizabeth rescued or her killer hanged.

As I'd like to see all the other sweet children who are missing rescued or their killers hung along with Elizabeth's..

[Bella]

I would like to see Varina and Bella's timeline.

The timeline that we have isn't only ours, many other freepers have contributed, however, Ricci isn't the star actor as on JG's that you're relying on.

[Bella]

He's probably back in jail.

Not yet..

[Bella]

Mr. Smart is both a real estate agent/broker, and he also owns a Mortgage Company. He is listed with both.I>

Yes indeed!

[Sherlock]

>My recollection of what I heard Thurber say was that Angela was a heavy user of Soma and described how she had once done a nosedive into her food at dinner. I don't recall him saying anything about what she had or had not taken that night. IIRC Angela said that she hadn't taken anything that night.

I saw Thurber interviewed on TV news at his trailor twice and then on Larry King and possibly other times. I have no doubt the first time I saw him he said he knew Angela was on the somas that night. He also accused her of lying about knowing her husband was home all night. He said she went around and asked all the neighbors if they had seen him leave for the express purpose of making sure there would be no one that would counter her testimony that he was home all night. Like you say, it's not critical and I can't prove it, but I have no doubt I heard it. I just joined FR at the end of June but I've been following this case from the beginning. After that 1st interview he backed off being as accusative as he was in the 1st. He also made a big point that 1st interview that it was extremely strange how Ricci went on & on about how cute Elizabeth was and how she would follow him around the house and help him when he was there. He said he never thought Ricci could have been involved in something like this but his personality so changed on the morning of Jun 5 and thereafter that he now believed he was involved. He was freaked out but the story about boarding up the hole under his trailer to keep the cats out. The hole was about 3' x 4' and he was trying pound a couple of 2" x 4"s across it and he showed where there were two other huge holes in his trailer anyway, one in front and one in back.