Smart Case, August 3, 2002

08/03/02 | 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.

[Sherlock]

Well, that's the $60,000,000 question. What are the police hiding. Boylan seems to think they have a reason to be hiding it. It's certainly not because they're trying to protect the Smart family, that's laughable.

[Sherlock]

>alleged abduction

Probably has to do with the fact they don't have enough proof of a crime to arrest a suspect, not that they think she might have run away or something. Like Chandra Levy.

[Sherlock]

if and when this case ends up in court...

Shortly before Boylan got in the case LE said there would probably be no arrest until Elizabeth or her body is found. Since Boylan got involved LE has changed their tune and yesterday even called Ricci a suspect. It's for sure that, though I believe LE knows the people that did this, the evidence is weak and if they go to trial they stand a chance of not getting convictions. Later if they find Elizabeth or her body and evidence with it they won't be able to retry because of double jeapardy.

However, the big mystery to me is why the police won't tip their hand on who went into the home. I think this person is in jail now or LE would have a lot to answer for. It certainly could have been Ricci but I think the facts show it was his accomplice. Ricci's big problem is his role on the Jeep trip on Jun 8 and if his car is on the Shriners Hospital video.

LE makes no secret they think there were accomplices. Because of the secrecy I think there may be something about this particular individual that is very sensitive to LE. LE is protecting someone but it's certainly not the Smart family, I think it's either that they still think there's some chance Elizabeth is out there being held or LE wants to cover up something for their own purposes. I think out of Boylan's involvement LE has decided to let Ed Smart in on what they're doing, which makes me think things will start happening now and reduces that chance of this becoming a Chandra Levy which is where I think it was headed not too long ago. I don't know what they were trying to protect before but certainly not the Smarts. Just my opinion.

[stlnative]

Another Thought...

Last night I was thinking that maybe while this was a plotted ransom kidnapping, than maybe the ransom kidnapping went bad when she was being walked to a waiting vehicle through rough terrain. Is it possible that she may have been bitten by a rattlesnake or other poisonous snake while she was being walked to the waiting vehicle? Of course if this happened they could not just leave her there as she could have ID the kidnapper if she was found before she died. They could not seek medical attention for her as again if she lived she would be able to ID her kidnapper.

I don't know how common poisonous snakes are in Utah... but are you always having to watch for them when you are walking through fairly rough terrain?

[Utah Girl]

I haven't done much tromping around the mountains this summer, but I do camp a bit and hike normally. Personally, I've never seen a poisonous snake in the mountains. I know they're there, just haven't the pleasure of running across one...

[Sherlock]

That he could never have a life with her. They would -- it would never work out.

In the early days and at the point around the time of the LKL interview Lois was taking this approach. But she would also put out a shotgun spattering of approaches, this was not the only one. She tried to appeal to all the possibilities.

...lwas when he asked the family did the nine-year-old recognize whoever the intruder was, there was a silence there that I think spoke volumes.

I saw this interview and at the time thought too the indication was they did know who the kidnapper was. However I did not gather as Geragos did that that was something that would give them hope Elizabeth is alive. Since that interview the Smart family started showing questions as to what LE was up to and Ed started getting more involved in trying to make things happen and brought Boylan into the case. This seems to have gotten LE moving and seems to have brought resolve to LE to make something happen (or certainly brought pressure on them to anyway).

Why if they think Ricci is the big suspect, why hasn't someone said, OK, here is his picture.

I've never heard LE say they think Ricci is the guy that went into the house. He may have been but he may not have been. The articles yesterday gave the clearest indication yet and it appears MK did not get a good enough look at the kidnapper's face to ID him.

[Sherlock]

I keep coming back to the idea that if LE didn't know who the abductor/accomplice(s) are, they would be getting tons of information out there. Failure to do that would put all of SLC in jeopardy, no? That's why I feel very strongly they know exactly who it is, know that Elizabeth is alive and well, and are waiting for "something" to lead them to her. The fact that this is so secretive leads me to believe anything said that may compromise the investigation/surveillance will result in tragedy.

I pray that you're right and they believe Elizabeth is alive and well.

[Sherlock]

I keep coming back to the idea that if LE didn't know who the abductor/accomplice(s) are, they would be getting tons of information out there. Failure to do that would put all of SLC in jeopardy, no?

Yes, I agree, good point.

[TXLady]

Hi spore-gasm, All.

Early on in the investigation one of the LEO stated that due to the "unique circumstances" in this case it made it difficult to talk about it or reveal anything they were investigating. Anyone else hear these remarks? I believe it was before they found Edmonds in WestVA. I remember that statement because after that there were a few days that the LE were not doing news briefings, before they stopped all together.

[Sherlock]

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (CNN) -- Police said Tuesday a "trusted person in the neighborhood" may be the man who snatched 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart from her home at gunpoint. In hopes someone might recognize him, they released a more detailed description.

Capt. Scott Atkinson said they were looking for a white male, 30 to 40 years old, 5 feet 8 inches to 5 feet 10 inches tall, with a medium build and dark hair.

The night of the abduction, police said the suspect carried a small dark handgun and wore a Polo brand shirt, tan pants, dark shoes and tan cap. He had dark hair on his arms and the back of hands, they said, and was described as calm but "concerned others would awake."

He would not specify the second location. Police had already said Mary Catherine saw the man in the girls' shared bedroom.

"We believe that this person may be a trusted person in the neighborhood or in the community. [It] might be someone ... that had reason to be here, that had reason to come across the family, all those kind of things we still believe," Atkinson said.

http://pub37.ezboard.com/felizabethsmartcaseforumfrm13.showMessage?topicID=26.topic

This article is from Jun 19, about 5 days after they arrested Ricci and about 5 days before they announced him to the public.. I think the telling words are "that had reason to be there, that had reason to come across the family." I take in this they were referring to Ricci, that he had reason to be there and had run across the family by working for them. I admit this is by no means clear.

I tend to think if it wasn't Ricci that went in the house it was the strange fellow in the white Honda seen a few nights before by the milkman. If he had an obsession with Elizabeth that would explain why he was lurking in the neighborhood. The getaway driver in Ricci's bank robbery drove a white Honda. The security man at Shriner's Hospital said the man behaving strangely in the parking lot had short dark hair and was driving a silver Honda.

The license plate on the Honda seen by the milkman later showed up on Edmunds car. The number was not on file with the DMV, they were phony plates. Newhouse said she saw Edmunds with Ricci on Sunday before the kidnapping. So this sighting ties Ricci to Edmunds and the phony plates tie the guy in the white Honda to Edmunds which ties all 3 together. Since this was a phony license plate number they may have had 2 sets of them, one on the Honda and one on Edmunds car, or they may have moved to Edmunds car sometime after the kidnapping. Edmunds license plate number was photographed by a neighbor at least a week after the abduction. When police saw it was the same number as the phony plate on the Honda given by the milkman, the police were obviously very interested in talking to Edmunds. They said later when they got Edmunds he had cooperated and they implied they had gotten information from him. Edmunds may well have been an addict friend of these guys and known more than we realized.

[hergus]

On the last post of yesteday's thread you said something about Tom Smart not going to church anymore. Thus he wouldn't be the best spokesman for the family.

I've never heard this about Tom...can you clarify what this means as far as the LDS religion goes? Is this a big thing if you stop attending church?

I am not attacking, please understand, I'm just curious. I have a favorite aunt who is LDS, so I have no animosity.

Also where did you read this about Tom? Do you know more about why he isn't going to church?

[TXLady]

Thanks for the reply, and for the comment from MSNBC. I usually watch Fox, I too have forgotten so much,but having the timeline helps a lot.

Seems like that is what is frustrating us all, the nondisclosure of so many facts and the different ways they have of not presenting ANYthing.

[Sherlock]

Seems like that is what is frustrating us all, the nondisclosure of so many facts and the different ways they have of not presenting ANYthing.

Absolutely, and we want to know why! And until recently I think Ed Smart wanted to know why but since Boylan came in I think LE has brought Ed Smart more into the loop.

[hergus]

Why would LE and the Smart's especiallly believe that Elizabeth was alive and safe if another member of a Ricci type ex-con gang had her? A member of that type of group wouldn't be certain to take care of Elizabeth, to keep her safe and alive.

The way Ed is talking she is in the hand's of someone they think they can trust. Ex-con's wouldn't be on my short list of people I'd think of in that case.

[Sherlock]

The man in the white Honda? Would the mastermind take the chance of being seen in the neighborhood?

No, I don't think this guy was a mastermind. I think he might have been in the neighborhood because they were antsy. Since Ricci hid his Jeep on May 30 I think they intended to do the kidnapping earlier but were interrupted by the death of Mrs. Smart's parent and had to wait for all the extended family to get out of the way.

However, I doubt that he would be one for LE to be sensitive to; Ricci would not fit that theory, either. The man in the white Honda?

The only reason they would be sensitive to the guy in the white Honda would be if he was someone that should have been off the streets but showed up out of nowhere somehow. If what was done to Elizabeth was because of financial problems Ed Smart might have had there could be SLC mafia involvement which would certainly give LE reason to be sensitive. If it was someone that wanted Elizabeth for something illegal, like pornography in a foreign country, it could just be taking the FBI a long time to locate where she might have gone to.

What you pointed out about Edmunds leads me to believe these dirtballs may have been hired by someone. Edmunds appears either to have gotten enough money to go on a spree resulting in an overdose or part of his payment may have been in drugs laced with something to take him out as a witness. Edmunds car was always clean, I wonder who he knew that had a car wash in SLC.

[Neenah]

There was mention by a poster that Ed Smart brought in Jeanne Boylan the second time.

I saw this interview and at the time thought too the indication was they did know who the kidnapper was. However I did not gather as Geragos did that that was something that would give them hope Elizabeth is alive. Since that interview the Smart family started showing questions as to what LE was up to and Ed started getting more involved in trying to make things happen and brought Boylan into the case.

Actually, she said on Hannity and Colmes, that LE brought her in the second time, and she got to work with Mary Katherine.

*********************************************************** This partial transcript from Hannity & Colmes, August 1, 2002

HALPIN: Welcome back to HANNITY & COLMES. I'm Pat Halpin filling in for Alan Colmes.

Jeanne Boylan, a criminal profiler, recently met with the Smart family.

Unlike police sketch artists, Jeanne helps eyewitnesses to retrieve memories that some say provide more accurate images of the perpetrators. Her sketches helped catch the suspect in the Polly Klaas murder and the Unabomber case. Can she help find Elizabeth Smart? Jeanne now joins us.

Jeanne, thanks for being with us.

JEANNE BOYLAN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: You're welcome.

HALPIN: You spent a lot of time with Mary Katherine. And I know you can't talk about what you did for them. But it's been reported that Ed Smart called you twice to ask you to assist in this case. And after you spent time with his daughter, he said you -- he was quoted as saying something like you're encouraged that the police are now -- are going in the right direction, that it confirmed what the police seemed to be doing. Can you tell us anything about that?

BOYLAN: I have been on vacation, so I've been a little bit out of the loop in terms of that news. I was called into Salt Lake by the Smarts, and then ultimately by the authorities. And I can talk about the state of mind that Mary Katherine is in. I know a lot of people have inquired. And I'm delighted to report that she's a very strong child. She's very committed to assisting in this search for Elizabeth. Her mental state is -- she's very alert, very astute, extremely articulate, and was quite good to work with in terms of my particular job.

For full transcript, click here