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Good update story on Ricci, Chief Dinse, etc.: Ricci Critical After Emergency Brain Surgery Aug 28, 2002 9:17 am US/Mountain After a six-hour emergency surgery to relieve pressure on his brain, the top potential suspect in Elizabeth Smart's abduction remained in critical condition Wednesday afternoon. Officials said a blood clot had been removed from Richard Albert Ricci's brain, and pressure on his brain stem had been relieved. The operation began around 11 p.m. Tuesday. Hospital officials said Ricci most likely suffered a spontaneous cerebral hemorrhage. The cause was unknown. He remains on life support. A University Hospital neurosurgeon said it was too early to know whether Ricci, deeply comatose and in grave condition, would live. His prognosis wouldn't be known for 24 to 48 hours, the surgeon said. Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse said his first reaction upon hearing of Ricci's condition was to swear. ``Clearly, if he does not survive, that would be a big impact on the case,'' Dinse said during a news briefing Wednesday morning. ``I've said from the first, this was an unusual case,'' Dinse said. ``To have another twist come in was exceptional in my experience.'' Ricci, 48, called guards Tuesday evening and told them he had trouble breathing, state Corrections spokesman Jack Ford said. They found Ricci sitting on his bed and while they were talking to him, he passed out. They began resuscitation and he was later flown to University Hospital in Salt Lake City, Ford said. Salt Lake County Sheriff's Lt. Robby Russo said Ricci might have been brain-dead by the time he arrived at the hospital. ``Now, it's too early to tell if he will have brain damage if he survives,'' Russo said. Russo said Ricci's wife, Angela, was with him at the hospital. Hospital officials found no trace of drugs in his blood. Ford said there was no note to indicate suicide found in his cell. Ed Smart pleaded during the news briefing for people to pray. ``This is the most bizarre thing that I ever could have imagined,'' he said. Smart, who has repeatedly said he's certain Ricci had something to do with his daughter's abduction, didn't take questions during the briefing. Afterward, he said his first thought was that Ricci had been poisoned, even though he was being held in a maximum-security cell. Smart said he hoped that should Ricci survive, his near-death experience would ``soften his heart.'' Still, he said, ``we may never learn one thing out of him.'' The former handyman for the Smart family had been in prison on a parole violation on theft and burglary charges but remains at the top of the list of potential suspects in the abduction, Dinse said. The chief said Ricci has lied to police and has refused to answer questions to the investigators' satisfaction. Investigators were no closer to finding the teen than they were on June 5, when a gunman stole her from her bedroom in the middle of the night, Dinse said. Police hope that if Ricci survives, he will be more cooperative. ``He's an individual who generally speaking never volunteered a lot of information,'' Dinse said. ``He has told us things we don't believe are true.'' Ricci has not been charged in relation to Elizabeth's disappearance, and has maintained he had nothing to do with it. But even if there were enough evidence and information to file charges against Ricci in the crime, ``there would be no compelling reason to bring them right now,'' Dinse said. ``We could solve the crime and not find Elizabeth. I don't like to dwell on that.'' Ricci was in court earlier Tuesday. His attorneys asked for more time to review theft charges against their client. Third District Judge Paul Maughan granted the request and a hearing was scheduled for Sept. 17. The theft charges include allegations that he took items from the Smarts' home. Copyright © 2000 The Associated Press