| Why Ricci Topped Cop List |
Sunday, September 1, 2002 |
© 2002, THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Though police have never publicly called Richard Albert Ricci anything but a "potential" suspect in the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart, among the inner circle of investigators there remains scant doubt that the career criminal, who died Friday, somehow managed to snatch the girl without a trace. But the nagging question police have been unable to answer is: If Ricci did it, could he have done it alone, or did he work with at least one accomplice? And if he did it, why is there not any physical evidence linking him to the crime? Ricci insisted on his innocence until his death late Friday from a massive brain hemorrhage. And with him as their prime suspect, investigators have little to show -- at least publicly -- in their three-month probe into the 14-year-old's June 5 disappearance. With intriguing circumstantial evidence -- failed lie detector tests, a dubious alibi and a history of brazen nighttime home break-ins specifically targeting children's rooms -- police say Ricci fits almost seamlessly into a scenario of a desperate, drug-addled burglary attempt gone awry. The Salt Lake Tribune has pieced together the following scenario based on interviews with more than a dozen investigators on the case: Ricci, 48, whose criminal history dates back three decades, was a hard-core heroin addict with a costly habit. In need of easy cash, he targeted the Smart home, where he had worked odd jobs for the family a year or so earlier. After somehow entering the Federal Heights home -- whether through a cut window screen in the kitchen or elsewhere -- Ricci crept upstairs to the bedroom Elizabeth shared with the crime's only witness -- her then 9-year-old sister Mary Katherine. Ricci was known to enter kids' rooms during break-ins, based on his belief that items stolen from children would simply be written off by parents as lost. Having worked in the home nine months earlier, Ricci knew of small yet valuable items kept on the girls' dressers. But Ricci's simple plan was foiled when Elizabeth -- a light sleeper -- awoke to find the man she recognized lurking in the darkened room. The intruder threatened to shoot Elizabeth with his small black handgun if she didn't keep quiet, according to Mary Katherine, who apparently feigned sleep while trying her best to capture mental images of the intruder. She would later describe her sister's captor as a white male, about 5-foot-9, with dark hair on the backs of his hands and wearing an odd get up -- a white polo shirt, a tan jacket and a tan British-style cap. Two weeks later police would confiscate just such a hat from the trailer of Ricci's father-in-law, who lived next door to him. They also took a machete from the man's shed. Police initially reported that the kidnapper wore a white baseball cap, but altered that description about a week after Elizabeth disappeared based on more extensive interviews a specially trained investigator conducted with Mary Katherine. Elizabeth, wearing red satin pajamas and a pair of sneakers her captor ordered her to grab, was roughly led down the stairs and out of the house, the 9-year-old would later tell police. When Elizabeth fell and skinned her knee on the driveway, Mary Katherine heard her faint yelp of pain -- the last sound she would hear from her sister. But the problem with the above scenario is that no physical evidence has been found to back it up. All police have is Ricci's past behavior and suspicious alibi -- that he was home sleeping with his wife, who has acknowledged taking prescription narcotics that night. In fact, a minority of police investigators interviewed by The Tribune expressed skepticism over this scenario. They say that while Ricci's history suggests his possible involvement, they remain flummoxed by the complete absence of forensic evidence to tie him to the crime. Those doubters acknowledge the wealth of unanswered questions, but are unable to believe that Ricci was smart enough to have committed the crime without leaving a shred of forensic evidence. No hair fibers, fingerprints, blood or other tell-tale clues have been discovered connecting Ricci to the crime. And without finding Elizabeth -- alive or dead -- police seem unable to make a case against anybody. During the investigation, Ricci was questioned extensively and consistently maintained his innocence. Still, Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse has publicly focused on Ricci, questioning his refusal to tell police where his 1990 Jeep Cherokee, given to him last year by Elizabeth's father, Ed Smart, was during the week of the abduction. Ricci's West Valley City mechanic Neth Moul told police and a federal grand jury that Ricci surreptitiously took the vehicle from his lot May 30, returning the mud-spattered vehicle nine days later with an additional 1,000 miles on the odometer. Police had hoped to analyze mud samples from the Jeep, but the vehicle was washed clean before investigators had a chance to search it. Besides, investigators note that Elizabeth rode in the Jeep when it belonged to her father, and thus even if physical evidence had been found inside, it would not incriminate Ricci. "There are questions that [Ricci] has refused to answer," Dinse said. "He has been less than candid." Dinse acknowledged that Ricci's death could make it "impossible" to ever clear him: "I'm not saying I won't someday call Ricci our main suspect, but if I ever do, I will lay out the evidence against him." Ricci's mother-in-law, Roxie Morse, told The Tribune on Saturday that she believes police simply want to pin the abduction on her now deceased son-in-law. Police "wanted him to give them the answers they wanted to hear," Morse said, adding that investigators would be "stupid" if they stopped looking for the "real" kidnapper. "He didn't do it, he's innocent. They've got to keep looking for the person who really did this," she said. Elizabeth's family shares the prevailing police belief that Ricci was somehow involved in the teen's disappearance, but they believe somebody connected to Ricci is holding the girl -- still alive -- somewhere. Family members are "quite convinced there was somebody with Richard. . . . There's so much evidence that someone else was involved," said Cynthia Smart Owens, one of Elizabeth's aunts. Police continue to say that no one -- even close family members or acquaintances -- has been eliminated from scrutiny. mvigh@sltrib.com; kcantera@sltrib.com |
