Former hostage gets $70,000

Boston Globe/Associated Press ^ | March 25, 2005 | Dick Pettys

[Radix]

ATLANTA -- The woman who said she gained the trust of suspected courthouse gunman Brian Nichols by talking about her faith while he held her hostage was presented with $70,000 in reward money yesterday for helping authorities capture him.

Ashley Smith, a 26-year-old widowed mother of one, was held for seven hours by Nichols at her suburban Atlanta home March 12 before he let her go. She then made the 911 call that led to his arrest.

[Radix]

Who says that crime don't pay?

[OldFriend]

It's actually $75,000

[WBurgVACon]

I say great. Who knows how many lives she saved.

[Gunrunner2]

Wow. . .and how much did the IRS take?

[tiredoflaundry]

agrees

[TexasTransplant]

Before or after Taxes?

It should be TAX FREE !

Hope it is

TT

[TexasTransplant]

IRS SUCKS and their CUT should be 0.0

Fair Tax 2006!

[OldFriend]

Sure hope she doesn't have to pay taxes on this money.

[TomGuy]

Good for her !!!!

It is good to hear that an ordinary citizen is recognized and rewarded for doing something beneficial.

[duck duck goose]

Wow good for her, but Im concerned about what the IRS took as well. Hey what about the money that was paid to the investigaters looking for him, when in fact they told the media they had no clue where he was. I think she should get their pay as well...it took a lot of guts to "talk a man off the ledge".

[Gunrunner2]

Indeed.

[catonsville]

Even nicer she is getting book, TV and movie deals from Christian publishers and movie makers.

Perfect show: It has mass murder, terror, slapstick comedy( Atlanta police) family tragedy, , religion, reverence and a kind of repentance

You could not get a better drama even of you made it up.

[Dubya]

(Ashley) SMITH

Mar. 25, 2005

Hostage gets $70,000, praise for courage

The Associated Press

ATLANTA - The woman who said she gained the trust of suspected courthouse gunman Brian Nichols by talking about her faith while he held her hostage was presented with $70,000 in reward money Thursday for helping authorities capture him.

Ashley Smith, 26, a widowed mother with one daughter, was held for seven hours by Nichols at her suburban Atlanta home March 12 before he let her go. She then made the 911 call that led to his arrest.

"My life is testimony that God can use us even in the midst of tragedy, and miracles do happen," she said.

She was lauded at a ceremony during which she received a fistful of reward checks from Gov. Sonny Perdue and law enforcement agencies.

Thomas Smith, head of the state sheriffs association, saluted her for "your courage, your strength and your perseverance."

Smith has said she spoke with Nichols for hours about her daughter, her husband's stabbing death years ago and her faith in God. She said she told Nichols that he might be destined to be caught so he could spread the word of God to fellow prisoners.

In all, she received $25,000 from the U.S. Marshals Service, $20,000 from the FBI, $10,000 from Perdue's office, $5,000 from the Georgia Sheriffs' Association, $5,000 from the Georgia Fraternal Order of Police and $5,000 from the city of Atlanta. She previously received $2,500 from the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police.

Nichols is accused of fatally shooting a judge, his court reporter, a sheriff's deputy and a federal agent. He surrendered after a 26-hour manhunt.

[Blessed]

Chris Mathews and Don Imus's buddy Bo Deedle owes her another $10,000 but he has been real quiet except for an attempt to slime her the first few days.Bet he welches.

[TexasTransplant]

Why should you expect less, Sh**heads do what Sh**heads, do.

Chris (the spitter) Mathews is a (Sh**head) and surrounds himself with like minded folk.

Imus is a Media Whore and nothing else, if he lives long enough and MSM bends to the Right, so will he.

TT