Smart Case, July 25, 2002

07/25/02 | Jolly Green

[Jolly Green]

Wild-Eyed Speculation, Half-baked Theories and Myths
Theory(?)	Facts
Richard Ricci has been identified as the prime suspect in the case, though several of his "theme park" pals are under suspicion.	- Ricci is a 5-time loser, having been convicted of burglarizing a food bank and shooting a police officer. He has recently been indicted on three additional state charges including theft at the Smart residence and burglary of a Smart neighbor. Additionally, he has been recently indicted on three federal charges related to two bank robberies. - Ricci worked for the Smarts last year for several months and was paid with a white Jeep in lieu of cash. He had full access to the house and may very well have had a key to the Smart residence. Ricci and two others were fired when some items were stolen from the home. Ricci later approached Ed Smart and said he wasn't involved and wanted his job back. Ed Smart declined to rehire him. - Ricci lives in a trailer park in West Jordan that is now referred to as a "theme park" because of the large number of Ricci convicted felon friends living there. - Ricci has no credible alibi for the period during and shortly after the abduction. He is believed to have put an additional 1000 miles on the Jeep during a period when he claimed the Jeep was in Moul's shop. Moul also reported that Ricci removed several trash bags, the seat covers and a post hole digger and carried them across the street. - Ricci had both opportunity and motive.
Ed Smart and Richard Ricci were gay lovers. This is based upon Ed Smart's pleading before the media for Ricci to come clean, where he used phrases like "Help me, Richard".	This theory was eloquently refuted by Jengaio and it hasn't reared its ugly head recently.
Elizabeth Smart had a nose ring, must have been rebellious and ran away. Later, proponents shifted emphasis to "piercings".	Numerous photographs of Elizabeth Smart show no indication of a nose ring and the existence of a nose ring has never been reported by any credible news source.
Moul, the mechanic, lied to the grand jury and in TV interviews. Some of the scenarios: He knows more than he is telling; his eyesight is bad; he made it up; he is in cahoots with Ricci; he used Ricci's Jeep without Ricci's permission.	Moul has no criminal record and no motive. What's more his vehicle logs corroborate his testimony. If Moul had "borrowed" the Jeep, he certainly would have washed it to remove the bugs, mud and pine needles.
Elizabeth Smart's aunt, in a televised interview said the police "are working with us". Implications: This surely must mean that the Smarts and their influential friends and church must be controlling/thwarting the 100-man SLCPD/FBI task force	We will ask Jengaio to analyze the phrazing.

Motive	Possible Suspect	Details
Kidnapping	All	- The SLCPD has said there has not been any credible ransom demands. This may be due to the massive search and media blitz within 5 hours of the abduction i.e. the perps may have realized that their chances of getting caught were very high and they decided to get rid of the evidence.
	Ricci & cronies	- Ricci and his colleagues have recently been indicted for several Utah bank robberies, each producing only a modest amount of cash i.e. $1800 split 3 ways. It is likely that they were looking for a bigger "score".
	Unknown	N/A
Burglary	Ricci	- Ricci has five previous convictions for theft, burglary, and assault (shooting a police officer). He has recently been indicted on three additional state charges including burglary of a Smart neigbor while they were sleeping (a M.O. similar to the Smart kidnapping) and theft of the Smart home. He has also been indicted on three federal charges including two bank robberies. - The Smarts, like most people, wouldn't keep large amounts of cash around. It seems likely that a simple burglary would not produce much in the way of cash or jewelery. - The SLCPD has said some things were taken but haven't identified those items.
	Unknown	N/A
Burglary Gone Wrong	Ricci	- The Smart perpetrator may have been surprised by Elizabeth Smart and decided to remove the only witness.
	Unknown	Same as above
Sexual Predator	Ricci	- Fox News reported Ricci had attempted an "inappropriate relationship" with one of his old girlfriends 16 yr old daughters.
	Unknown	N/A
Revenge	Ricci	- Ed Smart wouldn't rehire Ricci even though Ricci claimed he had no involvement in the theft of the Smart house.
	Unknown	N/A
Runaway	Elizabeth Smart	Unknown possible motive
	Unknown	N/A

Significant Links
Date	Title	Comments
06/16/02	Sister reported the abduction relatively quickly Wait was quite short for child, an expert says	Certified forensic psychologist Gerald P. Koocher said it is remarkable the child notified the parents as soon as she did. Koocher, dean of Health Studies at Boston's Simmon's College and a faculty member at Harvard Medical School, pointed out that in other scenarios such as sexual abuse, a child will refrain from telling on or speaking ab
07/24/02	Katie Couric Boylan Interview on NBC	Complements of Neenah. See post #74

[Jolly Green]

Yes, it's possible. But my opinions and theories are no more "hip-shooting" than yours or others on this thread.

Please, then tell us what the difference is between you putting the Smart's every word through the wringer and me putting your words through a similar wringer? Is it because their words are supposed to stand up to a meat grinder and yours are immune?

[MiloMarch]

I agree. Except that I think a conspiracy would have to involve several hundred people if you count everyone who would have to be involved, and their friends and family.

Not to mention that many of these people are from various agencies and departments, and would just love to come up with something that made them look good and the other department bad. That's just human nature.

(Unless the perp used The Secret Mormon Handshake on them... If that was the case, then of course everyone would salute and silently follow orders!)

[Jolly Green]

Elizabeth Smart Case - July 26, 2002

[mjaneangels@aolcom]

Can anyone name another kidnapping where the victim was found ALIVE after 51 days? Especially a high profile case like this one that received national attention.

Patty Hearst.

[Jolly Green]

(Unless the perp used The Secret Mormon Handshake on them... If that was the case, then of course everyone would salute and silently follow orders!)

What about the non-Mormons who aren't privy to the handshake? Why would they just go along?

[GovernmentShrinker]

Actually, I think most of us escaped intact, though the druggie crowd wasted plenty of good years of their lives, and a few of them have no doubt sunk down several rungs on the socioeconomic ladder (not all though -- one girl who was kicked out for drug dealing after her sophomore year is now a successful professional and a very active fundraising volunteer for the school that kicked her out!). The bulk of the school was hard core academic types, plus a few like me who were intellectually inclined but didn't care much about schoolwork or grades. Overall, it was the sort of place where girls were much more apt to brag or cry about their SAT scores than about who did or didn't invite them to the prom (and then there was the girl who cried when her sister, a year behind her, got slightly higher SAT scores than her own had been).

To put this all in perspective for the case at hand, the age at which most girls get interested in boys is driven more by environment than by nature. In an overwhelmingly Mormon community, and as a member of a very active and prominent Mormon family, Elizabeth's peer group was not supposed to be interested in boys before the Church's minimum dating age of 16. Her Church-active friends wouldn't have been dating, and her church and school activities would have operated on the assumption that 14 year old girls do not or should not yet have a romantic interest in boys. Boys who would be "eligible" dating and marriage partners later, would likewise be subject to the not-before-16 rule, and thus not able to openly welcome romantic overtures from girls.

[lakey]

#179 You are right on target!

However, I intensely dislike the idea of a low-life taking the blame for "an owner or executive of a major business....having his reputation sullied." A pervert is a pervert!

[varina davis]

Her Church-active friends wouldn't have been dating, and her church and school activities would have operated on the assumption that 14 year old girls do not or should not yet have a romantic interest in boys.

That's all well and good, but human nature being what it is...... After all, most religions advocate youthful celibacy, but anyone not living in a cave knows it happens anyway.

[Jolly Green]

Much of what you said about the Mormon dating rules is symbolic of the overall culture in Utah. Mormons are feared by some and misunderstood by many more. They have a society that values the family like no other. A society that opened its arms to the entire world only months ago during the Olympics in the hopes of being better undestood. A society that has laid bare its polygamist past by having the most expansive genealogy program in the world, which is made available to members and non-members alike in family history centers worldwide and on the internet. A society that is trusting and open, yet criticized for being so trusting. A society that is more conservative than any other state in the union. Rather than being honored on FreeRepublic for their ultra conservative nature, they are lied about, ridiculed, made the brunt of sick jokes, and every word out of their mouths is analyzed and critiqued.

The following quote from a Deseret News article on June 18th entitled Case stirs emotions near, far offers some insight into the culture where the Smarts live:

Some shared concern about what they see as an abrupt shift in the safe perception of Salt Lake City and Utah.

"I think of Salt Lake City as the way America was in the 1950s. The family values, the friendliness, the trust surpasses every other city in the United States if not the world," wrote New Yorker Cutter Johnson. "It breaks my heart to think that this is changing. I have always taken comfort in the fact that your city was so warm and open."

"People who have not lived in Utah can not conceive of the holistic environment the Utah community engenders," writes Ken Marker, a former Utah resident. "I recall diverting Little Cottonwood Creek down the center of the street virtually overnight. In Park City we moved the contents of the town library to the new building hand to hand like a bucket brigade. No way either of these events could have happened in another state."

[varina davis]

"People who have not lived in Utah can not conceive of the holistic environment the Utah community engenders," writes Ken Marker, a former Utah resident. "I recall diverting Little Cottonwood Creek down the center of the street virtually overnight. In Park City we moved the contents of the town library to the new building hand to hand like a bucket brigade. No way either of these events could have happened in another state."

Apparently Mr. Marker hasn't heard of the Amish and Mennonite communities, whose members raise a barn in one day for a needy family, who till their own fields and those of neighbors who are ill, who put aside their own work and travel across the nation to volunteer their labor to those who are victims of fire, flood and other disasters.

Yes, it "happens in other states" and the plain people make it happen in other states besides their own.

I'm sure Utah has some fine community bonding, but it's hardly unique.

[cherry]

They have a society that values the family like no other. A society that opened its arms to the entire world only months ago during the Olympics in the hopes of being better undestood

nonsense....utter nonsense...

a society that wanted the big bucks from the Olympics...which is what any state would have done...please spare us how Utah "opened its arms"....Utah wanted the Olympics buck...that is that....

Maybe you think that society values its family like no other...but that is only your opinion...that is not a fact...

[Jolly Green]

Thanks for sharing.

[varina davis]

Maybe you think that society values its family like no other...but that is only your opinion...that is not a fact...

Correct, Cherry. The Mormon society would be hard pressed to value family more than the Amish and Mennonite communities, for example.

Also recall LDS Pres. Hinckley on Larry King just before the Olympics, and he wasn't exactly "opening his arms" to all the publicity and attention. A very literate and charismatic leader, BTW.

[Sherlock]

Like Jolly Green said earlier, because they don't have enough evidence to convict him and they don't want to be sued for bring charges they don't have the evidence for. I still would think they could search his home and car.

[Sherlock]

On the other hand, casting suspicion on someone who earns a living, and perhaps supports a family, as an owner or executive of a major business, or otherwise has a lot to lose by having his reputation sullied, needs to be done with a much higher level of evidence and certainty about guilt.

Good logic but I'm convinced the kidnapper is another dirtball like Ricci so I can't imagine why they haven't at least done a search of his car and abode and gotten his name in the news.

[Utah Girl]

I don't watch Primetime Live at all, I don't think I've ever seen the show. However, if I would have known Angela Ricci was going to be on, I would have watched last night. Except last night, the power went off in Provo for about five hours. So no, I didn't see the show.

[WestCoastGal]

Amazing that you would mention the very two places I have been concentrating on for about a year. Thanks for the confirmation that I may be heading in the right direction.

[dalebert]

Does anyone know if photos released to the press early in Smart abduction case were of Elizabeth as she looks now or were they all of her as a younger girl? Also how many private airstrips in a 250 mile radius of Salt Lake?