Smart Case, July 27, 2002

07/27/02 | Jolly Green

[Jolly Green]

Time Line
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.

[Jolly Green]

I thought they said she gave SUCH A GOOD DESCRIPTION,that they didn't need a sketch artist???

There is a link at the top for another newspaper citing a police officer who said MK didn't get a good enough view of the perp. It appears that she saw him "clearly" but from the back, from behind or from below IN THE DARK and is the reason that we have no sketch.

[Jolly Green]

Why would Ed Smart allow a THIEF to possess and use a vehicle for several months while it was still titled in his name? As I understand it, Ed Smart was exposing himself to a huge liability risk during those several months......surely a businessman like Ed Smart was aware of this risk.

1) During that period Ed knew that one of the three workmen had stolen from him, but didn't know which one;

2) Smart's liability has more to do with when he cancelled the insurance on the Jeep than it does with when he transferred the title. In all probablilty, he did both at the same time - like most people.

[Jolly Green]

The Salt Lake Tribune -- Tortured Lois Smart, Coping Courageously ...

Most likely it has been transferred to their "for fee" archives. I couldn't find something I was looking for there the other day without paying for it.

[Sherlock]

Does the NE article have a picture of Remington?

[Jolly Green]

This kind of personal attack reduces the entire level of dialogue immediately.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion. You might note that the "poster" didn't post on FR and therefore no one, should take offense.

You might also want to take note of the fact that we live in a politically correct society where no one wants to offend. We are supposed to sit by while our schools are dumbed down day after day, where God is removed from everything in school life INCLUDING the pledge of allegiance. I could cite hundreds of similar examples, but presumably, since you are a FReeper, you know that already. We coddle incompetents, and nurture fools. Maybe you would like to soft soap it, but I will not.

[Jolly Green]

Elizabeth Smart is (let me spell it) d-e-d dead. Her killer is just better at hiding bodies than Avila, Johnson, Condit, etc.

That's what I call a capsule summary and most likely right on track.

[varina davis]

A perp wearing light colored clothing gains access to a 6000 s.f. home that has an alarm system that just happens not to be activated. It's 1 a.m. There are six kids and two adults in the home. He walks through the house, not knowing who will get up for a "midnight snack" or "bathroom run." He walks past the parents bedroom, finds the one bedroom where his prey is sleeping, wakes her, possibly reveals his identity to her when they go to the bathroom then tells her to get some shoes. They exit the house by window/door unknown and dash off into the night. There is no report of a car driving away (the bedroom faces the street).

Good summary. Just doesn't sound like a typical kidnapping, does it. More like someone trying to mimic a kidnapping.

[freedox]

"1) During that period Ed knew that one of the three workmen had stolen from him, but didn't know which one"

This still would not explain why Ed Smart allowed Ricci to continue using the jeep while it was still in Ed Smart's name. Apparently, there was enough doubt there that Ed Smart declined to rehire Ricci.....which once again brings up the question of how and when Ricci paid off the jeep. Based upon today's posts, we now have 3 different stories on that.....Ed Smart says the jeep was worked off, David Smart says it was a gift, and Angela Ricci says it was paid off in cash.

"2) Smart's liability has more to do with when he cancelled the insurance on the Jeep than it does with when he transferred the title. In all probablilty, he did both at the same time - like most people."

So you are assuming that Ed Smart continued to carry insurance on this vehicle for the several months that Ricci was in possession of it prior to title transfer? Why would he do something like that for a fired handyman?

[Jolly Green]

Ed Smart says the jeep was PAYMENT for services rendered, David Smart says it was a GIFT, and Angela Ricci says it was paid off in CASH. What I find to be really ironic is that this jeep has now become the focal point of the investigation......

The truth may lie somewhere in the middle i.e. Angela may have given her settlement money thinking it was to pay off the Jeep. After all would Ricci lie? The money may have went for drugs, or whatever.

and was actually still titled to Ed Smart during the crucial May 31-June 8 time period.

I know of no one who has claimed this. From all reports, title was passed in the September/October time frame. You might want to give us a reference for that outlandish claim.

[Jolly Green]

Still no key leads; vigil held - Jun 9, 2002

You may very well have provided considerable insight into Tom Smart's "amazing" comments referenced a few days ago. The entire family is humbled by the outpouring of love and support they have received as cited by the elder Smart and the aunt in this piece.

[Jolly Green]

So you are assuming that Ed Smart continued to carry insurance on this vehicle for the several months that Ricci was in possession of it prior to title transfer? Why would he do something like that for a fired handyman?

Simple. Ricci couldn't insure it until the title was in his name and the title wasn't transfered to his name until after the deal was completed - whether it was partially or totally bartered, paid in cash or had the interest and part of the principal gifted.

More to the point - what difference does it make? The deal was completed in September/October and has very little to do with the abduction other than likely being the vehicle used.

[Bella]

Oh what tangled webs they weave, when they practice to deceive...

http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/07/24/utah.missing.girl/index.html

Here's a report stating, "The source also confirmed local news reports that a forensic sketch artist was brought in to help identify the abductor, but said none of the artists' pieces are being released to the public for "tactical" reasons."

[Neenah]

Did you ever get the feeling you were addicted sitting there, pushing REFRESH, waiting for another response on a Saturday afternoon, when other people are having a picnic?

[dalebert]

It is possible that Ricci just told his wife he still owed money to Smart to get some extra cash out of her.

[Bella]

I'm really not surprised..just "another" oddity.

[freedox]

"You might want to give us a reference for that outlandish claim."

LOL!! Instead of a reference, I gave a RETRACTION in the post immediately after that.....it was indeed an outlandish claim, I made a mistake, and I issued an immediate retraction.

[Sherlock]

Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse said Friday he was unaware that Ed Smart had asked Boylan for help.

I don't think there's a snowball's chance in Hades this is true.

Meanwhile, the June 5 dispatch from the Salt Lake City police department -- called the "watchlog" -- reported that Elizabeth's parents called neighbors before they called police, even though their 9-year-old daughter had apparently just told them that a man with a gun had abducted her older sister.

Is there anybody else that would call their neighbors in the middle of the night before calling police if one of their kids was kidnapped? Does anyone know why they might have done this? I'm not sure I believe this part of this story either, I heard a next door neighbor say the police were there before they went to the Smarts house. I remember reading elsewhere Ed Smart called police first and felt like he'd been blown off by them so that would be reason to start calling neighbors right away. I feel like Ed Smart has been on his own through all this because SLCPD/FBI is hiding something they shouldn't be hiding.