[stlnative]

Ricci says he has cooperated, is innocent

By PAUL FOY
Associated Press Writer
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) (June 30) — The man police say tops their list of potential suspects in the apparent kidnapping of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart said he has fully cooperated with investigators and would never hurt a child.

Richard Albert Ricci said an exhaustive search of his home and belongings by police has turned up nothing.

“I have cooperated fully with the FBI, the police” and probation officers, Ricci’s statement, distributed by attorney David K. Smith, says.

Ricci said he has undergone 26 hours of interviews, given blood, taken polygraph tests and surrendered his vehicle to detectives. Police searching his home even dug up his garden.

“They have found nothing,” Ricci’s statement says.

Fred Louis, a spokesman for Salt Lake City police, confirmed that Ricci has been cooperating, and detectives have conducted several interviews with him

“They have some questions about some of the things he’s telling them,” Louis said. He wouldn’t reveal what doubts detectives have. “They keep that pretty close to their chests.”

Louis confirmed that police have searched Ricci’s property. He would not comment on the results of any polygraph tests given in the investigation, nor would he confirm that Ricci has taken one. Louis said he didn’t know if Ricci’s blood or DNA had been evaluated.

Ricci has not been charged in the Smart kidnapping.

A federal grand jury is looking into the case, with many of the witnesses apparently testifying about Ricci, who has felony convictions spanning three decades.

“I think the reason I’m involved is because of my past. I would not — nor could not — hurt a child in any way,” Ricci said. “I have no knowledge of Elizabeth Smart’s abduction, disappearance or whereabouts.”

Authorities have repeatedly refused to discuss evidence, and grand jury proceedings are secret.

But Ricci’s friends and family members have talked about some of the potential clues investigators are looking at.

His father-in-law, Dave Morse Sr., told the AP that police and the FBI seized one of his Scottish-style golf hats from his mobile home next to the trailer shared by Ricci and his wife. The two were married on Valentine’s Day.

Elizabeth Smart’s sister told police the intruder was wearing a tan-colored Scottish-style golf hat.

Morse said he never loaned his tan Haband wool cap to Ricci.

“I think they’re grasping at straws,” Morse, 68, said Thursday. “There’s always a chance, but I don’t think he did it.”

Morse said authorities also took a knife with a foot-long blade from a shed more than a week ago. Morse said he used the knife to trim tree limbs. He said it was always locked in the shed and Ricci didn’t have a key.

Ricci insists he never borrowed the hat or knife, his lawyer said.

Smith also rebutted a neighbor’s report that Ricci was digging a hole the morning of the girl’s June 5 disappearance.

“He was actually doing some weeding. He was boarding up an entry hole at the bottom of his neighbor’s mobile home to keep cats from going in and out,” Smith told The Associated Press.

Smith refused to discuss the 1,000 unaccounted-for miles that were reportedly put on Ricci’s Jeep Cherokee around the time of the girl’s disappearance. Smith said he was withholding an explanation to dispute a possible prosecution theory.

Ricci, 48, was a handyman at he Smart home more than a year ago. In custody on an unrelated parole violation, Ricci has not been charged in the disappearance of the 14-year-old girl.

Authorities are using a federal grand jury to question potential witnesses.

One witness, car mechanic Neth Moul, told The Associated Press that Ricci brought his 1990 Jeep Cherokee into his shop on May 30. When Ricci returned the mud-caked Jeep to the shop June 8 for other repairs, Moul said he noticed about 1,000 more miles on the car’s odometer.

When Ricci returned the Jeep a second time, he rolled up seat covers and also removed a post-hole digger and two large bags, Moul said. Ricci walked to a nearby gas station to catch a ride.

The FBI and Salt Lake City police impounded the Jeep from the shop.

Cynthia Smart Owens, Elizabeth’s aunt, said Friday that Ricci’s behavior at the repair shop “clearly sounds suspicious.

“Our bottom line is we don’t have Elizabeth,” she said. At its daily news conference, the family announced that hundreds of volunteers will spend another weekend searching Salt Lake suburbs for any trace of the girl.

Police have circulated fliers with pictures of three vehicles Ricci has driven, including the SUV. Ed Smart, Elizabeth’s father, gave Ricci the Jeep in exchange for doing handyman work last year.

Ricci says he knows nothing about the kidnapping.

“We pray for her safe return.”

Ricci has spent 29 years in and out of prison on burglary, attempted homicide, armed robbery and other convictions.

Angela Ricci told police her husband was in bed by her side the night of Elizabeth’s abduction. Investigators have said they aren’t satisfied with his alibi.

Angela Ricci will return to the federal grand jury next week after testifying Wednesday, Smith said.

Ricci says his own 9-year-old son died in an accident in 1985.

“I know what Ed and Lois [Smart] are going through.”

•• On the Net:

http://www.elizabethsmart.com

[hergus]

Did anyone here follow the Sund/Pelosso case in CA? Cary Stayner is on trial now for the murder of the mother, daughter and young family friend from Argentina.

Anyway, I followed it closely and the FBI and the locals rounded up just about every parolee in a hundred mile radius and made the public think they had their man.

Big surprise when the motel maintenance guy where the women were last seen was arrested after he decapitated another young woman who worked in Yosemite.

I see the same thing happening here, similar family finances from the victim's side, no good leads and a baying media. I wonder if it could even be some of the same FBI agents.

Yosemite and the surounding area wanted it all cleaned up quickly IMO and the FBI let the public think they had their man or men.

SO goes this case, from one ex-con to the next, while the real perp is still close by like he has been all along. Laughing, possibly waiting to do it again.