Smart Case, July 24, 2002

07/24/02 | 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

[dalebert]

I don't think anyone was trying to hide anything so Sarah was on TV. I do remember when the SL investigator said "we will get you" and thinking he was hurting Elizabeths chances of survival.

[Jolly Green]

Come on, Jolly. The police did not say "someone who was trusted within the Smart family"......they said "a trusted member of the community." Regardless of how the Smarts and their neighbors might have viewed Ricci, there is NO WAY that the police are going to refer to him as "a trusted member of the community." That's a stretch and you know it.

Fact is, the police didn't refer to the abductor as "a trusted member of the community." It is often difficult to glean facts from FR, because one poster will put out their interpretation of events and others assume them to be gospel. Yesterday, we had a poster who believed that Ricci had been cleared, probably based upon an erroneous post by Varina Davis weeks ago. Nothing could be further from the truth, as Ricci tops the list of probable suspects in the Smart abduction.

More to the point, it has been posted here on FR literally hundreds of times that police referred to the abductor as a "a trusted member of the community." You cited it twice. Problem is, that quote is not correct. I located four quotes from CNN, Deseret News and two from CBS with the identical wording: "trusted person in the neighborhood or community" all published on June 18th and 19th. I was going to cite portions of these articles and provide links, but decided not to in the interest of brevity - this is long enough already.

Even you should be willing to concede that there is a different connotation between the word "member" and the word "person".

It should also be easy to see that there is a difference between the Smart perception of Ricci in their ignorance of his criminal record at one point in time versus the police view of Ricci who had full access to his criminal record. 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."

[Jolly Green]

I thought Mr.Smart let Ricci go before the abduction?

He did. I tried to make a distinction between the family's perception before the theft, after the theft and after the abduction - maybe not doing it very well. Before the theft, they trusted him. After the theft, they knew that he was one of three who probably stole from them. They didn't hire him back, but were probably open to the possibility that it could have been one of the others.

[Jolly Green]

Awesome job, Neenah! I can't thank you enough.

Those on FR who hold Boylan in such high regard, might have to rethink their positions regarding the competance of the SLCPD/FBI and their assumptions about this case.

[cherry]

for the texture of this man's skin.

I re-read that part...texture to me means having to touch someone doesn't it?

[Jolly Green]

The word in question is "trusted," especially when uttered by the Police Chief.

The exact quote says "trusted person in the neighborhood or community". The quote didn't come from the chief and it didn't say "trusted by the police".

What's the straight scoop, Jengaio?

[Bella]

Ricci was in fact a trusted member of the community, working in the Smart's and neighbor homes unsupervised - UNTIL the theft. At which point he was no longer trusted.

LOLOL..ya right!! Maybe in a community with ALL cons, but in reality, they don't even trust each other!

[Vinomori]

Good job, Neenah. Thank you.

[Neenah]

Thanks Palladin...I guess we will all have to wait and see. One thing that I question is how do some people know things? Has it been published or quoted? (i.e. confidentiality agreement with the Smarts).

All this will be known some day. I really enjoy your posts, too.

[freedox]

...."trusted person in the neighborhood or community"....

I stand corrected on the exact quote, Jolly, and I do agree that there is a subtle difference between this and "trusted member of the community."

[Neenah]

I just heard on Fox News, that MR. Smart hired Ms. Boylan !! What and who put out a GAG ORDER on her??????

one blurb on the same short news flash, said that Mark Klaas was mad and called it a "stupid mistake that may have caused Elizabeth her life" (that Tom Smart would not allow her to come in in the early days. wow.

Sorry, but I just have a feeling that Mr. Smart is hindering the investigation. I never heard of something like this. amazing.

[Vinomori]

Those on FR who hold Boylan in such high regard, might have to rethink their positions regarding the competance of the SLCPD/FBI and their assumptions about this case.

Agreed. Just as those who have held Tom Smart and Ed Smart in such high regard might have to rethink their positions regarding their irresponsible (at best) emotional refusal to bring her into this case on DAY ONE.

[freedox]

....."I am optomistic that what we were able to produce, will be very useful in their attempt to find Elizabeth."

Maybe I'm going out on a limb here, but this opening quote from Boylan struck me as being very positive. Rather than referring to "solving the case" or "finding out who took Elizabeth," Boylan refers to "FINDING ELIZABETH." The wording just struck me as being indicative of hope for a positive outcome. Hope I'm right.......

[Jolly Green]

Just as those who have held Tom Smart and Ed Smart in such high regard might have to rethink their positions regarding their irresponsible (at best) emotional refusal to bring her into this case on DAY ONE.

That presupposes that the SLCPD/FBI didn't already know who the perp is.

[Neenah]

I am reading this late to get caught up, but by now you have read my post that says that the PD had no control of this one...Mr. Smart hired her, and stopped her from talking to the press apparently as just announced on Fox News.

Another bizaar twist at the hand of Mr. Smart. On that I think most will agree. Not making it up..it was reported. My word was "bizaar".

[Jolly Green]

Mark Klaas was mad and called it a "stupid mistake that may have caused Elizabeth her life"

Sounds more like sour grapes to me. Boylan is getting all of the attention.

[dalebert]

heck if I know what there is to hide. I saw Sheps show today and it all sounded sort of screwy. First no sketches and then its time for sketches. There was an email and now they can't find it. As for the "we will get you" statement. I couldn't tell it was intended for a kid or adult. Maybe someone foreign?