Posted on 06/27/2002 10:01:47 PM PDT by stlnative
|
|
BY LINDA FANTIN and ASHLEY BROUGHTON
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
The morning after Elizabeth Smart disappeared from her Federal Heights home, a Kearns man awoke to find a hole was being dug on the side of his mobile home by his neighbor, Richard Albert Ricci.
Andy Thurber, who lives next door to Ricci, poked his head out the door of his trailer and asked Ricci "what the hell" he was doing.
"And he said, 'Oh, I'm fixing that hole so [my] cats can't get in,' " Thurber told The Salt Lake Tribune on Wednesday. "I don't know what in the hell he was thinking."
Thurber had expected to describe the episode Wednesday to a federal grand jury probing Ricci's possible involvement in Elizabeth's disappearance. Although he and Ricci's wife, Angela, were subpoenaed to testify in the secret hearing, he waited all day at the federal courthouse in Salt Lake City without being called.
Police have identified Ricci, who had worked as a handyman at the Smart home, as being on the "top of the list" of potential suspects in Elizabeth's disappearance between 1 and 2 a.m. on June 5. Ricci, who is being held at the Utah State Prison on a parole violation, denies any involvement in the abduction and has not been charged.
Thurber said Angela Ricci told him she and her husband were asleep in bed when she woke up at 3 a.m. that morning and saw Ricci next to her. After Thurber confronted Ricci about his digging later that morning, Ricci told him he would be a suspect in the disappearance. "He said he worked for the [Smarts] and said the police would probably implicate him," Thurber said.
Ricci's attorney, David K. Smith, said Wednesday that Ricci was fixing "a little wall, or siding in the mobile home, to keep the cats from going under."
Thurber said FBI agents ripped out his back porch examining the area where Ricci was digging, but said he does not believe they found anything. Thurber expects to testify today before the grand jury.
Angela Ricci, who was seen entering the federal courthouse early Wednesday, slipped out the back door while a throng of reporters waited in front.
It was unknown if she had testified. But Smith, who represents both Riccis, said she provides a solid alibi for her husband -- an account investigators have said they question.
Smith said Ricci, his wife and stepson were visited the night of June 4 by missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They taught a missionary lesson to the stepson, who was preparing for baptism, Smith said. The missionaries left about 8 p.m., Smith said, and the Riccis "spent the rest of the evening together."
The couple watched television together in bed, Smith said, and Richard Ricci fell asleep before his wife, who suffers from back pain. Angela Ricci estimates she went to sleep about 1:30 a.m. and said her husband got up at least once during the night to use the restroom, Smith said.
"We feel it's a pretty good alibi," he said. "The real issue is what happened between 10 [p.m.] and 6 [a.m.]."
Asked if Angela Ricci takes any medication that would have sedated her, Smith said he didn't believe her medication would have interfered with her awareness.
Smith said he believes police view Ricci as a suspect, although Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse has described Ricci only as an "important witness." Smith said Ricci had not been subpoenaed as of Wednesday afternoon, and asserted it is unusual for a grand jury to hear testimony at this stage of an investigation.
"They're looking at him as a target," Smith said. "Obviously, they're trying to focus in on him."
Melodie Rydalch, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Salt Lake City, refused to confirm whether a grand jury had been convened in the Smart case.
Ricci has taken two polygraph tests, and Smith said he has not heard the results from police. Angela Ricci passed her polygraph, Smith said.
Richard Ricci said of Elizabeth's father, "Ed Smart always treated him fairly," and was "shocked, distressed, upset" to hear about the girl's disappearance, Smith said. "He only has the best of feelings [toward the family] and hopes that the perpetrator, whoever he is, will be found."
Ricci, a career burglar and drug addict, has said he prefers to use heroin or prescription narcotics, Board of Pardons records show. During the past three decades, Ricci has repeatedly been sentenced to prison and failed parole four times, usually for committing new crimes.
Bradley Bassi, a spokesman for Adult Probation and Parole, said: "Ricci's a hard one to figure out. The ones who usually have problems have chips on their shoulders. Ricci does not."
Ricci's mother, Katherine Ricci of Mesquite, Nev., said Wednesday she has been questioned by the FBI. "I just feel sick," she said.
"He's had problems. But I've explained this to everyone. I've always stayed in contact with him. I don't think he'd ever try to take a child or a girl or anything like that."
Ricci's first adult conviction -- for second-degree burglary -- came at age 18 in 1972. He was sent to the Pine Canyon Boys Ranch in Tooele, but his probation was revoked eight months later and he was sent to prison for the first time.
He was in and out of prison for the next decade, following repeated arrests on burglary-related charges and twice for absconding during home visits. In one burglary, Ricci used a screwdriver to break into a jukebox, change machine and a safe inside a Carbon County tavern and filled a trash can with $250 in coins, according to police.
While a fugitive in 1983, he committed his most serious crimes -- robbing a fast-food restaurant and shooting a police officer, slightly wounding him, during the burglary of a Sugar House pharmacy. Charged with a handful of felonies, Ricci pleaded guilty to first-degree felony counts of attempted murder and aggravated robbery and was sentenced to prison for up to life.
"I was a wreck 10 years ago," Ricci said during a 1993 parole hearing. "I was in self-destruct mode."
He was paroled in 1995 but was back in prison a year later, after he admitted he had accepted food stolen from a Sevier County food bank. Ricci was given a July 2000 parole date, which was bumped back two months because he again used drugs in prison. He was paroled Sept. 12, 2000.
Smart family members say they are encouraged by the investigation, but worry the attention on Ricci could detract from ongoing search efforts to find Elizabeth. It has been three weeks and searchers have not uncovered a single clue as to the teen's whereabouts.
"We know statistics and understand all of that," said Angela Smart, Elizabeth's aunt. "But we're holding out for a miracle."
_________
Tribune reporters Stephen Hunt and Michael Vigh contributed to this report
FRANK BEACON: Elizabeth Please Come Home
I've been watching the trauma unfold on television, over the radio and in newspapers daily. The apparent kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart from her Salt Lake City, Utah bedroom on 5 June has shaken a city, a state, maybe even a nation. These are troubled times. People are antsy. No one wants to accept the possibility that there is - once and for all - no safe place left in the world. Elizabeth, 14, was reportedly tucked tight in her bed next to her 9-year-old sister in a secure home located in an upscale neighborhood in a city famous for its religious affiliations. Who would have imagined? Who could have known?
Suddenly, everyone is suspect. A distraught mother and father are bombarded with "routine" questions. Intricate details about their home, family, work, relationships and personal lives are under the nation's fleeting microscope - you know the one - in a crisis it settles in an area illuminated by the spotlight so society's self-proclaimed scientists can make their own hypothesis based on minimal facts and maximum hype.
Do you note a tone of sarcasm here? Yeah, maybe. As a journalist I'm an adamant proponent of the public's right to know. The question I haven't answered yet is this: "The right to know what?"
I pray each day for Elizabeth's safe return. I praise each day the volunteers that stand behind this family. I am warmed by the candlelight vigils held on her behalf. I mourn for others who are also missing and didn't have the benefit of the nation's attention. I am appalled by the media's reckless coverage (but lap it up hourly).
Having a strong background in investigative journalism, I understand the motivations that cause reporters to flock to a morsel of news like crows to a hunk of raw meat. Many swallow before they've even had a chance to taste it. Some members of the media genuinely want to help. Some thrive on the thrill of the hunt. For some, it's all about ratings. All of them know it's what their customers really, really want - news, any news. "Just tell us something."
Reality TV is huge right now. The reality is, nothing is sacred. Nothing is too dangerous, too personal, too obscene, too frightening, too obscure or even too hurtful to throw at a sea of hungry fish that will pay to eat what tastes good to them (regardless of the price).
Bret Michael Edmunds knows what it's like to be in the spotlight. He's the "not a suspect, just wanted for questioning" guy police zoomed in on last week. We've seen his parents, know about his drug habits, have examined his car, are familiar with his personal hygiene habits, have heard an exclusive interview with his ex-landlord and know his mental state. Was he involved? We don't know that yet.
This week Richard Ricci is officers' top "potential" suspect. Law enforcement officers (or somebody) must have sensed the media circus was getting a little out of hand. It has begun to cross the line between humanitarian coverage of trial and community spirit and a good old-fashioned witch-hunt. This is evident in the move to hear testimony from Ricci's friends, family and neighbors in highly secret hearings before a federal grand jury. Is Ricci our guy? I certainly hope so. If not, his life will never be the same again now that the full extent of his rap sheet has been broadcast on national television.
My younger brother was once driving down an Arizona side street on a motorcycle when he was pulled over by police. It seemed that he matched the description of a rapist reported to have struck not long before he surfaced there. He wasn't the rapist, of course. "But I've got to tell you, my life flashed before my eyes," he said. The insinuation of such a possibility is enough to cast a shadow of a doubt - a shadow that can be impossible to lift. He was questioned only on the street and released. Could his life have been played back before his eyes (all of our eyes) on the nightly news? Of course. Police had, after all, questioned him.
I believe strongly in opened public records. I will fight vehemently to keep public meetings public. I have demanded documents protected by my state's Sunshine Law. I am also a grizzly advocate of responsible reporting.
To tell, or not to tell. That is the question.
Genealogists, like journalists, have a solemn responsibility to determine the difference between good solid news and gossip. I'm not suggesting censorship. I'm suggesting the use of thought and compassion in determining which items of interest you will include in a story or history about your research subject. There's no need to tiptoe around an issue or (heaven forbid) hide it, but before you include potentially harmful juicy details about someone's life in a publication (or conversation) of any kind, ask yourself these questions:
1) Is it true?
2) Is it documented by official, legal or other reliable sources?
3) Is it important?
4) Is it relevant?
5) Does it help develop a general sense of this individual's true character?
6) Is it common knowledge? If not, why?
7) Is it disputed? If so, why?
8) How will it help?
9) Who could it hurt?
10) Is there a way I can present it so that people will have the information without any implied or intended judgment on my part?
There are other issues to consider. Some will be specific to your circumstance. The important thing is that you do consider them.
More than just a thought,
Frank
| Father-in-law: Knife, hat in FBIcustody Police probe deeper in Smart case PATTY HENETZ Associated Press Writer on Friday, June 28 |
|
|
This is as they say a very "telling statement". If this happened once, it can easily happen again. Perhaps he misses prison. His own undoing. Married with children, and grandchildren getting religious may be just a little too weird for a career criminal. How beit all circumstantial, thus far.
so sad for sweet Lizzie..too bad children have to suffer in this world
It must not have been at the trailer park. I saw another neighbor on Fox, her name was Carma something, who was saying that the police were asking her about Ricci's cars. And she said there's also a Jeep, then they said to her "What Jeep?" So apparently it wasn't around there. He must have had it somewhere else from when he took it out of the garage on May 30, till he returned it on June 8.
She also raved on and on about what a wonderful man he was and that he took her son to the movies with his stepson on the 5th. But she had no idea about his prison background.
Morse said both hats had remained in his home and were never loaned to Ricci.
The hat may not have been "loaned" to him, but who says he couldn't have just taken it. Why would it even be missed for a night? I don't think I would notice if someone just took an article of clothing from my house for a short time.
The FBI also took a machete-like knife with a foot-long blade from his shed. Morse said he uses the knife to knock limbs off trees. He said it was always locked in the shed, and Ricci didn't have a key.
It probably not beyond Ricci's abilities to pick a lock, why would a lock stop someone with his background? Are these the best excuses the FIL can come up with?
I'm already there.
If the hat don't fit, you must acquit!
Someone may have answered this, but from what I've been hearing on tv, he's being held on parole violations, so apparently they can hold him as long as they like, nothing to do with the kidnapping yet.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.