Elizabeth Smart Kidnapping - Daily News/Chat Thread - Day 25

06/30/02 - Sunday | Elizabeth Smart Kidnapping - Daily News/Chat Thread - Day 25

[Sherlock]

I still don't understand why Elizabeth didn't try and run away from him or start screaming or yelling Mommy or even start crying-gun or no gun. Ricci took a lot of chances,risked getting caught and going back to prison and for what?

I've thought about this too and think he was probably convincing in making her believe he would carry out his threat and kill all the family if she screamed or said anything. I believe she knew who he was and she knew if she screamed and the family saw him they too would recognize him and she would be forcing him into a position where he would have to kill them to cover his tracks.

The mechanic, the neighbor, and others say Ricci was not himself after this incident. I think people are trying to overcomplicate this, I think it's a pretty basic criminal act.

[stlnative]

Did the thoughts I shared today say that I had exonerated Ricci or that I thought he was no longer involved? (no)

Did I say that the mechanic slip ups during his interviews made me think that he was lying or trying to frame Ricci? (no)

I do recall saying what I heard with my own 2 ears coming from the mechanics mouth and that this could cause problems with the case, if he went to the federal grand jury and said one thing to them, but gave the the TV reporters 2 different accounts like I saw him do.
These 2 different stories he gave was
1) to Ashleigh Banfield that Mr. Ricci came in on May 31st and picked up the Jeep himself and Ashleigh asked him he saw him personally, and he responded yes he did, but did not talk to him.
2) Then he told the reporters on Primetime Live that was interviewing him that the Jeep just disappeared 2 days before she was kidnapped.
Not only did I hear these 2 stories from the mans mouth on TV, but I also have read the 2 accounts in different newspapers. I do not think he is a lier, I think he is confused.

A confused witness is and cannot be considered a credible witness in the SLCPD or FBI's view. What he said at the Grand Jury hearing and what he said on TV with different reporters can and may come back to haunt the people trying to prosecute Ricci, if the case ends up being based on circumstantial evidence. The problem is the mechanic's conflicting statements are on tape with several news media outlets and if Ricci's lawyer caught what I caught, then he can poke holes in what the mechanic has said to the Grand Jury. Also what happens if they find out that Ricci is not the guy, because the have other evidence leading elsewhere, do you not think that the new lawyer representing the killer will not use all these interviews to turn the tables back on Ricci? It all depends on what type of evidence they are able to get to make a arrest. This is going to be a tough case and it going to be hard to put someone on trial unless they find her body and they find some exclusive DNA or trace evidence. We still do not know who killed her and we do not know if they left any DNA or trace evidence behind. All they have is an ex-con that surely is not giving them the information they want, they don't have any physical evidence on him yet... that is why he has not been charged and is still being called a suspect. They do not have anyone that fits the puzzle better at this time. (sorry for typo's... I just think that I had to say here is logic and it is logic to people who also heard and saw the mechanic's conflicting reports... from yes he saw Mr. Ricci pick up the Jeep to the Jeep just disappeared.)


I am hoping that someone here also heard and saw what I did and thought also how it could cause problems in the case.

[stlnative]

Your brand of "realistic" makes it up as you go along.

See... another direct hit on another FReeper, all your doing is looking to argue with people. Can you not just ignore some people, do you have to comment to everything that you do not agree on and then praise others you think exactly like you? - let it go... post your thoughts intelligently and above all ignore the Mormon comments, if no one brings attention to these comments, then these people will stop eventually when they do not get any attention. This thread is headed to being shut down probably by the FR people, if people do not stop attacking other FReepers, the Smart Family, or the Mormon faith.

[IamHD]

LOL! Someone had to say it! :)

[IamHD]

Boy, you're the all-knowing, aren't you? Or, should I say, a know-it-all? Why do you have it in for anyone that doesn't think like you? LOL

[FR_addict]

Now why do the cops need to re-interview these folks, other than to satisfy your curiosity? What are they going to say? We actually didn't tell you the whole story the first time?

I can think of a lot of questions to ask the neighbors and I'm not the police. I would want to get the time down with certainty. How many neighbors heard the scream and the car? The neighbor said 2:30pm. How does he know this? Did he look at the time for a reason? Did he look at the time, because he considered calling in the scream to the police? How long after the car went by did he hear the scream? Were there any dogs barking in the neighborhood? etc...

[Plummz]

Semi-literate ad hominem attacks on people who challenge your perceptions won't help find this missing girl.

[Amore]

Just wanted to sympathize with your last comment on the Elizabeth Smart thread about trying to provide perspective -- which I have read and appreciated and I'm sure others have as well. I used to try to add legal perspective on the Van Dam case, but those threads got way out of hand. It made me so gun-shy that I haven't posted anything publicly in several weeks. Even knowing they are a small minority, I find it very depressing dealing with these mean-spirited people.

[Amore]

Oops, sorry, I said I hadn't posted in a while! I knew the set-up for posting my comments looked different, but didn't realize the mistake I was making. That was meant to be a private reply to Utah Girl, not a public one.

[Jolly Green]

Semi-literate ad hominem attacks on people who challenge your perceptions won't help find this missing girl.

But your Mormon-bashing posts will?

[Lanza]

Thank you Utah Girl for that info on Ricci and his wife. I was just interested in knowing what their history was. So, she's an excon who married last Feb a serial felon. Sounds like they are lovely people.

[TheDon]

MSNBC just finished a report on ES investigation. I missed first part of it. One interesting piece of info is that the police apparently don't have any DNA samples from Ricci. That would explain why they are requesting samples from the Smart neighborhood men. They are trying to come up with unaccounted for DNA evidence in the Smart home.

The police are also talking to former cell mates of Ricci to find out what they may know about him.

Also, they reported that the police believe that there was more than one person involved in the abduction.

[TheDon]

Not sure if they have asked for DNA samples from Ricci and been denied, or Ricci has not been asked yet.

[TheDon]

Just saw another short report after the top of the hour on MSNBC, in which they state that the police are getting a warrant for DNA and hair samples from Ricci. Looks like they have some unaccounted for forensic evidence in the Smart home they are trying to account for.

FYI, AB will be reporting live from SLC in her report tonite.

[myth]

I hope Ricci does not have a good chance in a starring role in The Green Mile part 2.I pray that she ran away from home and will return safe.

[Plummz]

I have made no "Mormon-bashing" posts. You're setting up a straw man and lying about me. I do not appreciate it.

[lsee]

I saw Larry King interview Angela Ricci tonight and thought she came off as rather brittle. Sometimes she answered a question while staring right into Larry's face, barely blinking, and other times, she'd blink rapidly and repeatedly. Sometimes she'd be saying something and shaking her head negatively when her statement wasn't negative. She'd grimace and twitch, but her hands would be still. I was relieved when she put her hands in her lap, since her pose seemed so forced. I thought her posture was interesting, with her hands crossed demurely one over the other on the table in front of her. At one point, she fidgeted, caught herself, and swiftly put her hand back on top of the other hand, as if she'd been coached to keep her hands still. Remember how poorly Gary Condit did on television with his shifty movements? Someone coached Angela on how to behave. Her answers seemed canned and for the really difficult questions, she looked at the attorney (hers or Ricci's, I'm not sure). She insists Ricci is "an honest man" and "a good man". She insists that "we ALWAYS get up at 6:00"...

I thought they took pains to present Angela as "middle class, clean, nice-looking, trustworthy person" in sharp contrast to her father's image of "trashy" (not that he'd have come on Larry King without his shirt, but you never know). Angela did say Ricci has no hair on the back of his hands and didn't even know what a golf cap was when she mentioned it to him on the telephone. The attorney mentioned it would take 25-30 minutes, minimum, to get from the Ricci park to the Smart's neighborhood, then another 25-30 minutes minimum, to get back...He seemed confident the time line wouldn't allow him to do everything that needed to be done with an abducted person and still get back before his wife woke up.

[IamHD]

Thank you for your thoughtful insight. I missed the first part of LKL...but, for sure, body/hand and eye movement can be very telling. My daughter graduated with a major in psychology, and this is a known fact. Did she appear to be under the influence, perhaps? Possibly drugs? Will there be a repeat of LKL tonight? I'd really like to observe. Oops...just saw on TV that there will be a repeat at 12:00, so I will definitely watch it.

One point:

She insists that "we ALWAYS get up at 6:00"...

Just a thought. When a person is incarcerated for any length of time, they become accustomed to the rules. When to get up in the morning, when to eat, when to go to bed..etc. With Ricci's record, it is very possible that this is true. (Just a thought.) :)

She insists Ricci is "an honest man" and "a good man".

We already know the answer to that, don't we? :)

Unlike some, (not you) I don't want him hung, yet. I think that Elizabeth is still alive.