Elizabeth Smart Kidnapping - Daily News/Chat Thread - Day 19

6/24/02 | Elizabeth Smart Kidnapping - Daily News/Chat Thread - Day 19

[stlnative]

Please keep adding 6/24/02 dated Elizabeth Smart updates to this thread...
Remember to keep checking back to this thread today for
today's developing news on the Elizabeth Smart Kidnapping.

Some people may consider today to be actually day 20, I count 1 day for each
24 hours that have passed since Elizabeth was kidnapped.

Links

Suspect being held by FBI in Smart case in SLC - 6/23/02 10pm
Elizabeth Smart Kidnapping - Daily News/Chat Thread - Day 18
Elizabeth Smart Kidnapping - Daily News/Chat Thread - Day 17

[FR_addict]

Also, when Mary Katherine got up and spotted the intruder on the steps, they said she went back to her room. There are two other bedrooms that belong to her brothers that she could have easily gone to according to the layout of the house. I could understand how it stopped her form going to her parents bedroom, since she had to go by the stairs where she probably saw the man, but the brothers' bedrooms were closer than her own bedroom.

[Utah Girl]

Lois Smart had just buried her father Monday before Elizabeth was abducted. This is my supposition only, but it sounded like the parents were exhausted from the ordeal. Ed Smart said he usually heard the kids if they got up in the night, and he didn't hear a thing the night Elizabeth was abducted. I think it was just normal life going on, and they didn't set the alarm. From what it sounded like, they weren't consistent in setting it.

[cherry]

note how Mrs Smart was speaking to her dgt during her statements.

yes....and that just about had me in tears....

Dear God..please let that child be alive and help her to come home...

[GovernmentShrinker]

I've seen several reports quoting the mother as saying that the girls had shared the room for as long as the family ahd lived in that house.

[Utah Girl]

Ricci spent 15 years in prison for attempted murder of a highway patrolman. He was in prison from 1983 to 1998.

[r9etb]

why target Elizabeth specifically

Because she's a beautiful, trusting, young, blonde girl; and most probably a virgin.

Mix that in with a sicko's fixation, and you've got the likely motive.

I have to think that if it's Ricci, they'll find something related to child pornography (though not necessarily having to do with Elizabeth Smart) in his trailer.

[Jolly Green]

True enough, but their recent record of accuracy in national stories makes them far more credible than they were 10 years ago....Also....their source was law enforcement, not some prisoner or drifter. And the refusal of law enforcement to deny the basic revelation in the story was also telling.

Are we living on the same planet? We have two convicted criminals involved in this case with extensive criminal records, one of which worked inside the Smart home for several months AND failed a polygraph according to police sources per Fox. What's more, the police chief said in the most recent press conference that Ricci is at the top of the list in terms of possible suspects, because his alibi doesn't ring true. And you are putting stock in a National Enquirer story?

And the "refusal of law enforcement to deny the basic revelation"? Excuse me, but the police, FBI, IRS, never exonerate anyone. Why didn't you mention the NE huge settlements, which are obviously viewed by them as a cost of doing business i.e. they sensationalize a ficticious story, reap huge sales and then settle.

[stlnative]

SALT LAKE CITY from FOX NEWS — A handyman being questioned in the abduction of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart has failed a lie-detector test in the case and has confessed to burglarizing the missing girl's home last year, Fox News has learned.

[Bella]

From all the pix I've seen of the Smart's home, it appears to be large..I forgot how many square feet living space was mentioned somewhere...anyway, does anyone know how many bedrooms are in this home?

[twigs]

If your house had been burglarized in the past year, wouldn't you make sure that your garage doors were down and that your alarm was on before turning in for the night? Would having going through a burglary that you would be even more security conscience. Am I missing something?

Yes. But I think the missing factor here is that the family had just undergone a death. Lois' father's funeral had just taken place the day before and apparently, the family had guests, probably connected with the funeral. Myron Francom had been ill and in a hospital for three months; Lois took the children to see him nearly every day during that time. No doubt, the family was exhausted and just off their rhythm.

[Utah Girl]

Mary Katherine is 9 year old girl. She may have felt safer going back to bed and pretending to be asleep until she was sure the guy was gone. Remember, the abductor threatened Elizabeth's life and threatened to also kill the family if she made any noise. And no the threat wasn't made to Mary Katherine directly, but she still heard the threats and thought that if she made any noise, her family would be hurt or killed. She is one brave little girl.

[Carolina]

Ricci is a dead ringer for the fugitive Goldberg who is wanted for sex crimes in Nevada, Arizona, and Colorado.

[cherry]

His statements are not at all bizarre I did not hear this, but someone wrote that he told someone in the media that "God's will is being done"..in response to what was new in the investigation..

infact , his statements have been so bizarre that the cops have reviewed the tapes...

he could have been nervous, stressed, hasseled, on medication...that i will grant him....

[Carolina]

Seven bedrooms and, IIRC, 6600 sq.ft house.

[Utah Girl]

7 bedrooms, over 6,000 square feet. A very large home. I think one bedroom is in the basement, one bedroom is on the first floor, five bedrooms are on the 2nd floor. The whole family sleeps on the 2nd floor.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Yes, but he must have done something else after that, because the AP reports say he was paroled in 2000. And if I'm not mistaken, I also think I read that he was arrested 11 days ago in connection with some offense unrelated to the Smart case. I think they ought to keep him locked up, even if he turns out not to have been involved in the Smart case. I mean can ANYONE look at this guy's bio and really believe that there's ANY chance he will lead a life free of serious crime going forward?

[Wild Irish Rogue]

How could Ricci have known, that this particular night, the garage door was going to be left open? Does he look like the type to even own a golf cap? Or know how to speak softly to a child? He may be doing a Skakel and copping to a previous crime, in case his prints show up in the house. Also, if he was going to lash out in anger at the father for firing him-why wait 13 months? If I woke up and saw this guy looming over me-I would start yelling-it would be an automatic reaction. 14 yr old girls scream at everything-bugs,boys,scary movies,etc. I just can't imagine any scenario where a 14 yr old girl, would wake up and see this thug in her bedroom and she would not be startled and cry out,Mommy or Daddy.I don't remember,but when Polly Klass was snatched-did she go quietly or was there a lot of screaming, especially from the other girls? But, this guy does look like the same kind of creep that killed Polly.

[cherry]

well-to-do, but if their last name isn't Rockefeller or Vanderbilt, why target Elizabeth specifically

I think sometimes criminal will not go for the biggest targets..too much fire power and too many connections..

now..if Ricci stole from the Smart's garage before ( skateboard?) then he might have wandered back to find some easy pickings again in the garage....

so could he have been in that garage, or from the open garage into the basement, where perhaps that was where Elizabeth really was, and could he just have been opportunistic when he was face with this sweet girl?

only problem with that scenario is would a would be burglar wear white clothes and no gloves?..also, I don't think it is that common for a burglar to carry a gun, do you?

[GovernmentShrinker]

Re Polly Klaas: the noise normally associated with an adolescent girls' slumber party would likely have masked any noise related to the abduction.