posted on August 31, 2002 11:11:29 AM new
The description of the guy points to him being a profesional thief, not a kidnapper. He was being questioned because he was a handyman at the home of the Smart family and had a 30-year criminal record for THEFT. It is highly unusual for a criminal to change their crime patterns from theft and robbery to kidnapping and murder. I'd say that the police need to continue looking for the guilty party.
posted on August 31, 2002 11:45:48 AM newIt is highly unusual for a criminal to change their crime patterns from theft and robbery to kidnapping and murder.
His criminal record included a conviction for attempted murder...
posted on August 31, 2002 04:18:38 PM new
That is a big house,Someone knew their way around it.
A lot of evidence still points to Ricci,untill the police make public the items they collected in Riccis home,and have more concret evidence to throw to the public.
The police are suppose to go to a site to dig where a man fitting Ricci's description was seen digging a triangle shaped hole.
posted on August 31, 2002 07:37:28 PM new
You know, I just have to post a message here, and I fear that Borillar is going to hate it and call it "fun" again, LOL.
We just moved from Ogden, which is a sister city to Salt Lake City. We have lots of smart friends there. Today I've gotten a couple of different kinds of thoughts from them (one of them is a newspaper reporter). One person says there's a suspicion that the Smart family has long arms that reach into prisons and may have called for Ricci's death. That doesn't ring true for me.
The other message thread, which is rampant in Utah but not reported by the media, is that the girl's father is gay AND that the police found child porn on HIS computer.
I can't see exactly how that would connect with the girl's disappearance, and it's no crime to be gay; however, the Smart family is veddy veddy Mormon and in that church it IS a crime to be gay. And it's talked about in that state because that church is so self-righteous about so many things.
Before anyone beats me up on this, please know that we have many dear friends who are gay and I do NOT want to sound biased here. Simply reporting what's going the rounds in Northern Utah. My husband and I worked hard in Ogden to establish the first national Matthew Shepard Scholarship Fund for gays on our campus. . . .
posted on August 31, 2002 08:30:59 PM new
That's very interesting information, Roadsmith. It really is suspicious that a 48 year old man would have a massive brain hemmorage...especially under these circumstances. But I read that foul play had been ruled out...can't remember who made that ruling.
While I was looking for this story, I found some interesting information about child murders.
I was amazed to see on this site that in 1997, about 6 juveniles were murdered daily in the United States. and Between 1980 and 1997, nearly 38,000 juveniles were murdered in the U.S.
33% were under age 6 and 50% were ages 15 through 17.
30% were female.
47% were black.
56% were killed with a firearm.
40% (among those whose murderers were identified) were killed by family members, 45% by acquaintances, and 15% by strangers.
posted on August 31, 2002 09:02:15 PM new
>>The other message thread, which is rampant in Utah but not reported by the media, is that the girl's father is gay AND that the police found child porn on HIS computer.<<
I don't see what that has to do with the price of rice, as my mother used to say, either.
Having Ricci bumped off *in* jail doesn't make sense either, I mean if they at worst wanted to recover remains.
posted on August 31, 2002 10:43:41 PM new
Nycyn: I'm struggling here to try to explain the severe paranoia in the Utah culture over homosexuality, and I know it must be hard to understand.
Homosexuality in the Mormon culture is so forbidden that those who are gay go to any lengths to hide it, for fear of being outcast. (And a certain percentage of those young missionaries are gay; some are caught and sent home in disgrace.) When I first saw the Smart family on TV, I knew by all the clues we non-Mormons had in Utah that this was a very Mormon family. At the same time, there seemed to be something oddly different about Elizabeth Smart's father himself, different from the self-assured men in that church, that culture.
There's been a strong suspicion among many in Utah that the family knows more than they're telling.
IF the father is gay AND had child porn on his computer (I KNOW these are both unproven as of now!!!), it tells us more about the father than we may want to know. It also tells us that he may have been leading a double life, and those who do sometimes are in harm's way, or put their rich, proper, righteous families in harm's way.
That's the thinking. There's more to it but I don't have a lot of time tonight to try to make sense of it all!
PLEASE, don't anyone here accuse me of homophobia. PLEASE. I've tried to explain the Utah way of thinking. . . .
posted on September 1, 2002 09:58:11 AM new
>>PLEASE, don't anyone here accuse me of homophobia. PLEASE. I've tried to explain the Utah way of thinking. . .<<
There is nothing in your posts that suggest homophobia. Relax fer chrissake.
posted on September 1, 2002 10:51:08 AM new
Okay, nycyn, I'll relax. I'm just particularly sensitive to that charge. Have a good Sunday; I hit it huge in some yard sales, HUGE! I'm doing the happy dance today.
posted on September 1, 2002 01:56:02 PM new
"We have found nothing on these computers that creates a nexus to this crime," Salt Lake City police Chief Rick Dinse said today, adding that most of the computers have been returned to their owners.
Police spokesman Sgt. Fred Louis said three computers from Elizabeth Smart's home were taken "early on in the investigation" and were returned Tuesday.
The family has been very cooperative throughout the 16-day investigation since Elizabeth disappeared from her bedroom, allegedly taken by a gunman while her 9-year-old sister feigned sleep in the same bed, Dinse said. When they were asked for the computers, he said, they turned them over immediately.
There was nothing on the computers that indicated anything had been deleted from the hard drives, Dinse said.
No evidence was found of Elizabeth having communications with anyone that would have put her at risk, either, the police chief said.
There have been persistent rumors about possible family involvement in the disappearance of Elizabeth, many centered around polygraph tests that family members may or may not have taken, even though police have not wavered in their statements about how cooperative the Smarts have been .
"We feel very comfortable so far with what the family has told us," said FBI Special Agent Dan Roberts. "We have no reason to doubt any of their alibis at this time."
