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Book Criticizes Elizabeth Smart Investigation

By TChris, Section Crime in the News
Posted on Mon Apr 18, 2005 at 05:02:45 PM EST
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by TChris

Elizabeth Smart's uncle criticizes the Salt Lake City police in a new book about his niece's kidnapping, arguing that without family intervention, Elizabeth wouldn't have been found.

Tom Smart said the book also shows why focusing on a particular theory or suspect, such as one-time "person of interest" Richard Ricci, can be damaging. Ricci had done work for the Smarts and the investigation centered on him for some time. ... Police focused on Ricci even as Mary Katherine Smart, Elizabeth's younger sister and the only witness to the abduction, said the former Smart handyman was not the man she saw come into the girls' shared room.

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    Book Criticizes Elizabeth Smart Investigation | 13 comments (13 topical)
    Re: Book Criticizes Elizabeth Smart Investigation (none / 0) (#1)
    by krazycory on Mon Apr 18, 2005 at 05:47:12 PM EST
    i think the whole police dept. owes the ricci family a public apology anyone that knew rick knew he wouldn't do anything like that!!!! they focused on him because he was an ex-con and thats where i met him was in the utah st. prison and from day one i knew they were trying to twist the evidence to fit him while the real kidnapper and child molester was getting away

    Re: Book Criticizes Elizabeth Smart Investigation (none / 0) (#2)
    by Richard Aubrey on Mon Apr 18, 2005 at 05:57:34 PM EST
    Fixating on a particular theory and stovepiping it, to the exclusion of other evidence is not unique to law enforcement. It is even possible, I suppose, to think of a field where it is more dangerous. Any ideas?

    Re: Book Criticizes Elizabeth Smart Investigation (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Apr 18, 2005 at 06:06:41 PM EST
    Wow, has anyone asked Richard Jewell about this radical theory of not locking onto one suspect and ignoring all other avenues of investigation?

    Re: Book Criticizes Elizabeth Smart Investigation (none / 0) (#4)
    by wishful on Mon Apr 18, 2005 at 06:22:32 PM EST
    Tom Smart said the book also shows why focusing on a particular theory or suspect, such as one-time "person of interest" Richard Ricci, can be damaging.
    Focusing on a particular theory or subject can be damaging indeed. Just ask Mr. Ricci. Oh, wait. You can't. He died in custody. Oh well, can't expect compassion for a suspect in custody, especially if it is easier to close a case if the suspect isn't there to defend himself. Ms. Smart herself wasn't a priority, only a mark in the "win" column. Lucky for her she had a tenacious family. Our public servants once acted as our surrogate family, representing us in legal and political circles. Those days are mostly over, except for the few isolated cases where the public employees have a personal code of ethics.

    Re: Book Criticizes Elizabeth Smart Investigation (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Apr 18, 2005 at 07:07:41 PM EST
    Hey, What's wrong? Nancy Grace said Ricci was guilty! Isn't that enough?

    Re: Book Criticizes Elizabeth Smart Investigation (none / 0) (#6)
    by Che's Lounge on Mon Apr 18, 2005 at 07:10:59 PM EST
    Bride of Chucky

    Re: Book Criticizes Elizabeth Smart Investigation (none / 0) (#7)
    by Lindsay on Mon Apr 18, 2005 at 07:13:13 PM EST
    Look at what happened to John and Patsy Ramsey when they daughter turned up dead. Right away the Police fixated on them. Since then, Polly Klass, the two little girls in Florida Jessica Mumsford and Sarah Lunder and also the one in California, (sorry, about forgetting names) - were ALL taken out of their bedrooms. How sad for them that not only did they lose a daughter, they have been called murderers or in John Ramseys case, a pedophile. How terrible is that?

    Re: Book Criticizes Elizabeth Smart Investigation (none / 0) (#9)
    by Patrick on Tue Apr 19, 2005 at 08:27:51 AM EST
    It's easy to criticize when you have the luxory of hindsight.

    Re: Book Criticizes Elizabeth Smart Investigation (none / 0) (#10)
    by wishful on Tue Apr 19, 2005 at 08:51:24 AM EST
    Too bad the luxory of any sight, including hindsight, was taken away permanently from Mr. Ricci. Now his widow gets to live with her thoughts of hindsight for the rest of her life.

    Re: Book Criticizes Elizabeth Smart Investigation (none / 0) (#11)
    by Patrick on Tue Apr 19, 2005 at 10:51:13 AM EST
    So the cops are to blame for Ricci's death by brain hemmorage after he was taken into custody for a parole violation?????? Wow....Now that is wishful.

    Re: Book Criticizes Elizabeth Smart Investigation (none / 0) (#12)
    by wishful on Tue Apr 19, 2005 at 03:36:18 PM EST
    Patrick, I didn't say that. How awful it must be for her, though, to wonder if her husband's brain hemmorage was coincident to anything untoward or if it was actually just incredibly bad timing. I wonder if she wonders if the whole Ms. Smart kidnapping hadn't happened, and if he had a hemmorage at home, if she could have gotten him to a place that would have saved his life. I bet that she has absolutely no power to find out the real circumstances to any level of confidence, such that she would be able to sleep at night knowing he was not being coerced to reveal something that he had no knowledge of. Being a policeman, I don't think that you would be totally shocked if the interrogation got rough, especially if they were somehow convinced through mistaken logic that Ricci did indeed kidnap Ms. Smart. I just think that Mrs. Ricci has your hindsight concept happening to her in spades.

    Re: Book Criticizes Elizabeth Smart Investigation (none / 0) (#13)
    by Patrick on Tue Apr 19, 2005 at 05:05:18 PM EST
    Being a policeman, I don't think that you would be totally shocked if the interrogation got rough, especially if they were somehow convinced through mistaken logic that Ricci did indeed kidnap Ms. Smart. Then you'd be wrong, I'd be absolutely shocked and appalled and would demand the termination and prosecution of anyone who did that. And if I had first hand knowledge of it, I'd lead the way.

    Re: Book Criticizes Elizabeth Smart Investigation (none / 0) (#14)
    by wishful on Tue Apr 19, 2005 at 05:16:26 PM EST
    You're a good man, Patrick. I mean that sincerely.

    Book Criticizes Elizabeth Smart Investigation | 13 comments (13 topical)