# Thanks for not killing her, Mr. Human Trash **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 12, 2003, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962 "2003-03-12T23:01:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962/21 "2003-03-13T08:08:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shagnasty \* > \*\*Nobody said anything about anal rape fuck-face. If that is all that you had on your mind then save it for the demonstration. A minor miracle has happened and all you can think about is the well being of the perpetrator in prison. \*\* I think the poster was being facetious. Chill the fuck out. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962/22 "2003-03-13T08:47:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by djf750 \* > We are going to put this rifle barrel up your ass and this one in your mouth. Then we are going to pull the triggers at the same time. Oh , and we will televise it so that other creatures like you understand that we won’t allow our children to be hurt any more. However much you might be (and hopefully are) joking about this, don’t you think it might be slightly traumatic to those hurt by this piece of organic tissue for him to be violently hurt? They’d have to read about it alllll over again. The pictures would be hard to miss, the post-death interviews, the entire media frenzy. Etc. Ad nauseam. Something to think about. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962/23 "2003-03-13T10:55:58Z")
Quoting **Rilchiam:** > [@](#): > > kevja, I think An Arky may have been suggesting that Elizabeth was “brainwashed”, and didn’t try to escape or alert others either because she was conned into thinking she was okay where she was, or because she was too terrified of the consequences. Yes, that is pretty much what I was suggesting. Not for one second was I trying to defend the actions of the abductors. I’m just curious how they kept her for nine months short of keeping her chained up somewhere or something… Those creepy “party” pictures make wonder even more… ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962/24 "2003-03-13T11:34:27Z")
What “party” pictures? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962/25 "2003-03-13T12:10:24Z")
On the news they’re showing a picture of Elizabeth in the veil and one of Emmanuel drinking a can of something. They’re at a party, purportedly only a few blocks from her house. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962/26 "2003-03-13T12:11:34Z")
Oh, yeah, which reminds me. Where did they get that picture, and how did it turn up so fast? ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962/27 "2003-03-13T12:15:02Z")
One of my coworkers thinks the alleged kidnappers should have been shot on sight by the police. Ummm, sure, why not - that whole “due process” dealie is vastly overrated, huh? :rolleyes: I’m glad she’s back with her family and I hope that the media will give them some time to reassume a normal life [sub]yeah, dream on[/sub] and I further hope that the prosecution is flawless and the guilty are punished with all due dispatch. Yeah, I’m a dreamer. But I do hope Elizabeth can resume a semblance of normalcy soon. ---
**Author:** ![Earthworm\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f07891/32.png) [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962/28 "2003-03-13T12:51:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shagnasty \* > \*\*A minor miracle has happened and all you can think about is the well being of the perpetrator in prison. \*\* Actually, I think he was more concerned about your over-developed sense of vengeance. ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962/29 "2003-03-13T14:31:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diogenes the Cynic \* > \*\*I wonder if anyone in the media will now apologize for their trial and crucifixion of Richard Ricci just a few months ago. \*\* I don’t know anything about this? What happened? They accused him and he died in jail? ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962/30 "2003-03-13T15:00:55Z")
Ricci was a former handyman who had stolen from the Smart’s home. The police focused on him and did the “we can’t rule Ricci out as a suspect” deal. Acc. to the Smart’s website, the family didn’t believe Ricci did it because Mary Catherine (Elizabeth’s younger sister who was in the room with her when she was kidnapped) didn’t recognize him as the man who came into their room. She later recognized the real kidnapper when she saw him panhandling in downtown SLC. He said his name was “Emmanuel.” She told her parents she thought he was the guy and the Smarts notified the police. The police were supposedly searching for “Emmanuel” but were unsuccessful until now. So basically they had the right guy targeted…but only after they had the wrong guy targeted. After being targeted, Ricci was put in jail for parole violations where he died of a brain aneurism, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962/31 "2003-03-13T15:06:10Z")
**vanilla** , [Richard Ricci](http://kutv.com/related/local_story_1271386998_html) was a handyman who had done some work in the Smart home, and had also admitted to some petty burglary from the house. The police called him their top suspect despite the fact the fact that they had absolutely no evidence that he was involved (and now we know for _sure_ that he wasn’t involved) and he had no history of sexual offenses. He died in jail of a brain hemmorage while protesting his innocence. His wife also gave several interviews to the media in which she said that, while her husband wasn’t a saint, she believed he was totally incapable of harming a child. The tone of the media coverage during all of that was to presume that Roicci was guilty, that he was “holding back” information, and that he wife was just lying for him. Not a single piece of evidence was ever produced but many of the talking heads in the media villified Ricci as though his guilt were a foregone conclusion. I remember Nancy Grace on CNN as one of the worst perpetrators of this, as well as Bill O’Reilly. Neither one of them made any attempt at an apology last night or even acknowledged that they had previously accused Ricci with so much confidence. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962/32 "2003-03-13T15:08:29Z")
> [@](#): > > I wonder if anyone in the media will now apologize for their trial and crucifixion of Richard Ricci just a few months ago. Had Ricci not been caught with items he stole from the Smart’s home, he might not have been tried and crucified by the media. And there is still a possibility that Ricci knew Mitchell and was indeed involved in the kidnapping. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962/33 "2003-03-13T15:35:27Z")
One: The news said she said she was not harmed. She was very cooperative and was talking ALOT about what happened during her trauma. Two: She said she was always with at least two people and didn’t have an opportunity to escape. Three: The reason they caught the guy is because the parents pushed the idea that he should be more of a suspect. The cops weren’t giving him much attention. A number of people spotted them on the street and called the fuzz. Four: He’s a bona fide nutcase. I would hope he would get some treatment while he’s in jail. Five: Unbelievable that she’s OK after all this time. What a happy ending! ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962/34 "2003-03-13T15:42:41Z")
> [@](#): > > **PunditLisa** said: > Had Ricci not been caught with items he stole from the Smart’s home, he might not have been tried and crucified by the media. And there is still a possibility that Ricci knew Mitchell and was indeed involved in the kidnapping. Give me a fucking break. Petty theft != kidnapper. The press had no justification for what they did-- and the cops already said last night that they no longer believe that Ricci had any involvement. There’s no evidence that these guys ever knew each other, and there’s absolutely no reason on Earth to try to connect Ricci to Mitchell other than a reluctance to admit that everyone was wrong about Ricci. ---
**Author:** ![belladonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@belladonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/belladonna)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962/35 "2003-03-13T15:47:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rilchiam \* > \*\*I read a book once (true crime, not fiction) called **Perfect Victim** , about a 20-year-old woman who was kidnapped and kept in isolation by a married couple. \*\* That would be “Colleen Stan” (a psuedonym), who was held captive by Cameron and Janice Hooker. It’s a really interesting story, if highly disturbing. [Here’s](http://www.koolpages.com/bedlam/hooker1.html) a summary if anyone’s curious. I was talking to my Mom about this last night, and she said one of the newcasts she’d heard mentioned Mitchell having a background in hypnotism. Whether or not that’s true, or played any role in Elizabeth’s captivity is debatable, but I found it interesting. There have also been reports that police questioned the group previously in other locations and Elizabeth gave false names. She certainly came into contact with at least a handful of outside people (roommates, store clerks) and never let on who she really was. I can’t even imagine what she’s gone through or the lies she’s been told I hope it all works out in the end for her, and her family. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962/36 "2003-03-13T15:47:46Z")
Also give me a break, Pundit. “Supposedly” means you don’t believe the police were looking for that guy. You got any proof that they weren’t? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962/37 "2003-03-13T15:50:23Z")
Forgot something: Also, Pundit, the brain aneurysm could’ve killed him even if he were free. ---
**Author:** ![yme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/35a633/32.png) [@yme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yme)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962/38 "2003-03-13T18:05:53Z")
[Prejudging] No wonder he kidnapped her. Would you have tried to get that horrid looking bitch pregnant that was with him? [/Prejudging] …Oh, and when you get that rifle up his ass **djf750** , put a round in it for me too, with Elizabeths name on it. ---
**Author:** ![kevja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@kevja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevja)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962/39 "2003-03-13T18:20:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by An Arky \* > \*\*Quoting **Rilchiam:** > > Yes, that is pretty much what I was suggesting. Not for one second was I trying to defend the actions of the abductors. I’m just curious how they kept her for nine months short of keeping her chained up somewhere or something… Those creepy “party” pictures make wonder even more… \*\* Sorry **An Arky** , that was a knee jerk response on my part. In no way did I mean to imply that you were defending her abductor. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962/40 "2003-03-13T19:15:04Z")
No prob, kevja. I felt a little bad bring it up and looking like I was blaming the victim or something. Not the case, just curious like a lot of folks. Oh yeah, since this is the pit, I feel obligated to add: Fuck! Thank you, that is all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962.md?page=3)