# 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:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**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, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962/41 "2003-03-13T19:20:19Z")
> [@](#): > > 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? I only said “supposedly” because as late as last week Smart was publicly questioning whether the police were putting forth a true effort to find “Emmanuel.” Mary Catherine identified Emmanuel as the man who took Elizabeth LAST FALL and they hadn’t found the guy yet and had only released a sketch of the guy within the last month. So while _I_ admittedly have no knowledge of how much effort the police were taking, I’m assuming Smart did. > [@](#): > > Give me a fucking break. Petty theft != kidnapper No, but it raises a red flag. If your brother was found murdered and a handyman was later found with your brother’s swiss army knife, it would certainly raise eyebrows, wouldn’t it? Now, whose fault would it be that this innocent guy suddenly found himself under intense scrutiny? ---
**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, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962/42 "2003-03-13T20:01:28Z")
I’m sorry, **Pundit** , but your argument doesn’t wash. There is a mile of difference between a person who would pilfer from a house and one who would kidnap and murder a little girl. There was NO evidence on Ricci and the press convicted him anyway. I hope his wife sues their asses off. ---
**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, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962/43 "2003-03-13T23:04:03Z")
The press did not convict Ricci of anything. They reported that Ricci was a handyman who had admitted to pilfering items from the Smart residence. That the police had interviewed him in connection with the Smart kidnapping investigation. That the police would not rule him out as a suspect. That Mrs. Ricci did not believe her ex-husband was capable of harming a child. That Ed Smart did not think Ricci was the man who kidnapped his daughter. On what exactly would her lawsuit be based? That our free press printed the truth? ---
**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 14, 2003, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962/44 "2003-03-14T01:25:48Z")
I’m not referring to news reporters so much as the all the punditry. I mentioned Nancy Grace and Bill O’Reilly as two in particular who seemed very confident that Ricci was guilty. There were others, but it’s been a while, and I tended to change the channel when those discussions came up. I think that Ricci would have had a case against those who insinuated that he was guilty as well as the network that they worked for. To their great credit, the family never joined in the public lynching and were very fair in their public statements about Ricci. They seem like very decent and honerable people to me. In fact, their very decency in trying to do a good deed for a homeless man seems to have led to the abduction in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962/45 "2003-03-14T01:32:36Z")
You know, it absolutely cracks me up that people who are appalled at the unimaginable violence and atrocities that people perpetrate … prescribe unimaginable violence and attrocity. The image presented in the OP is fucking psychotic, and I worry about his mental stability. ---
**Author:** ![ganglian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7feea3/32.png) [@ganglian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ganglian)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962/46 "2003-03-14T03:45:19Z")
That’s all well and good, blame the David Koresh wannabe skank bastard. But: Daddy Smart had the habit of inviting homeless freaks back to the house for yardwork and it was the local police who had a nice rush to judgement that killed rIchard Reese. Isnt it interesting how easy it is to forget that. I am so sick of zealoted Falsely Pious hypocrites wanting to blame the world for their own irresponsible parenting. ---
**Author:** ![Tinkertoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f19dbf/32.png) [@Tinkertoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinkertoy)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962/47 "2003-03-14T04:14:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ganglian \* > \*\*That’s all well and good, blame the David Koresh wannabe skank bastard. But: > Daddy Smart had the habit of inviting homeless freaks back to the house for yardwork and it was the local police who had a nice rush to judgement that killed rIchard Reese. \*\* Richard Riccci died of a Brain from a spontaneous cerebral hemorrhage. It could of happened anytime, anywhere. If you have to find a reason for his death you might as well believe [This](http://members.aol.com/alanyu5/part2a21.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Tinkertoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f19dbf/32.png) [@Tinkertoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinkertoy)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962/48 "2003-03-14T04:16:16Z")
Must learn to preview ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962/49 "2003-03-14T05:19:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by An Arky \* > \*\*Oh, yeah, which reminds me. Where did they get that picture, [of Elizabeth at the party] and how did it turn up so fast? \*\* One of the party-goers thought that the people looked odd, and snapped photographs of them. Upon seeing pictures of the kidnappers after the arrest, he realized who they were, and turned over the pictures. There was also video on the CBS Evening News of “Emmanuel” and his wife getting a free meal at a homeless shelter. When I saw it, I wondered how much digging through the archives the CBS crew had to do to find it, and how they remembered that it was there to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![jacksen9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@jacksen9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacksen9)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962/50 "2003-03-14T11:07:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ganglian \* > \*\*That’s all well and good, blame the David Koresh wannabe skank bastard. But: > Daddy Smart had the habit of inviting homeless freaks back to the house for yardwork and it was the local police who had a nice rush to judgement that killed rIchard Reese. > > Isnt it interesting how easy it is to forget that. I am so sick of zealoted Falsely Pious hypocrites wanting to blame the world for their own irresponsible parenting. \*\* I have not seen all of the coverage on this but the parts I have seen have not shown the “Daddy Smart” blaming the world. As for his parenting, I am sure he isn’ perfect. I would imagine that they will struggle with this choice they made… bringing this mentally unstable criminal into the home. My take is that he is just a regulay guy that is very happy to have his daughter back and alive. As for the rush to judgement on Ricci, he was a criminal and he had violated parole. He had stuff he had taken from the Smart home. I am not at all surprised that he was considered a suspect. I would guess that being the #1 suspect in a child abduction would not be picnic. ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962/51 "2003-03-14T11:29:16Z")
Even if Ricci hadn’t been suspected of Elizabeth’s kidnapping, he did steal from the Smart home and had violated his parole. There was no reason for him to not be in jail; that his aneurysm burst at that time was happenstance. As for the wisdom of Mr. Smart inviting homeless people to his home to do work, I truly believe that he was attempting to be charitable and offer an honest day’s work to those who would accept it rather than just giving handouts. He made a poor choice in retrospect, but I think most people (particularly faithful, charitably-minded, good-hearted people, which Smart seems to be) would likely consider a homeless person who is willing to come and do manual day labour rather than panhandling and living on shelter food as one of the ones who is simply down on his luck, not one who is potentially dangerous. I can’t find fault in Mr. Smart for trying to help the less fortunate in his community, even though it led to such disastrous circumstances. But above all, Elizabeth is home and positioned now to get help to learn how to live with what has happened to her, and that’s what’s really most important. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-not-killing-her-mr-human-trash/160962.md?page=2)