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Police Hold Press Conference on Suspected Smart Killer

Aired August 28, 2002 - 12:12   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to take you live now to Salt Lake City, Utah, where a press conference is being held by the police chief with regard to this information we just mentioned.
(IN PROGRESS)

CHIEF RICK DINSE, SALT LAKE CITY POLICE: I think it's up to the family to make that decision.

QUESTION: Chief, do you have investigators at the hospital or inside of the room in the event that he is conscious, and you may only have a number of hours to get to him? Do you have them right there at the ready in case (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

DINSE: You know, Brian (ph), I can't tell you if we have him up in the room right now, or near the room in the hospital. We had him there for most of the night. Obviously, he's in surgery. He is not expected to be conscious for a while, based on the medical information that we have.

But we are certainly conscious of the fact that if he should come to at any point in time, we would want to have the opportunity to talk to him very quickly. But the other side of that is we can't do that without his attorneys being present or at least being notified and approving us doing that.

And so, there's going to be a time problem there, no matter what we do or how close we are to it.

QUESTION: Are his attorneys there?

DINSE: I can't answer that. I don't know.

QUESTION: Chief, I think a number of people, skeptics if you will, out there are saying, OK, maybe Richard Ricci did have something to do with Elizabeth's disappearance. And yet, it has been nearly three months now. And you've had him in custody for a couple of months, and there are no charges. And I think the skeptics may be asking and may be saying that if he had something to do with it, why no charges? Why not anything faster in relation to (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

DINSE: Well, Brian (ph), there's a couple of things. One is, if we had sufficient evidence to bring charges, there is no compelling reason for us to do it at this time. We have a lot of information, and it's just not -- he is in custody. He will be in custody. He is not going anywhere. He is basically facing life term sentences as a habitual criminal. We fully expect that he is going to be accessible and he's not out in the public. He is not a danger to anybody, if he is the suspect.

And to our advantage from an investigative standpoint, there would be no reason that we would want to move forward at this point. At some time, if we thought there was reason and we had sufficient evidence, then we would file.

PHILLIPS: All right, City Police Chief Rick Dinse there, giving an update on the condition of handyman, Richard Ricci. You know, he has been the focus of the missing girl case there in Salt Lake, that of Elizabeth Smart.

The police chief saying that Ricci is conscious, but they have not questioned him, and that's because his attorneys need to be present in order for them to do that.

Right now, he is being held on charges unrelated to the disappearance of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart. Police still are saying he is not a suspect.

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