Handyman questioned in missing girl case

Richard Albert Ricci

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (CNN) -- Police said Monday a handyman who worked last year in the home of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart "has risen to the top of our list to be looking at."

Richard Albert Ricci, 50, is in custody in the Salt Lake County Jail on unrelated charges.

Investigators in the case first interviewed Ricci on June 6, the day after the girl disappeared, said Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse.

Dinse said Ricci gave authorities an alibi for his whereabouts the previous day, when the girl was taken at gunpoint from the bedroom she was sharing with her sister in the family's home.

"Subsequent to those interviews, some of the things that he had previously told us during our first initial contact with him ... required us to look deeper into his alibi," Dinse said.

"As a result of that additional investigation, we have been looking at Mr. Ricci very close. We believe that he is a very important witness."

Dinse continued: "Mr. Ricci has risen to the top of our list to be looking at. ... I want to emphasize at this point in time that he is not a charged suspect, but he is very interesting.

"If you look at some of his movements during the critical time period, these have brought considerable amount of questions in our mind that we have yet to get totally answered," Dinse said. "The alibis are suspect."

CNN NewsPass VIDEO Salt Lake City police say they are questioning Richard Ricci in connection with the disappearance of Elizabeth Smart but say he is not a suspect. CNN's Jeanne Meserve reports (June 25) Play video   MORE STORIES Milwaukee girl missing for seven weeks    EXTRA INFORMATION Images of Elizabeth Smart  • Missing children facts     Suspect description White male 30 to 40 years old 5 feet 8 inches tall to 5 feet 10 Medium build Dark hair Dark hair on arms and backs of hands Source: Salt Lake City police Elizabeth Smart information Web site: ElizabethSmart.com Tip lines: 800-932-0190 or 801-799-3000

During his work last year as a handyman for the family, Ricci spent "a considerable amount of time in the house and was very familiar with the house," Dinse said. Ricci last worked for the family last September, the chief said.

In addition, the Dinse said the ex-convict "does generally fit" the description of the intruder provided to police by Elizabeth's younger sister. "A bit taller, but overall he does fit the description."

Authorities have searched Ricci's house and spoken with his wife, Dinse said. Though the Riccis have hired a lawyer, they have been cooperating with authorities by talking to them, Dinse said. They deny any involvement in Elizabeth's disappearance, he said.

In addition to checking out his alibi for the night of Elizabeth's disappearance, "we are looking at him for other crimes in the area," Dinse added.

Ricci has undergone more than one polygraph test, Dinse said. "I won't discuss the outcomes."

His criminal career includes convictions for felony burglary, aggravated robbery, attempted criminal homicide and third-degree theft, an official said. He has been in and out of prison since 1973.

He had been on parole since September 2000.

Officials re-arrested him June 14 for violating the terms of his parole -- using or possessing alcohol and failing to successfully complete a treatment program ordered by the Board of Pardons, said a source who asked not to be identified.

Meanwhile, investigators left West Virginia for Utah Sunday after completing their probe of the drifter they had sought for two weeks in the case.

Bret Michael Edmunds remained in serious condition Monday in the intensive care unit of a Martinsburg, West Virginia, hospital, where he was undergoing treatment for an apparent drug overdose, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The 26-year-old man was apprehended Friday after checking himself into the hospital 1,800 miles from Salt Lake City.

Edmunds told investigators he had been living out of his car in the area of the Smarts' Salt Lake City home, sources said.

After questioning him at the hospital for six hours over the weekend, "we don't have a connection to this case with him," Dinse said. "He's answered those questions and, for the most part, answered them satisfactorily. At this point in time, he's not the focal point of our investigation."

Elizabeth Smart

FBI Special Agent Dan Roberts described Edmunds as "very cooperative."

"We are very confident that he provided us with some good information," Roberts told reporters.

Roberts said federal charges against Edmunds for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution for unrelated outstanding warrants will likely be dismissed Monday, and he will be extradited to Utah on local charges when his doctors say he is well enough to be moved.

Edmunds first came under scrutiny in the kidnapping case after a milkman reported seeing him near the Smarts' 6,600-square-foot mansion a day or two before Elizabeth was abducted.