Not Guilty Plea for Handyman

A Utah judge on Wednesday entered a not guilty plea for a former handyman charged with stealing items from the home of a Utah teenager who was kidnapped eight weeks ago.

Police have said career criminal Richard Albert Ricci, 48, tops their list of potential suspects in the June 5 kidnapping at gunpoint of Elizabeth Smart, but so far no one has been arrested in the girl’s disappearance. The theft and burglary charges are unrelated to the abduction.

Ricci, who had done odd jobs in the Smart home, has admitted taking items from the house last year, but he has denied any involvement in the girl’s June 5 abduction from the family’s million-dollar home. Police have said Ricci is not the sole focus of their probe. His wife has said he was with her at the time of the abduction.

On July 11, Ricci was charged with theft and burglary for allegedly taking jewelry, cash and other items from the Smart home and another residence in the same neighborhood.

If found guilty, he could go to prison for the rest of his life because he has already been convicted twice of felonies.

Ricci’s next court appearance will be on Aug 27.

Elizabeth Smart’s kidnapping is one of several high-profile abductions of children this summer. A man in Missouri was charged last week with murder and sexual assault in the slaying of 6-year-old Cassandra “Casey” Williamson. Samantha Runnion, 5, was snatched from her driveway in Stanton this summer and her bruised and naked body was found the next day. A 27-year-old man has been charged.

Despite hundreds of volunteers searching for Smart, her whereabouts remain a mystery.