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Richard Ricci was a handyman who was questioned by police over the disappearance of Elizabeth Smart.

Netflix has just released its latest true crime documentary, Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart, which sees Elizabeth recall the harrowing events of her kidnapping more than two decades on.

Elizabeth was abducted from her bedroom in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the early hours of the morning on June 5, 2002. Her sister, Mary Katherine, watched in shock as Elizabeth was taken at knifepoint.

In the immediate aftermath, Elizabeth’s own family were investigated but nothing suspicious was found. Nine months after her disappearance, her kidnappers, Brian David Mitchell and his wife Wanda Barzee, were finally caught and arrested.

While Mitchell was holding Elizabeth captive, another man was questioned by police – Richard Ricci. Ricci once worked in the Smart home as a handyman and had a criminal record unrelated to Elizabeth’s abduction.

He denied any involvement in the Smart case. During the investigation, Ricci was being held at the Utah State Prison in Draper for a parole violation unrelated to the case when he was found unconscious.

In August 2002, he died at the age of 48 after undergoing six hours of emergency surgery to correct a spontaneous brain haemorrhage. He had been complaining of a headache whilst in prison.

He was taken to the prison infirmary, then airlifted to hospital in Salt Lake City by helicopter. There was no indication of foul play according to the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Department.

A couple of months before his death, Ricci’s wife Angela spoke to ABC News’ Good Morning America, telling viewers her husband had been “devastated” at the news of Elizabeth’s disappearance.

She had said: “He put his face in his hands. He knows that pain and he just felt that for Mr Smart. He knew the kids, he worked in the home, he spoke with them. He was devastated.”

Elizabeth’s father, Edward Smart, said he had not been aware of Ricci’s criminal record and Ricci had been referred to him by another contractor.

As for the convicted kidnapper, Brian David Mitchell, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole after being found guilty of kidnapping and transporting a minor across state lines for sexual activity.

He had been serving his sentence at the US Penitentiary in Indiana, but in October 2025 it was reported he had been moved. Mitchell, who is now 72 years old, was transferred to the Federal Correctional Institution-Lewisburg in Pennsylvania.

In 2012 Elizabeth married Matthew Gilmour, a Scottish native whom she met while on a mission trip to Paris. She told Skip Intro: “Because he didn’t know anything [about] my past, he wasn’t afraid to tell me what he really thought.

“I appreciate that I’m not my past [with him]. I am just who I am right now, right here in the moment.” They have three children and still live in Utah.

Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart is on Netflix

Glasner congregated all his players and staff at the club’s training ground just before noon on Friday.

What arrived did not necessarily shock the players, they all had to have been living under a rock not to know their manager was very likely leaving in the summer.

The timing, though, got tongues wagging. Why now?

Prior to his announcement to the players, his captain Guehi had confirmed his intention to join Manchester City.

Glasner is one of Guehi’s biggest supporters, he will continue to be when they part ways.

It was always the Austrian’s intention for him and his captain to leave at the end of the season, but with Guehi’s departure thrust forward it is, perhaps, no surprise that he has taken the decision to confirm his intention to go now, too.

Nevertheless, the cracks between Glasner and the Palace hierarchy began showing in the summer.

The Austrian coach had been vocal in his frustration at the lack of transfer incomings. The club signed only back-up left-back Borna Sosa and number two keeper Walter Benitez before the final week of the window, by which point the season was already under way.

They targeted a move for Sporting defender Ousmane Diomande, but the club never got close to reaching an agreement.

Glasner was steadfast in his belief that the club should capitalise on last season’s euphoric FA Cup triumph by building a squad capable of pushing up the Premier League, but also one that could cope with the demands of playing European football for the first time.

Eventually, Palace signed Yeremy Pino in a deal worth £26m while young players Christantus Uche and Jaydee Canvot also arrived.

But Uche and Canvot have hardly played, with Glasner largely relying on the same squad as he did last season with minimal rotation, a squad that lost key player Eberechi Eze to Arsenal.

Palace started the season brightly, with many tipping a push for a Champions League place.

But Glasner feared trouble was round the corner. The coach is adept at juggling domestic and European football – he won the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022 after all.

Some behind the scenes believe his apprehension to rotate the team provided a clear indication that it was his intention not renew his contract.

“It’s been like he has been getting his pound of flesh from the players because he knows he is leaving anyway,” said one source.

Eventually Glasner’s concerns came to fruition. They are currently nine matches without a victory, their latest defeat arriving last Saturday against non-league Macclesfield as their efforts to retain the FA Cup came to an embarrassing end.

They are currently 13th in the Premier League heading into this weekend’s game at Sunderland.

Preventing Guehi from joining Liverpool in a deal worth £35m in the summer did represent somewhat of a victory for Glasner, who was adamant all along that the defender should not be sold even if it meant the club would lose him for nothing this summer.

Although denied by Glasner, a number of sources have indicated that the 51-year-old would have considered his position immediately had Palace sold Guehi in the summer.

Even after Glasner informed Parish of his intention to step down over dinner in October, you sensed Palace had not given up hope of somehow persuading their manager to U-turn.

For example, the club record signing of Brennan Johnson is said to have been driven by the Austrian.

Equally, Parish is understood to have played a key role in ensuring Johnson arrived early in the January window to deliver for his manager, which many interpreted as an attempt at trying to convince Glasner that the club were prioritising strengthening the squad with his imprint.

That said, Palace have been active in identifying potential candidates to replace Glasner in the summer.

His and Hers is already one of Netflix’s biggest hits of 2026, but fans may be confused over one of the thriller’s many plot twists

Warning – this article contains major spoilers for His and Hers.

His and Hers fans are curious to know what exactly happened to Anna (played by Tessa Thompson) and Jack’s (Jon Bernthal) child in the hit Netflix thriller.

Released on the streaming service last Thursday (8th January), the six-part series follows journalist Anna and detective Jack, an estranged married couple, as they investigate a horrific murder in the town of Dahlonega, Georgia.

As the investigation unfolds, their complex history begins to be revealed while further murders spread panic throughout the town.

In the gripping finale, everything seems to be tied up when Anna’s colleague Lexy Jones (Rebecca Rittenhouse) is revealed to be her school friend Catherine Kelly and assumed to be the murderer when evidence is found at her home.

Jack’s partner Priya Patel (Sunita Mani) takes her out with a shot to the head, but, a year later, the truth behind what really happened is finally revealed.

But what happened to Anna’s child?

During the final stretch of the last episode, Anna discovers that her mother, Alice (Crystal Fox), was actually behind the murders after unearthing a video tape of her daughter being attacked by men in the woods, orchestrated by her first victim, Rachel (Jamie Tisdale).

Alice snaps and decides to take revenge by stabbing Rachel before also taking out her best friend Helen Wang (Poppy Liu) and Jack’s sister Zoe (Marin Ireland), who were with her in the woods when Anna was attacked.

Catherine/Lexy ran away from the incident, so Alice decided to pin the murders on her by planting evidence at her home, though she admits she doesn’t feel any remorse when Patel takes her out.

Alice’s plan was also spurred on by Anna’s disappearance following the loss of her and Jack’s daughter, Charlotte, at infancy.

Throughout the series, the reason behind their broken relationship is a mystery, though it’s clear a traumatic event occurred that wrenched them apart and made Anna become reclusive and abandon her job as a TV news anchor.

When Alice explains her motives for killing Rachel, it is revealed that the couple’s daughter perished, though the details remain vague.

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It’s confirmed that Anna’s mother was looking after Charlotte when she died and the cause of death is assumed to be unknown causes related to crib death, also known as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

SIDS is a tragic phenomenon in which seemingly healthy infants under a year old can suddenly die. This sometimes occurs due to smoke inhalation or their sleeping environment, but most deaths are unexplained.

His and Hers is available to stream on Netflix.

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