September 30, 2005

Hostage in Atlanta courthouse shooting says she gave Nichols meth

If anyone judges this woman...you are heartless, sick and twisted.

I think she is courageous to come forward with this information. This terrible incident will stay with her for the rest of her life and it will change her for the better. Sounds like it already has.




ATLANTA (AP) — The woman who says she gained the trust of suspected courthouse gunman Brian Nichols by talking about her faith in God discloses in a new book that she gave him methamphetamine during the hostage ordeal.

Ashley Smith did not share that detail with authorities after she talked her way out of captivity.In her book, "Unlikely Angel," released Tuesday, Smith says Nichols had her bound on her bed with masking tape and an extension cord. She says he asked for marijuana, but she did not have any, and dug into her crystal methamphetamine stash instead.



Smith, who has been in a mental hospital and has flunked out of drug rehabilitation programs, says the seven-hour hostage ordeal led her to stop using drugs. She says she has not touched drugs since the night before she was taken hostage.

"If I did die, I wasn't going to heaven and say, `Oh, excuse me, God. Let me wipe my nose, because I just did some drugs before I got here,"' Smith told the Augusta Chronicle.

Police said Nichols took Smith hostage in her apartment March 11 after a shooting rampage at the Fulton County Courthouse. Nichols is accused of killing four people, including a judge.

Smith's 911 call to police when she was released led authorities to Nichols. She said she read him passages from author Rick Warren's "The Purpose-Driven Life" to gain his trust.

She was later bombarded with offers for books, movies and speaking engagements. Financial details of the book have not been released, but she pledged to donate an undisclosed portion of the book's proceeds to a memorial fund for the victims.


5 comments:

The Fool said...

I'm glad she's alive. I'm glad she used her wits to free herself. I just wish she'd been as honest about the circumstances immediately to the press as she was in her book. But I think she's very cagey, very media saavy and knows that this book deal would never have happened had she told the whole truth right out of the gate. Sooooo...how ya doin'?

The Fool said...

Am I the only one who comes here? Say it ain't so!!

Michelle Says So 2.0 said...

No...fool. You aren't ignored. You just happen to be one of those individuals that actually reads back to previous posts! I appreciate that!

The Fool said...

Well Michelle, I was asked to write a guest commentary in a political blog so I wrote an essay about this very topic. It will appear next week. I'll give you a heads-up when it happens, OK? Sooooo...been harrassed at work lately?

Michelle Says So 2.0 said...

Cool! I'd love to get the link to it when it gets posted!

As for me being harrassed...yes, but not at work. Through this blog, actually. It's pathetic and sad.