Celebrated Hostage Gave Crystal Meth to Captor By EDWARD WYATT Published: September 28, 2005 Ashley Smith, who was held hostage in her apartment in March by the man now charged with murder in the Atlanta courthouse shootings, was hailed as a hero after she disclosed how she had persuaded her captor to surrender, partly by reading to him from the spiritual best seller "The Purpose-Driven Life." But in a memoir released yesterday, Ms. Smith also recounts that she gave the kidnapper some of her supply of crystal methamphetamine during her captivity and that she did not tell the police for some time afterward. In the memoir, "Unlikely Angel: The Untold Story of the Atlanta Hostage Hero," Ms. Smith recalls that Brian Nichols, who has been charged in the death of three people shot at the Fulton County Courthouse and a fourth killed elsewhere in Atlanta soon before her kidnapping, asked her if she had any mar1juana. She answered no but said she did have some "ice," or crystal meth. Ms. Smith says that at the time, she was fighting an addiction to crystal methamphetamine that had previously led her to spend time in a psychiatric hospital and to lose custody of her 5-year-old daughter. She says she last used crystal meth about 36 hours before being taken hostage. Though Mr. Nichols used it and invited her to do so, she refused, she writes, and has not taken drugs since the episode. "Suddenly, looking down at my drug pouch," she says, "I realized that I would rather have died in my apartment than have done those drugs with Brian Nichols. If the cops were going to bust in here and find me dead, they were not going to find drugs in me when they did the autopsy. I was not going to die tonight and stand before God, having done a bunch of ice up my nose." The book, written with Stacy Mattingly, is being published by William Morrow and Zondervan, units of HarperCollins Publishers. Zondervan is also the publisher of "The Purpose-Driven Life." The book's drug revelations were first reported yesterday by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Two weeks after the arrest of Mr. Nichols, Ms. Smith received $72,500 in reward money from various law enforcement agencies, including the F.B.I. and the United States Marshals Service. Richard Kolko, a special agent at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, said in an interview yesterday that the disclosure about Ms. Smith's supply of crystal meth was unlikely to affect her reward. "The woman did a brave act at a desperate time," Mr. Kolko said. "The F.B.I. has no reason or inclination to go back and retrieve the reward."
I read this yesterday. She has big balls giving crystal meth to a lunatic that has kidnapped her. That's why you must always keep a couple of pharmaceutical quaaludes around your home at all times!
She was a meth freak, who gave meth to the guy. It is sad news, but she still did a lot of good. This just tarnishes her image a bit. It doesn't change what she did.
Unless you're suggesting she wasn't really held hostage, or that there's a hoax involved, I'm not sure how this changes anything. So she's a crack-head? Interesting tid-bit. But....how does that change the original story substancially?
how does that change the original story substantially? Downsizing a conservative myth Posted by Evan Derkacz at 6:00 AM on September 28, 2005. A conservative myth, nuanced... with the help of some crystal meth. Seems our first drafts don't have a stunning respect for accuracy. Hey, at least they've been sensational. Somehow it always seems to be the conservative shibboleths that fall... Let's see... there was Jessica Lynch -- not really very true. Pat Tillman -- not so true either. Not to mention all the biggies like the reasons it was necessary to fashion the two of them into real-life action figures in the first place, like the absence of WMD or an Iraq/al-Qaeda connection... Dersins writes: "Remember 'saintly' Atlanta hostage Ashley Smith? Well, it turns out that it was a lot more than her 'faith' and a copy of a Christian self-help book that got her through that particular ordeal..." Turns out that Smith was a drug addict and had given her captor more than just a healthy snort of God before being set free. Fine. It's still an incredible story of courage; still an incredible story in which God was invoked to help free her. She sticks to that story and I have not doubt there's some truth to it. But what are the chances of a more nuanced account emerging? Best part: Ashley's book says that while the killer-rapist demanded mar1juana, she [the devout Christian] whipped out the meth...
My bad....i'd forgotten about the great conservative conspiracy. . So Bush lied about this too? (kidding...kidding...kidding )
I think it's just funny because she was showing up on shows like Hannity's radio program and they were having Godgasms over the original story, yet this woman was a drug addict, or a recovering addict and she gave the guy some meth and people like Hannity don't usually have loads of compassion for drug addicts. Personally, it doesn't really change anything for me about her. She got the guy to surrender, that will always be an amazing story.
i'm thinking God is with people who have addictions, as well. in fact, i know people who deal with addiction and call on God daily. we've ascribed some sort of idea to "saints" that they're perfect. ain't so. the characters in the Bible who had these amazing relationships with God and stories were murderers and liars and thieves and cheats. the stories, in both Old and New Testament, track redemption. track God's love. if somehow she talked some sense into this man...if somehow she convinced him he was worth more than the way he was living...and if somehow that worked out into her own sobriety from this stuff....sounds pretty good to me. but i'm a silver lining kinda guy. remember, i also root for the astros.
"Suddenly, looking down at my drug pouch," she says, "I realized that I would rather have died in my apartment than have done those drugs with Brian Nichols. If the cops were going to bust in here and find me dead, they were not going to find drugs in me when they did the autopsy. I was not going to die tonight and stand before God, having done a bunch of ice up my nose." This set off all of the bells on my BS detector.
Meth is everywhere. Giving him Meth probably saved her life. It probably altered his thinking enough to snap out of his killing spree & put him at peace. Meth affects the mind. She's a genius!
I don't understand how giving someone meth would put them at peace. Wouldn't it just amp him up more? Now if she gave him some ecstasy I can see that making him not wanting to kill.
Meth doesn't really amp you up like you are thinking. It keeps you awake and alert, but also has that ecstacy effect as well in a way. Euphoria I think is what its called.
I've seen Dog the Bounty Hunter interviewed about his faith. The primacy of faith was imparted to him by his judge. When he finally got down to praying about it himself, Dog says the revelation was that his ministry would be to the thieves and murderers among us-- having been a convicted killer himself in Texas. Step 1: "Look you M______ F___________, you are gonna stop selling ice to these kids..." Step 2: Give 'em a smoke Step 3: Pray for and with them God works in mysterious ways!
