Unlikely Angel

[ShaniFaye]

I wasnt sure if this should go in literature or not so please move if need be.

Im sure everyone remembers last March when Brian Nichols went on a rampage here in Atlanta and killed so many people at and around the courthouse.

I know it totally captivated me for two days....I was at work when it happened and Dave and I were on our way out of town that afternoon for a weekend in the mtns. I remember all the way up there we were on the "look out" for the last known car he'd carjacked and the TV was on CNN the whole time we were at the cabin.

The apartment complex where he held his hostage Ashley Smith and subsequently surrendered to police is right down the street from our house.

Ashley's book comes out today....along with details that she gave him crystal meth while he was holding her.

'Unlikely Angel' Gave Nichols Meth

Provided By: The Associated Press
Last Modified: 9/27/2005 9:42:12 AM

ATLANTA (AP) -- The woman who says suspected courthouse killer Brian Nichols held her hostage for hours says in a book out Tuesday that she gave him drugs while he held her captive at her apartment in Gwinnett County.

Ashley Smith, 27, drew national attention after she talked her way out of being held captive by Nichols and called police.

She shares details of the seven-hour ordeal in her book called "Unlikely Angel."

Smith writes that Nichols asked her for marijuana, but that she had only a small amount of crystal methamphetamine. She said she gave the drug to him but refused to take it with him.

She writes, "I was not going to die tonight and stand before God, having done a bunch of ice up my nose."

Smith will talk to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Tuesday about her book. She is scheduled to discuss the 272-page book Wednesday on the Oprah Winfrey show.

Nichols remains jailed in connection with the shooting rampage March 11 that began at the Fulton County Courthouse in downtown Atlanta and left four dead. Smith says she has not used drugs since she walked out of her apartment on March 12th after being held hostage.

I dropped the soap in the shower this morning when I heard this. She gave someone who was already acting psychotically a drug that would jack him up even more?

I got the impression this woman was trying very hard to get her life together for she and her little girl....to find out she was a meth head and provided it to a murder really makes me think twice about my opinion of her.

"refused to die and stand before god with ice up her nose" something about this statement is really messing with my head

Does anyone plan on reading this?

[Glory's Sun]

I'm not going to read it, but I don't think a "small amount of crystal meth" constitutes a meth head. She may have been trying to get on the right track and had weened herself down to just a little bit. :shrug: I don't really know her background or how hooked on it she was before so I can't really go on that.

I find the god comment pretty funny. I can just picture god asking for a rail.

[ShaniFaye]

I've never done meth, so somebody please correct me if Im wrong...but I always got the impression meth was like crack in the fact that "you dont just do a little". I know when I was a coke head...there was no "keeping some around the house" I did it until it was gone.

[Glory's Sun]

Everyone is different and drugs are different for each individual. Meth is *EXTREMELY* addictive, is it like crack... I guess in some ways you could say that. I've never done crack so I can't really give that perspective. However, I do know people who took themselves off of meth gradually. It's all about the individual. Doing just a little means different things to different people. Meth is way different than coke so unless you've done it, it's kinda hard to explain.

[lurkette]

Wow....that's a surprise. Interesting that the media never really showed us that side of her - they only talked about how she helped him find religion or whatever. People are always more complex than we give them credit for.

Having a bit of meth, coke, crack or cocaine around the place does not necessarily make you a < insert drug here > head. And if General Discussion wasn't open to searching on Google, I'd tell you exactly how and why I come to that conclusion.

But I agree with Shani, that handing a crazy guy with a gun a hit of meth probably isn't the most sensible thing to do under any circumstances. In her defence, she was scared, and just maybe it was the right thing to do - I mean, she got out of there alive didn't she?

[ShaniFaye]

I think my problem is more tied to the "sainlty, godly" woman the media originally portrayed her to be. When we first heard what apartment complex she lived in mine and Dave's first thoughts were....damn thats crack central for that area (and yes I know for a fact there is a LOT of crack dealt out of there)

Oh, I missed all that - we just got the (overseas) news that there was a crazy guy who took some lady hostage, and who later gave himself up to the police. There was some speculation that she talked him out of doing anything nasty, but no, we never heard what she was like or anything.

[Jinn]

Meth pwns Coke on the addiction scale. I'd say its the most mentally addicting of them (heroin is more physically addicting than mentally, I'm told).

Had a 4.0 GPA friend who graduated high school, started college, started meth, dropped outta college, started dealing drugs and got shot at, got arrested for triple digits in a double digit speed limit, possession of a stolen hand gun and drugs, and a few other things. Warrants in four states for him, still -- two years after he's been clean.

That said, I hadn't heard anything about this lady.. but couldn't providing a drug like this to someone who committed a murder be considered accomplice/accessory?

[Glory's Sun]

Originally Posted by JinnKai

That said, I hadn't heard anything about this lady.. but couldn't providing a drug like this to someone who committed a murder be considered accomplice/accessory?

I don't think it would be considered accomplice/accessory considering the urgency/severity of the situation.

[Poppinjay]

There's a funny book that kind of gives insight into how deep fried southerners deal with religion. It's called, "Handling Sin" by Michael Malone. In it, the main character's neighbor has been saved 6 times, and his wife has her jaws wired shut so she can't pork up anymore. So she's a a svelte, horny southern girl who can't open her mouth. She hits on anything that moves because sex has replaced food, but they go to church and get saved so it's all okay.

As long as I've lived in the south, I've known many people who engage in risky behaviour on Friday night and then become Super Christian on Sunday. Even while they engage in the risky behavious, they'll spout the superiority of their branch of religion. Ever see Kenny's family on South Park, particularly the movie? Kenny's family goes to church pretty much everyday, when they aren't getting drunk or stoned. It's no coincidence that Kenny's mom is voiced with a southern accent.

When this story broke, I knew this girl. But her names had been Amy from 12th grade, Starr from the prom, or Mary from the back seat of the car.