Pubdate: Tue, 27 Sep 2005
Source: Wichita Eagle (KS)
Copyright: 2005 The Wichita Eagle
Contact: http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/editorial/4664538.htm
Website: http://www.wichitaeagle.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/680
Author: Jennifer Brett, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

HOSTAGE GAVE GUNMAN METH

ATLANTA - Ashley Smith, the woman held hostage for hours after the 
Atlanta courthouse shootings, reveals in a just-released book that 
she gave alleged gunman Brian Nichols drugs the night he held her captive.

Smith, 27, was thrust into a national media spotlight after talking 
her way out of Nichols' captivity and then calling police. In 
"Unlikely Angel: The Untold Story of the Atlanta Hostage Hero," Smith 
shares details of her seven-hour ordeal as a hostage in her 
apartment, and for the first time tells of giving Nichols drugs.

Nichols took Smith hostage after a spree at the Fulton County 
Courthouse, where he shot to death a judge, a court reporter, a 
deputy and a federal agent.

Nichols asked Smith for marijuana, she writes, but she had only a 
small amount of crystal methamphetamine. She thought offering him the 
drug might curry favor, but she says she refused to take the drug with him.

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

Months ago, Smith said that early in her captivity with Nichols, she 
asked whether he would mind if she read. When Nichols said OK, she 
picked up "The Purpose-Driven Life," a book of Christian guidance by 
Rick Warren. She said she started where she had left off, reading 
aloud in Chapter 33:

"We serve God by serving others. The world defines greatness in terms 
of power, possessions, prestige and position... . Acting like a 
servant is not a popular concept."

Law enforcement agencies presented Smith with $70,000 for helping 
authorities capture Nichols.

Smith is scheduled to appear on Oprah Winfrey's talk show Wednesday.

In her book, she writes that she hasn't touched drugs since the night 
Nichols held her captive, and she admits that she didn't immediately 
tell officials about the drugs she gave Nichols.

"I was afraid," she writes. "Later I came forward and shared the 
details about the drugs with the appropriate authorities, but I 
regret not having done so at the very beginning. I remember what 
Jesus said: The truth will set you free. That's how I want to live my 
life; I want to be an honest person and experience the freedom that 
goes with it."

She also writes about her faith.

"Instead of running away from God's voice, now I seek it and try to 
learn from his words," she writes."... I still pray all the time for 
the friends I knew in the drug scene... . I pray that what has 
happened in my life will impact them in some way. I want them to know 
that God loves them no matter what they've done."
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MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman