Rage of the Random Actor Live Addendum
Chapter 12
Spiritual Darkness
DK (10-4-05): Twist to an unusual case. Ashley Smith says she gave meth to Brian Nichols.
Ashley Smith frank about her flaws in new book. She gave Brian Nichols meth to put alleged killer at ease
By JENNIFER BRETT
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 09/27/05
Ashley Smith, the woman held hostage for hours after the March 11 Fulton
County Courthouse shootings, reveals in a book released today that she gave
alleged gunman Brian Nichols drugs on 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 Duluth apartment, and for the first
time tells of giving Nichols drugs.
Nichols asked her 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.
Today, Smith will talk to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution about her book,
her drug battles and her life since her hostage ordeal. A full interview
will run in Wednesday's Living section.
Smith's book, the 272-page "Unlikely Angel" (co-written with Stacy
Mattingly), goes on sale today. Publisher William Morrow reports a first
printing of 400,000 copies, an ambitious number for a memoir by anyone who
is not a celebrity or a national politician.
Smith is scheduled to appear on Oprah Winfrey's talk show Wednesday and then
will begin a publicity tour that will bring her to Atlanta on Oct. 10, for a
book signing at Chapter 11 bookstore at Peachtree Battle Shopping Center.
Here are a few excerpts from "Unlikely Angel":
- On Brian Nichols:"He was bare-chested underneath his blazer. His pecs were
rippling in between the black lapels; and seeing where the jacket seams hit
his shoulders, I could tell just how broad those shoulders really were. I
know I'm in good shape, but man, if this guy comes at me, I'll never have a
chance to fight him off."
- On what she said to Nichols: "Nobody else needs to get hurt, dude. And if
you don't turn yourself in, somebody else will get hurt. You'll keep going
and you'll kill more people and you'll probably die too."
- On what Nichols said to her: "You know, Ashley, I wish I would've met you
at a different time and under different circumstances. We could've been
friends."
- On her battle with drugs: "I haven't touched drugs since walking out of my
apartment on March 12. . . . . Initially I did not volunteer the information
about the drugs [that she gave Nichols]. . . . I was afraid. 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."
- On her faith:"Instead of running away from God's voice, now I seek it and try to learn from his words. . . . 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."