[Mb-civic] She offered him Faith in God... And Crystal Meth!

[Jef Bek]

Remember the syrupy stories of Ashley Smith, the woman who says she
persuaded courthouse gunman Brian Nichols to release her by talking about
her faith in God? Well,turns out, as she discloses in her new book, that she
also gave him methamphetamine during the hostage ordeal.

"Wow, man... Talking serpents! Burning bushes that talk! You're fun to party
with! O.K. I'll put my gun down"

I wonder if CNN will give us...The rest of the story!

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Hostage Gave Meth to Atlanta Fugitive

In New Book, Woman Held Hostage by Man Accused in Courtroom Rampage Says She
Gave Him Some of Her Drugs

By GREG BLUESTEIN

The Associated Press

Sep. 27, 2005 - Ashley Smith, the woman who says she persuaded suspected
courthouse gunman Brian Nichols to release her by talking about her faith in
God, discloses in a new book that she gave him methamphetamine during the
hostage ordeal.

 Smith did not share that detail with authorities after she talked her way
out of captivity.

In her book, "Unlikely Angel," released Tuesday, the 27-year-old 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, so she dug into
her illegal stash of crystal meth instead.

Smith, who has been in a mental hospital and has flunked out of drug rehab
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 Atlanta courthouse.

During the ordeal, Smith says, she pulled out Rick Warren's book "The
Purpose-Driven Life" and read to Nichols a chapter called "Using What God
Gave Me" to gain his trust. Nichols later released her, and she called 911
and told authorities where to find him.

Nichols is accused of killing four people, including a judge, and could get
the death penalty.

Since Nichols' arrest, Smith has received $70,000 in rewards and has been
bombarded with offers for books, movies and speaking engagements. Her ordeal
has been held up as an example of the redemptive power of faith.

"It's hard for people to understand the miracle of the story," she says.
"This was totally a God thing, to me in my life. This was God getting my
attention, going, `I'm going to give you one more chance.'"

Financial details of the book have not been released, but Smith pledged to
donate an undisclosed portion of the book's proceeds to a memorial fund for
the victims.

Calls to Nichols' attorneys were not immediately returned Tuesday.
Prosecution spokesman Erik Friedly would not comment on the case.

Smith says in her book that as the night wore on after Nichols had snorted
some of Smith's meth she tried to win Nichols' trust by talking about her
faith in God and relating to him her personal stories.

She says she told him how her husband had died in her arms four years
earlier after being stabbed during a brawl.

She writes that she asked Nichols if he wanted to see the danger of drugs
and lifted up her tank top several inches to reveal a five-inch scar down
the center of her torso the aftermath of a car wreck caused by drug-induced
psychosis. She says she let go of the steering wheel when she heard a voice
saying, "Let go and let God."