CAPTIVE GAVE METH TO COURTHOUSE SUSPECT

Atlanta Woman's Book Says Ordeal Made Her Aware of Her Addiction

ATLANTA - Ashley Smith, the woman who credited her faith in God with
helping her lead police to courthouse shooting suspect Brian Nichols,
reveals in her new book that she gave methamphetamine to the suspect
while he held her hostage.

In her book, Unlikely Angel, released Tuesday, Ms. Smith says Mr.
Nichols bound her with masking tape and an extension cord when he
asked her for marijuana, and she instead offered him some of her stash
of crystal methamphetamine.

The revelation is part of the hostage story that Ms. Smith didn't tell
authorities or the news media at the time, although local
investigators say she came clean about the drugs when they interviewed
her months later. Authorities say they have no plans to charge Ms.
Smith with drug possession.

Ms. Smith, the 27-year-old widowed mother who gained widespread praise
for her levelheadedness in persuading Mr. Nichols to let her go, says
the seven-hour ordeal in March led to the realization that she was a
drug addict. She says she hasn't used drugs since the incident.

"I wasn't going to die tonight and stand before God, having done a
bunch of ice up my nose," she wrote.

Police said Mr. Nichols took Ms. Smith hostage in her apartment after
the March 11 shooting rampage at the Fulton County Courthouse in
downtown Atlanta. He is accused of killing four people, including a
judge.

Ms. Smith's 911 call to police the next morning - after she persuaded
Mr. Nichols to let her go - led authorities to him.

Since Mr. Nichols' arrest, Ms. Smith has received $70,000 in rewards
and has been bombarded with offers for books, movies and speaking
engagements.

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