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Karen Scullin reporting There are strong indications Thursday, that a scandal that has so far taken down two newspaper reporters, is about to grow larger.
The lawyer hired by the family of Elizabeth Smart to investigate leaks to the news media says he will release more results of his investigation tomorrow, and there are hints the news will be explosive.
In a separate, but possibly related development, Salt Lake City mayor Rocky Anderson is reportedly pushing hard to to speed up his own investigation into how the police department handled the case.
The story into possible police leaks has been heating up for over a week now following the firing of two Salt Lake Tribune reporters.
Kevin Cantera and Michael Vigh were the two lead reporters on the Elizabeth Smart case, but were fired after they sold information to the National Enquirer for ten thousand dollars each. That information later turned up in an Enquirer article that included rumors that Elizabeth's father, Ed Smart and two of his brothers were involved in some sort of a "gay sex scandal."
Yesterday the mayor reportedly sent a memo to Chief of police Rick Dinse asking for an immediate investigation into how police handled the Elizabeth Smart case, and for that investigation to be completed before the trial. The mayor did create an independent panel to investigate, but has said he wanted them to wait to do the research until after the trial was complete.
Tomorrow, the attorney that negotiated the settlement between the Smart family and the Enquirer, is having a news conference to reveal the final details of his investigation into the matter. It's not known if that includes the police source who reportedly gave the information to Cantera and Vigh regarding the Smart family. He did indicate it would be a big story in tomorrow's newscasts.
