I wonder why the kitchen is considered as the crime scene for the bludgeon to the head.
For those of you who dont know, learnin is one of the stars/legends from FFJ. I wont tell you how long learnin has been around there and at other forums since that might be taken as a hint about age, and we dont want to go there. But learnin is also a medical imaging technologist and has contributed so much to any discussion Ive ever been involved in. I invited the FFJ posters here because there is so much more discussion going on here.
I agree with all four of your points, learnin, but Im not much help on your question about the water softener. I was thinking that object in the photo was the furnace/boiler. Ive never had a water softener so Im not familiar with them. Heres what I found online:
After looking at a few pictures of them, I wonder if that might be what is partly shown and circled in this picture that I had called a mystery object several years back hoping someone could identify it for me (this would place it very close by the water heater (but not right next to it), and it might account for some of the additional piping in the area that I didn't understand:
Just to clarify... There seem to have been two sets (at least) of pictures taken by investigators inside the hellhole (Very observant of you to notice, mwmm.). Individual pictures from both have been leaked. The first set is numbered and are referred to in the interviews. They also have stamped at the bottom the words: Crime Scene Photo - Not For Publication (a lot of good that did, eh?). The other set seems to have been taken later and dont have those words on them. The reason for pointing this out (and it may be completely irrelevant) is that one picture is taken showing the corner of what has been identified as a freezer next to the water heater. The other picture taken at almost the same angle shows a group of window screens leaned up against the freezer. I think those screens were moved (or removed) before the second set of photos was taken.Sorry, I am not good with the picture posting thing, so bear with me. The photo I am trying to post here is Crime Scene photo #73, basement, which is the same area that otg posted previously, except his is free from the items shown in #73.
(Click on photo below to enlarge or go to URL)
View attachment 34656
http://crimeshots.com/csvent.jpg
I'm confused - is #73 from the first run through the house by detectives taking photos of the crime scene? In the one posted by otg, there is a red X and circling around the drip leg, and this piping looks to be tape wrapped also. If a replaced piece of pipe, which Darlene speculates hanging out of the bucket was also tape wrapped, would it account for less damage to the skull - no scalp wound? If #73 was taken before the items were cleared away to provide a picture of the piping leading to the water heater, it looks like those screens/windows could have been a deterrent for JB's head to have struck that piping that is attached to the water heater in the photo otg posted?
I don't know about water softeners, but I do know about dehumidifiers (I live along the Gulf Coast.). It does indeed look like it could be a dehumidifier, but I kind of doubt that's what it is. I can understand wanting to use one in a basement -- they are usually humid (yes?). But it would sure be working on an almost impossible task to try and remove the moisture in an area with open vents and broken windows letting in the outside air. And besides, didn't JR like the humidity so he could store his contraband Cuban cigars?Could be a dehumidifier, too.
The art tote was lying on the floor, so maybe it had already been removed as evidence when that picture was taken? Here's the tote:Whatever it is, if compared to the diagram of the basement layout shown above, it seems like Patsy's art tote should be sitting where the mystery white thing is. So is the art tote sitting on top of whatever this white object is?
I don't know about water softeners, but I do know about dehumidifiers (I live along the Gulf Coast.). It does indeed look like it could be a dehumidifier, but I kind of doubt that's what it is. I can understand wanting to use one in a basement -- they are usually humid (yes?). But it would sure be working on an almost impossible task to try and remove the moisture in an area with open vents and broken windows letting in the outside air. And besides, didn't JR like the humidity so he could store his contraband Cuban cigars?
The art tote was lying on the floor, so maybe it had already been removed as evidence when that picture was taken? Here's the tote:
<snipped>
The art tote was lying on the floor, so maybe it had already been removed as evidence when that picture was taken? Here's the tote:
I appreciate all the posts, all the observations, and all the discussion. I think most of what had caught my attention has been picked up by the excellent posters here at WebSleuths, and even some things that I hadnt noticed or didnt know.
Heres the thing... I try to look only at hard evidence and see what can be determined from it. But at a certain point, since we dont have access to all the evidence, we have to consider the different possibilities and then determine what we think to be the most likely conclusion. We wont all agree on what that conclusion might be because, in making it, we have to make some assumptions -- and we might unintentionally be influenced by our own beliefs, prejudices, and predispositions.
For example, if you are predisposed to believe that JonBenets death was premeditated and carefully planned out by her father to keep her from telling someone about some evil act (or acts) done by him -- you wont agree with my conclusions. If you think it was premeditated and carefully planned out by her mother to fall on that specific date for some type of ritualistic sacrifice -- you wont agree with my conclusions. If your belief is that it was premeditated and carefully planned out by her brother because of jealousy over the attention she was getting from their parents -- you wont agree with my conclusions.
All of these examples have in common that her death occurred as the result of something planned. But I dont subscribe to that belief because nearly everything I know about the evidence looks completely UNplanned to me. So I am admittedly starting out with that predisposition. I also tend to think that everything happened in the basement. James Kolar said he believes the head blow occurred in the kitchen -- but we dont know what information he has that makes him think that. If it did happen in the kitchen, what Im looking for as a possible weapon might be different.
So the assumptions/predispositions that I know Im making are that (1) her death was not planned, and (2) that the head blow happened in the basement (probably near the entrance to the WC where the paint tote was found).
What I consider to be hard evidence that I take into consideration is that she was struck (or pushed, BOESP) with enough force from one single action to cause both a depressed and a linear fracture in her skull. The depressed fracture (or hole, if we can use that term for it) should conform to the weapon that caused it -- and I now believe that to be a cylindrical object with a diameter of at least 1/2 and no more than 1. (I might be able to narrow that down later with more experiments.) Before I had that information, I was beginning to think that it might have been a bat, mostly because of its shape and its potential force. But a bat is about 2-1/4 in diameter, so that doesnt fit with what I know now. A 2-1/4 diameter object would cause the hole to be much wider (rounder) than the 1/2 recorded by the coroner with a 1-3/4 length. So despite the appeal of wanting to think it was one of the two bats found, it has to be excluded.
Several posters have mentioned (and Ive discussed this in emails with some) that it might be a dumbbell or the bar that is used to hold the weights on one. But from looking into them online, they seem to all be a standard 1 diameter, which would be right at the upper range of what might have caused the hole.
When I found out from the math that this object had to be probably about 3/4, I was stumped. What could be that size and easily accessible to the person who did this? The only thing I could think of would be a piece of pipe, but that would almost require premeditation because of accessibility (or rather lack of it because of location). But then I posted that basement picture for reference to where the broken window was in relation to the duct, and I saw the answer. At the bottom in that picture is a 5-gallon plastic pail -- something Ive used at home (and I seen craftsmen of different types using) to gather up various tools, parts, and scraps left over from a project. Then I noticed the obviously almost new water heater and the different associated pipe that was either painted or not painted (which would indicate which piping might have been installed since the basement was painted last). Then the orphaned duct from nothing made sense (It is probably from the outdated water heater that had been recently replaced.). And then I looked at the floor plan again showing where this picture was taken in relation to where the paint tote was located, and all the pieces seemed to start falling into place. The work pail was probably left there by workmen who had worked on replacing the water heater and re-routing its associated piping. We cant tell by that one picture exactly what is in it (or for that matter, what might have been in it at the time of JonBenets death), but it isnt too much of a stretch to think that it could very easily have had a short section of small diameter pipe sticking out or even lying somewhere around it. This answers the question about accessibility of the weapon in that area and eliminates the requirement of premeditation for it to have been used.
So why, you should ask, would someone with apparently nefarious intentions choose that particular area to go and act them out? The basement is as far as you can get from everyone else in the house. By the time another person could get down to that location, anyone in the basement would expect that they could hear them coming by the time they started down the stairway. It was December and it was cold outside. The warmest area in the basement would be right next to the furnace/boiler (I dont really know which it is), the water heater, and even the warm air discharge coming from the freezer. So the question really is why anyone would choose any other location to do something they didnt want known to others.
So lets say that this unspeakable act was being done in that area next to the entrance to the WC. If JonBenet let out a scream (and well never know this with any more certainty than we have today) the open duct leading to the outside is right there within about five to ten feet. Even closer than that is a 5-gallon pail, possibly left by workmen in the basement from the installation of new water heater. There may very well have been some short sections of pipe left and sticking out of the pail, or even some type of tool that would be the correct diameter to cause the skull fractures -- or even lying next to it somewhere. In a panic, the assailant might have looked around for something to stop the scream, or he/she may have already noticed it before the scream. We dont know how long the scream might have lasted before it was heard by someone else, or how long it lasted before this assailant found a piece of pipe and swung it to stop the screaming -- (Or alternately for BOESP, how long it lasted before she was shoved against a section of pipe in the area.). Because of questions even about its existence, we dont know that silencing the scream was the reason (although I do believe it happened). But we do know her skull came in contact with something that could cause the fractures, and now we know that the object that caused it was very likely easily accessible in that area where she died.