FergusMcDuck,The facts point to an intruder. Burke was in his own house, with no reason to put on boots to go into the basement. An intruder, especially one coming in through the basement window, would have every reason to wear boots and keep them on. I mention size, because the boot print was an adult size, and Burke was not an adult and did not have large enough feet. They also tested all the shoes in the house, and found no match.
Can you give us your reference, for your claim that the boot print was an ADULT size, e.g. BDI, CSI, FBI Investigator, etc?
Also some background material:
Perfect Murder Perfect Town, Part Three, Chapter Three
BPD Smit, Hofstrom Interview the parents:
Lou Smit showed Patsy and John many of the crime-scene photographs taken by the police in the days after the murder.
...
Then Smit asked the Ramseys about the stun gun. John Ramsey said that they never owned one. Ramsey thought he remembered being given a videotape on self-defense by Spy World, a high-tech security outlet in southern Florida, which might have included a segment on the use of stun guns. The family didn’t wear or own Hi-Tec shoes, he said. Five days later, Smit asked John Andrew about the same items. Like his father, he said he knew nothing about stun guns and didn’t own Hi-Tec brand shoes.
Listen Carefully Truth and Evidence in the JonBenet Ramsey Case, Excerpt
What Judge Carnes said using information from the Ramsey defense team:
“Plaintiff, of course, argues that any evidence suggesting an intruder was staged by defendants. Even assuming that all the above evidence could have been staged, however, defendants point to other evidence for which a theory of contrivance by them seems either impossible or highly implausible. First, defendants note the existence of several recently-made unidentified shoeprints containing a ‘HI-TEC’ brand mark were found in the basement imprinted in mold growing on the basement floor.
Defendants do not own any ‘HI-TEC’ brand shoes and none of their shoes match the shoeprint marks.
Likewise, another similar partial shoeprint was found near where JonBenét's body was found.
The owner of the ‘HI-TEC’ shoe that made the footprints at the murder scene has never been identified.
Listen Carefully Truth and Evidence in the JonBenet Ramsey Case, Excerpt
The Truth and the Evidence:
Burke Ramsey stated to investigators he owned a pair of Hi-Tec boots prior to his sister’s death.
Investigator Bruce Levin mentions this during a law enforcement interview on June 23-25, 1998, five years before Judge Carnes issued her decision in 2003 in which she says the owner of the “HI-TEC” shoes had never been identified.
BRUCE LEVIN: Okay. Does it jog your memory to know that the shoes with compasses were made by Hi-Tec?
LIN WOOD: Are you stating that as a fact?
BRUCE LEVIN: Yes. I am stating that as a fact.
PATSY RAMSEY: No, I didn't know that.
BRUCE LEVIN: I will state this as a fact. There are two people who have provided us with information, including your son, that he owned Hi-Tec shoes prior to the murder of your daughter.
LIN WOOD: You are stating that Burke Ramsey has told you he owned Hi-Tec shoes?
BRUCE LEVIN: Yes.
...
“Boulder Police Department investigators had been contacted by a store clerk in Vail who believed Patsy Ramsey had purchased a set of Hi-Tec brand hiking boots before the murder. They had also been told by one of Burke’s playmates that he owned a pair of this brand of boot.”
Hitec Footprint in the WC belongs to BR.
Atlanta 2000 Patsy Interview excerpt
14 Q. Do you recall a period of time,
15 prior to 1996, when your son Burke purchased
16 a pair of hiking boots that had compasses on
17 the shoelaces? And if it helps to
18 remember --
19 A. I can't remember.
20 Q. Maybe this will help your
21 recollection. They were shoes that were
22 purchased while he was shopping with you in
23 Atlanta.
24 MR. WOOD: Are you stating that
25 as a fact?
0123
1 MR. LEVIN: I am stating that as
2 a fact.
...
MR. WOOD: You are stating that
19 Burke Ramsey has told you he owned Hi-Tec
20 shoes?
21 MR. LEVIN: Yes.
22 MR. WOOD: He used the phrase
23 Hi-Tec?
24 MR. LEVIN: Yes.
For your delectation, James Kolar in his book suggests the Hi-Tec boot print might have originated from an Investigator, CSI, etc. As Hi-Tec boots were a favorite of LE Investigators.
.