I've read enough! I'm new to this case and have been going through accounts and reports for only a few days and I've already firmed to a RDI position with a hypothesis. It seems clear enough to me.
The ransom note is the thing to consider. From the start I figured that the ransom note must be the key. While all else is muddled, the perp has been good enough to provide three solid pages of clues. I think the note gives 'em away. Or rather the clue that gives the whole thing away, in my opinion, is that Patsy reported that she came down the spiral stairs and when she saw the note she thought it was a note from the housekeeper.
For me - that's bingo! There's the key!
Ramseys did it. Not sure why or which of them, but there they are on the night of 26th Dec. with a dead daughter. They decide to cover up the crime (or accident). Their plan is to set up a kidnapping scenario to implicate their housekeeper.
The whole purpose of the ransom note is to immediately point to the housekeeper. Its position at the base of the stairs suggests the housekeeper, too.
Forget the body for now. Imagine you are at the crime scene that morning. Girl gone. Ransom note. No sign of forced entry. JR insists all is intact. Yet the cops present think something is not right about the scene. They sense staging of some kind.
The question to ask is - "Staged to lead the cops to what conclusion?" What do the Ramseys want the cops to think?
The answer is - staged to lead the cops to suspect the housekeeper and/or people connected to her.
This is all the Ramseys have got. They figure they there is a chance they might be able to direct the cops to the housekeeper. The housekeeper had asked for a loan of $2000 from the Ramseys on 24th Dec. When Jonbenet was killed on the 25th/early 26th, this request provided the Ramsey's with a plan. Who had a motive so they could try to frame them? The housekeeper had a financial motive. Try to frame her. Its not a brilliant plan, but all they've got.
The whole kidnapping scenario is designed to point to the housekeeper. Consider:
*Patsy mistakes the ransom note for a note from her housekeeper. Direct identification.
*The note is written to suggest that the author knows the Ramseys but is envious of their wealth. (fat cat!)
*The note refers to $118,000, an allusion to Ramsey's Christmas bonus. Who might know this? The housekeeper might know their business.
*Patsy tells cops that the handwriting in the note reminds her of the housekeeper's handwriting.
*John insists that he personally secured the house and that nothing had been unlocked or broken into. He wants to lead the cops to the conclusion that someone with a key must have done it. Who? Housekeeper. When cops ask him "Who else had a key?" he immediately suggested the housekeeper.
*The use of pen and paper from the house suggests the housekeeper. Note that JR offered the notepad to the cops when they requested writing samples. He wanted them to find it. Who would know where writing utensils are located in the house? Housekeeper. (Expected to write a note to remind them about the money.)
*When asked who had a key to the house Patsy stated, "The only person in Colorado with a key is my housekeeper Linda Hoffman-Pugh.
*Arndt questioned Patsy on who might be responsible for the kidnapping. Patsy offered the housekeeper. "Linda asked to borrow money from me on December 24. She needed $2,000 for family dental work, I think. I was suppose to leave her a check on the kitchen counter before we left for Michigan."
The whole scene is designed to point at the housekeeper! I think that is all you need to know.
Question: Where did you find the note maam?
Answer: I came down the spiral stairs. When I saw the note I thought it was a note from the housekeeper, and....
Enough said right there. The note is phoney and the Ramseys want to direct the investigation to the housekeeper.
That's my reading of it for what it is worth.
When the housekeeper-did-it ruse doesn't work the Ramseys go for an anonymous-intruder-did-it. After that they got lucky.
The ransom note itself is a deliberate piece of dissimulation. It suggests various motives. Political. Financial. Personal dislike of JR. It is incoherent in this sense. But it is designed to point to the housekeeper. That much is coherent. The equation of the ransom note with the anticipated note from the housekeeper is the key to understanding this piece of dissimulation.
Again: The whole scene is designed to point at the housekeeper! I think that is all you need to know. on that basis, Ramseys done it. Why and exactly how? Don't know. But in the ransom note and the staging of the kidnapping they were pitching the whole thing so the cops would suspect the housekeeper. Has to be Ramseys.
The ransom note is the thing to consider. From the start I figured that the ransom note must be the key. While all else is muddled, the perp has been good enough to provide three solid pages of clues. I think the note gives 'em away. Or rather the clue that gives the whole thing away, in my opinion, is that Patsy reported that she came down the spiral stairs and when she saw the note she thought it was a note from the housekeeper.
For me - that's bingo! There's the key!
Ramseys did it. Not sure why or which of them, but there they are on the night of 26th Dec. with a dead daughter. They decide to cover up the crime (or accident). Their plan is to set up a kidnapping scenario to implicate their housekeeper.
The whole purpose of the ransom note is to immediately point to the housekeeper. Its position at the base of the stairs suggests the housekeeper, too.
Forget the body for now. Imagine you are at the crime scene that morning. Girl gone. Ransom note. No sign of forced entry. JR insists all is intact. Yet the cops present think something is not right about the scene. They sense staging of some kind.
The question to ask is - "Staged to lead the cops to what conclusion?" What do the Ramseys want the cops to think?
The answer is - staged to lead the cops to suspect the housekeeper and/or people connected to her.
This is all the Ramseys have got. They figure they there is a chance they might be able to direct the cops to the housekeeper. The housekeeper had asked for a loan of $2000 from the Ramseys on 24th Dec. When Jonbenet was killed on the 25th/early 26th, this request provided the Ramsey's with a plan. Who had a motive so they could try to frame them? The housekeeper had a financial motive. Try to frame her. Its not a brilliant plan, but all they've got.
The whole kidnapping scenario is designed to point to the housekeeper. Consider:
*Patsy mistakes the ransom note for a note from her housekeeper. Direct identification.
*The note is written to suggest that the author knows the Ramseys but is envious of their wealth. (fat cat!)
*The note refers to $118,000, an allusion to Ramsey's Christmas bonus. Who might know this? The housekeeper might know their business.
*Patsy tells cops that the handwriting in the note reminds her of the housekeeper's handwriting.
*John insists that he personally secured the house and that nothing had been unlocked or broken into. He wants to lead the cops to the conclusion that someone with a key must have done it. Who? Housekeeper. When cops ask him "Who else had a key?" he immediately suggested the housekeeper.
*The use of pen and paper from the house suggests the housekeeper. Note that JR offered the notepad to the cops when they requested writing samples. He wanted them to find it. Who would know where writing utensils are located in the house? Housekeeper. (Expected to write a note to remind them about the money.)
*When asked who had a key to the house Patsy stated, "The only person in Colorado with a key is my housekeeper Linda Hoffman-Pugh.
*Arndt questioned Patsy on who might be responsible for the kidnapping. Patsy offered the housekeeper. "Linda asked to borrow money from me on December 24. She needed $2,000 for family dental work, I think. I was suppose to leave her a check on the kitchen counter before we left for Michigan."
The whole scene is designed to point at the housekeeper! I think that is all you need to know.
Question: Where did you find the note maam?
Answer: I came down the spiral stairs. When I saw the note I thought it was a note from the housekeeper, and....
Enough said right there. The note is phoney and the Ramseys want to direct the investigation to the housekeeper.
That's my reading of it for what it is worth.
When the housekeeper-did-it ruse doesn't work the Ramseys go for an anonymous-intruder-did-it. After that they got lucky.
The ransom note itself is a deliberate piece of dissimulation. It suggests various motives. Political. Financial. Personal dislike of JR. It is incoherent in this sense. But it is designed to point to the housekeeper. That much is coherent. The equation of the ransom note with the anticipated note from the housekeeper is the key to understanding this piece of dissimulation.
Again: The whole scene is designed to point at the housekeeper! I think that is all you need to know. on that basis, Ramseys done it. Why and exactly how? Don't know. But in the ransom note and the staging of the kidnapping they were pitching the whole thing so the cops would suspect the housekeeper. Has to be Ramseys.
