It wasn't just an accidental death of an older brother hitting and killing his little sister that would be reported on 911.
OK, we agree on that.
There was another circumstance surrounding what happened Chrismas night between brother and sister. And that needed to be kept a secret. JonBenet was sexual assulted that night. And I believe Burke was the one doing the deed.
OK, lets take this one step at a time.
First there is evidence of sexual assault prior to the night of her death, and we don't know how long the chronic abuse had been going on, so we don't really know if there was a sign of recent sexual assault when BR hit JB with the golf club. You can assume no, or assume yes, but either way, it's just an assumption. So the only difference that might actually exist is the severity of the injury to the head. I will grant you that if she dies in hospital there will be an autopsy, and the sexual abuse will be discovered, whereas if she recovers in hospital (not likely with that injury) no one will look at her vagina.
Second, The Rs had to know, or reasonably believe that the coroner could spot evidence of sexual assault, both acute and chronic. So how were they going to keep it secret?
Third, if you think BR did the sexual assault that night do you also think he did the chronic assaults? DeeDee knows a lot more about this than I do, but it's my understanding that the evidence of the acute assault was that it was consistent with digital penetration. It is also my understanding that there was evidence of prior sexual abuse (e.g. prior to that night).
So, is BR the one who caused both the acute and chronic injuries? To me it would seem to make quite a difference. In some versions of BDI, JR is thought to be the one who caused the chronic injuries. Under that scenario, he might have a motive to cover up the injuries, hoping that they could all be blamed on the "intruder". (But I'm not even sure here, as I can't believe a reasonable person wouldn't know the coroner could tell that there were chronic injuries- but BDI with JR as the chronic abuser isn't my theory, I'm just responding to it) OTOH, if BR, by playing "doctor" caused the chronic injuries as well as the acute injuries, then neither parent has a reason to cover up for their own legal safety.
In fact, under the scenario where all vaginal injury is due to Burke, both the acute and the chronic, the Rs might not even be fully aware of the extent of JBs injuries, especially the chronic injuries.
Fourth, how bad were the acute injuries? I'm not really clear on this, but if BR was playing doctor that night, how did the Rs become aware of JB's vaginal injuries? Were they that obvious? Remember this was supposed to have started out with kids playing doctor. Was she literally discovered, by the parents, with her pants down? I can't see digital penetration causing a lot of injury, say with blood all over the place. But I know little of these matters, so perhaps I'm wrong. What I'm getting at is how bad does this look when the Rs find out what BR did? Bad enough that they don't want to call an ambulance? Even if she's still alive? Recall that she might have been alive with the blow to the head for as long as 90 minutes before the ligature was applied.
So at least some of the "rationale" for staging the intruder scenario, to protect Burke, depends on the particular version of BDI you want to go with.
I do believe John and Patsy would go to extremes to cover up the accident in order to mainly cover a sexual insult that was done to JonBenet.
Well you are certainly entitled to your opinion, and I respect it. I am equally entitled to mine, and I don't believe they would go to these particular extremes if Burke did both the acute and chronic injuries.
What you describe as an "extreme" is the staging. And certainly you are correct that it was extreme. But, it also implicated them in both murder, and obstruction of justice.
Now I'll grant you they were in Boulder, so they were unlikely to receive a parking ticket, or even an overdue book notice from the library. But in all seriousness, they could have been arrested that day and taken downtown, and with any DA other than Hunter, charged with murder. To me, that's a really serious situation to be in - a cost, if you'll allow me to use that term, that is out of all proportion to the benefit - the benefit being protecting their image.
Even if not charged with murder they could have been charged with obstructing justice. How would that salvage their image?
I've been trying to figure out a way to more fully articulate my thinking on this and maybe this will be helpful -
There are two possible responses to a BDI scenario in which BR has caused not only the skull fracture, but also the acute and chronic abuse.
One response is what I'd refer to as the "loud" response. Or the "Hey, look over here" response. The "loud" response is exactly what BDIs think happened. The Rs staged a bizarre kidnapping turned murder, and this was done to "protect" Burke. A kidnapping/murder is sure to generate a lot of attention. And, a lot of speculation as to "who done it".
The other response is the quiet response. Call 911. After the ambulance arrives the paramedics would call the police and it becomes known that Burke did it. It probably can't be kept out of the papers and off the TV news, but it probably can be downplayed as an "accident". The sexual abuse can be explained as exactly what it really would have been under this BDI scenario - the result of playing doctor. This response generates a minimum of attention - or at any rate, a lot lot lot less attention than a kidnapping/murder.
So if the Rs were going to salvage their image, which option does that best?
I understand what many BDI theorists are saying. The Rs would do ANYTHING -ANYTHING to protect their image. All I'm saying is that I disagree. There are risks associated with the staging, risks that not only are severe personally, individually, but end up destroying their image anyway. I believe they'd go to great lengths to keep this as quiet as possible. I do not believe they'd do anything. I think some risks are disproportionate to the benefit. I also think John didn't get where he was by not being able to manage risk.
And further, I think this is the center of activity between the two children that was going on when Burke hit his sister in order to shut her up so his parents would not discover he once again was "playing doctor" (or whatever you want to call it) with JonBenet.
Just my opinion ya know.
We don't really know that it was JB screaming, but I'll go along with that assumption for now. (I don't have any problem with the assumption, I'm just pointing out that what a neighbor heard could have been someone/something else)
Bashing her in the head, with such force that it caused an 8.5" crack in her skull seems like an odd response to a scream. Why not cover her mouth?
If I'm going to believe a 9 year old could swing a flashlight hard enough to do that kind of damage, I'm going to also have to assume extreme rage. The response to her scream would be, IMO, more in the nature of fear (of alerting the parents) than of rage. The skull fracture strikes me more as a deliberate act than an unthinking response.