As they say, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
Some thoughts:
It's likely the Ramseys expected either LE or one of the kidnapping party guests to find the body in the cellar room very quickly. That no one did until hours later when JR made a beeline for it was a fluke, IMO, no matter if you believe JR knew it was there or not.
A BPD officer tried to open the door after unlatching it at the top, but it was "stuck" and he didn't force it because...it was latched. Fleet White opened the door at one point, but couldn't find the light switch and didn't see anything in the dark after briefly looking in. They both latched the door again, I believe.
But Burke Ramsey would have to have stood on a chair to secure the wooden "latch" at the top of the cellar door once the body was in there.
Here is the crime scene photo taken early that morning, when the body was still behind the door: notice the block turned to secure the door at the top.
Perhaps JR took a shower because he sweated a lot that long and terrifying night. Speculation, of course, but some people do sweat under stress, and if JR was busy helping with the horrors of what took place, I'd say that's extreme stress, even for someone who doesn't show it on the outside.
Perhaps Patsy's jacket was a shedder and it was on JB's clothing from the party. Perhaps the jacket shed on Patsy's top under the jacket and that's what she had on all night. What's she going to do: change into something comfortable to finish her child's life and cover it all up? The jacket fibers then transferred to the ligature cord and got tied into the knots and also stuck to the duct tape from either of those sources.
When the time came to call 911, maybe she just grabbed her jacket because that's what went with the rest of her outfit. I've certainly worn clothing more than one day in a row for various reasons. It's not that strange, IMO. Certainly not if she was indeed dressed in the rest of the outfit and wasn't thinking of much more than her baby was dead and she and her family were up to their necks in a tragedy which was only going to get worse if she didn't keep it together. In her mind, of course.
Still, if the fibers were already on JB's clothing, anyone could have been responsible for tying those knots and putting that duct tape on JB's mouth.
Perhaps and if and maybe.... And there's the rub...so to speak: transference.
But Patsy wrote the note, of that I have no doubt.
JB's blood was on her own pillowcase on her bed in her bedroom.
Even if the head blow happened in the kitchen or in a first floor area, how did the body get into the basement to be strangled?
The same way someone taller than Burke moved that block of wood to secure the cellar door--which is why LE didn't find the body immediately: kidnappers don't lock themselves into a room from the other side of the door.
An adult carried the child down at least one and possibly two flights of stairs, IMO.
This is why I don't believe Burke committed the strangulation. Whatever terrible choices the adults in the home were making that night, I truly don't believe either would have taken Burke with the body into the basement to watch or participate in the strangulation and staging in the cellar room. One or both adults did those deeds, IMO.
And then an adult turned the block to secure the door.
I'm only speculating, of course, based on the evidence, but something was happening in JB's room that night. She bled onto her pillow, on her bed. Her pj bottoms disappeared that night, but the top was still on the bed in the crime scene photos. Drawers were hanging open, a cabinet in the laundry area was open with a bag of diapers hanging out, the same place the maid hid Burke's Swiss knife. Burke's knife ended up in the basement either on a counter or in the cellar room near the body--I've heard both, and there have been claims he owned 2 Swiss knives, but this is another area we never have time to question Kolar about...sigh.
What if JB in fact was sexually assaulted within the three nights after the sheets had been changed, in her own bed? Then the violent strike to her head happened on Dec. 25th/26th. Later her body was carried down to the basement, laid face down by the paint tray to begin the "cover up" the chronic vaginal injuries, and the paintbrush then incorporated into the ligature for one or more demented reasons?
Well, who knows? We've played this murder scene a thousand ways in 17 years, but without a confession, one guess is as good as another because the 3 people in that house are all over it for natural reasons, as well.
But it was Patsy's pen and paper, her handwriting and linguistics--her ransom note; it was Patsy's paint tray and paint brush; it was Patsy's clothing fibers tied into the ligature knots and on the duct tape; her and Burke's fingerprints on the bowl of pineapple and tea glass; and if Patsy was talking about it, she was lying--to LE and to everyone else.
:moo: