John Ramsey Fabricated Open Basement Window "Evidence"

[observation]

FW could not find the light switch to the wine cellar. I wonder if the perp simply came through an unlocked door because I surely do not believe a cobweb laden window was used as proposed by Smit.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[icedtea4me]

It is very curious that JR did not mention the open and broken window to LE unless he really did break it earlier that year and left it open.

What bugs me is that JR went to search the basement but never looked in the wine cellar. FW did and saw nothing. He was shocked that JBR was there because he did look into the room earlier in the am.

Au contraire!

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?45421-How-many-hours

 

[UKGuy]

It is very curious that JR did not mention the open and broken window to LE unless he really did break it earlier that year and left it open.

What bugs me is that JR went to search the basement but never looked in the wine cellar. FW did and saw nothing. He was shocked that JBR was there because he did look into the room earlier in the am.

TeaTime,
The simplest explanation for JonBenet not being there is that she was located somewhere else, some suggest JonBenet was out of direct sight due to the geography of the wine-cellar, so how come JR saw her immediately?

I reckon its quite possible that PR constructed some prior staging event, which might have included breaking the window, and moving items around in the basement to reflect an intruder presence?

Kolar thinks it all started in the breakfast bar, which suggests JonBenet's assailant sexually assaulted her there?

Because JonBenet's hair had been dressed in ponytails, makes me think Patsy had prepared JonBenet for bed, and that she might have been wearing the pink barbie nightgown, later found in the wine-cellar.

For me, JonBenet's or BR's bedroom seem better candidates for the primary crime-scene than the breakfast bar, then again, Kolar probably knows stuff we do not?

.

 

[Dibba]

I'm confused about the suitcase. According to FW it was "flush" against the wall. Who moved it? WHen? JR moved to stage break in? Also there so much talk about break in. There wasn't one. Even if intruder, so many keys out there. Stool blocking door? JR didn't mention until later in investigation and FW never mentioned. Could it be that FW just failed to report it?

 

[zencompass]

Lou Smit proudly poses beside the wide open basement window; and he demonstrates how he could slide through the open window, "just as the intruder did".

A federal judge relies on the open basement window "evidence" to support the intruder theory.

The media and the public accept the open basement window as a hard fact.

One problem: THERE WAS NO OPEN BASEMENT WINDOW. It's a story John Ramsey made up four months after JonBenet was murdered.

John casually revealed his open basement window story for the first time during the police interviews on April 30, 1997:

JOHN RAMSEY: "And actually I'd gone down there earlier that morning, into that room, and the window was broken, but I didn't see any glass around, so I assumed it was broken last summer. I used that window to get into the house when I didn't have a key. But the window was open, about an eighth of an inch, and I just kind of latched it."

- - - - - - later in interview - - - - - -

STEVE THOMAS: "And Fleet had talked earlier about being down there, I think alone at one point, and discovering that window. When you say that you found it earlier that day and latched it, at what time of the day was that?"

JOHN RAMSEY: "I don't know. I mean it would have been probably, probably before 10 o'clock. "

STEVE THOMAS: "Was that prior to Fleet's first trip down?"

JOHN RAMSEY: "I didn't know he was in the basement. I didn't know that. I mean other than that trip with me."

STEVE THOMAS: "And on that trip that you latched the window, were you alone when you went down and latched the window?"

JOHN RAMSEY: "Yep."


So John Ramsey reveals for the first time that he had snuck away from the group upstairs, gone to the basement alone, found the basement window open about 1/8 of an inch, closed it, latched it, and then went back upstairs and told no one about it.

John said he did this at about 10 o'clock or sooner, but, as we all know, he had been manning the telephone between 8 and 10 o'clock waiting for the "kidnapper" to call, in accodance with the instructions in the ransom note. So, if he had been in the basement at all it would had to have been before 8 o'clock or after 10 o'clock.

But Officer Rick French had searched the basement at about 6:05 AM looking for a point of entry and making sure an intruder wasn't hiding down there. He found neither. French did not report anything about an open basement window, even though that's the very thing he was looking for, and there are only three windows in the basement.

Then, around 6:20 AM Fleet White searched the basement looking for JonBenet and calling out her name as he searched. Fleet found the broken basement window and inspected it, but did not report anything about the window being open.

IOW, Rick French and Fleet White had both inspected the window prior to John Ramsey and neither reported the window open. In fact, it seemed to have surprised John to find out that Fleet had also been in the basement early that morning -- thus putting Fleet in a position to refute John's open basement window story.

Therefore, it appears that John was lying about finding the window open at 10 AM (or at any other time) and had fabricated a fictional open window to accomodate a fictional intruder.

BlueCrab

I am amazed at the details analyzed by Blue Crab.

He certainly did keep to his belief that B.R. did this and it looks like he
constantly backed up his theory with facts.

Absolutely impressive!

 

[carolinea]

It's interesting that he claims he didn't see any broken glass around. I was just rereading "Perfect Murder, Perfect Town," and marked this as interesting:

"The police removed the suitcase they had found beneath the three side-by-side windows at the rear of Burke's train room... The suitcase had no dust on it, yet a few pieces of broken glass lay on top of it."

Earlier, it also says this:

"[White] started in Burke's train and hobby room, where he saw a suitcase sitting under a broken widow. On the floor under the window, he found small pieces of glass. He placed some of them on the windowsill... White said he was sure the window was closed but unlatched."

So White was able to easily see glass there (and police found glass on the suitcase), but JR didn't? Very odd. The open or closed window is also odd.

 

[GreyClay]

"The police removed the suitcase they had found beneath the three side-by-side windows at the rear of Burke's train room... The suitcase had no dust on it, yet a few pieces of broken glass lay on top of it."

Hmmm, if an ''intruder'' broke a window to gain entry into the basement, then later moved a suitcase under the same window to help climb back out of the basement, how would the glass get on top of the suitcase??

On the other hand... If someone were to hastily come up with a lazy plan to make it look like an intruder had entered the basement, they might first place the suitcase against the wall beneath the window, then open the window. Feeling unsatisfied with an open (but unbroken) window as being clear enough evidence of an intruder, they might subsequently decide to break the window to make the crime scene appear more genuine.

MOO.

 

[Miz Adventure]

In reading the link supplied upthread, I ran across something that strikes me as odd:



Q. When you were looking at the ransom note, was there anything in the language of the ransom note that struck you as peculiar? A. The whole thing was peculiar. We were addressed as "Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey," and then they switched to "John" personally. They asked for twenty dollar bills and hundred dollar bills, as I recall. The amount was a very odd amount. The way the note was signed was very odd.The cruelty that they threatened was bizarre. It was a very sick mind that wrote that note.


Wasn't it the practice note that was addressed to both? The actual note was addressed to Mr. Ramsey only.

He remembered other phrases and whatnot... does this seem odd to anyone else?

Patsy was trying to distance herself from the note. First of all she wrote Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey, then Mr. Ramsey.....then it became JOHN. She didn't want to have her name mentioned.

 

[suspiciousmatt]

Hi,

I am new to the forum, but have followed this case a little over the years, and find it all pretty odd I have to say.

I had it in my head that there were footprints in the snow leading up to the proposed entry point by Smit?. or was it that there were no footprints? I just have a memory of footprints as I thought snow was laying on the ground at the time.

Or it may be that the police bungled it and didn't even check that before the snow melted! but surely if there were footprints then the intruder idea would be pretty compelling?

Matt

 

[HarmonyE.]

Hi,

I am new to the forum, but have followed this case a little over the years, and find it all pretty odd I have to say.

I had it in my head that there were footprints in the snow leading up to the proposed entry point by Smit?. or was it that there were no footprints? I just have a memory of footprints as I thought snow was laying on the ground at the time.

Or it may be that the police bungled it and didn't even check that before the snow melted! but surely if there were footprints then the intruder idea would be pretty compelling?

Matt

It was specifically noted by investigators that no footprints were seen outside that morning. The only footprint ever addressed was the one in the room where the body was found. It's size could not be determined, but it had a Hi-Tec logo and Burke admits to having Hi-Tec boots at the time.

There is no evidence that makes the intruder idea compelling.

 

[Miz Adventure]

I think the broken window is another one of those red herrings in this case. It has no relevance to what went on that night. John seized on this broken window as part of his intruder theory.

And we thought Pinnocchio was a liar. He had nothing on this family.

It would probably be an easier task to list his truthful remarks.

As for the police bungling the crime scene and other aspects of the case. They certainly did; but this worked in the Ramseys' favour.

If the police and investigators had performed their duties as they should have, they would have locked down the house as a crime scene, the body should not be touched because that also is classed as a crime scene. The couple should have been whisked off to the police headquarters and interviewed separately.

If that had happened the R's would most likely have spilled the beans and been arrested.

So they have every reason to thank the bungling BPD. And later to thank all those who believed (and still believe) there was an intruder that night. I bet they thought nobody would buy THAT story!

 

[kanzz]

Hi,

I am new to the forum, but have followed this case a little over the years, and find it all pretty odd I have to say.

I had it in my head that there were footprints in the snow leading up to the proposed entry point by Smit?. or was it that there were no footprints? I just have a memory of footprints as I thought snow was laying on the ground at the time.

Or it may be that the police bungled it and didn't even check that before the snow melted! but surely if there were footprints then the intruder idea would be pretty compelling?

Matt

Welcome!

Less than a week after he arrived in Boulder - after praying with the R's in front of their house, and without reading police reports, Smit created a R-apologist fairy tale about this case. It's a total fabrication.

He invented the theory about footprints in the snow, the undisturbed window as an entrance, a stun gun, and some descriptions of the ligature being both intricate and similar to a lawnmower pull.

Further, when Smit left the District Attorney's Office, he took electronic copies of several crime-scene photos and other evidence with him.
"District Attorney Alex Hunter fired off a letter to his former ace investigator, demanding that he return key crime-scene photos and other evidence.
Six days later, a defiant Lou Smit gave his response: He would rather "go to jail" than give them back."

I agree with Darnay Hoffman. "Lou Smit has never addressed the most important piece of forensic evidence in the case: the ransom note," he said. "Until he does, (he) is just re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic."

Of all the red herrings in this case - Lou Smit was one of the worst. He created many of them.

 

[BBB167893]

Welcome!

Less than a week after he arrived in Boulder - after praying with the R's in front of their house, and without reading police reports, Smit created a R-apologist fairy tale about this case. It's a total fabrication.

He invented the theory about footprints in the snow, the undisturbed window as an entrance, a stun gun, and some descriptions of the ligature being both intricate and similar to a lawnmower pull.

Further, when Smit left the District Attorney's Office, he took electronic copies of several crime-scene photos and other evidence with him.
"District Attorney Alex Hunter fired off a letter to his former ace investigator, demanding that he return key crime-scene photos and other evidence.
Six days later, a defiant Lou Smit gave his response: He would rather "go to jail" than give them back."

I agree with Darnay Hoffman. "Lou Smit has never addressed the most important piece of forensic evidence in the case: the ransom note," he said. "Until he does, (he) is just re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic."

Of all the red herrings in this case - Lou Smit was one of the worst. He created many of them.

Kanzz, you just did in 20 seconds what would have taken me two days!

 

[kanzz]

Kanzz, you just did in 20 seconds what would have taken me two days!

Oh, you crack me up, SuperDave! I know how succinct you can be. I could probably write a book... well, a booklet anyway... about Smit's fairy tale and how much I detest it. But I don't want to be sued by the family.

 

[what-did-YOU-find]

I think if you follow in order everything John Ramsey has ever said about the window. It certainly doesn't add up.

In the below 1st police interview John says he found no glass at all on both trips down to the basement. He also says he latched/closed the window on the first trip when he was alone & on the SECOND trip with Fleet John told him about the break.

April 30, 1997
JR: And actually I’d gone down there earlier that morning, into that room, and the window was broken, but I didn’t see any glass around, so I assumed it was broken last summer. I used that window to get into the house when (inaudible) I didn’t have a key. But the window was open, about an eighth of an inch, and just kind latched it. So I went back down with Fleet, we looked around for some glass again, still didn’t see any glass. And I told him that I thought that the break came from when I did that last summer and then, then I went from there into the cellar.


So at the moment there is a broken window which John says he closes on the first occasion. He looks for glass when he was on his own a didn't find any and then later looks with Fleet and still doesn't see any. When in the basement he tell Fleet he broke the window last summer.........

Then comes June, 1998.

23 LOU SMIT: You said you moved it? Did you
24 mention that?
25 JOHN RAMSEY: I moved it a bit just to see
0240
1 if there was glass. It's funny how you remember
2 things. I swear that window opened from the other
3 side. I guess other than that, I can't see
4 anything.

14 LOU SMIT: Now you said that you picked up
15 pieces of glass.
16 JOHN RAMSEY: Um hmm.
17 LOU SMIT: A few little pieces.
18 JOHN RAMSEY: Um hmm.
19 LOU SMIT: And did you say you put them on
20 the window well or on the suitcase or do you
21 remember?
22 JOHN RAMSEY: I don't remember for sure.
23 There wasn't enough there for me to be convinced
24 that the window was broken that morning. I was
25 assuming that it had been broken by me and it
0241
1 hadn't really been fixed.

Ok so now from no glass to a few pieces of glass & John says he was trying to verify that the broken window was from him. He was looking for something that would indicate a fresh break...lots of glass and not just a little bit.....


JUNE 1998

19 MIKE KANE: That's fine. I understand. Okay.
20 You said that when you went down in the basement
21 that second time with Fleet, and you were back in
22 that room, you were looking for glass on the
23 floor. Why were you?
24 JOHN RAMSEY: I was just trying to verify
25 in my own mind that I had in fact broken the
0181
1 window last summer and it was cleaned up and this
2 wasn't the break I was looking for. If there was a
3 lot of glass there.
4 MIKE KANE: Okay.
5 JOHN RAMSEY: Because I wasn't sure that
6 that window -- well I did know it hadn't been
7 fixed. But it didn't totally surprise me that it
8 hadn't been.


In these below interview John confirms again he closed the window on his first trip to the basement and he also tells Fleet he closed the window earlier on.

JUNE 1998


JOHN RAMSEY: I just wanted to start
6 logically from the bottom up, I guess, as I was
7 looking at it. And I could have just as easily
8 gone upstairs, but I went down. Probably just
9 logically going through every inch of the house.
10 So I went down to the basement. I went into this
11 room with Fleet. I explained to him that this
12 window had been cracked open and I CLOSED IT. That
13 the window was broken, but I think it was broken
14 by me once before. We got down on our hands and
15 knees looking for some glass just to see.
16 LOU SMIT: What did you find?
17 JOHN RAMSEY: I think we found a few fragments
18 of glass not enough to indicate that it was a
19 fresh break.
20 LOU SMIT: What did you do with those fragments?
21 JOHN RAMSEY: We might have put them on the
22 ledge, if I remember. It really wasn't much. We
23 had only found one or two. We might have put them
24 up here on the ledge.
25 LOU SMIT: Could you have put them on the
0163
1 suitcase?
2 JOHN RAMSEY: Ahhhh, it's possible but I
3 don't remember doing that.
4 LOU SMIT: Was the suitcase, when you came
5 back, in the same spot it was when you had been?
6 JOHN RAMSEY: I think I moved it to see or
7 to look for glass then. But I think it was where I
8 left it, where it was when I was down there
9 before.

JUNE 1998


1 JOHN RAMSEY: But it was open and there
2 was
3 a suitcase under it. This hard Samsonite suitcase.
4 LOU SMIT: Describe how the suitcase was
5 positioned?
6 JOHN RAMSEY: It was against the wall. I think
7 the handle was on top. It was directly under the
8 window, as I recall. And I closed the window, I
9 don't know why, but I closed it. And then --
10 LOU SMIT: When you closed it, did you lock
11 it or close it?
12 JOHN RAMSEY: I latched it. There's a little
13 latch on it.
14 LOU SMIT: And you're sure of that?
15 JOHN RAMSEY: Pretty sure, yeah. Yeah, I am
16 sure. I don't think I looked anywhere else. I
17 think at that point I still was trying to figure
18 out how they'd get in the house.

JUNE 1998

12 JOHN RAMSEY: Just this little latch. But
13 what I did specifically notice was the suitcase
14 sitting under the window. That was not -- that
15 didn't fit. I could explain why the window was
16 broken or why it might have been partly open, but
17 the suitcase just kind of jumped out at me.

JUNE 1998

23 JOHN RAMSEY: I don't really remember. I mean,
24 part of what is going on you're in such a state of
25 disbelief this can even happen. And the, you know,
0154
1 the window had been broken out. And you say hah,
2 that's it. But it was a window that I had used to
3 get into the house before. It was cracked and open
4 a little bit. It wasn't terribly unusual for me.
5 Sometimes it would get opened to let cool air in
6 because that basement could get real hot in
7 winter. So it was like, you know, after I thought
8 about it, I thought it was more of an alarming
9 situation how it struck me at the time. It was
10 still sort of explainable to me that it could have
11 been left open.
12 And the suitcase was unusual. That shouldn't have
13 been there. I took that suitcase downstairs, I
14 remember. But I sure wouldn't have taken it all
15 the way back there and put it against the window.


JUNE 1998

24 JOHN RAMSEY: Because the window was cracked
25 open. There was this large suitcase under it, as
0041
1 if it was used to climb out. That suitcase didn't
2 belong there. I think the person was in the house,
3 if not when we got home, shortly after. I think
4 she was killed that night, versus in the morning.

December 12, 2001
23 Q. Do you remember exactly the sequence
24 of events when you went down to the basement the
25 second time?
0019
1 A. Uh-huh (affirmative).
2 Q. Can you tell me where you looked?
3 A. I went back into the train room,
4 showed Fleet the broken window, explained to him
5 that I might have broken it myself months ago.
6 I showed him the suitcase that I saw under the
7 window, which I felt was very out of place.
8 We looked for any large pieces of
9 broken glass. And then I got up and went to
10 the cellar room, opened the door, and found
11 JonBenet.

So Far we have 3 separate occasions where John says he closed the window on the first trip. He also tells Fleet he Closed the window.


Following in sequence with John's Interviews/Versions the window is now/already shut when he enters the basement wit Fleet
John states that they both look for glass and what they find is not very much at all. It wasn't enough to indicate to him it was a fresh break. He also says he doesn't remember if they put any glass on the suitcase or ledge.

According to John he was trying to think logically & determine how someone could have got in but saw NOTHING else out of the ordinary other suitcase beneath it. He could justify why the window was broken and why the window was open.

John Ramsey Deposition - Wolf Case - December 12, 2001


20 Q. Prior to Linda Arndt asking you to
21 look around the house, how many times did you go
22 to the basement?
23 A. Once.
24 Q. Do you remember at what time in the
25 morning you went to the basement?
0017
1 A. I do not.
2 Q. Do you remember what you saw in the
3 basement when you went down there?
4 A. I saw a partially opened window with
5 broken glass and a suitcase beneath the window.
6 Q. When you would -- did you see
7 anything else there?
8 A. Not that looked out of the ordinary.
9 Q. May I ask why you went to the
10 basement at that time?
11 A. I was trying to determine how someone
12 could have gotten into our house.
13 Q. Did anyone ask you to go to the
14 basement at that time?
15 A. No.
16 Q. Do you know if anybody saw you go to
17 the basement at that time?
18 A. I have no idea.
19 Q. When you saw that the basement was in
20 the condition that it was in, as you have just
21 described it, and you came back upstairs, did you
22 inform anybody of what you found in the basement?
23 A. I don't recall specifically if I did
24 or not. I have a vague recollection of telling
25 Linda Arndt that I found an open window with
0018
Interview date: December 12, 2001
9 Q. May I ask why you went to the
10 basement at that time?
11 A. I was trying to determine how someone
12 could have gotten into our house.
13 Q. Did anyone ask you to go to the
14 basement at that time?
15 A. No.
16 Q. Do you know if anybody saw you go to
17 the basement at that time?
18 A. I have no idea.
19 Q. When you saw that the basement was in
20 the condition that it was in, as you have just
21 described it, and you came back upstairs, did you
22 inform anybody of what you found in the basement?
23 A. I don't recall specifically if I did
24 or not. I have a vague recollection of telling
25 Linda Arndt that I found an open window with
0018
1 broken glass, but that I perhaps had broken that
2 glass myself months earlier.
3 Q. Do you think you might have mentioned
4 that to any other law enforcement officer beside
5 Linda Arndt?
6 A. Not that I recall.



He only has a vague recollection of telling Linda Arndt about the window and doesn't recall telling anyone else. REGARDLESS if he told Linda/Police about the window it's safe to say from his recollections it wasn't a EURIKA moment in him thinking to himself 'THIS IS THE SPOT' quick let's get someone down here. By the sounds of it, it wasn't a big deal such as Hey I think I've found how they got in or out. It was more I have found an open window with broken glass but I remember doing that myself so it's ok kind of thing.....

In John Ramsey's book THE OTHER SIDE OF SUFFERING P12 - John Ramsey says he suddenly remembers the window he broke last year & rushes to the basement to check. When he finds it wide open he then rushes upstairs to tell one of the policemen about the broken window. He can barely something and is sick to his stomach.

Whether or not he told Police, he noted the open window later on in the book P15 (whilst in the basement with Fleet) he says his friend didn't tell him he had already noted the open window when he was down here earlier & John starts to feel dizzy

Why would John start to feel dizzy about an open window he already knew about and closed himself?
I don't know who goes down to the basement first but if you have fleet going down and noting the open window to himself. Then either before or after this John goes down and also notes the open window. It doesn't make sense at all?

In TOSOS John Ramsey says:
I show my friend the broken window which is still open, the small splinters of glass on the floor and the suitcase. This isn't right. The suitcase shouldn't be here.

I don't get this either, he says the suitcase shouldn't be there but what about the glass that shouldn't be there.
On numerous occasions he says he was looking for how they got in/out. Fresh breaks etc.
John says he was working logically. How can glass that was broken months ago by him end up on a suitcase that was wasn't meant to be there in the first place?
How does he justify seeing glass broken six months ago on top a suitcase that was placed there 25th/26th according to him?

 

[Miz Adventure]

It's probably easier just to presume that if JR's mouth is moving then he's lying.

 

[DrollForeignFaction]

He only has a vague recollection of telling Linda Arndt about the window and doesn't recall telling anyone else. REGARDLESS if he told Linda/Police about the window it's safe to say from his recollections it wasn't a EURIKA moment in him thinking to himself 'THIS IS THE SPOT' quick let's get someone down here. By the sounds of it, it wasn't a big deal such as Hey I think I've found how they got in or out. It was more I have found an open window with broken glass but I remember doing that myself so it's ok kind of thing.....

In John Ramsey's book THE OTHER SIDE OF SUFFERING P12 - John Ramsey says he suddenly remembers the window he broke last year & rushes to the basement to check. When he finds it wide open he then rushes upstairs to tell one of the policemen about the broken window. He can barely something and is sick to his stomach.

Whether or not he told Police, he noted the open window later on in the book P15 (whilst in the basement with Fleet) he says his friend didn't tell him he had already noted the open window when he was down here earlier & John starts to feel dizzy

Why would John start to feel dizzy about an open window he already knew about and closed himself?
I don't know who goes down to the basement first but if you have fleet going down and noting the open window to himself. Then either before or after this John goes down and also notes the open window. It doesn't make sense at all?

In TOSOS John Ramsey says:
I show my friend the broken window which is still open, the small splinters of glass on the floor and the suitcase. This isn't right. The suitcase shouldn't be here.

I don't get this either, he says the suitcase shouldn't be there but what about the glass that shouldn't be there.
On numerous occasions he says he was looking for how they got in/out. Fresh breaks etc.
John says he was working logically. How can glass that was broken months ago by him end up on a suitcase that was wasn't meant to be there in the first place?
How does he justify seeing glass broken six months ago on top a suitcase that was placed there 25th/26th according to him?

Respectfully snipped. Thanks for that compilation of John's statements! It's dizzying how many contradictions he's able to make over something that should be so simple.
Kolar has a nice summary of the evolution of his statements on chapter 25 of his book. On the POE issue:

- Based on police reports the day of the "kidnapping" he never mentioned his first trip to the basement OR any remarks "about his observations and suspicions regarding a possible entry / exit point to the residence."
- On the 27th Mason and Arndt asked John about the broken window and all he said was that he had broken it previously.
- They made no mention of the broken window in their Jan. 1, 1997 CNN interview. Kolar also points out that JR stated he "shared his thoughts with the police," indicating he wasn't holding any info back, like a suspicion that the window and suitcase were "wrong."
- And of course as you pointed out, his earliest recorded statement about the window is completely different from the version that showed up in TOSOS. In his first telling, he stumbles upon it and thinks, "oh, whatever." In TOSOS (and also in DOI) he seeks out the window as a possible point of entry and immediately knows it is wrong, feels ill, and notifies the authorities.
- In 2001 he tells Barbara Walters that his "first impression" (Kolar's words) was that the intruder used that window.

What a crock! Isn't it funny how John didn't say anything about the intruder coming through that window until after Lou Smit came to that conclusion? In my opinion, JR didn't intend for the window to be part of the staging; even he must have realized it was a stretch. Otherwise wouldn't he be trying to sell it to anyone who'd listen, as he later pretends to have done? But then he hears (I'm assuming from his lawyers, via their pal Alex Hunter, who hired Smit - but that's purely speculation) that someone is actually buying that claptrap, so he ran with it and in typical Ramsey fashion proceeded to distort and elaborate on it until he had a sympathetic story to share with the public.

Great point about the old broken glass on the "out of place" suitcase which he doesn't even remember being on the suitcase until over a decade later. Lin Wood might want to invest in a muzzle for his client because every time he opens his mouth he says something incriminating. In fact, LW might want to look into getting a muzzle of his own since he's not much better.

 

[BBB167893]

Further, when Smit left the District Attorney's Office, he took electronic copies of several crime-scene photos and other evidence with him.
"District Attorney Alex Hunter fired off a letter to his former ace investigator, demanding that he return key crime-scene photos and other evidence.
Six days later, a defiant Lou Smit gave his response: He would rather "go to jail" than give them back."

If I'd been in charge, I'd have granted his wish. (I am eager to please, you know!)

 

[BBB167893]

Oh, you crack me up, SuperDave! I know how succinct you can be.

Not when I go into "rant" mode!

I could probably write a book... well, a booklet anyway... about Smit's fairy tale and how much I detest it. But I don't want to be sued by the family.

Are you referring to the Ramseys, or Smit's family? Not that it matters; I essentially did just that!

 

[AndHence]

It's become fairly clear over the years that John didn't mention the broken window to law enforcement because he was sure they'd be able to have some way of telling that the break was fresh, i.e., made earlier that morning. He was just being cautious at that point because he didn't think the police were gonna fall for the staging in the train room. He wanted a backup story (him breaking it the previous summer) in case the police felt it looked like staging. Months later when Lou Smit miraculously came upon the scene with his intruder theory, John begins to run with the idea that the broken window was used as a point of entry by an intruder. Smit allows John to be able to maintain he broke the window and play dumb about the rest (if it was repaired, if he told Arndt, etc.).