Members' Theories

[Betwixt2008]

Ok this is my theory.


I feel it was a tragic accident, I do not believe the son did it, I did last week after watching a TV documentary, I don't think he is that intelligent to have kept it all quiet for this past 20 years without him speaking to someone, I think he has some undiagnosed mental health issue that makes him appear guilty, although I believe completely innocent.

The family comes home from the dinner party, dad tried to get his sleeping daughter out of the car and struggles, Burke gets his things and runs inside and Patsy is busy getting things in from the car,


Jon Benet being 6 and asleep is making it very difficult for her dad, she is not a baby anymore and he isn't getting any younger either, he struggles even more so getting her up those stairs when he gets inside, as once she's asleep there is no waking her up,maybe he drank a little, while at the dinner party, which makes it just that bit harder too.


As he struggles up those stairs, he drops her, he also loses his balance and tries to catch her fall, while trying to regain his own balance, stopping himself falling as well, it all happens all so quickly, grabbing whatever he can, it's too late she falls backward, hitting edge of the stair with the back of her head,he pulls her up by the scruff of the front of her neck, twisting and accidentally leaving a knuckle print in her neck as he does that, maybe some other scuff marks are made on her body as she went down.


He continues up the stairs because amazingly, she seems to have slept through it all, which seems really bizarre, unknown to the crack in her skull and damage that has really occurred, there is no blood, no lumps, he lays her on her bed and looks at her checking her over and she seem to be sleeping normally and goes back down stairs to his son and plays with him for a little while.


His wife is still busy and distracted with other things she needs to do, she checks in to get her daughter into bed properly and tried to undress her and finds its too difficult and notices that something isn't quite right with her, Patsy screams out, John runs up stairs and explains he almost dropped her coming up the stairs and thinks she might of hit her head, but she seemed to be ok.


Burke gets told to go to bed, they can not deal with him or play any further with him now.


She is drooling from the mouth! I can not even get her dressed for bed properly, they take her down stairs hoping to revive her somehow, out of earshot of Burke, they try to get her to eat and drink something,the swallowing reflexes are not working properly, they then get a torch from the draw and check her pupils to see if they are dilating, they are not responding to light, they then realize she must be brain dead, this is serious, what are we going to do ! Patsy keeps saying, oh what did you do !, what did you do.....


So now they see they have a daughter that is going to live life as a vegetable, the marks around her neck when John tried to catch her looks like someone tried to strangle her, did I kill my own daughter, did I strangle her by mistake, the confusion of it all, we need to come up with a plan, this must look like someone else did it, we have so much to lose, they could say we are unfit parents and take our son off of us, we could lose our empire, we could go to jail, our beautiful daughter who was full of life will now out live her days as a vegetable, do we want this to be how everyone sees her now, do we want her to suffer like this.


Ok let's make it look like an intruder has done this..... the rest is history....

I think it was a maternal thing to replace underwear and outer pants after staging a sexual assault, the final modest moral thing to do to your daughter, so sad...I believe she was deeply loved by these parents, but the final killing can never be condoned, justice will prevail in the end..


The word “Victory”... it's a Christian term, actually from a chorus in a famous Christian Hymn.... Faith is the victory that overcomes the world, here below is another part of that famous Hymn.



To him that overcomes the foe,
White raiment shall be giv’n;
Before the angels he shall know
His name confessed in heav’n.
Then onward from the hills of light,
Our hearts with love aflame,
We’ll vanquish all the hosts of night,
In Jesus’ conqu’ring name.



I think with the 911 call, the mother's grief and her saying to her husband John, “what did you do? ...will continue to ring out in his mind and he has to live with that, it was an innocent mistake, a tragic accident, he must be thinking to himself, what did I do !
I am sure Burke, ran down the stairs at his normal waking time and saw them both there looking at their daughter on the floor, before he got to them he called out, what did you find, they responded, we're not talking to you....go back to bed until you're told to get up we are busy! I am sure he heard his parents in disarray and the great distress of his mother, but he has come in at the tail end of the concocted intruder, web of deceit that his parents had to make up to protect the family...

 

[SKresearch]

"bind",
"torture"

(then, kill)

I am quite certain that this perp did "breath play" ("erotica asphyxiation") on this victim.

`````
This person had a strong interest in: S & M
"strangulation" (is an interest) (ligature strangulation)

I am quite certain that the use of the "garotte" was for "breath play" purpose
(could have easily strangled this child to death, in no time.) (fastly, was not the interest here.)

(Look at the crime scene/autopsy photos) Notice the different strangulation markings around the neck.

```````
(The above is not, staging. It is the real deal.) (perverted)
```````
It seems that the person brought the "cord" and the "tape" with them.
(maybe some other things as well)

This person was possibly wearing "gloves".

(I believe the person, most-likely, was.)

``````
[It should be noted that:
In cases where perp does "breath play" on victim,
in some of these cases it turns out to be that: the person has also been doing it to 'themself', behind closed doors, as well.
(which is called: "auto-erotica asphyxiation") ('auto' means: to one's self)]

 

[SKresearch]

Evidence shows she was alive when strangled.

 

[SKresearch]

jonbenetramsey.pbworks.com/w/page/11682478/Head%20Injuries

Severe Head Blow

Injury Revealed in Autopsy.

"Although no head injury was visible when she was first discovered,

the autopsy revealed
that she received a severe blow to her head
shortly before or around the time of the murder.
(SMF P 51; PSMF P 51.

See also Report of Michael Doberson, M.D., Ph.D.
at 6(C) attach. as Ex. 3 to Defs.' Ex. Vol. I, Part A

(stating the "presence of hemorrhage does indicate that the victim was alive when she sustained the head injury,
however
the relative small amount of subdural hemorrhage indicates that
the injury occurred in the
perimortem (close to death) period.").)" (Carnes 2003:21).

 

[lamasheen]

I've only watched the many documentaries and I am certainly not an expert on the case . My theory is that it was some accident that the parents simply did not want the world to know about as it was due to their irresponsibility of not watching over their 6 year old girl.

The theories of child abuse, parents snapping, Burke snapping, pedophiles breaking in... are so extreme and very difficult to believe especially with very little supportive evidence or history for any of the family members. They seem and probably were very loving caring parents as you can see from their family pics and what their friends say. PR a little obsessive about pageants, yes. Certainly not a crime to have aspirations for your children. They were not abusive parents. Burke doesn't seem like the violent, angry type. A bit awkward maybe. Capable of bashing his sister's head... no way. (Jim Clemente is way off on this. He's wrong about Amanda Knox as well. He does all of this for publicity, whether he knows he is right or not. It's a guessing game for him and he has no respect for the family. I hope Burke sues him.)

Here is what I think about the case:

1. The timing of the head injury and asphyxiation are debatable, I've heard both arguments. I believe it was asphyxiation first, as you can see from the photos that JBR struggled to remove the cord from her neck. But not from strangulation, but an accidental choking.
2. The ransom note was written by PR for sure. You can tell simply by the hand writing samples. It was obviously an attempt to divert the investigation from what really happened (accident) to an unknown outside party. The reason is simple. Ultimately, it was her fault that JBR died - Because she is the caring, loving Mom, she simply did not want the world to know how the truth of how JBR died as it would have simply been too shameful and embarrassing for the family. They have an image to keep up after all. A daughter's death on her watch from a simple accident didn't fit with her image of super Mom and family.
3. What do kids do best? They play. That is all 6 and 9 year olds do and think about. Typical kids are not thinking about killing their siblings, they just want to play and have fun. What happens on Christmas day, especially for a wealthy family such as the Ramseys? They are flooded with presents and toys. I am sure they received many new gifts that day and simply wanted to play with their new toys even though they were tired and had to wake up early the next morning.
4. I don't believe JBR was asleep in the car and that the John took her upstairs to bed while she was asleep. Both parents say this but it is merely support for their theory that JBR was kidnapped while she was asleep and the reason why the parents were not awaken by the "break-in" and kidnapping. I think she never went to sleep. Clearly, because of the pineapple in her stomach, she and Burke got home, ate a bit and went to play downstairs unsupervised. The parents may have been upstairs preparing for their trip the next morning.
5. This is the fuzziest part of the my theory and no one knows for sure what happened and no one ever will unless Burke knows and tells the world. I think the 2 were simply playing and JBR got a rope around her neck and struggled to have it removed and it got tighter and tighter around her neck and she simply died of asphyxiation. Perhaps it was a balloon rope, another cord from a toy or packaging like a ribbon. I am not sure. but I can think of many hazardous items and situation involving a string or rope and playing where a 6 year old can accidentally strangle herself. Perhaps Burke was involved and was too scared to mention anything to his parents or he noticed it too late. Whatever the cause, she was dead and it was too late to save her.
6. I cannot envision any other scenario where the parents would not drive her to the hospital or call 911. I think these are parents, who, if JBR was still alive, they would have seeked medical attention. They didn't, only to save their embarrassment from the outside world. How would their image be if they let their 6 year old die from an accidental strangulation.
7. The garrote was an attempt to mask the accident. John did it post accident.
8. I cannot explain the injury to the head easily. Most likely part of the staging, not the initial injury as for reason stated in number 1. Perhaps the parents thought they would make it look like an accidental fall first and dropped her head on a hard floor or hard object first. Then they forgot about how to explain the neck marks. That is when they decided to make the garrote, possibly with the same rope that caused her initial injuries.
9. The marks on her body - perhaps it was Burke trying to see if she was alive or not. Stun gun is kind of hard to believe.
10. All the other evidence is staging by the parents. The duct tape and rest of rope? It was hidden/thrown away by John. The notepad and pen were not because she was panicked I guess.

It was just an accident caused by 2 kids playing or just by JBR herself and the Mom didn't want to tell the truth about how she died. The Mom simply didn't want the world to know that she was a bad Mom when she was trying to really be Super Mom and Housewife. That is it. So sad.

 

[neesaki]

I knew these people. There is no way Patsy or John did this.

What about Burke, do you think he could have done it? Tia

 

[txsvicki]

Going by all the evidence and new experts opinions, I think JonBenet was hit in head by someone wanting to hurt her, then the same person knew she was totally knocked out and didn't want to get into any trouble so strangled her and then put the wrist cords and duct tape on the mouth after jabbing her with the train tracks to make sure she was either dead or really not waking up. All of that seems like done by a kid or a kid helping an adult to cover it up because the adult was too distraught to do it. An adult wrote the note with possible help towards the end with the movie quotes and possible drinking or medications causing anger towards John. According to things said about Patsy she lived for performing, her whole life seemed to be performing at functions and schools and socializing. She did not seem to recognize age appropriateness in her kids and I have always believed they were neglected when home with just the family. It's possible that JonBenet was accidentally scratched in the genitals while being cleaned or even that a kid was trying to help her clean up so she wouldn't get into trouble. More info needs to come out about the blanket, gown, the wiping down, and theories on that blood spot for me to have a theory, but I think it's possible that the spot was already on those panties then got diluted from urine and transferred a dry flake or two of blood to the labia.

 

[Celtsleuth]

There was DNA under her fingernails and the trace DNA on the band of the sweatpants and her panties that matched the DNA under her fingernails. A pedophile most likely targeted her from pageant shows and snuck into the house Christmas day. It might have been someone that knew the family. They obviously had no dealings with LE as the DNA hasn't been matched. That poor little girl will most likely never
get justice.

 

[SecretaryGal]

Ok this is my theory.


I feel it was a tragic accident, I do not believe the son did it, I did last week after watching a TV documentary, I don't think he is that intelligent to have kept it all quiet for this past 20 years without him speaking to someone, I think he has some undiagnosed mental health issue that makes him appear guilty, although I believe completely innocent.

The family comes home from the dinner party, dad tried to get his sleeping daughter out of the car and struggles, Burke gets his things and runs inside and Patsy is busy getting things in from the car,


Jon Benet being 6 and asleep is making it very difficult for her dad, she is not a baby anymore and he isn't getting any younger either, he struggles even more so getting her up those stairs when he gets inside, as once she's asleep there is no waking her up,maybe he drank a little, while at the dinner party, which makes it just that bit harder too.


As he struggles up those stairs, he drops her, he also loses his balance and tries to catch her fall, while trying to regain his own balance, stopping himself falling as well, it all happens all so quickly, grabbing whatever he can, it's too late she falls backward, hitting edge of the stair with the back of her head,he pulls her up by the scruff of the front of her neck, twisting and accidentally leaving a knuckle print in her neck as he does that, maybe some other scuff marks are made on her body as she went down.


He continues up the stairs because amazingly, she seems to have slept through it all, which seems really bizarre, unknown to the crack in her skull and damage that has really occurred, there is no blood, no lumps, he lays her on her bed and looks at her checking her over and she seem to be sleeping normally and goes back down stairs to his son and plays with him for a little while.


His wife is still busy and distracted with other things she needs to do, she checks in to get her daughter into bed properly and tried to undress her and finds its too difficult and notices that something isn't quite right with her, Patsy screams out, John runs up stairs and explains he almost dropped her coming up the stairs and thinks she might of hit her head, but she seemed to be ok.


Burke gets told to go to bed, they can not deal with him or play any further with him now.


She is drooling from the mouth! I can not even get her dressed for bed properly, they take her down stairs hoping to revive her somehow, out of earshot of Burke, they try to get her to eat and drink something,the swallowing reflexes are not working properly, they then get a torch from the draw and check her pupils to see if they are dilating, they are not responding to light, they then realize she must be brain dead, this is serious, what are we going to do ! Patsy keeps saying, oh what did you do !, what did you do.....


So now they see they have a daughter that is going to live life as a vegetable, the marks around her neck when John tried to catch her looks like someone tried to strangle her, did I kill my own daughter, did I strangle her by mistake, the confusion of it all, we need to come up with a plan, this must look like someone else did it, we have so much to lose, they could say we are unfit parents and take our son off of us, we could lose our empire, we could go to jail, our beautiful daughter who was full of life will now out live her days as a vegetable, do we want this to be how everyone sees her now, do we want her to suffer like this.


Ok let's make it look like an intruder has done this..... the rest is history....

I think it was a maternal thing to replace underwear and outer pants after staging a sexual assault, the final modest moral thing to do to your daughter, so sad...I believe she was deeply loved by these parents, but the final killing can never be condoned, justice will prevail in the end..


The word “Victory”... it's a Christian term, actually from a chorus in a famous Christian Hymn.... Faith is the victory that overcomes the world, here below is another part of that famous Hymn.



To him that overcomes the foe,
White raiment shall be giv’n;
Before the angels he shall know
His name confessed in heav’n.
Then onward from the hills of light,
Our hearts with love aflame,
We’ll vanquish all the hosts of night,
In Jesus’ conqu’ring name.



I think with the 911 call, the mother's grief and her saying to her husband John, “what did you do? ...will continue to ring out in his mind and he has to live with that, it was an innocent mistake, a tragic accident, he must be thinking to himself, what did I do !
I am sure Burke, ran down the stairs at his normal waking time and saw them both there looking at their daughter on the floor, before he got to them he called out, what did you find, they responded, we're not talking to you....go back to bed until you're told to get up we are busy! I am sure he heard his parents in disarray and the great distress of his mother, but he has come in at the tail end of the concocted intruder, web of deceit that his parents had to make up to protect the family...

When did she eat the pineapple?

 

[arm16]

THEORY: JB was accidentally killed by brother Burke and the death was covered up by their parents. (I haven’t found any facts that disprove this theory and I haven’t been able to put together an intruder theory that makes sense.)

THEORY DETAILS: On Christmas night JB was put to bed but eventually woke up and went downstairs to play with her brother Burke. They were initially on the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] floor where they had a snack of pineapple and then in the basement where wrapped presents were hidden. They used a flashlight in the dark basement and at some point JB did something to annoy her brother. Burke grabbed her by the collar and hit her on the head with the flashlight. When she immediately collapsed into unconsciousness, Burke shook her and poked at her with a train track so she would awaken. Assuming he had accidentally killed his sister, Burke may have tried to cover-up by staging strangulation by an intruder, inadvertently accelerating her actual death. Either his parents heard the commotion or Burke awakened them. If, at that point, JB hadn’t already been strangled, her parents still assumed she was dead or at least brain dead, panicked and did the strangling. They were unaware that Burke could not be prosecuted as a 9 year-old, but also found the stigma of him killing his sister unbearable. Patsy, who knew her ovarian cancer would likely return and was terminal, didn’t want to spend the rest of her short life without her son or in court. The parents had the entire night to stage an “over-the-top” cover-up of a kidnapping gone bad, resulting in sexual assault and murder. With multiple layers of staging they hoped to divert the attention from Burke and themselves by providing extensive areas of follow-up for law enforcement. A cornerstone of of their story, from which they never wavered, was that Burke was asleep the entire night up until after police arrived, giving law enforcement no reason to question or even suspect him.

EVIDENCE:

911 CALL: Patsy did not hang up the phone properly after calling 911 and several more seconds of conversation within the household was taped. The original operator recently came forward to say she heard three people speaking, a man, woman and child. She also said Patsy’s tone changed when she thought she had hung up, saying something like “I called the police, now what?” This was so upsetting to the operator, she discussed it with other people at the time. Numerous resources have been used to improve the quality of the extended tape to hear what was said. Multiple experts have said they can hear Patsy, John and Burke talking, strongly suggesting Burke was awake at the time and that the Ramsey’s were lying. Two other suspicious items related to the 911 call are that Patsy is able to state the ransom note’s complicated sign-off even though she said she had not read it and did not have it in front of her. Police say that it is also very unusual for a parent to hang-up on a 911 call like Patsy did, as most would see it as a lifetime until law enforcement arrived.

RANSOM NOTE: In American History there is no example of a real ransom note of the length and style found in the Ramsey house. Most are short, direct and typed. Almost every facet of this note points to it being phony, most obvious that there was no kidnapping. The messages in the note are judged by numerous experts to show conflicting motives, deceitful prose, language from movies, and coincidental family details. It is universally agreed that the note was written in the house on Patsy’s pad of paper and with her pen. Five different experts were not able to exclude Patsy as the author and one has said she is the only possible author. (One expert did say she didn’t write it.) Even a lay person comparing the note to her writing samples can see similar lettering, spacing and language. Most facts point to a staged ransom note written by Patsy. Buttressing this are examples of her writing after It became clear she was suspected of writing the note which show a change in the way she wrote some letters. Finally, it defies common sense that an intruder would not bring a note and then spend more than a half hour in the victim’s occupied home writing one rather than escaping.

PARENTS BEHAVIOR BEFORE THE BODY WAS FOUND: Prior to discovery of the body, the Ramsey’s behavior betrayed their prior knowledge of killing. The parents said they looked into Burke’s room to see if he was there but inconceivably never awakened him to ask questions about his sister and her whereabouts. Patsy, a clotheshorse, was wearing the same clothes she had worn the night before, indicating she either never went to bed or was planning to wear the exact same outfit to the post-Christmas family event in Michigan. Patsy’s hair and make-up were done despite the fact she had just woken up. Patsy immediately called friends and clergy, who were surrounding her at the house even before police arrived, providing a barrier. Patsy and her husband were suspiciously not observed together to support or console one another while waiting for the kidnapper to call, instead they remained separate, assuming their own roles. John was quiet, calm and aloof and Patsy was hysterical, although kept peering at the head officer. They sent their son to a friend’s house rather than keeping him close when a kidnapper of Ramsey’s was on the loose. Most tellingly, while the kidnappers were supposed to call between 8-10am, neither Patsy nor John commented when 10am came and time ran out. It is inconceivable that this milestone would have been ignored unless a call was really not expected. John then disappeared for over an hour, later indicating he was in the basement where the body was later found.

FINDING THE BODY: After John nervously reappeared, the detective suggested he and his friend Fleet White search the house “top to bottom” for clues. John led his friend right to the basement where the body was hidden. While White had looked into the dark, windowless wine cellar earlier and seen nothing, John reportedly opened the door and screamed even before turning on the light, displaying prior knowledge of the body’s location. As the men yelled and John carried the body upstairs, John did not specifically call for his wife to tell her JonBenet was found. At that point everyone rushed into the room where JonBenet was placed except for Patsy. She waited alone in the sunroom until someone came to tell her that Jon Benet was dead. While seemingly small details, John and Patsy’s actions betrayed their prior knowledge of JonBenet’s death.

THE BODY: The body exhibited multiple signs of staging with all items on or surrounding JB’s body found in a typical household and most identified as the Ramsey’s. The Barbie nightgown and blanket were from JB’s room, the garrote was from a broken piece of Patsy’s paint brush, the nylon rope and knot were consistent with that used by sailors, which the Ramsey’s were. A local store released receipts showing Patsy Ramsey had purchased items with the exact department and cost of the rope and duct tape earlier in the month, although the items were not specified on the receipt. The duct tape on Jon Benet’s mouth had fibers from the jacket Patsy was wearing yet Patsy would not have been near the duct tape based on her story. Forensics show the tape was applied after death and the rope hand constraints were too loose to be effective, more indications of staging. That a favorite nightgown was placed with JB and that she was swaddled in her blanket show acts of protection and love, signaling placement from a family member rather than a stranger.


THE AUTOPSY: JonBenet was brain dead from head trauma about 45 minutes before death but because her scalp wasn’t injured this wasn’t initially apparent. Her heart was still beating when she was strangled with the rope or garrote. There is no evidence of actual sexual abuse from that night other than digital/paint brush penetration which would be part of the staging. The head wound is consistent with a strike from the top of the flashlight that was found on the kitchen counter the next day and had been wiped clean of fingerprints. There was undigested pineapple found in Jon Benet’s stomach consistent with the type on the kitchen table and eaten close to the time of death, showing she was downstairs having a snack. Patsy and Burke’s fingerprints were found on the bowl of pineapple along with a glass of iced tea with just Burke’s prints. This was not a serving bowl of pineapple but a smaller bowl with a spoon that an individual would be eating from. This evidence supports Burke downstairs and eating a snack that night and Jon Benet having at least one piece, refuting the parent’s claims that the children were both asleep. During a later interview, when Burke was shown a picture of the pineapple bowl, he became very flustered and would not identify it; obviously he knew the pineapple was a key issue in the case. When he was asked how JB died he replicated a hand motion similar to striking her head. In an interview the Ramsey’s said they never told him how she died.

PARENTS BEHAVIOR AFTER BODY WAS FOUND: The Ramsey’s behaved in uncharacteristic ways right after JB’s body was found. Within 35 minutes of finding the body of his daughter, John Ramsey called his pilot to arrange for the family to get out of town that very afternoon, saying he had a business meeting. Aside from the strangeness of this, he was obviously lying because the family was supposed to be on their way to the family house in Michigan that day. Now John wanted to go to Atlanta which entailed leaving his daughter’s body behind and alone in Colorado after only just finding her. It also meant not helping to find her murderer. Such actions were so irregular, his friend Fleet told him not to go. The Ramsey’s rapidly left JB in their Boulder home and went to stay with friends, taking evidence with them and not making themselves available to the police. The next day Patsy’s sister took carloads of items from the house and John even asked for his golf clubs. Typically, innocent parents meld themselves to the police so the killer of the child can be found. During the next several days, the Ramsey’s showed no interest in helping law enforcement find the killer, would not turn over evidence, would not be interviewed and would not allow their son to be interviewed. They hired criminal lawyers for both John and Patsy, their own investigative team and a media expert. All before the funeral. Then they gave an interview to the media to frame their story rather than talking to law enforcement. When finally interviewed, they gave conflicting statements from initial statements made the day after the killing. This evasive approach has essentially continued to this day, despite Patsy passing away.

BURKE’S BEHAVIOR: The Ramsey’s would initially not let law enforcement speak to Burke, although several weeks after events they let a psychologist ask questions and he was interviewed again two years later when he was 11. After he was awakened and told JB was missing, he never asked questions about where she was or how she was. After he learned of her death, Burke reportedly showed no emotion and continued playing. In an interview his parents said he never asked questions about his sister’s death. His affect on all interview tapes was judged by most professionals to be flat and uncaring. His body language also showed occasional signs of deceit and he reacted in unusual ways during key areas of questions. As a grown-up he still hasn’t read the ransom note or made any concerted effort in finding who killed JB. He did admit for the first time he was downstairs that night, could have eaten pineapple and had boots that could match a long unidentified footprint in the basement.

DNA: There is evidence of DNA from 6 different people on items on or near JB’s body. This is not DNA from body fluids but touch DNA which can come from anyone, anywhere. For instance, an unopened package of underwear identical to JB’s tested positive for male DNA and no one had ever worn them. Because of this, the touch DNA has not ben helpful in identifying JB’s killer although many point to this as proof there were intruders. Its existence isn’t proof there were intruders.

FINGERPRINTS: The crime scene shows fingerprints from Patsy and Burke, which is no surprise because they lived in the house. No unidentified fingerprints from likely intruders have been identified at the scene. The flashlight, batteries and ransom note were wiped clean as was JB’s body.

PSYCHOLOGICAL- PATSY: Patsy was a loving mother and showed no signs of anger or abusive behavior. If anything she was overindulgent in regards to her children. She was an outwardly focused, strong-minded woman who did what she wanted and was used to getting her own way. She was extravagant and overdid almost everything in her life. She also had overcome a life-threatening fight with ovarian cancer which was so advanced there was an 80%+ chance it would return. It isn’t out of the question that she could switch into survival mode for a short time and cover-up an accidental killing by Burke to protect him. There are prior examples of duplicitous behavior to protect her children—she lied about JB coloring her hair, she lied about substituting the sick family dog for another. She was intelligent, had a journalism degree and won awards in theatrical performance. Part of her ongoing life was an act. She was meticulous when it came to her appearance, Jon Benet’s pageants and the public rooms of their home, yet the rest of her house was a mess. The kid’s clothes and sheets were unexpectedly stained with urine and feces. On occasion feces was found in other areas of their rooms. The children may not have been as well-parented as it seemed; they both had bathroom problems indicating emotional issues or lack of proper potty trained. They led spoiled lifestyles and were undisciplined at home, throwing clothes and toys on the ground and leaving food and dishes out.



PSYCHOLOGICAL-JOHN: John was quiet, aloof and had already lost a child. He appeared to deeply love his children and showed no signs of violence or sexual abuse. He generally went along with what Patsy wanted despite the fact their activities were more consistent with her extroverted personality. It appears that Patsy was the driver of events during the killing and once they got started there was no turning back. John seemed to take a lead role when Patsy needed to be reeled in or protected.

PSYCHOLOGICAL-BURKE: Burke had been functioning reasonably well socially and in school at the time of the killing and was introverted like his father. While he was unemotional, immature and had scatological issues, there is no reason to think he purposely killed JB. He comes across as a typical older brother and if he resented JB. this was not well-documented. After the killing he was reclusive which fits with accidentally killing his sister and spending a life denying it. The grand jury did vote to indict and from all appearances Burke was implicated. They had the benefit of items that are not public like his medical records.

THE THREESOME: John, Patsy and Burke appeared to have formed a secrecy bond that was surprisingly kept even after Patsy’s death. Apparently the parents even passed non-admissable, unofficial polygraph tests. Somehow if they did the above, they have been able to compartmentalize or rationalize their behavior, perhaps through religion, and never felt guilty enough to confess. It is possible that Burke was not even aware that he killed JB, as it is unclear what he was told by his parents. If in the first days after the killing the police had access to Burke and the family, perhaps they could have determined it was an accident and persuaded them to tell the truth before it was too late. Despite all the evidence, it is still difficult to accept that this family has been telling outright lies all these years, and at so many other people’s expense-- but people lie all the time.

 

[Mandala]

Wow, pretty in depth insight arm16. My theory is BDI by accident and P covered it up with the help of J

 

[arm16]

Yes that's exactly what I am saying.

 

[Mee]

I agree with arm16. The hardest thing for me was understanding their mindset (it's so hard to believe any parents would do that!). Arm16 covers key items, and some finer details are understandably left out (it's enough to fill many books and TV shows). Such as the fibers found on the body, other telling points during their interviews, B hitting JB with a club, poop on JB's present, oversized panties, etc. An opinion:

1. The family gets home strung out, yet excited about the next day's Michigan trip & 2nd Christmas.
2. Kids were supposed to be put to bed. Jonbenet (JB) gets up.
3. She and Burke are alone downstairs, evidently eating a snack and peeking at presents.
4. They get into a sibling argument fed by some backstory. He may have grabbed her by her collar, and it escalated to a whack on the head probably with the Maglite.
5. The little girl is very much unresponsive.
6a. The parents were notified.
6b. JB remains unresponsive after time. Panic sets in. She is jabbed with the nearby pointy toy.
7. A decision was made to cover up the crime and possibly some past abuse. B is sent to his room at some point around here.
8. The child is moved to the darkest corner of the house, in the basement.
9. P works on the Note. JB was poked with a brush or something to make it look like a pervert broke in.
10. She is strangled. Although some believe it was done by B, it could have been done by J (which was my first instinct). I would like to think they believed she was already dead.
11. JB is wiped down, redressed, wrapped in a blanket, and moved to the room. Tape and rope were applied after a little thought, now or a little later.
12. I imagine J and P then finalize the Note, rehearse the 911 call, and coach B.
13. 911 is called. B overhears and is sent back to his room with clear instructions.
14. Friends are called over. Lawyer is likely consulted. Police arrive.
15. The timeline from there is clear albeit strange. In a nutshell, Fleet and police superficially search house. JB's room is cordoned off. For hours, various folks are in the house although most of the police leave. B is sent away with his Nintendo. J disappears for awhile. FBI is notified that J disappeared, and advises them to search house with J which is misinterpreted as civilians to alone search house top to bottom. Body is promptly found and moved twice. House becomes a crime scene. The family tries to flee to Atlanta and to avoid interrogations.
16. The police do their best to make up for mishandling the critical initial period. They are told to back off the family but the family are under suspicion based on past crime profiles, initial review of evidence, their behavior, and simply because they were in the house. The BPD put a lot of resources into following all leads. There is a protracted game involving the media, DAs, and lawyers. Evidence and misinformation gets leaked. Books get written. Stories change. Psychiatrists, a psychic, and the FBI are consulted. I think they did a poor job of covering it up but no one can think straight in that situation. Nevertheless, people have a hard time believing parents would do something so heinous to their beloved daughter.

I believe it wasn't a deliberate homicide. The parents had justifications and the means to cover it up, and then continued down that path bolstered by others (e.g., lawyers, the DAs, psychologists, reporters) and a fear of cancer. If B indeed did it, he was preadolescent and had issues fed by circumstances, and I think he would have been better served if they didn't make his circumstances exponentially worse.

 

[Parkie]

The brother did it. The Parents had to cover it up afterwards.

 

[kanzz]

Who? - BR
Motive? - Anger and jealousy
What caused the head blow? - The flashlight
I also believe BR strangled JBR after inserting the paintbrush into her.
Has the perp offended before (or since)? - Highly doubtful

I believe that PR had known for quite some time that BR was disturbed; especially that he had what was more than feelings of sibling rivalry about his sister. The golf club to the face incident may have been accidental or purposeful. Nedra Paugh was obviously aware of the difficulties as is evidenced by the childhood behavior books she had sent to Patsy: The Hurried Child, Children at Risk, & Why Johnny Can't Tell Right From Wrong. These behavior issues were probably PR's to handle in view of the fact that JR was away so much. PR lived her life to protect her image and her children at any cost. Image was a very high priority for PR.

For whatever reason, the kids get out of bed for a snack.
Kids are eating pineapple that PR has prepared.
PR goes back upstairs and continues to pack... loses track of time.
Kids go to the basement to play &/or peek at presents.
There is an argument.
BR grabs JB by the collar.
(And she possibly screams out, but not loud enough for PR or JR to hear).
BR whacks her with the flashlight and she becomes unresponsive.
BR pokes her with the train track a couple of times.
BR sees an opportunity and prods her vaginally with the paintbrush.
Seeing that she is still unresponsive and knowing he will be in big trouble, BR is furious.
He fashions the garotte, strangles her,
then probably goes to bed - either that or PR finds him in the basement and sends him to bed.
or, PR later comes down, finds what has happened.
PR fashions the wrist bindings.
PR moves the body into the WR (the staging and the undoing).
PR wrote the note to protect her only remaining child.
This took some time and thought.
When she knew it was about time for JR to get up, she called out his name.
JR probably suspected PR wrote the note, but didn't want to believe it, and didn't know for sure.
JR found the body around 11:00 a.m., just as he told MR.
It was then that things started to fall into place for him, but he did not want to "find" the body alone.
JR had to gather his thoughts.
When Arndt asked for a house search, the opportunity presented itself.

I think she might not have covered up this crime had she known that BR could not be prosecuted at his age. Then again, she might have - because it might have been all about their image, position, and privilege in the community. But, after all, on 01/08/97 (the day of BR's psyche interview) PR did say that she "would have nothing left to live for" if she lost BR. A spontaneous utterance. She might have thought he would have been taken away from her.

That's where I am for now. I reserve the right to adjust my theory.

 

[Mee]

EDIT: oh and the family finds it lucrative to sue BPD and other parties and settle out of court.

 

[Madge_Ick_Dike]

Perhaps the torch was part of the staging... they wiped it all clean and deny owning it because then the police will think it was the intruder.
And the actual murder weapon was probably a golf club, smuggled out in broad daylight with a police escort.

 

[Celtsleuth]

We will never know but if Burke was that screwed up that he could kill his sister in such a horrific way, would he not have continued to do that? No amount of therapy by parents wanting to protect him could cure that kind of evil. I am sticking with the intruder theory although the ransom note throws a wrench in it. Still, someone who was crazy enough to hide in the house for hours, do the things to JB because of an obsession with a fantasy, could also write a crazy letter like that...it could have been a part of his fantasy. They said Patsy couldn't be excluded as the author of the letter but there are a lot of people that "print/ write", I do, and found letters made in the letter that are similar to how I make mine. I believe that I read where experts could not exclude her but they couldn't conclusively prove she wrote it , either. I do believe that whoever killed JB knew her and the family. The killer knew the exact amount of the bonus and had been in the house before and knew the layout. I think the male DNA is the key and when it is matched, you will have the killer. I know it isn't a popular theory but to me it is more viable than family member killing this child then covering it up. I hope it will be solved but seriously doubt it. However, there are lots of very interesting and thoughtful theories on this thread that show as someone mentioned, not in these exact words....but that it depended on, basically, your paradigm, what made the most sense to you and whose facts you chose to believe. That being said, I believe that the only two people that truly know what happened were the victim and the perpetrator and neither will be telling the story.

 

[grapedrink]

You are not alone in your theory. I believe it was an intruder that may have known the family. There was a large enough time window for an intruder to gain access and write the note before the Ramseys arrived home

 

[TeaTime]

Working backwards.

The time of death is estimated to be 1am on 12/26. This is when the strangulation occurred. The cord is not a 'garrote" but just a cord with 2 double knots in the back, it wasn't a slip knot or a fancy knot, or a complicated knot, just 2 knots that anyone who can tie their shoelaces could tie. The 2 cords found on the body measure 21 inches. I think they are just shoelaces without the tips.

The head wound came about 45 minutes to 90 minutes prior to death by strangulation. So, the blow came between 11:30pm on 12/25 and 12:15am on 12/26.

The Ramseys left the Whites at 9:00pm or 9:30pm, depending on which interview and day of recollection, but clearly 2 - 3 1/4 hours before the head blow.

They stopped at 2 friends houses on the way and got home between 9:30pm and 10:00pm, 2 - 2 3/4 hours before the head blow.

(I personally find it VERY unbelievable that JR, a Navy pilot, was not a chronic time keeper in life but this is for another discussion)

JR said he and BR stayed up for a while, putting together a BR toy. PR said she was doing last minute packing. This was after the parents put JBR to bed, undressed and dressed her for sleep. The only one not awake (by ALL accounts) was JBR, she was zonked.

JR tells us that PR then went to bed, followed by him putting BR to bed and finally taking his melatonin for sleep so he could awake at 5:25am (the time that the alarm clock was set to ring).

For discussion purposes let's say that 45 minutes to one hour passed between the time they got home and JR went to bed. It is now between 10:15pm and 11pm.

BR admits he sneaked downstairs after everyone was asleep. This puts him downstairs after at least 10:15pm and surely by 11pm.

The pineapple had been consumed 2 - 2.5 hours before death. This puts JBR eating pineapple between 10:30pm and 11:00pm at exactly the time BR was downstairs.

It leaves only few theories. BR witnessed his sister being cracked in the skull by a parent, he did it himself or he witnessed an intruder.

He would have mentioned an intruder. He didn't.

He said he sneaked downstairs - he thought his parents were asleep - but at worst they were in their 3rd floor bedroom.

"Someone took JBR quietly from her room, maybe with a knife, tiptoed downstairs and hit her on the head with maybe a hammer."

Who is it that secretly tiptoed downstairs by their own admission?

Who's knife was found in the WC?

Who's tDNA was on the barbie nightgown?

Who's prints were on both the bowl of pineapple and the tea glass?

Who owned HiTech boots with little compasses on the shoelaces?

Who played in the basement all the time?

Who demonstrated the striking blow?

Who was said to be asleep but was heard speaking in the back ground on the 911?

Who was ushered without a word form the home?

Who pretended to be asleep despite PR and an officer with a flashlight entering his room, his mother screaming into the phone and the house filling up with police and friends?

Who smeared feces, pooped on JBR's candy, was a loner, was only upset if he didn't get expensive toys and smiled at the funeral?

Who was lost for words when he saw a photo of a bowl of pineapple, when he didn't know that pineapple was found during the autopsy and therefore it should have been of no significance to him?

Who put the flashlight in JR's hands and in BR's room rather than in the kitchen drawer that night?

The evidence screams that BR killed JBR, IMO.

Apparently, the GJ thought so too.