OK - I have read a few of the members theories but after doing my own research I strongly feel that Patsy, John or Burke were not involved in the death of Jonbenet. The crime is far to heinous and there is no motive at all or history of violence on the Ramseys part. I feel the perp(s) gained knowledge of the Ramseys plans for Christmas and where they would be prior to their trip to Charlevoix and the Disney boat and that's why the plan went down prior to their trip. I believe the perp(s) were of meager means (much less than the Ramseys and that is where the cops should focus to find their perp(s) and that money and anger towards John's wealth were the main focus of this crime, they were envious of John Ramsey in particular and he did hit the billion dollar mark in 1996 and it was publicized for the entire city of Boulder in the newspaper so it was not private information. The perp(s) hung out at the Ramsey's and sifted through his paperwork maybe and saw that he got a $118,000 bonus were disgusted and focused on this amount because they thought he would have no trouble coming up with it quickly since it was just a bonus. They've never kidnapped before so were learning as they went and used what was handy and what they could leave behind: the pen, pad of paper, rope, duct tape, but brought a stun gun and flashlight in case they were caught and had to flee by stun gunning the parents. They waited until the house became quiet, went up to JB's room silenced her with the stun gun, duct taped her mouth and planned to kidnap her but chickened out ditching the note behind on the stairs. While in the basement, the perp(s) thought: what will we do now that the kidnapping is not going to happen - they decide to end her life to get back at John Ramsey somehow and not leave a possible witness behind, so they fashion a garotte and strangle her. They stay there awhile but are not sure if she is alive or not so they hit her on the head to ensure she doesn't live (that is why there is no blood pool around her head). They leave through a window and escape into the night thinking the kidnapping was a bad idea and they couldn't pull it off easily like they thought. I think the red herrings are: the spider web - that is just too silly to focus on really, the scream in the night heard by a neighbour down the street - who keeps a window open in December anyway? - I don't believe that story at all, Patsy accidentally killing JB over bedwetting - sorry, that's silly too. The Ramseys did not thoroughly check their house out because they thought they were dealing with a kidnapping and they should stay by the phone and in the company of their friends for comfort. They lawyered up once they realized that they were being focused on by the cops as the primary suspects and thought just in case it's best to have some level of representation so they are not railroaded. They became evasive and paranoid because of the media frenzy that ensued on top of the cops thinking that they killed their daughter - what a nightmare for grieving parents. They walled themselves off because they became angry and disgusted with where the investigation was going and they certainly weren't going to do everything the cops wanted because who knows what the hidden agenda was and what could be twisted up to implicate the Ramseys. They couldn't take that chance - they still had to raise Burke after all. The handwritten note if we take it at face value identifies more than one person, asks for money (which I believe is the true motive), threatens violence, and is signed! of all things. So there are clues there that indicate that the perp(s) are not afraid that John will recognize their handwriting because he has never seen their handwriting but they somehow know intimate details about him to reveal that in the note. The Swiss army knife was hidden according to the housekeeper, the perp(s) may have found it after snooping around. This is my theory and I think the Ramseys are totally innocent and the cops screwed up big time.