If it was John, why wouldn't he just get underwear from JB's room? Why would John care about day of the week underwear? Would John have even known about the larger underwear and that they were in a wrapped package?
Dru,
Not disagreeing with you, but how would John know that the underwear was there?
Why should he not simply go upstairs open JonBenet's underwear drawer and select a pair of pants?
Both options may take as long?
Why bother wiping away any blood if the staging is intended to suggest a sexually motivated predator assaulted JonBenet?
.
Here's my theory on this, but it's just a theory; I'm more than willing to be persuaded otherwise, should the evidence lead elsewhere.
I think JR is the killer.
I think he had been abusing JBR. I don't think it was typical pedophilia; just a crime of opportunity committed by a man who was, apparently, never particularly faithful, and who suddenly had his young daughter running around dressed like a much older woman. I think the death of his oldest daughter and PR's illness combined to create the psychological stress that led to the abuse; I think the extent of the abuse was something short of actual intercourse, and therefore excused in JR's mind as being 'not really wrong.'
I think in the days leading up to the murder JBR began to show signs of telling; I think JR was worried about the visit to Charlevoix when JBR would be around family members with medical training; I think JR was worried about the number of times PR was taking JBR to the doctor, and the discussions of JBR's toilet issues.
On the night of the murder I think JR encountered JBR alone in the house somewhere. Perhaps he went to her room, or maybe she went downstairs while he was still up (a very different thing than her sneaking down to a dark kitchen, which few children will do). Please note: I don't think he intended to abuse her that night; in fact, I think he was backing off already out of concern that she was getting older and might tell. But something happened; maybe he yelled at her to get to sleep or to go back to bed, and she said or did something that caused him to fear that she was going to tell someone what had been going on. She could have said something as simple as "I don't have to do what you say," and he could have taken that as a threat; whatever the case, the man who kicked a kitchen door and later, almost threw a Globe reporter onto the pavement had the kind of violent temper that explodes into violent action. I think he struck the head blow.
And once that had happened, I think he, and he alone, really had a strong enough motive to commit this crime. There could be no pretense of accident, because he knew what kind of evidence would be discovered. In fact, so concerned about that internal evidence was he that one of the first things he did was to inflict a deliberate vaginal injury--
and I think he knew perfectly well that she wasn't dead when he did that. He then strangled her; by this time he had already moved her into the basement--in fact, I think that's where he took JBR as soon as he realized how severe the head injury was.
But now he has time to think about things, and he decides that he will need PR's help, if he's going to accomplish his objectives, which at that moment includes the idea of getting JBR's body out of the house. That was his plan, and I think it was only reluctantly abandoned when he realized that there simply wasn't a safe way to do it.
In order to get PR to help, he must do certain things. Specifically, he must remove all evidence of sexual assault, and then stage the crime scene to make it look like BR has committed the crime. A golf club placed near the body; a length of rope around JBR's neck with BR's pocket knife, and a hint at the injury BR inflicted on JBR years ago will be all that's needed--but JR
must clean up the blood and replace the underwear; PR can't suspect what's been going on.
JBR is wearing the "Wednesday" size six underwear. The only person who might be suspicious if there's a different pair is
PR. Even if every single person at the White's had somehow seen JBR's underwear (not likely!) who's going to raise any suspicions about JBR wearing a different pair, when all her parents have to say is, "Of course she's wearing a different pair! We always put clean underwear on her at bedtime!" But if JR did the things I think he did, then it was
imperative that JBR appear to be wearing the same underwear she was wearing before, at least when PR was first brought into the situation. So JR not only has to replace the underwear, he has to replace it with a "Wednesday" pair, and he knows that PR has bought some for the niece, because if she's like any other woman I know she told him all about what she bought everyone whether he was interested or not.
But he doesn't know which package it's in, and has to unwrap several of them before he finds it.
I've no doubt that JR later told PR, very heartbroken, that BR may have been even more troubled than they thought, and that he'd had to remove evidence of some kind of molestation, necessitating the size 12 underwear. But on the night of the murder it was only important that PR not ask too many questions, and a totally different pair of underwear might have caused her to do that.
And why stage the scene to make PR think BR was responsible? PR would never have agreed to cover up for JR, especially if abuse had been going on; but PR would have done anything to cover for BR, especially if NOT covering for him would mean losing him. (And yes, he wouldn't have been held criminally responsible, but PR would still have lost him to the state, and might die of cancer before ever getting him back.)
Later, the "BR" staging was removed, and the "Pedo/intruder" staging created; but some elements of the "BR" staging remained (like the pocketknife, which was placed carelessly on a nearby countertop).
