Sure its all speculation. I'm interested in educated theories since that's what we're all doing here. ~RSBM~ . . .
JR may be a smart business man but it has nothing to do with how much experience he has in how to stage a crime scene. In terms of being a smart criminal he's probably not that experienced and there is such a thing as the "heat of battle" which happens when human beings are in a "survival mode" and their hearts are racing while the adrenalin is high. They forget things because they are human and their thinking is impaired. It happens to the most well trained law enforcement officers in the heat of battle, never mind a businessman who is ill prepared for a sudden circumstance that he's unprepared to deal with.
Why would OJ Simpson leave a bloody glove at a crime scene? Crimes and incidents like this are ripe for mistakes when humans are involved and emotions are overflowing. My bet is that the mother and father were both overwrought with fear and emotion in the hours following the death to think very clearly about how to plan the perfect crime.
Topcop, I once participated in a Citizens Police Academy. One of the weeks we sat in a conference room and listened to domestic violence calls. One call was so upsetting I couldnt eat dinner that evening. As Im sure you know, when domestic events occur, tempers and actions can spiral out of control and take a horrible turn. This is one of the reasons Ive always made allowance for other RDI theories. Usually I believe BR struck her. However, Ive always considered other scenarios, that possibility someone could have flung JB or struck her as well. If only we knew the trigger for the event. . .
Unless it were only PR who was hiding her actions from her spouse, and BR werent involved, I believe JR was involved as early as PR. For example, I cannot imagine Patsy saying to BR, Hon, go to bed, let me try to help JB. Dont wake your father. Or, if she alone found JB, and JB seemed deceased, I believe she would still call on JR to figure out if JB was beyond saving or if there was some way to help her? Perhaps you remember the story of the bathroom flood from Linda Wilcox.
"When John and Patsy showed up, they went straight upstairs. We were all standing in the bathroom. There was water everywhere. John was in his stocking feet; he always took his shoes off when he came into the house. He slammed the window shut. Then he realized his socks were wet. That made him furious. He was more mad about his socks being wet than about the house being ruined. I looked into his eyes and theyd almost changed color. He was so angry. Really angry. I dont know how to explain it. It was like this light switch had come on behind his eyes. It was the last straw.
JR didnt freak out, didnt throw things. It wasnt even in his voice. But you could see the rage. You could feel it. I mean, it was powerful. I wanted to get out of the room, but Patsy was standing between me and the door. Im not saying he didnt have a right to be angry. Im just saying I saw him angry. I saw the coldest eyes. He never said a word, but it was right there in his face. It was palpable. You could cut it with a knife. Patsy was freaking out. It was, What are we going to do? Were having the Christmas house tour
He was angry, but she was in a total panic. The flood had ruined Patsys image of what her perfect house should look like."
PR was panicked by the flood. Not JR, he was thinking about how to sue the workman who left the window unlatched. Patsy would have needed JR to help if BR had done this.
Also, as to JR and his participation, one of the interviewing attorneys asked him about the presence of his Israeli wool shirt fibers in the crotch of the brand new Bloomies panties. His reaction was one of angry bluster.
Next I considered the household habits of JR and PR. PR was notorious for being an absolute disaster as a housekeeper. JR would usually hang up his clothes or place them in the laundry drop. But both PR and the kids would just drop their dirty clothing on the floor, never picking them up. Personally, I dont believe that PR would have had the presence of mind to clean up the crime scene alone, to dispose of evidence like gloves, rags or tissues used to clean JB.
Further on the strangulation: It certainly could have happened the way otg describes in his theory. My own theory differs a little in that I believe JB may still have been alive at the point that the parents went into action, but they thought she was gone. I say parents because of fiber evidence in the paintbrush tray, on the wrist cords, the ligature knot, duct tape, ligature cord and - could be wrong here, been wrong before - Im also basing this speculation on the estimated time between head blow and strangulation.
Here is what Kolar said in his Reddit:
I dont believe the strangulation with the cord was a part of staging, and its use constituted an underlying part of the motivation involved in the assault on JBR.
I interpreted that to mean that Kolar believes someone (BR) used that cord to control JB. If so, it accounts for some of our conjecture that she may have been restrained by a cord, before being strangled by it.
