1:05pm- JR finds JBR's body
Jim and Laura walk into the warehouse where they have built an exact replica of the Ramsey home for the crime scene reconstruction. (Impressive!)
Key rooms focused on in the reconstruction are, JBR room, spiral staircase, kitchen and basement including wine cellar.
Letter found on third step of spiral staircase.
Ron Walker- makes the observation that a stranger would place a similar note on a desk, table, kitchen counter.
Ron Walker shows Jim and Laura how he went through the basement.
Sgt Mason walked ahead of Ron Walker downstairs. around 1:20pm
Walker was trying to orient himself because he hadn't seen basement before.
He first noticed the three sets of windows and one was broken.
And the suitcase. His first thought was if the killers first thought was to put the body in the suitcase and remove the body from the crime scene.
and then in fact things moved too quickly and the perp was overtaken by events.
the two are looking around and Mason points to the wine cellar and says that's where JonBenet's body was found.
They both walk back to room.
Jim "feels like a tomb" describing the wine cellar reconstruction.
He stated the lights were on when he walked into the room primarily because JR had turned them on when he discovered JBR's body.
They discuss what JR does as he finds the body. Taking off duct tape and white blanket and leaving them in the wine cellar.
Ron "We didn't step into the room very far"
They didn't want to walk to far into the crime scene.
Jim recalls statements that JR stated "She was here before he even turned the lights on"
Ron states that looking at the reconstructed room he can SEE objects but can't recognize what they are. Describing the blanket he said it just looks like a jumble of cloth to him.
Jim states "how would you know that was actually your daughter wrapped up in there?"
Ron "As I recall, he's NEVER BEEN ASKED THOSE QUESTIONS." :notgood:
Laura, "Whu was that?"
Ron, "My belief was that the philosophy that was laid out for the police department that day was we have to treat them with Kid gloves. Treat them with deference, treat them as victims and not as suspects."
Laura: "Was there a reason given?"
Ron: "They were influential, they were wealthy"
Laura: "From what I can see, the influence here really have a significant impact as to why people were allowed to come and go from the house."
Ron "Going through the list of things that initially puzzled me, but then I started thinking when you add them all together, I started thinking well there's something really bizarre and odd about all of this. Right around the time I was there, there was another detective there that I think had overheard John making a call for his airplane (1:40pm) this is after the body has been discovered. Why does John Ramsey want to leave so quickly when he has to understand that there's going to be a police investigation and his daughter's just been killed?
Laura: "You know for me, this isn't just a red flag it's an absolute anomaly."
Ron "the first thing you do if you have witnesses is you separate them, you take them some place and you get a statement and you ask to get the Ramsey's interviewed by the police. In that first 24 to 36 hours."
Jim: "The only problem is they didn't get interviewed by the police."
Ron: "Oh they didn't? Right."
Laura:"That's why we really need to speak with Fleet because I want to know what was going on in that house. Fleet and Priscilla White are what we would call significant witnesses, they were best friends to the Ramsey's at the time and they were at that home during those hours that it all unfolded."
Jim and Laura discussing why the Ramsey's had people over the house that morning as they drive to Fleet's.
Fleet had concerns about talking openly about this case because they had a bad experience.
Fleet was one of the first people to question John. Fleet told John to stop hiding behind his lawyer and to cooperate with the police.
Fleet wrote a 14 page open letter to the DA and the Ramsey's and criticized them. He said the investigation has failed because the Ramsey's have refused to fully cooperate with investigators.
Jim and Laura are going to meet Fleet but he said no cameras so they have to stop filming until they are done.
Jim "It's more important that we it than we have it documented."
90 minutes later Jim and Laura pull back up to the waiting camera crew.
Laura: "Well it was fascinating. They have so much knowledge but there's a lot of pain there."
Snippet of Boulder City Counsel Meeting March 18, 2014 of Fleet White and his wife speaking in regards to how their family was labeled and perceived as murders, toturers of young children, pedophiles, and perjurers.
Laura: They are afraid and they don't want to see this ever happen again.
Eddie Schmidt executive producer "Do you think they understood how committed you really are?"
Jim: "Yeah they are willing to talk to us but they just don't want to do it on camera. And when we were leaving, Fleet took me aside and said 'Jim I really think we have some really important information that will help you' and I said 'of course you do that's why we're here and we'll keep coming back here as much as
we have to, to convince you that this is the right thing to do cause we really feel that it is."
Laura calls and drives to local homes to try and gather community intelligence. But everyone refuses to talk or get involved. Even the church won't comment.
Everyone seems fearful to talk.
She's becoming frustrated.
interview with Brian Scott- gardner (1994) He said Patsy wanted "Pristine Gardens" Patsy hired him. He didn't see John very much, once a season maybe. Didn't see Burke so much but JonBenet he saw often. She would always play near him.
He recalls when he would have all the leaves in a pile, she wanted to jump in them. He remembers it reminded her of the time she spent with her dad. She didn't mind getting dirty and she seemed like a normal kid that likes to play and misses her father. He said he doesn't know much about pageantry but he figured it demanded a lot of discipline. He remembers seeing her practicing the violin. Patsy reminded her to keep practicing and not put it down. What he remembers about Burke is he stuck to himself. Seemed a little more introverted. She was more engaging and outgoing than him.
Patsy was pleasant and nice. one of his memories was when they announced the O.J. verdict he was at their house and spoke with Patsy about it. Patsy told him that OJ was declared innocent. She thought OJ got away with murder. She didn't like that one bit. she did say 'you can get away with murder in this country'.
Laura and Jim interview Patsy's friend and photographer Judith Phllips.
first met in Atlanta. more social friends back then. In Boulder they became closer because they were on a softball team together called Mom's Gone Bad. :silenced:
Spoke kindly of the Ramsey's and said they had a lot of friends and were good hosts. "Patsy was fun to be around. She was a showgirl. So her clothing, her home, she was a girl that never compromised." Judith's daughter was Burkes age but played with JonBenet.
One time her daughter said she and JB were in JB's room and she asked about all the awards that were on display and JB said she was in the pageant system but she didn't make a big deal out of it but she said they really belong more to my mom. They're more my mom's trophies than they are mine.
Judith recalls once seeing JonBenet in a beautiful dress and bleach blonde hair and asked Patsy if she was dying her hair and Patsy said Oh no that's from the summer sun in Michigan.:waiting:
Judith knew immediately she was lying to her. It bothered her that she was lying to her and wondered why she wouldn't just tell the truth.
Jim asked Judith to describe Patsy after seeing her after JonBenet's death.
Stated she looked exhausted and kept repeating who could've killed my baby. That was the last time she saw her. She was cut off. "We were told in our circle of friends in Boulder, do not talk to reporters and do not talk to the police."
Jan 1997- "Out of respect for the family, much of Boulder has closed ranks since the murder." Newsweek.
Judith was shocked at the response. She said if she knew anything that might help the investigation, she wasn't going to be silent. "I felt a duty to the memory of JonBenet. I loved her very much. " She starts crying at this point. (Bless her heart! At least some care!)
She opened her doors to reporters and spoke with the police twice. They just cut her off as a friend. They thought she had betrayed them. "You know at the time I didn't understand but in hindsight, it's because I told the.. I..I.. didn't obey what all the other friends did. "
Jim- "How did you feel when you saw them actually doing the opposite? They went on CNN."
Judith- "I felt they were hypocrites. and when Patsy said hold your babies close to you, there's a murderer in town, it frightened my daughter so much that she couldn't sleep in her own bedroom for several months."
Jim: "what did you think about that?"
Judith- "I thought it was bogus.
Jim: "Really?"
Judith: "yeah, in fact Patsy asked a favor of me, to go to the mayor, I knew the mayor because I had photographed her, Patsy said please ask for protection for my family. So I went to the mayor's office and I said Patsy wants protection and she said there's no murderer out there."
Laura:" How does it make you feel when you know 20 years have passed?"
Judith: "I feel angry. I feel angry that that little girl, still, after all these years, has not gotten justice. And I don't believe she ever will." Wiping tears away.
(Sorry it's taking so long! I'm sick today.) Continued in a bit.
)
