Continued from my last post...
Observations and quotes as the show plays for those who can't watch it right now.
Jim and Laura are driving in vehicle and Jim is speaking.
Jim: "Although the statistics say if a child of that age is killed within their own home, it is most likely a family member that did it. The fact is, the brutality of particular attack says the exact opposite. This is a very bizarre dichotomy. It bites (or fights?) itself right from the beginning."
Jim: "Another critically important part of any murder investigation is understanding how a person was killed."
Jim and Laura walk into a library (can't make out the name very well)
They both are looking through a accordion type file package and pull out JBR's autopsy folder.
Jim: "Cause of death of this 6 year old female is asphyxia by strangulation associated with cranio-cerebral trauma."
Jim explains that at first the medical examiner thought her death was caused by strangulation due to the rope being tied around her neck.
While discussing with Laura he states that this is something he wants to speak with Spitz about because the "associated with" is very general. Is it before or after ...
Laura: "were they both fatal?
Back to the round table of experts in the war room.
Introduction of Dr. Werner Spitz Forensic Pathologist
Reviewed the JFK Autopsy April, 1975,
Was also brought in in the initial investigation by BPD
Spitz "I've seen some 60,000 cases.. I don't know everything, but this case, it made an impression on me. The Boulder Police Department called my office and asked would I agree to come to Boulder. You know, as a forensic pathologist, I want to have first hand information of where is what in the house.
Jim states they are the same way and totally agree.
Spitz: "Exactly, but we did not get permission to get in."
Jim: "Who wouldn't let you in?"Spitz: "I believe the family. The police had to get permission from them. They told the police 'no dice! He's not coming to this house. They did not want me in the house MAYBE, MAY JUST BE that I would figure something out that nobody else knows."
Jim "But then you reviewed the autopsy findings and the injuries and sequencing. Can you tell us a little bit about that?"
Spitz: "Well she had a blow to the head on the right side. The bone underneath that area showed a perfectly rectangular defect. I didn't know at the time what caused this. But then I looked at the photographs and saw a 3mag flashlight sitting on the kitchen counter and uhh... I said well I have to check whether that may have been the cause.
Jim asks Spitz if he did experiments on this.
Spitz says yes and pulls out what he had an artist draw for him. It is a drawing of the head wound with the flashlight embedded. Spitz said the flashlight fit to perfection approximately half an inch through the bone.
Laura, Jim and Dr Spitz begin to walk through the ramsey home reconstruction site. This is the first time Spitz gets to see what it looked like in the house.
Spitz says the reconstruction is "uncanny".
Jim standing in the "kitchen" speaks to Spitz
Jim: " You've been thinking about this case for 20 years right? What does that make you feel?"
Spitz: " Well it makes me feel eery. I relive this you know, because this.. this answers questions that I had at one time and they never materialized."
Laura: "That must feel frustrating for you as well. Not being allowed in."
Spitz :" Oh yeah they made me wonder what is being put away what is being hidden. And why?"
Back at the round table
Laura speaking to Spitz, "Do you believe she was alive when she was struck on the head?"
Spitz: "Oh yes."
Laura: "and she was also alive when she was choked, strangled?"
Spitz: "Please understand this, when a very severe injury to the brain occurs, because the heart has it's own ability to produce contractions to cause a false impression of life existing."
Jim: "So she was virtually dead when the garrote was applied. So asphyxiation is not the way she actually passed away."
Spitz: "Yes. That is my advantage as a forensic pathologist. THEY did not know that. So they applied a mechanism of death that at face value you'd say 'oh she was strangled' and then of course she has a blow to the head. So which is it? Well it's very simple when I explain to you that Yes she was strangled to make believe that was the cause of death. She already was brain dead."
Jim states there's a few more injuries that they need to talk about. The neck injuries and the ligatures. Jim thinks these are also very important.
discusses how her hands were tied with slip knots. 15 1/2 inches between the slip knots.
they discuss how the rope is over her sweater sleeves and its not on her wrists.
Also she doesn't have any marks from the slip knots.
Jim does a reenactment of the ropes around his wrists with his hands above his head.
Stating if shes not unconscious, why doesn't she just do this? and slips out of the ropes.
Laura also points out she had duct tape over her mouth.
Spitz: "Yeah but if she's dead."
Jim: "So what does that tell you? This was staged."
Spitz: "You are totally correct."
Spitz: referring to the garrote as he holds it and examines it, "Why does anybody need this contraption? Why do you need the stick? You can just put that around your hand and do the same thing with the other hand. Totally unnecessary. When you break into a house, isn't time of the essence? You want to come in, do your killing, and then leave. So why do you need this?"
Laura: "It just complicates things, you spend more time there and it leaves evidence. And the knot is interesting because, it does look to me like its quite complicated."
Spitz: "It is or it's somebody who knows how to make knots. So this is a common knot (unintelligible) The way I looked upon it is this by its self without anything else, would have told me this is a make believe type of scene. Why do you need any garrote, when a hand of an adult can squeeze a child like that."
Jim: "Right. Ok so the ultimate conclusion then is, the garrote isn't what actually caused the death. The blow to the head did."
Spitz: "Correct."
Henry Lee speaks up: "I just want to play a devil's advocate. We should find tissue and blood on the flashlight. And also should have broken hairs. This area..we should have trace evidence... blood, hair, tissue. That's why I suggested for them to do some DNA and try to find tissue and blood. Apparently they did not find anything."
Spitz:" The skin is extremely elastic so it would go with the impact and not hold on to the impact."
Jim: " So the blow to her head was strong enough to break your skull but not strong enough to break the skin."
Spitz: "The skull may break but the skin may not. I've seen that so many times. "
Jim: "So that can explain why this wasn't a bloody crime scene."
Spitz: "There would not have been any blood, not from that anyway."
Henry Lee: "It could be the flashlight. I'm not saying it's not the flashlight. But, anything similar to that shape...that width...with force....can cause that so...I agree with you totally. The cause of the death is brain injury by blunt object."
Now they need to decide if the flashlight was the object used to make the injury to the head.
Also how much force it would take to cause it.
Henry Lee: "We don't have the complete picture."
