The December 23 party

[Let_Forever_Be]

The thing that bothers me the most about the 911 call is Susan Stine's reaction to it. No one has come forward to claim that they made the call or know who did. However, Susan's response to the officer at the door makes me believe that she expected him to be there. Pretend you are at a party when you hear the doorbell ring. You go to answer it and there's an officer on the front steps. You asked him what's going on and he tells you that someone dialed 911 and then hung up. Now, if you had no idea that a 911 call had been made, wouldn't you go and get the party hosts or something? You would probably be confused and asking the cop a lot of questions. It seems to me that she knew the cops would be showing up. But if she does not know who made that 911 call, how would she know to expect the cops?

What is strange to me is that a party guest answered the door. If I was at a party and the police came or the doorbell rang, I would go fetch the house owner and say "your door bell is ringing".

At the very least, if I answered the door, I would immediately get the house owner to come and talk to the police, just to clear up any mishap.

 

[Steely]

maybe she received an engraved bracelet every year ...
she definitely looks younger to me in the Santa pic

Or maybe she had lost, misplaced, or had the other one stolen from her?

 

[my_tee_mouse]

Or maybe she had lost, misplaced, or had the other one stolen from her?

The two bracelets do look very similar, so yes, this may well be a replacement for one she had owned previously.

I too think JBR looks older in the "black dress" photo. As for the picture of the adults, I've tried to find a better copy of it with no result. Maybe someone else will have better luck.

 

[UKGuy]

What is strange to me is that a party guest answered the door. If I was at a party and the police came or the doorbell rang, I would go fetch the house owner and say "your door bell is ringing".

At the very least, if I answered the door, I would immediately get the house owner to come and talk to the police, just to clear up any mishap.

Let_Forever_Be,
Subsequent history with the Stines' means that this might not be so very strange.

Lets think this one over: There are possibly three main reasons for a 911 call.

1. A mistake e.g. mis-dialling, as I believe was claimed.

2. A guest witnessed a crime, not a misdemeanor, but a felony so decided to phone 911.

3. A victim of a crime phoned 911.


Which is the most likely?


For me 2. seems the most likely. Then again did JonBenet understand the full significance of a 911 call age 6?

.

 

[UKGuy]

The thing that bothers me the most about the 911 call is Susan Stine's reaction to it. No one has come forward to claim that they made the call or know who did. However, Susan's response to the officer at the door makes me believe that she expected him to be there. Pretend you are at a party when you hear the doorbell ring. You go to answer it and there's an officer on the front steps. You asked him what's going on and he tells you that someone dialed 911 and then hung up. Now, if you had no idea that a 911 call had been made, wouldn't you go and get the party hosts or something? You would probably be confused and asking the cop a lot of questions. It seems to me that she knew the cops would be showing up. But if she does not know who made that 911 call, how would she know to expect the cops?

eileenhawkeye,
She could know independently of the original cause of the 911 call. That is she is politely asked to tell the police there has been a mistake.

This would allow say Patsy to deal with JonBenet without making any direct connection between Patsy, JonBenet and the 911 call. Similar applies if it is say a another female guest,which might it well have been?


.

 

[BrendaStar]

Some people have theorized during the years that the 911 call was a practice run, so to speak, to see how fast the police would come to the Ramsey house.

It was thought of as an "odd" coincidence at the start of the case. All these years later, it still seems odd.

 

[BOESP]

If I remember correctly, one of the major books on this case (Thomas, Schiller, Ramsey) states Fleet White accidently dialed 911 instead of 411.

 

[otg]

There are possibly three main reasons for a 911 call.

1. A mistake e.g. mis-dialling, as I believe was claimed.

2. A guest witnessed a crime, not a misdemeanor, but a felony so decided to phone 911.

3. A victim of a crime phoned 911.

I remember the possible mis-dialing being discussed long, long ago, and it seems someone at the party said that maybe it was done while attempting to make an international call. I believe it was FW, but I don't remember if it was him who said it, or if it was simply speculation that it could have been him.

To call another country from the US, you first have to dial "011", then the country code, then the number.

Also, for perspective, I should point out to the younger folks here that this is long before cell phones were in as wide use as they are today. Not everyone walked around with a phone on their hip, or in their purse. So if you were away from home and had to make a call, you had to use someone else's phone (land-line we call it now, but then it was just "the phone"), or find something called a "pay phone".
.

 

[Agatha_C]

I remember the possible mis-dialing being discussed long, long ago, and it seems someone at the party said that maybe it was done while attempting to make an international call. I believe it was FW, but I don't remember if it was him who said it, or if it was simply speculation that it could have been him.

To call another country from the US, you first have to dial "011", then the country code, then the number.

Also, for perspective, I should point out to the younger folks here that this is long before cell phones were in as wide use as they are today. Not everyone walked around with a phone on their hip, or in their purse. So if you were away from home and had to make a call, you had to use someone else's phone (land-line we call it now, but then it was just "the phone"), or find something called a "pay phone".
.

Thank you Otg, for reminding me just how old I am.. Ahhh, the good old days when a phone was just a phone... LOL

 

[otg]

Thank you Otg, for reminding me just how old I am.. Ahhh, the good old days when a phone was just a phone... LOL

I know, Agatha, I know. We have to keep our perspective though. It's amazing how fast our world changes. Ever read the list made each year to remind college instructors just when their new students grew up and what they relate to?

Found it (also has a drop-down list for previous years):
http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/2012.php

.

 

[BrendaStar]

Cell phones weren't in as wide as use back then. (The good old days.) However, John Ramsey had one.

All of JR's cell phone calls for December of that year were somehow mysteriously erased. Go figure out that one. Or anyone else with a good memory, care to comment?

 

[eileenhawkeye]

The disappearance of the phone records is also a strange part of this case. I wonder if John made some phone calls to his lawyers and other influential people that he doesn't want everyone knowing about?

 

[BrendaStar]

Another odd aspect of the case. Not only did Ramsey's cell phone records disappear, but the film that was in the video camera and had recorded the Christmas morning activities disappeared.

Sounds like the Ramseys really covered their tracks.

 

[joeskidbeck]

Brenda, if I recall correctly, the film in their camera didn't disappear, the Ramseys claimed the batteries were dead and they didn't film Christmas that year. Now, I am one of those who believe they did film Christmas but there was something on the tape that either cast someone in a bad light or there was someone else in the home that day and this info was withheld from LE. This, of course, is only my opinion although I believe it's a good possibility since we have all seen just how Patsy loved photos and videotapes. I don't think she would have let such a momentous occasion as Christmas go without lots of photos and video. So if you believe like I do, then the tape did disappear. Would love to be able to view that video. It alone could probably clear up a lot of questions we have had over the years.

 

[madeleine]

Never liked these two pics....she looks ....pale&tired?Dunno,like something's wrong with her...just imo

 

[BrendaStar]

Joe, I guess over the years I just assumed the film disappeared. I believe as you do that there was someone or something on that tape they didn't want the LE to see.

In any case, no batteries or film disappearing the result was the same. There was no record of what happened on Christmas in the Ramsey household.

 

[joeskidbeck]

Joe, I guess over the years I just assumed the film disappeared. I believe as you do that there was someone or something on that tape they didn't want the LE to see.

In any case, no batteries or film disappearing the result was the same. There was no record of what happened on Christmas in the Ramsey household.

ITA. I also believe that whatever happened that morning played a huge part in what happened that night, else the film would not have disappeared.

 

[cynic]

If I remember correctly, one of the major books on this case (Thomas, Schiller, Ramsey) states Fleet White accidently dialed 911 instead of 411.

Soon the friends at our Christmas party gathered in the living room for Santa and his show. I had already prepared a script for Bill to use in handing out the gifts to the children, with appropriate comments about each child. This year “Mrs. Claus” came with him for the first time, since he was recuperating from open-heart surgery. Bill McReynolds had been a Christmas fixture around Boulder for a number of years, but Doris “Janet” McReynolds was new to the act, as far as we knew. During the party, Janet mainly clung to Santa’s arm, saying little as he walked around and talked to the children. Smaller in size than Bill, Janet looked like someone’s older aunt, with auburn rather than white hair.

During the party Fleet White used our phone to make a series of calls, trying to get some medicine to his mother in a hospital in Aspen, Colorado. Apparently he dialed wrong and got 911. The police called back, but after checking with Fleet and the rest of the people in the house, Susan Stine informed them that the call was a mistake. The 911 call still remains somewhat of a mystery.

By 8:00 P.M. the party was over, and the children were on their way home to bed. Our cleaning lady, Linda Hoffmann-Pugh, and her daughter had stayed for the party, and she checked to see if I needed her help in cleaning up; I told her no.
The Death of Innocence, page 97


An emergency call came in to Boulder police dispatcher Therese Hilleary's switchboard two nights before Christmas.
It was 6:47 p.m.
The 911 caller hung up without a word, but Hilleary traced it to 755 15th Ave., a 15-room Tudor brick mansion where John and Patricia "Patsy'' Ramsey were throwing their annual Christmas party.
A return call reached the Ramseys' answering machine, so Hilleary dispatched an officer to the quiet neighborhood braced by two of the city's signature landmarks, Chautauqua Park and the University of Colorado campus.
The officer, identified in department records only as "B.O. 266,'' was on to other duties by 7:09 p.m. after being told someone had misdialed while trying to call long distance.
Betty Barnhill and her husband, Joe, were two of about 100 guests at their neighbors' Christmas party that Monday night.
Patsy Ramsey had used the Barnhills' oven to bake a ham while she roasted a turkey in hers.
"There were lots of their friends from the Episcopal Church there,'' Betty Barnhill says. "Patsy loved having people over, enjoying her house.''
Santa Claus, played by former University of Colorado journalism professor Bill McReynolds, passed out presents to the children.
Barnhill watched the Ramseys' two children enjoy the revelry.
"I can remember Burke that night,'' she says of the Ramseys' 9-year-old son. "He was just laughing, enjoying himself.''
And Barnhill recalls the bright smiles of another jewel that lighted the house -- 6-year-old JonBenet Patricia Ramsey.
"She had a lovely black velvet dress on, and her blonde hair was pulled up high on top of her head,'' Barnhill says.
She pauses, then says, "What happened is real baffling to me.''
JonBenet -- the reigning Little Miss Colorado -- was dead the day after Christmas, the victim of a brutal killer who violated her and left her tiny body in the Ramseys' basement.
http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/extra/ramsey/0126jon.htm

 

[cynic]

Brenda, if I recall correctly, the film in their camera didn't disappear, the Ramseys claimed the batteries were dead and they didn't film Christmas that year. Now, I am one of those who believe they did film Christmas but there was something on the tape that either cast someone in a bad light or there was someone else in the home that day and this info was withheld from LE. This, of course, is only my opinion although I believe it's a good possibility since we have all seen just how Patsy loved photos and videotapes. I don't think she would have let such a momentous occasion as Christmas go without lots of photos and video. So if you believe like I do, then the tape did disappear. Would love to be able to view that video. It alone could probably clear up a lot of questions we have had over the years.

A moment later she looked up at me. “Daddy, what about . . .?” She did the standard charade symbol for a movie camera with one hand to her face and the other cranking the film reel. She was excited and wanted me to take home videos.
“Well . . .” I said rubbing my chin. “I forgot to charge the batteries of the video camera last night. They’re all run down.
The Death of Innocence, page 4

 

[joeskidbeck]

Thanks, Cynic. Looking back after all these years and all the "trouble" that Fleet White encountered after JonBenet's death, it would be easy to form the opinion that he may have walked in on something that night that he felt needed to be reported to the police. Since the 911 operator called back and got the answering machine instead of a real person she dispatched an officer (and rightly so). Do you think that someone was using those minutes to dissuade Fleet from making a report?