Not sure this was ever put int his thread
Lyndsey Philpott, a forensic knotting expert, talks about the Rebecca Zahau case Video
http://drdrew.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/08/knotting-expert-talks-rebecca-zahau-case/?hpt=dr_bn1
Transcripts
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1109/08/ddhln.01.html
Now, we saw that video there where it looks -- that, to me, looks difficult. But I`ve got a forensic specialist here, Lyndsey Philpott, a knotting expert who worked on the JonBenet Ramsey case.
I`m actually really grateful you`re here, because if it`s possible, show me how. Somebody who had no experience with rope, looking at that video, it seems extraordinary to think that somebody in an altered state perhaps could sit down, never having worked with a rope before, and bind themselves, and do it the way we saw in that video.
LYNDSEY PHILPOTT, FORENSIC KNOTTING EXPERT: It`s a very curious thing to be able to tie yourself in knots. And seeing the way in which the video displayed it, you first of all have to find the halfway point on the line, and then put it over yourself like this.
PINSKY: How would you know to do that? I would not know to do that unless I were a sailor from the 17th century or something. And I`m a young woman in distress. I`m going to think to do that?
PHILPOTT: I really don`t think that anybody could think to do that.
PINSKY: OK.
PHILPOTT: And it`s very difficult for me even as an expert to be able to manipulate these lines in some way so that I can -- you can see it.
PINSKY: And she actually did it behind her back. Then she got it -- but then --
PHILPOTT: And then to take them off there and put them behind her back would be tantamount to contortionist, because you then have to try to figure out where things are going and how they`re going to get there.
And what would be the purpose? What would be the purpose in showing that your hands are tied behind your back? After all is said and done, if you`re going to be committing suicide, aren`t you mainly concerned with asphyxiating or breaking your own neck as a result of that?
PINSKY: And then the feet too were bound, I guess, although I haven`t seen any video on what kind of binding she allegedly did there. That, too, seems very, very bizarre.
PHILPOTT: I haven`t seen anything which indicates the kind of binding around her wrists, nor have I seen anything indicating the kind of knot around her ankles.
PINSKY: And by the way, how about having the knowledge to be able to have the right kind of -- I wouldn`t know what kind of knot to put around a bed to make sure I wouldn`t just fall to the ground. I mean, isn`t even that in itself a little challenging?
PHILPOTT: That is challenging.
PINSKY: And how about the noose? I don`t know how to tie -- how would she (ph) know how to tie a noose?
PHILPOTT: There`s a number of different ways of tying a noose. You can tie one by doing this. But as you can see, if you put the end in the wrong place, that will simply come apart and you`ll be left with nothing.
You have to put it into the right place, and you have to know to put it into the right place so that it would actually stay in position. And then once it does, it`s going to tighten up around the bed post.
Most people will tie lots of knots. If they`re going to tie anything at all, they`ll tie lots of knots.
PINSKY: That makes sense to me. That makes sense to me.
PHILPOTT: They`ll tie lots of the long kind. And she wasn`t doing that.
PINSKY: And that`s not what she was doing, yes.
Well, listen, I really appreciate you being here, because to me this is one of the most mysterious parts of this, is watching an explanation on a video that`s supposed to show us how it was likely that she did it when, to me, it makes it even more mysterious.
