Yes there has been some quibbling about semantics amongst a few profilers.
There is no disagreement, however, with the primary definition of staging which is to redirect the investigation away from the most logical suspect.
In the JonBenet case, staging was for the purpose of redirecting the investigation away from the logical suspects, the family.
The ransom note, the clearest example of staging, introduced a fictional intruder or intruders for police to pursue.
Undoing shares nothing in common with precautionary acts.
Turvey and others describe precautionary acts as including; disguises, gloves, voice alteration, use of a blindfold on the victim, commission of a crime under cover of darkness and or in a secluded location, removing and or destroying evidence etc.
The point of precautionary acts is self preservation. The perpetrator is taking action to reduce the possibility of getting caught or prosecuted for the crime.
An example of a precautionary act in the Ramsey case would be wiping down the flashlight and the batteries within.
Undoing, on the other hand, is all about remorse. A parent involved in the death of their child, especially if it was accidental would be very likely to experience deep remorse.
Although it is not inevitable that they would resort to acts of undoing to help cope with their remorse, it is probable and profilers have documented a number of such incidents over the years.
Doing positive things for the victim becomes a psychological salve for a hurting conscience.
Placing a toy or doll near a child, wrapping them up for comfort, cleaning a wound, this has nothing to do with misdirecting police, or precaution, it has everything to do with making the perpetrator feel better about the horrific act that they have just committed.
I agree that technical terminology can serve to bog us down rather than be helpful in some instances. That being said, rooms or areas within a home are not divided into primary and secondary crime scenes, to the best of my knowledge. I remember discussing this with respect to a hypothetical involving JonBenet being transported away from the home and her body being dumped or buried. In this case the home would be the primary crime scene and the vehicle and burial site would be secondary crime scenes.
Distinguishing between primary and secondary crime scenes:
There may be more to a crime scene than first meets the eye. In fact, more than one crime scene may exist, depending upon how the crime was committed not to mention where. Crime scenes therefore are considered either primary or secondary. The primary crime scene is where a crime actually occurred. A secondary crime scene is in some way related to the crime but is not where the actual crime took place.
In a bank robbery, for example, the bank is the primary scene, but the get-away car and the thief's hideout are secondary scenes. In the case of a killer who commits a murder in someone's home but transports the victim's body to a river for disposal, the victim's home is the primary scene, and the killer's vehicle and the point along the river where the body was dumped are secondary scenes.
Forensics: Assessing the Scene of the Crime, Douglas P. Lyle
I agree, many items would be included. This was not a premeditated crime; items were utilized from within the home as they were needed.
Yes, redressing is a common act of undoing.
I guess my bottom line is this. Whoever did this to JonBenet could have left a significantly bloodied, semi-nude corpse laying on cold, dusty, mildewy concrete floor surrounded by nothing familiar, or perhaps even dumped outside.
This would actually be better staging as it would point with greater clarity toward an intruder as outlined in the RN, someone with no emotional investment in JonBenet.
Instead she was cleaned up, redressed, covered and comforted.
Why? I contend its for the same reason as in the following case.
The following case exemplifies undoing. A son stabbed his mother to death during a fierce argument. After calming down, the son realized the full impact of his actions. First, he changed the victims bloodied shirt and then placed her body on the couch with her head on a pillow. He covered her with a blanket and folded her hands over her chest so she appeared to be sleeping peacefully. This behavior indicated his remorse by attempting to emotionally undo the murder. Other forms of undoing may include the offenders washing up, cleaning the body, covering the victims face, or completely covering the body. The offender engages in these activities not because he is attempting to hide the victim but because he may be feeling some degree of remorse.
Crime Classification Manual, John Douglas, Robert Ressler, page 34