One thing, almond many, that I’ve never understood about the Ramsey’s behavior that day is their letting Burke out of their sight. If there’s a kidnapper on the loose, particularly one who has my daughter, I want my only other living child right there with me and definitely under police guard but, hey, that’s just me. If they wanted him out of the house and away from any danger, why not have LE transport him? Wouldn’t that be the wiser and safer option? When Burke finally returned to school, Patsy sure made an issue out of safety and security then, demanding all sorts of accommodations for Burke. IMO, the Ramsey’s didn’t want Burke questioned until he could be fully debriefed and then coached on what to say and what not to say. I’ve heard the argument that Burke was only 9, how much could a 9 year old be coached? Well, he was a month shy of 10 and Tatum O’Neal won an Oscar at age 10 so evidently it’s doable.
I just don’t know how anyone can read the ransom note and find it legitimate. Even if you discount the handwriting that was very likely Patsy’s (so much so that she changed the style of writing her lower case “a” in all future writing)…
Is the “small foreign faction” a group of people who dabble in wordy, melodramatic creative writing? What group, purporting to be so evil as to kidnap a little girl and threaten to behead her, would even say they were a small group? Wouldn’t they want to sound as threatening as possible, to be believed and be able to collect the ridiculously paltry sum of $118k they demanded? In addition, the note, on the whole, has an almost apologetic tone.
The writer warns, very explicitly, not to contact LE. Patsy calls 911 but I’ll give her that. I would too but why didn’t Patsy say that the note warned them not to call? Frantic or not, wasn’t she afraid someone was watching the house? Didn’t they want LE to try to approach the house as unobtrusively as possible? The note warns not to talk to a stray dog and she calls not one, but multiple friends to come over. In a legitimate kidnapping, what purpose would they serve? Not only are the Ramsey’s involving LE against instructions, now they’re bringing in additional people? I’m only surprised she didn’t call in a caterer. IMO, Patsy wanted and needed an audience, both to note her distraught performance and to act as a shield, to surround her and protect her and keep LE out.
These are just a few arguments against an intruder writing that note. I just don’t see how anyone can get past it. In case it’s not obvious, I’m firmly in camp RDI, pretty much leaning toward BDI, but undecided as to how and why it happened. I’m also unsure as to when JR got involved in the cover up. I remember seeing the CNN interview and thinking Patsy looked beyond guilty of something but I couldn’t fathom a parent murdering a child in the manner that JBR was murdered. (That was my naïveté) Still, I gave them the benefit of the doubt right up until I read the ransom note. That epic ransom note, composed on a pad from the house, written in Patsy’s hand with all of the dramatic flourishes she so loved, did it for me.