Criminal Profiler Roger L. Depue, Chief of the FBI's Behavioural Science Unit, at Quantico, who on retirement, went onto setup an elite forensics company The Academy Group, was requested by Bert Brown, who was acting as a consultant on behalf of Boulder DA's office, to review and offer an opinion on JonBenet's homicide, specifically with respect to the ransom note. The following is a summary account.
Roger was sent a photocopy of the two and half page note, written on a legal pad. The question asked , was what type of person might have written it?
Roger's view was that the ransom note was a crime scene in and of itself, hard physical evidence that remained as fresh as it was on the day it was found. And it could be interpreted. The written word word is human behaviour, like any other behaviour, and it will betray the traits and characteristics of the writer.
In two decades of analyzing written crime scene evidence I'd never seen a two-and-a-half-page, hand printed ransom note. Never. Thats how unusual it was. Criminals who write ransom notes are trying to get across only the information that they need to. Anything else is superfluous, and only going to give more clues about their identity, and theres no need need to write an opus. A real kidnapper has no interest in revealing the kind of information that this note did. According to my analysis, here are some telling characteristics:
The note begins with a formal salutation, followed by an exclamation point. The author wants the reader to 'hear' the message, as if the material will be spoken or read to someone.
"a group of individuals" - this usually means one person trying to appear as a group.
"a small foreign faction" - foreign to whom? A meaningless phrase.
"respect your bussiness" - misspelled, but shows an awareness of John Ramsey's business.
"posession" - again, shows the authors proclivity for misspelling double S words.
"but not the country it serves" - a political statement inappropriate to the goal of ransom.
"withdraw $118,000.00 from your account" - shows proprietary information, i.e. knowledge of the precise amount of John Ramsey's bonus, and that it is in a bank account rather than somewhere else, as in other investments.
"Make sure you bring an adequate size attache to the bank" and "I advise you to be rested" - both maternal sounding remarks. Shows motherly feeling. Also, why 'attache' and not the more common 'attache case'?
"You will...be...denied burial" - more likely to be said by a female than a male. Also suggests the victim is already dead. If the victim is still alive, burial would be the least of anyone's concerns.
"gentlemen" and "watching over" - again, more likely to be used by a female.
"fat cat" - an expression common in the 1950's and 1960's. Indicates a writer in the forty-something bracket.
"Use that good southern common sense of yours" - a phrase not likely to come to mind from a Northerner. The writer is likely from the South, and knows that Ramsey is too.
"Victory!" - Inappropriate. Meaningless for a kidnap ransom note. A clumsy attempt to sound like a terrorist.
"S.B.T.C." - no known organization, and no explanation of the acronym.
"at this time," "to the letter" "hence" - habitual expressions.
In addition, the three exclamation points and other punctuation indicate a relatively educated, literate writer. The sophisticated vocabulary (faction, monitor, deviation, provoke, countermeasures, etc) and grammar (largely correct) also point to a educated person.
The gradual shift from "I" to "we" in the second paragraph makes it doubtful that the writer is from a group, let alone a group of terrorists. In addition, the note doesn't demand enough money (considering the Ramsey's wealth) for taking a kidnapping risk. And its overall tone, which becomes more threatening throughout, suggests someone on intimate terms with John Ramsey to chide him. "Dont try to grow a brain John". My overwhelming feeling about this note is that there is too much Hollywood in it. Good people make bad criminals, and the note smacks of inauthenticity. It shows a low level of criminal sophistication, and was most likely witten to distract authorities from conducting an immediate investigation of the complete home, which it did.
There was certainly a lot of crime scene information, other than than this note, to process. We know for example, that the killer apparently took the time to write a practise note which began: "Dear Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey.". But just sticking to the written material given to me, I could tell a lot. My analysis indicated that, operationally, the note was prepared without much planning, and contained inconsistencies not expected in a bona fide kidnap demand note; psychologically the perpetrator was sane and stable, but distressed, and of low criminal compotence. Furthermore, my profile of the writer revealed someone who was in all likelihood white, female, Southern, well educated, middle-aged, and who knew John Ramsey, his personal life, and business, quite well.
A similar account and profile was transmitted to the DA's office via Bert Brown.
From the above analysis I accept that it is very unlikely that the ransom note was written, by either a teenager or a preteen. Also that the above profile was available to the DA's office, probably filed with a status of 'private advice'.
