A good read - Black Tape and other interesting bits

[Holdontoyourhat]

IF they (R's) 'dunnit', then I would expect that the cover up would make little sense. We are not talking about experienced killers that would know how to cover their tracks with expertise, we are talking about petrified, panicked parents with a whole lot to lose. Not to mention what they know they have already lost - their beloved daughter.

So, when dealing with the RN, I believe it's safe to say that the nonsesical bits point directly at folks who have no idea what a ransom note 'should' say, and who are not in their 'right mind'.

I'm not buying that, at least as far as the ransom note amount is concerned. The R's would've been able to derive a ransom note amount that would seem 'appropriate' for the 'fake kidnapping' of their daughter, if they expected it to be taken seriously. Evein if panicked, they'd still come up with a bigger number. Sorry.

 

[Brefie]

I'm not buying that, at least as far as the ransom note amount is concerned. The R's would've been able to derive a ransom note amount that would seem 'appropriate' for the 'fake kidnapping' of their daughter, if they expected it to be taken seriously. Evein if panicked, they'd still come up with a bigger number. Sorry.

That's okay, I am not buying any intruder theory.

 

[sandraladeda]

I'm not buying that, at least as far as the ransom note amount is concerned. The R's would've been able to derive a ransom note amount that would seem 'appropriate' for the 'fake kidnapping' of their daughter, if they expected it to be taken seriously. Evein if panicked, they'd still come up with a bigger number. Sorry.

If this RN was written by a FF, I would expect the same - they'd come up with a bigger number too. In addition to a bigger number, they would try to collect the ransom, and they would take credit for the crime, don't you think?

....just because the note says it's from a FF doesn't make it so....it also threatened a beheading, and we know JBR was not beheaded, but she was killed....

imho

 

[Holdontoyourhat]

Wellll, pick out 'a' clue in the ranson note and run with 'it', there are plenty of em to go around. Collectively they are confusing. Which was the focus of the note, imop, confusion and diversity. Something for everyone.

Not really. The note was very specific.

No respect for the country that the business serves, we have your daughter, give us your 'fat cat' money or she dies. The RN was very specific, very to the point, and somewhat organized. It definitely has a socioeconomic tone.

The RN may have been long-winded for an RN, but next to the Unabomber manifesto, it was actually quite terse.

 

[Holdontoyourhat]

If this RN was written by a FF, I would expect the same - they'd come up with a bigger number too. In addition to a bigger number, they would try to collect the ransom, and they would take credit for the crime, don't you think?

....just because the note says it's from a FF doesn't make it so....it also threatened a beheading, and we know JBR was not beheaded, but she was killed....

imho

We agree then that no matter who wrote the RN, the author low-balled the ransom amount.

 

[aussiesheila]

Fleet White is alleged to have returned and picked up the piece of tape from the blanket.

FW displayed an intense interest in the tape, I would love to hear his remarks on this subject.


.

He might have been thinking to himself "What's this piece of duct tape doing here? They didn't tell me about this. I suppose Patsy could have put it there, I must ask her."

What he would say about it to others is another matter entirely.

 

[Camper]

FF folk seem to enjoy displaying the heads when they do not get their demands.

Yep I do believe we all concur the note was bogus at least.


.

 

[UKGuy]

He might have been thinking to himself "What's this piece of duct tape doing here? They didn't tell me about this. I suppose Patsy could have put it there, I must ask her."

What he would say about it to others is another matter entirely.

aussiesheila,

That could be it, he never knew about it. It was a new addition, this perplexed him, so he had to check it out.

There is plenty scope here for a conspiracy theory ...

 

[BlueCrab]

We agree then that no matter who wrote the RN, the author low-balled the ransom amount.

Holdontoyourhat,

Not to a child. To a very young male, $118,000 could have sounded like a fortune.

 

[Nuisanceposter]

Holdontoyourhat,

Not to a child. To a very young male, $118,000 could have sounded like a fortune.

The oddest thing is that it isn't a number that was rounded off more. I would expect someone demanding a ransom to ask for that - $200,000 instead of $118,000, or a full quarter mil - $250,000. The fact that it's $118,000 and that is the same amount as JR's bonus is too coincidental to not be intentional. I think it was meant to cast suspicion on AG employees.

 

[UKGuy]

The oddest thing is that it isn't a number that was rounded off more. I would expect someone demanding a ransom to ask for that - $200,000 instead of $118,000, or a full quarter mil - $250,000. The fact that it's $118,000 and that is the same amount as JR's bonus is too coincidental to not be intentional. I think it was meant to cast suspicion on AG employees.

I tend to agree, the $118,000 is specific, possibly AG played a larger role in the initial staging, which was later revised, there was more than one draft of the ransom note, and missing pages, from the pad!

Possibly AG became the FF, but like the pineapple, they forgot how out of context the $118,000 then became?

I suspect lots of these types of silly details arise due to the ad-hoc revisions.

Not unless you are a PDI and consider she was wiring JR hints via the RN?


.

 

[aussiesheila]

I got the idea from my reading somewhere that the duct tape was pre-used and had been placed over JonBenet’s mouth after death.

I think it has been said that it looked as though it had been placed over her mouth after death because there were a lot of fibres stuck to the adhesive side, more than would be expected if it had been placed over her mouth immediately after being cut from the roll.

I think also it was not of sufficient width or length to have been adequate to stop her calling out or screaming even if it had been freshly cut off the roll and therefore would not have been put over her mouth while she was still alive anyway because as a gag it would obviously not have worked.


If this is all correct then if and where or when or whether or not Patsy bought some duct tape is completely irrelevant.

What the above observations suggest, together with the obviously fake ransom note, is that after JonBenet was killed, the perpetrators decided to stage a kidnapping to cover up the real reason why she was killed. That after redressing her, and before hiding the body in the cellar for storage until the body could be safely disposed of elsewhere, one of them noticed a length of duct tape lying around on the floor of the basement and got the idea that a gag over the mouth might add a touch of authenticity to the kidnap scenario. So he picked it up and placed it over her mouth after she was already dead, so that when her body was found later in the mountains as they were planning it would be, it would explain why she hadn’t cried out as she was carried from her bed and out of the house by the supposed kidnapper.

 

[aussiesheila]

aussiesheila,

That could be it, he never knew about it. It was a new addition, this perplexed him, so he had to check it out.

There is plenty scope here for a conspiracy theory ...

You betcha there is.

 

[txsvicki]

The oddest thing is that it isn't a number that was rounded off more. I would expect someone demanding a ransom to ask for that - $200,000 instead of $118,000, or a full quarter mil - $250,000. The fact that it's $118,000 and that is the same amount as JR's bonus is too coincidental to not be intentional. I think it was meant to cast suspicion on AG employees.

The killer could cast suspicion, but with the murder happening on Christmas Night, probably every employee that came into contact with the Ramsey's had a good alibi and had other people to account for their where abouts.

 

[Holdontoyourhat]

The oddest thing is that it isn't a number that was rounded off more. I would expect someone demanding a ransom to ask for that - $200,000 instead of $118,000, or a full quarter mil - $250,000. The fact that it's $118,000 and that is the same amount as JR's bonus is too coincidental to not be intentional. I think it was meant to cast suspicion on AG employees.

If $118,000 was meant to cast suspicion on AG employees, then why bring up the foreign faction, respecting your business thing? That leads the reader 180 degrees away from AG, doesn't it?

 

[Holdontoyourhat]

The killer could cast suspicion, but with the murder happening on Christmas Night, probably every employee that came into contact with the Ramsey's had a good alibi and had other people to account for their where abouts.

I'd point out that a person travelling from a foreign nation would not need an alibi, nor would they be worried about leaving handwritten evidence.

 

[Holdontoyourhat]

Holdontoyourhat,

Not to a child. To a very young male, $118,000 could have sounded like a fortune.

Do you think a very young male wanted $118,000, or just wanted to use a big 'fortune' number in his fake ransom note?

 

[BlueCrab]

Do you think a very young male wanted $118,000, or just wanted to use a big 'fortune' number in his fake ransom note?

Holdontoyourhat,

No, he didn't likely want the money; he was more interested in trying to cover up a familial murder by using a fake ransom note.

But the young perp didn't have a clue in regard to an appropriate number to use as a ransom demand. From check stubs he knew that $118,000 had been paid to John Ramsey and he could have figured that was the total amount of John's pay for the year, IOW, a lot of money. If a very young male wrote the ransom note, to him it would likely have seemed like a very large amount of money, so he used it.

BlueCrab

 

[Holdontoyourhat]

Holdontoyourhat,

No, he didn't likely want the money; he was more interested in trying to cover up a familial murder by using a fake ransom note.

But the young perp didn't have a clue in regard to an appropriate number to use as a ransom demand. From check stubs he knew that $118,000 had been paid to John Ramsey and he could have figured that was the total amount of John's pay for the year, IOW, a lot of money. If a very young male wrote the ransom note, to him it would likely have seemed like a very large amount of money, so he used it.

BlueCrab

What check stubs? Wasn't that just the amount of JR's bonus, and not his 'pay for the year?'

 

[Jayelles]

What check stubs? Wasn't that just the amount of JR's bonus, and not his 'pay for the year?'

His bonus appeared in all of his payslips that year. Pay (including bonuses) is cumulative for tax purposes.