An IDI question: why Christmas Day?

[Slebby]

I lean RDI (including P, J or B and a coverup) but in the interest of teasing out how it *could* be IDI, I wonder. If someone wants to “get back at JR” or was “jealous of JBR” or was “a pedo interested in SA” or whatever motive, what do they gain by committing this crime on Christmas Day/night? Of all the days of the year, why then?

 

[CloudedTruth]

I have always leaned hard towards RDI. That said, the fact that it did happen on Christmas in the back of my mind has always made me wonder about something ritualistic. 12/25 has significance in that sense.

Or it could be just coincidence, purely an opportunistic moment made possible by circumstances that existed in that moment.

 

[TizerisT]

Christmas Day may well be the easiest day of the year to do such a thing: everyone goes out to a party.

 

[Slebby]

Christmas Day may well be the easiest day of the year to do such a thing: everyone goes out to a party.

For a quick in and out burglary, sure.

 

[touch]

There's less people out so you're less to be seen. Roads are quieter so quicker to get away.
People are not following their normal daily routines on Christmas so it's harder to spot someone up to something unusual.
Possibly less police officers on duty that day, especially ones who specialise in investigating serious crimes.
Young children are likely to be excited and get up early on Christmas morning meaning they'll be tired and sleeping deeply that night.

 

[Slebby]

There's less people out so you're less to be seen. Roads are quieter so quicker to get away.
People are not following their normal daily routines on Christmas so it's harder to spot someone up to something unusual.
Possibly less police officers on duty that day, especially ones who specialise in investigating serious crimes.
Young children are likely to be excited and get up early on Christmas morning meaning they'll be tired and sleeping deeply that night.

Thanks, Touch. This is the kind of thinking I hope to find here, thinking like a sleuth.
So you’re saying they might have purposely picked Christmas Day for these reasons.
If we are exploring IDI, the question might be about timing. What if the perpetrator had a small window of opportunity to commit the crime? Meaning, they know/found out the Rs were flying out the next day very early. If they want to do it this crime, it has to be in this day. But why? Couldn’t they do it when the Rs returned? If not, why? Were they themselves in Boulder for a limited time? Or were they in such a lather of rage at JR it had to be that day? Who might have JR made an enemy of very recent to the murder?

The perpetrator would have to know the Rs pretty well - JR’s bonus amount, know PR’s handwriting so well as to be able to copy it well enough to fool even her, know there’s a southern element to their family (even if not strictly correct in calling JR himself southern)
Might be familiar with the layout of the home, perhaps has been there before.
Has no spouse/family or close community to miss him on Christmas Day and/or night while spending quite a long time in the R home.
Has had contact either with JBR which caused him to be either attracted to her for SA purposes, or knows JR so well as to have a revenge fantasy of SA and murder of his little daughter.
What am I missing?
This narrows the field. What are the odds of this person existing yet has not been relatively easily identified long ago?

I’m trying to give some thought to IDI, and I still don’t see how all this could be IDI. Statistically, how many people associated with the Rs had the freedom to leave their family/spouse on Christmas to wander the R home for hours, know the bonus amount, know PRs handwriting, is either a pedo attracted to JBR or developed a recent burning hate for JR, potentially in Boulder for a limited time, etc.
Would like to hear other thoughts.

 

[CloudedTruth]

There's less people out so you're less to be seen. Roads are quieter so quicker to get away.
People are not following their normal daily routines on Christmas so it's harder to spot someone up to something unusual.
Possibly less police officers on duty that day, especially ones who specialise in investigating serious crimes.
Young children are likely to be excited and get up early on Christmas morning meaning they'll be tired and sleeping deeply that night.

So the counter to that is, there are less people out so in a quiet neighborhood like the Ramseys' was, someone would stand out. Many of the Ramsey's neighbors were home that day and that night. And they were paying attention. A couple of them noticed usual Ramsey light patterns were different that night. Lights that were usually on were off, and lights that were usually off were on. One also noticed that a light was moving around inside the house, as if someone were walking around using a flashlight.

On another forum someone who lived in the neighborhood was commenting that especially when the college students went home for Christmas, it was very quiet in the neighborhood at night. Unusual sounds stand out. The neighbor who lived across the alley from the Ramseys noted that her dogs always barked whenever anyone was in the alley. Her dogs did not bark at all that night.

 

[CloudedTruth]

Thanks, Touch. This is the kind of thinking I hope to find here, thinking like a sleuth.
So you’re saying they might have purposely picked Christmas Day for these reasons.
If we are exploring IDI, the question might be about timing. What if the perpetrator had a small window of opportunity to commit the crime? Meaning, they know/found out the Rs were flying out the next day very early. If they want to do it this crime, it has to be in this day. But why? Couldn’t they do it when the Rs returned? If not, why? Were they themselves in Boulder for a limited time? Or were they in such a lather of rage at JR it had to be that day? Who might have JR made an enemy of very recent to the murder?

The perpetrator would have to know the Rs pretty well - JR’s bonus amount, know PR’s handwriting so well as to be able to copy it well enough to fool even her, know there’s a southern element to their family (even if not strictly correct in calling JR himself southern)
Might be familiar with the layout of the home, perhaps has been there before.
Has no spouse/family or close community to miss him on Christmas Day and/or night while spending quite a long time in the R home.
Has had contact either with JBR which caused him to be either attracted to her for SA purposes, or knows JR so well as to have a revenge fantasy of SA and murder of his little daughter.
What am I missing?
This narrows the field. What are the odds of this person existing yet has not been relatively easily identified long ago?

I’m trying to give some thought to IDI, and I still don’t see how all this could be IDI. Statistically, how many people associated with the Rs had the freedom to leave their family/spouse on Christmas to wander the R home for hours, know the bonus amount, know PRs handwriting, is either a pedo attracted to JBR or developed a recent burning hate for JR, potentially in Boulder for a limited time, etc.
Would like to hear other thoughts.

The perpetrator would have had to have known the Ramseys very well. I would go so far as to say intimately.

The ransom note had some clues, the comment about "good Southern common sense". John moved to Atlanta in 1973 and lived there until he and his 2nd family moved to Boulder in 1991. He always considered Atlanta to be home.

"Fat cats" was a term Nedra Paugh used to describe John & Patsy after they became rich. The reference to John's business seems to infer knowledge of the ownership by Lockheed Martin, as does the reference that they were "a small foreign faction". The apparent knowledge of the bonus amount. Being able to replicate Patsy's handwriting so well.

The house was a maze with an odd layout and the basement was a mess. If you have seen the crime scene photos and video, there is stuff everywhere. Someone would have had to have been intimately familiar with the layout and not only know how to navigate through all the stuff piled everywhere, but do so in the dark. They had to know about the wine cellar, where it was located and the block that locked it from the outside and where the lights were. They had to know where to find all the things that they used to commit the crime. They were not only comfortable being in the house, they were comfortable enough to spend a long time there that night seemingly without fear of being discovered.

It's hard to believe that this person so familiar with everything Ramsey would still be a mystery person today. The Ramseys ended up naming a lot of people that they knew whom they thought needed looking into, and everyone was cleared.

The argument in favor of IDI just doesn't add up. The pedophile theory doesn't add up. All possibly disgruntled business associates were looked into, John named them. Surely if John did something vile enough for someone to develop such a burning hatred for him (as was suggested by John Douglas) he'd know about it.

 

[Reporter-C.Lin]

I think there might be less traffic due to kids not having to go to school during winter break. However, most adults who have jobs would ordinarily still have to go to work on the 26th of December, which was a Thursday in 1996. The intruder may have picked the 25th to break in but had to wait for the family to go to bed, so the crime itself really couldn't be done until late night/wee hours of the 26th, and the crime definitely would be discovered as early as the 26th. So, I think the intruder did it on 25th not because of the 25th but more because the intruder's knowledge or incredible luck about the family's schedule, which was to be gone most of the day that day and the dog wouldn't be home either and that there wouldn't be any security alarm.

I've always been curious: has anyone ever reported seeing an unknown vehicle in the neighborhood? I don't believe the Ramseys ever reported seeing an unknown car parked near their house when they left on the 25th, nor when they returned home on the 25th.
If the intruder picked the 25th because he/she knew the family would be out all day, he/she had to have at least waited outside to keep watch until the family finally drove away so that he/she could then break in. And he/she had to have kept the car running to wait for the family to leave as it was winter time. If not, the windows would fog up. Either way, a car like that nearby would've stood out.

 

[Ponytale]

I believe that it is pure coincidence that it happened that night. Accidents can happen at any time.