Just for clarification, the interview on the 26th was with Det. Patterson at the White's house. And you are correct in that BR at that time only thought she was missing. He did not find out until later in the afternoon when he was taken to the Fernie's to be with the family and JR told him. The interview with the child psychologist took place on 1/8/97, a week after the murder and they had returned from Georgia and JB's funeral.
Yes, you are correct - I somehow mixed up the detective and the psychologist in my comment. I know that the interview with the psychologist happened next year, and also in the summer of 1998 by the DA office, 18 months after the murder.
Yes, there was blood found on her nightgown, on her favorite white blanket and a little on her pillow. A pillow had been removed from her bed and was in the kitchen, which is kind of an odd place for a pillow to be. They also identified fibers from the cords used to bind her wrists in her bed. This all IMO points to things having started there before she was moved to the basement. A little bit of the green garland that was wrapped around the banister of the spiral staircase was found in her hair, which is a clue that she may have already been knocked out when carried downstairs. At some point in the basement, she is wiped down after the digital assault and her clothing changed. The white blanket is covering her which could be a sign of care from the stager(s) of the scene, which also IMO points to a family member. Her nightgown is left there next to her because the scene stager(s) wanted to make it look like everything happened in the basement and point away from anything having happened in her bedroom. IMO this was key for them being able to say they did not hear a thing that night.
That sure is an odd place for a pillow to be. And I forgot about the fibers, yes! That sure would link the crime to possibly be starting at her bed doesn't it. But if the head blow was an accident that may have started this all... and it possibly happened in her bed while she was asleep, how and why put the cord around her there? She was strangled to death in the basement so why not apply the rope there... questions, questions...
Or possibly the rope fibers got transferred there somehow? Maybe when they had already strangled JB in the basement and then Patsy went back to her room to get the blanket and the nightgown... touching the bedding and transferring fibers. We do not know...
The garland too. It could have gotten there when she was carried downstairs. But it seems to me from the photos that the height of the garland seems to be around the same height that JB's head would be if she stood up. It is also a possibility that she, while going up or coming down the stairs with her hair left open (not braided, just like it was when she was found) could have gotten the fibers from the garland into her hair just simply by walking there. Not impossible...
The blanket does point to care and love and I believe it was Patsy's doing. IMO. And John's claim about that she was wrapped in a blanket and he did not mean to hurt her goes with that... They just could not have left her there in that dark, damp room on a cold concrete floor...
I know I question a lot of things many here write. I hope I don't offend anyone by doing so.
I don't do it to argue or claim that I know better - I do not. I just like to think of other options and sometimes find simple or innocent reasons for things that some may find as solid proof. I respect your theory and see it totally possible happening the way you describe it too.
PR & JR's story about never having asked BR anything about that night is yet another clue of how odd some of their behavior was. He was the only family member who was on the same floor as JB was. Just as not thoroughly searching the entire house from top to bottom was odd. It could be just that's the way they were about things, but most parents who have discussed these aspects point out they would've searched high and low for their child, and they would've spoken to the only person who shared the same floor with the missing child. IMO it seems to point to guilty knowledge.....they didn't search thoroughly (if in reality at all) because they knew she was dead and in the WC where they had placed her. Did they ask BR about what he might've heard or seen though? They very well may have as they would need to know for damage control. And then to tell him he needed to stay quiet about what he may have heard. I think it's quite obvious there was at least a discussion at some point about the pineapple. His reaction when asked about that by Det. Schuler was very telling.
Not searching the house again is, IMO, a sign of their knowledge of what was happening. I agree. They simply did not need to search the house. I doubt they searched the house at all. Maybe only to hide away evidence (like wiping the flashlight). But it rather seems a chaotic scene - if they had composed themselves and gathered their thoughts, they could have simply hidden away the notepad, pen, pineapple, flashlight and many other things that raise questions. Since they left many crucial things just lying around I believe they were too consumed with the cover up and how it would play out, not thinking clearly about what evidence they should have removed. IMO. But again there is a possibility that they left it all out for the purpose of creating a confusion... then it sure worked well on their behalf.
I also recall an interview with JR asking him about the timeline of that morning. PR had said, backed up by BR that she had exploded into his room that morning looking for JB who would sometimes sleep there after she had wet her own bed. What stands out to me is that PR was looking for JB, she wasn't checking on BR. JR then says that after he was (again supposedly) checking locked doors and looking around the house for JB, that he suddenly remembers BR, so he then goes to check BR's room finding him asleep, which we know from BR's admission that he was not. And again, BR seems to just be an afterthought. Now I get that at that point if they truly believed that JB had been kidnapped, she was the focus. But you do have another child......if there were people in your house that took one of your children, would you not have a concern for the other child more immediately? And again, IMO this likely points to their not being concerned for BR because they knew there was no intruder, no "foreign faction".
Yes, they were never concerned about Burke. Nor themselves. Strange since a Foreign Faction had just invaded their house and killed their daughter. I guess it wasn't a concern to them that maybe they would hurt them or Burke too. Even if they stated in the RN that they are watching and two of them are not particularly happy with John. Or maybe Burke was just an after thought for all of them... who knows.
If a child is truly kidnapped, there is no way a parent would not think about the wellbeing of their other children or themselves. I would be scared to death after reading such a ransom note. But then again, they said did not read it...
But if I think that Burke was involved, I see why they would want him to be out of the house and the presence of the LE.
I think BR's subsequent shielding by his parents over the years has served to exacerbate his social awkwardness which we see in him when we have had the opportunity to observe him. We do know that he had a circle of friends when he was a kid living in Boulder, more friends than JB had. But he was also described as being quiet and at times could be quite introverted. He was very content being on his own with his legos and video games. I have also read that he has said it was difficult for him to know who to trust later on when it came to friends. Who were the real friends that protected his privacy, and who just wanted to get to know him to learn what he knew about the murder. His comment to the child psychologist about secrets is telling. He had secrets and he knew how to keep them. His father and his older half brother have taken on the task of being the squeaky wheels over the years so that he doesn't have to. I also think his attitude after the murder of "just moving on" with his life is very BR. And we saw all the backlash from the Dr. Phil interview and people's perceptions of him in the aftermath. Surely he is aware of that and what a disaster it was perceived to be. IMO he was coerced into that by JR and Lin Wood, I doubt very much that he wanted any part of that but they felt it was necessary to counter the CBS documentary that was about to air. I can only imagine that afterwards, he decided not only that it was a mistake but also one that he would never make again. BR is only comfortable in his very small and limited world, surrounded by the few people he knows he can trust, who don't ask questions and accept him for who he is.
I agree 100%.
Something does seem a bit off with Burke. I'm not strong to say via television or transcripts whether Burke is odd/awkward because of the secrets that he has been asked to keep all of his life or is it something else. Some say that he seems a bit off the spectrum, maybe, I'm not able to say. I believe to make such statements you need to meet that person in person.
It could very well be the "burden" that he has had to live with his whole life. The secret(s) he has had to keep. The shame or guilt or fear... there could be so much. A murder of a family member, being guilty or innocent, is a traumatic event. But something does seem off... IMO
Of course there is also the question of what he does know. Even if he has no actual knowledge of exactly what happened and who was responsible, he may have his own suspicions. Suspicions that would be very scary and uncomfortable to verbalize. IMO he probably just wants to let what's in the past stay in the past. Solving the case might just rip his world to shreds. Again. The child psychologist also noted that she thought he was protective of his family. I think he is also very protective of himself.
I believe that he has connected the dots if he did not know or participate in the staging part. At first it is possible that he was sincere and innocent in his statements, not knowing what actually happened and believing his parents. But he had to soon learn about the injuries JB suffered. He remembers the accident - it is the secret he must keep and never talk about. No way he could have forgotten about it. Reading the Autopsy report or even the magazines or online papers - he must have learned that JB suffered a severe scull fracture and head trauma at some point.
Not hard to connect the dots -
I hit her and saw her falling down. She was hurt, but my parents told my she was fine. I believed them at first, but was she really? I never saw her getting up or going to bed like I was told. She was kidnapped... but then found in the house, murdered. And she had a scull fracture right there where I had hit her - maybe she did not get up after all? Maybe I killed her by hitting her? My parents told me not to talk about it, it is secret. But why is it such a big secret, if she woke up and all was fine? Maybe it is not what they are telling me?
I see similar questions going through his mind. Maybe not when he was 9-10-11. But in his interviews when he was 11 and saw the photo of the pineapple you can see from the clip that he is nervous. His body language shows discomfort. That should not be there if he was sincere. I believe he started to connect the dots by that time... IMO
I respect your opinion as well. We have some points that we differ on, and that's ok because none of us knows what happened, we can only speculate based upon what we do know which sadly, isn't all that much. And I think we all share the hope that someday we will know more. I rather doubt however that it will come from BR. But I do hope that after JR leaves this earth that someone else will step forward with what they know, after the ever present threat of lawsuits has been diminished.
Thank you! I too think that thinking differently is helpful - I have read about ideas and theories that would not have otherwise crossed my mind. And seeing other possibilities, accepting them and debating on them in a friendly manner is eye opening, and necessary in a sleuthing community, IMO.
