Dr Wecht’s findings were originally the reason why I subscribed to JDI because they seemed to be the most sense, easy to understand or follow and aligned with Meyers’ autopsy findings. For example, like Meyers he too argued that the head wound and strangulation occurred closely in time together and further, that JBR was already dead or dying by the time she received the severe strike to her head, which was why only a teaspoon and a half of blood was found in her cranial vault since her heart had pretty much stopped bleeding. His theory I thought gave a good explanation for the way JBR wrist and neck were bound in that they were part of a sadistic or perverted sexual game her killer wanted to engage in and that her father was likely her assailant and killer as most child homicides are committed by a parent or step-parent in the home, the ransom note strangely referenced the father’s own previous bonus amount and JBR’s remains were found inside the home putting into question if an intruder was responsible why wouldn’t take her body with them and dispose of it elsewhere and what was even the point of the ransom note. Dr. Wecht’s theory also seemed to most easily fulfill Occam’s Razor by providing a motive ( the cover-up of subjecting JBR to sexual assault and predation), explain that perhaps the father did not intend to harm his daughter but lost control or passed the point of no return and chose to murder his kid to cover up his crimes of sexual assault and abuse against JBR, held JR solely responsible for JBR’s TBI and strangulation, and thus her murder, and suggested he probably later threatened or intimidated PR into going along with the coverup and staging of the crime scene. Additionally, I had my own bias for agreeing with Dr. Wecht’s JDI theory since I was introduced to his and Meyers’ findings first, already knew he was well-known brilliant forensic scientist and his work very reliable and didn’t really question it until I learned of some of the things Kolar brought up in his book.
For example, Kolar argued that in the GJ Dr. Lucy Rorke argued that JBR was likely strangled to death 45 minutes to two hours after her she suffered from her head wound. According to Kolar, Dr. Rorke stated evidence for this was the swelling and edema evidenced by JBR’s brain which would have taken time to develop while still alive. This contradicts Wecht’s findings from earlier in which the two assaults likely occurred closely together in time and that wound occurred right as JBR had died or was dying. The discrepancy in time also opens the door that PDI or BDI could also be plausible in that the same assailant would no longer have to be responsible for both assaults (unlike with Wecht’s findings earlier that shows feasibly one assailant was responsible for strangling and striking JBR practically at the same time). Since Rorke’s findings indicate JBR was struck first, it opens the door that the to detectives’ theories that she was strangled to cover up the physical assault. According to Kolar, Meyers may have missed the cerebral edema during his initial autopsy findings but conceded with Rorke’s findings and noted the cerebral edema as well and stated it would have taken some time before death for it to develop. Rorke also supposedly argued that had JBR had received treatment in a timely manner she may have been able to survive which led to my thoughts in my comments regarding BDI earlier. Of course, these claims come second-hand unfortunately from Kolar as Dr. Rorke never spoke about her findings publicly herself so how reliable or credible is up to the reader to decide for themselves. In addition, it appears Dr. Spitz also believes that the head wound was inflicted on JBR for some time before her death though it should be mentioned he was successfully sued for defamation by BR after he named him as promoted in a documentary that Burke struck JBR with a flashlight thus causing her head wound so take from that what you will.
Even though it seems like a small thing, I think just seeing how the time when the head wound was inflicted could rule in or out potential theories or how determinations of the reliability of DNA evidence according to Dr. Lee or Dr. Williams could seemingly cause a debate or divide among experts and investigators has led me to keep more of an open-mind in terms of IDI, RDI, PDI and JDI.
I think there are a couple of things that we need to keep in mind about the forensic evidence.
The entirety of the autopsy findings (report, notes, samples, pictures, subsequent testing, etc.) have never been publicly released. The autopsy report in and of itself is not the whole picture and was written in such a way as to not include commentary or opinion. Dr. Meyer after having completed the autopsy and released the body to the Ramseys, then sought out the expertise of multiple medical experts in various fields of the medical profession. Detailed reports from all of those involved to my knowledge have not been released. Kolar had access but has included only his interpretation in his book. The detailed reports are part of what has remained sealed in this case.
Dr. Wecht, while arguably a renowned forensic pathologist was not a part of the investigation. His opinion, which I am neither criticizing or validating was made without examining evidence other than what was publicly available at the time.
The majority of the experts who were consulted on this case, and some who have offered up their expert opinion concluded that the blow to the head came first, followed by the strangulation. From the table I have seen laid out, only 3 out of the 13 professionals who gave opinions on the order of head wound and strangulation were of the opinion that strangulation occurred first, and it should be noted that one of those was on the Ramsey payroll. This is the person most often quoted by JR to push the narrative of an intruder, while failing to mention that this opinion is not shared by the majority of the experts.
There were 20 experts who also examined the evidence for the vaginal trauma, the acute vaginal trauma that was present and occurred during the murder, and also for previous vaginal trauma. All 20 concluded acute vaginal trauma was evident that had occurred that night. 17 out of the 20 concluded that there was previous trauma. 2 refrained from a conclusion citing that more information was needed and 1 concluded that there was no clear indication.
These are the findings that we know of and what we have to base our opinions on. IMO the previous SA is significant as to what occurred that night and was a major factor in everything that happened. The Grand Jury as we have been told by a juror who broke his silence concluded that both parents were involved. They believed that Patsy wrote the note and they rejected the IDI theory.
Will we ever know without a doubt what happened? Sadly, we probably won't. I am of the opinion that Burke knows more than he has ever said, but we don't know how much. As only an almost 10 year old when it happened, we cannot say with any certainty if he was aware of some things how much of that he really understood. I also think that there are probably a few others that know what happened who have remained silent for various reasons. Other family members? Maybe, maybe not. I do not think that DNA is going to solve this case. Someone needs to speak out about what they know. One parent has already taken the secrets of that night to the grave. After all these years of promoting untruths I think we can probably predict the remaining parent will do the same.
