PLENTY of elaboration. It will take a while to go through all of it. Are you up for that? -SD
Hi SD and HOTYH. Really enjoying your recent discourse.
SD, you're on the ball. It may be rehash but your 'refreshers' on the case are a great read. Lots to consider with HOTYH reminders of source.
Elaborations would be appreciated.
I do my best. I'm sure HOYTH does, as well.
Okay, on to due business. Elaboration you want, elaboration I give:
Starting with the injuries to JonBenet's vagina. I don't mean the possibility (probability, IMO) of prior abuse (that's another story); we'll keep it to that night. JonBenet was assaulted vaginally the night she was killed. This is referred to as "acute" injury. There is debate over what caused it exactly. Pieces of wood and paint from the handle of the paintbrush suggest that it was jammed into her. A lot of experts think that is what happened, but not everyone agrees. Some think it was a finger or like object. Leaving aside (for now) the direct cause, let's take a look at the context.
The CASKU agents of the FBI examined this finding. From PMPT, page 306, pb:
"The sexual assault of JonBenet did not appear to have been committed for the perpetrator's gratification. The penetration, which caused minor genital trauma, was more likely part of a staged crime scene, intended to mislead the police."
I'd like you to first focus on that one part: "Minor genital trauma." MINOR. Many of the elements of JonBenet's body--the cords, the tape, the strangling cord, the genital assault--seem to suggest a pedophile pervert killer with strong dominance/sadistic-control impulses. Trouble is, that scenario is completely inconsistent with several things: number one, pedophiles do NOT leave ransom notes. As Det. Thomas writes in his book, CASKU was VERY clear about that. Number two, as I said, the vaginal damage was only minor. A REAL sadistic-control pedophile would have torn her little bottom to absolute shreds! That was a big part of CASKU's findings: they hunt pedophiles for a living. You think they don't have a list of things they expect to find? I'm willing to bet they do.
I already posted their findings on the duct tape over the mouth.
Then there's the note itself. PMPT, page 307, pb:
"The moment JonBenet died and her body was left in a place where it would be found, the ransom money was lost forever to the kidnapper. If it was a real abduction gone sour (HMM! Isn't that another way of saying "kidnapping gone bad?"), why leave the note? The only reasonable conclusion was the the note had been left behind in an attempt to hide the killer's identity and the real reason for JonBenet's death."
Later:
"If the killer was a stranger, why did he wrap JonBenet's body in a blanket? Why try to comfort someone who was no longer of use?"
And:
"The noose's elevation at every point around the neck was equal in distance from the shoulders, indicating it had not been tied during a struggle."
Later in 1997, the FBI met with several police officers and reps from thr DA's office in Quantico, VA.
PMPT pages 496-500, pb:
"By now the Bureau's CASKU was quite certain that JonBenet's killer had never committed murder before. The experts thought that the ransom note was written by someone intelligent but not criminally sophisticated. Someone who had planned a kidnapping in advance would have tried to impress with how great a threat they posed. In the note, the kidnappers called themselves a "small foreignfaction." Foreign to whom? From whose point of view were they writing? Real foreigners would not refer to themselves as foreign."
"Nothing seemed to come from outside the house. They believed the the duct tape and cord from thr ligature had most likely been purchased by Patsy Ramsey sometime in December. There was no evidence anyone had turned on any lights during the crime, trying to find their way around an unfamiliar house. One agent said: Is this an offender who came to the scene tottaly unprepared to do anything? Kidnappers are usually in and out in a heartbeat. Look at the Polly Klaas case."
"To the FBI profilers, the time spent staging the crime scene and hiding the body pointed to a killer who had asked, 'how do I explain this?' and had answered: "A stranger did it." The staging suggested a killer desperate to divert attention."
"Moreover, there was staging
within staging: The loop of cord around one wrist was not a real indication that JonBenet had been restrained. The ligature that had suffocated JonBenet--though she would have died from the head injury--was in their opinion, a cover-up attempt. The way the cord had been made into a noose--with the stick tied 17 inches from the knot--suggested staging rather than a bona fide attempt to strangle JonBenet. It suggested that the killer was a manipulative person with the courage to believe that he or she could control the subsequent investigation. In short, everything about the crime indicated an attempt at self-preservation."
"On the other hand, the killer cared about JonBenet and wanted her found. He or she didn't want JonBenet outside in the dead of winter in the middle of the night. The child had been wrapped in a white blanket, her Barbie nightgown found lying next to her. Such caring and solicitude were not usually associated with a malevolent criminal."
Thomas wrote that the FBI team said the crime "did not fit an act of sex or revenge or one in which money was the motivation. Taken alone, they said, each piece of evidence might be argued, but together, enough pebbles become a block of evidentiary granite." The FBI, according to Thomas, "believed that the note was written in the house, after the murder, and indicated panic.
Thomas said the FBI deemed the entire crime "criminally unsophisticated," citing the child being left on the premises, the oddness of the $118,000 demand in relation to the multi-million dollar net worth of the Ramseys, and the concept of a ransom delivery where one would be "scanned for electronic devices." Kidnappers prefer isolated drops for the ransom delivery, not wanting to chance a face-to-face meeting. CASKU profilers also observed that placing JonBenet's body in the basement indicated the involvement of a parent, rather than an intruder. A parent would not want to place the body outside in the frigid night.
The CASKU professionals also stated, according to Thomas, that the ligatures "indicated staging rather than control, and the garrote was used from behind so the killer could avoid eye contact, typical of someone who cares for the victim."
WHEW!
A real intruder would have been way more prepared than that.
