With that last theory, PR's rage attack on JBR happens with the family up and awake. BR would have certainly seen or at least heard it, and not from under his bedcovers either.
I understand about the variations for digestion in determining TOD, but the rigor mortis at the time of autopsy ( which took place on the morning of Dec. 27th, about 36 hours from the presumed TOD of between midnight Dec.25 and 1am Dec 26th.) suggests it was already beginning to pass off on the mouth (shown open at autopsy) and arm joints (llsted as mild +1-+2 and shown as laying flat on the table). It was more advanced in the legs, which take longer to reach full degree. I'd say the legs were moderate. Now, FULL rigor had already come and gone- while poor JBR lay in the morgue. If the coroner could manipulate her fingers to see the palms without breaking the joints and lay her arms flat, rigor had passed in that area.
It takes about 12 hours to reach full rigor, 12 hours that full rigor is maintained, and 12 hours to pass off in the same order it forms- (smallest muscle groups first: eyelids, jaw, etc. largest last -hips, knees, etc then reverse that order).
This varies with room temperature- Bodies in the cold take longer to complete the cycle, bodies in warm places (like outdoor in warm sun in hot climates) complete faster, as the warm temps hasten the decomposition of the muscle fibers themselves and that breaks rigor.
JBR was in the basement, but as JR said, it was not cold down there, and even offerd that as an excuse for the window being opened- he said they did that sometimes because the basement got too warm.
So we can assume JBR's body was neither too cold or too warm in the surrounding air.
I'd say the 36-hour arc was just about right, placing the TOD between 12-1am Dec 26.
DeeDee249,
I agree, the early morning death was an attempt to reconcile some unexplained factors, having to reduce the period for rigor just to fit the theory was a red flag.
So back to the
gap or lacuna its another reason why I find the
Toilet Rage theory unsatisfactory.
That is there appears to be a long gap between JonBenet's TOD and her placement in the wine-cellar. Now I am going to assume her killer did not sit around drinking coffee, so why this apparent time-gap?
The size-12's suggest she was already redressed and cleaned up e.g. this staging was complete, due to the postmortem urine-release and the mismatched blood-stains.
Also the garrote construction and application suggest it was an element added just prior to JonBenet being placed into the wine-cellar.
Along with wrapping JonBenet in those blankets, which occurred
after she was redressed and wiped down, these elements e.g. wiping her down, constructing the garrote, applying it, wrapping her in blankets, placing her in the wine-cellar, probably took no more than 15-20 minutes?
Lets assume it took an hour to author the ransom note, including the drafts, then the wine-cellar staging probably took about an hour and a half to complete?
So it appears JonBenet's killer had plenty time to remove forensic evidence and stage a fake crime-scene, so why was she left wearing urine-soaked underwear and longjohns, with the underwear displaying blood-stains, that had been wiped from her thighs, and her barbie-nitegown left lying next to her body, but the flashlight was removed?
This possibly suggests that there had been a prior staging and that the wine-cellar was the last in a sequence? So could a prior staging have focused on Lou Smit's Intruder Theory, since patently he was fed this theory by John Ramsey.
Here is an account of their first meeting:
On June 6, 1997, three months into his work on the case, Smit did his daily drive to the Ramsey house to sit and think. This time, though, he bumped into the Ramseys themselves, who were staying with nearby neighbors.
Smit and the couple waved to one another, and both parties pulled over. After some chatting, John asked Smit if he would pray with them. Smit suggested they do it inside his van. Smit said Ramsey's prayer was to the point: "I pray that someday this nightmare will end and we will find the killer of our daughter." Smit then wrote up a report of the encounter.
So could the broken window, the various artefacts found in the basement e.g. photographs, JAR's suitcase, all have been part of a prior staging intended to suggest an intruder broke in, assaulted and killed JonBenet?