Linguistics

[claudicici]

...wasn't there talk about an asian guy that baby sitted or something for JB at one point?
I don't know anything about linguistics but just my gut feeling told me from the first time I read the RN so many years ago that a woman or an immature male that tries to sound sophisticated wrote the RN.
Do we know of anything written by Mrs.Santa's daughter or sons?
After reading excerpts of LPH book I always thought it was impossible she could have wrote the RN.If she would have wrote one I bet it would have made some people blush IYKWIM ....
I think the phrases used are soooo southern that it might just be someone teasing the R's about being southern and someone that was not aware that JR actually was not southern...

 

[claudicici]

tapu,here is part of a transcript from an interview with Mrs.Santa
Do you see anything that would make you think she could have wrote the RN?
Like the repetition of "she dies" and "she deserved to die" in the interview maybe?:

"Also, Wolf, I want to say something that is sort of another parallel. The media has been hounding us, and I feel deep in my
heart that the media, particularly the tabloids, and the talk shows who are exploiting those beauty pageant videos, are murdering this little --
this sweet little girl again and again and again. Every time I see one of those videos of her prancing across the stage in her adorable costume, I
cringe.

And I feel that the message that I am getting -- the under- current of all of this -- is that the media is saying to this collective community -- to
our global village -- in some way she deserved to die.

That, at least, is a message that I am getting: She deserved to die because she was too beautiful. She deserved to die because she was from an
affluent family.

She deserved to die because she lived an up scale community. She deserved to die because her family taught her gestures which might be
interpreted as sexually suggestive. She deserved to die because she was in beauty pageants.

There's even an implication on some of the talk shows she deserved to die because sometimes she wore lipstick. And to me, that is a
crucification of an innocent victim, and I would really, really like to see it stopped"

 

[madeleine]

re southern

http://thewebsafe.tripod.com/03041997mcreynoldsonlkl.htm

BLITZER: You taught journalism at the University of Colorado. Is that right?

W. MCREYNOLDS: Right, one of the places.

BLITZER: All right.

W. MCREYNOLDS: I taught at the University of Texas, too.



Do we know when he was in Texas and whether his wife was with him?

 

[madeleine]

tapu,here is part of a transcript from an interview with Mrs.Santa
Do you see anything that would make you think she could have wrote the RN?
Like the repetition of "she dies" and "she deserved to die" in the interview maybe?:

"Also, Wolf, I want to say something that is sort of another parallel. The media has been hounding us, and I feel deep in my
heart that the media, particularly the tabloids, and the talk shows who are exploiting those beauty pageant videos, are murdering this little --
this sweet little girl again and again and again. Every time I see one of those videos of her prancing across the stage in her adorable costume, I
cringe.

And I feel that the message that I am getting -- the under- current of all of this -- is that the media is saying to this collective community -- to
our global village -- in some way she deserved to die.

That, at least, is a message that I am getting: She deserved to die because she was too beautiful. She deserved to die because she was from an
affluent family.

She deserved to die because she lived an up scale community. She deserved to die because her family taught her gestures which might be
interpreted as sexually suggestive. She deserved to die because she was in beauty pageants.
There's even an implication on some of the talk shows she deserved to die because sometimes she wore lipstick. And to me, that is a
crucification of an innocent victim, and I would really, really like to see it stopped"

Maybe it's not a message maybe it's an explanation/subtle confession

 

[madeleine]

"We wish to commend the Boulder City Council for giving a hearing to Fleet White Jr., who is requesting a special prosecutor in the JonBenet Ramsey murder. We believe that the questions raised about the conduct of the District Attorney, Alex Hunter, in this case demand the most serious consideration.

Our family has been under scrutiny almost from the beginning of this case. Every member of our family has been interrogated and our two sons were required to give fingerprints, handwriting samples and DNA, even though neither of them was aware of the existence of little JonBenet before she was killed.

In the course of the interrogations we became acquainted with Detective Steve Thomas, recently resigned, and his partner, Ron Gossage. We have the highest respect for them.

In July, we returned to Boulder after a year`s absence and were interviewed by prosecutors in the District Attorney`s office. we were not encouraged by the discoveries we made.

The latest "scuttlebutt" that we are receiving is that, indeed, there will be a Grand Jury investigation orchestrated by the District Attorney and that there will be no indictment.

We do not see that prognosis as being beneficial to the hundreds of innocent people who, like ourselves, have been caught in the web of evil surrounding this case.

Good people, wake up. This little girl, JonBenet, did not commit suicide."

BILL MCREYNOLDS,
JANET MCREYNOLDS



To me it sounds familiar.............

 

[madeleine]

Good people, wake up. Use that good southern common sense of yours.

 

[madeleine]

Listen carefully!
I feel that she has been made a scapegoat. Exactly, that she is being punished for the sins of the global village, that people are heaping on her the sins that perhaps they themselves feel. And she's being made a scapegoat.
She deserved to die because she was too beautiful. She deserved to die because she was from an affluent family.
She deserved to die because she lived an up scale community. She deserved to die because her family taught her gestures which might be
interpreted as sexually suggestive. She deserved to die because she was in beauty pageants.Victory!
If anyone wanted to harm the Ramsey's the best time would be at Christmas.
Good people, wake up.
This little girl, JonBenet, did not commit suicide.
Use that good southern common sense of yours.

 

[MurriFlower]

These questions stem from both Turtle's and DeeDee's posts above: Is Mrs. Santa Southern? Is she aggressive?

Are Arkansas and Georgia "Southern"??

 

[MurriFlower]

Ah. Thank you for the explanation of "script," as used here.

Before I knew that, I read the note aloud a few times (as would be a regular part of analyzing it formally).

My impression was that it was not formulated as anything other than a written communication. When someone writes something to be read or spoken, they have their "spoken" voice in their heads. The formulation may not end up being perfect for spoken delivery, but the phrasing, transitions, etc., are closer.

Unless that person is a playwright. Then they would have the character's voice in their heads.

 

[DeeDee249]

I really see no link at all between the words "use that good old Southern common sense" and "Good people, wake up". The word "good" really is not a reason to think they were written by the same person. There is PLENTY to suggest Patsy wrote the note, from the bonus amount (which I doubt the McReynolds knew) to her use of acronyms with periods between the letters.

 

[tapu]

Wow. Thanks for the interview excerpt, Claudi! It was strange to read that because the repetition in it (and a few other features I'll point out) is exactly what I was meaning we would run across in other exemplars of the RN writer's speech or writing. (Of course, that is not conclusive--in case anyone is going to think i mean that, yep, it's Mrs. Santa.)

The other two features which ring of the RN are

--strange phrasing coming from nowhere: "[something] community" (i forget exactly) and "global village"--it's like, huh?, which is the same reaction I had to some of the oddities in the RN.

--error in fairly common word: "crucification"--this may be due to the fact that people do morphemic substitutions like this under stress like public speaking, interview as here.... There's no direct connection to the RN that I can think of right now, but remember how I thought it sounded high school grad with "some college"? That's what this could be, too.

 

[tapu]

Listen carefully!
I feel that she has been made a scapegoat. Exactly, that she is being punished for the sins of the global village, that people are heaping on her the sins that perhaps they themselves feel. And she's being made a scapegoat.
She deserved to die because she was too beautiful. She deserved to die because she was from an affluent family.
She deserved to die because she lived an up scale community. She deserved to die because her family taught her gestures which might be
interpreted as sexually suggestive. She deserved to die because she was in beauty pageants.Victory!
If anyone wanted to harm the Ramsey's the best time would be at Christmas.
Good people, wake up.
This little girl, JonBenet, did not commit suicide.
Use that good southern common sense of yours.

Madeline, I don't fully get the connections you're seeing here. Are you mixing lines from the RN with lines from the interview (maybe with other stuff?)? To make clearer the connections you're suggesting, you might pick up the interview part you think seems like the ransom note, and then clearly identify what part in the RN it is like, and why you think so. For example, I don't understand why "Victory!" appears after the "deserves to die... beauty pageant" line. I would need that explained. Thanks!

 

[tapu]

Unless that person is a playwright. Then they would have the character's voice in their heads.

There's a playwright who is a suspect?? This case amazes me, every new detail I hear!

Is the playwright someone we're already talking about? (a ramsey, a santa...?)


Oh, hey, did you mean--by asking me if ark and geo were southern, that mrs santa is from there and so indeed is southern?

 

[tapu]

Buddha said, on his deathbed:

Do not accept what you hear . . . because it is in accord with your belief. . . .

 

[MurriFlower]

There's a playwright who is a suspect?? This case amazes me, every new detail I hear!

Is the playwright someone we're already talking about? (a ramsey, a santa...?)


Oh, hey, did you mean--by asking me if ark and geo were southern, that mrs santa is from there and so indeed is southern?

Yes to all of the above.

If you have a chance, go and look at the Coincidences thread. But, briefly, DD was not quite right about Mrs Santa. She actually wrote a play (not a novel) about a girl tortured and murdered. The play ("Hey Rube") from the mid-1970's won an award but was never published. It was based on a real murder. When this was discovered after JBR died and she was questioned about it by the media, she recounted the actual murder (rather than her play) and refused to provide a copy. Apparently the cops did get a copy of it though. She wrote several other plays and at least one novel. She wrote under at least two pseudonyms (one may have been a maiden/previously married surname -- she also changed her first name). Her daughter (then 9) and a friend were abducted and the friend sexually molested while her daughter was forced to watch. This was on the exact same date (26 Dec) 22 years previously. The person was never 'discovered'. Under her previous name, she had a son who lived 10 days and died on 26 Dec, exactly 35 years before JBR. She also had a daughter (stillborn?) on 26 July the year following her son's death. Santa Bill was an amateur actor, former university lecturer and he also wrote short stories and poetry. He was obsessed with JBR and he also had a wooden harp on which he carved the names of dead children he had known (at least one of whom had been murdered). Their son had spent some time in jail for 'kidnapping' which was apparently more correctly described as extortion. I could go on.............

 

[DeeDee249]

Creepy. The whole family is creepy.

 

[ziggy]

ruh roh tapu...welcome to getting sucked into the JonBenet case! This was THEE case that got me interested in who done it online, the forums and going to law school. If you get seriously interested I've got some archived stuff and good links for both sides. I started out pretty RDI but over the years, and especially since we've seen how brazen perps will be now (back then an intruder in the home, molesting, killing - very unheard of) I think IDI is possible. The weirdos involved in this case are endless.

I'm leaning towards genteel (sp?) male trying to sound tough, but how accurate would the writing style analysis really be if the person was trying to use phrases that he/she had heard in movies; more like a copycat then the real person?

It's a very confusing note for sure and SBTC is still a big giant mystery.

 

[madeleine]

Madeline, I don't fully get the connections you're seeing here. Are you mixing lines from the RN with lines from the interview (maybe with other stuff?)? To make clearer the connections you're suggesting, you might pick up the interview part you think seems like the ransom note, and then clearly identify what part in the RN it is like, and why you think so. For example, I don't understand why "Victory!" appears after the "deserves to die... beauty pageant" line. I would need that explained. Thanks!

It was just an exercise.A game.Just like the RN is.IMO

 

[madeleine]

I really see no link at all between the words "use that good old Southern common sense" and "Good people, wake up". The word "good" really is not a reason to think they were written by the same person.

That wasn't the point.It's not the use of the word "good" that got my attention.It's everything about what and how JMcR says,it sounds like a game to me and sometimes like an evil subtle confession.
To me it sounds more like good people (sarcasm?),wake up,the killer is right under your noses,haha. Use that good southern common sense of yours-sounds also like sarcasm to me .

 

[claudicici]

Here's a snippet of Susan Stine's writing when she pretended to be Mark Beckner :

"Steve, I know we've had our differences in the past, but I want you to know I'm behind you all the way in this B.S. lawsuit the Ramseys filed, as are others here. I'm sure (Ramsey attorney Lin) Wood is bluffing. . . . Call me and let me know what I can do to help. Remember: truth is on our side. (Signed) Mark."

B.S...... both in caps and followed with dots....S.B.T.C. ?