Linguistics

[Holdontoyourhat]

Just reread some myself.... Hat, the "to the letter" expression seems to me to be meaningfully characteristic. It's an established idiom, but the fact that the writer uses it here more than once makes it more likely to be characteristic of their speech and writing.

I appreciate your effort, believe me. I will be working on the repetition aspect. The 'to the letter' phrase appears only once in the RN, right? The other usage is Leopold and Loeb ransom note. They used the same phrase. I guess for RDI it would simply be a coincidence that this phrase was selected.

Here's my filter so far:

1. A tendency toward repetition,
2. Use of the phrase 'to the letter'
3. Use of the phrase 'so I advise you'
4. Use of the word Victory.

 

[tapu]

By the way, I'm sure you noted this, but the phrase "she dies" is repeated multiple times in a paragraph. Just another example of the writer naturally structuring his/her speech that way. (Especially argumentation. It's a rhetorical device they favor, probably unconsciously.)

Forget "to the letter" if it only appears once. I must have skimmed a post about L&L above. I can't imagine there's any connection! This is not a planned note, and who would recall that from the past?? I suppose it could be looked up but really...?

2 other things I'd been thinking about earlier (before starting to post, when I didn't have any input or feedback from you all):

There are many points in the language of the note that make me think the person is familiar with law/LE, say a police parent in their background; OR, that they read mysteries of the police procedural type. (Modern American ones, not British.) I'm not strong in my conviction on this one, but that's where I see the "I advise" coming from, along with "countermeasures and tactics," and a few other spots. The latter could also point us more in the direction of the intrigue-type books so popular today. Hat, I would expect this kind of language and phrasing to be characteristic of certain other writing samples from the perp.

What was the other thing? Oh! The sheer volume! Presumably this person set out to write a ransom note. As others have pointed out, who writes all this? The length and complexity suggest to me that this person would have a habit of going on and one, verbally and in writing. This person is way too voluble much of the time--something to look for, though not that unusual. In this context, though, it is unusual. Imagine this person writing a real ransom note. I can imagine that it might go the same way! Why wouldn't it?

 

[Holdontoyourhat]

By the way, I'm sure you noted this, but the phrase "she dies" is repeated multiple times in a paragraph. Just another example of the writer naturally structuring his/her speech that way. (Especially argumentation. It's a rhetorical device they favor, probably unconsciously.)

Forget "to the letter" if it only appears once. I must have skimmed a post about L&L above. I can't imagine there's any connection! This is not a planned note, and who would recall that from the past?? I suppose it could be looked up but really...?

2 other things I'd been thinking about earlier (before starting to post, when I didn't have any input or feedback from you all):

There are many points in the language of the note that make me think the person is familiar with law/LE, say a police parent in their background; OR, that they read mysteries of the police procedural type. (Modern American ones, not British.) I'm not strong in my conviction on this one, but that's where I see the "I advise" coming from, along with "countermeasures and tactics," and a few other spots. The latter could also point us more in the direction of the intrigue-type books so popular today. Hat, I would expect this kind of language and phrasing to be characteristic of certain other writing samples from the perp.

What was the other thing? Oh! The sheer volume! Presumably this person set out to write a ransom note. As others have pointed out, who writes all this? The length and complexity suggest to me that this person would have a habit of going on and one, verbally and in writing. This person is way too voluble much of the time--something to look for, though not that unusual. In this context, though, it is unusual. Imagine this person writing a real ransom note. I can imagine that it might go the same way! Why wouldn't it?

Is this a better filter? Does this represent a prediction of other writing samples?

1. Patterns of repetition e.g. early, she dies, John
2. Verbose (wordy, drawn out, with filler?)
3. Victory, victorious, triumph, success, defeat, failure, win, loss.
4. Advise, I advise you, 'take my advice, advisory, advisor
5. The letter, to the letter, the letter of the law
6. Attache
7. Instruction, instruct, instructor
8. Deny, denial, denied
9. Deviation, deviate, deviant, deviated
10. Try to e.g. 'you can try to', or 'if you try to', tried to, trying to
11. Will result in, had resulted in, is resulting in
12. as well as

I like the general characteristics like repetition and verbose because they can be applied regardless of the subject matter. Obviously the subject matter limits the author's choice of words and some are random like you say.

I've kept 'the letter' because I believe 'to the letter' is a fairly distinct phrase that could be applied to LE 'letter of the law', and you suggested a possible LE link. I added 'attache' and 'deny' also for the LE/law aspect.

I added instruction because its used four (4) times in the ransom note in two variants: instructions and instruct.

I'm still thinking there's more key phrases that the author takes with him from one subject to another and we've not really gone over them yet.

 

[tapu]

Well... I feel that only 1 and 2 represent personal styles that would carry over to other speech and writing. And #1 has nothing to do with those specific words listed as examples; it's only the pattern of repetition that indicates a "habit" of speech, if you will. Oh, except for the addressee's name. Though we only have "John" here, I would expect the person to use another person's name (or maybe just the addressee's name) repeatedly in other exemplars.

The LE language may be a pattern, too. I guess my way of looking at it is that no one lexical item (word or phrase) can be taken to indicate any kind of pattern.

 

[tapu]

A couple other things outside of the focus on patterns...

The writer's "breath--as indicated in phrasal and sentence length, as well as propositional length--indicates extreme agitation, even a state of manic excitement and shock. I feel like the writer starts out with a clear intention, but then develops that glazed, intense focus on irrelevant details, as someone might if they were manic, or otherwise extremely agitated.

 

[Holdontoyourhat]

OK how about this:

1. Patterns of repetition.
2. Verbose.
3. Legal language.

 

[tapu]

yeah, afraid so. I share your desire to tease out more characteristic details of the writing.

I will keep this one goal in mind and go over it again. Good night! --tapu

Oh, wait, Hat! The point about the writer's "breath" seeming manic or otherwise overwrought--that may be a pattern rather than just something that has to do with the particular circumstances of the note. I'll see if I can map out the features of "breath" that I think I'm seeing there.

Hey, thanks for the challenge and the fun! tap

 

[claudicici]

I think it's really interesting that Tapu,without knowing much about the case pretty much gave us PR as a potential writer of the RN right away....
Before I started reading here and did not know much of the case I thought the BR theory made sense to me,but now I do think he was too young to could have written the RN.If you google "victory" "fat cat" "foreign faction" together you will get tons of hits for gamer forums (the rest of the hits refer to the JB RN) ,especially "civilization"...that was a very popular game in the 90's....I think it's very interesting that Murry found out the Santa son developed these games...."garotte" is used a lot in the World of Warcraft forums...
I really wished we had writing samples from the Santa family to look at.
I can't find any transcripts of any of the plays Mrs.Claus wrote online.
Also Ziggy mentioned in "the other forum" she doesn't believe the RN was written after the murder and I agree.I can't see anyone be it PR or I to sit down and compose this note after murdering a child.
I feel as if the RN started out as a fantasy,a script if you will and I do agree with HOTYH
that the author was familiar with the L&L RN.....
I also feel that during the second part of the RN the author is getting angry and emotional thinking about JR ( or is it really PR's dad?) and that hate leads to the execution of beautiful little JB.....

 

[madeleine]

I also feel that during the second part of the RN the author is getting angry and emotional thinking about JR ( or is it really PR's dad?) and that hate leads to the execution of beautiful little JB.....

I just had this crazy idea.Is it possible that the RN was written DURING the crime?Not before,not after.Could explain the change of the tone?

 

[MurriFlower]

Hey, everyone! Q I've been meaning to ask: What do people mean when they suggest that this is a "script"? I don't mean what makes you think that; but rather, how do you describe a "script" in the way you're using it? Thanks. (I really didn't read all the stuff above, but I did see that come up several times when scrolling down--and peeking a lil bit...) :blush:

Ok, we've all thought it was a RANSOM NOTE. It has been commented on over the years, that the style sounds odd. The "Listen Carefully", the salutation Victory! S.B.T.C

It just struck me that it wasn't a ransom note as such, but it had been written for someone to read out in a telephone conversation.

That changes a lot of the ideas that people have held over the years. S.B.T.C example is not necessarily a signature, unless it's shorthand for a phrase. Rather, I think it could be something else again. Perhaps to remind someone of something. I was wondering if it was directions for a radio play for example.

 

[tapu]

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.

As for the interesting suggestion that it was written before J-B's death.... I think I've been assuming after, but I shouldn't really. The same emotional state could certainly be attained just before this type of crime as after. I'll have to study that out, in the note. thanks.


Claudi, honey, i laughed at your santa claus comments!--i'm sure they have a legitimate source, but all I could think of was, oh, poor claudi, she's talking about santa and mrs. clause!

 

[tapu]

Below I've quoted excerpts from SuperDave's (SU-per DAVE!!) summary of what FBI profilers have said about the RN. Then I offer my comments.

First, I want to explain further what I said above about "profilers": indeed I think "profiling" (as practiced by the FBI) is unscientific and historically unsuccessful; however, there are subparts of the process, such as linguistic analysis, that I think, used properly by experts in the field, have the potential for revealing information useful in a criminal investigation.

___________________
Roger DePue is the former head of the FBI Behavioral Science Unit. In 2006, he went public with what he had told Alex Hunter in private:

--"The delivery will be exhausting so I advise you to be rested," the note says. Depue called that an unusual instruction. "The statement sounds caring, motherly," tapu: I get no such feel from this statement. (What mother says such a thing using "delivery, exhausting, advise, and rested"?) It makes me think of when the guy with the bomb collar in Erie PA was given directions to go all over the place for further instructions. This kind of statement would make sense to me if that kind of plan is what the writer had in mind.

--The note warns that if the instructions are not carried out precisely, "You will also be denied her remains for proper burial." Depue said. "In my opinion, proper burial is of more concern to a female than to a male," Depue said. "Oh, really? Are you basing that opinion on how different you and your wife feel about it?" WSers, does anyone else here think, as I do, that if we asked bereaved mothers and fathers how they feel about having a proper burial for their child, not many more daddies would say "whatever" than would mommies.

--"The two gentlemen watching over your daughter do not particularly like you so I advise you not to provoke them," the note says. The idea of "gentlemen watching over" has a feminine tone, Depue said. "Watching over" is also a caring concept," he said. That one makes a lot of sense. "two gentlemen," "watching over," do not particularly like," and "provoke" are all figurative language. Specifically it's the device of understatement and is meant to imply exactly the opposite--potential brutality. I don't think it has anything to do with the user's gender. Incidentally, does "watching over" in that sentence make any of you feel like it's a caring concept?


--In Depue's opinion, "The writer is a well-educated, middle-aged female." Agree with age and gender; as for well-educated, seems more like high school plus "some college," although I tend to be shocked regularly at the low literacy of college grads.

Former FBI profiler Clint Van Zandt said that he and several other profilers had studied the note and concluded that "despite threats of violence throughout the note, Van Zandt says, it has a 'softness' suggesting its author was a woman or perhaps a 'genteel man." Seriously, besides looking at the note after you heard that these charlatans thought it sounded "soft," did YOU think it sounded soft? I sure don't.
What I am saying above is not that a woman didn't write it. I just think their reasoning is questionable--not based on a shred of evidence other than their opinions. Conversely, I base my determination of female writer on features like pronoun use--which have been shown to hold true in established research.

I put forth the suggestion that much of what the profilers have to say about the RN can be traced back to their gender and their own preconceived notions of the opposite sex. To me, I can see this note being written by a woman--but not because it sounds "motherly." I think it was written by an aggressive, "alpha-male" type female, who is psychologically powerful and controlling.


Oo, didn't notice this earlier; will have a look.
http://alinguistic.blogspot.com/2007...barbara-j.html

 

[tapu]

gggrrr... great. now i'm all into this, and you guys are out having a beautiful sunny weekend.

 

[turtle]

Tapu--if the writer is an aggressive female who is psychologically controlling and powerful, who would fit that picture?

 

[DeeDee249]

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.

As for the interesting suggestion that it was written before J-B's death.... I think I've been assuming after, but I shouldn't really. The same emotional state could certainly be attained just before this type of crime as after. I'll have to study that out, in the note. thanks.


Claudi, honey, i laughed at your santa claus comments!--i'm sure they have a legitimate source, but all I could think of was, oh, poor claudi, she's talking about santa and mrs. clause!

The RN was intended to be presented as an RN- simple as that. If it was meant to be read (as a script, over the phone for example) there was NO reason to leave it behind on the back stairs. It wasn't accidentally dropped- it was intentionally placed there. If it was meant to be taken out of the house with the victim by the kidnappers, that makes TWO things inexplicably left behind- the victim and the script.
As far as the Santa references- there were two Boulder residents who many feel are potential suspects in this crime- the late Bill McReynolds, who played Santa on a regular basis in the local area. He was present at the family Christmas party on Dec. 23. He is often referred to here as Santa or Santa Bill. His wife, Janet, is often referred to here as "Mrs. Santa". She wrote a novel about a girl who was tortured and killed in a basement years before JB was killed, and her own daughter was kidnapped as a child with a friend, and forced to watch the sexual assault of that friend. No one was ever arrested in that attack and no attacker was ever named. It is unclear how both girls escaped their attacker, but they did.

 

[cynic]

gggrrr... great. now i'm all into this, and you guys are out having a beautiful sunny weekend.

I was wondering if you would be able to find time to comment on the following analysis:

[ame="http://www.forumsforjustice.org/forums/showthread.php?t=6404"]Analysis of the Linguistics and Handwriting in the Ramsey Ransom Note - Forums For Justice[/ame]

 

[tapu]

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

The point I'm making (I think.) is that of course Patsy Ramsey is the most likely writer if she fits the characteristics we're focusing on; however, she is not the only woman that fits the bill. And besides Mrs. Santa, are there other women in the Ramsey's life that might be considered?

All that adds up to reasonable doubt in my book, so I wouldn't be able to conclude from what I've seen that Patsy Ramsey is definitely the writer.

 

[tapu]

I was wondering if you would be able to find time to comment on the following analysis:

Ha! I went there and I see why you wonder if I'd have time. Maybe when I retire....

I am dying to read it, though. I scrolled through and saw that he (?) used the same gender analysis program I did. (Guess I should send his/her posts through it, too!)

The one part I read more closely presented something that I had marked in my study, too: that the complete absence of Jon-Benet's name in the note implies that she is already dead. I don't think this necessarily entails that the writer be the killer or a parent; however.

So, I don't know what to do about that post. I'll try to have at it as soon as I can. Thanks for linking it here!

 

[DeeDee249]

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

The point I'm making (I think.) is that of course Patsy Ramsey is the most likely writer if she fits the characteristics we're focusing on; however, she is not the only woman that fits the bill. And besides Mrs. Santa, are there other women in the Ramsey's life that might be considered?

All that adds up to reasonable doubt in my book, so I wouldn't be able to conclude from what I've seen that Patsy Ramsey is definitely the writer.

I don't think any of the other females in Patsy's life is Southern aside from Patsy's mother, Nedra, who was in at Altanta at the time of the murder, and her two sisters, who also were not in Boulder that night. The other female "suspects" (all cleared by police) , one was her housekeeper LHP, who was not Southern, and was cleared on the basis of DNA samples and her handwriting was deemed not a match. Actually, the only one of everyone tested who could NOT be ruled out as a handwriting match was Patsy Ramsey.

 

[Holdontoyourhat]

Below I've quoted excerpts from SuperDave's (SU-per DAVE!!) summary of what FBI profilers have said about the RN. Then I offer my comments.

First, I want to explain further what I said above about "profilers": indeed I think "profiling" (as practiced by the FBI) is unscientific and historically unsuccessful; however, there are subparts of the process, such as linguistic analysis, that I think, used properly by experts in the field, have the potential for revealing information useful in a criminal investigation.

___________________
Roger DePue is the former head of the FBI Behavioral Science Unit. In 2006, he went public with what he had told Alex Hunter in private:

--"The delivery will be exhausting so I advise you to be rested," the note says. Depue called that an unusual instruction. "The statement sounds caring, motherly," tapu: I get no such feel from this statement. (What mother says such a thing using "delivery, exhausting, advise, and rested"?) It makes me think of when the guy with the bomb collar in Erie PA was given directions to go all over the place for further instructions. This kind of statement would make sense to me if that kind of plan is what the writer had in mind.

--The note warns that if the instructions are not carried out precisely, "You will also be denied her remains for proper burial." Depue said. "In my opinion, proper burial is of more concern to a female than to a male," Depue said. "Oh, really? Are you basing that opinion on how different you and your wife feel about it?" WSers, does anyone else here think, as I do, that if we asked bereaved mothers and fathers how they feel about having a proper burial for their child, not many more daddies would say "whatever" than would mommies.

--"The two gentlemen watching over your daughter do not particularly like you so I advise you not to provoke them," the note says. The idea of "gentlemen watching over" has a feminine tone, Depue said. "Watching over" is also a caring concept," he said. That one makes a lot of sense. "two gentlemen," "watching over," do not particularly like," and "provoke" are all figurative language. Specifically it's the device of understatement and is meant to imply exactly the opposite--potential brutality. I don't think it has anything to do with the user's gender. Incidentally, does "watching over" in that sentence make any of you feel like it's a caring concept?


--In Depue's opinion, "The writer is a well-educated, middle-aged female." Agree with age and gender; as for well-educated, seems more like high school plus "some college," although I tend to be shocked regularly at the low literacy of college grads.

Former FBI profiler Clint Van Zandt said that he and several other profilers had studied the note and concluded that "despite threats of violence throughout the note, Van Zandt says, it has a 'softness' suggesting its author was a woman or perhaps a 'genteel man." Seriously, besides looking at the note after you heard that these charlatans thought it sounded "soft," did YOU think it sounded soft? I sure don't.
What I am saying above is not that a woman didn't write it. I just think their reasoning is questionable--not based on a shred of evidence other than their opinions. Conversely, I base my determination of female writer on features like pronoun use--which have been shown to hold true in established research.

I put forth the suggestion that much of what the profilers have to say about the RN can be traced back to their gender and their own preconceived notions of the opposite sex. To me, I can see this note being written by a woman--but not because it sounds "motherly." I think it was written by an aggressive, "alpha-male" type female, who is psychologically powerful and controlling.


Oo, didn't notice this earlier; will have a look.
http://alinguistic.blogspot.com/2007...barbara-j.html

Wow, this is very good.

Especially the understatement/potential brutality. Thats exactly how I read the ransom note. "Don't particularly like you" is obviously quite the understatement with the threat of beheading a small child just a few sentences away. The concept of beheading a six year old child is globally unique. I'm certainly having problems finding any femininity on this one.

I also thought 'small' foreign faction was a possible understatement. I was not able to see the advantage to this characterization.

Further, the denial of remains for proper burial takes me to the battlegrounds of the world. The whole MIA issue is a high political topic in Vietnam and Korea. This is the only place I know of where 'remains are denied for proper burial'.