My theory of the JonBenét Ramsey murder

[Meara]

..... @BlueMaven 's possibility of the writer bring ESL also comes to mind. The letter seems stilted, old fashioned and overly formal- similar to foreign language classes and textbooks. Then again, Mrs. Ramsey's pageant experience may of featured formal writing classes with olde fashioned syntax.

We're used to seeing PR in the roles of pageant contestant, mother, and socialite and tend to forget she graduated university with honors (the software prohibits the phrase *** laude!) and had a natural gift for writing. Following her pageant experience, she helped build JR's company, eventually serving as Public Relations Manager IIRC, a role that would have required a lot of writing - formal correspondence, press releases, presentations, and so on. She knew how to change the voice in a piece of writing. If she wrote the note, she may have drawn from film or historical examples, incorporating their more formal diction. As I've described elsewhere, there are striking similarities between the Ramsey ransom note and the one written by Leopold and Loeb in 1924. She may have been familiar with it. Richard Loeb grew up on his family's lavish estate/dairy farm complete with castle, which, by the late 1900s was converted into an events venue and family pleasure park called Castle Farms. She and JR very likely took the children there since it's located in Charlelevoix.

I can see the letter being dictated to Mrs. Ramsey by a male. But.... would Mr. Ramsey be able to quickly go "action adventure" in regards to syntax? How many business executives even watched those movies? Or, would Mr. Ramsey most likely fall back to "business memo format- only essential details" when dictating something in panic?

I'd say he was capable. Don't forget, JR was fond of action adventure novels and movies. Remember the movie posters in the basement? He and PR had a drop-down movie screen installed in the ceiling of their bedroom suite and a bookcase full of films on VHS.

 

[gumshoe1]

Hi! I have joined specifically to share my theory about the JonBenét Ramsey offender who I contend was a young male, 18–25, local, possibly a neighbor’s relative, a former service worker, or a peripheral visitor to the house.

I’ve followed the case since 1996, and though I’ve searched widely, I’ve never seen a theory that mirrors mine exactly. What I propose offers a resolution to multiple mysteries:

The Ransom Note

• Extreme length
• Theatrical style and movie clichés
• The oddly specific $118,000 demand
• Handwriting and shakiness
• Word choice (e.g. “attaché”)
• Spelling mistakes
• Mistake about John’s upbringing (he wasn’t Southern)
• Omission of JonBenét’s name

Timing: Christmas night

Method: The garrote and extreme violence
And finally:

• The “cobweb” argument about the basement window

My theory in brief:
The offender was a young, inexperienced male intruder who had a habit of consuming violent material and had developed fantasies of SAing a child. He became fixated on JonBenét after seeing her somewhere in the community (neighborhood, school, pageants)

I believe he had entered the house before Christmas 1996 as part of these fantasies - as these kinds of offenders often escalate their deviant behaviours over time. During those intrusions, he would have become familiar with the layout of the house and potentially overheard John and Patsy discussing John’s $118,000 Christmas bonus, which he later used in the ransom note as both a narcissistic taunting boast (“I heard you”) and as a deliberate misdirection to implicate someone in the Ramseys’ circle.

On Christmas night, which he chose symbolically as a “gift to himself,” he slipped in through the basement window. Arguments about “undisturbed cobwebs” cannot be treated as definitive - spiders rebuild quickly (within hours! Especially a warm window well in winter), also webs can shift naturally, and the observations about them were made after the scene had been disturbed.

Once inside and safely “hidden”, he spent a long time penning the ransom note. A deliberately long time as he savoured the fantasy he was now enacting. The handwriting starts shakily (adrenaline), the penmanship and spelling point to immaturity, and the content mimics Hollywood thrillers (“foreign faction”, “grow a brain”). He used words like “attaché” to sound sophisticated. He mistakenly referenced John as Southern because Patsy was, and he either overheard her speaking or interacted with her briefly. The omission of JonBenét’s name may have simply been because he couldn’t spell it.

The note was ritual fantasy foreplay, not logistics. He may even managed to convince himself that he was there for money, but once he abducted JonBenét from her room and silenced her with duct tape, his cover fell apart and his real motive surfaced quickly. The “kidnap ruse” collapsed and his impulse took over to SA her immediately. The fantasy fuelled assault explains the garrote which was an improvised fetish prop, not professional staging. Also: This extreme level of violence is typical of impulsive young male sex offenders.

The DNA excludes family because it was an outsider who did this - but, one with peripheral access. Likely “the weirdo” in hindsight: a young man on the fringe, perhaps known locally as odd or socially isolated.

That is my theory of who did this and how. I would be looking closely at the young male relatives of neighbors, young male service workers who had visited the house, or possibly someone who fixated on JonBenét through pageants or the community.

I welcome your feedback and critique.

When John yelled out that he found JonBenet and carried JonBenet upstairs, why did Patsy just keep sitting on the couch instead of running to check on JonBenet like everyone else did? If IDI, for all Patsy knew JonBenet was still alive, so why the heck did Patsy not immediately run over to check on JonBenet?

 

[Lebowski]

The idea of demons is mostly based upon one's personal spiritual beliefs. I don't think there is any scientific study to quote, although there is a history in psychiatry of some research to try and explain alleged possession of people undergoing psychiatric care as an explanation for their behavior / distress. Beliefs are Christian based and rooted in studying the Bible.

From what I have researched, those who believe in demons have the belief that they can only enter a home if invited, or if there exists in the home a situation which allows a demon to enter by exploiting those conditions / situations, such as inhabitants engaging in sinful lifestyles, harboring negative emotions such as fear or anger, allowing dark energies in the home, unconfessed sin, immorality, dishonesty or greed and more obvious situations such as practicing witchcraft or other practices rooted in the occult or pagan practices. In these situations it is believed by some that a demon can enter without knowledge of the occupants of the home.

The study of demonology is not a recognized academic discipline, it's mostly religious belief which can be interpreted differently.

Only PR knows what she meant by her statement, and only she made reference to a demon. JR in particular has given many labels to the alleged intruder of which there is scant evidence to prove there was ever an intruder that night, but only PR has used the word "demon". As the Bible describes a demon as a fallen angel or a spiritual entity, as such it is not a physical being. So IMO, given the spiritual and religious beliefs that she held, she was not referring to an individual. She at times seemed to display a sense of remorse, as in when she commented to a friend that, "we didn't mean for this to happen". Seems to imply a sense of guilt. An awareness perhaps that there were dark energies in the Ramsey home? Of course this is all very speculative.

the following is pure speculation by me

not that this case suffers from a shortage of theories, much less sensational ones, but this post makes me wonder if it was an exorcism. or attempted exorcism. etc. regardless of whether one believes in exorcisms or demons, one or both parents might have believed in both, and believed they were purging a demon, and done some or all of what was done to JBR in that belief.

they both seem to have been pretty religious. it would answer the question of how parents could do all this to their child. (maybe they thought it was a necessary evil and/or that JBR would somehow be unaffected by the injuries she suffered while possessed?) it would answer why the parents never turned on each other, if they were both involved and both believed in it.

and the possibility that the SA was done by the paintbrush handle makes me think of the scene in the exorcist where the girl, while possessed, uses a crucifix in a certain way. ... though in the movie the girl does it to herself, and i do not believe JBR did this to herself. neither do i believe in possession, btw. so... not sure whether we can make anything of that that makes sense. ... i will say though that whoever wrote the ransom note was full of movie nonsense, and might have thought, based on having watched the exorcist, that that's something possessed people did. also, even more speculatively, i wonder if the missing piece of the paint brush had been used to make the crossbar for a crucifix. it would need to have been somehow fastened to the one used in the SA, maybe by "lashing" with the cord. ... but still, what's the idea here? someone did the SA with the improvised crucifix to "test" whether she was possessed? i dunno...

again, pure speculation by me

from searching the forum and internet, it looks like the possibility has been raised occasionally over the years, but remains on the fringe. i suppose it posits a lot without direct, specific evidence.

i apologize if anyone finds this post offensive. i am just trying to understand what happened.

 

[CloudedTruth]

the following is pure speculation by me

not that this case suffers from a shortage of theories, much less sensational ones, but this post makes me wonder if it was an exorcism. or attempted exorcism. etc. regardless of whether one believes in exorcisms or demons, one or both parents might have believed in both, and believed they were purging a demon, and done some or all of what was done to JBR in that belief.

they both seem to have been pretty religious. it would answer the question of how parents could do all this to their child. (maybe they thought it was a necessary evil and/or that JBR would somehow be unaffected by the injuries she suffered while possessed?) it would answer why the parents never turned on each other, if they were both involved and both believed in it.

and the possibility that the SA was done by the paintbrush handle makes me think of the scene in the exorcist where the girl, while possessed, uses a crucifix in a certain way. ... though in the movie the girl does it to herself, and i do not believe JBR did this to herself. neither do i believe in possession, btw. so... not sure whether we can make anything of that that makes sense. ... i will say though that whoever wrote the ransom note was full of movie nonsense, and might have thought, based on having watched the exorcist, that that's something possessed people did. also, even more speculatively, i wonder if the missing piece of the paint brush had been used to make the crossbar for a crucifix. it would need to have been somehow fastened to the one used in the SA, maybe by "lashing" with the cord. ... but still, what's the idea here? someone did the SA with the improvised crucifix to "test" whether she was possessed? i dunno...

again, pure speculation by me

from searching the forum and internet, it looks like the possibility has been raised occasionally over the years, but remains on the fringe. i suppose it posits a lot without direct, specific evidence.

i apologize if anyone finds this post offensive. i am just trying to understand what happened.

An interesting theory / suggestion for sure.

JR says he began to explore his relationship with the Bible (pretty sure this isn't the verbiage he used) after the death of his first daughter. PR was definitely into religion and far more into spiritual beliefs IMO than JR was. She believed her remission from cancer was "divine intervention". This seems to have been a catalyst for her becoming very religious.

There has long been rumor and speculation that revolves around a certain aspect of the church they attended. There is a record albeit one has to do some digging to find, of a person in particular who was associated with the church whom PR referred to as the "sexton", and some nefarious activity that was uncovered. Police were involved however his expulsion from the church and his employment there seems to be all that happened to him. Rumors persist about other congregants (no names ever mentioned) who may have been involved in similar activities. The date 12/25 does have ritualistic implications. Would performing an exorcism on that specific date carry the perception of a somehow increased effect? Or was there some other darker, more nefarious ritual being played out?

Notably, 12/25 also has a history in Paganism and in Roman history. Saturnalia was a popular ancient Roman winter festival which celebrated the god Saturn, which used to begin on 12/17 (a date significant to this case) with the sacrifice of pigs. Saturnalia was the lead up to the winter solstice, which began on 12/25 according to the Julian calendar, a day which Romans used to anticipate the coming of the sun by celebrating the Unconquered Sun. And the worship of the sun was indigenous to the Romans. In Malachi 4:2 we have this: "But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings"

It's all very interesting to consider and so full of symbolism which I think PR in particular would have related to.

But........from observations made by the neighbors it is very doubtful that there were others who were in the house that night, let alone a group of folks that one would expect to see performing any sort of rituals. There would have had to at least be someone to perform the exorcism if that's what were happening. Mostly associated with Catholicism which has a definite protocol to follow which includes being evaluated by a doctor to rule out mental illness. Can others outside of the Catholic church perform exorcisms? Yes. In protestantism they refer to it as a "deliverance" ritual. The concept and practice of casting out "sprits" does exist in many faiths / religions, with varying levels of authorization and structure which suggests that it would be a fairly big deal to undertake, especially in secret.

I tend to take the view that PR's comment is more about finding a way to come to terms with what happened that night that somehow absolves accountability and responsibility. The "demon" entered someone who resided in the house and therefore is responsible. Just my opinion of course.

 

[ispywithmylittleeye]

I’m very sorry that i misspelled boogey man lol whatever my phone doesn’t like that way so I guess it was just a scary golf man terrorizing boulder.

To add to your point: let’s also point this out when ppl ask “why the ramseys would keep making movies and doing public appearances about the murder if they committed it?”

Well, bc they must keep the intruder theory going by any means necessary. What’s the alternative to it? The alternative is that THEY did it. So, the Ramseys will throw any (former) friends under the bus, allegedly lie about when scratches appeared on exterior entry points, whatever it takes to plant that seed of doubt in people’s minds.

Otherwise how will they make money?
and making money is what they care about. I believe they chose it over JBR that night. IMO Something went wrong that night that threatened their idyllic facade, and the parents made an attempt to confuse the crime scene and finished the poor girl off. Then desperately tried to convince themselves they did her a favor after the head blow bc she’s with Jesus now in heaven with no more pain. “Victory Saved By The Cross!”

ps if Patsy didn’t read the whole ransom note before calling 911, as she claimed on the call and maintained in the years after… how did she know it was signed “victory SBTC?” Such an odd thing to recite from the rambling note in a moment of panic.

May I add. they had a lot of help from influential people, who I am sure do not want to go down in flames for JR. My guess is there is outside pressures also to keep the fantasy alive. I used to think it was to cover for the person responsible but I think it is two-fold.

 

[Cryptic]

With Catholicism which has a definite protocol to follow which includes being evaluated by a doctor to rule out mental illness. Can others outside of the Catholic church perform exorcisms? Yes. In protestantism they refer to it as a "deliverance" ritual. The concept and practice of casting out "sprits" does exist in many faiths / religions, with varying levels of authorization and structure which suggests that it would be a fairly big deal to undertake, especially in secret.

I agree with your assessment that any kind of exorcism gone bad would be extremely unlikely.

Evidently, the Ramseys attended an Episcopalian Church and a Presbyterian church. Neither of these two main stream Protestant Churches would be fertile ground for any kind of exorcism, much less an improvised one.

As a side note, other Protestant churches, say, Pentecostal based, small independent Baptist, or small non denominational evangelical, the level of authorization to perform an exorcism can be very low and even carrying out improvised / minor exorcisms can be seen as somewhat routine in a few of these churches.

In the end, everything seems to circle around to an internal perpetrator:

- Exorcism gone bad? Ok, distantly possible. Hey, It has happened- right?

But...... the Ramseys were not associated with a church where exorcisms could be almost spontaneous, semi routine, and would not require much authorization. Rather, they attended the polar opposite of such churches.

- Pool, lawn, garage, guy / older teenager, Parade of Homes visitor, handyman or teen helper has brief or distant contact with Jon Benet. He then gets obsessed and returns? It did happen regarding a child kidnapping / murder in San Diego.

But..... no pool, so no pool guy. Lawn guy was deep dived by the police as were handymen. Parade of Homes participation had been several years back. Domestic employee and husband very likely lacked the sophistication to produce the ransom note. Hubby was in poor health could well have lacked the mobility for a "commando" style kidnapping.

- Action Adventure vibes to ransom note just don't sound business executive like. Patsy would likely not have been able to spontaneously respond to hurried instructions regarding the "guyish" writing style and themes.

But..... JR liked watching action adventure flicks, had an elaborate TV set up, (well, for the time) and had a film library of action movies. Patsy was bright and a skilled writer. She could probably catch the thematic style fast and may of seen some of the films.