Patsy Ramsey

[Detective Pinkie]

If IDI, I think that it is possible that the killer exited the house via the butler door and that he left the note on the stairs on his way out as his final act; he laid it out as he did so that it would be immediately noticed by someone going up/down or approaching the stairs. But, really, who knows?
.

I’m familiar with the argument that the Ramseys used the note as some sort of distraction – look over there! This explanation only makes sense if the body had been disposed of. As it is, the discovery of the body in the house turns suspicions towards the Ramseys, and the situation is worsened by the realization that the note was written in the house and with materials from the house. This explanation, on several grounds, is absurd and nonsensical. But, maybe they did it anyway; right?

BTW, I don’t see any signs of shock or panic. This crime seems planned out. Some thought and consideration went into it. Time was taken.
...

AK

Ok, I still don't have as much time as I like but I am going to continue anyway.

Yes thank you everything went fairly successfully today. It is school holidays here and I have 3 children home. I had to get all 4 of us ready to be at Putt Putt golf by 9.30am and then get them to my sister-in-laws so I could be at work by midday. Work 2 hours , back to pick up kids, have lunch, coffee and a gossip. Get home to get eldest ready for soccer practice and cook dinner before we go because we would be back too late to start dinner then. Then there is actually eating dinner, baths, pjs, bed. And I had to squeeze in Game of Thrones.

So the note by the stairs. Are you willing to admit that an intruder leaving the note on the stairs is just as strange as the Ramsey's claiming the note was on the stairs if RDI? Your reason is no better than my reasoning (in my opinion of course). There are plenty of better places to leave it for both sides of the argument.

As to the body and the note being in the same place, well I have already said I don't think that the body was meant to be found there but plans had to change. I also think they didn't realise that the police could trace the paper and pen to them, possibly not even considering the idea at all. The needed a note and writing on a generic notepad would be better than writing on letterhead. A note was better than no note and one on a generic notepad was the best they had available. A pen is a pen is a pen.

As to the explanation being absurd, not as absurd to believe someone sat in that house penning a three page ransom note (with practice pages) after searching for pen and paper, with people asleep upstairs. The chances that intruder took with the possibility of being caught are ridiculous, but maybe not as silly as leaving a ransom note in the same place as the body of the kidnap victim. That act is absolutely redundant but IDI has a problem with the Ramsey's doing the same thing and using their own paper to write the note. I am sure it would have been much easier to go out at 2am and buy some other note paper, or maybe cut letters out of magazines.

You want me and other RDI to consider the possibility that some of the vagueness and inconsistencies in the Ramsey's statements could be down to shock and panic. Well maybe some of problems with RDI could be due to the fact that decisions were made in shock and panic and the fact that they had to make use with what was available at the time. I don't see this as premeditated so it is going to be hard to turn this into a perfect crime when you are working in the heat of the moment and with a time limit.

What exactly makes you think there was no shock or panic involved?

BTW if this is not the appropriate thread, I am happy to move this elsewhere.

 

[Detective Pinkie]

Unfortunately there are no simple RDI explanations. All of them are by necessity complex, and, you’ve touched upon this here. In order to make some sort of sense of the note one needs to believe that they did not expect the police to find the body in the house. But, they called the police.

Of course, one could say that the Ramseys didn’t think that the police would find it, but then one has to wonder exactly what did they think the police would do? Disposing of items demonstrates forensic concern, so we know that must have considered that the police would do something. And, once alerted, police would be all eyes; right?

Anyway, I do have some interest in what you have to say on this, although I fear that it might not be anything new (to me). Hope your busy day went well and you got much accomplished.
...

AK

They had to call the police. They were getting on a plane at 7 o'clock in the morning (around then anyway) then they were flying out to meet the other 2 kids. How were they going to hide Jonbenet's absence? It is less suspicious that they ring the police at about the time they should probably notice she is missing than just go on with their regular lives without her, pretending nothing is wrong. Even if they could find reasonable explanations early on, they do have to report her missing at some point and then people are going to remember that they haven't seen Jonbenet since Christmas or before. That is going to point to their guilt more than just about anything that did happen that night/morning.

I cannot say with any degree of certainty what the Ramseys thought the police would do. I suspect that since the police are investigating a kidnapping that there would not be a thorough search of the house and they were right about that otherwise it wouldn't have been John who found the body. I am assuming that the focus would be on the phone call and trying to assist with getting Jonbenet back and maybe then identifying the kidnappers. So some questions regarding movements and events for that morning and the night before. Maybe a cursory search in Jonbenet's bedroom and any other obvious places. Maybe a search outside and canvassing neighbours for any information.

I have had a lightbulb moment (and maybe it is not original and possibly easily shot down in flames) but here is a possible answer as to why John would insist that all doors were locked and no entry point was identifiable by him. He didn't want the police searching the house for an entry point. "No, no I checked all those, no one got in that I can see. No point looking around because I already did and couldn't see anything".

I know that you are going to argue that then why didn't he say "Oh they did get in through here" and then make sure that it was somewhere away from where he didn't want them searching. Please remember that I only just thought of this and I still need time to think it all through, but forcing an entry point could draw attention to the house (breaking windows, etc) and possibly hard to make look genuine if you don't know what you are doing so that is probably not a good idea.

Leaving doors unlocked for them to come through makes you look like a bad father/husband and maybe like an idiot so we don't want to admit that we did that. What other choice is there? Maybe they had keys, maybe they could pick locks and locked the door behind them when they went.

If that is what happened, I doubt it was that well thought out, he just wanted to discourage the police from looking.

Oh and that has made me think of your response about the butler door. If you think it was unlocked, then why did John think all the doors were locked? Did he just miss that one?

 

[andreww]

I'm not sure what the Ramsey were thinking about the point of entry, however if you notice how quickly the focus was shifted to the housekeeper, perhaps the game plan was to make LE think that the perp had a key. When that didn't pan out they shifted gears and came up with the stupid story that John had locked the broken window earlier in the day.

 

[Anti-K]

Ok, I still don't have as much time as I like but I am going to continue anyway.

Yes thank you everything went fairly successfully today. It is school holidays here and I have 3 children home. I had to get all 4 of us ready to be at Putt Putt golf by 9.30am and then get them to my sister-in-laws so I could be at work by midday. Work 2 hours , back to pick up kids, have lunch, coffee and a gossip. Get home to get eldest ready for soccer practice and cook dinner before we go because we would be back too late to start dinner then. Then there is actually eating dinner, baths, pjs, bed. And I had to squeeze in Game of Thrones.

So the note by the stairs. Are you willing to admit that an intruder leaving the note on the stairs is just as strange as the Ramsey's claiming the note was on the stairs if RDI? Your reason is no better than my reasoning (in my opinion of course). There are plenty of better places to leave it for both sides of the argument.

As to the body and the note being in the same place, well I have already said I don't think that the body was meant to be found there but plans had to change. I also think they didn't realise that the police could trace the paper and pen to them, possibly not even considering the idea at all. The needed a note and writing on a generic notepad would be better than writing on letterhead. A note was better than no note and one on a generic notepad was the best they had available. A pen is a pen is a pen.

As to the explanation being absurd, not as absurd to believe someone sat in that house penning a three page ransom note (with practice pages) after searching for pen and paper, with people asleep upstairs. The chances that intruder took with the possibility of being caught are ridiculous, but maybe not as silly as leaving a ransom note in the same place as the body of the kidnap victim. That act is absolutely redundant but IDI has a problem with the Ramsey's doing the same thing and using their own paper to write the note. I am sure it would have been much easier to go out at 2am and buy some other note paper, or maybe cut letters out of magazines.

You want me and other RDI to consider the possibility that some of the vagueness and inconsistencies in the Ramsey's statements could be down to shock and panic. Well maybe some of problems with RDI could be due to the fact that decisions were made in shock and panic and the fact that they had to make use with what was available at the time. I don't see this as premeditated so it is going to be hard to turn this into a perfect crime when you are working in the heat of the moment and with a time limit.

What exactly makes you think there was no shock or panic involved?

BTW if this is not the appropriate thread, I am happy to move this elsewhere.

I have no problem discussing this on this thread, as long as no one complains.
.

You’ve raised several interesting points, I might miss a few.

First, on shock/panic effecting memory. This happens. But, I think the answer to the perceived vagueness, etc in, for example, Mrs Ramsey’s interview(s) is more complex than that. But, of course, I also think that some of the vagueness, etc is greatly exaggerated (at least, by some).

As to shock/panic in the crime: let’s say things began with the head blow. Panic would see a call for help (ambulance, not police) without any consideration for consequence. Panic is to act without thought. I don’t see anything like this in the crime scene discovered. This goes for IDI theories involving a failed kidnapping – nothing shows a killer who was in a hurry. This crime looks like someone took their time with it.
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Disposing of an earlier draft of the ransom note demonstrates forensic concern. They didn’t want it to be found by investigators. So, why use the notepad to begin with, and why the length and the supposed insider references? One contradicts the other.

Other items supposedly disposed of shows the same forensic concern. But, other items used contradicts that concern. This is another factor that makes all RDI theories complex.

Since it is Christmas, we know that there would have been all sorts of paper (wrapping, etc) and envelopes and cards and cardboard, etc. lying about and it should have been pretty simple to find a scrap of something to jot a quick, “We have your daughter. No cops. Wait for call” onto. This would be consistent with the forensic concern seemingly demonstrated by disposing of items (earlier draft incl.).
...

AK

 

[Anti-K]

They had to call the police. They were getting on a plane at 7 o'clock in the morning (around then anyway) then they were flying out to meet the other 2 kids. How were they going to hide Jonbenet's absence? It is less suspicious that they ring the police at about the time they should probably notice she is missing than just go on with their regular lives without her, pretending nothing is wrong. Even if they could find reasonable explanations early on, they do have to report her missing at some point and then people are going to remember that they haven't seen Jonbenet since Christmas or before. That is going to point to their guilt more than just about anything that did happen that night/morning.

I cannot say with any degree of certainty what the Ramseys thought the police would do. I suspect that since the police are investigating a kidnapping that there would not be a thorough search of the house and they were right about that otherwise it wouldn't have been John who found the body. I am assuming that the focus would be on the phone call and trying to assist with getting Jonbenet back and maybe then identifying the kidnappers. So some questions regarding movements and events for that morning and the night before. Maybe a cursory search in Jonbenet's bedroom and any other obvious places. Maybe a search outside and canvassing neighbours for any information.

I have had a lightbulb moment (and maybe it is not original and possibly easily shot down in flames) but here is a possible answer as to why John would insist that all doors were locked and no entry point was identifiable by him. He didn't want the police searching the house for an entry point. "No, no I checked all those, no one got in that I can see. No point looking around because I already did and couldn't see anything".

I know that you are going to argue that then why didn't he say "Oh they did get in through here" and then make sure that it was somewhere away from where he didn't want them searching. Please remember that I only just thought of this and I still need time to think it all through, but forcing an entry point could draw attention to the house (breaking windows, etc) and possibly hard to make look genuine if you don't know what you are doing so that is probably not a good idea.

Leaving doors unlocked for them to come through makes you look like a bad father/husband and maybe like an idiot so we don't want to admit that we did that. What other choice is there? Maybe they had keys, maybe they could pick locks and locked the door behind them when they went.

If that is what happened, I doubt it was that well thought out, he just wanted to discourage the police from looking.

Oh and that has made me think of your response about the butler door. If you think it was unlocked, then why did John think all the doors were locked? Did he just miss that one?

There should not have been any significant time constraint for the Ramseys.

Threats in the note gave the Ramseys as much time as they would have needed to do whatever they needed to do – don’t call the police, or else!! They simply needed to contact family and make up an excuse for a delay. Later they could explain that jbr had been kidnapped.
.

Why would Mr Ramsey say that all the doors were locked? If RDI, the he wouldn’t say such a thing. Entry/exit points are the first thing one thinks of when wanting to convince others that someone had entered their home.

IIRC, Ramsey later claimed that he hadn’t actually checked ALL the doors, but only those commonly used. But, did he even do that? I don’t know. These moments, if IDI, would have been moments of true panic. Things get missed.
...

AK

 

[andreww]

Why would Mr Ramsey say that all the doors were locked? If RDI, the he wouldn’t say such a thing. Entry/exit points are the first thing one thinks of when wanting to convince others that someone had entered their home.


AK

Who was the first person he pointed a finger at? Did she need an unlocked door? No.

IIRC, Ramsey later claimed that he hadn’t actually checked ALL the doors, but only those commonly used. But, did he even do that? I don’t know. These moments, if IDI, would have been moments of true panic. Things get missed.
...

AK

John checked ALL the doors on the main floor. Why would he go out and check the garage if he'd only checked the commonly used doors?

 

[andreww]

And while we are talking about John checking doors, when exactly did he do this? Does anybody know for sure?

 

[andreww]

IIRC, Ramsey later claimed that he hadn’t actually checked ALL the doors, but only those commonly used. But, did he even do that? I don’t know. These moments, if IDI, would have been moments of true panic. Things get missed.
...

AK

Those Ramsey's change their stories more than most people change their underwear. What, is John's memory getting better as the years pass?

Think about it logically. Why was John checking doors? Obviously to find a point of entry right? I believe there are 6 doors on the main floor, so if you only check three of them you aren't really answering the question that you are trying to solve are you?

I don't believe John ever checked those doors. If it was before the police arrived, he wouldn't have had time, and I don't remember it being said that he did it while the police were there.

 

[CorallaroC]

Those Ramsey's change their stories more than most people change their underwear. What, is John's memory getting better as the years pass?

Think about it logically. Why was John checking doors? Obviously to find a point of entry right? I believe there are 6 doors on the main floor, so if you only check three of them you aren't really answering the question that you are trying to solve are you?

I don't believe John ever checked those doors. If it was before the police arrived, he wouldn't have had time, and I don't remember it being said that he did it while the police were there.

Andreww, thanks for your comments about the "doors were locked" issue. Yes, I have wondered about JR's statements about that matter in particular. Early this morning I read a snip from one of the JR interviews (maybe quotes you provided Andreww, but I was half asleep and dont remember where I saw it!) - it was about JR saying that he also checked the door which leads from the garage to the house - something about boxes being stacked up in front of the door in the garage, so he dashed outside for (less than a minute by JR account) to check that door also. Ok, so that got my attn and reminded me of something I've sorta worried about for years. Back then (1996) many automatic garage door openers were easily hacked - meaning that enterprising home invaders knew the secret to making an electronic garage door open. That then would have made it easier for an intruder to enter the lower level of the house undetected - unless of course, the occupants cant HEAR the open/close of the garage bay doors. In depos, I do recall JR (and maybe PR both) said that the inner door leading from the garage into the house was often left unlocked. OK SO - I would think that JR would have been especially careful to check THAT particular door when he did his "foray" looking for unlocked doors.

I agree that I have seen no mention of JR checking that garage/to/house door after LE arrived.

Long ago, in my mind, I immediately wondered why neither parent expressed ONE WORD - not 1 word that I ever recall reading - about feeling concerned that the "kidnapper(s)" were still in the house, or closeby "monitoring" and that they (the R's) were frightened about it.

I do try to keep an open mind about IDI, but rarely can I find anything about the behavior or statements of the R parents to really convince me.... convince me that even THEY truly believed it was IDI, especially during the early hours the morning they found the note and eventually found JBR's body.

 

[mochii]

I believe another reason for calling the police immediately and (if RDI) not using the time postponing their flight, hiding the body, and so on... was simply TIME. They wanted it to be over and behind them to move forward. Having to carry on the charade for days, weeks of the whereabouts on the missing body would be exhausting. They wanted the nightmare to be over and to pretend it never happened. It's all about time.

 

[icedtea4me]

0603
1 (INAUDIBLE).
2 (MULTIPLE SPEAKERS.)
3 PATSY RAMSEY: I invited them to
4 my home, you know, in that manner, declined. I
5 mean I have tried. To get them here before.
6 TOM HANEY: We have discussed
7 another possible theory, that somebody got in.
8 How about the theory that this was an accident?
9 PATSY RAMSEYINAUDIBLE).
10 TOM HANEY: That somewhere during
11 the night between the time you guys got home,
12 ten-ish, and one, two in the morning, and I am
13 just kind of narrowing it down there because we
14 have a screen and we have partially digested
15 food and things like that between those times
16 was we will say that JonBenet got up and
17 somebody in that house legally lawfully in that
18 house, wasn't the three of you also happened to
19 be up or get up because she makes a noise, and
20 there is some discussion or something happens,
21 there is an accident, somebody--
22 PATSY RAMSEY: You're on the wrong
23 path, buddy.
24 TOM HANEY: Somebody accidentally
25 or somebody gets upset over bedwetting, that's
0604
1 one of the things that's been proposed. Okay.
2 PATSY RAMSEYINAUDIBLE) if she
3 got up in the night and ran into somebody, there
4 was somebody there that wasn't supposed to be
5 there. I don't know what transpired after that,
6 whether it was an accident, intentional,
7 premeditated or what not. There was not one of
8 her three family members that were also in that
9 house, period, end of statement.
10 If you want to, you know, keep
11 talking on a dream like this.

"If she got up in the night and ran into somebody, there was somebody there that wasn't supposed to be there. I don't know what transpired after that, whether it was an accident, intentional, premeditated or what not."

Why would Patsy even think it was an accident if it was some random stranger?

"There was not one of her three family members that were also in that house, period, end of statement."

Let's see how this statement is by correcting the verb tense:

"There was not one [of her three family members] that was also in that house, period, end of statement." Or, better yet "There wasn't anyone who was also in that house, period, end of statement."

 

[BoldBear]

If there was a PR moment, this was it. She says more here than she ever wanted to say. For me, this is where she gives everything away.

 

[Aynia]

"If she got up in the night and ran into somebody, there was somebody there that wasn't supposed to be there. I don't know what transpired after that, whether it was an accident, intentional, premeditated or what not."

Why would Patsy even think it was an accident if it was some random stranger?

RSBM
And why would Patsy think it was intentional or premeditated " If she got up in the night and ran into somebody..."?

 

[Anti-K]

0603
1 (INAUDIBLE).
2 (MULTIPLE SPEAKERS.)
3 PATSY RAMSEY: I invited them to
4 my home, you know, in that manner, declined. I
5 mean I have tried. To get them here before.
6 TOM HANEY: We have discussed
7 another possible theory, that somebody got in.
8 How about the theory that this was an accident?
9 PATSY RAMSEYINAUDIBLE).
10 TOM HANEY: That somewhere during
11 the night between the time you guys got home,
12 ten-ish, and one, two in the morning, and I am
13 just kind of narrowing it down there because we
14 have a screen and we have partially digested
15 food and things like that between those times
16 was we will say that JonBenet got up and
17 somebody in that house legally lawfully in that
18 house, wasn't the three of you also happened to
19 be up or get up because she makes a noise, and
20 there is some discussion or something happens,
21 there is an accident, somebody--
22 PATSY RAMSEY: You're on the wrong
23 path, buddy.
24 TOM HANEY: Somebody accidentally
25 or somebody gets upset over bedwetting, that's
0604
1 one of the things that's been proposed. Okay.
2 PATSY RAMSEYINAUDIBLE) if she
3 got up in the night and ran into somebody, there
4 was somebody there that wasn't supposed to be
5 there. I don't know what transpired after that,
6 whether it was an accident, intentional,
7 premeditated or what not. There was not one of
8 her three family members that were also in that
9 house, period, end of statement.
10 If you want to, you know, keep
11 talking on a dream like this.

"If she got up in the night and ran into somebody, there was somebody there that wasn't supposed to be there. I don't know what transpired after that, whether it was an accident, intentional, premeditated or what not."

Why would Patsy even think it was an accident if it was some random stranger?

"There was not one of her three family members that were also in that house, period, end of statement."

Let's see how this statement is by correcting the verb tense:

"There was not one [of her three family members] that was also in that house, period, end of statement." Or, better yet "There wasn't anyone who was also in that house, period, end of statement."

She was responding to Haney’s question, “How about the theory that this was an accident?”
...

AK

 

[Prahasaurus]

They had to call the police. They were getting on a plane at 7 o'clock in the morning (around then anyway) then they were flying out to meet the other 2 kids. How were they going to hide Jonbenet's absence?

Easy: "Sorry, Jonbenet has come down with a terrible flu. We're going to wait 48 hours and then fly, hopefully she will be able to get on a plane by then. So sorry for the inconvenience, will update soon."

Done. NOBODY is going to say later that this was suspicious. They were doing what the kidnappers requested, trying to get the money together while not alerting anyone to what was happening. They had to lie to their family. There were no other options, if they took the ransom note seriously.

This buys them 24 hours to properly stage the crime scene. It's consistent with the ransom note. It gives JR time to go to the bank to better lock in his story that he really believed she was kidnapped. They would have time to dump the body outside the home if necessary. 24 hours is HUGE when previously they only had one night to do everything, under massive stress, without proper lighting, etc.

That entire ransom note was written to give them time. It makes ZERO sense that they just said, "Oh well, even though we believe someone has kidnapped our daughter and told us to say nothing or she dies, we're going to call 911 and then invite the entire neighbourhood over to share our concerns." It's absolutely insane.

Either PR called 911 not knowing JR had killed her daughter (and basically went rogue, something JR never expected), or JR and PR were the worst crime stagers in the history of crime staging. Just completely inept.

As to the entry point, clearly it was meant to be the window with the broken glass. It was partially staged, with a suitcase conveniently located next to the window as an exit point. That's why the doors were locked, the intruder was supposed to have come in the window. But this was foiled when either (1) JR didn't have time to stage the window properly, not expecting PR to call the police (assuming JR acted alone); or (2) JR heard something when the police arrived that forced him to rethink his story. For example, when he showed someone the broken window, someone probably said something like, "Strange, there were no footprints in the frost outside of that window, so I'm sure this can't be the entry point..." Or some other reference as to why the window made no sense. JR needed to think on his feet, so he quickly decided to pretend that window had been broken for months, something that is completely absurd. But otherwise, it would have been so obvious that someone in that house staged the window break in.

 

[spammie]

The Ramsey's wrote a book "Death of Innocence". As for the other point of view, Investigator James Kolar's book is fairly recent and sheds new light on some BDI theories. Steve Thomas, an investigator in the case, wrote "JonBenet & The City of Boulder". Lawrence Schiller wrote "Perfect Murder, Perfect Town". He also made a DVD of the book, which can be rented or viewed online at Netflix or YouTube. And our own SuperSleuth SuperDave wrote his own take on it: "Angel Betrayed". There is a thread here on his book, with more information.

Thanks so much for the information. Spammie

 

[InstantProof]

I believe that they did not move it by the time the police were called ( and there can be several reasons why this happened which I won't go into now) and so planned to move it later. I think that the morning did not go as they expected and being exhausted (you have to admit, if RDI and both were heavily involved in the staging, they have had little to no sleep and would have to be exhausted)

The ransom note writer is concerned about sleep/ exhaustion.

 

[InstantProof]

I'm not sure what the Ramsey were thinking about the point of entry, however if you notice how quickly the focus was shifted to the housekeeper, perhaps the game plan was to make LE think that the perp had a key. When that didn't pan out they shifted gears and came up with the stupid story that John had locked the broken window earlier in the day.

It's been questioned why leave the note on the stairs.... I thought I've read here that the housekeeper had left them a note on the stairs before. I tried to Google for that information but couldn't find anything.

 

[Anti-K]

Easy: "Sorry, Jonbenet has come down with a terrible flu. We're going to wait 48 hours and then fly, hopefully she will be able to get on a plane by then. So sorry for the inconvenience, will update soon."

Done. NOBODY is going to say later that this was suspicious. They were doing what the kidnappers requested, trying to get the money together while not alerting anyone to what was happening. They had to lie to their family. There were no other options, if they took the ransom note seriously.

This buys them 24 hours to properly stage the crime scene. It's consistent with the ransom note. It gives JR time to go to the bank to better lock in his story that he really believed she was kidnapped. They would have time to dump the body outside the home if necessary. 24 hours is HUGE when previously they only had one night to do everything, under massive stress, without proper lighting, etc.

That entire ransom note was written to give them time. It makes ZERO sense that they just said, "Oh well, even though we believe someone has kidnapped our daughter and told us to say nothing or she dies, we're going to call 911 and then invite the entire neighbourhood over to share our concerns." It's absolutely insane.

Either PR called 911 not knowing JR had killed her daughter (and basically went rogue, something JR never expected), or JR and PR were the worst crime stagers in the history of crime staging. Just completely inept.

As to the entry point, clearly it was meant to be the window with the broken glass. It was partially staged, with a suitcase conveniently located next to the window as an exit point. That's why the doors were locked, the intruder was supposed to have come in the window. But this was foiled when either (1) JR didn't have time to stage the window properly, not expecting PR to call the police (assuming JR acted alone); or (2) JR heard something when the police arrived that forced him to rethink his story. For example, when he showed someone the broken window, someone probably said something like, "Strange, there were no footprints in the frost outside of that window, so I'm sure this can't be the entry point..." Or some other reference as to why the window made no sense. JR needed to think on his feet, so he quickly decided to pretend that window had been broken for months, something that is completely absurd. But otherwise, it would have been so obvious that someone in that house staged the window break in.

What you’ve posted here is pretty much Docg’s theory, which falls apart fairly quickly upon examination: by all accounts it was Mr Ramsey’s idea to call 911; AND, there are no accounts in which Mr Ramsey tries to prevent or stall the call.

If Mr Ramsey did this, then all he would have to do to prevent the call is to be present when the note is discovered – very, very easily accomplished. Then he just has to say, “OMG! It says they’ll cut our baby’s head off if we call the police!!!” Problem solved. A stupid person could think of this.

Over the years that he’s been developing this theory Docg always starts out by supposedly (hahaha!) eliminating all possibility of an intruder. He has to do this, and so does anyone else hoping to make a go of this.

If there is no intruder, than the Ramseys did it.

No one would report a kidnapping while the body is in the house (so true), so whoever reported the kidnapping could not have known about the body (so true). This mean Mrs Ramsey is innocent (so true). Burke is eliminated for various reasons. This leaves Mr Ramsey. BUT BOTH RAMSEYS WERE IN ON THE CALL!

If we are going to be intellectually honest we must admit that Mr Ramsey is eliminated by the same logic by which Mrs Ramsey is eliminated: no one would report a kidnapping while the body is in the house (so true). This brings us back to Burke (eliminated for various reasons), leaving us with an intruder.

The truly amusing part of this is that Docg starts out by eliminating all possibility of an intruder, and then creates an argument that ultimately results in an intruder conclusion.

Cool.
...

AK

 

[InstantProof]

Easy: "Sorry, Jonbenet has come down with a terrible flu. We're going to wait 48 hours and then fly, hopefully she will be able to get on a plane by then. So sorry for the inconvenience, will update soon."

Done. NOBODY is going to say later that this was suspicious. They were doing what the kidnappers requested, trying to get the money together while not alerting anyone to what was happening. They had to lie to their family. There were no other options, if they took the ransom note seriously.

This buys them 24 hours to properly stage the crime scene. It's consistent with the ransom note. It gives JR time to go to the bank to better lock in his story that he really believed she was kidnapped. They would have time to dump the body outside the home if necessary. 24 hours is HUGE when previously they only had one night to do everything, under massive stress, without proper lighting, etc.

That entire ransom note was written to give them time. It makes ZERO sense that they just said, "Oh well, even though we believe someone has kidnapped our daughter and told us to say nothing or she dies, we're going to call 911 and then invite the entire neighbourhood over to share our concerns." It's absolutely insane.

Either PR called 911 not knowing JR had killed her daughter (and basically went rogue, something JR never expected), or JR and PR were the worst crime stagers in the history of crime staging. Just completely inept.

As to the entry point, clearly it was meant to be the window with the broken glass. It was partially staged, with a suitcase conveniently located next to the window as an exit point. That's why the doors were locked, the intruder was supposed to have come in the window. But this was foiled when either (1) JR didn't have time to stage the window properly, not expecting PR to call the police (assuming JR acted alone); or (2) JR heard something when the police arrived that forced him to rethink his story. For example, when he showed someone the broken window, someone probably said something like, "Strange, there were no footprints in the frost outside of that window, so I'm sure this can't be the entry point..." Or some other reference as to why the window made no sense. JR needed to think on his feet, so he quickly decided to pretend that window had been broken for months, something that is completely absurd. But otherwise, it would have been so obvious that someone in that house staged the window break in.

My guess is that J&P were staging this together but once J planned to remove the body P called police to prevent this, not caring if it no longer made sense.