S.B.T.C. / Ransom Note Merged

[otto]

Lots of people make their a's and e's like that. I make my a's like that. Biggest similarity I see is in the way he makes his d's.

Most people make a c then draw a line down to meet and close in the c l << 2 strokes.

He seems to draw the c then in 1 stroke draw upwards to complete the stem. I'm not certain that is very common.

I see more differences though. Such as in the slant and spacing.

I however, am no expert.

The only time I've seen guys make their A's like that is when they're feminine (or gay) or architects adhering to a style. I think it's a girl think to write fancy A's.

 

[englishleigh]

I think not only the handwriting but the rambling nature of the writing in the yearbook entry compares to the rambling ransom note. The way it just goes on and on and on and off on tangents and everything.

I'm still on the fence but I'm starting to lean towards this being the guy, big time.

 

[Shelayne]

Lots of people make their a's and e's like that. I make my a's like that. Biggest similarity I see is in the way he makes his d's.

Most people make a c then draw a line down to meet and close in the c l << 2 strokes.

He seems to draw the c then in 1 stroke draw upwards to complete the stem. I'm not certain that is very common.

I see more differences though. Such as in the slant and spacing.

I however, am no expert.

You are right. The d's look nearly identical. Weird.

It does seem that he plays around with a lot of different writing styles.

 

[otto]

I think not only the handwriting but the rambling nature of the writing in the yearbook entry compares to the rambling ransom note. The way it just goes on and on and on and off on tangents and everything.

I'm still on the fence but I'm starting to lean towards this being the guy, big time.

I'd probably freak if one person took up a whole page in my yearbook with great big sloppy writing. Where will everyone else sign? I hope more people check their yearbooks to see if he used that phrase more than once.

 

[BBB167893]

"I see more differences though. Such as in the slant and spacing."

I agree. I talked to someone with some expertise in this area. She told me that Patsy's writing is stronger than this.

"I think not only the handwriting but the rambling nature of the writing in the yearbook entry compares to the rambling ransom note. The way it just goes on and on and on and off on tangents and everything."

But why does it sound like her? All of her little phrases and such?

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

I just saw it too! Frame that with Victory! and you have to really start to wonder.

That's exactly what I was thinking! Victory meaning that he has finally conquered? Creepy.

 

[Elberethe]

The only time I've seen guys make their A's like that is when they're feminine (or gay) or architects adhering to a style. I think it's a girl think to write fancy A's.

Just to clarify I'm a girl. I don't know about the suspect tho.

 

[ragland]

since i live in NW alabama its all over our news here about the yearbook, they keep interviewing anyone and everyone that ever knew him here.....they showed the year book and the lady that had it said he was quite normal and she was surprised to hear he was saying he did this....

then later on they go to a couple of women that state they lived in hamilton where him and the young wife (first one i think) lived and that they were both weird. theyve caught up with the first wife and shes refusing to let them interview her and runs from the camera. im sure LOTS are looking through yearbooks right now.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

I agree the "a", "b" and "p" and "y" are pretty darn close

The y stands out to me the most. Also the curve at the bottom of the t's and the downward slant in the t crosses.

Very, very similar writing, IMO.

 

[TexMex]

The y stands out to me the most. Very, very similar writing, IMO.

I agree JerseyGirl

Plus he's Southern and folks in his family or community could very well have used some of the phrases that some say point to Patsy.

As for the $118,000...maybe it's not the amount..118,000, perhaps it's a numerology thing...the numbers 1-1-and 8 mean something....a birthday or date of death of a loved one, a Bible verse....

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

TM, I get the feeling about whomever would write a "ransom" note like this that they would get off, so to speak, from playing a game. So the 118,000 could be deliberately written so that the Ramseys knew that this freak was wandering around their home, snooping through their things - further violating his victims.

I am actually very, very shocked by the similarities of the writings. I'm no expert either but they are amazingly close from what I've seen. They do analyze spacing in addition to how someone places their words on lined paper in relation to the lines, size of the letters, size of capitals as compared to lower case, slant, thickness of the top of the letters as compared to the bottoms of the letters ... lots and lots of nuances. Obviously, I cannot say that this is an exact match but I'm much more convinced that this might be the right guy after seeing the writing samples.

 

[BBB167893]

Well, Wolf Blitzer just had a guy on who's an expert who said that there was no match. He said another expert agreed. So, that's two to rule him out. I remind everyone that Patsy was NEVER ruled out.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

Well, Wolf Blitzer just had a guy on who's an expert who said that there was no match.

I don't doubt that you saw that but I won't believe that conclusion until an in-depth analysis is done with a current sample. I see too many similarities to believe that an "expert" would discount a connection that quickly from a sample that is obviously not the author's every day writing style.

 

[LinasK]

Well, Wolf Blitzer just had a guy on who's an expert who said that there was no match. He said another expert agreed. So, that's two to rule him out. I remind everyone that Patsy was NEVER ruled out.

I agree SD, your links show Patsy's exemplars are much closer to the Ransom note than his, although I will concede he makes similar r's. This guy's handwriting has tons of flourish to it.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

That can't possibly be his normal handwriting.

 

[LinasK]

That can't possibly be his normal handwriting.

It would fit with how effiminate he appears!

 

[Woodsman]

For me there glaring dissimilarities in the writing styles. His capital I's are different, as are the way he writes the number 7. Also, if as it appears, Karr has changed his handwriting style over time, it's going to be a nightmare to try and make the connection to him via this medium.


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[OriginalJerseyGirl]

For me there glaring dissimilarities in the writing styles. His capital I's are different, as are the way he writes the number 7. Also, if as it appears, Karr has changed his handwriting style over time, it's going to be a nightmare to try and make the connection to him via this medium.​

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I do agree with that. Just the fact that he HAS experimented with writing styles is interesting though. In any case, I truly believe that there's no way that this can be discounted as John Karr's at this point. Look at the slant of many of the s'. Look at the slant of the l's. The downward slope of the t crosses. Also, look at the last page of the ransom note - the t's on that page vary sometimes from word to word. So there's no saying that the author of that note wasn't trying to disguise his writing also.​

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The SBTC is just crazy - I'm frankly shell-shocked by that.​

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

Well, Wolf Blitzer just had a guy on who's an expert who said that there was no match. He said another expert agreed. So, that's two to rule him out. I remind everyone that Patsy was NEVER ruled out.

It was just stated on Nancy Grace that there was an analyst that said that there was no immediate match or things that jumped out so I am hearing what you're hearing. But one thing I'd like for you to look at is the tails on the p's and the y's. The stroke goes down and often has a slight hook towards the right. That is similar in both writings in spite of the fact that most of us write y's with the slant to the left.

 

[BBB167893]

"I don't doubt that you saw that but I won't believe that conclusion until an in-depth analysis is done with a current sample. I see too many similarities to believe that an "expert" would discount a connection that quickly from a sample that is obviously not the author's every day writing style."

That's fair, JerseyGirl. Fair.

"It was just stated on Nancy Grace that there was an analyst that said that there was no immediate match or things that jumped out so I am hearing what you're hearing."

Okay. Just so no one thinks ol' Dave is nuts!

"But one thing I'd like for you to look at is the tails on the p's and the y's. The stroke goes down and often has a slight hook towards the right. That is similar in both writings in spite of the fact that most of us write y's with the slant to the left."

I did. Still not convinced. I guess you and I will have to wait.

Did anyone go to the links I posted?

"I agree SD, your links show Patsy's exemplars are much closer to the Ransom note than his, although I will concede he makes similar r's. This guy's handwriting has tons of flourish to it."

It's a crazy issue!