Sylvia Likens case and "Hey Rube"

[fr brown]

I bought a reprint of the original reporting by John Dean on the murder of Sylvia Likens in 1965. Whether or not Patsy was aware of Janet McReynolds' play "Hey Rube," she might have been aware of this case because it was apparently a famous one (though I don't remember it).

As is always mentioned, Sylvia was tortured in a basement (as well as other places). Notably, the instigator was the "respectable" mother of the family she was boarding with, who would kick Sylvia in the genitals. Sylvia's school and church and neighboring families were aware that something was amiss. Some half-hearted attempts were made to discover what was going on, but nothing much was done.

That Sylvia and/or her sister didn't attempt to escape, or inform their parents or anyone else was much puzzled about after the fact. (No doubt the girls thought it was hopeless: none of the adults who were suspicious bothered, it seems, to contact the parents or other relatives.) If Janet McReynolds explored this question, it wasn't because she was "blaming the victim."

Several people involved went to prison, some not for very long.

 

[fr brown]

It might be significant that Patsy's psychiatrist after JonBenet's murder was a "mitigation expert" who had been hired by the defense in a big Colorado case in 1995/1996.

In '98 Patsy said that a doctor she was consulting for a bronchial infection arranged an emergency psychiatrist appointment, like the psychiatrist's name was just picked out of a phone book or something. I suppose that could be a true or partially true story. But Patsy seemed not to be able to remember the psychiatrist's name. That seems like play-acting, especially since she had seen this psychiatrist "every day for many days."

I suspect that when Patsy rolled out the name of her new psychiatrist in her '97 interview, it alarmed her defense team.

 

[fr brown]

It might be significant that Patsy's psychiatrist after JonBenet's murder was a "mitigation expert" who had been hired by the defense in a big Colorado case in 1995/1996.

In '98 Patsy said that a doctor she was consulting for a bronchial infection arranged an emergency psychiatrist appointment, like the psychiatrist's name was just picked out of a phone book or something. I suppose that could be a true or partially true story. But Patsy seemed not to be able to remember the psychiatrist's name. That seems like play-acting, especially since she had seen this psychiatrist "every day for many days."

I suspect that when Patsy rolled out the name of her new psychiatrist in her '97 interview, it alarmed her defense team.

Patsy's new, early '97 psychiatrist, Dr. Rebecca Barkhorn, was a mitigation expert for Nathan Dunlap's defense. Barkhorn had at least some forensic experience under her belt at that time. Ellis Armistead, the Ramsey investigator, also worked on Nathan Dunlap's defense. It seems unlikely that these two people found themselves working on the Ramsey case by coincidence. It's possible that Patsy really did have a panic attack when she was being driven by Barbara Fernie to the doctor, but it occurs to me that Patsy had an interest in establishing a (semi-) public record of mental disturbance that could be used to her advantage in court.