Sissi: it was not brilliant staging, it was a jumbled mess, and the people most surprised that they got away with it probably were the Ramseys themselves.sissi said:If it was staged it wasn't done "poorly" it was brilliant.
He uses a paintbrush, maybe his, maybe Patsy's, and "places" one broken piece back into the tray.
He uses the pad from the house, deposits it in the waste can next to the spiral stairs.
The pen from the house, was used as well, and returned to it's proper receptacle.
Pages were "reportedly" ( never verified) opened to the psalms .
IMO pineapple and spoon could indicate a formal last meal for Jonbenet.
The ransom note bought enough time to either get out of that basement or for the reason of getting a very long head start "getaway"
He lays that note in three pages, open for reading on a stair rung.
He latches the door to the wine cellar.
He leaves nothing behind that is HIS, because it's HIS!
I'm sure there's more that could be added.
Patsy , as noted by LHP was a bit of a slob, no one in that house put things back where they belonged. Who tells the truth? We are now to believe that the entire Ramsey clan has become obsessively neat....putting everything back where it belonged. I'm surprised this perp didn't make the beds before he left. The flashlight wiped clean of prints suggests he didn't miss many details. He had no intention of leaving a part of him behind. Why didn't he put the flashlight back into the drawer , would leaving it out minus prints prove to us how "competent" a felon he was?
His behavior suggests he is detail oriented, obsessive and controlling. When I said ritual, I wasn't suggesting a satanic cult, I was suggesting a person who planned this, fantasized in detail, included rituals that he needed to perform, as in the feeding of pineapple with a silver spoon. Some obsessive people go no further than washing their hands fifteen times a day, not fourteen not sixteen, some take it to a level that takes over their lives and it becomes a disability. Obsession is usually hyphenated to include compulsion, because what would an obsession be if you weren't compelled to do it. It's a part of staying in control, without it there is "fear" of something bad happening, not unlike our childish "step on a crack break your mother's back". Can obsession take one to murder, I doubt it, but an obsessive person would leave clues behind indicating he had this "problem". This killer seemed , beginning with his editing his own ransom note, to fit this picture. Is a serial killer's signature just that, or a needed ritual ? I threw that out because I've often wondered if that's the case.
You wrote that Patsy Ramsey was 'a bit of a slob', relying on LHP's statement that the house was pretty messy every time she arrived.
Patsy was a multimillionaire's wife, and therefore accustomed to other people doing the housework, true.
But does this mean Patsy would not have put back a cap on a felt tip pen? I don't think so.
Remember Patsy was always perfectly groomed, and would never have left the house without perfect make-up. If she had been a true slob, she would not have bothered to put on make-up each time she left the house.
And do you really believe 'ritualistic' killers would have used a mundane household item such as a paintbrush?

These people use ritualistic weapons like swords, daggers, etc.