UKGuy said:
An obvious motive is to silence JonBenet. If she had been sexually abused prior to her death, and taking into account that she was anticipating a secret visit after xmas, then she was no stranger to subterfuge and keeping secrets. This kind of behaviour in a child victim, even discounting her pageant role, generally indicates some form of innapropriate behaviour. This is further evidenced by her requests to adults to assist her in her toilet hygiene. That by the age of six she did not regard this behaviour as immodest is pertinent!
Neither her parents or brother would have "silence" as a motive for killing JonBenet. She was already a willing participant in the pageant drama, loyal to her parents and already sharing a bed with burke on occassions. For any of the Ramsays to consider the murder of a six-year old child as some kind of "motive" or "solution" is obviously a non-starter, its consequences would be worse than the actions undertaken.
So it falls to considering either an Intruder or family friend/acquaintance as a likely candidate who would have JonBenet's silence as a motive. But the Ramseys would not dissemble or lawyer up for an Intruder, so it appears either a family friend or someone who may have been part of some clandestine Ramsay social scene which also involved JonBenet, and for whom JonBenet had been warned to keep the meetings and visits secret. In effect the motive of silence forms part of a wider conspiracy.
Yes, UKGuy, your analysis shows promise.
Now feel free to correct me if you think I've misunderstood. I'm putting some elements of your suspicions (if I may call them that) into my own words: The secret Santa issue--the guy whom JonBenet was expecting and who sneaked into the house and killed JonBenet, may or may not have appeared in her home that night in the guise of Santa, and could have had his secret arrival communicated to JonBenet by an associate (a co-conspirator, though not a Ramsey?), although he could have himself prearranged his [murderous] rendezvous with JonBenet. But, without getting into distracting and speculative details, the guy who sneaked into the house and killed JonBenet, came there pre-announced (to JonBenet) and snuffed her out to silence her. The Ramseys knowing, or suspecting, the identity and purpose of the perp, chose to remain silent, and may have staged and have very likely been dissembling and lawyering up to hide the ugly truth.
He chose Christmas night as D-night, so he may very well have been dressed as Santa, thinking (rightly or wrongly) that he'd be inconspicuous. Now, I'm thinking out loud; no one reported seeing Santa entering the premises that night, but no one reported seeing anyone other than the Ramseys entering the premises that night. Being dressed as Santa might have helped to endear him to JonBenet, especially if she'd been expecting Santa, and make her more accepting of him?
So, it is not entirely outside the realm of possibility that Santa and JonBenet supped on pineapple that night, and that he didn't kill her right away, but lured her to the basement, and killed her eventually?
If he were dressed in traditional Santa garb, under a greatcoat or the like, in the pockets of which he carried his hat and beard and murder kit, he'd not stick out like a sore thumb to onlookers and he'd not leave red fibers in the window well (assuming that was his point of ingress) or on the window sill or frame, but might have shed some on the duct tape, etc., after having removed his greatcoat and begun acting the part of Santa.
So, which family friend/acquaintance can we point to as a good suspect? Probably someone who had been in the house and knew the layout; maybe someone who was privy to the the Ramseys' travel plans; most likely someone who knew JonBenet and vice versa, and someone who had participated in sexual misconduct with her in the past, or who was acting on behalf of someone who had engaged (possibly with the knowledge of the Ramseys) in such misconduct?
This hypothesis stands a chance of explaining quite a bit of the evidence.