The birefrigent material could have been fingernail polish ...

[Maxi]

Very interesting about nail polish containing cellulose.

ST said that the fragment of cellulose was so small that they couldn't determine its source. Why he thought it was most likely from the stick, I can't imagine. I've always thought the scrape to her hymen was not what I'd expect to see from an object penetration, particularly with a broken stick. I'd have expected to see a perforation of the hymen.

 

[popcorn]

Nail polish doesn't contain cellulose, it has nitrocellulose, a bird of a different feather. One is organic and one is a synthetic chemical compound, the difference would be easily distingushable by magnification.

http://heritage.dupont.com/floater/fl_nitrocellulose/floater.shtml

 

[BlueCrab]

Nail polish doesn't contain cellulose, it has nitrocellulose, a bird of a different feather. One is organic and one is a synthetic chemical compound, the difference would be easily distingushable by magnification.

http://heritage.dupont.com/floater/fl_nitrocellulose/floater.shtml

Nitrocellulose is the explosive version of cellulose, but which can also be made into non-explosive products. All cellulose is organic in origin.

JMO

 

[delaney]

This is a quote from Wecht on the birefringent material
p. 97
"
at the same location on the vaginal wall, meyer also had found "birefringent material. that phrase referred to a substance that appeared under the microscope when exposed to polarized light and obsereved through a blue prism. such material commonly contained silica, a component in lubricants such as talcum powder.

In the interviews from the NE book, the LE was all over Patsy trying to pin down which make-up she used on any given day..they keep asking about Clinique or Channel.

My money's on makeup, talcum powder or hand cream!

 

[Ivy]

Since JonBenet was a wetter, I wonder if baby powder or some other kind of powder was ever used on her "diaper area." If it was, maybe that's the source of the birefringent material.

 

[Imon128]

Since JonBenet was a wetter, I wonder if baby powder or some other kind of powder was ever used on her "diaper area." If it was, maybe that's the source of the birefringent material.

Or the Desitin (a diaper rash cream) that Patsy used to treat JonBenet's vaginitis? (per the NE Police Files book) That one still blows my mind...that she'd use Desitin, and external cream from what I recall, to treat vaginitis. Hmmm.

 

[BlueCrab]

Also, please remember that the autopsy report also stated, "There is slight drying artifact of the tip of the tongue."

An artifact is a man-made object. It may or may not tie into the birefringent material found in the vagina.

JMO

 

[tipper]

I think Meyer may be using artifact in its more scientific connotation.

 

[Cherokee]

Maybe Steve Thomas's theory is the closest to the truth after all. And didn't Dr. Krugman say it appeared to be a classic case of "toilet rage"?

But I wonder where the prior abuse fits in. IMO John was molesting JB because I find it so hard to believe he'd actively participate in a cover-up without powerful motivation to protect himself, and if it were truly an accident with no prior abuse to hide, why wouldn't the Ramseys present an accident scenario and call for help?

I know Steve Thomas is reviled by some, and believed by others, but the truth is ... Steve did see ALL of the evidence, including that which we, the general public, have not seen.

I don't want this thread to turn into a for, or against, Steve bashing party, but I do want to emphasize the fact that he has seen all the documents and all the evidence and been privy to things even Lin Wood does not know about ... such as where the DNA-X was found that Mike Kane referred to in his deposition.

Regardless of what one thinks about Steve Thomas, he saw that the Boulder DA was in cahoots with the Ramseys and their lawyers, and he exposed that corruption in his book. Whether he should have written his book can be debated until the cows come home, but it does not change the fact that without the knowledge he provided of the back-room dealings in Boulder, we would never have known the truth of why the Ramsey case was not prosecuted. Steve wrote his book out of frustration at Hunter's giving of evidence to the Ramsey lawyers, and Hunter's refusal to prosecute the case because he was hoping for a plea bargain from the Ramseys which never came.

The RST can say that Steve Thomas sold out and they can crucify him on a cross made of innuendo and lies, but they cannot change one thing ... Steve Thomas saw all of the evidence, and that evidence lead him to believe the Ramseys, particulary Patsy, was guilty of the cover-up of what truly happened to JonBenet, if not the actual injury itself.

Mike Kane saw all of the evidence, as did others in the BPD, and that is why the Ramseys have never been released from under that famous "umbrella of suspicion." Lou Smit, who was suckered in by the Ramsey's show of Christianity and a packing peanut, and whose pride will not let him admit when he is wrong, selectively picked the evidence he wanted to believe to fit an intruder theory that is laughable at best, and deceitful at worst.

There is a reason the Ramseys hate Steve Thomas with such a vengeance ... he has seen the evidence and he knows they are guilty. They accepted a settlement rather than take him to court and prevent his book from being sold again. What does that tell you? They are afraid of Steve's testimony from the witness stand. They only went as far as they dared to try to shut him up. When push came to shove, they folded rather than have the truth come out in a court of law.




IMO

 

[Charlie]

Since JonBenet was a wetter, I wonder if baby powder or some other kind of powder was ever used on her "diaper area." If it was, maybe that's the source of the birefringent material.

I'd imagine talcum power was used around JBR private areas to prevent chaffing from the Pullups especially when she wet them.

 

[tipper]

Also, please remember that the autopsy report also stated, "There is slight drying artifact of the tip of the tongue."

An artifact is a man-made object. It may or may not tie into the birefringent material found in the vagina.

JMO

From Eric Harris' autopsy:

http://www.mysterysteps.com/randomnotes/autopsy.htm

…
BACK: Present on the right upper back is a horizontal area of soft tissue indentation with postmortem drying artifact. There is a small pigmented nevus on the right lower quadrant of the back. The anus is intact without any unusual dilatation or trauma.
…

From another website:

Kirschner & Wilson (1996) agree with this assertion, stating also:

"…the ability to evaluate the state of hydration at autopsy is limited… Sunken eyes, depressed fontanelle, and serosal membranes may be indicators of moderate to sever dehydration. Skin turgor is generally not a good indicator in the dead child.

Refrigerated bodies develop significant postmortem drying artifact, which may mimic dehydration when a small infant is left refrigerated overnight."

 

[Charlie]

I wonder if the Coroner during the autopsy when upon noticing the sticky residue on JBRs hands would have taken a sample to test and determine what it might have been?

 

[tipper]

I wonder if the Coroner during the autopsy when upon noticing the sticky residue on JBRs hands would have taken a sample to test and determine what it might have been?

What sticky residue?

 

[Imon128]

The autopsy report didn't mention a sticky residue found on JB's hands, at least that I recall. Does anybody remember reading about it in the autopsy?

 

[Cherokee]

I wonder if the Coroner during the autopsy when upon noticing the sticky residue on JBRs hands would have taken a sample to test and determine what it might have been?

I have been corrected, Charlie. I associated a sticky residue with the fact the animal hairs were found on JBR's hands. I thought it was in the autopsy report, but apparently it is not. If animal hairs were found it indicates some type of adhesive quality to the hands.

Under questioning, Patsy said she did not know the last time JBR bathed, so admittedly, JBR's hands could have been a respository for many unknown materials.

I have a cat. Its hairs will cling to many surfaces, mainly clothing a furniture, but the hairs DO NOT stick indefinitely to the interior surfaces of our hands. The oils (and hopefully cleanliness) prevent that from happening.

Something kept those hairs attached to JBR's hands even through the moving of her body several times and in the coldness of death. The inference is that something sticky was on JBR's hands, but of course that is an assumption ... and we all know that is a very dangerous word.



IMO

 

[Toth]

There are no indications whatsoever of any 'sticky substance' on JonBenet's hands nor reason to believe that her hands would be any more sticky than would any other six year old girl's hands.

 

[popcorn]

There is reason to believe her hands would be stickier than other girls her age as the hygiene habits in the home were below normal. Patsy didn't bathe her that night and frankly couldn't remember that last time she washed those tiny hands. As well, she was putting together a craft kit with paper beads at the Whites which likely involved some sort of glue.

AND

PINEAPPLE IS VERY STICKY AND WAS THE LAST THING SHE ATE AND LIKELY TOUCHED.

 

[Barbara]

There's no telling what may have been on JBR's hands. We must keep in mind that there was little hygiene carried out in that household. IMO, that may also account for her many bladder infections, etc. that kept her at the pediatrician more often than most.

When you have a six year old child for cryin' out loud and you CAN'T REMEMBER the last time they were bathed or washed, that tells me that they were a pretty dirty bunch and the DNA, hairs, etc. could have come from just about anywhere JonBenet had been for the past few days before her death.

 

[Arielle]

Cellulose vs nitrocellulose:

Well, I actually took the time to draw out the differences in my chemical structure drawing program, but I can't seem to post it here. Copy and paste doesn't work. Essentially, cellulose is a naturally occuring chemical compound that is a bicyclic hexose polymer. In other words, it is a long chain of sugar molecules stuck together. Nitrocellulose is a very similar compound where all of the hydrogen atoms in the molecule have been replaces by NO2. This is a flammable solid and an irritant. It is dangerous when dry and must be wetted with isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol to prevent explosion. There are many other cellulose compounds available.

To the person who stated that cellulose is organic and nitrocellulose is man-made: Organic simply means that a compound is composed of carbon and hydrogen atoms and may contain any number of other atoms as well. It does not mean naturally occuring. I hate the term "organic vegetable". In chemical terms, that means that those are the only vegetables made from living matter. The others (the non organic or inorganic) then must be made from rocks! That is what inorganic means. The terms that should be used here are synthetic and natural product. There is no difference between the synthetic and naturallly occuring version of the same compound. That means that sugar refined from sugar cane and sugar that is produced in a chemical reaction in a laboratory are exactly the same thing. There are, however, some materials taht are only synthetic. They are not found naturally occuring. I do not know if there is naturally occuring nitrocellulose or not. But there is natural cellulose (most plants contain it) and there is synthetic cellulose. I would suspect that most consumer products containing cellulose derive it from synthetic sources. It would be cheaper and easier to come by. Only those products that are specialty "organic" items would have cellulose derived from natural sources.

How this relates to the birefringent material in the crime, I do not know. As a chemist, I wanted to explain this bit though.

 

[Blazeboy3]

On 01-14-2004 Maxi said:
>A more likely possibility, imo, is that Patsy herself inflicted the scrape on JBR's hymen with her fingernails. Given the type of injury, their shallow position within the vaginal vault, and the position of a young child's hymen, I think they could have been inflicted by a too vigorous wiping of a wiggling child.<

Then Why_Nutt said:
>I can agree with that theory. The entire pedophile-intruder theory ignores that most important word: "shallow." The injury just barely grazed JonBenet's interior. How could that possibly be if someone was intent on probing her for pleasure? It is that very shallowness which, in my opinion, is at the heart of any "gentle molestation" claim. If the abrasion represents a graze from a fingernail, then, of course, the birefrigent material may be a flake from nail polish. This makes sense. A pedophile rooting around in JonBenet's underwear, leaving DNA on her panties but not on her genitalia, and managing to abrade her inside while leaving not a scratch on her pubic area or labia, does not make sense.<

Maxi and Why_Nutt have opened my eyes to a different perspective on what might have really happened to JonBenet.

Without a doubt Patsy Ramsey wrote the ransom note. The small piece of duct tape over JBR’s mouth did not have saliva or mouth/teeth prints on it and the cords around JBR’s wrists were loose. Competent LE (including the FBI) and knowlegeable forum posters know the crime scene was staged. There was an attempt to cover-up what really happened to JonBenet.

Even though I believe the Ramseys, particulary Patsy, were involved in JBR’s death and subsequent cover-up, it was always hard for me to fathom any of the Ramseys molesting JBR (even slightly) with a broken paintbrush. That part has probably kept many people from believing in Ramsey guilt.

After reading the above posts by Maxi and Why_Nutt, I suddenly realized the “molestation with the paintbrush” did not necessarily happen. It is conjecture, not proven fact. Because there was a miniscule amount of birefrigent material found in JBR’s vagina, it was theorized by some, and ASSUMED by others, that the birefrigent flake came from a paintbrush. That is not necessarily true. Why_Nutt is right that it could have come from fingernail polish.

Let’s look at a scenario that fits all of the evidence available to us.

The Ramseys arrive home on Christmas night. Burke says JBR was awake and went up the stairs on her own. She walks through the kitchen ahead of her parents who are busy with other things. She sees a bowl of pineapple on the table and since she had not eaten much at the White’s house, she grabs a couple of pieces with her hands and pops them in her mouth.

Neither John nor Patsy see her do this, and so do not know that pineapple will later be found in JBR’s stomach. JBR's grabbing and eating the pineapple would explain the sticky residue found on her hands during the autopsy.

Eventually, JBR is put to bed, and Patsy (still in the clothes she wore to the White’s) is in a hurry to finish packing and get to bed since they are leaving early in the morning. JBR has been put to bed in the red top she wore to the White’s along with thermal leggings because Patsy can't find JBR's pajamas. Patsy also puts JBR in a pull-up with over-sized panties in case JBR has a night-time accident.

As we all know, the photos of the White’s Christmas party have never been released, and there is a reason. It is my belief they show JBR wearing the red top. When first questioned, Patsy said JBR wore the red top to the White’s Christmas party, but later, she changed her story and said JBR wore a white top. Patsy had to change her story because JBR was found in the white top, and she and John said JBR was asleep when they got home.

Before Patsy goes to bed, she decides to get JBR up to go to the bathroom in to keep her dry for the morning. She goes to JBR’s room and tries to rouse the sleeping JBR. As Nedra said, JBR did not like being wakened and taken out of bed, and she may have fought Patsy. Patsy half drags a reluctant and fussy JBR to the bathroom. There Patsy discovers that JBR has already wet her pull-ups, and she starts to undress JBR to clean her up. There is no urine on JBR’s bed sheets as the pull-ups caught it all.

Patsy sets JBR on the toilet, and JBR is whining and struggling to get free and back to bed. Patsy, who is tired and feeling pressured, is trying to pull off JBR’s leggings, her oversize panties and her wet pull-up in order to change her. Patsy is getting very exasperated with JBR’s non-cooperation. She tries to wipe JBR’s bottom as JBR struggles to get down from the potty. Because JBR’s is squirming, Patsy’s fingernail catches part of the interior of JBR’s vagina as she wipes JBR. JBR yells and begins to cry, “You hurt me.” JBR furiously starts trying to get away from Patsy.

Patsy grabs hold of JBR’s red shirt top (with her right hand) to gain control of JBR and to pull her close to calm her down. By this time, a completely irrational and exhausted JBR is struggling and pulling with all her might against her mother in a test of wills. As JBR pulls away, Patsy tightens her grip on the shirt top with JBR’s full weight going against her. Patsy is also trying to get hold of JBR with her left hand, but JBR is flailing at her. Somehow during the struggle, Patsy loses her grip on JBR and with opposite motion, JBR is flung away from Patsy and hits her head on a hard porcelain surface.

Patsy watches horrified as JBR lies still. She grabs JBR up in her arms, and rocks and moans and prays that JBR will be all right. Patsy still has on the rings she wore to the White’s dinner party, and as she holds JBR close, the rings of one hand make a mark on JBR’s lower right face and the rings of her other hand make marks on JBR’s back. JBR doesn’t respond, and Patsy thinks she is dead. Immediately, in her hysterical state, Patsy thinks she will be charged with JBR’s murder (even unintentional manslaughter) and she is afraid she will lose Burke and her family. What to do?

In her panic, Patsy begins the cover-up. She finishes removing the red top from JBR, balling it up near the sink (where it was found later), and puts JBR in a white top (the one JBR wanted to wear to the White's). She cleans JBR including wiping her legs for urine. Patsy has already removed JBR’s wet pull-up, so she puts the oversize, fresh-out-of-the-package panties (that JBR wore over her pull-ups) back on JBR. She decides to stage a fake kidnapping that went bad, but before she can write the ransom note, she must do something with JBR’s body.

Patsy gets a blanket from the dryer upstairs and carries JBR down stairs to the room they call “the wine cellar.” It is very secluded and hard to find. It’s the one place she can think of that neither Burke, nor anyone else, might accidentally find JBR before the police do. She realizes she has to do more than write a ransom note, and Patsy thinks to construct a ligature of some sort. In her mind, it will point to an intruder AND will also remove any strangulation marks that might show up because of her grip on JBR’s shirt during the struggle.

Patsy is now in a semi-state of shock, and on autopilot. She breaks one of her paintbrushes and finds some cord that JBR had removed from some doll packaging. Patsy knows a few knots from sailing and even more knots from when she did macrame. She ties the cord on to the broken paint stick. Some of the fibers from her red top get caught in the ligature, but they are so small, Patsy doesn’t notice. Then she gets behind JBR (so she doesn’t have to see her face) and pulls the ligature tight a couple of times. She is careful not to pull too tight, but then leaves the ligature around JBR’s neck for "evidence" of an intruder. Later post mortem swelling will make the ligature look very tight against JBR’s neck.

By this time JBR has truly died and begun to go into rigor mortis. In an effort to make it look like an intruder had bound a kidnapped JBR, Patsy takes the rest of the cord not used for the ligature and loosely ties it around JBR’s upraised arms. Patsy gets a small piece of duct tape from her paint box that she uses to keep brushes together and puts it over JBR’s mouth. Then she gently places JBR in the blanket, and wraps her lovingly like a “papoose.” Patsy then turns off the light and relatches the door.

Now Patsy must write a ransom note, and this takes up quite a bit of time, especially since she has to wear gloves so as not to leave any fingerprints on the note. After she finally finishes, she places the ransom note on the circular steps. She starts calling for John.

It may be that in Patsy’s panic, she woke up John and told him what happened, and he helped her with some of the staging. Patsy assured him it was an accident, and for his own reasons, whether to keep the family together and have a mom for Burke, or whether Patsy had something on John, he decided to go along with her story.

The whole point of my post is to say that the “molestation with the paint brush” is not a FACT. It could have been caused by Patsy’s fingernail while wiping JBR at the toilet.

Please do not misinterpret what I have said. I do not believe Patsy flew into a rage at JBR because of a bed-wetting incident. I believe there was a struggle between Patsy and JBR in the bathroom, and there was a horrific accident. In Patsy’s terrified and panicked mind, she feared she would lose everything. The image of her “perfect” family and “perfect” world would be lost.

IMO

IMHO...do you really feel=believe this is what happened or what you would LIKE TO HAVE HAPPENED???
Excellent post/theory...but does it FEEL right? ... IMHO... "NOT!" NO WAY NO HOW!!!...it was planned/premeditated by Miss Patsy herself ...IMHO!!!