The ransom note & Patsy Ramsey, letter by letter.

[marie-chantal]

Thanks for posting this, Whaleshark.

Wow, she's annoying! This is why these Christmas letters have such a bad reputation, lol (no offense to anyone who sends Christmas letters).

Are the two oldest children also the children of John and Patsy, or are they Patsy's step-children? She leads off with them, but barely talks about them in comparison to the rest of the family. Interesting. I'd love to know what her relationship with them was like.

Patsy doesn't have a good grasp on punctuation. There are so many places where she needed to insert commas. It's a very chatty type of writing. She's writing like she talks (at least I'm assuming-I've never heard her talk). I say this because people who are good writers know very well that writing and talking are two completely separate skills. The ransom note was also written in this manner. The only difference is in the tone: this Christmas letter reads like a phone conversation with a rather irritating relative, while the ransom letter reads like someone who has seen too many Dirty Harry films.

It's also interesting that she puts unnecessary quotation marks around the phrases, "old looking boat" and "free time". I could understand the quotes regarding the boat if she was quoting John, but I'm not sure why she would quote herself. The unnecessary quotes around the word "friends" is very, very weird. Who was involved with this party? Were they not really her friends? Was it just John who was involved in this party? Why would she add in the word 'friends' if it was just John? It's really odd.

She sure was obsessed with JonBenet's pageant participation. Compare the amount of information she shares about JB with the information that she shares about the rest of the family. She also thought quite a bit about herself. Look at all she's telling us about herself.

She was incredibly passive-aggressive. It just oozes from her writing. I still can't understand "friends". Very, very odd IMO.

 

[Whaleshark]

Yes, the two older children are Patsy's stepchildren.

Do you think this is interesting:

From the Newsletter:
"....seeing the orthodontist in 1997!"

"likely appear in one of the Better Homes & Gardens publications in 1997"

"look forward to seeing you in 1997!"


From the Ransom Note:

"She is safe and unharmed and if you want her to see 1997"
___

6 exclamations in the holiday newsletter; 3 exclamations in the ransom note.

very specific proper and/or southern phrases:

Newsletter:

"John is always on the go travelling hither and yon"....

Ransom note:

"adequate size attache"

"for proper burial"

" two gentlemen watching over your daughter"

"fat cat around"

"Use that good southern common sense of yours"

 

[marie-chantal]

Yes, the two older children are Patsy's stepchildren.

Do you think this is interesting:

From the Newsletter:
"....seeing the orthodontist in 1997!"

"likely appear in one of the Better Homes & Gardens publications in 1997"

"look forward to seeing you in 1997!"


From the Ransom Note:

"She is safe and unharmed and if you want her to see 1997"
___

6 exclamations in the holiday newsletter; 3 exclamations in the ransom note.

very specific proper and/or southern phrases:

Newsletter:

"John is always on the go travelling hither and yon"....

Ransom note:

"adequate size attache"

"for proper burial"

" two gentlemen watching over your daughter"

"fat cat around"

"Use that good southern common sense of yours"

The comment about Burke and the orthodontist is weird. The comment about Better Homes and Garden is not strange IMO, because she's referring to a publication (those are almost always referred to by year), and the "see you in 1997" isn't all that weird since this is a holiday note.

But I do agree-the Burke comment is odd.

In the ransom note, the 1997 comment, the "hither and yon" and the "good southern common sense" are definitely red flags. They're all idiomatic expressions that tell me that the writer is a native speaker. The "hither and yon" and the "good southern..." are really odd. "Hither and yon" tell me that the speaker is using regional phrases and is middle aged; "good southern" tells me that the writer knew quite a bit about John Ramsey.

Do you know if Patsy was ever overheard talking about "good southern common sense"? I might be able to believe that the good southern phrase was written by a non-native speaker, but "hither and yon" would not be used by the same speaker. A foreign-born writer could hold stereotypes of southerners, but they would probably not use any other southern expressions (well, maybe y'all, but that's a really well known expression).

Wouldn't someone who plans a kidnapping have the ransom note already written before they actually abducted the person? Have there ever been kidnappings where a letter was written at the scene of the kidnapping? I can't think of any.

 

[Whaleshark]

I don't think those sentences are odd in her newsletter, but pointing out that the ransom letter happens to have the same phrasing "see....in 1997" that the newsletter does in all those sentences.


The thing about that good southern common sense phrase is that John was not southern, but born in Nebraska, and later lived in and graduated from Michigan. Patsy was southern, born in West Virginia, lived in Atlanta, and they later moved to Colorado. The 'good southern common sense' phrase and the 'fat cat' phrase were inside jokes for them and their family -- Patsy and Nedra (her mother) used to tease John Ramsey with that sentence....


Uh yeah, someone is pretty much going to write a ransom note before they go to a house to kidnap someone.... yep.

 

[marie-chantal]

I don't think those sentences are odd in her newsletter, but pointing out that the ransom letter happens to have the same phrasing "see....in 1997" that the newsletter does in all those sentences.


The thing about that good southern common sense phrase is that John was not southern, but born in Nebraska, and later lived in and graduated from Michigan. Patsy was southern, born in West Virginia, lived in Atlanta, and they later moved to Colorado. The 'good southern common sense' phrase and the 'fat cat' phrase were inside jokes for them and their family -- Patsy and Nedra (her mother) used to tease John Ramsey with that sentence....


Uh yeah, someone is pretty much going to write a ransom note before they go to a house to kidnap someone.... yep.

I don't know anything about John and Patsy. Judging by that note, I assumed that they both were southerners. It doesn't make sense for someone to tell John to use "good southern common sense". I wonder if this was added to the note to make it look like the kidnappers thought they knew John? This might have worked if "hither and yon" hadn't been added to the note. It could also just be the effect of someone who is not thinking clearly and is more concerned with writing this letter as quickly as possible. It's very odd, IMO.

I thought it was really tacky of Patsy to talk about money in her holiday letter, but that's not really a language issue (just a tackiness issue, lol).

Do you know if the Ramseys had big plans for New Year's Eve? She seems hooked on the idea of an upcoming year, and it's strange that it appeared in the ransom note. The more I think about it, the more I'm starting to lean toward someone without an attachment to the new year as just writing, "live to see tomorrow" or something along those lines. Did the ransom note give a deadline? I couldn't see the entire note on the sites where I looked at it.

 

[eileenhawkeye]

I don't know anything about John and Patsy. Judging by that note, I assumed that they both were southerners. It doesn't make sense for someone to tell John to use "good southern common sense". I wonder if this was added to the note to make it look like the kidnappers thought they knew John? This might have worked if "hither and yon" hadn't been added to the note. It could also just be the effect of someone who is not thinking clearly and is more concerned with writing this letter as quickly as possible. It's very odd, IMO.

I thought it was really tacky of Patsy to talk about money in her holiday letter, but that's not really a language issue (just a tackiness issue, lol).

Do you know if the Ramseys had big plans for New Year's Eve? She seems hooked on the idea of an upcoming year, and it's strange that it appeared in the ransom note. The more I think about it, the more I'm starting to lean toward someone without an attachment to the new year as just writing, "live to see tomorrow" or something along those lines. Did the ransom note give a deadline? I couldn't see the entire note on the sites where I looked at it.

They were planning on spending New Years Eve on a cruise.

 

[Whaleshark]

just for clarification - the hither and yon comment was only in the newsletter, but speaks to Patsy's propensity for southern phrasing / idioms.

 

[sandover]

Word by word and line by line analyses are fascinating and helpful, but it can also be helpful to just read the three Christmas letters we have (1995, 1996, 1997) and then the ransom note one after the other. On an intuitive level it is just so clear that the same overheated, exaggerating imagination wrote the ransom note as wrote the Ramsey family Christmas letters.

And the same over-the-top elements in the staging itself are also reflected in the Christmas letters. However one thinks JB got hit over the head to start things off that evening, it's pretty clear that PR was responsible for 80% or more of the staging.

 

[tweezybird]

Sandover, do you have a link to the other letters?
Thanks,

 

[Whaleshark]

John and Patsy Ramsey 1995 Christmas Newsletter

Twas a week before Christmas with a million things to do, And wouldn't you know it, Mom came down with the flu. Fortunately the gifts were all gotten and under the tree, But the Christmas cards didn't make it - as you can well see! So we'll take this opportunity to extend the Holiday Cheer. And be the first to wish you a Healthy & Happy New Year!

We've finally given in to the computerized form letter! What better way to keep the high-tech industry in business!? Speaking of business, John and Access are going great guns. Europe has been successfully conquered with offices in every country except Norway! Mexico & Canada opened too. (Can you believe this grew out of our garage on Northridge?) Anyway, John was rewarded by parent company, Lockheed-Martin, by being elected an office of the company.

All work and no play make John a dull boy, so he leaves plenty of time for the latter. This year John, John Andrew, and Melinda took the crew of the Miss America (our sailing sloop) to victories in the NOOD Races in Chicago and a 4th place division finish of the Chicago-Mackinac Island Race. Seventy-knot winds in the Mac race really made the finish line look pretty good! John Andrew is a freshman at CU here in Boulder, and Melinda is due to complete her Nursing Degree from MCG [Medical College of Georgia] in Augusta next June.

Burke is busy in his third grade year at a new school named High Peaks. It is a Core Knowledge school which accesses high academics and personal achievement. He loves it! He continues with Boy Scouting and the piano. This winter he is the tallest guy on his basketball team. Summer on Charlevoix was spent taking golf and sailing lessons each day. Burke is quite the sailor!

JonBenet too had a busy summer in Charlevoix. She was crowned Little Miss Charlevoix in a pageant in June and spent the rest of the summer riding in convertibles in various home-town parades throughout Michigan. She performed a patriotic tap & song for her talent. She and Burke both won ribbons in several decorated bicycle contests. In October, JonBenet become Little Miss Colorado, she rode on the "Good Ship Lollipop" float during the Boulder Christmas parade. (Grandpa Paugh built the float!) She waved and sang all along the parade route! She also takes piano, violin, and drama classes. Busy little Pre-kindergartener![sic] (Busy Mom hauling her around!)

I continue to have good check-ups at NIH in Bethesda, MD. God has surely blessed me with energy and the ability to return to raising a family. I thank Him every morning when I wake up and see the sunrise reflecting on the Flatirons over Boulder. Please continue to keep us in your prayers.

Hope your Christmas was merry and here's to 1996! By the time you read this we'll be cheering on the Buffs at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas and then on to the Fiesta Bowl in Phoenix! Thanks to everyone who visited us in Colorado or Charlevoix this year. Please come see us in 1996! Love to you all!

The Ramseys

 

[sandover]

Sandover, do you have a link to the other letters?
Thanks,

1995: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-8634.html

I'm running out but couldn't find the 1997 letter on google easily -- maybe someone else has a link...

 

[Whaleshark]

On December 14, 1997, the First United Methodist Church in Boulder, Colorado held a memorial service for JonBenet.
In the program, there was "A Christmas Message from the Ramsey Family." This message was also posted on the Ramsey family's web site.

"Had there been no birth of Christ, there would be no hope of eternal life, and, hence, no hope of ever being with our loved ones again."

__
Ransom Note quote:

"If we monitor you getting the money early, we might call you early to arrange an earlier delivery of the money and hence a earlier delivery pickup of your daughter".
__

On October 12, 2000, the Ramsey's did a webcast interview with Newseum (www.newsuem.org). In the interview, John Ramsey makes the following statement:

"The justice system is a government organization. And hence, should be looked at with some degree of skepticism."

 

[Tadpole12]

1995: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-8634.html

I'm running out but couldn't find the 1997 letter on google easily -- maybe someone else has a link...

1996: http://www.webbsleuths.org/cgi-bin/...mID61&mark=1246&az=previous_topic&archive=yes


Dear Friends & Family,

It's been another busy year at the Ramsey household. Can't believe its almost over and time to start again!
Melinda (24) graduated from Medical College of Georgia and is working in Pediatric ICU at Kennestone Hospital in Atlanta. John Andrew (20) is a Sophomore at the University of Colorado.
Burke is a busy fourth grader where he really shines in math and spelling. He played flag football this fall and is currently on a basketball binge! His little league team was #1. He's lost just about all of his baby teeth, so I'm sure we'll be seeing the orthodontist in 1997!
JonBenet is enjoying her first year in 'real school.' Kindergarten in the Core Knowledge program is fast paced and five full days a week. She has already been moved ahead to first grade math. She continues to enjoy participating in talent and modeling pageants. She was named "America's Royale Tiny Miss" last summer and is Colorado's Little Miss Christmas. Her teacher says she is so outgoing that she will never have trouble delivering an oral book report!
John is always on the go travelling hither and yon. Access recently celebrated its one billion $$ mark in sales, so he's pretty happy! He and his crew were underway in the Port Huron to Mackinac Island yacht race in July, but had to pull out mid way due to lack of wind. (Can you believe that?) But, his real love is the new 'old looking' boat, Grand Season, which he spent months designing.
I spend most of my 'free time' working in the school and doing volunteer work. The Charlevoix house was on the home tour in July and will likely appear in one of the Better Homes & Gardens publications in 1997. On a recent trip to NYC, my friend and I appeared amid the throng of fans on the TODAY show. Al Roker & Bryant actually talked to us and we were on camera for a few fleeting moments!
We are all enjoying continued good health and look forward to seeing you in 1997! One final note ... thank you to all my 'friends' and my dear husband for surprising me with the biggest, most outrageous 40th birthday bash I've ever had! We'll be spending my actual birthday on the Disney Big Red Boat over the new year! Merry Christmas and much love,
The Ramseys

 

[qtc]

"All work and no play make John a dull boy"

isnt that a reference to the shining?

 

[marie-chantal]

"All work and no play make John a dull boy"

isnt that a reference to the shining?

Yes, it is. I think Jack Nicholson's character says it about himself. Kind of a creepy little phrase to put in a holiday letter.

Ugh...her holiday letters are very, very irritating. Honestly, if I received one of these, it would go right into the trash. All I see when I look at these is "me, me, me, me" and "look at my wonderful and perfect family". She was a very insecure, and most likely passive-aggressive woman.

Does anyone else find it distasteful that she refers to how much money her husband's company (and therefore, her husband) is making? This is something that she's very concerned about. Did she grow up without money? I don't really know much about these people. When the case first hit the news in the 90s, I was horrified at the pageant pictures of JonBenet. This was before "Toddlers and Tiaras", so I had no idea that people put their children into pageants. I was really disturbed by it. It just seemed so unhealthy for a child.

The level of intelligence of the writer of the holiday letters and the writer of the ransom note is about the same. There are no misspellings or incorrect word choices, but there are punctuation mistakes in both the holiday letters and the ransom note. Patsy didn't know how to use commas properly, and she uses quotations and capitalization incorrectly. Does someone have a link to the entire ransom note? I couldn't find the whole thing online, but what I did see had the same incorrect use of commas.

 

[cynic]

Yes, it is. I think Jack Nicholson's character says it about himself. Kind of a creepy little phrase to put in a holiday letter.

Ugh...her holiday letters are very, very irritating. Honestly, if I received one of these, it would go right into the trash. All I see when I look at these is "me, me, me, me" and "look at my wonderful and perfect family". She was a very insecure, and most likely passive-aggressive woman.

Does anyone else find it distasteful that she refers to how much money her husband's company (and therefore, her husband) is making? This is something that she's very concerned about. Did she grow up without money? I don't really know much about these people. When the case first hit the news in the 90s, I was horrified at the pageant pictures of JonBenet. This was before "Toddlers and Tiaras", so I had no idea that people put their children into pageants. I was really disturbed by it. It just seemed so unhealthy for a child.

The level of intelligence of the writer of the holiday letters and the writer of the ransom note is about the same. There are no misspellings or incorrect word choices, but there are punctuation mistakes in both the holiday letters and the ransom note. Patsy didn't know how to use commas properly, and she uses quotations and capitalization incorrectly. Does someone have a link to the entire ransom note? I couldn't find the whole thing online, but what I did see had the same incorrect use of commas.

It's available at a number of locations, here is one:
[ame="http://www.forumsforjustice.org/forums/showpost.php?p=190&postcount=1"]Forums For Justice - View Single Post - The Ransom Note: The Ramsey Murder Case[/ame]

You may also be interested in Cherokee's analysis at Forums For Justice:
[ame="http://www.forumsforjustice.org/forums/showthread.php?t=6404"]Analysis of the Linguistics and Handwriting in the Ramsey Ransom Note - Forums For Justice[/ame]

 

[BOESP]

"All work and no play make John a dull boy"

isnt that a reference to the shining?

I've heard the proverb "All work and no play make Jack a dull boy." I don't think the reference in The Shining is original usage. The phrase was used in the South in the 1940s and 1950s but not so much now.

 

[marie-chantal]

I've heard the proverb "All work and no play make Jack a dull boy." I don't think the reference in The Shining is original usage. The phrase was used in the South in the 1940s and 1950s but not so much now.

So it's originally a Southern phrase? That's interesting. Patsy's writing is heavy on the Southern phrases, so this fits right in.

 

[BOESP]

So it's originally a Southern phrase? That's interesting. Patsy's writing is heavy on the Southern phrases, so this fits right in.

No, I don't think it's an original southern phrase. It was (is?) used in the upper and central south in the 1940s and 1950s, maybe even before then. I don't know about it's usage elsewhere.

My best guess would be it came via Elizabethan English but that's an uneducated guess.

Patsy was from West Virginia. That's not really "South." People in the South would consider someone from West Virginia as Appalachian or from the mountains, or as mountain folk/mountain people.

I don't think "hither and yon" is especially southern either. In my region we speak Cumberland Basin Dialect. We would say "here and yonder." This area is most like northern Alabama and northern Georgia as far as dialect.

I think Patsy mostly spoke "affected English."

 

[marie-chantal]

Thank you for the link to the entire letter and the analysis, Cynic. One of the things that the letter writer did that is especially irritating is mix up their personal pronouns. First it's "we", then "I", and on and on. I think the letter was written quickly and the writer was most likely in a panic.

BOESP-thank you for the explanation about the phrases. WV is an area where a southern dialect is spoken; however, I am now learning that Patsy lived in quite a few different parts of the US (GA, MI, CO). I think you're right that her speech was affected, and she probably picked up idiomatic expressions and pronunciations from each of the places she in which she lived, which probably explains the "hither and yon" phrase.

One of the things that jumped out at me when I read the letter was the mention of how the "kidnappers" supposedly respect John's business. Another business mention in a letter from that home-ugh. If Patsy wrote that letter, then this is another example of how she wanted to have that identity associated with her-the wife of a successful businessperson.