Lou Smit

I have always felt that Lou Smit was smarter than many have portrayed him to be and today I found an article which I'd never read before which confirms what I have felt about him:-

Police hostility to suspects is a mistake, [Lou Smit] said.



Instead, Smit said, you want to learn as much as you can about potential suspects. He is so good at building rapport, some of the criminals he's put away write him letters from prison. Smit shared beers in Hong Kong with a murder suspect and took another out to dinner before the man agreed to show him where he had killed a woman.

"I'll hug them, I'll kiss them, whatever it takes," Smit said.

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Link is here

I have never thought that the relationship he built with the Ramseys was unprofessional because I always thought he might be using a softlee, softlee approach. HOWEVER...... I am not impressed with his leaks to a certain Internet junkie who sells to tabloid newspapers and THAT more than anything else makes question his professionalism.

That strategy makes sense.

Unfortunately he met his match.

Jayelles said:

I have always felt that Lou Smit was smarter than many have portrayed him to be and today I found an article which I'd never read before which confirms what I have felt about him:-


Link is here

I have never thought that the relationship he built with the Ramseys was unprofessional because I always thought he might be using a softlee, softlee approach. HOWEVER...... I am not impressed with his leaks to a certain Internet junkie who sells to tabloid newspapers and THAT more than anything else makes question his professionalism.

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Jayelles,

He may have been smart but his intruder theory and sexual device never went anywhere!


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I think it did. Grand Jury did not see fit to charge with a crime.
Amy

dottierainbow said:

Grand Jury did not see fit to charge with a crime.

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Actually, it was Alex Hunter who did not see fit to charge:

"Yet I must report to you that I and my prosecution task force believe we do not have sufficient evidence to warrant the filing of charges against anyone who has been investigated at the present time." Alex Hunter, October 13, 1999

Press release posted here:
http://www.forumsforjustice.org/forums/showthread.php?t=6959&page=2&pp=12

No one knows what the grand jury did or didn't do.

Mebbe we should change the rools. Mebbe IF everyone were allowed to know and see the Grand Jury in action, someone would come forward with MORE info that would let a trial and conviction happen.

JUST the facts maam, as Jack Webb used to say.

Just the BASIC information that is gleaned, could probably leave out names and some specific stuff.

Smit did his best most likely, but perhaps needed a better refined skill, with a psychology major thrown in for good measure.

He earned his reputation as a Fox, but needed more intense training on the method. MOO.

YES you can teach an olde dog NEW tricks, sometimes olde dogs are more perceptive.

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Smit took evidence illegally. He SHOULD have gone to prison for that.

You know what, wouldn't it just be a great advancement to crime solving to be furnished with the entire list of questions that were asked during the Grand Jury.

Wouldn't even have to have the name of the person to whom the question was asked.

Could just insert the name as 'Mr. Citizen' or 'Ms. Citizen'.

Only people who were personally acquainted with the family would most likely know who Mr. Citizen was.

THEN those of us who track a case more closely could determine WHAT vital piece of informative questioning was omitted.

IF IF we could but know the questions that were being asked, folks that had other pertinent information could step forward and MAYBE advance the solving of MURDERS and crime.

This method would keep the breath of life going for the victim. imop.

Color me nuts, or?

I am now wondering what 60% of evidence that Linda Arndt now speaks of as not being known by us, was even covered during the Grand Jury time?

Yep justice continues to be blind, need to take that blindfold off the statue, leave the scale though.

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I agree, Camper!

"Yep justice continues to be blind, need to take that blindfold off the statue"

It's not the blindfold that needs to come off, it's the handcuffs!

SuperDave said:

Smit took evidence illegally. He SHOULD have gone to prison for that.

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Source? This is interesting.

Hunter's motion claimed Smit told him about the items during a January meeting. Smit had quit his contract job as Hunter's special investigator in the Ramsey case in late September 1998.

When he quit after 18 months working for Hunter on the case, Smit said he was disillusioned by law enforcement's focus on John and Patsy Ramsey — the girl's parents — as suspects. He maintained — and still maintains — an intruder entered the Ramsey home and killed JonBenet.

Hunter's motion was filed the same day he claims Smit vowed not to return the materials even if he had to "go to jail."

In his answer to the motion, Smit claimed his contract did not require him to return any information. Court papers filed by Smit also expressed concern that information held by him would be destroyed if he gave it back.

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Wouldn't we love to have seen that initial contract!! It appears that whatever evidence he developed was his to keep...

Steve Thomas stole confidential info by way of making copies too, and Linda Arndt didn't even process reports based on some of her notes...instead she kept them and took them home!

Jayelles, I thought he only talked to her after had already resigned. I think she got a lot of info from Hoffman. He was a member at her forum too.

If Lou Smit was leaking info/evidence to her then why did Lin Wood have to subpeona them?
I just stumbled across this. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0003/20/bp.00.html

"The documents — all filed under secrecy and kept under seal until this week — began flying on Feb. 1, 1999, when Hunter filed for a temporary restraining order and injunction requiring Smit to return a crime-scene video, a compact disc containing "investigation photographs" and items copied onto Smit's home computer. Hunter later obtained the temporary order, but it was dropped when the two signed the agreement."

That IS my source, Seeker. And no, I don't let ST or Arndt off the hook, either.

The Ramsey's concern for appearances certainly served them well when it came to both Smit and Douglas, since I believe that was a BIG factor in what swayed their opinion of the Ramseys. They didn't believe that parents such as these could do such a thing to their own child.

I don't believe it's an act on either of their parts. As far as I can tell, they're both naive and gullible.

If they had been working the case from the inside, befriending the Ramseys in order to get information from them, as they should have done and had done in the past with other suspects (who didn't present such a wholesome appearance) they -- and maybe they alone -- could have solved this case. But they didn't, and that is a travesty of justice. They have failed JonBenet, and they have let the killer go free.

I place at least partial blame on Smit for there not being justice for JonBenet. He should have been yanked off the case at the first hint of impropriety.

His previous investigative techniques had no doubt never been tried on a woman with acting abilities who won the talent award at the Miss America contest of 1977 for her dramatic reading.

I am just guessing. I'm allowed. MOO

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Camper said:

His previous investigative techniques had no doubt never been tried on a woman with acting abilities who won the talent award at the Miss America contest of 1977 for her dramatic reading.

I am just guessing. I'm allowed. MOO

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Given his background, he probably was used to dealing with uneducated, poor perps, not well-educated, wealthy ones. That could be a factor. I can't say for sure.

UKGuy said:

Jayelles,
He may have been smart but his intruder theory and sexual device never went anywhere!

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And Smit competely disregarded the main piece of evidence in this case, the (bogus) ransom note. For obvious reasons of course, because he could not build it into his intruder fantasy. All he ever commented on the RN was that the sum was probably (Mexican?) pesos, not dollars, lol.

rashomon said:

And Smit competely disregarded the main piece of evidence in this case, the (bogus) ransom note. For obvious reasons of course, because he could not build it into his intruder fantasy. All he ever commented on the RN was that the sum was probably (Mexican?) pesos, not dollars, lol.

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Yeah, when his own pals the Rs said it was so important!

Camper said:

His previous investigative techniques had no doubt never been tried on a woman with acting abilities who won the talent award at the Miss America contest of 1977 for her dramatic reading.

I am just guessing. I'm allowed. MOO

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Its a good thing PR never took up mountain climbing, or certainly her knot tieing abilities would've automatically made her guilty of child murder.

Holdontoyourhat said:

Its a good thing PR never took up mountain climbing, or certainly her knot tieing abilities would've automatically made her guilty of child murder.

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My oldest brother was in the Navy, and when he came home after basic training he sat by the hour teaching knots to my other brother, with me a nine year old, sitting alongside being amazed.

Note in some of my collected info on knots, the length of the recommended practice piece of rope, If I am recalling rightly, SuperDave posted the lengths of the pieces of rope around and on JonBenet. I may be remembering funky, but it sounds like the length was around the size of the recommended size for rope practice - someone help me out.

I could not find 'exact' info on what training a navy pilot receives in knot tying. Guys keep up the search. I will be back in August.

Now as follows my morning research for your enjoyment.

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http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=107170&ran=186410

"After joining the Navy in 1940, the Illinois native and first-generation Italian American found himself a POW in Manila a year later when Japan began its conquest of the Philippines.*

Dad had a lot of skills that enabled him to survive," said his son Michael. "He was good with a rope and tying knots. He constructed a hammock in the hell ship that carried them from Bataan.

The upbeat old sailor told stories and tied knots for visitors at Waterside in Norfolk

http://www.hazegray.org/faq/slang2.htm
This link has a HUGE, heck ENORMOUS list of ALL Naval slang terms.* I found enlightening and quite humorous in some terms for thingies. I posted this for general education purposes


http://www.goals.com/vyc/knots/knots.htm
Some Knots for Sailing Applications*

The art of knot tying is known as "Marlinspike." Good sailors take pride in their ability to chose and tie knots. For practice, a section of rope six feet long with a diameter of 1/2" is a good size. Tie each knot several times to make a mental picture of the sequence. With practice you'll be able to tie a knot without thinking about it.*

The above link has a couple of animated knot tying demos, so you watch moving lines aka known as 'the rope' as it is being tied into a knot.

R's were boat people participated in regattas in MI.

Navy pilots were trained in how to handle tangled parachute lines, and I have no doubt were given extensive training in knot tying.* Time constraints for me this morning kept my search rather short. In conclusion, for the R's 'not' to know how to tie 'knots' is 'not' to believed.

Carry on guys.

Flying in to Reagan AP on Saturday. Gonna see some sights.

If the rope length total equals the amount as recommended for knot tying, was the piece from some Navy memorabilia of Johns that he kept from his training? Or whut?

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Here is another fantastic site for KNOTS. I am going to give my 3 pre teen grandsons a book on knots for Christmas and a piece of rope.

Will get one for me too, I can see some artistic adaptations for some thingies I do.

http://www.layhands.com/Knots/Knots_Decorative.htm

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