Cords, Knots, and Strangulation Devices

rashomon said:

Thank you for the welcome back, Dave.

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I have been quite busy with some other projects, but now hope to have more time to be on the JBR forums again.

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This case will never come to rest, despite all efforts of Team Scamsey to keep the truth hidden: that JonBenet was the victim of a domestic homicide.

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otg said:

Part - 1

If I could convince anyone (especially people in law enforcement) of one thing, it is this:

The piece of evidence in JonBenet’s death that everyone keeps referring to as a “garrote” is not a garrote. Let me say that again to make sure at least everyone who reads this knows what I’m saying... There was no “garrote” found on JonBenet’s neck!

There are two types of garrotes. One was an execution device used years ago (beginning in the early 1600’s until the last century) by Spain. It consisted of a seat where the condemned was constrained, and around his neck a metal strap was placed which was attached to a device that tightened it until he was strangled to death. It was not intended to be a quick death -- it was a means of a slow, torturous death. See examples here:
http://diretesydim.es/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/Garrote.JPG
http://www.1947project.com/tags/garrote
http://www.medievality.com/garrotte.html

The other type of garrote is an assassination tool. It has even been issued to American Special Forces members serving in other countries. It was effective because it is small, silent, and deadly (No jokes here, okay?). It consists of a length of usually flexible wire (think piano wire), or less commonly, cord. On either end is either a stick of some sort (or handle) to be held in each hand, a ring for holding on a single finger in each hand, or in some cases a ball that could be grasped in the palms.

Ever see the movie Marathon Man with Dustin Hoffman? In it, his brother (played by Roy Scheider) is some sort of “secret agent”. In one scene, he is attacked by an assassin who uses a garrote. You can see the scene here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asGnaw3vSCU. Be forewarned, it is bloody and violent; but as an added bonus for the ladies, you get to see Scheider doing pushups in his skivvies at the beginning of the clip.

Examples of assassin garrotes can be seen here:
http://www.hayesotoupalik.com/U.S. Clandestine Items.htm (Items 001013 Ring type, and 000894 Stick type)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90927002@N00/2320060516/in/photostream/
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b286/AirkatKnives/Other Knives/Garrote1.jpg

How it is used here:
http://www.donrearic.com/images/garrottev5.jpg


The pictures we have all seen of what was found attached to JonBenet’s neck was not used to strangle her. Think about the mechanics of how that would have been done. The only way it could have been used would be to hold the stick and pull; but then her body would have to at the same time be pushed away to overcome the force of the knot holding the cord. Could that have been the case? Possibly, but not very likely, and certainly not very effectively. Not nearly as effective as simply wrapping the cord one time around the neck and pulling in opposite directions if (and this is very important) if strangulation was the intent.

What I read that some people say is that the stick was used to twist the cord around her neck. Ask yourself this: How would that be done? If the stick on the end of a 17-inch long piece of cord was twisted until it started tightening the loop around the neck, the person would be twisting it for longer than it took Mary Lacy to find out that John Karr was just an oddball kook who had absolutely nothing to do with JonBenet’s death. The other way that the stick could have been used to tighten the cord would be by placing it under the knotted loop around her neck and twisting it like a tourniquet. But then, if that were done, when the stick was removed it would have left the neck loop loose where it had been -- not to mention the fact that the knot around the middle of the stick would have served no purpose and would actually have hindered using it as a tourniquet type device.

Think about this, check out the links, and add your comments. I’ll add more when I have the chance later.

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otg said:

Now consider this. Look at all of the knots on the pieces of cord that were left at the scene. There are four. Three of them are very simple knots, but one is very different. It looks complicated. It looks, it looks... like someone else tied it.

For now though, let’s look at the one knot that was left tied around her wrist. I can’t say with a great deal of certainty from looking at the available photos what each of the knots are, but at least this one (shown in this picture: http://www.acandyrose.com/AnatomyColdCase031.jpg) appears to be a collapsed (or capsized, or spilled) Square Knot (a.k.a. Reef Knot). While the Square Knot is usually prone to collapse, and certainly not as much as its half-witted cousin the Granny Knot, it can. But it can also be tied not as a Square Knot, but as what it ends up as when a Square Knot does collapse -- a Girth Hitch (also known by many other names). Since I can see this knot better than any of the others, I can tell you that that is exactly what it is. It is a Girth Hitch tied over the cord that was looped around the wrist. Here is a demonstration of how to tie it (It is shown with a red and a blue cord so you can determine the two from one another, but in our case the blue cord would be the same cord coming from around the back of the wrist.):
http://www.animatedknots.com/girth/

One more thing of note on this knot is that since, in the autopsy photo, it is loosely tied, that indicates that it was tied this way, and not as a Square Knot which collapsed due to a strain on it. It also means that it wasn’t really tied to completely subdue someone or prevent escape. It can easily be untied or slipped loose.

The knot on the opposite end, 15.5” away is what the coroner called “a double loop knot”. I can’t really tell what the knot may have been when it was originally tied because it is too small in the only photos we have available; but it is not a complicated or sophisticated knot. What is extraordinary about it is the “double loop”. I’m speculating here, but what I think that is is the loop that went around the other wrist which was loosened and removed by John Ramsey when he “discovered” her body in front of Fleet White. I think that because of the way it was tied, he pulled more than enough of the cord through the first part of the knot, and then pulled the cord around her wrist enough to remove it, leaving the excess from that first pull sticking out looking like an extra loop.

I've gotta get some sleep now to get up early for work tomorrow. I'll be back tomorrow with more. Hope I'm not boring anyone. The knots, whether intended or not, are a signature. They are the handwriting of the person who tied them, and are a really important part of what was left behind if we can understand what they are saying.

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UKGuy said:

otg

JonBenet Ramsey Autopsy Report, excerpt


There has been some debate as to what precisely Coroner Meyer means here. He does seem to be putting the asphyxia by strangulation first but recognizes that her head injury played its part, possibly manifesting as either hypoxia or a loss of motor control.

If JonBenet was not strangled by the ligature, how do you reckon this was achieved?

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MurriFlower said:

The stick was used as a handle. The murderer held her down with a foot on her back, and pulled up on ths stick. You can see the outline of a soft soled shoe (basketball shoe??) in the autopsy photo.

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MurriFlower said:

The stick was used as a handle. The murderer held her down with a foot on her back, and pulled up on ths stick. You can see the outline of a soft soled shoe (basketball shoe??) in the autopsy photo.

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SuperDave said:

Show it to me.

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MurriFlower said:

Look for yourself.

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SunnieRN said:

Where did you find the information please.

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MurriFlower said:

Here is the picture that I enhanced slightly by changing the contrast and exposure. If you look carefully on the rhs (around her shoulders) you can see slight bruising with a ripple sole pattern, like the old tennis shoes Dunlop Volleys (don't know if they were sold in the US). There are at least two partial prints overlapping slightly and perhaps a third between her shoulder blades with a different pattern.

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SunnieRN said:

Thank you very much! Would it be possible to see the original also? Thank you again.

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MurriFlower said:

The stick was used as a handle. The murderer held her down with a foot on her back, and pulled up on ths stick. You can see the outline of a soft soled shoe (basketball shoe??) in the autopsy photo.

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MurriFlower said:

http://crimeshots.com/CrimeScene1.html

These are generally clearer than those on ACR.

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Tadpole12 said:

PMPT
reenactment, LS & garotte, (7:31)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOeWMSF62IM&feature=related

rope is double looped around neck
and palm on shoulder is used to create tension as other hand pulls handle.
IDI kneels as he pulls rope, is able to look at JBR's face.

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otg said:

Wow, Tad! Good catch!

I have to admit, I had to watch it a second time before I caught it. I wonder if we should consider that a second source on the "wrapped twice around her neck" comment that came from Arndt on GMA? I wonder too if it was deliberate on the part of the director. I wouldn't think that it just came to the mind of the actor to do that on his own. If it was deliberate, would they really go to that much trouble to make it accurate with information that wasn't public?

So many questions now. What's your take on it (and thanks for pointing it out)?
.

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MurriFlower said:

I'm pretty sure that was a movie, not actual footage of the investigation.

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otg said:

Duh. I know it was a movie, but don't you think it the least bit odd that they would show the actor doubling the loop before putting it on? I'm simply asking the question: Why would they have the actor do what I would consider an unintuitive way of making the ligature (and, before you say it, I'm not saying there is anything intuitive about strangling someone either)?
.

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MurriFlower said:

I'm pretty sure that was a movie, not actual footage of the investigation.

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