Golf club or flashlight or....?

Could something fairly heavy have fallen off a high shelf onto jonbenet's head? So, kolar and experts establish that the headwound came first, she lay there, then the strangulation and jab most likely planned and done immediately one after the other. I think the jab was last and wonder what kolar thinks. Also, i will never believe that any adult thought jonbenet was already dead of the head wound.

txsvicki said:

Could something fairly heavy have fallen off a high shelf onto jonbenet's head?

Click to expand...

IMO, I don't think so...the 'depressed fracture' (the oval-shaped hole on her scull) is located on the back...'otg' and 'cynic' made the superb analysis/explanation about it's location. Highly recommend to read their analysis on FFJ.

OpenMind4U said:

I'm with you, BOESP. I thought door knob would be 'perfect' candidate...but, I'm still searching for the right answer...

I'm reading and re-reading AR, looking for some kind of hidden clue. On page 7of AR, under 'Skull and Brain', after 'On removal of the skull cap....at the tip of the right temporal lobe is a 1/4" x 1/4" similar appearing purple contusion . Only very minimal contusion is present at the tip of the left temporal lobe.'.....hmmm...

I have no medical degree/knowledge but the location of the temporal lobe is on the sides of the head! And JBR has these contusions on both sides, visiable after 'removal of the skull cap'.....:banghead:....means (for now!), that these contusions were happened as the result of the blow or she fall and hit her head on both sides? ...puzzle....hope, otg or cynic could have an answer....

Click to expand...

These contusions (bruising) are INSIDE her skull, in the areas of the temporal lobe, not outside on the skin, as I read it. This is commonly seen in "shaken baby syndrome" (although not limited to it) and results form the brain hitting the inside of the brain case (skull) in a back and forth movement. Shaking her violently to "bring her to" would certainly cause this, as would a hard bash hitting her skull with enough force to push the brain forward and back in the skull. This is yet another indication to me that something hit HER and not the other way around.
Unless JB fell from the roof or something higher, there is no way she got that skull hole from a fall. And before anyone starts imagining she might have actually fallen from a height- let me stop you by saying that 1. the hole and fracture would be in a different place because a body would not land on the top of its skull, and 2. there would be other bruising and broken bones as well.

rashomon said:

Kolar's book has cleared up a lot re the time line of the injuries.
The experts that had been consulted by LE unanimously agreed that the head injury came before the strangulation:
As for the acute genital wound that produced the bleeding -
it was inflicted "perimortem with her death" (p. 66), "very near the actual time of her death" (ibid).

Click to expand...

rashomon,
mmm, that is simply consistent with Coroner Meyers Autopsy Report, nothing new there.

Consider this scenario: JonBenet and Burke are playing about, quite physically. Burke whacks JonBenet on the head with some object. JonBenet falls into a coma. Burke informs his parents, once they recognise there is little they can do to save JonBenet, they decide to stage a murder. So they effect a sexual assault, and finally asphyxiate JonBenet with the garrote. They then tell Burke what his role is, and what to say to LEA.

Now factor in Coroner Meyer's verbatim remarks: Sexual Contact and Digital Penetration

Does that sound like staging: regardless or whether its perimortem, postmortem, or antemortem?




.

Flatlander said:

Flatlander,
Yes someone could have stamped on her head/body, if it was a rage attack?

Can you link the Hi-Tec shoes to any injuries on JonBenet, or even match the Hi-Tec shoes to the prints on the floor, then you have a BDI up and running?

BR could have been standing, but you have to factor in the sexual assault, here I reckon JonBenet was in some weird position and accidentaly fell?


.

Click to expand...

IMOO I do not link any injuries to JB with the Hi Tech shoes/boots. Quite interesting read as follows:
ST Page 238
Two pairs of boots that were among the most difficult to retrieve belonged to Detective Sergeant Larry Mason and Detective Linda
ST Page 239
Arndt, both of whom had been in the house during the first hours. Arndt's clothing had been collected at the crime scene but not her footwear. It took a direct order from Commander Beckner before Arndt and Mason gave up their boots for testing, about a year after the murder, and it took still longer to get their fingerprints. Mason, the on-scene detective supervisor on December 26, had still not submitted a written report of his actions that day when I left after eighteen months.
A reserve sheriff's deputy who wore Hi- Tecs at the crime scene retained a lawyer before talking to Detective Gosage. Then we got the name of another patrol sergeant who had been in the basement that day. That was also a year late. At fourteen months, Gosage found that an FBI agent from Denver had been in the basement and owned Hi-Tecs. The final embarrassment in the Hi- Tec hunt came when Detective Gosage compared the radio log for December 26 with other reports and discovered that a number of boot-wearing law enforcement types had also been at the house but had never "aired out," or given their location, on the radio. That meant we never really knew which cops, firefighters, paramedics, and sheriff's deputies were there. It seemed that everybody and their damned brother went wandering through the crime scene that day, and running them down was a virtual impossibility.

As for BR standing on a chair hidden behind a door and waiting for JB to pass through ..... maybe, just maybe this would explain the chair placed in front of the train room door.
Sure it could have been part of the staging but it also could have been used as part of the crime.
And yes, I am positive if JB had been standing when struck in the head she would have fallen to the ground. Possibly on her back or rolled over on top of the train tracks. Just a possibility.
Just a little note:
You stated that: BR could have been standing, but you have to factor in the sexual assault, here I reckon JonBenet was in some weird position and accidentaly fell?
Possibly they had been playing doctor before she got down to the basement. At one time I understood that PR was aware of JB and BR little game and she wanted to seperate them as much as possible. I believe the paint brush was a staging tool before she was strangeled. And I further beleive that PR was the corporal punishment here.[/QUOTE]

Flatlander,
Could be, I have never been able to eliminate PR, some of her remarks, e.g. I never killed my baby, or similar, are weird.


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rashomon said:

As for the acute genital wound that produced the bleeding -
it was inflicted "perimortem with her death" (p. 66), "very near the actual time of her death" (ibid).

Click to expand...

OpenMind4U said:

Agree (see post #28). Now, what do you think 'acute injury' is part of the 'staging' or not? And before you'll answer, let's read definition of 'acute injury': 'An acute injury is an injury that occurred recently as a result of a traumatic event'.

Click to expand...

Hi rashomon and OpenMind4U I'm trying to understand the timing of this injury as well. How recent is "recent" and how near is "near" time of death? I just posted the following post over on FFJ:

So I'm trying to figure out how close to JBR's time of death the acute vaginal injury was inflicted.

From Kolar's book:

"[Dr. Meyer] observed that there was fresh trauma located at the 7:00 o'clock position at the hymeneal opening. The area was inflamed and had been bleeding, and it appeared to Dr. Meyer that a foreign object had been inserted into JonBenet's genitalia at or near the time of her death." pp. 57-58

And Dr. Spitz's opinion: "Inflicted perimortem with her death, was the insertion of the paintbrush handle into JonBenet's vaginal orifice. The presence of inflammation and blood in the vaginal vault indicated that she was still alive when this assault took place, but it was believed that this took place at or very near the actual time of her death." pp. 65-66

"At or near the time of her death"... how near? Inflammation means there had to have been at least a little time between the injury and death, doesn't it? WHY was it "believed" that it happened around the time of death (versus, say, an hour or so before)?

If someone has already done a medical analysis, can you pretty please point me to it? Thanks

Britt said:

Hi rashomon and OpenMind4U I'm trying to understand the timing of this injury as well. How recent is "recent" and how near is "near" time of death? I just posted the following post over on FFJ:

So I'm trying to figure out how close to JBR's time of death the acute vaginal injury was inflicted.

From Kolar's book:

"[Dr. Meyer] observed that there was fresh trauma located at the 7:00 o'clock position at the hymeneal opening. The area was inflamed and had been bleeding, and it appeared to Dr. Meyer that a foreign object had been inserted into JonBenet's genitalia at or near the time of her death." pp. 57-58

And Dr. Spitz's opinion: "Inflicted perimortem with her death, was the insertion of the paintbrush handle into JonBenet's vaginal orifice. The presence of inflammation and blood in the vaginal vault indicated that she was still alive when this assault took place, but it was believed that this took place at or very near the actual time of her death." pp. 65-66

"At or near the time of her death"... how near? Inflammation means there had to have been at least a little time between the injury and death, doesn't it? WHY was it "believed" that it happened around the time of death (versus, say, an hour or so before)?

If someone has already done a medical analysis, can you pretty please point me to it? Thanks

Click to expand...

Britt,
The types of biological cells found at the site of the injury suggest a timeline, since the human body reacts to injury in a consistent manner.

So for a period of time to have elapsed between the head injury and JonBenet's asphyxiation, particular cells will have been generated by the body as a defence mechanism.

I think Coroner Meyer employs this insight in his Autopsy Report, where he outlines the cell types etc.

UKGuy said:

Britt,
The types of biological cells found at the site of the injury suggest a timeline, since the human body reacts to injury in a consistent manner.

So for a period of time to have elapsed between the head injury and JonBenet's asphyxiation, particular cells will have been generated by the body as a defence mechanism.

I think Coroner Meyer employs this insight in his Autopsy Report, where he outlines the cell types etc.

Click to expand...

Thanks, UKGuy Do you happen to know... does that mean a few seconds of elapsed time, or a few minutes, or longer? Is there a way to know the range of time that would've been possible between the vaginal injury and time of death? Can someone say, for example, the injury could've happened anywhere from a few seconds to a half hour prior to death? Something like that. I tried to grasp the autopsy report but the medicalese makes my head hurt.

Britt said:

Thanks, UKGuy Do you happen to know... does that mean a few seconds of elapsed time, or a few minutes, or longer? Is there a way to know the range of time that would've been possible between the vaginal injury and time of death? Can someone say, for example, the injury could've happened anywhere from a few seconds to a half hour prior to death? Something like that. I tried to grasp the autopsy report but the medicalese makes my head hurt.

Click to expand...

Britt,
Yes, you can differentiate between minutes and hours. Seconds, probably not. I agree the medicalese in the AR is quite brain numbing.

When the vaginal injury occurs particular cell types are generated in response to this. That is if it is perimortem, these cells are a type of defense cell intended to repair and assist a region of the body.

When Sexual Contact takes place different biological cells are generated, and these are markers that distinguish an acute assault from a chronic assault, which might just display scar tissue?


.

The way i understand the body's reaction to an i jury such as the jab, is that vessels first constrict and the defense response immediately gets to work to control bleeding and form a fibrin mesh. Then bleeding increases rushing red blood cells to the injury and form a fibrin plug. There were few red blood cells at the jab site and no inflammatory infiltrate seen. There just needs to be an expert say if she could have bled for a few seconds or minutes and if ANY inflammatory infiltrate should have been found. I think it was a few seconds to maybe two minutes between the cord killing her and the jab being done. Surely an expert knows if the jab was immediately before or after the strangling based on lab reports.

txsvicki said:

The way i understand the body's reaction to an i jury such as the jab, is that vessels first constrict and the defense response immediately gets to work to control bleeding and form a fibrin mesh. Then bleeding increases rushing red blood cells to the injury and form a fibrin plug. There were few red blood cells at the jab site and no inflammatory infiltrate seen. There just needs to be an expert say if she could have bled for a few seconds or minutes and if ANY inflammatory infiltrate should have been found. I think it was a few seconds to maybe two minutes between the cord killing her and the jab being done. Surely an expert knows if the jab was immediately before or after the strangling based on lab reports.

Click to expand...

txsvicki, thanks so much!

But Dr. Meyer said it was inflamed and had been bleeding - is that different from "inflammatory infiltrate"? (Sorry for the dumb medical questions - obviously I'm not a medical type.)

I don't know how quickly inflammatory infiltrate should be found or if it's different than the initial bleeding. I just know the body immediately goes into action when the skin is broken. The capillaries were congested which causes redness then they start leaking plasma to set up the way for the inflammatory infiltrate .
The upper part of the vaginal vault was unremarkable. Could the report about the lower portion of the vagina (above the hymenal rim) be held back from the public? I've wondered if it was so chronically inflamed ( and being a child's was not resistant to trauma and infection) that it was also bleeding and producing watery fluids.

txsvicki said:

I don't know how quickly inflammatory infiltrate should be found or if it's different than the initial bleeding. I just know the body immediately goes into action when the skin is broken. The capillaries were congested which causes redness then they start leaking plasma to set up the way for the inflammatory infiltrate .
The upper part of the vaginal vault was unremarkable. Could the report about the lower portion of the vagina (above the hymenal rim) be held back from the public? I've wondered if it was so chronically inflamed ( and being a child's was not resistant to trauma and infection) that it was also bleeding and producing watery fluids.

Click to expand...

Thanks, txsvicki. Does anyone know - are parts of the autopsy report still not available to the public?

Britt said:

Thanks, txsvicki. Does anyone know - are parts of the autopsy report still not available to the public?

Click to expand...

Britt, based on Kolar's references to Dr. Lucy Rorke analysis (page 64), and her references to the brain damages not described in 9-page AR - makes me believe that FULL AR was never released to the public (yet!). ...JMO

I’m just getting around to trying to catch up with everything. Busy with RL, and... and... and... I got the book! Just getting through it too.

I hadn’t even thought about the possibility of a shoe being the source of the depressed fracture, OM4U. I tended to think more along the line of something that could be swung with a great deal of force -- something along the line of a golf club, a baseball bat, etc. While I had for a long time held the belief that it was indeed the heel of a putter, I am beginning to consider a baseball bat to be the more likely candidate. Now you’ve gone and made me have to look into something completely new. Oh, well. There goes my day off.

The thing is, according to your link, “When the head of a victim is kicked, the head can experience a maximum acceleration comparable to that in a frontal car crash at 50 km/h.”

And while I would love to get credit for cynic‘s extensive and excellent research, I’m afraid it is he alone who informed us about the mechanics of different device impacts. I simply added some information on the location of the depressed fracture (which to me speaks about how the head blow was delivered). This is the relevant section from cynic’s post:

Modern studies of skull fractures conducted by the American military demonstrate that it takes a minimum of 90 foot-pounds delivered over 1 square inch to fracture the human skull with a blow delivered to the front of the head. If the blow is delivered to the temporal/parietal area, 45 foot-pounds will produce a fracture. A blow to the zygomatic region, the bony arch on either side of the face below and around the eye, requires only 18 foot-pounds of force to produce a fracture. A mace weighing 1.8 pounds can be swung at a speed of 60 feet per second by the human arm so as to generate 101 foot-pounds of energy on impact, more than enough to fracture a human skull at its strongest point.

Click to expand...

So if we take the mace in the above example capable of being swung at a speed of 60 fps (60 fps = 65.8 km/h), it generates 101 fp of energy on impact. A kick in your example is comparable to a car crash at 50 km/h (50 km/h = 45.6 fps). So a kick with this much force (by my calculations) would be more than sufficient to produce the fracture. The only reservation I would have would be to factor in the hardness of the part of the boot that is delivering the blow; and I’m afraid I don’t know how to calculate that in, because I’m not the engineer that cynic is.

The shape of the end of the boot I would have to say is also somewhat close to the shape of the depressed fracture, so I can’t discount it for that reason. And if a boot were to be what caused the fractured skull, then there exists the possibility that it may also be responsible for some of the other injuries -- certainly the abrasion on JonBenet’s shoulder.

There was a poster here at WS I haven’t seen in a while named MurriFlower who believed that part of the marks in the lividity were caused by a shoeprint on JonBenet’s back while the ligature was being pulled. I don’t agree with that at all, but it is worth bringing up on this thread.


And BTW, this is an excellent thread. Looks like I'll be spending a good part of my day here.

.

Britt said:

Hi rashomon and OpenMind4U I'm trying to understand the timing of this injury as well. How recent is "recent" and how near is "near" time of death? I just posted the following post over on FFJ:

So I'm trying to figure out how close to JBR's time of death the acute vaginal injury was inflicted.

From Kolar's book:

"[Dr. Meyer] observed that there was fresh trauma located at the 7:00 o'clock position at the hymeneal opening. The area was inflamed and had been bleeding, and it appeared to Dr. Meyer that a foreign object had been inserted into JonBenet's genitalia at or near the time of her death." pp. 57-58

And Dr. Spitz's opinion: "Inflicted perimortem with her death, was the insertion of the paintbrush handle into JonBenet's vaginal orifice. The presence of inflammation and blood in the vaginal vault indicated that she was still alive when this assault took place, but it was believed that this took place at or very near the actual time of her death." pp. 65-66

"At or near the time of her death"... how near? Inflammation means there had to have been at least a little time between the injury and death, doesn't it? WHY was it "believed" that it happened around the time of death (versus, say, an hour or so before)?

If someone has already done a medical analysis, can you pretty please point me to it? Thanks

Click to expand...

In the wake of the information or opinion of the paintbrush handle being inserted and her death coming so close to that act, I'm of the mind the insertion was done before the blow to the head. So for me it plays out this way: Burke had talked or forced his sister into their "doctor" game, he was trying something new like using the paintbrush handle, she screams, he reacts to the scream because he doesn't want his parents to know what he's up to by smacking his sister in the head to shut her up. He's mad, enraged as a child can be and hits her with enough force to damage her skull but not break the skin.

Now, where I get hung up (no pun intended) is the cord around the neck. I think it was placed around her neck before Burke and JonBenet even reached the basement by Burke. Perhaps it was a game they played often, where she is the pet and he controls her by the looped tied cord.

I refuse to call this fashioned cord a garrot. I see it as something Burke made way in advance as a prop to move or drag something heavy while he played army, cowboys and indians, or moving trucks or toys along.

Burke had a knife. That was taken away from him because he would use it to wittle something and leave the mess behind. I think it was the housekeeper who placed the knife out of his sight and reach. I do believe he would also have something like the rope tied up to act like something to tug or tow things along, and even in time to use like a leash for his sister.

When Burke delivered the blow to his sister's head, the cord was around her neck and as she fell it pulled tight and made marks around her neck that could not be covered up. This is how I imagine the scene.

However, if he was abusing her with the paintbrush handle, would she be standing up or would she be laying down? Just what position would JonBenet be in when she was hit in the head? I think this is very important to consider. Standing, she would fall when hit and the possiblity of a cord around her neck would produce a strangling effect. Laying down, which I can imagine would have been easier for Burke to be abusing his sister with the paintbrush. But she would not have fallen and the cord wouldn't cause so much damage.

You know, just writing about what might have occured between the two children that night just really makes me squirm. Especially when I do believe that was not the first time Burke had his little sister in this situation. Just my gut feeling.

otg said:

I’m just getting around to trying to catch up with everything. Busy with RL, and... and... and... I got the book! Just getting through it too.

I hadn’t even thought about the possibility of a shoe being the source of the depressed fracture, OM4U. I tended to think more along the line of something that could be swung with a great deal of force -- something along the line of a golf club, a baseball bat, etc. While I had for a long time held the belief that it was indeed the heel of a putter, I am beginning to consider a baseball bat to be the more likely candidate. Now you’ve gone and made me have to look into something completely new. Oh, well. There goes my day off.

The thing is, according to your link, “When the head of a victim is kicked, the head can experience a maximum acceleration comparable to that in a frontal car crash at 50 km/h.”

And while I would love to get credit for cynic‘s extensive and excellent research, I’m afraid it is he alone who informed us about the mechanics of different device impacts. I simply added some information on the location of the depressed fracture (which to me speaks about how the head blow was delivered). This is the relevant section from cynic’s post:

So if we take the mace in the above example capable of being swung at a speed of 60 fps (60 fps = 65.8 km/h), it generates 101 fp of energy on impact. A kick in your example is comparable to a car crash at 50 km/h (50 km/h = 45.6 fps). So a kick with this much force (by my calculations) would be more than sufficient to produce the fracture. The only reservation I would have would be to factor in the hardness of the part of the boot that is delivering the blow; and I’m afraid I don’t know how to calculate that in, because I’m not the engineer that cynic is.

The shape of the end of the boot I would have to say is also somewhat close to the shape of the depressed fracture, so I can’t discount it for that reason. And if a boot were to be what caused the fractured skull, then there exists the possibility that it may also be responsible for some of the other injuries -- certainly the abrasion on JonBenet’s shoulder.

There was a poster here at WS I haven’t seen in a while named MurriFlower who believed that part of the marks in the lividity were caused by a shoeprint on JonBenet’s back while the ligature was being pulled. I don’t agree with that at all, but it is worth bringing up on this thread.


And BTW, this is an excellent thread. Looks like I'll be spending a good part of my day here.

.

Click to expand...

Bolded and underlined by me. Yes, this is a great thread. And we owe it all to the newly released book. I finally ordered it after waiting to see if it would be available on Kindle Fire. (Which still hasn't happened) I waited long enough and now have some catching up to do to understand all the posts regarding information in the book.

I want to thank all the members who provided advance warnings and hints on the book and how to read it and not jump ahead to other chapters. The book should be in my possession by Sept. 8. Will you all wait and not write such intriguing and wise posts until I catch up? Sure you will.

BOESP said:

I don't think the head of a golf club (I'm not a golfer so head may not be the correct word but I mean the business end of the club), no matter which angle might have made contact with the head, would have carried enough pressure to split her skull eight inches. That much pressure would have embedded the golf club in her brain.

I know I am the only monkey in the tree who believes her head struck something rather than something striking her head but OpenMind4U's idea of kicking or stomping with a heavy boot might fit the bill ... I need to think about that for a while.

Click to expand...

You bring up a good point, BOESP, about the amount of force required to cause the linear crack possibly being so much force as to embed it further into the depressed fracture than it was. Certainly, one would think, it should be enough to cause more damage externally to her scalp. I agree with you, and this is just one more reason I am beginning to lean away from the golf club as the cause of the fractures.

However, taking all things into consideration, think about this: The linear fracture we see in the actual skull photo is exaggerated because it doesn’t have the outer skin holding it together. If it did, and we saw it in a radiograph*, it would show up as a thin fracture line instead of a gaping chasm. Also, I’m not certain that some of the linear fracture might actually be a diastatic fracture along the sagittal suture. If it is, it wouldn’t require as much force to cause the fracture (IMO).


*BTW, does everyone know that the alleged “X-ray” we’ve seen of JonBenet’s skull is a fake?
[ame="http://www.forumsforjustice.org/forums/showthread.php?t=10164"]The Alleged “Skull X-ray” - Forums For Justice[/ame]
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azwriter said:

Bolded and underlined by me. Yes, this is a great thread. And we owe it all to the newly released book. I finally ordered it after waiting to see if it would be available on Kindle Fire. (Which still hasn't happened) I waited long enough and now have some catching up to do to understand all the posts regarding information in the book.

I want to thank all the members who provided advance warnings and hints on the book and how to read it and not jump ahead to other chapters. The book should be in my possession by Sept. 8. Will you all wait and not write such intriguing and wise posts until I catch up? Sure you will.

Click to expand...

...LOL...I'll try but no promises...:floorlaugh:

azwriter said:

In the wake of the information or opinion of the paintbrush handle being inserted and her death coming so close to that act, I'm of the mind the insertion was done before the blow to the head. So for me it plays out this way: Burke had talked or forced his sister into their "doctor" game, he was trying something new like using the paintbrush handle, she screams, he reacts to the scream because he doesn't want his parents to know what he's up to by smacking his sister in the head to shut her up. He's mad, enraged as a child can be and hits her with enough force to damage her skull but not break the skin.

Now, where I get hung up (no pun intended) is the cord around the neck. I think it was placed around her neck before Burke and JonBenet even reached the basement by Burke. Perhaps it was a game they played often, where she is the pet and he controls her by the looped tied cord.

I refuse to call this fashioned cord a garrot. I see it as something Burke made way in advance as a prop to move or drag something heavy while he played army, cowboys and indians, or moving trucks or toys along...When Burke delivered the blow to his sister's head, the cord was around her neck and as she fell it pulled tight and made marks around her neck that could not be covered up. This is how I imagine the scene.

However, if he was abusing her with the paintbrush handle, would she be standing up or would she be laying down? Just what position would JonBenet be in when she was hit in the head? I think this is very important to consider. Standing, she would fall when hit and the possiblity of a cord around her neck would produce a strangling effect. Laying down, which I can imagine would have been easier for Burke to be abusing his sister with the paintbrush. But she would not have fallen and the cord wouldn't cause so much damage.

Click to expand...

This is pretty much how I see the events of that evening, as well. My thought is that the cord would not have tightened so dramatically around JB's neck unless it were being held in the hand - or attached to something else - as she fell. Maybe the "leash" had been hooked to a stationary object, which would have provided the counterforce necessary to tighten the cord as she fell (assuming she had been standing when the paintbrush was introduced).

Or maybe she was being pulled or jerked around on the leash, as you describe, in which case the bruising had already begun - she couldn't scream at that point, because her throat was too compressed. But when the dragging stopped and the paintbrush was introduced (with JB in a supine position), the cord would have loosened sufficiently to allow her to scream - leading to an enraged blow to head. I believe that a golf club was employed. The clubs were kept in the basement, and one of them might have already been leaning against the wall, having been used earlier in the game as a threat or goad.

I completely agree, writing about this makes one squirm. And I concur with your thought that similar scenarios had been carried out before, perhaps on many occasions. I suspect that escalation occurred with each episode, culminating in this fatal moment. MOO.

Many people don't believe that a child would (or could) have carried out such a crime, but sadly history contradicts that idea. One thing is for certain - no matter who did this to JB, or what actually happened before, during and after her murder, the level of perversity involved is simply staggering.