There are a lot of great, even fantastic theories I have read. It comes down to motive, opportunity and knowledge. So who has all three?
The ransom note SHOULD prove motive. In this case it has so much personal information pertaining to the Ramsey's finances, that it is more about knowledge. If it wasn't written by a Ramsey, who would have such intimate knowledge of his bonus amount etc. Also, there are some difficult words for a foreigner to be able to spell and mis-spellings that seem out of place. One other thing. When an event happens, involving a 'foreign faction', someone will take the responsibility, for 'the glory' of the crime, the notoriety and fear is what they are after. To me, this RN adds up to intimate knowledge of the contents of the goings on of the family. If there was an intruder, it had to be someone who had very intimate family knowledge.
Motive, obviously a cover up. If Burke was responsible for some part of this, there should have been prior clues. I have red many times that Burke hit Jon Benet twice prior with a golf club, that is not exactly normal childhood aggression. Children will hit, bite, pinch, throw things, but not usually hit their sibling with golf clubs! He was sequestered away from LE and was not questioned until much later, again, even though he was the only other person sleeping on the same floor as his sister. What were the Ramsey's trying to do? Protect Burke, themselves, or all three of them? As for those that say that Burke surely would have shown other behaviors of violence later in life;
1) We have no knowledge if he has or has not
2) The Ramsey's wealth could have bought Burke private counseling (even on a daily basis if needed)
3) The jealousy and favoritism he most certainly lived with was gone.
I of course wasn't there, this is IMO only, but motive related to J & P could have been to cover activities by John, Patsy, Burke or all of the above.
I truly believe the staging was probably done by J and the ransom note written by P. This meant they were both involved to their eyeballs and could never turn the other one in. As for their child, I don't believe they would ever let him take responsibility for a crime.
Opportunity. Certainly the three Ramsey's all had opportunity to commit the crimes, in all or part of. There was not anyone else in the home, no absolute evidence of a break in, No noise heard, with someone walking throughout the house and wandering through the house and basement, taking time to write an overly dramatic RN and leaving the trial notes behind. The Ramsey's have lied numerous times concerning the events of the evening. They didn't, for reasons only they knew, didn't allow Burke, (the only person on the same level of the house at the time), to be questioned immediately AND they went against EVERYTHING the ransom note said NOT to do, which if it were truly a kidnapping they would have at least tried to do more quietly.
J & P repeatedly showed that they did not want this crime solved. I heard John say in an interview, that the police should have questioned he and Patsy immediately, individually. Well John, if you felt that way, why did you make LE jump hoops, wait months, demand previous statements to be given to you first? That and your reluctance to ever be interviewed alone tells me a lot about your motivation.
Do I think that anyone will pay for this crime? Highly unlikely. I do, however keep hope that I am wrong and that the guilty person(s), will be caught and prosecuted.
Patsy may have been a slob, as some people say, but she would have staged her daughters death, the same way she orchestrated her life. She would never have put her in size 12 undies, or done anything to 'mar' her little princess. I wonder what J thought about P's choice of burial outfits? Even in death JB couldn't be a little girl, she had to be a beauty queen.
