is there really an acute mark on "attache" in the note?

[sissi]

yes, the acute mark is over the last e.

I think the mark is part of the upswing he shows in both diagonal lines, both in his "y's" and in the percentage mark.

 

[Holdontoyourhat]

The '/' in percentage has a continuous arc, so the pen didn't leave the paper. the accent over the 'e' in attache is closer to the 'h', and has its own tail, so its a separate stroke, not a continuous arc. IOW, not part of the 'y'.

 

[princessmer81]

Has anyone else commented on the way the letter "a" was written throughout the letter? Most of the a's are written just like the letter a looks when typed - with the little tail or hook on the top. I rarely see someone write the letter a that way. If you look at the "a" in Law Enforcement" it doesn't have that tail on the top - it looks like a "regular" a to me.
The way the "a's" are written looks like an intentional effort to disguise the writting - IMO.

 

[sissi]

The y in you in the phrase "I advise you", has an IDENTICAL mark to the y in you in the phrase "Make sure that you" . There is nothing ,in most copies I've seen ,to indicate lifting of the stroke.

 

[Voice of Reason]

Has anyone else commented on the way the letter "a" was written throughout the letter? Most of the a's are written just like the letter a looks when typed - with the little tail or hook on the top. I rarely see someone write the letter a that way. If you look at the "a" in Law Enforcement" it doesn't have that tail on the top - it looks like a "regular" a to me.
The way the "a's" are written looks like an intentional effort to disguise the writting - IMO.

this has been commented on. patsy was known to use this "fancy a" quite a lot before the murder, although she often used both a's. after the murder, she NEVER uses the "fancy a" and didn't use it in her handwriting sample.

something further on this reasoning...who requests "$118,000.00"? does anyone know if there has ever been a ransom note/request in history which requested any fraction of a dollar? why the decimal places? but, if you look at patsy's sample that she was asked to provide, she spelled out all the dollar amounts!!! if somone said to you, "write out the following: give me $118,000." wouldn't you write it as i just typed it? or would you write, "give me one hundred eighteen thousand dollars." patsy was VERY familiar with that note when she was asked to give a handwriting sample, which, to me, is very telling. she wrote the note $118,000.00, because she thought she could outsmart LE. when asked to provide a sample she spells it out! what a joke!

 

[princessmer81]

this has been commented on. patsy was known to use this "fancy a" quite a lot before the murder, although she often used both a's. after the murder, she NEVER uses the "fancy a" and didn't use it in her handwriting sample.

something further on this reasoning...who requests "$118,000.00"? does anyone know if there has ever been a ransom note/request in history which requested any fraction of a dollar? why the decimal places? but, if you look at patsy's sample that she was asked to provide, she spelled out all the dollar amounts!!! if somone said to you, "write out the following: give me $118,000." wouldn't you write it as i just typed it? or would you write, "give me one hundred eighteen thousand dollars." patsy was VERY familiar with that note when she was asked to give a handwriting sample, which, to me, is very telling. she wrote the note $118,000.00, because she thought she could outsmart LE. when asked to provide a sample she spells it out! what a joke!

You're right! Why the heck would you need to write the .00? To make sure that someone didn't misunderstand and think that the ransom was for $118,000.32? Silly!
Why not just make it $120,000? Well actually, if you're going to go to the trouble of kidnapping a child why stop at $120,000? Why not ask for $1,000,000? It's not like the Ramsey's couldn't have gotten their hands on that kind of cash.

 

[Hoosier Mama?]

I seem to remember hearing/reading somewhere that the ransom amount was exactly the sum that JR had received prior to his daughter's murder....a work bonus or something(?)

I've not found mention of that anywhere here yet....am I mis-remembering this info? Sorry if I've missed it somewhere.

 

[Voice of Reason]

I seem to remember hearing/reading somewhere that the ransom amount was exactly the sum that JR had received prior to his daughter's murder....a work bonus or something(?)

I've not found mention of that anywhere here yet....am I mis-remembering this info? Sorry if I've missed it somewhere.

JR's bonus for '96 was 118K and change. patsy claims she had no idea of this as she didn't handle the finances. even john claims he didn't know the exact dollar amount offhand. but no matter what either of them says, whoever wrote that note was aware of this fact. noone asks for $118,000. a real kidnapping would have differed in that it would have (1) asked for more money (e.g., 1million) and (2) asked for a more even amount (e.g., 100,000, 5 million, etc.).

to me, everything in this case screams RDI, but for whatever reason, they just can't gather enough to charge them. it's no coincidence that the BPD spent all their resources exploring the RDI theory. it's no surprise they didn't look elsewhere. THAT'S WHERE ALL THE EVIDENCE POINTS!!

 

[tipper]

JR's bonus for '96 was 118K and change. patsy claims she had no idea of this as she didn't handle the finances. even john claims he didn't know the exact dollar amount offhand. but no matter what either of them says, whoever wrote that note was aware of this fact. noone asks for $118,000. a real kidnapping would have differed in that it would have (1) asked for more money (e.g., 1million) and (2) asked for a more even amount (e.g., 100,000, 5 million, etc.).

to me, everything in this case screams RDI, but for whatever reason, they just can't gather enough to charge them. it's no coincidence that the BPD spent all their resources exploring the RDI theory. it's no surprise they didn't look elsewhere. THAT'S WHERE ALL THE EVIDENCE POINTS!!

Actually it was the '95 bonus and had been paid nearly a year earlier. Anyone who had knowledge of Access' payroll or worked in the house and saw John's pay stubs could know the amount. It wouldn't surprise me if it was one of the things that set the whole thing in motion.

 

[narlacat]

I think the mark is part of the upswing he shows in both diagonal lines, both in his "y's" and in the percentage mark.

I think Morag is talking about the where the acute mark goes in Jonbenet's name, not about the ransom note.

 

[wenchie]

But what would be the purpose on an intruder writing the ransom note in the first place?

You know that you're never going to collect any ransom: the child's body is in the house - which you know will be thoroughly searched. You know she'll be found.

Add that to the fact that no phone call came in when the note said it would (and that John or Patsy showed no interest in waiting for said call).

So, why not only waste time and take the chance at being caught while writing the note - but also leave it as evidence?




IMO, there's only one reason for that note: one of the parents (probably accidently) killed her. Now there's the problem of what to do about. Hide her in the house and then call the police and say that she's missing? Okay......but wait! There's no evidence of an intruder and it will be obvious that it was one of us.

So.....we have to write the note to stage some evidence of an intruder.

 

[narlacat]

And it worked!
Such a big piece of evidence and nothing can be done with it(or so it would seem)

 

[GuruJosh]

And it worked!
Such a big piece of evidence and nothing can be done with it(or so it would seem)

EXACTLY, naralcat

i would have thought that the ransom note is the single biggest piece of evidence in this case - by a long shot.

i would have thought that a 2 1/2 page note would have landed the perp in jail ... oh, about 5 days after the murder?

instead, no charges have been filed. i find this extraordinary and it is one of the things that makes me attracted to BC's theory...

which is, that a JUVENILE wrote the note, and that the grand jury concluded this fact, and hence (haha i have read Patsy's writing too much...)
and hence,
(don't come looking for me, boulder LE)
and hence, no finger can be officially pointed and no charges can be laid.

otherwise, i totally agree... for me, it's the existence of this amazing piece of evidence, which has so far been totally unable to result in charges, that makes this case so interesting.

 

[BlueCrab]

But what would be the purpose on an intruder writing the ransom note in the first place?

You know that you're never going to collect any ransom: the child's body is in the house - which you know will be thoroughly searched. You know she'll be found.

Add that to the fact that no phone call came in when the note said it would (and that John or Patsy showed no interest in waiting for said call).

So, why not only waste time and take the chance at being caught while writing the note - but also leave it as evidence?

IMO, there's only one reason for that note: one of the parents (probably accidently) killed her. Now there's the problem of what to do about. Hide her in the house and then call the police and say that she's missing? Okay......but wait! There's no evidence of an intruder and it will be obvious that it was one of us.

So.....we have to write the note to stage some evidence of an intruder.

wenchie,

I fully agree with what you posted, except for one change. IMO, if you replace the words "one of the parents" with the words "Burke and a friend" then every questionable aspect of this case can be satisfactorily explained.

BlueCrab

 

[Lacy Wood]

scenarios. For example, consider "when" the note was written. A number of those certain Patsy was involved see the note as written by Patsy after JonBenet's death. I don't think it's possible she could have had the wherewithall to come up with movie references and all the other stuff (or would have seen a need or desire to do so) with a dead child laying there. So why not consider the implications of the note written by Patsy a day or so prior to the death? A new arena of possibilities emerges.

But first, did Patsy write the note? The style expert said yes, the handwriting experts were mixed as I recall, some said no. But aren't handwriting experts normally looking for letter character variations to see if someone forged or impersonated a particular writer? The event of a person altering his/her writings deliberately would automatically create differences giving substance to anyone disposed to claim it was not Patsy. My personal opinion, however, is that a writer trying to match Patsy's handwriting in a lengthy note would have betrayed himself with the typical features of a forgery...hesitations, restarts, etc. If these were found, I haven't heard it yet. I was surprised to hear in the forem that some think a child wrote the note...(I'm not in agreement but all possibilities need to be considered.) Wasn't it Patsy's fingerprints (and hers only) on the pad the note pages were removed from? What does that say?

Just as in science, the best theory is the one explaining the disparate conditions the most completely. One scenario could be a scheme to create an event in JonBenet's life that would play well in future pageants. Recall that all Miss Americas for years have had a disease, disability, ethnic "handicap", or some other life difficulty to overcome. Since when has a privedged rich girl with everything going for her been Miss America? Suppose Patsy, who definitely knew the realities of pageants, planned a situation that would give JonBenet something to "overcome", even if she slept through the whole thing. But something tragic happened, whether by accident, or a person she may have enlisted to help was actually a pervert.

There are too many variations of what may have happened to list now, but just imagine a scheme in which JonBenet is rescued by John and/or Patsy, the family gets on the plane which is already set up to leave, they fly out of Colorado never to return, and the Boulder holiday police staff have a bizarre note, no "victim", and many questions but no answers.. Just a police report and a future pageant contestant who describes overcoming the trauma of an "abduction". A victimless plan gone terribly wrong... Just a little something to think about.

 

[Voice of Reason]

My personal opinion, however, is that a writer trying to match Patsy's handwriting in a lengthy note would have betrayed himself with the typical features of a forgery...hesitations, restarts, etc. If these were found, I haven't heard it yet.

It is well documented that a "practice" ransom note was found in the pad from which the ransom note was written. It began "Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey" and said nothing more as opposed to "Mr. Ramsey" of the "real" note. To me, that is very telling. Why they felt the need to exclude Patsy means something....

 

[Lacy Wood]

It is well documented that a "practice" ransom note was found in the pad from which the ransom note was written. It began "Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey" and said nothing more as opposed to "Mr. Ramsey" of the "real" note. To me, that is very telling. Why they felt the need to exclude Patsy means something....

I took the trashed page with a changed "greeting" in the note the same way you suggest. In addition, the very act of rethinking the greeting suggested to me a state of relaxed reflection, which seemed to fit the idea of a plan as opposed to a panicked coverup. (By " hesitations and restarts" I was thinking of individual points in writing where an imitator stops, hesitates, or redirects the pen in trying to match a writing style.)

 

[Toltec]

The contents of the ransom note suggest to me that Patsy was very angry at John and threatened him to no end.

The question is WHY?

 

[Jennerbear]

Do any of you seriously think a child wrote this? Do any of you HAVE an 8-10 year old that could write a letter like this? I mean seriously... if a child that age wrote a letter that complex (even given the errors) - they would have to be A child of extraordinary intellect and talent.

jennerbear

 

[tipper]

It is well documented that a "practice" ransom note was found in the pad from which the ransom note was written. It began "Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey" and said nothing more as opposed to "Mr. Ramsey" of the "real" note. To me, that is very telling. Why they felt the need to exclude Patsy means something....

It began Mr. and Mrs. l. I think the reason it was changed was Mr & Mrs sounded too friendly and the killer wanted to sound distant and serious/menacing.