I interviewed both John and Patsy

[SietchTabr]

Welcome, Sietch, glad to have you here.

"... in Schiller's terrible book..." It has been a long time since I read it, but don't recall it being terrible. What is it that makes you think it is terrible?

Howdy.

Personally, Schiller grossly violated our agreement on conditions for our interview. We agreed on a pseudonym (I still worked for the paper) and he promised not to include any identifying details. Well, he completely blew off the second part of that, making it obvious who I was. He also presented the information I shared with him in a way that made what I said seem more certain and biased than it was.

On the whole, virtually everybody he came into contact with in Boulder found him to be a brash, careless reporter who got many, many things wrong in the book. It's been years since I looked at it, also, so I can't be more specific. Suffice it to say he left a very bad taste in the community's mouth.

I learned later that was basically his M.O.

He wrote and published the book to cash in, but I would not rely on it for accuracy.

 

[SietchTabr]

If you're looking for great information about the WM3 case, here are two sites that are critical: jivepuppi and callahan.8k.com.

Thank you. Those sites do indeed have a ton of information.

 

[Jackal4752]

Also, I don't remember who it was from the Rocky who interviewed JR with his attorney, Bryan Morgan, present, but I am very confident it was a woman. As I said, we conducted our interviews separately, at Mr. Morgan's house on Mapleton Hill in Boulder.

The reason I was one of two handpicked reporters to meet JR was that during the first days and weeks of the case, the police controlled the narrative, including numerous leaks that made the family look pretty suspicious. At first, Morgan's advice to JR was to say nothing, as I recall, but after a certain point, they lost patience and began to "leak" certain information to me, as a reporter (I also wrote a column). I reported those stories (the one I clearly recall was the police department holding JBR's — I guess I don't quite get the rules on names here; can a victim not be named? I'm referring to the victim — body "for ransom," essentially attempting to use it as leverage to get them to come in and interview) and, as I recall, based on that, as well as having read my column for several years, the Ramseys had some kind of confidence in me as an unbiased or at least fair reporter.

Here's another factoid that may not have been reported (or maybe it was, in Schiller's terrible book; I sure got suckered into talking to him; bad idea!): Just four days after the body was discovered, a top investigator with the Boulder PD, who is still prominent in LE in Boulder County, confided to me "off the record" that (paraphrasing from memory, but the basic comment is the same) "We know the dad did it. We're just getting our ducks in a row."

 

[Jackal4752]

Hi. Just signed up here, because in the Age of Coronavirus, I've been consuming all I can find about the West Memphis 3 case.

However, I saw that the murder of JonBenet Ramsey has generated a lot of discussion, which is no surprise.

I don't have any incredible insight, but I was one of two reporters who were first allowed to interview John after the murders (as a reporter for the Daily Camera in Boulder, Colo.) Also, strangely, I interviewed Patsy prior to the murder, as part of the Camera's "Monday Morning Rose" feature, which was a weekly small item (which the staff hated doing) about local people doing volunteer work.

Again, I don't have anything earth-shattering to offer, but I did interview both parents, if anyone has any questions, I'm happy to try to answer.

 

[Jackal4752]

The stuff I saw on it didn't
lead me to suspect the father.

The mother always seemed
really strange in her behavior.
in her interviews.

 

[cami]

Howdy.

Personally, Schiller grossly violated our agreement on conditions for our interview. We agreed on a pseudonym (I still worked for the paper) and he promised not to include any identifying details. Well, he completely blew off the second part of that, making it obvious who I was. He also presented the information I shared with him in a way that made what I said seem more certain and biased than it was.

On the whole, virtually everybody he came into contact with in Boulder found him to be a brash, careless reporter who got many, many things wrong in the book. It's been years since I looked at it, also, so I can't be more specific. Suffice it to say he left a very bad taste in the community's mouth.

I learned later that was basically his M.O.

He wrote and published the book to cash in, but I would not rely on it for accuracy.

I could never finish it. I tried three times to read that book in it's entirety but abandoned it every time. It didn't hold my interest at all.

 

[AGettler]

Howdy.

Personally, Schiller grossly violated our agreement on conditions for our interview. We agreed on a pseudonym (I still worked for the paper) and he promised not to include any identifying details. Well, he completely blew off the second part of that, making it obvious who I was. He also presented the information I shared with him in a way that made what I said seem more certain and biased than it was.

On the whole, virtually everybody he came into contact with in Boulder found him to be a brash, careless reporter who got many, many things wrong in the book. It's been years since I looked at it, also, so I can't be more specific. Suffice it to say he left a very bad taste in the community's mouth.

I learned later that was basically his M.O.

He wrote and published the book to cash in, but I would not rely on it for accuracy.

Okay, thanks.

 

[kaykay543]

This will likely disappoint you, but the most honest answer I can give is this:

If you look at every theory as a puzzle, in my opinion, every single theory has critical pieces missing. Given that, I have remained agnostic over the years.

That said, I've also noted that if John Ramsey, whom I interviewed after the murders, had been involved, he must be a terrifying criminal chameleon. I base that on my (admittedly imperfect) assessment of his character when in his presence. The other reporter (from the Rocky Mountain News; we met with Ramsey and his lawyer Bryan Morgan separate from each other) and I were barred specifically from asking about the crime (an interesting restriction, to be sure). Given that, I decided to use my time to try to get a gauge on JR's demeanor by asking him rather pointed and personal questions, just to see how he would react. I asked, for example, about his temper, his sex life (in a general, not creepy way, I promise), his upbringing, how he disciplines his kids, things like that.

In my assessment following the interview, I realized that JR reacted very much as I would expect a person being grilled on such touchy/personal matters to react, at times with visible irritation, disbelief, and at times with gentleness and humor.

In short, JR seemed quite normal and if he had been involved in any way, he was a genuinely terrifying person.

Re Patsy: She struck me as pleasant, a tad ditzy and a little spacey, I would say. We were truly only talking about her work at her daughter and son's school, so pretty low-key stuff. She did not seem "dumb," but certainly not a great mind at work there.

P.S. I also was touring the Ramsey house, with attorney Bryan Morgan and some others, after the family had moved out. I was the person who discovered that someone had set some paper afire and shoved it through the front-door mail slot, perhaps in an attempt to burn the house down. I have a potent sense of smell and picked up the scent of old smoke and followed it.

That is the thing though with psychopaths; they can fool people because they have no conscious. Ted Bundy is s good example. handsome, charming, educated and yet a ruthless killer. When he was first arrested his friends collected money for him as they were so sure he was innocent.

 

[Tobiano8th]

wow.......... that is an interesting comment from boulder county investigator.

i think most people think RDI, and most of them think it's accidential.... but certainly JR is probably the least suspected of the R's for any direct involvement..... just my take....... but really, nothing fits together, so anything is probably possible within reason

 

[Kennedy Jo]

Just curious if you saw Burke Ramsey's interviews with Dr Phil and what did you make of them? Oddly smiling.

 

[Jackal4752]

I know people that laugh
or smile when very nervous,
it could be that as well.

 

[Tobiano8th]

i agree.......... the smile was nervous/cringe smile, not a happy smile. looks for a word, but almost a low key incredulous smile.....very very common, and BR may have very minor mental health issues which would make it much more likely.......

dr phil certainly didn't ask any tough questions..... it's easy for me to say i would have asked tough Q's but good chance i wouldn't...... did dr phil agree to some restrictions before hand?

 

[Tobiano8th]

i'll put it here. i have mentioned it a few times elsewhere.... apparently, some BPD personnel who think the R's should be charged believe the first JR heard of any of this was upon PR discovery of ransom letter. that really surprised me, but seems to be the case (that they think that)