What small foreign faction?

Plenum7

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I am mainly concerned with the ransom note, and I try to analyse it item by item. At present I am trying to answer one simple question: what “small foreign faction” are we supposed to have brought to mind by this note? To what “foreign faction” is the note alluding? Is it a particular foreign faction or is it meant to be vague and generic?

One possibility is that we should think of a Muslim faction in the al-Qaeda style. But the murder was in 1996. If it had been post-911 then “small foreign faction” might definitely have been suggesting radical Muslims. Nevertheless, it was in September 1996 that Bin Laden declared a fatwa of hostility upon the USA. So Muslim extremists is a still a possibility in that context.

(I’m not suggesting here that any foreign faction was actually involved, by the way. I don’t think for a minute that Bin Laden and co might have killed JBR! I think the note is all misinformation, but what is it that we are supposed to think?)

All the same, there is nothing else in the note that points in this direction. No other hints. It doesn’t end with Allahu akbar! or other Muslim extremist slogans, for example.

On the contrary, I think that the signature “Victory SBTC” is most likely Christian in intent. Saved By The Cross. (And I think the opening “Listen carefully” may have a Biblical tone too.)

So what other “foreign factions” if not Arabs? Latinos? Mexicans? Nicuraguans? Canadians!? In a Cold War context one might think “Cubans”, but not in Boulder in 1996.

One possibility I have considered is: Koreans. And, in that case, the “foreign faction” may mean a faction within the church. Americanized Koreans are into exactly the same style of Christianity as the Ramseys, and indeed the Ramsey’s church had/has congregations in South Korea. And there are Christian Korean communities in Boulder and Denver etc. since the 1950s.

Two things point to this identification. The word “Korea” on the paintbrush used as a garotte. And the threat of beheading in the note.

Post Iraq war we associate beheading with al-Qaeda, but probably not so readily in 1996. Whereas beheading was an infamous traditional mode of execution among Koreans.

Additionally: South Korea does lots of computer business. If you look at the computer literature of that period you’ll find that the phrase “Skills Based Technological Change” is being used routinely to describe the computer revolution then booming in South Korean society.

A case can be made for the "foreign faction" being Arabs, but it seems unlikely to me.

Can anyone add any thoughts on this question. What “foreign faction” are we supposed to have in mind here?
 
Like an elite group or something maybe,small= quality not quantity?Maybe this is what the writer had in mind,deceive and lie but still say something good about yourself.
"foreign" was only meant for distancing.

imo
 
I think the note was written by a person who didn't know how a ransom note is supposed to read and they were trying to make it read like a real threatening note by taking from things they have heard or seen in movies about ransoms and instead the note sounded childish and ridiculous.

For example in a movie a child of a high powered politician may be kidnapped by a small foreign faction (is it supposed to be fraction?).
Again this note is so ridiculous that it was either written by a housewife or an intruder in his teens. IMO
 
OH it was intended to be vague,right from the start.Patsy threw in everything but the kitchen sink into that note.imo she and JR wrote it together.she wanted to point the finger at the housekeeper,and JR wanted it to seem as if it could be an employee(s) upset w him.
a real note would have been more specific as to whom they were.
jmo.
 
Also, had it been a real "foreign faction", you would think that someone would have taken credit for it. Terrorists have been known to take credit for acts they didn't committ just for the recognition.
 
I am mainly concerned with the ransom note, and I try to analyse it item by item. At present I am trying to answer one simple question: what “small foreign faction” are we supposed to have brought to mind by this note? To what “foreign faction” is the note alluding? Is it a particular foreign faction or is it meant to be vague and generic?

One possibility is that we should think of a Muslim faction in the al-Qaeda style. But the murder was in 1996. If it had been post-911 then “small foreign faction” might definitely have been suggesting radical Muslims. Nevertheless, it was in September 1996 that Bin Laden declared a fatwa of hostility upon the USA. So Muslim extremists is a still a possibility in that context.

(I’m not suggesting here that any foreign faction was actually involved, by the way. I don’t think for a minute that Bin Laden and co might have killed JBR! I think the note is all misinformation, but what is it that we are supposed to think?)

All the same, there is nothing else in the note that points in this direction. No other hints. It doesn’t end with Allahu akbar! or other Muslim extremist slogans, for example.

On the contrary, I think that the signature “Victory SBTC” is most likely Christian in intent. Saved By The Cross. (And I think the opening “Listen carefully” may have a Biblical tone too.)

So what other “foreign factions” if not Arabs? Latinos? Mexicans? Nicuraguans? Canadians!? In a Cold War context one might think “Cubans”, but not in Boulder in 1996.

One possibility I have considered is: Koreans. And, in that case, the “foreign faction” may mean a faction within the church. Americanized Koreans are into exactly the same style of Christianity as the Ramseys, and indeed the Ramsey’s church had/has congregations in South Korea. And there are Christian Korean communities in Boulder and Denver etc. since the 1950s.

Two things point to this identification. The word “Korea” on the paintbrush used as a garotte. And the threat of beheading in the note.

Post Iraq war we associate beheading with al-Qaeda, but probably not so readily in 1996. Whereas beheading was an infamous traditional mode of execution among Koreans.

Additionally: South Korea does lots of computer business. If you look at the computer literature of that period you’ll find that the phrase “Skills Based Technological Change” is being used routinely to describe the computer revolution then booming in South Korean society.

A case can be made for the "foreign faction" being Arabs, but it seems unlikely to me.

Can anyone add any thoughts on this question. What “foreign faction” are we supposed to have in mind here?

IMO, it's not as complicated as your very well thought-out post. I think the paintbrush made in Korea is just a coincidence, it was Patsy's and nothing the so-called SFF brought in. The threat of beheading IS strange and at odds with the other more "comforting" phrases.

I think the writer just came up with small foreign faction without considering anything more.

SBTC Victory- well after hearing the Ramseys talk about Christianity and Victory in other circumstances, I do think that Saved By The Cross is the most likely phrase for that acronym. It's eqally likely to me they were just pulled out of the alphabet at random.
 
Quite a stretch from beheading a child to concern that John is "well rested."

It's so incongruent, it's laughable.
 
I am mainly concerned with the ransom note, and I try to analyse it item by item. At present I am trying to answer one simple question: what “small foreign faction” are we supposed to have brought to mind by this note? To what “foreign faction” is the note alluding? Is it a particular foreign faction or is it meant to be vague and generic?

One possibility is that we should think of a Muslim faction in the al-Qaeda style. But the murder was in 1996. If it had been post-911 then “small foreign faction” might definitely have been suggesting radical Muslims. Nevertheless, it was in September 1996 that Bin Laden declared a fatwa of hostility upon the USA. So Muslim extremists is a still a possibility in that context.

(I’m not suggesting here that any foreign faction was actually involved, by the way. I don’t think for a minute that Bin Laden and co might have killed JBR! I think the note is all misinformation, but what is it that we are supposed to think?)

All the same, there is nothing else in the note that points in this direction. No other hints. It doesn’t end with Allahu akbar! or other Muslim extremist slogans, for example.

On the contrary, I think that the signature “Victory SBTC” is most likely Christian in intent. Saved By The Cross. (And I think the opening “Listen carefully” may have a Biblical tone too.)

So what other “foreign factions” if not Arabs? Latinos? Mexicans? Nicuraguans? Canadians!? In a Cold War context one might think “Cubans”, but not in Boulder in 1996.

One possibility I have considered is: Koreans. And, in that case, the “foreign faction” may mean a faction within the church. Americanized Koreans are into exactly the same style of Christianity as the Ramseys, and indeed the Ramsey’s church had/has congregations in South Korea. And there are Christian Korean communities in Boulder and Denver etc. since the 1950s.

Two things point to this identification. The word “Korea” on the paintbrush used as a garotte. And the threat of beheading in the note.

Post Iraq war we associate beheading with al-Qaeda, but probably not so readily in 1996. Whereas beheading was an infamous traditional mode of execution among Koreans.

Additionally: South Korea does lots of computer business. If you look at the computer literature of that period you’ll find that the phrase “Skills Based Technological Change” is being used routinely to describe the computer revolution then booming in South Korean society.

A case can be made for the "foreign faction" being Arabs, but it seems unlikely to me.

Can anyone add any thoughts on this question. What “foreign faction” are we supposed to have in mind here?

Try West Africa. One country with particularly close ties to the US.
 
Try West Africa. One country with particularly close ties to the US.

The word "Korea" is meaningless to the case. You could go to any art supply or hardware store and find paintbrushes that say "Korea" or "China" on them. That is simply where the brush was made, and Patsy likely had other brushes like it in her paint tote. Let's not get carried away. The rest of the brush was still in the tote, and Patsy admitted the tote was hers. Or is this supposed to be yet another thing the "intruder" brought to the house, coincidentally also finding a plastic tote with OTHER art supplies and brushes in it to leave a broken piece of the brush.
I have tons of things that say "China". Doesn't mean I went to China to get them or that a Chinese person left them in my house.
 
Thanks to posters to this thread. I completely agree that the entire ransom note is bogus. I also believe it was intended to incriminate the housekeeper, in the first instance. Although there seem to be several ideas conflated in the note. Political extremism + revenge + extortion etc. And I agree that the most likely authors of the note were the Ramseys themselves. Technically speaking this might not mean they are guilty of murder but it would sure mean they are guilty of obstructing justice.

All the same, I think every item in the note needs careful scrutiny and all possibilities should be covered. I agree that "small foreign faction" may be generic. But it is possible that a particular group of foreigners is intended. And I am inclined to think that the idea of "foreigners" goes with the idea of "beheading" and that the reader is supposed to connect those things, i.e. "foreigners" do barbaric things like beheading. So which group of foreign barbarians are we supposed to imagine? I argue that - despite what we might think now, post 911 - it is unlikely that the "foreign" barbarians are supposed to be a faction of Arabs. Who then? Again - I agree that it may be no one in particular, just a generic slur. But I think we should consider the various possibilities.

And I completely agree that "beheading" clashes with the other benign parts of the note. The note is not credible at all. But therein is a wealth of clues.
 
JR says in his 98 interview that it sounded amateurish,childish,like written by a young radical person.If he didn't write it,he knew right from the start he's not dealing with a sff.
 
Also, had it been a real "foreign faction", you would think that someone would have taken credit for it. Terrorists have been known to take credit for acts they didn't committ just for the recognition.

exactly. They would have taken 'credit' by now for killing the "Next American Beauty Queen" or some sick thing like that. Why have we not heard a peep from them? hmmmmm cause they don't exist! I feel real smart for getting that question right! :)
 
You are quite smart, GB! You would be amazed at the people who don't get it.
 
People who are 'foreign' don't refer to themselves as 'foreign'...they aren't foreign to themselves!
They'd (had they existed) more likely have said 'international' or some other adjective.
 
ellenm;

I agree. The note would have identified a "French Faction", "Chinese Faction" or what have you, perhaps even a name for the group. Anyone every google "foreign faction"? Not much to be found except the Note, and later some mentioned with a name in front or afterward.

Those words still drive me up a wall. How glaringly "imaginary" they are. Every time I hear them it is like fingernails on a chalk board.
 
I think the note was written by a person who didn't know how a ransom note is supposed to read and they were trying to make it read like a real threatening note by taking from things they have heard or seen in movies about ransoms and instead the note sounded childish and ridiculous.

For example in a movie a child of a high powered politician may be kidnapped by a small foreign faction (is it supposed to be fraction?).
Again this note is so ridiculous that it was either written by a housewife or an intruder in his teens. IMO

Exactly. Like my father used to test spaghetti: throw it against the wall and see what sticks.
 
The only thing I find truthful in the whole RN is that the perp is familiar with police tactics.

So far no arrests and it has been close to 14 years. That is pretty familiar, at least enough to stay out of jail.
 
The only thing I find truthful in the whole RN is that the perp is familiar with police tactics.

So far no arrests and it has been close to 14 years. That is pretty familiar, at least enough to stay out of jail.

Or at least, their lawyers were...
 
Or at least, their lawyers were...



Yes but in any RDI theory the staging and other stuff was done before a lawyer could be consulted, and if the RDI's are correct then the R's did a good job of it. Almost like they did consult an attorney beforehand.

I have nothing to support this just an observation of the situation.


Did JR ever take any "law" classes in association with his business? Thought I'd ask, you never know where these comments can lead?
 
Yes but in any RDI theory the staging and other stuff was done before a lawyer could be consulted,

Perhaps there has been a misunderstanding. My point was that LE was not outsmarted, they were just outlawyered.

and if the RDI's are correct then the R's did a good job of it.

How do you figure?

Almost like they did consult an attorney beforehand.

That has been theorized.

I have nothing to support this just an observation of the situation.

Fair enough.

Did JR ever take any "law" classes in association with his business? Thought I'd ask, you never know where these comments can lead?

None that I am aware of.

Hmm. I have something I'd like you to have a look at elsewhere, if that's all right.
 

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