Mortal Evidence - Cyril Wecht

Jayelles

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I just got my copy of "Mortal Evidence" by Cyril Wecht this morning. I will read the bits of this book that I can stomach (I have a very weak stomach!) and then I shall pass it on to my mother who loves anything to do with post mortems and forensic detection!

It's got a fair sized chapter on the Ramseys case plus a post mortem photo which I've not seen before - one of JonBenet before she was removed to the morgue. The photo gives a fairly clear image of the white blanket and it's different from what I imagined. There are also some marks on her upper arm which look odd and I've never seen any images of that before.

I'm looking forward to reading this book. I like Cyril Wecht's plain speaking. He's very good at explaining things technically - but in simple terms.
 
The photo sounds interesting, Jay. Fire up your scanner and let's see if we can get Maxi to post it!

:)
 
Okay, how did you imagine it? Was it not wrapped the way you thought it would be? I am sorry, please explain....
 
No, it was just the blanket itsef. The photo is clear and I had imagined a different kind of blanket. I had imagined a cellular blanket and it's not. It's got ridges on it. This isn't important really and I suppose it's not even particularly interesting :)

We can't post images here. Her arm is showing and is very dark red apart from a funny shaped light mark. I presume the dark colouring is lividity, but what would cause the white mark? Is that what is called 'blanching'? Is that if her body was pressing against something? The white mark is like a shark's fin. The image clearly shows the garotte . I absolutely HATE these images. Poor baby. I can't bear to imagine what she went through.
 
Jayelles, if you scan the photo and email it to me, I will post it on an external site and link to it here.
 
Maxi - I've scanned it but your e-mail addy is disabled. To where should I send it?

I'm going to bed very shortly. Freshly laundered sheets and an excellent DVD are beckoning ... :)
 
What IF Wecht was right? What if Jonbenet was molested three days or so before her murder?
Clearly the police used this information against the Ramseys,once again, determining one of them killed her,however,if Wecht is right,it may have been the biggest clue in the hunt for the killer.
Who had access to that child during those last days,who babysat for her,where was she? in whose home? whose brothers?fathers? could she have been left alone with for even a few moments?
Who then,had to kill her and stage this "scene" to make it look like an abduction by a foreign faction,to protect themselves?

IMO JMO
 
sissi, why would a neighbor, friend, babysitter, or anyone else outside the Ramsey family you suggest may have molested JonBenet, wait several days after molesting her before killing her to keep her quiet? What would make any of them think JonBenet hadn't already spilled the beans--maybe even on Christmas Day-- to her parents and that they had contacted LE, and LE had begun to investigate the claim?
 
Originally posted by sissi
What IF Wecht was right? What if Jonbenet was molested three days or so before her murder?
Clearly the police used this information against the Ramseys,once again, determining one of them killed her,however,if Wecht is right,it may have been the biggest clue in the hunt for the killer.
Who had access to that child during those last days,who babysat for her,where was she? in whose home? whose brothers?fathers? could she have been left alone with for even a few moments?
Who then,had to kill her and stage this "scene" to make it look like an abduction by a foreign faction,to protect themselves?
Excellent questions, Sissi! Okay, now we're getting somewhere. :)

As I suggested on another thread, instead of making silly denials of the undeniable fact that JonBenét was abused prior to the night she was killed per overwhelming expert opinion, theorists should use that information to help form their theories.

You are absolutely right that LE should have looked carefully at people very close to the family. Who had access to JB during those last few days? This includes extended family. Of course, they DID look at everyone, but maybe they should have looked more closely at John Andrew and Grandpa Paugh and ??... did they really have airtight alibis?

Here's a wild thought to explain the Ramseys' guilty behavior, evasiveness, inconsistent statements and lies: (not that I want to help intruder theorists, but...) has it ever occurred to intruder theorists that someone other than John or Patsy (i.e. "intruder") was the perp BUT that John and Patsy suspected each other and tried to cover for each other, hence the guilty behavior?
 
I just got my copy today and thumbed through it.

I am glad Wecht points out the fibers on the duct tape. The fibers that are consistant with Patsy's jacket. How Patsy went on Tv after being confronted by this and explained how she hugged Jonbenet's body.

Only problem is, both the white blanket and the duct tape remained on the basement floor,Patsy.

Wecht does a good job in dispelling the stun gun and DNA, says the same things we have been saying all along. I wonder if he reads here. ;)
 
IVY quote: sissi, why would a neighbor, friend, babysitter, or anyone else outside the Ramsey family you suggest may have molested JonBenet, wait several days after molesting her before killing her to keep her quiet?

I really don't know,but will offer a guess(if this was the case).
It seems many ,who have been molested,keep the secret out of fear or embarrassment. If the threat were huge,along the line of killing perhaps another family member if she told,she may keep the secret while in the area of the molestor,but,let it go in the safety of family in Charlevois. He knew that once out of his control she would tell.
This would narrow the range of suspects considerably,leaving only those that Patsy could recall were alone with her for any period of time. I don't suspect a family member,but I have always wondered about the story from the other mom,about the santa visit. Why did no one else know this,not even Burke? Was this such a big secret that she shared it with a stranger rather than with her family? Was it true?

IMO JMO
 
sissi, you're right that kids don't always tell their parents they were molested, and this would especially hold true if the molester threatened the child if she ever told. But that doesn't address why the molester would break into the child's home several days after he molested her, and kill her, because for all he knew, the child might have ALREADY told on him, and her parents had informed the police.

As for the "Santa visit" story, if it's true, JonBenet may have been referring to a second Christmas celebration the Ramseys might have been planning to hold in Charlevoix--a celebration JonBenet had been told by her parents, or simply presumed, wherein a Santa would pay a visit, as Santa Bill McReynolds had done at the other celebration.

Why do you consider friends and neighbors of the Ramseys any more capable of having molested and killed JonBenet than the Ramseys themselves? What exalts the Ramseys above all others in your eyes and makes them above suspicion in the death of JonBenet, regardless of the fact that there is no evidence of an intruder and many indications that the Ramseys themselves were involved?
 
The only conclusion I have been able to reach is that in some ways the fingers point to the R's, but I don't think there is enough there to actually prove they did it. Lots of the questions still remain unanswered, I don't know how to explain it.

As far as why would the molester mess w/her, then leave her alone for three days? Well, if the abuse was chronic I would think it probably happened more than once. She was 6 yrs old, she might not have even known that it was wrong to be touched. I didn't, until I was 13. (And this was by a close family friend) Also, the threat of telling a family member would be too great, most molesters use that ruse.
 
So what is the white thing we are seeing since the blanket remained downstairs? There's a seam visible and it appears to be a loose garment of some kind. A turtleneck would cover her arm unless she was half out of it.
 

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