Crime Scene Staging
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887sMtreme
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Interesting. Thanks. Couple of minor things:
The autopsy report does suggest genital trauma of some kind:
On the anterior aspect of the perineum, along the edges of closure of the labia majora, is a small amount of dried blood. A similar small amount of dried and semifluid blood is present on the skin of the fourchette and in the vestibule. Inside the vestibule of the vagina and along the distal vaginal wall is reddish hyperemia. This hyperemia is circumferential and perhaps more noticeable on the right side and posteriorly. The hyperemia also appears to extend just inside the vaginal orifice. A 1 cm red-purple area of abrasion is located on the right posterolateral area of the 1 x 1 cm hymenal orifice....On the right labia majora is a very faint area of violet discoloration measuring approximately one inch by three-eighths of an inch....A minimal amount of semiliquid thin watery red fluid is present in the vaginal vault."
The autopsy report describes the partially digested contents of JBR's small intestine as "...fragmented pieces of yellow to light green-tan apparent vegetable or fruit material which may represent fragments of pineapple." Not absolutely pineapple, then.
The autopsy report does suggest genital trauma of some kind:
On the anterior aspect of the perineum, along the edges of closure of the labia majora, is a small amount of dried blood. A similar small amount of dried and semifluid blood is present on the skin of the fourchette and in the vestibule. Inside the vestibule of the vagina and along the distal vaginal wall is reddish hyperemia. This hyperemia is circumferential and perhaps more noticeable on the right side and posteriorly. The hyperemia also appears to extend just inside the vaginal orifice. A 1 cm red-purple area of abrasion is located on the right posterolateral area of the 1 x 1 cm hymenal orifice....On the right labia majora is a very faint area of violet discoloration measuring approximately one inch by three-eighths of an inch....A minimal amount of semiliquid thin watery red fluid is present in the vaginal vault."
The autopsy report describes the partially digested contents of JBR's small intestine as "...fragmented pieces of yellow to light green-tan apparent vegetable or fruit material which may represent fragments of pineapple." Not absolutely pineapple, then.
BoldBear
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That's the visual part of the autopsy. Next the contents go to the lab.
887sMtreme
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Ah, thanks. Are the lab reports accessible online? I assume there are several.
"... and was then strangled using two different ligatures; the material of which both came from within the house."
What's the reference about? UK
Evidence of two ligature strangulations, not
manual strangulation?
or as suggested,
with the collar of her own shirt.
What's the reference about? UK
Evidence of two ligature strangulations, not
manual strangulation?
or as suggested,
with the collar of her own shirt.
Tadpole12,
I thought members might like to see another perspective on the case, particularly from a staging book. Also the reference to no evidence of a sexual assault, two ligature strangulations, etc, made me wonder if they knew something we did not, or they did not do their homework, a lot of the quotes and citations in the book are from websites.
Their analysis of the JonBenet case is not meant to be rigorous, its one of many outlining the different facets of staging. They suggests splitting staging into two types, primary and secondary, e.g. undoing might represent secondary staging as might an autoerotic coverup, as the intent is not to impede or deflect attention away from particular aspects of the crime-scene.
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BoldBear
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Steve Thomas talks about the contents from her stomach being tested for time of death. Also:
"Our experts studied the pineapple in the stomach and reported that it was fresh-cut pineapple, consistent down to the rind with what had been found in the bowl. It was solid proof that it wasn’t canned pineapple, and what were the chances that an intruder would have brought in a fresh pineapple to cut up for his victim?"
Thomas, Steve. JonBenet: Inside the Ramsey Murder Investigation (p. 192). St. Martin's Press. Kindle Edition.
That's an interesting point. The intruder was careful to take the pages before the "practice note." Bleed-through on the "practice note" showed an earlier draft of the ransom note according to Steve Thomas, and there were nine pages missing in all from the pad, indicating multiple drafts, so we can assume the ransom note/letter was important to get just right even as it was important to get rid of the early attempts.
There was something huge going on in 1996, I realize. The Unabomber aka FC, Ted Kaczynski, was arrested in April. He was caught only because the previous year he had convinced the FBI, NYT and WaPo to publish his 35,000 word manifesto, "Industrial Society and its Future." Kaczynski's brother David's wife thought the manifesto sounded like crazy brother-in-law Ted and convinced her husband to read it. David recognized the term "cool- headed logicians" as one of his brother's expressions. After Kaczynski's arrest, the remaining months of 1996 were full of newspaper stories about the Unabomber and how he got caught because he left his linguistic fingerprints in plain sight. Kaczynski's numerous literary quirks were instrumental in getting a search warrant for his Montana property.
Patsy must have been aware of this, yet she labored over a long note full of Ramsey inside baseball. Everybody else in the world would have gone the other way, made the note short or not have written one at all. What was the idea? I think she would be the David in this scenario and John would be the Ted. Eventually she would (reluctantly) concede that there were phrases in the note that her husband John liked and used. Patsy did something along these lines when questioned about the Bible that was the source of "SBTC." Asked about that Bible, she said that it was John's Bible and he read it. She almost didn't recognize it. But Patsy could easily have said that the Bible was a gift and neither one of them read it. Instead she dropped John in it.
Then "they" did a really bad job.
No doubt making LE suspect an intruder would be the best case for Patsy, but she couldn't really expect that. The police would fasten on someone inside the home, which is what happened; John probably wouldn't support her. Let them suspect him.
I realize that my post won't make sense to anyone who can't allow for the possibility that John slept through the night. That's a shame because Patsy's doubling down reveals her to be a risk-taker with a supple mind.
Which is what I would expect from people like this.
Just for perspective: she didn't have to fool the police. She had to fool one juror out of twelve.
I don't doubt that. Still doesn't convince me he was asleep.
Nothing in my post was intended to convince anyone that John was asleep. But the ability to entertain the idea that he was asleep might be necessary to understand what I'm getting at with it.
fr brown,
You could be forgiven for thinking maybe Patsy over-engineered her staging deliberately? Patsy graduated magna *advertiser censored* laude with a degree in journalism from the University of West University, so she knew all about how to construct narrative.
The KISS case is that a Ramsey killed JonBenet upstairs and one of the parents decided her death had to be staged downstairs in the basement so they could all claim it had nothing to do with the family, so all the mistakes in the staging are secondary to the main intent to create a smoke screen over JonBenet's death.
Nearly everything found on JonBenet's person in the wine-cellar does nothing for a kidnapping scenario. i.e. size-12's, BR's longjohns, Gap Top, broken paintbrush and ligature, white blanket, etc.
The ransom note is pure fiction and exudes Patsy's desire for drama, but as noted, likely even by Patsy herself, she is adding her own forensic signature to the case.
It appears Patsy was concerned enough to get the staging details that relate to the basement correct, but what about JonBenet's bedroom, how come that does not match the Ramsey storyline?
An intruder lifting a sleeping child from a bed should not disturb the bedclothes to any great degree.
I've never seen a PDI theory that successfully explains all the above elements they are just glossed over as incidental facets of the staging.
If I could understand the above elements, I'd make a stab at addressing them. I don't, for instance, understand the point you're making about her bed clothes. Steve Thomas said that her bed sheets smelled of urine. That's in line with the police hypothesis that JonBenet wetting herself (and the red turtleneck she was put to bed in) was the trigger that set Patsy off.
JonBenet wasn't kidnapped so it's not too surprising that most elements of the crime scene don't fit a kidnapping scenario. The only thing that does (that I can think of) is the ransom note.
As far as John's involvement goes, it would be best to imagine yourself as a responding officer. You don't know what's happened yet and don't have an opinion. You're confronted by two people, neither of whom looks like they just got out of bed. What can you do to corroborate what they're telling you?
fr brown
Apples and pears. What you are referring to is what the police theory might be, what I'm drawing your attention to is what the Ramsey's said actually took place.
The point is, JonBenet's bedroom, unlike the wine-cellar crime-scene has not been staged to match the Ramsey's assumed version of events !
Its not that her bed is a mess, pillow at the bottom, pajama bottoms missing, cover askew, the floor strewn with disparate objects, including, alleged by James Kolar, Burke's fecally stained pajama bottoms, etc.
No attempt has been made to morph the bedroom scene to that of the night before.
So if you think JonBenet was not kidnapped why do we have a ransom note?
Compare the forensic evidence with their version of events. JR says he moved the samsonite suitcase, really why? JR says he broke the basement window months ago, really, not that night?
Then there is the chair:
Then there is the 911 call where allegedly Burke Ramsey's voice can be heard talking to his parents. When this was drawn to their attention the parents revised their version of events to include Burke Ramsey being wide awake during the 911 cal and not sound asleep and previously claimed !
So the above refer to many instances where JR plays an active role during the kidnapping phase and after.
So if the case is PDI why did Patsy care about detail down in the basement but not either in JonBenet's bedroom or the breakfast bar?
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Personally, I can't think of how I would stage the kidnapping of a child from a bedroom. Fingernail marks on the head board?
Fleet White said that he moved the suitcase. I think he said he saw bits of glass on the floor. It's in Steve Thomas's book.
People make an enormous deal about the Ramseys lying about Burke being awake during the 911 call. I figured out that for some folks that means that Burke was awake all night and therefore not ignorant of the night's events; for others it means the Ramseys lied about it and that means they're both guilty of murder. I don't know if Burke's voice is on the tape or not. It would not be surprising for him to get up when he heard his mother screaming. And it would not be surprising for an innocent Burke to ask, "What did you find?" It would be more surprising if he asked that in full knowledge of the night's activities. He would already know, wouldn't he?
The ransom note delayed the finding of the body: French (iirc) didn't open the wine cellar door because the way the door locked meant that a kidnapper couldn't have gotten out that way. I don't know if Patsy foresaw that. She seems to have been wicked smart.
The purpose, contents and length of the ransom note I've discussed in an earlier post which you have apparently not bothered to read.
fr brown.
Apples and Oranges again.
Sure, neither do I know, but you know what, Patsy never bothered anyway !
Yes, FW said all that, but who moved the suitcase from upstairs to the basement, who put their hand up for that one : JR.
Ransom Note analysis has been done to death, everyone is at liberty to interpret as they wish. Yet why would Patsy take the risk of revealing her hand in JonBenet's homicide by penning a ransom note, when her intent is to mask any involvement on her part?
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ST IRMI
p20
"...laid out caught his attention, and on the floor be-neath the window
he found a piece of glass,
which he placed on the ledge.
He dropped to his hands and knees searching for other pieces,
and moved a suitcase in doing so. Unknowingly,
he was altering a vital part of the crime scene
In com-ing months claims would be..."