Calicocat,
Fair enough ...
You stated in your first post that John tried opening the wine cellar door,but the door resisted because of the door latch.I stated that I didn't recall hearing about that,so I don't have anything to add to that.
The mail was delivered into the door slot.There was a strange character by the name of Colfax,who some how got imbedded into the Ramsey saga ... for reasons,only known to him,he forced a burning piece of paper into the Ramsey's house,through the mail slot in the door while it was unoccupied,and started a small fire in the entrance hall. That is when it was realized,that that was how the mail was delivered.
As far a John being unaccounted for,for an hour and twenty minutes,that was the story that got out in the media ... but I included this snippet from Det. Linda Arndt's deposition (courtesy of FFJ):
"24 Q. And didn't you indicate that it was
25 sometime between 10:40 and 12:00 noon that John Ramsey
Page 129
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 left to pick up his mail or that you lost track of him
2 but later saw him reading the mail and assumed he had
3 left to pick up the mail during that period you had
4 lost track of him?
5 A. It has been widely reported that -
6 Q. I'm not talking about widely reported. I'm
7 talking about what you know.
8 A. What I know? Okay. Ask me again then.
9 Q. I'll ask you again. Isn't it your
10 recollection that it was between 10:40 and 12:00 noon
11 that you lost track of John Ramsey, and when you later
12 saw him opening mail you assumed he had gone out to get
13 the mail during that period you had lost track of him?
14 A. As I told you when you asked before, I
15 didn't personally watch him every minute from about
16 10:40 until noon.
17 Q. Would you read back the question?
18 (Record read by reporter as requested.)
19 THE DEPONENT: I'm sorry. What did I not
20 answer?
21 Q. (BY MR. HALABY) Are you stating that you
22 never lost track of him during that period?
23 A. I think I just told you that I personally
24 couldn't account for every minute.
25 Does that mean that you lost track of him
Page 130
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 then?
2 A. You could interpret it that way.
3 Q. All right. And during that period that you
4 lost track of him, did you later conclude what he had
5 done during that period in terms of going to pick up
6 the mail?
7 A. When I didn't personally monitor him the
8 whole time, what was the other half?
9 Q. Did you conclude that during that period
10 you'd lost track of him that he had gone out to pick up
11 the mail?
12 A. When I didn't personally monitor him, I
13 didn't know how he had gotten his mail.
14 Q. And did you then put two and two together
15 and believe that he had gone out to get the mail?
16 A. I thought he had gotten mail by stepping
17 outside.
18 Q. You didn't believe somebody else had picked
19 up the mail and delivered it to him inside the house?
20 A. I didn't know.
21 Q. But what you had concluded was that he had
22 gone out to get the mail, correct?
23 A. I thought he had got - yes."
Seems Like Det. Arndt tried to dance around that whole situation. From what I'm reading,it seems that Arndt wasn't paying much attention to John,and probably didn't know how long he was gone,and just assumed he was gone for awhile,because she saw him reading his mail. If she wasn't monitoring him every minute,then there is a possibility,he may have been gone for 15 min.,30 min.or an hour and twenty minutes ... she can't be sure. I think that's why she danced around it a bit,because it sure makes her look pretty bad,that she wasn't closely monitoring some one she should have been.IMO.