JonBenet's Skull Fractures: The Weapon

[anne11]

I wonder why the kitchen is considered as the crime scene for the bludgeon to the head.

 

[midwest mama]

I wonder why the kitchen is considered as the crime scene for the bludgeon to the head.

James Kolar (author) responded to a question from a caller on Tricia's first radio interview of him that he believed the blow happened in the kitchen. Throughout the interview, and in his book, he made references to information he revealed being supported by the evidence he had access to, which was everything available from LE, since he was hired to work the case for over a year.

If his opinion could not be substantiated by evidence, he also made that clear or said he did not have the answer to a question.

 

[learnin]

Good discussion and good work, otg. There are good reasons to believe the
head blow occurred in this vicinity.

1. Dust and lint on the feet. I've always felt this meant JBR was standing on a tile, linoleum or concrete floor when she was struck on the head. Obviously, once she was struck on the head, she no longer stood on her feet so whatever was on the soles of her feet, at time of head blow, remained there. The boiler room has a concrete floor for obvious reasons.

2. If the scream, which Melody Stanton heard, was real, then, the most likely place of origin is around the boiler room.

3. JBR was finished off in the hallway adjacent to the boiler room. This makes sense.

4. A metal pipe would surely be able to depress a skull. One does not have to resort to mental gymnastics in order to propose that a metal, plumbing, pipe could have been lying around or standing up against a wall in that room.

Could that be a water softener next to the water heater? I'm sure they had one and it would have to be next to the water heater.

 

[otg]

For those of you who don’t know, learnin is one of the stars/legends from FFJ. I won’t tell you how long learnin has been around there and at other forums since that might be taken as a hint about age, and we don’t want to go there. But learnin is also a medical imaging technologist and has contributed so much to any discussion I’ve ever been involved in. I invited the FFJ posters here because there is so much more discussion going on here.

I agree with all four of your points, learnin, but I’m not much help on your question about the water softener. I was thinking that object in the photo was the furnace/boiler. I’ve never had a water softener so I’m not familiar with them. Here’s what I found online:

After looking at a few pictures of them, I wonder if that might be what is partly shown and circled in this picture that I had called a mystery object several years back hoping someone could identify it for me (this would place it very close by the water heater (but not right next to it), and it might account for some of the additional piping in the area that I didn't understand:

 

[DeeDee249]

Could be a dehumidifier, too.

 

[BOESP]

Whatever it is, if compared to the diagram of the basement layout shown above, it seems like Patsy's art tote should be sitting where the mystery white thing is. So is the art tote sitting on top of whatever this white object is?

 

[learnin]

For those of you who don’t know, learnin is one of the stars/legends from FFJ. I won’t tell you how long learnin has been around there and at other forums since that might be taken as a hint about age, and we don’t want to go there. But learnin is also a medical imaging technologist and has contributed so much to any discussion I’ve ever been involved in. I invited the FFJ posters here because there is so much more discussion going on here.

I agree with all four of your points, learnin, but I’m not much help on your question about the water softener. I was thinking that object in the photo was the furnace/boiler. I’ve never had a water softener so I’m not familiar with them. Here’s what I found online:

After looking at a few pictures of them, I wonder if that might be what is partly shown and circled in this picture that I had called a mystery object several years back hoping someone could identify it for me (this would place it very close by the water heater (but not right next to it), and it might account for some of the additional piping in the area that I didn't understand:

Thanks for the kind introduction, otg. Interesting pic. That could be a water softener or dehumidifier as dee dee suggested in her reply.

I happened to move in to my current home right around the time of JBR's murder. It had a weird looking water softener in place when I took up residence. It was a round, brown, plastic tub with the gravel sitting in the bottom. It could be, as you say, remnants of the old boiler. But I would have to believe they had a water softener somewhere down there.

 

[zapped]

Heres why I dont think it was a Mag Light. I'm a pretty strong guy at 5'8 and 195 lbs. I also used to frame houses when I was a younger so my wrists are strong from swinging a hammer.

I could probably hit someone with enough force to kill them with a Mag Light in my hand but after striking the skull that downward force would likely cause me to either drop the flashlight from the sting of impact or cause it shoot out of my hand as that downward force met resistance and was pushed upwards out of my hand. Even with strong wrists and a strong grip.

I know the flashlight was cleaned according to reports. Did they check it for signs of recent abrasion that could be caused by dropping it on a concrete floor?

I think it should be noted that striking with the fist (or an object in that fist) in an almost straight downward motion, its hard even for someone strong to generate a lot of force. Try it yourself...now compare it to a swing.

A hammer on the other hand with the added force of a wrist snapping down and a swing behind it could have made a hole like that easily. If the person swinging it were a carpenter or a construction worker they would have hit the skull dead-on as well, simply out of habit.

Carpenters call off-center or crooked swings that leave a dimple in the wood cats-asses.Ive seen men teased and even fired for doing it too often because a painter has to fill the holes with putty and its shoddy work.

 

[zapped]

Heres why I dont think it was a Mag Light. I'm a pretty strong guy at 5'8 and 195 lbs. I also used to frame house when I was a younger so my wrists are strong from swinging a hammer.

I could probably hit someone with enough force to kill them with a Mag Light in my hand but after striking the skull that downward force would likely cause me to either drop the flashlight from the sting of impact or cause it shoot out of my hand as that downward force met resistance and was pushed upwards out of my hand.

I know the flashlight was cleaned according to reports. Did they check it for signs of recent abrasion that could be caused by dropping it on a concrete floor?

I think it should be noted that striking with the fist (or an object in that fist) in an almost straight downward motion, its hard even for someone strong to generate a lot of force.

A hammer on the other hand with the added force of a wrist and a swing behind it could have made a hole like that easily. If the person swinging it were a carpenter or a construction worker they would have hit the skull dead-on as well, simply out of habit.

 

[deca]

That circled thing is awfully short (about 2 ft??) and it looks like it has plastic on the top like an upside down plastic bag.

It almost looks like a trashcan with a plastic bag liner in it. Between the wall and the "trashcan" there is a sign or poster being propped up? IDK

 

[anne11]

I may need glasses but to me it looks like that polystyrene foam packaging with clear plastic partially covering it.

So the evidence in the kitchen possible urine stain and the bludgeon?

 

[Nom de plume]

I can almost guarantee that no one in Boulder has a water softener. Boulder already has soft water. So soft in fact that you're never quite sure when the shampoo is out of your hair.

 

[otg]

Sorry, I am not good with the picture posting thing, so bear with me. The photo I am trying to post here is Crime Scene photo #73, basement, which is the same area that otg posted previously, except his is free from the items shown in #73.
(Click on photo below to enlarge or go to URL)
View attachment 34656
http://crimeshots.com/csvent.jpg

I'm confused - is #73 from the first run through the house by detectives taking photos of the crime scene? In the one posted by otg, there is a red X and circling around the drip leg, and this piping looks to be tape wrapped also. If a replaced piece of pipe, which Darlene speculates hanging out of the bucket was also tape wrapped, would it account for less damage to the skull - no scalp wound? If #73 was taken before the items were cleared away to provide a picture of the piping leading to the water heater, it looks like those screens/windows could have been a deterrent for JB's head to have struck that piping that is attached to the water heater in the photo otg posted?

Just to clarify... There seem to have been two sets (at least) of pictures taken by investigators inside the hellhole (Very observant of you to notice, mwmm.). Individual pictures from both have been leaked. The first set is numbered and are referred to in the interviews. They also have stamped at the bottom the words: “Crime Scene Photo - Not For Publication” (a lot of good that did, eh?). The other set seems to have been taken later and don’t have those words on them. The reason for pointing this out (and it may be completely irrelevant) is that one picture is taken showing the corner of what has been identified as a freezer next to the water heater. The other picture taken at almost the same angle shows a group of window screens leaned up against the freezer. I think those screens were moved (or removed) before the second set of photos was taken.

 

[otg]

Could be a dehumidifier, too.

I don't know about water softeners, but I do know about dehumidifiers (I live along the Gulf Coast.). It does indeed look like it could be a dehumidifier, but I kind of doubt that's what it is. I can understand wanting to use one in a basement -- they are usually humid (yes?). But it would sure be working on an almost impossible task to try and remove the moisture in an area with open vents and broken windows letting in the outside air. And besides, didn't JR like the humidity so he could store his contraband Cuban cigars?

Whatever it is, if compared to the diagram of the basement layout shown above, it seems like Patsy's art tote should be sitting where the mystery white thing is. So is the art tote sitting on top of whatever this white object is?

The art tote was lying on the floor, so maybe it had already been removed as evidence when that picture was taken? Here's the tote:

 

[midwest mama]

I don't know about water softeners, but I do know about dehumidifiers (I live along the Gulf Coast.). It does indeed look like it could be a dehumidifier, but I kind of doubt that's what it is. I can understand wanting to use one in a basement -- they are usually humid (yes?). But it would sure be working on an almost impossible task to try and remove the moisture in an area with open vents and broken windows letting in the outside air. And besides, didn't JR like the humidity so he could store his contraband Cuban cigars?




The art tote was lying on the floor, so maybe it had already been removed as evidence when that picture was taken? Here's the tote:

The numbering, as you stated above, indicates this photo was in the first set taken. Look at the art work between the tote and the wall. The other photo you posted, otg, without a number, probably is from the second set, and if you look closely, beween the white object and the wall, there appears to be possibly that same piece of art work still there.

I agree, the paint tote had probably already been removed, or possibly, the white object, with the plastic in it (?) was a collection container into which things were being placed that were being taken into evidence?

 

[BOESP]

<snipped>
The art tote was lying on the floor, so maybe it had already been removed as evidence when that picture was taken? Here's the tote:

Does anyone else think the art tote shown in crime scene photo 178 looks like it is sitting where the unidentified white object in the other photo (identified only as photo "72") is sitting?

Zapped, if I'm not mistaken, if the flashlight was used to strike JonBenet's head, it would have had to have been swung horizontally since the depression matches a cylindrical shape that runs perpendicular to the floor. Though she could have been lying down if struck -- if so, the fracture should have run in a different direction than what it did.

 

[Darlene733510]

I was looking at pictures of the basement on the ACR site today. There is a picture there of the fireplace tools. One of them is called a log puller and it may be about the size to cause the head injury. I couldn't tell exactly where they were, but it really got me to thinking.
When we had a fireplace once where we lived we had these tools, and they are made out of iron and very heavy.
One more thing - the closet doors in the train room. One of them was taken off and taken by BPD, as part of the investigation. It seems I have read something about this, and that the door was cracked or split down the middle. Could someone have been thrown against that door? If so, I doubt it could cause such a severe head injury.

 

[otg]

I appreciate all the posts, all the observations, and all the discussion. I think most of what had caught my attention has been picked up by the excellent posters here at WebSleuths, and even some things that I hadn’t noticed or didn’t know.

Here’s the thing... I try to look only at hard evidence and see what can be determined from it. But at a certain point, since we don’t have access to all the evidence, we have to consider the different possibilities and then determine what we think to be the most likely conclusion. We won’t all agree on what that conclusion might be because, in making it, we have to make some assumptions -- and we might unintentionally be influenced by our own beliefs, prejudices, and predispositions.

For example, if you are predisposed to believe that JonBenet’s death was premeditated and carefully planned out by her father to keep her from telling someone about some evil act (or acts) done by him -- you won’t agree with my conclusions. If you think it was premeditated and carefully planned out by her mother to fall on that specific date for some type of ritualistic sacrifice -- you won’t agree with my conclusions. If your belief is that it was premeditated and carefully planned out by her brother because of jealousy over the attention she was getting from their parents -- you won’t agree with my conclusions.

All of these examples have in common that her death occurred as the result of something planned. But I don’t subscribe to that belief because nearly everything I know about the evidence looks completely UNplanned to me. So I am admittedly starting out with that predisposition. I also tend to think that everything happened in the basement. James Kolar said he believes the head blow occurred in the kitchen -- but we don’t know what information he has that makes him think that. If it did happen in the kitchen, what I’m looking for as a possible weapon might be different.

So the assumptions/predispositions that I know I’m making are that (1) her death was not planned, and (2) that the head blow happened in the basement (probably near the entrance to the WC where the paint tote was found).

What I consider to be hard evidence that I take into consideration is that she was struck (or pushed, BOESP

) with enough force from one single action to cause both a depressed and a linear fracture in her skull. The depressed fracture (or “hole”, if we can use that term for it) should conform to the weapon that caused it -- and I now believe that to be a cylindrical object with a diameter of at least 1/2” and no more than 1”. (I might be able to narrow that down later with more experiments.) Before I had that information, I was beginning to think that it might have been a bat, mostly because of its shape and its potential force. But a bat is about 2-1/4” in diameter, so that doesn’t fit with what I know now. A 2-1/4” diameter object would cause the “hole” to be much wider (rounder) than the 1/2” recorded by the coroner with a 1-3/4” length. So despite the appeal of wanting to think it was one of the two bats found, it has to be excluded.

Several posters have mentioned (and I’ve discussed this in emails with some) that it might be a dumbbell or the bar that is used to hold the weights on one. But from looking into them online, they seem to all be a standard 1” diameter, which would be right at the upper range of what might have caused the “hole”.

When I found out from the math that this object had to be probably about 3/4”, I was stumped. What could be that size and easily accessible to the person who did this? The only thing I could think of would be a piece of pipe, but that would almost require premeditation because of accessibility (or rather lack of it because of location). But then I posted that basement picture for reference to where the broken window was in relation to the duct, and I saw the answer. At the bottom in that picture is a 5-gallon plastic pail -- something I’ve used at home (and I seen craftsmen of different types using) to gather up various tools, parts, and scraps left over from a project. Then I noticed the obviously almost new water heater and the different associated pipe that was either painted or not painted (which would indicate which piping might have been installed since the basement was painted last). Then the orphaned duct from nothing made sense (It is probably from the outdated water heater that had been recently replaced.). And then I looked at the floor plan again showing where this picture was taken in relation to where the paint tote was located, and all the pieces seemed to start falling into place. The work pail was probably left there by workmen who had worked on replacing the water heater and re-routing its associated piping. We can’t tell by that one picture exactly what is in it (or for that matter, what might have been in it at the time of JonBenet’s death), but it isn’t too much of a stretch to think that it could very easily have had a short section of small diameter pipe sticking out or even lying somewhere around it. This answers the question about accessibility of the weapon in that area and eliminates the requirement of premeditation for it to have been used.

So why, you should ask, would someone with apparently nefarious intentions choose that particular area to go and act them out? The basement is as far as you can get from everyone else in the house. By the time another person could get down to that location, anyone in the basement would expect that they could hear them coming by the time they started down the stairway. It was December and it was cold outside. The warmest area in the basement would be right next to the furnace/boiler (I don’t really know which it is), the water heater, and even the warm air discharge coming from the freezer. So the question really is why anyone would choose any other location to do something they didn’t want known to others.

So let’s say that this unspeakable act was being done in that area next to the entrance to the WC. If JonBenet let out a scream (and we’ll never know this with any more certainty than we have today) the open duct leading to the outside is right there within about five to ten feet. Even closer than that is a 5-gallon pail, possibly left by workmen in the basement from the installation of new water heater. There may very well have been some short sections of pipe left and sticking out of the pail, or even some type of tool that would be the correct diameter to cause the skull fractures -- or even lying next to it somewhere. In a panic, the assailant might have looked around for something to stop the scream, or he/she may have already noticed it before the scream. We don’t know how long the scream might have lasted before it was heard by someone else, or how long it lasted before this assailant found a piece of pipe and swung it to stop the screaming -- (Or alternately for BOESP, how long it lasted before she was shoved against a section of pipe in the area.). Because of questions even about its existence, we don’t know that silencing the scream was the reason (although I do believe it happened). But we do know her skull came in contact with something that could cause the fractures, and now we know that the object that caused it was very likely easily accessible in that area where she died.

 

[BOESP]

Just for the record otg - she could have been pushed, shoved, pulled, tugged, fell, or otherwise put in motion toward an object that her head then struck. Someone may have fallen on her simultaneously. I don't necessarily think she was pushed but I do think it is a low velocity/high pressure wound. That means, imo, that she was in motion rather than the weapon/device being in motion.

I could be wrong.

 

[Chrishope]

I appreciate all the posts, all the observations, and all the discussion. I think most of what had caught my attention has been picked up by the excellent posters here at WebSleuths, and even some things that I hadn’t noticed or didn’t know.

Here’s the thing... I try to look only at hard evidence and see what can be determined from it. But at a certain point, since we don’t have access to all the evidence, we have to consider the different possibilities and then determine what we think to be the most likely conclusion. We won’t all agree on what that conclusion might be because, in making it, we have to make some assumptions -- and we might unintentionally be influenced by our own beliefs, prejudices, and predispositions.

For example, if you are predisposed to believe that JonBenet’s death was premeditated and carefully planned out by her father to keep her from telling someone about some evil act (or acts) done by him -- you won’t agree with my conclusions. If you think it was premeditated and carefully planned out by her mother to fall on that specific date for some type of ritualistic sacrifice -- you won’t agree with my conclusions. If your belief is that it was premeditated and carefully planned out by her brother because of jealousy over the attention she was getting from their parents -- you won’t agree with my conclusions.

All of these examples have in common that her death occurred as the result of something planned. But I don’t subscribe to that belief because nearly everything I know about the evidence looks completely UNplanned to me. So I am admittedly starting out with that predisposition. I also tend to think that everything happened in the basement. James Kolar said he believes the head blow occurred in the kitchen -- but we don’t know what information he has that makes him think that. If it did happen in the kitchen, what I’m looking for as a possible weapon might be different.

I share that predisposition.

So the assumptions/predispositions that I know I’m making are that (1) her death was not planned, and (2) that the head blow happened in the basement (probably near the entrance to the WC where the paint tote was found).

What I consider to be hard evidence that I take into consideration is that she was struck (or pushed, BOESP

) with enough force from one single action to cause both a depressed and a linear fracture in her skull. The depressed fracture (or “hole”, if we can use that term for it) should conform to the weapon that caused it -- and I now believe that to be a cylindrical object with a diameter of at least 1/2” and no more than 1”. (I might be able to narrow that down later with more experiments.) Before I had that information, I was beginning to think that it might have been a bat, mostly because of its shape and its potential force. But a bat is about 2-1/4” in diameter, so that doesn’t fit with what I know now. A 2-1/4” diameter object would cause the “hole” to be much wider (rounder) than the 1/2” recorded by the coroner with a 1-3/4” length. So despite the appeal of wanting to think it was one of the two bats found, it has to be excluded.

Several posters have mentioned (and I’ve discussed this in emails with some) that it might be a dumbbell or the bar that is used to hold the weights on one. But from looking into them online, they seem to all be a standard 1” diameter, which would be right at the upper range of what might have caused the “hole”.

When I found out from the math that this object had to be probably about 3/4”, I was stumped. What could be that size and easily accessible to the person who did this? The only thing I could think of would be a piece of pipe, but that would almost require premeditation because of accessibility (or rather lack of it because of location). But then I posted that basement picture for reference to where the broken window was in relation to the duct, and I saw the answer. At the bottom in that picture is a 5-gallon plastic pail -- something I’ve used at home (and I seen craftsmen of different types using) to gather up various tools, parts, and scraps left over from a project. Then I noticed the obviously almost new water heater and the different associated pipe that was either painted or not painted (which would indicate which piping might have been installed since the basement was painted last). Then the orphaned duct from nothing made sense (It is probably from the outdated water heater that had been recently replaced.). And then I looked at the floor plan again showing where this picture was taken in relation to where the paint tote was located, and all the pieces seemed to start falling into place. The work pail was probably left there by workmen who had worked on replacing the water heater and re-routing its associated piping. We can’t tell by that one picture exactly what is in it (or for that matter, what might have been in it at the time of JonBenet’s death), but it isn’t too much of a stretch to think that it could very easily have had a short section of small diameter pipe sticking out or even lying somewhere around it. This answers the question about accessibility of the weapon in that area and eliminates the requirement of premeditation for it to have been used.

Or a vent for an older boiler that had been replaced? It's larger than most water heater vents.

So why, you should ask, would someone with apparently nefarious intentions choose that particular area to go and act them out? The basement is as far as you can get from everyone else in the house. By the time another person could get down to that location, anyone in the basement would expect that they could hear them coming by the time they started down the stairway. It was December and it was cold outside. The warmest area in the basement would be right next to the furnace/boiler (I don’t really know which it is), the water heater, and even the warm air discharge coming from the freezer. So the question really is why anyone would choose any other location to do something they didn’t want known to others.

So let’s say that this unspeakable act was being done in that area next to the entrance to the WC. If JonBenet let out a scream (and we’ll never know this with any more certainty than we have today) the open duct leading to the outside is right there within about five to ten feet. Even closer than that is a 5-gallon pail, possibly left by workmen in the basement from the installation of new water heater. There may very well have been some short sections of pipe left and sticking out of the pail, or even some type of tool that would be the correct diameter to cause the skull fractures -- or even lying next to it somewhere. In a panic, the assailant might have looked around for something to stop the scream, or he/she may have already noticed it before the scream. We don’t know how long the scream might have lasted before it was heard by someone else, or how long it lasted before this assailant found a piece of pipe and swung it to stop the screaming -- (Or alternately for BOESP, how long it lasted before she was shoved against a section of pipe in the area.). Because of questions even about its existence, we don’t know that silencing the scream was the reason (although I do believe it happened). But we do know her skull came in contact with something that could cause the fractures, and now we know that the object that caused it was very likely easily accessible in that area where she died.