Was the Ramsey house typically a mess?

[CloudedTruth]

Excellent overview! I want to add one thing, though, if I might. Stun guns and tasers had been available for some 20 years by 1996-7, but were not long in use by most law enforcement operations. Lou Smit, though a respected investigator, had little or no practical experience with them. He was out of his depth and increasingly overcome by a personal obligation to prove John Ramsey (and by extension, the whole Ramsey family) innocent.

Exactly! Lou grasped onto that theory after looking at the autopsy photos, he never saw those marks in person as did the coroner, who described them as bruises and abrasions. Lou was hell bent on proving the marks were made by a stun gun, but he couldn't. Even he had to admit that the marks were not the correct distance apart as any stun gun on the market at that time would make. And yet he persisted with this theory, not willing to let it go and admit that he might be wrong even though those who did have expertise in all things stun guns disagreed with him. He definitely became too invested in this case that he let it cloud his judgement. Using a cushion in a demonstration instead of a substance comparable to the human body was just one example. He was really grasping at straws.

 

[Choices]

My entire point was that using a cushion as a substitute for the human body was not an appropriate comparison to make. The sound the stun gun makes while pushed into a cushion does not compare with the sound it makes up against a human's body. I never said that LS said that a cushion was used in this case, but it is what he chose to use to make a comparison that I think is misleading. If you're trying to prove that pressing the stun gun into a human body mutes the sound, you need to use something comparable to the human body. Had he done so, it would've undermined his argument. Again, if you have ever seen video of a stun gun being used on a person, the noise is unmistakable and it isn't muted.

If LS was attempting to say that the killer must have used something to mute the sound as to why the R's say they didn't hear anything, he's off base there too. The stun gun has to have direct contact with the body. And having direct contact with the body does not mean the sound is muted enough so that no one would hear it. That argument simply does not hold water.

In fact, someone posted about having done an experiment where a stun gun was used on a willing participant while his daughter was in another room at the opposite end of their house, to see if she'd be able to hear it. She very clearly heard it and described that it was loud.

Wait, this all seems like a red herring. Nothing directed at you, just the general argument. But your example of the daughter who heard the stun gun from another room - she was awake and listening out for it, completely different to sleeping people like what the Ramsey family likely would have been when this happened. Also the Ramseys lived in a mansion. BR's room was virtually at the opposite end to JBR's. Remembering that it's not your average sized family home. Additionally, her parents were one floor up AND on the opposite end right above BR's bedroom. Further, we don't know whether they're heavy sleepers or not. You basically have to do a proper test to account for all such variables.. I watched several stun gun demos on YT. They're not as loud as I thought. I said elsewhere a pillow could be held hard to someone's mouth to muffle the sound.
But maybe it was a cattle prod.

I have not found any details published as to what time JBR wet the bed each night. How would they know that unless someone stayed up with her all night on multiple nights to record that information? I do know that PR had indicated that sometimes they would wake her up after she was put to bed and before the parents went to bed to make her use the bathroom again in hopes that would help her make it through the night without wetting the bed. That could be an indication that it was happening very late or in the wee (no pun intended) hours of the morning.

The bed wetting could have happened at any time and does not mean she was not asleep like suggested in your earlier post.

 

[ispywithmylittleeye]

Wait, this all seems like a red herring. Nothing directed at you, just the general argument. But your example of the daughter who heard the stun gun from another room - she was awake and listening out for it, completely different to sleeping people like what the Ramsey family likely would have been when this happened. Also the Ramseys lived in a mansion. BR's room was virtually at the opposite end to JBR's. Remembering that it's not your average sized family home. Additionally, her parents were one floor up AND on the opposite end right above BR's bedroom. Further, we don't know whether they're heavy sleepers or not. You basically have to do a proper test to account for all such variables.. I watched several stun gun demos on YT. They're not as loud as I thought. I said elsewhere a pillow could be held hard to someone's mouth to muffle the sound.
But maybe it was a cattle prod.

The bed wetting could have happened at any time and does not mean she was not asleep like suggested in your earlier post.

The home being large does not necessarily determine whether or not sounds could be heard from other rooms. There are many factors that determine how acoustics work. Larger sized rooms typically move sound better. Surfaces and the type of sound being made also influence sound. Go back to the neighbor who heard the scream the night she died. They were certainly a further distance away than the parents bedroom or think about how an echo carries sound. Stating that the Ramseys didn't hear anything because the home was large is not taking anything that determines sound into consideration .
Unfortunately, I hear my neighbors bass from their TV from 75 yards away.

 

[CloudedTruth]

Wait, this all seems like a red herring. Nothing directed at you, just the general argument. But your example of the daughter who heard the stun gun from another room - she was awake and listening out for it, completely different to sleeping people like what the Ramsey family likely would have been when this happened. Also the Ramseys lived in a mansion. BR's room was virtually at the opposite end to JBR's. Remembering that it's not your average sized family home. Additionally, her parents were one floor up AND on the opposite end right above BR's bedroom. Further, we don't know whether they're heavy sleepers or not. You basically have to do a proper test to account for all such variables.. I watched several stun gun demos on YT. They're not as loud as I thought. I said elsewhere a pillow could be held hard to someone's mouth to muffle the sound.
But maybe it was a cattle prod.

The bed wetting could have happened at any time and does not mean she was not asleep like suggested in your earlier post.

No, not a red herring at all. Yes, the daughter in the test was aware of what was going on. The point however, was that it was loud enough so that she could very clearly hear it even though she was in another room at the opposite side of the house. This demonstrates that the sound was loud enough that it can be heard from a distance and through several rooms. BR said that he could hear when someone opened the refrigerator when he was in his room. Therefore, it is possible that someone sleeping could have awakened after hearing an unidentified noise. There are many variables in a house as to how sound travels. LS was basing his argument on the sound being muffled or muted because the stun gun was against her body, making it likely that no one would have heard it. It's just a weak argument. When you add that to the opinion of most experts that the marks were not caused by a stun gun, he could not prove his theory. And I do believe that somewhere along the way, he lost objectivity.

If we're going with the premise that JBR did not wet the bed that night, it's likely because she was awake. Most bed wetting occurs when children are asleep, hence there is not the awareness that they need to get up and use the bathroom. She was eating pineapple when the R's said she was asleep and did not eat pineapple. BR was awake to playing with his toy(s) on the main level when the R's said he was asleep. JR at first said he read a story before bedtime, a clear indicator that she was awake when they said she was asleep. There are just too many different stories that the R's told about that night, the stories kept changing whenever they were challenged with a fact.

 

[ispywithmylittleeye]

But maybe it was a cattle prod.

Horse person here.
I challenge anyone to even touch an electric fence without making a vocal response let alone a child. These are mostly low voltage.
A cattle prod or a stun gun is going to make the recipient yell out. Growing up around livestock, kids challenge each other to touch the fence( I believe BR had a similar experience) Even when you intentionally touch it, you have some audible reaction. The voltage of a cattle prod may be lessened on some but it's got to be enough to move a 1200+ lb. animal. There is no way a child would not scream.

 

[CloudedTruth]

Horse person here.
I challenge anyone to even touch an electric fence without making a vocal response let alone a child. These are mostly low voltage.
A cattle prod or a stun gun is going to make the recipient yell out. Growing up around livestock, kids challenge each other to touch the fence( I believe BR had a similar experience) Even when you intentionally touch it, you have some audible reaction. The voltage of a cattle prod may be lessened on some but it's got to be enough to move a 1200+ lb. animal. There is no way a child would not scream.

Excellent point! I should’ve thought of that too, I had a horse boarded at a ranch when I was a teenager. You are absolutely correct. Touching the fence on a dare was common, and everyone reacted audibly. We were told not to play with the cattle prods.

 

[Choices]

the coroner, who described them as bruises and abrasions.

No, not a red herring at all. Yes, the daughter in the test was aware of what was going on. The point however, was that it was loud enough so that she could very clearly hear it even though she was in another room at the opposite side of the house. This demonstrates that the sound was loud enough that it can be heard from a distance and through several rooms. BR said that he could hear when someone opened the refrigerator when he was in his room. Therefore, it is possible that someone sleeping could have awakened after hearing an unidentified noise. There are many variables in a house as to how sound travels. LS was basing his argument on the sound being muffled or muted because the stun gun was against her body, making it likely that no one would have heard it. It's just a weak argument. When you add that to the opinion of most experts that the marks were not caused by a stun gun, he could not prove his theory. And I do believe that somewhere along the way, he lost objectivity.

Where are the tests that prove it was caused by something else, in particular by a train track? Could have awakened is not the same as would have awakened. One cannot be certain. Also, I haven't heard much about the history of the alleged SA. Which is odd for such a serious issue. Were all males who had regular contact with JBR questioned hard on it?

Horse person here.
I challenge anyone to even touch an electric fence without making a vocal response let alone a child. These are mostly low voltage.
A cattle prod or a stun gun is going to make the recipient yell out. Growing up around livestock, kids challenge each other to touch the fence( I believe BR had a similar experience) Even when you intentionally touch it, you have some audible reaction. The voltage of a cattle prod may be lessened on some but it's got to be enough to move a 1200+ lb. animal. There is no way a child would not scream.

About whatever made those marks, we are assuming it was whilst she was perfectly alive. A cattle prod certainly wouldn't knock her out. All these devices of course would cause pain if alive. If she was barely conscious, say after being bashed in the head, it fits with a sexual sadist. A killer might have covered her mouth if not altogether carried her down while she was asleep. I am guessing it's also possible the garrotte could have been slipped around her neck, allowing control for it to be tightened at will to quieten her.

The home being large does not necessarily determine whether or not sounds could be heard from other rooms. There are many factors that determine how acoustics work. Larger sized rooms typically move sound better. Surfaces and the type of sound being made also influence sound. Go back to the neighbor who heard the scream the night she died. They were certainly a further distance away than the parents bedroom or think about how an echo carries sound. Stating that the Ramseys didn't hear anything because the home was large is not taking anything that determines sound into consideration .
Unfortunately, I hear my neighbors bass from their TV from 75 yards away.

Some vent in the basement leading to the outside amplified the sound, enabling the neighbours to hear it. I think the only way to know with some certainty is to conduct the test in the house to see if a child's screams can be heard 2 & 3 floors up by sleeping occupants.

 

[Meara]

Some vent in the basement leading to the outside amplified the sound, enabling the neighbours to hear it. I think the only way to know with some certainty is to conduct the test in the house to see if a child's screams can be heard 2 & 3 floors up by sleeping occupants.

from Steve Thomas's book (Kindle, p 193-194):

One night we tried to figure out if the parents could have heard JonBenét scream. While some of us stayed in the master suite, Detective Gosage tiptoed through the dark house, then shouted. His shout was clearly audible to me, but Trip DeMuth said it was difficult to hear. We could even hear a shout from the basement, although our intruder theorists could not.

But we all agreed that Melody Stanton, the neighbor who claimed to have heard a scream, “obviously that of a child,” on Christmas night, could have done so. I wanted to go over and talk to her right then and dig deeper into her story, but Deputy DA DeMuth refused, putting a blockade between police and Melody Stanton. He said he planned to “prep her” before trial. DeMuth didn’t explain his reasons to mere police officers and detectives. I could not fathom why a prosecutor would intentionally stop us from talking to her. Such a thing had never happened before in any investigation I was involved in, but with a wave of his hand—poof!—DeMuth sealed off an important avenue of investigation from the investigators. I knew that in other cities, not only would the prosecutor have okayed the interview but he probably would have helped conduct it on the spot. The difference of opinion between the DA’s office and the police had thrown into question whether or not there was a scream at all. It would be up to a jury to make the ultimate decision.

Detective Gosage wrote in his official report that he could hear movement and noise, even when people were trying to be quiet, no matter where he stood in the house. Sergeant Wickman told him that Deputy DA DeMuth wanted that report changed. Gosage refused....

 

[ispywithmylittleeye]

Where are the tests that prove it was caused by something else, in particular by a train track? Could have awakened is not the same as would have awakened. One cannot be certain. Also, I haven't heard much about the history of the alleged SA. Which is odd for such a serious issue. Were all males who had regular contact with JBR questioned hard on it?

About whatever made those marks, we are assuming it was whilst she was perfectly alive. A cattle prod certainly wouldn't knock her out. All these devices of course would cause pain if alive. If she was barely conscious, say after being bashed in the head, it fits with a sexual sadist. A killer might have covered her mouth if not altogether carried her down while she was asleep. I am guessing it's also possible the garrotte could have been slipped around her neck, allowing control for it to be tightened at will to quieten her.

Some vent in the basement leading to the outside amplified the sound, enabling the neighbours to hear it. I think the only way to know with some certainty is to conduct the test in the house to see if a child's screams can be heard 2 & 3 floors up by sleeping occupants.

Please reread the path report. After that head injury, she was not screaming. She was essentially brain dead. There was no need to control her after the head blow. Even a lesser blow would have most likely knocked her out.
A sexual sadist that didn't have sex with their victim isn't adding up. A paint brush handle was put in her vagina. He really would have had to be good at multitasking to keep her garroted, hit her with a cattle prod, stick her with foreign objects, and keep her from screaming all the while attending to his own sexual needs with one hand. You can't tell me he did all this with no sexual release. He may not needed penetration but if indeed a sadist, there was gratification of some sort. A sadist doesnt get gratification if there is no pain felt by their victim. If bashed in the head first, JBR felt no pain. Not much of a thrill for a sadist. A murderer SAs and kills their victim isn't classified as a sexual sadist

To which also there was no DNA. Sex is messy, we wouldn't be clamoring over the minute DNA on a waistband. How many of us have had relations that would exclude our partners DNA? I think it would be difficult even if it was your objective.

IMHO, this theory has no continuity.

expand...

Where are the tests that prove it was caused by something else, in particular by a train track.

Does it matter? A bruise is not a burn.

 

[Meara]

Some vent in the basement leading to the outside amplified the sound, enabling the neighbours to hear it. I think the only way to know with some certainty is to conduct the test in the house to see if a child's screams can be heard 2 & 3 floors up by sleeping occupants.

from PMPT (Kindle, p. 464):

Since visiting the basement with the police on June 30, Smit had also been bothered by something he’d seen in the boiler room just to the left of the wine cellar door. There he had observed an exposed ventilation duct several paces from where the shards of wood, the paint tote, and the remnant of the broken paintbrush had been found. The duct vented through an opening at the front of the house where there had once been a window. If JonBenét had screamed near the duct, the sound could have traveled outside and been heard by the Ramseys’ neighbor, Melody Stanton, although possibly not by Patsy and John, asleep on the third floor inside the house. In July, sound tests conducted by the police confirmed that sound traveled more easily from the basement to the street than it did up through the three floors of the house.

 

[Mysticeilis]

No one has said that, no one is implying that. And he didn't make his bed that morning, Fleet White did.

WHY would you take time to make a bed? WHY? WHY? Doesn’t make sense! This is a critical situation - get that child out of there!

 

[CloudedTruth]

Where are the tests that prove it was caused by something else, in particular by a train track? Could have awakened is not the same as would have awakened. One cannot be certain. Also, I haven't heard much about the history of the alleged SA. Which is odd for such a serious issue. Were all males who had regular contact with JBR questioned hard on it?

About whatever made those marks, we are assuming it was whilst she was perfectly alive. A cattle prod certainly wouldn't knock her out. All these devices of course would cause pain if alive. If she was barely conscious, say after being bashed in the head, it fits with a sexual sadist. A killer might have covered her mouth if not altogether carried her down while she was asleep. I am guessing it's also possible the garrotte could have been slipped around her neck, allowing control for it to be tightened at will to quieten her.

Some vent in the basement leading to the outside amplified the sound, enabling the neighbours to hear it. I think the only way to know with some certainty is to conduct the test in the house to see if a child's screams can be heard 2 & 3 floors up by sleeping occupants.

The coroner identified the marks as "bruises and abrasions", not electrical burn marks. He examined the actual body and was not working off only pictures as LS was. It was thought that they may have been caused by her laying on something that was on the floor, either in the basement or the wine cellar.The wine cellar in particular had a floor that was covered in stuff....debris, mold, etc. It was nasty. It's a natural reaction for the body to have an imprint of something that it laid upon for an amount of time, such as a pebble, a rock, whatever that is protruding from the surface. In the case of a dead body, as time goes on blood pools in areas where there might be a wound.

Some have speculated that they could have been caused by a train track. They did do some testing (James Kolar) and found that the two outer prongs of a track did line up much more accurately with the marks than a stun gun, in fact they matched. This was with the middle prong missing, which reportedly is common as the middle ones are prone to falling out.

The premise of Smit's theory is that the stun gun was used first, in order to immobilize her so that he / she could then pick her up and bring her to (presumably) the basement. Given the severity of the head wound, medical experts were in agreement that it's very unlikely that she would have ever regained consciousness after that blow. Whoever administered it may very well have been convinced it killed her.

 

[ispywithmylittleeye]

from PMPT (Kindle, p. 464):

Since visiting the basement with the police on June 30, Smit had also been bothered by something he’d seen in the boiler room just to the left of the wine cellar door. There he had observed an exposed ventilation duct several paces from where the shards of wood, the paint tote, and the remnant of the broken paintbrush had been found. The duct vented through an opening at the front of the house where there had once been a window. If JonBenét had screamed near the duct, the sound could have traveled outside and been heard by the Ramseys’ neighbor, Melody Stanton, although possibly not by Patsy and John, asleep on the third floor inside the house. In July, sound tests conducted by the police confirmed that sound traveled more easily from the basement to the street than it did up through the three floors of the house.

Meara, were tests conducted from JBRs bedroom One floor below and on the main floor, 2 floors below the parents room? I don't live in a mansion but can hear everything below my bedroom including my cat meow. Again, acoustics dictate alot. We joke that in our home, with very large vaulted ceilings, we can hear an ant toot. I think it would be something that LE would zero in on including BRs proximity to her room.

 

[CloudedTruth]

WHY would you take time to make a bed? WHY? WHY? Doesn’t make sense! This is a critical situation - get that child out of there!

They were waiting for BR to get dressed and grab whatever he wanted to take with him. Why not make the bed while waiting? He was being a good friend by helping out. The house was full of people and police, BR was not in any danger at that point.

 

[Gunther Toody]

They were waiting for BR to get dressed and grab whatever he wanted to take with him. Why not make the bed while waiting? He was being a good friend by helping out. The house was full of people and police, BR was not in any danger at that point.

The problem with this is you're creating a justification out of thin air.
The last thing in the commotion would be stopping to make a bed.
It makes no sense.

 

[ispywithmylittleeye]

The problem with this is you're creating a justification out of thin air.
The last thing in the commotion would be stopping to make a bed.
It makes no sense.

Maybe. Often adults will have children do normal tasks to create normalcy to calm them and reassure them. I'm not saying that is what happened but I grew up with a dad in LE who was very good with people in emergencies. I think the purpose is to refocus them. It's more of we are going to do A, B, C vs hurry up we have to get out of here!

 

[Meara]

Meara, were tests conducted from JBRs bedroom One floor below and on the main floor, 2 floors below the parents room? I don't live in a mansion but can hear everything below my bedroom including my cat meow. Again, acoustics dictate alot. We joke that in our home, with very large vaulted ceilings, we can hear an ant toot. I think it would be something that LE would zero in on including BRs proximity to her room.

Have you tried restarting your ants?

ispy, the three main books agree that it was not possible to move around the house without making noise; that sound carried everywhere; and that detectives tested to see what sounds could be heard in the master bedroom from other locations in the house. Unfortunately, none of them specifically name JBR's bedroom as one of those locations, although common sense suggests that they would have tested shouts from there.

We all need to remember that the enclosed staircase on the west side of the house extended from just outside JBR's room to the west side of the master suite and would have conducted sound directly between the two. Interestingly, the sound path between JBR's room and BR's room is not direct at all - baffled, in fact, by the zigzag in the hallway that connects the area outside JBR's room to the play room (and from there to the hall leading to BR's room).

Just to complete the set ---
from Foreign Faction (Kindle, p. 134):

Detectives sometimes stayed into the wee hours of the night, listening to the creaks and groans of the old home. It seemed that one could not move about the house without being heard from another area of the home. Nearly every step taken seemed to cause some type of audible response from the floor joists of the structure.....

Detective Gosage had moved around to different parts of the home to see if shouting could be heard from the third-floor master suite of the parents. Investigators were trying to determine if the family would have been able to hear the same scream that neighbor Melody Stanton had claimed to hear. BPD investigators reported hearing Gosage’s shouts from various locations of the home, including the basement.

 

[CloudedTruth]

The problem with this is you're creating a justification out of thin air.
The last thing in the commotion would be stopping to make a bed.
It makes no sense.

I simply surmised why he might have. There was no urgent need to get BR out of there. No one had to stop anything to make the bed, they were waiting for BR to get dressed and get ready to go. People do and don’t do things in stressful situations that in retrospect and from the outside looking in seemingly don’t make sense. Personally I don’t find it to be nonsensical. Does it make more sense to just stand there not doing anything?

 

[Meara]

We all need to remember that the enclosed staircase on the west side of the house extended from just outside JBR's room to the west side of the master suite and would have conducted sound directly between the two. Interestingly, the sound path between JBR's room and BR's room is not direct at all - baffled, in fact, by the zigzag in the hallway that connects the area outside JBR's room to the play room (and from there to the hall leading to BR's room).

 

[Choices]

from Steve Thomas's book (Kindle, p 193-194):

One night we tried to figure out if the parents could have heard JonBenét scream. While some of us stayed in the master suite, Detective Gosage tiptoed through the dark house, then shouted. His shout was clearly audible to me, but Trip DeMuth said it was difficult to hear. We could even hear a shout from the basement, although our intruder theorists could not.

But we all agreed that Melody Stanton, the neighbor who claimed to have heard a scream, “obviously that of a child,” on Christmas night, could have done so. I wanted to go over and talk to her right then and dig deeper into her story, but Deputy DA DeMuth refused, putting a blockade between police and Melody Stanton. He said he planned to “prep her” before trial. DeMuth didn’t explain his reasons to mere police officers and detectives. I could not fathom why a prosecutor would intentionally stop us from talking to her. Such a thing had never happened before in any investigation I was involved in, but with a wave of his hand—poof!—DeMuth sealed off an important avenue of investigation from the investigators. I knew that in other cities, not only would the prosecutor have okayed the interview but he probably would have helped conduct it on the spot. The difference of opinion between the DA’s office and the police had thrown into question whether or not there was a scream at all. It would be up to a jury to make the ultimate decision.

Detective Gosage wrote in his official report that he could hear movement and noise, even when people were trying to be quiet, no matter where he stood in the house. Sergeant Wickman told him that Deputy DA DeMuth wanted that report changed. Gosage refused....

Is he implying this DA wanted to cover it up? Goes against that very profession. What ever could be the DA's motive?

Please reread the path report. After that head injury, she was not screaming. She was essentially brain dead. There was no need to control her after the head blow. Even a lesser blow would have most likely knocked her out.
A sexual sadist that didn't have sex with their victim isn't adding up. A paint brush handle was put in her vagina. He really would have had to be good at multitasking to keep her garroted, hit her with a cattle prod, stick her with foreign objects, and keep her from screaming all the while attending to his own sexual needs with one hand. You can't tell me he did all this with no sexual release. He may not needed penetration but if indeed a sadist, there was gratification of some sort. A sadist doesnt get gratification if there is no pain felt by their victim. If bashed in the head first, JBR felt no pain. Not much of a thrill for a sadist. A murderer SAs and kills their victim isn't classified as a sexual sadist

To which also there was no DNA. Sex is messy, we wouldn't be clamoring over the minute DNA on a waistband. How many of us have had relations that would exclude our partners DNA? I think it would be difficult even if it was your objective.

IMHO, this theory has no continuity.


Where are the tests that prove it was caused by something else, in particular by a train track.

Does it matter? A bruise is not a burn.

She may have been carried down with mouth covered or a garrotte used to prevent her screaming (cord fibres were found on her bed if I'm not mistakken). In the basement, she may have been assaulted with one implement before another was used. If the marks are bruising/abrasion from something on the ground, then she was assaulted with only the paint brush handle, and hit on the head when she screamed before being forcefully strangled (not necessarily to kill her) while the killer gratifies himself for sexual release. No mess if he were still clothed seeing as he's not going to be keen to stick around. It's not a firm theory I have. I am however curious to hear a run-through of what everyone else believes happened.

I think it matters if a person is to be tried for murder to be well certain that the marks can be produced by other means rather than just speculate.

Some have speculated that they could have been caused by a train track. They did do some testing (James Kolar) and found that the two outer prongs of a track did line up much more accurately with the marks than a stun gun, in fact they matched. This was with the middle prong missing, which reportedly is common as the middle ones are prone to falling out.

That is not a very rigorous test like LS at least tried with the stun gun on an anesthetized pig.

Have you tried restarting your ants?

ispy, the three main books agree that it was not possible to move around the house without making noise; that sound carried everywhere; and that detectives tested to see what sounds could be heard in the master bedroom from other locations in the house. Unfortunately, none of them specifically name JBR's bedroom as one of those locations, although common sense suggests that they would have tested shouts from there.

We all need to remember that the enclosed staircase on the west side of the house extended from just outside JBR's room to the west side of the master suite and would have conducted sound directly between the two. Interestingly, the sound path between JBR's room and BR's room is not direct at all - baffled, in fact, by the zigzag in the hallway that connects the area outside JBR's room to the play room (and from there to the hall leading to BR's room).

Just to complete the set ---
from Foreign Faction (Kindle, p. 134):

Detectives sometimes stayed into the wee hours of the night, listening to the creaks and groans of the old home. It seemed that one could not move about the house without being heard from another area of the home. Nearly every step taken seemed to cause some type of audible response from the floor joists of the structure.....

Detective Gosage had moved around to different parts of the home to see if shouting could be heard from the third-floor master suite of the parents. Investigators were trying to determine if the family would have been able to hear the same scream that neighbor Melody Stanton had claimed to hear. BPD investigators reported hearing Gosage’s shouts from various locations of the home, including the basement.

All the testing people are describing of the sounds which could be heard throughout the house are done by waking persons so right off the bat, it's a faulty way to gauge what may have happened on the night.