I think you are asking some good questions. It all seems pretty vague to me as to the extent of it and who did what and why!
What do Burke's interviews tell us?
- Thread starter eileenhawkeye
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I think you are asking some good questions. It all seems pretty vague to me as to the extent of it and who did what and why!
I had a child several years ago who was diagnosed with Aspergers. Turns out his dad, a college professor, told us he, too had it. But you would never know. He had wonderful social skills and had obviously done quite well in school, himself. I think having support and learning coping skills early on can help tremendously. Also, there are different degrees of severity.
I apologize if my wording (diagnosed, severity) offends anyone. I don't mean for it to sound like Aspergers is a disease or anything. It's just a different way of processing things. A different way of experiencing things.
Thanks... and some of the stories of poo spreaders from the parents and one was actually someone who did it as a child, don't all sound like they relate to some severe psychological problem.
questfortrue
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About BR's Interviews
Another poster mentioned in an earlier comment that whoever struck JB with that kind of force intended to inflict major harm, even obliterate her. And, while it likely wasn’t premeditated, it was intentional. That’s a harsh idea to consider, but in looking at this crime, it’s important to consider what relevance this has regarding the perpetrator. Before throwing this out there I want to mention some research on SBP, sexual behavior problems, I uncovered. Now, this isn’t scientific, and so take it for what I found, or what you find out yourself in “googling’ information. What has always disturbed me about the BDI is the rarity of a sexual assault coupled with a homicide, in a child this young. (In the killing of little Jamie Bulger by 2 10 year olds, it wasn’t definitively established that he was sexually assaulted. More like sexually tortured perhaps, unsure. And of course Jamie Bulger was a random attack, not a relative.) Anyway, my point is it is very, very rare. We know sibling abuse is not. But coupled with homicide it is the only case I’ve seen involving a child this young. ( Maybe other sleuthers can find instances.)
Friends of the R’s have commented that BR was a little different. Not the kind of “open” kid that JB was. There’s a comment in ST’s book about the gardener trying to engage in conversation with BR and BR answered in monosyllables. Not interested in talking to the gardener. This was typical behavior before the crime. It doesn’t surprise me he manifested a flat affect with the CPS interviewer Dr. B. He wasn’t afraid after the crime, but he was irritated in being asked about JB’s death, perhaps because he’d likely been hushed about such discussions at home. And he was not at ease when Dr. B asked him about uncomfortable touch. Someone had talked to him about this topic before.
The responses he gave in his CPS interview were protective of his parents, according to Dr. B. Not surprising. But the interview almost struck me as classically JR: Very careful about what he said.
Difficult to figure BR out with such scant info. It is too bad they did not obtain medical records, but I’ve wondered whether there would be much shown. It might have been shown he was molesting his sister, but counselors are, and were even back in the ‘90’s, supposed to report suspected abuse.
From Kolar’s book after the crime a mother of one of BR’s friends and her son flew to Atlanta to be with BR during the funeral. She had an interesting comment from her son, BR’s friend. According to BR’s friend, BR acted as though he kind of knew what had happened and trusted that people would figure it out. This does not sound as though he’s afraid people will “finger him.” I don’t believe he was afraid, but I do think, from his disturbed drawings and the instances reported from classmates at his private school in Atlanta, he was sometimes one very angry young man after the homicide. All moo.
Another poster mentioned in an earlier comment that whoever struck JB with that kind of force intended to inflict major harm, even obliterate her. And, while it likely wasn’t premeditated, it was intentional. That’s a harsh idea to consider, but in looking at this crime, it’s important to consider what relevance this has regarding the perpetrator. Before throwing this out there I want to mention some research on SBP, sexual behavior problems, I uncovered. Now, this isn’t scientific, and so take it for what I found, or what you find out yourself in “googling’ information. What has always disturbed me about the BDI is the rarity of a sexual assault coupled with a homicide, in a child this young. (In the killing of little Jamie Bulger by 2 10 year olds, it wasn’t definitively established that he was sexually assaulted. More like sexually tortured perhaps, unsure. And of course Jamie Bulger was a random attack, not a relative.) Anyway, my point is it is very, very rare. We know sibling abuse is not. But coupled with homicide it is the only case I’ve seen involving a child this young. ( Maybe other sleuthers can find instances.)
Friends of the R’s have commented that BR was a little different. Not the kind of “open” kid that JB was. There’s a comment in ST’s book about the gardener trying to engage in conversation with BR and BR answered in monosyllables. Not interested in talking to the gardener. This was typical behavior before the crime. It doesn’t surprise me he manifested a flat affect with the CPS interviewer Dr. B. He wasn’t afraid after the crime, but he was irritated in being asked about JB’s death, perhaps because he’d likely been hushed about such discussions at home. And he was not at ease when Dr. B asked him about uncomfortable touch. Someone had talked to him about this topic before.
The responses he gave in his CPS interview were protective of his parents, according to Dr. B. Not surprising. But the interview almost struck me as classically JR: Very careful about what he said.
Difficult to figure BR out with such scant info. It is too bad they did not obtain medical records, but I’ve wondered whether there would be much shown. It might have been shown he was molesting his sister, but counselors are, and were even back in the ‘90’s, supposed to report suspected abuse.
From Kolar’s book after the crime a mother of one of BR’s friends and her son flew to Atlanta to be with BR during the funeral. She had an interesting comment from her son, BR’s friend. According to BR’s friend, BR acted as though he kind of knew what had happened and trusted that people would figure it out. This does not sound as though he’s afraid people will “finger him.” I don’t believe he was afraid, but I do think, from his disturbed drawings and the instances reported from classmates at his private school in Atlanta, he was sometimes one very angry young man after the homicide. All moo.
ATasteOfHoney
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I had a child several years ago who was diagnosed with Aspergers. Turns out his dad, a college professor, told us he, too had it. But you would never know. He had wonderful social skills and had obviously done quite well in school, himself. I think having support and learning coping skills early on can help tremendously. Also, there are different degrees of severity.
I apologize if my wording (diagnosed, severity) offends anyone. I don't mean for it to sound like Aspergers is a disease or anything. It's just a different way of processing things. A different way of experiencing things.
IMHO, Burk* = Aspergers,,,,,for sure.
x_files
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From that interview he seemed to be very cold towards his sister and not scared of his mom.
It is almost never the only issue that sexually abused kids,or kids with RAD have,of course... there are a host of other things that go along with both of these issues... and the age that the child is when they exhibit smearing,that is important too. jmo moo.
Concerning the children's enuresis, a poster had mentioned that CPS knew that BR had enuresis. If this is true,it is very interesting. I wonder if there was ever any CPS cases opened on this family during the time that they lived in Boulder ? Prior to JBR's murder ? jmo moo
Exactly the hallmark of a child with RAD...jmo moo I have never known a RAD child who was not also given to rages...jmo moo
lawstudent
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Kids don't generally process emotion that well. That's why they seem to "recover" more easily than adults. Making awkward curious comments about the murder and repeating phrases being used by adults to explain the situation seems more consistent with a child of his age than sobbing hysterically about how much he misses his sister. They don't experience the finality at the age in most cases. I can definitely see why people think Burke is involved, but I don't find his demeanor afterwards that suspicious for an awkward 10 year old boy . Especially if he possibly had Asperger's or other social issues.
http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/extra/ramsey/0802rams1.shtml
Included in the exhaustive inventory of items removed from the house following the 10-day police search: "red pocket knife w/broken ornament" from the family's basement.
Specifically, Detective Kerry Yamaguchi discovered Burke's knife on a countertop near a sink just down a basement corridor from the small basement room where JonBenet's body was found.
madeleine
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thanks Tad!:seeya:
Asbergers is now the mental illness de jour. Twenty years ago, I am sure, it was just as prevalent, however, undiagnosed and untreated. Parents just knew something was wrong but just couldn't put their finger on it to treat it.
I am not even sure there is a treatment today, but it is being diagnosed much more frequently. Isn't "lack of affect" one of the symptoms?
AnaTeresa
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Aspergers is autism, and I believe it's been officially absorbed into the autism spectrum. Basically, it's been used as a label for kids with autism who weren't quite so bad -the kids who weren't Rain Main, who could talk, who were smart, but lacking in social skills. They have issues with sensory processing, etc. etc.
There is treatment for it - therapy. There can be a medication or dietary component for some kids. The earlier you catch on, usually the better the outcome, because it gives you lots of time to help kids catch up to their peers socially.
animlzrule
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Aspergers is not a mental illness. It's a neurobiological syndrome which is included within the spectrum of autism. It's treated most popularly with ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) and the earlier and more intensive the intervention, the better the chances of the child one day enjoying and participating in typical social interaction and achieving independence. Poor eye contact, flat affect, lack of interest in people as opposed to objects, and inability to read and respond appropriately to social cues are just a few traits on a VERY long list of characteristics. Aspergers can be considered under the umbrella of "mental disorders" in that it results in developmental and behavioral patterns which are not typical. But it's becoming prevalent for people to lump people with Autism spectrum disorders with some of the more sociopathic disorders (Adam Lanza for example) which is not correct. There is nothing about Aspergers which would make a child more prone to calculating violence and in fact, due to their social dysfunction and tendency to be bullied, they are much more likely to become victims than perpetrators. I don't know if Burke had Aspergers, but if he did, I don't believe it played a part in the death of his sister.
madeleine
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It could be that he's actually telling us what happened...he says someone quietly took her down the basement...she was hit on her head...or stabbed (a knife was found down in the basement,his knife...maybe this was part of his fantasy but he was interrupted??)...then he was overheard talking about manual strangulation (we always suspected that the garrote was put around her neck to cover for manual strangulation)...
anyway,for someone who never asked questions regarding his sister's death this boy knows a lot of details!!
anyway,for someone who never asked questions regarding his sister's death this boy knows a lot of details!!
Linda7NJ
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CircuitGuy
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The only thing that stands out to me is that he's not afraid for his own safety. I could imagine he's blocking the tragedy out of his mind. If he hasn't experience death before, he may imagine it's not permanent; or its permanence may not register with him emotionally.
I find the notion of an intruder able to do what he said, take her quietly to the basement and murder her, very scary on a visceral level. He should feel safe in his house and room, but if an intruder could get in and kill someone without anyone hearing it shatters that notion.
Kids are normally afraid various monsters and boogymen. I would expect some kind of anxiety or odd behavior of some sort centered around the threat of an intruder.
This makes me think he knows who did it. I don't know if it was him. But I don't think slept through the whole thing. The same goes for his parents. I get freaked out when my kids (5 and 3) are playing the back yard and lose sight of them. If a kidnapper or murderer even attempted to get into my house, I would not let the kids out of my sight. If the kidnapper were on the loose, I literally would make my child nap in front of me, not in his room. I wouldn't turn my back.
No one in this family shows a normal sense of paranoia associated with an unknown criminal. That makes me think they all know who did it. It could have been any one of them or some family friend, but they all know who it was.
Linda7NJ
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IMO you couldn't be more right! Hyper vigilance is expected and we certainly don't see that coming from the Ramsey's!
Remember later when John STILL wasn't using the alarm and that scuffle/robbery? What did he say? Something to effect that it's happened in his family twice? Comparing a robbery to the brutal murder of his only living daughter in his own home? Nice....
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Linda7NJ
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I want to know how a hammer would line up with the head wound? It appears perfectly plausible to me.
Most people own a hammer. Even people who aren't handy have hammers.
I'm thinking he may have threatened her with the knife to get her to the basement and did exactly as he said. struck her.
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Most people own a hammer. Even people who aren't handy have hammers.
I'm thinking he may have threatened her with the knife to get her to the basement and did exactly as he said. struck her.
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