What we know about Ransom Note

[fr brown]

I think of the events this way: John appears to have been a womanizer during his first marriage. On that topic Vanity Fair says this: "According to police reports, his former wife, Lucinda, said it was a romantic liaison with a co-worker that was the last straw for her. Although [Jim] Marino and Ramsey caroused 'and whored around together,' Marino says Ramsey was notably discreet." I'm unclear as to whether the "whoring around" was just during the separation period, but his first wife clearly thought he had affairs plural during their marriage."

It seems possible that Patsy suspected John was cheating on her and he that may have done something besides visiting his plane Christmas day. Perhaps she thought he was disappointed that her cancer had gone into remission and he had been looking forward to being rid of her without the expense of divorce. If his eye then wandered at the party, she might have been in a barely controlled rage when they got home. She didn't go to bed. What was she doing? Packing? If so, that could have made her even angrier.

Then she lashes out in rage at JonBenet and she's in a major pickle. In her position, I would assume that John would figure it out and turn on me. Colorado's not a community property state so when he divorces her, she's only going to get what a judge deems suitable, and that might not be much for someone who killed her child. In her position, if I hated my spouse, I might try to frame him or at least put him in the same jeopardy as me.

So I speculate that she put the ransom note on the floor to induce John to pick it up and get his fingerprints on it.

I have a mismatched and misplaced " in the above. The sentence "I'm unclear as to whether the 'whoring around' was just during the separation period, but his first wife clearly thought he had affairs plural during their marriage" is my own, not Vanity Fair's. Just to be clear.

 

[fr brown]

Yeah but even if she DOES come down those stairs in the morning, when you see paper on the floor you pick it, you're chill, the Ramsey's maid said they were very messy and lazy so it's not unusual to find stuff on the floor, and really WHO WOULD PLACE A RANSOM ON THE FLOOR to read it, you have a RN you keep it with you, you try to read the most of it on a desk or at the table or even standing, otherwise it's just bizarre

On the floor by the door is the only place that anyone independent ever saw it. Ofc. French had it pointed out to him there; an arriving Ramsey friend read part of it through the glass of the door. Was it ever anyplace else is the question. Patsy is the only person who claims to have seen it on the stairs. In his first interview, John only says he saw it on the first floor and "just kind of spread it out" to read it. He avoids being specific about where it was when he first saw it. (Sorry, can't check the actual language because acandyrose seems to need a brain transplant this morning, or I do.)

Is it inherently suspicious to not pick it up if you're John? I don't know. He was probably aware enough to realize it was evidence and shouldn't be handled. His wife had obviously not been to bed so that was already weird. How could a kidnapper and his wife both have been running around the house without bumping into each other? A lot to think about before coffee.

Why would Patsy put it on the floor? I suspect it was to get John to pick it up and get his fingerprints on it. But he didn't.

 

[notfemen]

Why would Patsy put it on the floor? I suspect it was to get John to pick it up and get his fingerprints on it. But he didn't.

I read the police interview and they did handle the RN, the story they told is that when JR responded to Patsy's yelling she gave him the ransom note and then he placed it on the floor, when he could've just read it

 

[fr brown]

I read the police interview and they did handle the RN, the story they told is that when JR responded to Patsy's yelling she gave him the ransom note and then he placed it on the floor, when he could've just read it

4/30/97, John:
"JR: Well, I’d gotten up at a little before the alarm went off, 5:30 a.m., 5:25 a.m. and went and took a shower; was getting dressed and uh, heard Patsy screaming, and I ran downstairs and I think probably intercepted her maybe in the landing there, the second floor landing I don’t remember exactly; but, ah she showed me the note and uh, . . .

ST: Did she show the note on the second floor landing?

JR: I don’t remember, uh it seems like I came downstairs, but I think she was running up and I was running down, I think, as best as I can remember, the note was still down on the first floor....

JR: Well I’m, it’s a lot of screaming going on around that, but we saw the note and read the first part. Ah, I think I might have run upstairs to look in JonBenet’s room. At one point I laid it on the floor and spread it out so I could read it real fast without having to sit and read it."


John does say he laid the note on the floor, but he doesn't actually say Patsy handed it to him. Saying that they saw the note implies that it was not in either of their hands at that point. And he doesn't say where the note was when he first saw it.


4/30/97, Patsy:
TT: Okay. You yelled for John. John comes down. Okay, what happened, where did John read the note at when he read it?

PR: Down, down in the, you know, on, not, not in the laundry room area, but down. I said there’s a note down there....

TT: Okay. Patsy, do you recall who moved the note from the bottom of the stairs down to where John could read it with the good lighting.

PR: I think he did. I, I (inaudible). "


6/23/98, John:
"JOHN RAMSEY: Well, I think. But it seems to me that [I was] somewhere here on the second floor, partially down the stairs.

LOU SMIT: She had the note in her hand?

JOHN RAMSEY: As I recall, I remember I spread it out on the floor just kind to absorb everything quickly."


6/23/98, Patsy:
"TOM HANEY: ....You come down the spiral stairs. The note is--

PATSY RAMSEY: Somewhere in this area, maybe still on the floor or something, you know. I don't know what happened to it exactly when I bounded upstairs. I think it was right there somewhere.

TOM HANEY: The second time you don't recall exactly where it was?

PATSY RAMSEY: I think it was laying around on the floor here somewhere or something. After I went up the stairs. It was there somewhere. I know I came down here, and I either handed it to John or he went in and picked it up."


Report of Ofc. Rick French, 12/26/96, 1300:
"....John directed me through the house and pointed out a three page handwritten note which was laid on the wooden floor just west of the kitchen area. He told me that his wife had found the note on the bottom step of a spiral staircase which led to the upper levels of the house. (I'm uncertain about who moved the note.)"

So the morning of the 26th, John wasn't copping to moving the note. He changed his story later.

 

[UKGuy]

4/30/97, John:
"JR: Well, I’d gotten up at a little before the alarm went off, 5:30 a.m., 5:25 a.m. and went and took a shower; was getting dressed and uh, heard Patsy screaming, and I ran downstairs and I think probably intercepted her maybe in the landing there, the second floor landing I don’t remember exactly; but, ah she showed me the note and uh, . . .

ST: Did she show the note on the second floor landing?

JR: I don’t remember, uh it seems like I came downstairs, but I think she was running up and I was running down, I think, as best as I can remember, the note was still down on the first floor....

JR: Well I’m, it’s a lot of screaming going on around that, but we saw the note and read the first part. Ah, I think I might have run upstairs to look in JonBenet’s room. At one point I laid it on the floor and spread it out so I could read it real fast without having to sit and read it."


John does say he laid the note on the floor, but he doesn't actually say Patsy handed it to him. Saying that they saw the note implies that it was not in either of their hands at that point. And he doesn't say where the note was when he first saw it.


4/30/97, Patsy:
TT: Okay. You yelled for John. John comes down. Okay, what happened, where did John read the note at when he read it?

PR: Down, down in the, you know, on, not, not in the laundry room area, but down. I said there’s a note down there....

TT: Okay. Patsy, do you recall who moved the note from the bottom of the stairs down to where John could read it with the good lighting.

PR: I think he did. I, I (inaudible). "


6/23/98, John:
"JOHN RAMSEY: Well, I think. But it seems to me that [I was] somewhere here on the second floor, partially down the stairs.

LOU SMIT: She had the note in her hand?

JOHN RAMSEY: As I recall, I remember I spread it out on the floor just kind to absorb everything quickly."


6/23/98, Patsy:
"TOM HANEY: ....You come down the spiral stairs. The note is--

PATSY RAMSEY: Somewhere in this area, maybe still on the floor or something, you know. I don't know what happened to it exactly when I bounded upstairs. I think it was right there somewhere.

TOM HANEY: The second time you don't recall exactly where it was?

PATSY RAMSEY: I think it was laying around on the floor here somewhere or something. After I went up the stairs. It was there somewhere. I know I came down here, and I either handed it to John or he went in and picked it up."


Report of Ofc. Rick French, 12/26/96, 1300:
"....John directed me through the house and pointed out a three page handwritten note which was laid on the wooden floor just west of the kitchen area. He told me that his wife had found the note on the bottom step of a spiral staircase which led to the upper levels of the house. (I'm uncertain about who moved the note.)"

So the morning of the 26th, John wasn't copping to moving the note. He changed his story later.

fr brown.
Looks like the R's have been caught out tweaking their story:

PATSY RAMSEY: I think it was laying around on the floor here somewhere or something. After I went up the stairs. It was there somewhere. I know I came down here, and I either handed it to John or he went in and picked it up."

Patsy states RN is on the floor, i.e. she placed it there, as it started out on the stairs.

Patsy says she handed the RN to JR, i.e. she picked it up from the floor, or JR picked it up?

Either way JR or PR picked the RN from the floor?

So why all the lack of clarity, obviously neither parent is wanting linked directly to the RN, which is strange as Patsy alleges finding it?

What they really mean is the RN was a last minute extra, and they never went over the details of the RN handover, so they both told different versions?

i.e. the RN was never on the stairs, that is a Ramsey fairy tale.

.

 

[fr brown]

I read the police interview and they did handle the RN, the story they told is that when JR responded to Patsy's yelling she gave him the ransom note and then he placed it on the floor, when he could've just read it

4/30/97, John:
"ST: Did she show the note on the second floor landing?

JR: I don’t remember, uh it seems like I came downstairs, but I think she was running up and I was running down, I think, as best as I can remember, the note was still down on the first floor....Well I’m, it’s a lot of screaming going on around that, but we saw the note and read the first part. Ah, I think I might have run upstairs to look in JonBenet’s room. At one point I laid it on the floor and spread it out so I could read it real fast without having to sit and read."

So here John does say he touched the note, but he doesn't actually say Patsy handed it to him. Saying that they saw the note implies that it wasn't in either of their hands at that point. And he doesn't say where the note was when he first saw it.


4/30/97, Patsy:
"PR: Well, I don’t remember if I picked it or, or just leaned over and read it. I can’t remember. I don’t think I picked it up cause I remember just then bounding up the stairs toward her room....

PR: Down, down in the, you know, on, not, not in the laundry room area, but down. I said there’s a note down there....

TT: Okay. Patsy, do you recall who moved the note from the bottom of the stairs down to where John could read it with the good lighting.

PR: I think he did. I, I (inaudible)."


6/23/98, John:
"JOHN RAMSEY: Well, I think. But it seems to me that somewhere here on the second floor, partially down the stairs.

LOU SMIT: She had the note in her hand?

JOHN RAMSEY: As I recall, I remember I spread it out on the floor just kind to absorb everything quickly."


6/23/97, Patsy:
"TOM HANEY: ....You come down the spiral stairs. The note is--

PATSY RAMSEY: The note is --

PATSY RAMSEY: Somewhere in this area, maybe still on the floor or something, you know. I don't know what happened to it exactly when I bounded upstairs. I think it was right there somewhere.

TOM HANEY: The second time you don't recall exactly where it was?

PATSY RAMSEY: I think it was laying around on the floor here somewhere or something. After I went up the stairs. It was there somewhere. I know I came down here, and I either handed it to John or he went in and picked it up."


Report of Ofc. Rick French, 12/26/96, 1300
"....John directed me through the house and pointed out a three page handwritten note which was laid on the wooden floor just west of the kitchen area. He told me that his wife had found the note on the bottom step of a spiral staircase which led to the upper levels of the house. (I'm uncertain about who moved the note.)"

John, by all accounts, was calm and rational that morning. If French couldn't figure out who had moved the note, it's because John wasn't copping to it early in the morning on Dec. 26.

 

[notfemen]

John, by all accounts, was calm and rational that morning

The funniest thing is they can't seem to agree or be sure of what they did, their timeline etc like they never talk about all of this at home or try to remember it's always "maybe", "i think i did that" , when something that tragic happens you remember each second of it

 

[KarenUK]

The image of John Ramsey squatting over the note on the floor in his y-fronts reading the note would be hilarious if the circumstances were different (as it is, it kind of put me off my dinner).
There is no way a you wouldnt read the whole note if you were in Patsy's shoes, but if she didnt and just scanned it them my first thought would have been to wake up Burke and ask if he and Jonbenet were playing a prank on them - the vocabulary of the letter may not be of a nine year old, but the scrawlled "Mr Ramsey, LISTEN CAREFULLY.... " looks childish enough

 

[KarenUK]

The funniest thing is they can't seem to agree or be sure of what they did, their timeline etc like they never talk about all of this at home or try to remember it's always "maybe", "i think i did that" , when something that tragic happens you remember each second of it

One of the things investigators often talk about with cover-ups and staging is that couples will often parrot their stories word for word because its been rehearsed, the exact oposite seems to be the case for the Ramseys, they are just relying on their poor memories!

 

[notfemen]

One of the things investigators often talk about with cover-ups and staging is that couples will often parrot their stories word for word because its been rehearsed, the exact oposite seems to be the case for the Ramseys, they are just relying on their poor memories!

I guess but is it because they want to look like they don't have any reason to get their stories straight? like very bad reverse psychology

 

[fr brown]

I think what is said on the morning of the 26th is the most significant. There's nothing about the gyrations of the note in French's report other than its supposed move from the stairs to the floor by the door. So apparently John doesn't say anything about Patsy running upstairs with the note or handing him the note on the first floor. John doesn't say that he picked the note up off the stairs or off the floor near the stairs. He doesn't say he moved it over to the door. Probably because none of that occurred. (Patsy, according to French, was hysterical and he couldn't get much sense out of her.)

John might have spread it out with his knuckles or something, but he knew better than to handle it--either because he was guilty or because he's innocent and just knows something about preserving evidence. I personally do think he read it on his hands and knees because that's where it was when he came downstairs.

Report of Ofc. Rick French, 12/26/96, 1300
"....John directed me through the house and pointed out a three page handwritten note which was laid on the wooden floor just west of the kitchen area. He told me that his wife had found the note on the bottom step of a spiral staircase which led to the upper levels of the house. (I'm uncertain about who moved the note.)"

 

[notfemen]

on the bottom step

So it's not the 3rd step anymore

 

[fr brown]

So it's not the 3rd step anymore

Arndt's report for the 26th says that Patsy told her that the note was at the bottom of the spiral staircase. I suppose that could be construed as including the third step up.

She likes to vague things up.

 

[AndHence]

Also, if we step back and look at the big picture here, no intruder would leave a ransom note at a back staircase. They'd leave it on the kitchen counter or on JonBenet's bed where it would surely be found. The staircase story was just a contrivance to point the finger at the housekeeper.

 

[Cottonstar]

John and Patsy both decided to place it in the south hallway by the patio door. Instead of handing the note over to French when he arrived at the door, they lead him to the south hallway where they had placed it. Both J&P distanced themselves from the note by not wanting their prints on the note.

Later on when pressed as to why their prints weren’t on the note if they both handled it that morning, is when they had to give their ridiculous scenarios-such as Patsy stepped over the note on the way down, then bounded up(yes, jumped)over the note to go check JB room. Completely ridiculous.

 

[fr brown]

John and Patsy both decided to place it in the south hallway by the patio door. Instead of handing the note over to French when he arrived at the door, they lead him to the south hallway where they had placed it. Both J&P distanced themselves from the note by not wanting their prints on the note.

Later on when pressed as to why their prints weren’t on the note if they both handled it that morning, is when they had to give their ridiculous scenarios-such as Patsy stepped over the note on the way down, then bounded up(yes, jumped)over the note to go check JB room. Completely ridiculous.

In his first interview, John says they handed the note to French at the front door. I believe French's version.

The Ramseys had copies of the police reports before they gave interviews so even if John had forgotten what happened, his memory should have been jogged. It's a bit of a jaunt through the house to that hallway. Why would he say he gave French the note at the front door? I suppose it was to give the impression that he's a major chucklehead who can't be expected to remember anything accurately about that morning, especially where the note is concerned.

 

[Cottonstar]

1:14

Somewhat correct. However, the note was closer to the kitchen nook phone than the spiral staircase.

 

[Cottonstar]

In his first interview, John says they handed the note to French at the front door. I believe French's version.

The Ramseys had copies of the police reports before they gave interviews so even if John had forgotten what happened, his memory should have been jogged. It's a bit of a jaunt through the house to that hallway. Why would he say he gave French the note at the front door? I suppose it was to give the impression that he's a major chucklehead who can't be expected to remember anything accurately about that morning, especially where the note is concerned.

Well, like you said they had copies of their original statements. I believe the reason JR says he handed him the note is because he realized how ridiculous it was for them not to have.

French is right.

 

[Cottonstar]

When Reichenbach arrived, French showed him the ransom note laid out on the floor. French wouldn’t have sprawled it out onto the floor. Veitch collected the note and brought it back to the BPD.

 

[UKGuy]

Also, if we step back and look at the big picture here, no intruder would leave a ransom note at a back staircase. They'd leave it on the kitchen counter or on JonBenet's bed where it would surely be found. The staircase story was just a contrivance to point the finger at the housekeeper.

ITA. especially :

They'd leave it on the kitchen counter or onJonBenet's bed where it would surely be found.

Why , anywhere else must run the risk of it not being found?

JonBenet's empty bed must be the obvious place to leave the RN, so why not, probably because her bedroom is where all her injuries were inflicted?

.