The trail of the ransom note

Discussion in 'Justice for JonBenet Discussion - Public Forum' started by MJenn, May 8, 2002.

  1. MJenn

    MJenn Member

    OK, I wrote this at WS a few weeks ago because someone asked about my little epiphany while reading John Douglas' chapter on JonBenet's murder in his last book. Moab asked me to cut and paste it here. So if anyone is interested, here are my most recent meanderings on this case:

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    In his last book, "Cases That Haunt Us," Douglas wrote a very sloppy chapter on JonBenet's murder. Very sloppy. Got some details dead wrong, etc. And made a lot of excuses for his determination that the Rams are innocent, etc. Then made his case, which, as I said, had some dead on facts WRONG. So, in the midst of this...he dropped a little paragraph about a man who killed his wife and then hid her body in the basement so when their son came home from school that afternoon, he wouldn't find his mom in the STAGED RAPE/MURDER the father set up for the police to find.

    Duh! Light bulb goes on. JonBenet's body was put in the celler room to hide it from...whom? Burke? Patsy and John? The friends called over in droves? The police?

    Here's my conclusion after reading many books, articles, discussions, and old interviews, etc.:

    The Rams put the body in the basement room, or at least found it there. If neither of them killed her, then they knew from the moment they found her exactly who did, and they have sold their souls to keep that secret. All the strange events that followed, I believe, were with their complicit knowledge that JonBenet was in the celler room, murdered.

    So they found or hid her body in the celler room, wrote the note or found it. Then they called the police when they were ready because THEY WANTED THE POLICE TO FIND THE BODY, rather than their friends or Burke. Next they called their friends to come quick, to help them get away as soon as possible after the police found the body...to create a diversion and buffer them, though I don't believe the friends had any idea what this was about. You see, the Rams thought what anyone would think: the police will find her IMMEDIATELY with a house search, then we're out of here. Safely away from whatever madness resulted in the murder of JonBenet--and especially from the police and their questions and the threat of discovery of what they'd done.

    What I realized is what the FBI has known all along: the body was HIDDEN in the celler FROM THE FAMILY AND FRIENDS WHO KNEW HER. John Douglas knows this, too. Who would do that? Who would take additional time, risk the death penalty if caught in the home, after murdering their precious child, to do this out of consideration for the Rams' feelings?

    Not an intruder, that's for sure. Not some hate-filled stranger who wanted to play sick games. That person would have put her on display like a grotesque statement of his accomplishment.
    Only someone who cared for the people in that home. Someone who cared for JonBenet put her in that basement so her family or friends would not have to see her dead, murdered, bruised and battered, hair all matted, strangled and bound and gagged with so much disrespect one would never imagine it would be visited on a child.

    Look at how the Rams quickly barricaded themselves with lawyers and intended to fly out of Boulder immediately...sorry, I don't buy the "we were so out of it" excuses. The way they ran out of that house is astonishing, leaving their dead child alone, all their good memories of her somehow now wiped out by...what? Never to return again. It's not the few hours of waiting for a ransom call, not the finding of her body, which they quickly left without even once asking how she had died, those were not the memories that over-rode the joy of her whole life in that house, causing them to run like the guilty. It was whatever happened in that house that brought them to the point of JonBenet's horrible murder from which they ran.

    That's why the note was SOOOO MELODRAMATIC. We'll BEHEAD HER. You'll NEVER GET HER BODY.... We are SO SOPHISTICATED, KNOW SURVEILLANCE, WILL SCAN YOU...ARE DEADLY TERRORISTS.... That gave John and Patsy the PERFECT excuse to call the police IMMEDIATELY. How could they go up against terrorists and save their child? Better to call the police. Before even SEARCHING THE HOUSE THOROUGHLY. Before even WAKING UP HER BROTHER to see if this was a joke, a prank, if he heard or saw anything.... So the Rams could IMMEDIATELY CALL THE POLICE. And then...THE POLICE FIND THE BODY. I mean, what were the odds the police wouldn't search EVERY SINGLE ROOM IN THE HOUSE...including the basement? Especially the basement.

    But the police...didn't open the door to the celler room.

    Plan B. Wait. Get Burke out or he may find her. Wait. Nerves frayed. Thinkingthinkingthinking of her lying in the dark, turning cold, rigid, starting to decompose...which John may have checked on and noticed when he was downstairs all alone for an hour later that morning. What was he thinking? If I find her...all that staging messed up. See, Douglas says that, too, doesn't he? One of his main reasons for not believing it was John: why stage a scene and then discover it yourself. The family STAGES FOR THE POLICE. Why blow all that?

    Simple: John didn't blow it...downstairs alone that morning. He waited. Noticed the rigor? Noticed the smell starting to emanate from her. But wanted someone else to find her, AS DOUGLAS SAYS is usual in these cases of family murder.

    But again...minute by minute...sitting there...all police personal GONE but Arndt. No one EVEN LOOKING. Waiting for a call that wouldn't come. REALIZING THAT THE POLICE WERE NOT GOING TO FIND HER ANY TIME SOON...HOURS PASSING...NERVES FIRING...HOW LONG COULD THEY SIT THERE AND THINK ABOUT THAT NIGHT, JONBENET BELOW THEM IN THE DARK, DEAD, VIOLENT IMAGES FROM THAT NIGHT PLAYING OUT IN THEIR MINDS OVER AND OVER...TRYING TO MAINTAIN, BLOCK IT OUT...JUST UNTIL THEY FIND HER...BUT WHAT IF THEY DON'T FIND HER...UNTIL SHE STARTED TO SMELL SO BAD....WHAT IF ONE OF US CRACKS...PATSY SO CLOSE TO THE EDGE....

    Then Arndt, in a moment of sheer panic so palpable she does the unthinkable for a detective, gives John his ESCAPE HATCH. It's all over...but the running and covering for the rest of their lives.

    The note was a problem to be solved before they called the police. Where to leave it? How to "discover" it. Since their cell phone records for that night, as well as that whole month, disappeared in the following year of sandbagging by Hunter, I think it's fairly clear they called someone that night for help. My guess: their lawyer, Bynum. He told them--what? Whatever, it was designed to keep them out of jail. So the note HAD NONE OF THEIR FINGERPRINTS, nor did the flashlight OR its batteries. My guess: they knew if they left fingerprints on the note or bludgeoning instrument, it could be used against them possibly in court. So they concocted their STORY: NOTE ON THE STAIRS AND HOPPING UP AND DOWN THE STEPS AND NOT EVER JUST SIMPLY PICKING IT UP AND READING IT BEFORE THEY KNEW WHAT IT EVEN WAS.... Laying it in the BACK HALLWAY...with John on HIS HANDS AND KNEES...not touching it...and there in the narrow hallway, he had control of it, so none of the friends there would see it and pick it up to read, getting their fingerprints on it...possibly even handing it back to John or Patsy, who might then have to handle it or risk giving away their intention NOT to touch it. The whole point of the bogus note on the stairway story was because they didn't want to handle the note, leaving their fingerprints on it, not some INTRUDERS'.

    They fine-tuned that story in DOI. It is so obvious they are lying, to me. You show me a 40 and 50+ year old who would hop up and down those narrow, circular stairs in the morning: jumping over one steep stair to read the note on it and then jumping over it again to run back upstairs, leaving the note there, then back downstairs hopping over the note again.... No way. Silly. Who handles paper and notes this way? No one.

    But consider this: IF THEY NEVER HANDLED THE NOTE WITH THEIR BARE HANDS TO READ IT...THEN THEY KNEW THE FIRST MOMENT THEY CAME IN CONTACT WITH IT THEY COULD NOT TOUCH IT. HOW COULD THEY POSSIBLY KNOW THIS IF THEY HADN'T READ IT? AND IF THEY WERE ALREADY PROTECTING THE PAPER FROM THEIR FINGERPRINTS THAT EARLY ON...ONE MUST HAVE WRITTEN IT WITH GLOVES ON.

    Remember: the paper was not FOLDED. It was not CREASED. It was not SMUSHED OR SWEATED ON BY PEOPLE JUMPING UP AND DOWN STAIRS IN A PANIC, CLUTCHING IT, NOT CRUMPLED OR ROUGHLY HANDLED. Not even by the intruder, who would certainly have had to make decisions about where he was going to hide an 8.5 x 11 inch ransom note while he hid from the family as they readied for bed and then while he murdered their child. Where did he put it? In his pants? Nope. Too big without a couple of folds. In his coat? He wore a coat in a heated home while handling and murdering a child? And it still needs to be folded for a coat pocket. A bag? Oh, now he's got a bag large enough to carry that large note without folding it or crushing it. A briefcase--attache? Oh, yeah, that's right, the Rams only attract gentlemen killers and burglars--even the ransom note says so: two gentlemen.... John said so himself...the gentleman burglar in Atlanta.... Oh, John said "gentleman" burglar? How coincidental.
    So what happened? The intruder hid it in one part of the house, somewhere safe from discovery, went back to get it after the murder, walked from the front of house basement stairs all the way into the back of the house to leave it on the circular stairs instead of just putting it on a table or front stairs right outside the basement door? More risks of capture after he's just killed a child? No wonder he hung around for half the night. He had a lot to think about, didn't he?

    I don't think so. The note belonged to the home. Paper. Pen. Handwriting. Linguistics. Pristine condition. Protected. Staging to enable the killer to get away with murder.

    So, that's basically MY THEORY regarding why JonBenet was left in the basement room and why the insane story about the note and its whereabouts that morning. It's only My OPINION, based on what I know about this case and people and crime. But it doesn't answer the most important question: what happened that night that resulted in the overkill murder of JonBenet? Who actually killed JonBenet, and why?

    Look to the garrote. That's the smoking gun. Someone knows besides the killer. Someone knows who made it. Someone knows who used it so quietly and skillfully that night. The knots and the garrote identify the killer.

    A rolling hitch around the paintbrush handle. A sailer's knot. Used to kill a child in a very deadly and efficient strangulation device made and used with some skill by the killer that night, causing me to believe he/she had used it in a similar manner before. Where? On whom or what? If I knew that, we could all logout now.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    The poster willow asked why would the Rams not just handle the note and leave their fingerprints on it since that would be natural. I answered this way:


    MJenn (1434 posts) 19-Apr-02, 10:57 AM (CST)
    14. "Between a rock and a hard place...."

    I agree, Willow, so I'd say that the lack of fingerprints in itself is EXACTLY why I believe they MADE SURE their fingerprints weren't on the note. The only reason I can logically come up with is that those missing cell phone records would tell the tale. If they called someone for legal advice, then that advice could have been here is the penalty of what happened by law, so if you want to protect yourself, don't leave evidence that links you to this murder. So they handled the note with gloves, wiped the flashlight down, wiped JonBenet down, etc.

    Then all that was left was to "explain" no fingerprints. In hindsight...better to have just handled it. But that night, in a panic...maybe they were terrified that they were going to trial and prison for this...one of them, anyway. So they were thinking, the ransom note with their fingerprints and no one else's would be used as evidence against them. It's splitting hairs: better to do what seems normal and have that backfire in front of a jury--"ONLY PATSY AND JOHN'S FINGERPRINTS ARE ON THE RANSOM NOTE, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN," or better to play it safe from the start?

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Here's the url for the whole thread at WS:

    http://www.websleuths.com/dcf/DCForumID1/1853.html
     
  2. MJenn

    MJenn Member

    More questions....

    Here was another post answering some other questions posed. I'll put it here in case anyone here has some of the same questions:

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    MJenn (1438 posts)
    21-Apr-02, 03:48 PM (CST) 47. "some ideas"
    LAST EDITED ON 21-Apr-02 AT 04:27 PM (CST)

    I believe the source of the cord fibers in JB's bed was in the paperback issue of DOI. Added info, the Rams said, they only recently found out. I know of no other source on this.

    Sweebie, if not for the convoluted story of where that note was found and how they handled it, I might not find the no fingerprints that suspicious either. But, as always, they have very selective memory. They don't remember a lot...which would be believable under the circumstances if they didn't remember so much, in great detail, when it comes to rebutting the evidence. I find that too convenient.

    Camper, I know you asked something, but I can't remember more than two points at a time anymore...so I'll be right back.

    Ah. The friends who read the note: as far as I can recall, none of them has ever discussed in public or to any source reading the note, except for Fernie testifying in Miller's trial his reading of the first few lines upside down when he saw the note lying on the floor through the back hall glass door, and then also testifying that he read a copy of the ransom note later that morning at the Rams'. I would think White et al also read that copy, at least. White has never spoken about it to any source that I can remember. Thomas is the only one I can think of, with whom White might have discussed that...or who would have access to White's police interviews when he might have discussed it, but I don't remember Thomas discussing this in his book. He could have. I've forgotten a lot in this case. Anyone?

    OK, I'm looking in Thomas' book now. Chapter two traces the note this way: Officer French is shown the note which is lying in the back hall. It is here that he and then next officer to arrive, Sargeant Reichenback, read the note. The White and then the Fernies arrive by 6:30 am, Thomas says.

    On p. 20 of the hardback, Thomas says:

    "The note had traveled from the stairs, possibly into Patsy's hands, then had been spread out on the hallway floor where John Ramsey and the police had read it, and French had put it back on the stairs....

    "The Reverand Rol Hoverstock...arrived as an officer left to take the ransom note to police headquarters...."

    So my understanding is that no one but the Ramseys and the police handled the note...and I am going to believe that the police AT LEAST used gloves to handle the note. This "note on the back hall floor" is one reason I strongly feel that John and Patsy were using extreme measures TO KEEP THEIR FRIENDS FROM HANDLING THE NOTE. When they called the police and their friends, in whatever order but very close together, whether on cell phone or house phone, they couldn't possibly know if the police would arrive first. So the note was laid on the back hall floor, where John could block anyone from reaching it, couldn't he, and accidently picking it up and handling it, or possibly then handing it to him or Patsy. I'm just logically trying to follow what would cause someone to act as they SAID they did that morning. It doesn't make sense. As someone else said in this thread...why not just lay the note on a table or countertop? Why not just pick it up and sit in a chair and read it? Then if it did occur to you to protect it from others' hands for fingerprints or whatever, just stand by and tell them not to handle it. Why not say, I was trying not to handle it for evidence purposes? But no. They just weren't thinking, hopping up and down curved, steep stairs, and running about, and calling the police and friends...and I'm sorry, but I'm not buying a 52 year old man on his hands and knees reading a note on the floor so he could see better or whatever reason he used to explain this bizarre behavior. It's too staged. That's the trouble with this whole crime scene and every single interview and their book and their numerous polygraphs by different examiners and any time they show up anywhere, isn't it? STAGEDSTAGEDSTAGEDSTAGED. It's their signature.

    JMO

    ~~~~~~~~~~~

    Same url as above.
     
  3. Ayeka

    Ayeka Member

    hoo boy!

    Excellent post, MJenn!! It all makes so much sense.

    Ayeka
     
  4. Thor

    Thor Active Member

    I saw this post when MJenn originally posted it and I agree wholeheartedly Ayeka. Makes more sense than anything I could come up with. Good job!
     
  5. Kelly

    Kelly Member

    note

    Wow! What an excellent post, MJenn. That is the best explanation of all the bizarre things that happened that night I've read. It makes complete sense. It's hard to believe that only because the prosecutors couldn't get their hands on the phone records, the Ramseys are off free. That's not to say that I think for one minute the prosecutor actually wanted to prosecute the Ramseys. Alot of money changed hands over this, way over $118,000.
     
  6. BobC

    BobC Poster of the EON - Fabulous Inimitable Transcript

    Absolutey!

    Right on Mjenn! you have put yourself in the shoes of the killer/stager and your scenario makes absolute sense. Clap clap clap!

    I've always thought JR was sitting there all morning thinking "if these dummies don't find that %^*(# body here pretty quick I am gonna have a nervous breakdown!"
     
  7. Camper

    Camper Banned

    Excellent

    Bravo, MJenn, you are the best at stringing the words together that make this crime so real.

    Now then, if you would give me and all of us the 'how' did they/he/she discover JonBenet was gone, and what happened from that point on. I can even imagine, that JAR screamed at pr/jr after the deed and left the house banging the door behind him. But, JAR, has an 'airtight' alibi. Oh those phone records.

    On the other hand, does all of the FW bashing that is happening, at hir forum have anything to do with this? I have never read at hir forum, so I am using the hearsay method that I have just made about the FW bashing.

    MJenn, all of the work you have done should make for a dynamite book! You could use ficticious characters like Fred and Fern Falcome er something like that.
     
  8. MJenn

    MJenn Member

    I wish I could write a novel on this case like Dominick Dunne did with the Moxley murder. Unfortunately, I'm still working on the which one did it part....

    But thanks for the feedback, everyone. Sometimes I think my brain is like a stew...I keep putting stuff in there and then finally...something pops out!

    Or would that be my digestive tract...? :)
     
  9. AK

    AK Member

    MJenn

    Great, lucid thinking. You have real enthusiasm and skill in selling your ideas, and an appreciative readership here.

    This reminds me of the thrill we will have someday when the evidence is brought out in court. When people who have lived this case for years are finally able to take us through each step, how splendid it will be to hear things we thought we knew, expressed differently or with new emphasis from what we've been thinking. And the things we won't see coming, ahhh! It will make our wait worthwhile. And think of the joy it will be to the prosecutors and experts.

    I wouldn't even begin to imagine that Mike Bynum was called and told that a Ramsey parent murdered JB. He is an ex-prosecutor and still an officer of the court. I have seen nothing to suggest that he would corrupt his profession by being an accomplice in any coverup. Logically, why would he feel that they wouldn't confess/get caught and implicate him? So no, I don't buy that at all. I think he gave them good advice and was helpful, and presumably continues to be, and who knows?, he may even have doubts about them that he's keeping to himself, but that's a far cry from being a participant after the fact. I shudder at that kind of thinking because it comes from a sense of unreality and we've seen some of the damage that kind of imaginative approach can bring.

    I also think we will understand better about the phone records when this is presented in court. This is an area where we truly don't have enough information and the vacuum is being filled with cotton wadding. I'm not sure I even recall whether the Ramseys had a cell phone back then. And if records were lost, this would suggest master records at the phone company disappeared and copies couldn't be ordered. I suppose it's possible, but rather than assume that now and use it to condemn anyone, I'll wait for it to be brought up in court.
     
  10. Camper

    Camper Banned

    OOps

    Fedorax, with tongue in cheek, might you be suggesting that the Ramseys had empty orange juice cans with string in between with which to communicate, sans cell phones. (meant with integral fun TIC)

    My oops heading referring to my "phoney" (phone calls EARLY AM) thoughts are that 'a' call was made to arrange a QUICK hustle to get the elder son (in his cups-old expression for our YOUNG readers, soused is another word) out of town 'pronto'.

    Yes, I will be among those folks waiting for the last page of this book of life, to see how it all 'ENDS'.
     
  11. MJenn

    MJenn Member

    Well, shudder no more, Fedorax. Since you don't seem to know the facts of the case all that well, then maybe this will comfort you: John Ramsey has testified under oath that the police used his cell phone that morning. It's in the Wolf depositions. Thomas also wrote in his book that the Rams cell phone records for the month of December were missing. Only that month had no calls on the record, given to the police almost A YEAR after the murder, because the DA's Office wanted to let the Ramseys OFFER the records instead of doing what any police dept. in the country would have done--subpoenaed them immediately.

    Also, I provided a link to the entire thread, wherein the question of what Bynum's role might have been in this THEORY is addressed. Since anything the Rams would have told him that morning would have fallen under attorney/client privilege, I wouldn't expect him to call the police and say hey, the Rams just told me blahblahblah--even if they'd confessed to him, it's still attorney client privilege.

    As to whether his advice to them might have approached anything illegal, I think there are plenty of ways a lawyer can counsel a client, giving the client information he can then decide to use however. For example: let's say a lawyer receives a call from a client at 2 in the morning, wherein the client says I've just found my daughter's body in the basement and I think my son killed her; I found a ransom note, too; I don't want to turn my son in, so what should I do? The lawyer might say, well, whatever you do, don't touch anything. Now, the client might interpret that to mean DO NOT TOUCH THE NOTE. Therefore, he might go to great lengths from that point on, while making decisions ON HIS OWN, to create an elaborate story, coverup, etc., etc.

    As for my enthusiastic imagination, since I'm not the murderer, that's all I have, along with the evidence. I base my theories in that evidence and extensive research, however. Contrary to your obvious belief that I am rather dense, I see plenty. But by all means, continue to attempt to patronize me with your eloquent prose. How predictable.
     
  12. BobC

    BobC Poster of the EON - Fabulous Inimitable Transcript

    Mjenn I think you may have misread Fedora's post. She was complimenting you and only took issue with a minor point or two. I don't imagine Bynum would have done anything illegal when he didn't really understand the situation he was dealing with at that point. Who would be that dumb? I think Bynum was giving JR pure legal defense advice, friend to friend.

    I've never thought Bynum, Hunter or anybody else is on the take--but I think the intimidation factor was there with Hunter, considering the high powered legal team he'd be up against, armed only with some (early on) shoddy police work and compromised evidence.
     
  13. Gecko

    Gecko Member

    MJenn

    I think you'd write a GREAT whodunnit on this case,no joking.I always look forward to your posts,and glean something new.Is there a list ANYWHERE of all the important documents,including jbr med records,child services center report, ect that have conviently gone missing since this dang murder occured?I mean,come on,folks,there are just too many coincidences for these missing records not to have had some help dissapearing.jUST DOESN'T HAPPEN.
     
  14. AK

    AK Member

    Well, MJenn

    The difference between us is that you take as gospel that which was in the Ramseys' depositions, and I don't. Do you also think Patsy really couldn't recognize her own handwriting? And I don't take Steve Thomas' book as the be-all end-all case compendium. I know better.

    You nailed it, BobC -- Hunter saw quickly what a team was assembled against him. He did the smart thing and assembled his own powerful group of experts, people who don't write books or talk publicly about this case. Solid professionals who advised him to not take a loser case to trial but who are committed to seeing justice on it one day.
     
  15. Dunvegan

    Dunvegan Guest

    Gecko, I'd love to get more documents...

    ...images, and other case library information uploaded in the next couple of weeks (while I'm home on a Silicon Valley Sabbatical.)

    Anyone who'd like to assist in this effort should let myself, VP, or one of the other moderators know.
     
  16. Elle

    Elle Member

    Re: MJenn

    When you have the money, you can make anything disappear! Maybe if a high price was offered for the missing documents, some of them might be returned. Know any millionaires? :)
     
  17. MJenn

    MJenn Member

    Hey, gecko, I need an insurance policy.... :)

    Write a book...hmmmm. Think Dunne would mentor me? I love that man.

    Dun, I have a partial transcript from the Miller trial, the testimony of Fernie. I only got that part as court reporter told me it'd cost about $300-$400 to get the whole thing, though she did transcribe the whole thing because it had been ordered by someone already. She didn't say who ordered it. It's 50 cents a page for the rest of us.

    Well, BobC, you're probably right. I misunderstand things all the time.

    Fedorax, if you're suggesting I should dismiss all written material on this case and sworn testimony out of hand, then what's left to base a debate on, since my psychic abilities have been severely limited to date. Perhaps you could enlighten me as to what you base your astute observatons on: tabloid reporters? Yeah, I can see that would be much more reliable. Alas, my access to these brilliant minds is even more limited. But I can see how they'd be so much more credible than a detective who worked the case for a year and a half and the sworn testimony of the man who owned the cell phone. Yeah, John probably can't remember if he had a cell phone five years ago. He does admittedly have a memory provblem. Thanks for the heads up.

    Elle, I know you said something...but I have a memory problem of my own. Have to go back and reread.
     
  18. MJenn

    MJenn Member

    An old WS post of mine from WS

    MJenn (1138 posts)
    11-Jan-02, 11:08 PM (CST) "Did Arndt use JR's cell phone?"
    LAST EDITED ON 11-Jan-02 AT 11:13 PM (CST)

    We've discussed this a lot. JR said in his depo with Darnay that the police used his cell phones. We wondered WHICH one.

    I found this in PMPT today. John had just found the body:

    "It was 1:12 P.M. when Detective Ardnt grabbed a cell phone in the kitchen, and returning to the living room, dialed 911. The operator dispatched the fire department and notified the police communications...." p. 20, paperback edition.

    Grabbed "A CELL PHONE..."? Wonder if this is one of the Rams'?

    Now, here is John Ramseys depo info, as published online by The Daily Camera:

    A. I think it was French was the first one there, Officer French.
    Q. Did you have an opportunity to observe what Officer French did at that point when he arrived? Did he speak to you?
    A. He spoke to me. I told him my daughter had been kidnapped. He said, Do you think she might have just run away? And I said, For heaven's sake, she is only six years old; no, I don't. He asked us all to, Patsy and I, to stay in the sunroom, which is a small room off our living room. So I didn't see all that he did beyond that.
    Q. You say that he asked you to stay in the sunroom. Did you remain in the sunroom the whole morning?
    A. We did not. Other people arrived. The police arrived. They asked to use our cell phones because theirs were dead. They asked us to do a number of things that required us to leave that room.

    I wonder if Ardnt was the one, or at least ONE of the officers to use their cell phones.
    Anyone remember Arndt mentioning this? I guess I better see what Thomas says in his book about that, if anything. I read the cell phone records stuff today with the AirTouch cell phone records they subpoenaed on Novemeber 5, 1997. He said they were only able to get the records for December 1-27th, 1996. He said the Rams had AirTouch service since Jan. 1994: 91 minutes in the Aug.-Sept. billing period of '96; 108 minutes from Sept.-Oct.; Oct.-Nov., just as busy; December--

    "December, however, the only period we were allowed to see, was empty. No calls at all. I asked if someone could have removed billing records from the computer? 'No way,' the AirTouch source told me. 'All these months preceding December are busy, and not one call was logged for that entire month?' The representative was firm: 'There ain't no way anybody altered these records.' It wasn't logical. A search warrant might have answered the question eleven months ago, but we had only this thin new 'consent.' JonBenet: IRMI, p. 233, hardback.

    Thomas goes on to document how the lieutenant governor of Colorado had 5 calls to John's private office line within a few days after the murder: from the lieutenant governor of Colorado's husband, which she stonewalled telling the BPD what that was about for a time.

    Now, someone tell me why this documented info of the Rams' cell phone BEING USED BY THE BPD on Dec. 26th isn't sufficient grounds for an investigation into tampering with evidence and obstruction of justice?
     
  19. BobC

    BobC Poster of the EON - Fabulous Inimitable Transcript

    No you don't

    I think you're very intelligent and I thought most of your post was very well thought out. All I'm commenting on is that people seem to think there are all these wild conspiracies going on and people also seem to want to assign sinister motives to people like Bynum. It's not fair, IMO. From all I've ever heard Bynum's never once told anybody that the Ramseys were innocent, nor has he said they are guilty. I think he just saw a situation developing where the parents might need legal representation so he advised them on their rights. That's what lawyers do and yes sometimes it seems like it's all a big game where Truth is anything but the objective, but that's the system.

    I don't believe any money ever changed hands with Bynum or Hunter and the reason I feel that was is that I put myself in their shoes. If a friend of mine called me at the crack of dawn and said his duaghter was dead or kidnapped, would I put my butt on the line and lie for money? uh uh. I wouldn't even consider it until I knew EXACTLY what I was dealing with.
     
  20. MJenn

    MJenn Member

    Found another post from way back...

    This has some of the quotes I gathered when we were discussing the ransom note stories at WS, so I'm posting it for sources...though I warn you, these are only from the books and things said under oath...sorry, it's all a naive waif like me has to go on....

    Oh, and sorry for the spacing being so messed up. I try to get it right, but it always comes out wacky when it's from my saved stuff.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    MJenn (1174 posts)
    23-Jan-02, 06:17 PM (CST) 73. "#&^#!!$(**%&*!!!!"

    I can't find this stuff in the archives or by doing every kind of search I can think of, so I'll just use my personal saved copy for the parts of my post including the "quotes" from the books and part of the Fernie testimony in the Tom Miller trial transcript here. I'll leave my ideas I had posted in these posts out of this one...yeah, they're long.

    But this should answer your question, Bernadette. Keep reading and you'll get to the transcription of Fernie's testimony in the Miller trial, transcribed by the court reporter. This is not his entire testimony.

    Also, here are the quotes from DOI and JB:IRMI I used in the discussion of what happened to the note that morning, according to the Rams and the police and Fernie:

    DOI, p.13-14:

    "...I meet Patsy and Officer French in the hallway, near the front door. I tell
    him my daughter has been kidnapped.

    "The uniformed officer walks in and asks us to repeat our problem again. He
    keeps asking questions, and seems to grasp the situation quickly. He insists we move to the corner sunroom. I feel my head spinning, and my anguish seems to be crushing the life out of me. Any parent who has lost track of a child in a shopping mall, even for a moment knows an intense pang of fear.... {More about how John is determined to get JonBenet back.}

    "Another officer, Officer Veitch, I believe, comes in after he moves the squad
    car to the next block. He is shown the ransom note.

    Soon friends arrive. The White and the Fernies. Father Rol Hoverstock, our
    priest from St. John's Episcopal Church and a close friend and confidant. The
    cold, empty vacancy in our house fills with these friends."

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Now, here is what John Fernie testified to in Tom Miller's trial, under oath:

    Q. (By Mr. Lozow) Mr. Fernie, did you have occasion to come to the Ramsey
    home in the early morning hours, I believe December 26th, at the behest of
    one of the members of the Ramsey family?
    A. {Fernie} Yes.
    Q. What happened when you first arrived?
    A. I drove my car into the -- up the alley and parked in the back of their
    house, and went around to the patio door, which was a glass door leading into
    the kitchen and back of the house, and didn't see anybody, but saw a piece of
    paper laying on the floor. Looked at that. It was facing the other direction.
    Read it. And after the first few lines realized something very strange was
    happening. And so I ran around to the front of the house and knocked on the
    door and was let in.
    Q. Okay. Now, the document that you picked up, did that prove to be what has
    been designated as the Ramsey kidnapping note, or the note involved in this
    homicide investigation?
    A. Yeah. I didn't pick it up. It was inside the door and I was outside. The door
    was locked. I read it through the door.
    Q. You actually could read some of the language of the note?
    A. Yeah.
    Q. Now, how long were you at the Ramsey house on that day?
    A. Until -- it was a very chaotic day, so my recollection is it was probably until
    about two or three o'clock that afternoon.
    Q. Let me ask you, if I might, if you recall, who, other than police officers, or
    civilian people that you are familliar with, that came to the house at or about
    the time you arrived?
    A. Fleet and Pricilla {sic} White were there when I arrived. And my wife came
    shortly thereafter. And our -- Overstock, our priest came afterwards as well.
    Q. Now, during the course of that day, did you have occasion to look at this
    note briefly?
    A. My recollection is that later in the day, when we were waiting for phone
    calls from the supposed kidnappers, we were sitting in the back room with a
    detective and trying to figure out what the note meant. And there was a copy
    of the note. I don't know if it was the note or a copy of the note actually.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Now, here is what Thomas says in this book about all the places the ransom note
    traveled:

    JB: IRMI, p. 21:

    "Another tech saw the ransom note on the bottom step of the spiral staircase
    and photographed it there. But the photograph lied. The note had traveled
    from the stairs, possibly into Patsy's hands, then had been spread out on the
    hallway floor where John Ramsey and the police had read it, and French had
    put it back on the stairs. The photograph, which was supposed to show
    exactly where evidence had been discovered, was inaccurate."

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Patsy's version of finding the note:

    Excerpts and snippets from DOI: p. 11:

    "What's this? I wonder. I turn around to look at three pieces of paper on a
    stop near the bottom. I bend over. Must be a note from the cleaning lady....

    "'Mr. Ramsey,' the note is addressed.... I quickly scan the page....

    "I gasp for air. For a moment my heart pounds so hard I can barely move. I
    race back up the stairs and stumble toward JonBenet's bedroom.... The bed is
    empty!

    "'J-o-h-nnn! John-n-n-n! Help!' I scream.... He meets me wearing only his
    underwear.
    "'There's a note downstair.' I can barely speak....

    "John tears down the stairs....

    "'Burke!' he yells....

    "Both of us race to Burke's room...and find him apparently still asleep.... He's
    better off asleep for now. I stop into the hall.

    "John runs down the main stairs and into the back hallway. I grasp my
    stomach and run after him. ...he is down on his hands and knees, staring at
    the sheets of paper spread out on the floor in front of him. He is examining
    the ransom note, under the ceiling lights of the back hall.
    {RANSOM NOTE INSERTED HERE}....

    "'What do we do?' I stammer.

    "He shouts. 'Call the police!

    "'Are you sure?'

    "'Yes. Call them!'"

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    I found this in Thomas' book:

    Thomas' "JonBenet: IRMI," p. 166-67: Patsy is in the interview with Thomas
    in April, '97 I believe it was. The one the BPD had to beg and plead for for
    months. Patsy is recounting the events of the morning when she "found" the
    ransom note:

    She descended the spiral staircase, saw the three pieces of paper laid out side
    by side on the third rung, stepped over them, turned around and read the
    note. 'The first couple of lines...I didn't know what it was. It dawned on me
    that it said something about "we have your daugher" or something, and I ran
    back up the stairs and pushed open the door to her room, and she wasn't in
    bed....'

    "Throughout the interview, I was constantly reminded of just how well
    prepared she appeared. Her answers reeked of lawyerly advice, avoiding
    specifics and hedging with open-ended answers instead of yes or no. Trying to
    get a straight answer from her was maddening.

    "'Who moved the note?' I asked.

    "'I think he {John} did,' she replied. 'I don't think I did.'

    "'Did you touch the note?'

    "'I don't recall doing that, but I may have.'

    "'Did you take the note upstairs with you?'

    "'I don't remember exactly.'

    "'Do you recall moving the note from the stairs?'

    "'I don't recall.'

    "'Did you read the note?'

    "'I think I glanced at it.'

    "'Do you remember touching the note?'

    "'Not specifically, but I may have.'

    "'Did you check on JonBenet that night?'

    "'I don't believe I did.'

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    John's statement about Patsy handing him the note is in his depo and I don't have time to look it up right now. Anybody?

    And while previewing this for mistakes, it just hit me that I can't tell if the police got there BEFORE THE WHITES or AFTER THE WHITES, before the Fernies or after them....

    Sigh. Back to the books. Unless someone else wants to pitch in.
     
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