Linda Arndt's Deposition

Discussion in 'Justice for JonBenet Discussion - Public Forum' started by Tricia, Oct 23, 2004.

  1. Tricia

    Tricia Administrator Staff Member

    A HUGE THANK YOU to ACR, DejaNuBee, and Watching You for their hard work in getting the Arndt depo up for all of us to read.

    I for one would like to apologize to Arndt for being so hard on her in the beginning. I was angry at the whole story. I only knew what I was told by the media. However, I will say it appears that Arndt, at the time of the depo, seems a bit paranoid. Perhaps for good reason. I don't know.

    After all these years I would hope that hurt feelings would be somewhat soothed by now. I wonder if the anger against each other in the BPD is dissapating at all. I hope so.

    It's been so long I don't know if it's right to even lay blame anymore. BUT, (you knew there would be a but right?) if the chain of command on the morning of the 26th been more clear then Arndt would not have been left alone in the Ramsey house.

    Koby had taken apart the basic command positions that are in most police departments and restructured them to be more community friendly. Which can be a wonderful thing except when said community is hit with something like the Ramsey case. I am certain Koby had the community's best interest in his heart but with this case it just didn't work.

    The full, legally obtained, Arndt depo is located right here.

    http://www.acandyrose.com/03182000-arndtdepo-04102000.htm


    I will be copying them over to FFJ for our archives a bit later.

    Ardnt did make mistakes but she did the best she could at the time.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 23, 2004
  2. Little

    Little Member

    A big thank you to all of you.

    I want to add my name to that apology list too Tricia. I don't know that I have been overly critical of Det. Arndt, however, I never really came to her defense either. She was left to hold the bag for her superiors. They needed to be held accountable for of placing her in a very bad, and potentially dangerous, situation. Thank you for making her side of the story available.

    Little
     
  3. Tricia

    Tricia Administrator Staff Member

    I made this thread a "sticky" so it stays at the top for a while.

    I am very interested in what FFJ members think of the Arndt depo.
     
  4. Watching You

    Watching You Superior Bee Admin

    Boy, I wish I could add my name to the apology list, but I can't. I have, in fact, criticized Linda Arndt little if any. On the contrary, I did criticize the BPD for not providing vital back up for her that morning. That was ludicrous as well as being improper police procedure where I come from.

    Now that I have read the deposition, I'm afraid I've gone somewhat the other way. The same complaints apply to the upper echelon of the BPD for leaving Arndt alone that day, but Arndt is not blameless in any of this, and I do not believe everything she stated in her deposition. What I do believe is she really believes her PERCEPTION of the way things were. Her story of persecution by the BPD doesn't ring quite true to me. She seems unable to accept any blame for anything, believes she was 100 percent right in her dealings within the BPD, and was 100 percent right in the way she handled things the morning of December 26. Well, she wasn't. She breached police procedure by moving JBR's body, herself, after Ramsey destroyed the crime scene in the basement. That is just one example of how she errored.

    We also have to remember that her account of what happened when she and Ramsey were alone with JBR's body, where she mentally counted her bullets, were based on her PERCEPTION of things. I'm sure events were surreal to her at the time, and what she witnessed in JR's demeanor, she interpreted under some very surreal circumstances - a place where everything is distorted, larger than normal, and people are in shock.

    I personally think Linda Arndt is a bit of a whiner who can never admit any fault of her own. Throughout the deposition, everything was someone else's fault - never hers. The communication problem was "their" fault - never hers. I'm not saying PDs aren't noted for political BS, but Linda's demeanor shows me a semi-neurotic person who thinks everyone is out to get her.

    I could be wrong, of course, but this is how I read Linda Arndt. She has a persecution complex, and while it may be true that one isn't paranoid if they really are out to get you, there is another side of this story we haven't heard. In ST's book he tells another story about Linda Arndt - how she did develop amnesia about the Ramsey case, how she did bond with Patsy. Perception is everything. I think Steve tried to be a truthful as he could be.

    The truth probably lies somewhere between the two sides in this case. The BPD may have treated her, in some cases, the way she perceived; however, the other side may be that Linda was causing the mistrust, herself. There is just something about her version of events that doesn't ring true to me, and I can't buy into her sob story of how persecuted she was. I would really like to hear the other side of the story.

    Regardless, the PD most certainly did neglect to provide her with backup that very critical morning, and that was dead wrong. I will give her that much. The rest is her (self-serving) version based on perhaps her paranoid, faulty perceptions.

    That's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it.
     
    Last edited: Oct 24, 2004
  5. EasyWriter

    EasyWriter FFJ Senior Member

    Excellent post and excellent summation that pretty much says it all.
     
  6. Driver

    Driver FFJ Senior Member

    Agreed.
     
  7. Tez

    Tez Member

    I agree with WY and Driver. It also seems to me that she is paranoid.

    Thanks Tricia, ACR, DejanuBee, and WY for all of your hard work! :imonline:
     
    Last edited: Oct 24, 2004
  8. Tricia

    Tricia Administrator Staff Member

    My apology to Arndt was about the morning of the 26th. Until I read her depo I had a different opinion.

    As far as the other things I think the perception angle is correct. But keep in mind the three top dogs were not communicating.

    Koby
    Eller
    Wickman.

    If what Arndt says is true then she had to keep reporting to three different people. That would be frustrating beyond belief. Add to that all the things the media were saying about her and it must have been very difficult.

    Yes she does seem paranoid. Especially when she says Eller and (was it Wickman?) might kill her.

    I don't agree with certain things she did but I do think she is very compassionate and did the best that she could.

    No one was ready for a case like this.
     
  9. Tez

    Tez Member

    You are right Tricia, when you say it had to be very difficult to report to three different people. I could not even imagine what that would be like. I also feel she did the best she could on the 26th. What I don't agree with is her amnesia about things later. Such as not remembering anything about certain events when asked by Steve Thomas.

    I also feel that Boulder was not ready for a case like this, and I doubt if they are any better prepared now.
     
    Last edited: Oct 24, 2004
  10. BobC

    BobC Poster of the EON - Fabulous Inimitable Transcript

    well frankly I report to about 15 people per day who hardly communicate to each other so I think people are being way too generous to Arndt here. What's this "hostile workplace" nonsense? Every work environment is hostile!

    Look--I don't know Linda A but from what I've read she seems to be far too weak a person to be a police officer. All she talks about is fear fear fear! Babs Fernie was looking to HER for protection? Good God. The first thing she should have done was pick ONE person--somebody who was keeping his or her head like Fleet White--and have that person collect up all the dozens of people at that house and get them outta there. CLEAR THE CRIME SCENE. It's simple! Linda Arndt thought this scene was too hard to control? Oh come on. I'd hate to see her be a cop during the LA riots!

    Whine whine whine. ALL the cops were painted as garbage but the only whiner, incessant complainer and career victim-player is Linda Arndt. I mean have some dignity for God's sake. "I was discriminated against"--ahhhhhh more code words. Whereas Rick French blamed himself for not being thorough enough in searching the home that morning, Linda Arndt crossed her arms and acted like a petulant child. All the cops were under attack and she just made everything worse.

    Sorry guys but I like strong women. I have nothing but respect for the Jane Harmers of the world who go into a male dominated field and fight every day. Linda Arndt should be a social worker--it's more her style and personality.
     
  11. Tricia

    Tricia Administrator Staff Member

    Bobc, admit it. I am a strong woman. I have beaten the crap out of you on several occasions haven't I?
     
  12. BobC

    BobC Poster of the EON - Fabulous Inimitable Transcript

    Right.
     
  13. Tricia

    Tricia Administrator Staff Member


    I believe I detect a bit of sarcasm?
     
  14. Moab

    Moab Admin Staff Member

    Watch out Bob...she wants something...think table and chairs!
     
  15. BobC

    BobC Poster of the EON - Fabulous Inimitable Transcript

    Actually I just got cut off because someone came in my office after I posted all of one word! Anyway--what was I yammering about? Oh Yeah--Linda Arndt. Okay now that I've been fair and read her version of events, all I can say is I wish John Ramsey HAD gone for her gun! Sometimes gunfire is the only answer!

    I have never once, not even ONCE , heard anybody single out Linda Arndt as the person who destroyed the case. She deserves more blame than she's ever gotten! Especially after reading this drivel. How do you look at John Ramsey and "know" anything about who killed that little girl? I think there's a huge chance that JR was directly involved in the murder--and I love hearing investigators' first hand impressions at the scene of the crime--but Arndt saying she "knew" exactly what happened is just crazy, not to mention unprofessional and ludicrous. Now if LA had said she instantly "knew" this was a murder and the Ramseys were obviously hiding something, that's one thing--but saying you look in JR's eyes and know he's the one who did the deed makes me question her intelligence level and emotional stability.

    Furthermore--family 'dynamics" don't mean crap unless you have evidence to back up your conclusions. I would have totally respected LA if she'd gone to bat for the John Did It theory in the sense that she thought the cops were too quick to focus on Patsy--but that's not what occured here. LA made a spot assessment based on emotion and then pouted when nobody else assigned significance to her personal impressions.

    look--Jonbenet's body had evidence of a sexual assault. That has NEVER been questioned by any sane investigator. The question which has never been answered to anyone's satisfaction, however, is whether or not this sexual assault was REAL or just part of staging a rage killing to look like a sexual assault. This is the million dollar question. the FBI thinks it was the latter--but nobody can or ever will be able to say for sure.

    The other thing that strikes me here is how Arndt thought JR would try to kill her, then she thought that Wickman and Eller might try to kill her, and she also thought JR might have wanted to shoot everybody in the house that morning! All based on what? Granted, being there that mrning must have been stressful and a very paranoid situation, but years later Arndt was still sticking to her emotional conclusions as fact. Ridiculous.
     
  16. Tricia

    Tricia Administrator Staff Member

    BobC, I do remember Arndt getting trashed on TV. Big time.

    The point I am trying to make is Arndt is a person full of compassion who was put into an almost impossible situation. She wasn't a seasoned New York cop. She was someone with whom victims felt comfortable with and she felt comfortable with them. That was her strong point it seems.

    She was very hurt by the criticism. Which is what comes through in the depo. Be it right or wrong. Yes French admitted his mistake and took it on the chin. Arndt doesn't think she made any. I wonder if she still feels that way.

    I guess with all this time that has passed I am trying to look at everyone's point of view through their own eyes.

    No matter how hard I try I can't seem to see what Keenan is doing. It's the D.A's office I have the biggest problem with now.
     
  17. Watching You

    Watching You Superior Bee Admin

    Not to say that cops shouldn't have compassion, but when it interferes with their professional judgment, perhaps they are in the wrong profession.

    I see Linda Arndt in social work, not police work. She worked in sex crimes, I believe, and I suspect she was terrific in that capacity because of her compassion for victims. She may have been a little TOO tender hearted to be a cop. Even in small police districts, cops have to maintain their objectivity and stick to their training.

    There are few cops who can work on a child murder without being permanently affected by it, and many cases are solved not only by good police work but also by a cop's gut instinct. In Linda's case, she sounds as if she experienced the second coming of Christ in that flash of insight she had about JR. It was okay that she felt that insight, if she really did, but she should have kept it to herself, since there is nothing scientifically or forensically acceptable about having a moment of revelation.

    The thing is, I have never singled out Linda Ardnt for bearing the brunt of why the JBR case is so screwed up. That honor belongs to the DA's office and to the upper echelon in the BPD who cowtowed to both DAs and turned evidence over to the Ramseys' powerful lawyers. That wasn't Linda's fault. I don't understand why she feels she is the only one who's been persecuted. In truth, others have taken much more public criticism than Linda did, and I think the more she has tried to claim how misused she was, the more attention she has called to herself. She just wasn't as big a story as Hunter and Koby were. It may have stayed that way had she just kept a low profile instead of choosing to make a stink about it.

    MO
     
  18. BobC

    BobC Poster of the EON - Fabulous Inimitable Transcript

    I agree with WY 100%, Trasha. The LA riots were an "impossible situation"--not a handful of people in a house with a missing child.
     
  19. Tricia

    Tricia Administrator Staff Member

    OMG. You're calling me "Trasha." This is serious business
     
  20. BobC

    BobC Poster of the EON - Fabulous Inimitable Transcript

    Linda Arndt must be slapped.
     
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