Broken paintbrush

What tightened was the cord around the neck and the evidence does not show it tightened because a handle was pulled.
Stating "The garrote tightened" coud be interpreted that you believe the handle was pulled to achieve this.
But it is "tied double knot plus handle" which reveals the so called "garrotte" as a fake.
For no handle is needed to get this knot tight, on the contrary: it is counterproductive, given the length of cord between the neck and handle.
Anyone can try this experiment out for themselves: tie a knot around a cylindrical object (e.g. a kitchen paper roll), then loop the remaining cord end around a paintbrush stick and pull. This action lifts the knot toward the direction of the pull, actually creating a space between the object and the knot instead of tightening the cord around the object. It resembles a pull with the leash on a dog's collar.

Also, a torque in combination with a knot does not fit.
The evidence indicates that the stager of the scene tied a neck knot first and then, to misdirect LE, looped part of the remaining cord around the broken stick to suggest a "brutally tortured and strangled to death" scenario. The technical mistakes the stager made in the construction reveal an amateur with little to no knowledge about garrotes.
As for the discussion between Koldkase and Delmar England (whose FFJ poster name was EasyWriter), it was mostly about which type of knot it was. KK believed it was a double half hitch, whereas Delmar said it was a clumsily constructed type of slip knot by an amateur having zero techincal expertise in tying specialized knots, which is why the crime scene neck knot can't be found in any book on knots.
From what we know through Michael Kane, imo it supports DE's conclusion. For Kane refuted the opinion that these knots (neck and wrist cord knots) were in any way sophisticated. He said LE's own knot expert had come to the conclusion that these were "very simple knots".
As for double half hitch knots, they seem to be useful in tying ropes to objects, like e.g. poles; Delmar said that's for what he had used them in his work.

 

I think

I think we are all agreed here - just saying it in different ways. What I think we agree on is that something was tightened around her neck. It could have been the rope/cord before it was fashioned to appear as it did. The triangular abrasion though could have been caused by a knot in the rope but as we all know the knot was actually in the back of the neck area. Perhaps it was retied? There is an indication of a second furrow. I agree the paintbrush handle was simply staging to make the thing appear more sophisticated but actually only makes it more obviously not sophisticated at all which would point a finger at PR, imo.

As someone here mentioned there was, at one time, a picture of a woman strangled with a scarf or other cloth and had an abrasion very similar to JBR's. The abrasion in that photo appeared to be associated with the knot.

 

It was me that posted about that photo. I have tried to find it, but it was located on Ruthee's pages on ACR, and as you may know, Ruthee died several years ago. Her web pages are no longer there, for the most part. She was a psychic who believed the parents were involved in JB's death. The photo may still be out there, but I have not been able to find it. There were two photos, side by side. One was JB's neck, with the triangular red abrasion. The other was a strangulation victim with the scarf still around her neck, and an identical triangular red abrasion. It was suggested that the triangular abrasion is the result of blood pooling above and below the pressure point that digs into the throat at the point that the ligature (cord or scarf or whatever is used) is twisted. Not twisted near the hand that strangles, but twisted at the point of contact with the throat. If you try twisting a handkerchief around your wrist tightly, you'll see what I mean. It won't make that mark (unless you pull it tight enough to really hurt yourself and I am not suggesting that) but you will feel the pressure point where the fabric digs most tightly into the skin.

 

"Also, a torque in combination with a knot does not fit."


Agreed.

 

I believe one of the reasons the GJ did not finger the Ramseys is because old Lou got in there and showed them how gruesome it would be for a Ramsey to do such a thing with that "sophisticated torturing device".

I can just see him demonstrating the whole thing, and then asking: "Do you really think this mother, a mother who was involved in so much with her children, who was involved in school functions, etc., could do such a thing?"

And, of course, this is exactly what the STAGER had in mind.

 

interesting

http://www.ncdsv.org/images/strangulation_article.pdf

 

interesting article

I found this article while searching for the photo of the triangular abrasion. The people this article is written about sometimes didn't die as a result of strangulation but I thought it was interesting when they mentioned that a child's hyoid bone may not fracture. It is an interesting and short read.

http://www.ncdsv.org/images/strangulation_article.pdf

 

Hey, thanks for this article. It is a very informative article.

Several interesting things.

In a ligature strangulation, petechiae will be found at site of ligature or above.
Some of JBR's petechiae were below the furrow.

Petechiae are caused by increased venous pressure. If you clamp off the jugulars, unoxygenated blood will be trapped in the brain and this will cause unconsciousness or death if it persists.

With petechiae present below the furrow, I believe something clamped off venous return prior to the known ligature placement.

 

possibly

Yes it is possible or also as you pointed out earlier they could be ruptured capillaries from damage to the skin (similar to bruising) where the skin is pinched or pulled by whatever was used around her neck. A similar thing is noted on the autopsy on JBR's shoulder. A group or pattern of petechiae on her shoulder which seem finger shaped to me and were, imo, caused by someone's fingers.

 

found it

Here is the site with the picture of a lady strangled with a piece of cloth and has an abrasion on her neck that is comparable with JBR.

http://www.oocities.com/area51/nebula/9337/cord.html

 

YES! That is the photo I had in mind. It is not available on Ruthee's ACR site anymore, but that is her page. Thanks for finding it.