Conflicting evidence on blow/strangle- what's the answer

Especially in cases where it appears the victim did not resist having the strangulation device put on them.

She could also have fallen or been pushed with great force onto something that caused the head injury.

 

No cord movement, no damage to the internals of the neck, no scratch marks.

 

If the blow came first and there was some time before the ligature was applied, then the brain would have swelled so that it would have pushed the brain stem down into the foramen magnum. That didn't happen. So, little time elapsed between the blow and application of the garrote if the blow was first.

I don't think a person could come up with all that was done in a short time. If the blow was first then some time must have passed before the perp figured out what to do and then carry it all out. That amount of time would have allowed for more swelling than was indicated.

There are signs of an initial strangulation below the position of the garrote.

Unconsciousness could have been achieved without the typical damage done to the neck, just from sheer fright. The final postioning of the garrote and blow to the head could have followed.

How can a blow like that happen without breaking the skin? The head must have been covered or the implement padded.

Also, there was no external swelling.

 

As noted by Dr. Werner Spitz, the rubber coated flashlight which can be seen on the counter in the home in the crime scene photos, was likely the bludgeon. That would be hard and heavy enough to fracture her skull, but soft enough on the outside so as to not break her scalp. The strangulation device was hastily fashioned using the broken paint brush handle, indicating that it was probably done so in a state of panic. The device was fashioned from the same ligature material that was tied over her shirt sleeve on her right wrist. This was so loosely tied that it easily came undone at autopsy. This was not used to truly bind the child. This was only placed there to give the appearance that she'd been bound, thus it was part of the staging. Since the strangulation device was fashioned from the same ligature material, among other reasons, it can be gleaned that the strangulation was part of the staging. Why would a stranger/intruder intent on kidnapping JonBenet, who might actually bind her, only need it to appear that she'd been bound? A stranger/intruder would have no such need, but someone known to her and residing in the home would.

 

Paradox,
Excellent post. And you asked one of many questions about this case that has baffled me for years...
How can a blow like that happen without breaking the skin???

 

Very easily.
I work in a hospital where we see a lot of people with traumatic brain injuries (TBI). Many of them severe enough that the person will be in a coma or vegetative state for the rest of their life. Some of the patients have skull fractures, some don't. Most did not have any breaks in the skin. In order to get a break in the skin, you either have to be struck by something that was sharp or put the force in a small enough space to cause the skin to split or, possibly if the fracture of the skull was displaced enough, the sharp edges of skull bone might cause a break in the skin.
This site has a lot of good information:
http://www.biausa.org/Pages/types_of_brain_injury.html#tbi

 

sue,
Thanks so much for the reply and the link...great info.