Forensic Evidence 2: Bedwetting

This one was given to me in 1993, so it's fairly old now. I put it back in the bookcase but I will put the edition and publication date here later. It's not a Webster's but I would think that the size and edition or publication date would matter more than the publisher. Especially the type size, because that will change the arrangement of the words on the page.

 

HeyMom:

I don't know how you managed to get that on your scanner. Mine is also huge.
I'm laughing here, because I mentally printed it and turned up the corner at "incest" but my husband was already starved, and I had to leave.

 

I get books from the libary all the time with dog ears, underlinings and margin notations. :nono: I don't read kid books, adults do these things. I hate them.

 

Paradox:

My husband also takes books out from the library, and his are dog eared too.
Too many lazy people out there Paradox. It only takes a second to use a bookmark, rather than destroy the corner of the page.

 

Moab,
Your're welcome. For years, I too have had a different picture of this in my mind. Yesterday I dug out Steve's book and found the passage about the dictionary. Sure sounds like a large portion of the dictionary page was folded to point to the word incest.

Man, do I ever wish we were privy to those pictures.

Heymom,
Thanks for scanning the page.

 

I wonder if pages of the Bible were folded?

 

Cranberry,
That's an excellent question. I'll see if I can find that info somewhere.

 

I used to go to a small library that someone graffitied "libary" on an outside wall. I thought that was hilarious.

Words and The Word are important in this case. It's so simple and fundamental that it got overlooked. Too bad the books in the Ramsey libary weren't taken as evidence.

 

The dictionary has to be important.

If a so called 'intruder' (as the RST might argue) made a crease pointing to the word incest then he must have been psychic as it was only after the autospy that signs of prior sexual abuse were acknowledged.

Equally, any law enforcement officer there that morning would also have to be psychic, for suspecting a family member rather than an 'intruder'.

But then Linda Ardt seemed to sense it.

 

so might have someone who was there at the discovery of the body, but who was not responsible !!!

 

That's what I mean..someone in the family or who knew the family and what was potentially going on.

 

I see library books with lots worse than dog-eared pages. Try reading a book that someone has notated in their own (non-English) language!

I would never make a mark of any kind in a library book, or tab the pages. I do abuse my own books this way, however. That came from college, where books were tools for learning, not sacred objects. I consume books, and some of them are worn out from constant use.

Hubby hates it when I write in books.

 

Yes, it's one thing to do it to your own books, its another to do it to library/public property. I too consume books...like I consume food....did you know a study came out recently that said educated peeps live longer than non- educated peeps....and I apologise for typing undetr the influence :wave:

 

Glad you found this tylin. You set me off on a search too. The fact the dictionary was on the coffee table in the first floor study, is a place where the Ramseys themselves would be, not visitors; therefore, I can't imagine any of their friends strolling into the Ramsey study and looking up the word "incest" in someone else's house?

 

I think it's pretty well accepted that people who are educated tend to take better care of themselves all-round, exercise, eat better, etc. and that might explain being longer-lived.

I want to have a t-shirt made that says,

"So many books, too little time!" As I get older I realize I will never be able to read all the books I want to...that would be ALL books, probably ever written... I'm a nut for books! :read: :magnet:

 

I have a Webster's 9th Collegiate Dictionary, published in 1991.
The word "incest" is the top word in the left hand column of the right-hand page (page 609).
Since it is the top word in the first column on that page, it appears twice; once on the top of the right hand column, where a small fold over would point to it and once on the top of the left hand column, where a considerable amount of the page would have to be folded to point to it.

If the dictionary is this version of the book, I could see a possible reason why Steve might have thought it was the bottom left side page. What if he refreshed his memory by looking at a picture that was good enough resolution to see the fold, but not to read the words. If the picture was of the coffee table/area rather than the book itself, it could be possible that the picture showed the book upside down. Or, he might have been thinking of the left side column, but sort of 'translated' that in his mind to left hand page. I doubt that he had access to all the evidence while he was writing his book.
If it was a different edition, incest could have been close to the bottom of the right hand column on the left side page. It would not take too many words to bump it over if it was an earlier edition.

We can't know if it was an earlier edition, but it has to be no more than the 9th edition. According to Amazon.com's listing for the Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, the 11th edition was published in 2003

Hardcover: 1664 pages
Publisher: Merriam-Webster; 11th edition (July 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0877798087
ISBN-13: 978-0877798088
Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.3 x 2 inches

And, the 10th edition was published in 1998.
link to the 10th Edition on Amazon.
Hardcover: 1559 pages
Publisher: Merriam-Webster; 10th Indx edition (1998)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0877797099
ISBN-13: 978-0877797098
Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.4 x 1.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 3.63 pounds

 

Sue,
THANKS for the info...that's some fine and very informative research.

 

Mine is ISBN 1-85534-039-9
Webster's New Dictionary and Thesaurus
Concise Edition

Published by Russell, Geddes and Grosset, Windsor Court NY USA.

Printed in the USA

Geddess and Grosset Ltd., New Lanark, Scotland. 1990 is also printed on this edition. Just if anyone is interested (?).

I should have added the information I posted before.

In my large copy of Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus (1990) the word "incest" is on page 278 and is almost half-way down the second column.

Your copy HM might have been the same edition as the Ramsey's (?). Note the difference in the page number, 912, compared to mine, page 278 for the same word "incest."

 

Thanks, tylin
I also wanted to point out what tylin quoted from Steve's book before:
From Steve Thomas's paperback book, page 293.
A picture showed Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary on a coffee table in the first-floor study, the corner of the lower left-hand page sharply creased and pointing like an arrow to the word incest. Somebody had apparently been looking for a defination of sexual contact between family members.

The Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary is a specific volume/publication of a dictionary and doesn't in different sizes. Websters publishes many different dictionaries that are different sizes or contain different assortments of words, but the New Collegiate is a specific book.
We don't know what printing of it was in the Ramsey's house. But Steve does specify the title.

 

anyone got access to a pre 96 edition for comparison?