In-Depth Discussion of Kolar's Book "Foreign Faction: Who Really Kidnapped JonBenet?"

There was was lot of delay in the testing of the fiber evidence.
It was January 1998 before the Ramseys' lawyers finally sent JR's black wool shirt to LE.

From John's August 29/2000 interview [bolding mine]:

[In line 23, Levin probably accidentally misspoke when he said "hairs" instead of fibers]


The day before, Patsy too had been asked about these fibers.

From Patsy's Aug 28/2000 interview [bolding mine]

"Two other areas" probably means that the black wool fibers from John's shirt had been found in JonBenet's crotch area as well as in the size 12 underpants.

 

Thank you KK. Unfortunately, this information is not in my pages 285-6 (?). I'm just at page 138. I'll come across it, no doubt!

The last line at the bottom of page 285 reads: .. the hills surrounding my log home. Does this match your page KK?

 

Well Karen, after reading all the new info in Kolar's book, I can't believe I'm saying this, but... you may be onto something.

I'm in the process of re-reading chapters 32 and 33 and am reminded that there was a third DVD, a whole segment, of BR's interview that Kolar didn't even get to watch because it was "faulty." Wonder what's on it. Also, apparently there are no transcripts or other written record of any of these Burke interviews. Such secrecy around him. And when you consider how explosive the info is that we now DO know, I can only imagine what more there is that's being kept hidden. Nothing would surprise me.

 

It's pp 385-6.

 

I don't think Burke would have intentionally tried to kill his sister. At least not in terms of premeditation--he was only 9 YO. I think it is possible that something occurred that made Burke angry and he lashed out with, say, a golf club.

But what was the trigger?

The Ramseys lied about feeding JBR (or Burke for that matter) pineapple that night--which suggests that that act may have been the beginning of whatever triggered this explosive rage in the killer. Otherwise there would be no reason to lie about it--unless the Ramseys shrewdly wanted to keep the story as simple as possible so as to not contradict themselves and trip themselves up.

All questions and few answers, unfortunately.

"We aren't angry."

"Forgiveness."

 

Thank you kindly, Britt. With me being one of the last to receive my book, I wondered if there was a change in the printing.

 

But Bob, what about the feces-smeared candy? what about the abuse? Those seemed pretty intentional to me. I'm not saying that he had planned the killing but that he may have borne a lot of ill will toward JonBenet and been wanting to hurt her, like that girl in the video wanted to hurt her brother and kill him and her parents.

 

heymom,

I think the Ramseys can also be blamed for Burke's state of mind against JonBenét. The amount of attention this little girl had from all the females in the family; sitting at a table sewing sequins on dresses etc. There was just too much attention being given to this young girl. I think Burke went through a very bad time with this, plus he also had a health problem.

I don't think John Ramsey gave young Burke enough attention to make up for all the females in the famly. Is it any wonder this little boy held on to his nintendo game. It was his best friend.

Yes, I quite believe Burke was ready to flatten JonBenét, but not kill her! About the broken brush being used. I'm at a loss with this part.
I hardly think Burke would have the sense to try and destroy previous
evidence of sexual abuse in JonBenét's vagina. I personally think he was too young to think this one through.

I personally shudder when I think it may well have been Patsy Ramsey, thinking her young daughter was already dead, but she was ready to protect her first son. I understand her thinking here!

 

Heymom--I am in no way discounting the possibility that something as mundane as sibling rivalry could have led to a blow up. I am just saying that I find it extremely doubtful that Burke preplanned a murder. People who knew and loved Burke as a child described him as an odd, withdrawn boy who often threw pretty sizable tantrums. I am inclined to think that a tantrum led to the head blow, and that possibly the train track marks were his way of trying to revive her. It's possible.

Re: Sexual abuse. There was no semen on the body or anywhere else in JBR's bedroom or any of the areas linked to this crime. The vaginal injuries were digital. This tells me that there was, most likely, an on-going "experimentation" going on by a juvenile just starting to realize that something called sex existed. This has nothing to do with resentment or anger or any animosity towards JBR.

The sexual abuse may have had nothing to do with the murder. On the other hand, catching them in the act could have led to an angry blow up. If this were the case, it would make sense that the parents, wanting to disguise the sexual experimentation, would endeavor to make the injuries look like the work of a predator. It would also make sense that in this scenario, someone lost his or her cool and grabbed JBR by the shirt and shook her violently. These wounds also had to be made to look like the work of a predator, and hence the garrote.

Investigators from the FBI laughed about the caring, motherly tone of the ransom note, but called other aspects of the staging "psychopathic and cold." This is why they believed from the get go that two different people with very different mind sets contributed to the staging.

I now believe that the garrote was applied when the parents thought JBR was already dead, because her heartbeat was so faint after the head blow. This ended her life--although she would have almost certainly died anyway.

Truly a horrific set of circumstances. I'd almost feel sorry for the Ramseys had they not been so vicious in the weeks and years after this crime occurred.

 

Elle--I hear what you're saying about possible resentment of JBR by Burke, but over the years I have never heard or read anything that suggests Burke didn't like JBR. I'm not saying that it isn't very possible--but I have seen no proof of it.

 

I don't blame them for thinking this, Bob, with Patsy and John Ramsey involved in it. I'm afraid Patsy failed with her ransom note which was "over the top" but she had to have been in a frantic state of
mind under the circumstances.

Personally, I think Patsy and John had a serious discussion about having already lost their first daughter; they didn't want to lose their son too.
As a mother, I can relate to this and understand it. I think John Ramsey's behaviour when Linda Arndt was alone with all these people
in the house was more than strange! (?).

 

Only those who are living at close quarters with the family would see this, Bob. No outsider would see it. The amount of work to keep a child in those outlandish clothes for pageants is horrendous. I wish they would ban all of them world wide! I hate to see little girls all made up at this age. SICK! Running them all over the place to attend them. Burke Ramsey had to feel isolated at these times. Only natural!

 

You're probably right, Elle. On the other hand, the kids had lots of contact with other kids, and I wonder why nobody ever picked up on this hostility if it existed.

Yet another question with no real answer

 

They might have picked up on it, Bob, but didn't know what to make of it, or just shrugged their shoulders because it was "other people's kids." I mean, the kids wouldn't have known any better, so we can't expect them to have thought anything about it. If the moms happened to see anything, they may or may not have talked amongst themselves or spoken to their husbands. But seeing what happened to the Whites, would YOU have run to the police with any information you thought might help them?

What would you think would motivate a 10 year old boy to smear feces on candy in his 6 year old sister's room? Hostility? Mental illness? Both? It seems like a pretty hostile act to me.

 

So sorry, Elle. I didn't catch my typo.

Thanks, Britt!

 

You put me in mind of Kolar's description of Burke's drawing of his family. We've been told about this before in other books, as well.

Burke drew JR in his plane, in the background, distant from Burke and his mother.

Burke was the main figure, of course. His mother was much smaller beside him. That was an indication that he saw his mother as being of little consequence in his life, in terms of power and authority.

JonBenet was missing entirely.

I'm thinking this was not that long after the murder, when he was questioned by this child psych specialist? That interview was done, IMO, because after Dr. Meyer saw the vaginal injuries of JonBenet, he knew there was prior abuse and called a task force in Boulder which was already in place for child abuse and murder.

Dr. Meyer called the meeting for that group...the afternoon of the autopsy.

Kolar's disclosure about this in his book was astonishing. Hard to believe that all these years all we've heard from Team Ramsey is "no prior history," but clearly there was PLENTY prior history...of the worst kind.

 

According to the info in Kolar's book, the acute genital injury was inflicted with the paintbrush perimortem, very shortly before JonBenet's death.
Since 40 minutes to 2 hours passed between the head injury and JonBenet's death, one would get the following time line:
Head injury - acute genital injury - strangulation.

One of the most haunting aspects in the horrible sequence of events has always been to me this: wouldn't the fact that the acute perimortem genital wound bled have made it instantly clear to the Ramsey(s) staging the scene that JonBenet was not yet dead?

 

BobC, I grew up with a very aggressive sibling who beat on us constantly. At my father's wake, a sister of his told us about how this was actually happening when my brothers were 2 and 3, before I was even born. They were concerned and told my parents to stop this before my youngest brother got hurt, but my parents did nothing, she said.

That aggression extended into adulthood in many ways, minus the hitting and slapping.

My parents ignored it because their favorite number one son was the abuser. In all fairness, this was over half a century go, and I'm sure they just thought it was normal sibling behavior. They both worked full time, as well, so not a lot of energy was left at the end of the day to be referee for their kids.

Back in those days, kids played with other kids all around the neighborhood every day. But parents just didn't pay that much attention to what kids played at as long as you came home with all your limbs and eyes intact. My abusive brother also wasn't that way with other kids he played with, just us. In fact, he took his frustrations out on us. He was a classic bully: he grew up to abuse only those he knew he could get away with abusing.

Not only that, we had so many pervs living in our hood, I look back now and can't believe I was so lucky to have escaped them. It took becoming an adult to realize how close I'd come a few times.

And their families knew all about them, too. I figured that out as adult, as well.

I think it's so hard to accept that people protect their family abusers and pervs so hard, but they do, and that's a fact.

Again, I can only say to anyone who truly wants to know how this works in families, especially families of privilege like the Ramseys, there is a book written by someone so like Patsy Ramsey, it's astonishing to compare them and their situations: Marilyn Van Derbur, former Miss America and a citizen of Colorado, wrote an autobiography so compelling, so heartbreaking, and so PRECISELY AND PERFECTLY documenting how this sickness in families works, you will know exactly why the Ramseys were and are willing to run that bus over the whole of America to protect their dirty little secrets.

The book is Miss America By Day.

Understand it will break your heart. But it's like any kind of cancer or violence or sickness or war in our society: if you want to know the truth, she tells it.

 

It's a good question.

Right now, as far as I can see with the info we have, I think Burke struck the head blow, or was at least part of the catalyst that led to that outburst of rage at JonBenet, and one or both parents covered her with the blanket, put her pillow under her head, and made some phone calls while trying to determine what to do.

Then they took her to the paint tray and used the paintbrush to hide the previous sexual assaults, then strangled her and staged her body in the cellar room.

If LE actually knows what weapon was used in the bludgeoning of JonBenet, maybe we can reasonably conclude who struck that blow.

So far, I don't know how we can make that argument beyond a reasonable doubt, though, which one of the three in the home did that.

It may look more likely that Burke did it, but the possibility that Patsy snapped is always going to be there, because that woman was clearly capable of things most of us can't imagine in our wildest nightmares.

 

That the Ramseys lied about JBR eating pineapple on that night was a logical consequence of the story they had presented to LE, which was that JonBenet had been fast asleep when they arrived home, and not even woken up as they put her to bed. Since they could not 'backpedal' anymore and suddenly admit she had been awake (and eaten pineapple), the only option left open to them was denial.
That the Ramseys "had to lie" about JBR eating pineapple on that night was a logical consequence of the story they had presented to LE, which was that JonBenet had been fast asleep when they arrived home, and not even woken up as they put her to bed. Since they could not 'backpedal' anymore and suddenly admit she had been awake (and eaten pineapple), the only option left open to them was denial.

They wanted to conceal that JonBenet had been awake when they arrived home, and that the horrific events involving a Ramsey as the offender took place not long after they had arrived home and not yet gone to bed.

So in order to make it more difficult for LE to 'connect the dots', and also to dissociate themselves from their involvement in the actual events, the Ramseys' story was that the last time they had seen JonBenet alive was when she had been fast asleep and just fine.