Why Michigan? Why Now?

Hey Sparky!

Perhaps the Rams figure it'll take a couple of years for the new kids to get to Burke.

Perhaps.

I think the new school in Michigan is one of those alternative type schools. Nothing like the prestigious school he leaves behind.

That's a huge difference in school types.

The Atlanta school would most likely be more restrictive not only in schooling, but socially/culturally. That is, zero tolerance. Whereas these alternative schools are far less restrictive and only tweek around with zero tolerance.

It's a drastic change to make during a kid's junior year in highschool. I don't know too many people who would make that kind of change in their child's schooling. Not without reason....a really good reason.

On a different note, what if kids in Atlanta started giving Burke a hard time? It would be contained somehow by the school...they wouldn't allow Burke to be harrassed by other students.

Whereas, in an alternative school environment, there's greater tolerance for the kids to find their own autonomy, with greater freedom to enjoy freedoms. IOW, the school wouldn't stomp on the kids' inquisitiveness.

Personally, I think it was the wrong move to make. You just don't pull a kid out of the most prestigious school in the country like this simply to meet residency requirements in a state where residency already existed for years. And you certainly don't pull a kid out of this kind of school and plop him into an alternative school!!!

 

About this move

I'm curious where the original story on this move came from? Is it definite that they are moving now, versus travelling there to locate a home and make all the logical arrangements? Is it definite that even if they are moving now, that Burke is coming with them versus staying behind with family to complete the school year?

WY, I doubt they'd be doing this to insulate Burke from probing questions. He's plenty old enough now to think on his own and speak his own mind to whomever he wishes. Besides, this is a rather famous case and no matter where they go, as Burke meets new people I am sure the questions will be asked. In fact, if this were the motive, IMO, they'd be better staying put as I would assume most of the people Burke now deals with have asked all the questions they're going to ask.

As for attaining residency to qualify for Michigan State.. assuming this school is as every other state school I know (and nothing on their website suggests otherwise), you don't need to live in Michigan to go to Michigan State, state residency simply reduces the cost of tuition. I know the Ramsey's don't have as much money as they used to, but I can't imagine them uprooting the family in the middle of the year simply to save some money on tuition.

 

Frank?

Are you Frank from Justice Watch?

 

Hasn't Rita posted that she recently visited JonBenet's grave and that it looked like all of the surrounding items had been removed?

What another no-win situation for the Rams. Will they leave her behind in her resting place in Atlanta? How horrible. Will they have her moved to Michigan? How horrible.

If the true reason is establishing residency for Burke's choice of college's - J&P will beat a hasty retreat back to Atlanta once that scam is over and he's enrolled. Not even murder would keep those two away from that sweet Southern city.

RR

 

Hey Bob

I am.. I have resurfaced to continue spoiling ya'll with my amazing insightfulness into this case.

Actually, after reading thru some posts I simply concluded this forum needed a lovable fence sitter to keep things honest. Unfortunately, I couldn't locate Gemini, so you got me.

 

Why-Nut

What did I miss? What address? John working for the media?!

Never would have guessed that one.

Hiya Frank - guess we should dust that ol' fence off for ya! You'll find it just like Gem - wherever she is now - left it. She did ride it pretty hard though, so let us know if it's in need of repairs!

RR

 

As I mentioned in my earlier post. Moving a kid mid junior year is major wrong thing to do. The only thing worse in the child's eyes would be moving in senior year. Moved 2 in their junior year. Each time required major adjustments and lots of outside help. Still going through it with the second.
Ginja is right residency isn't the issue. Something is strange.

 

That's a thought. And maybe it goes deeper than mere dislike.

Maybe Paugh doesn't believe his daughter and hubby (or grandson) are innocent, which would explain his deafening silence all these years. Maybe Paugh has shared this opinion with his new wife (or she has figured it out). Maybe the Ramseys have been on the receiving end of knowing, accusatory stares and/or comments within their own family. That might be enough to drive them out of the state.

 

Well Britt

Let's delve into this a bit more. You bring up two highly possible conclusions to why things aren't quite kosher between GPP and the Rams, and now his new wife who also may have a a better understanding of why "Dad" has cut himself off from the Rams.

Also consider other family members who've "slipped" with the tongue.

Remember the day Melinda, her boyfriend and John Andrew showed up at the house (12/26/96)? Didn't the then boyfriend, now husband, Stuart Long (is that his name) talked with police, telling them about John's conversation of finding the body earlier that morning? Memory fades me right now, because I haven't given this much thought in years, but I believe Stuart went on to give some interesting details. Next thing ya know, Stuart is quiet and never ever refers to "family business" again. Perhaps now that he has his own child (a daughter?), he doesn't want any kind of association with his inlaws (or their son).

The other memory fade deals with Polly. We never heard from Polly or her husband. But something nags at me that we did, or that she and/or her husband spoke with police, maybe media...something. Again, like Long, (is that his right name?) what they did have to say didn't coincide with Patsy, John or even Crazy Aunt Pam. Again, Polly's got family (kids) and maybe she knows the real scoop and doesn't want her kids getting involved or too close to John, Patsy and/or Burke.

That still doesn't explain why they would pull Burke out of school and leave town...unless they thought that if they stayed around, they wouldn't be able to "control" other family members -- or hide the way the rest of the family might be shunning them.

 

Yes, those things and more...

If the Ramseys are fighting any familial negative energy, it must be extremely difficult to keep up the self-delusion, not to mention the public presentation.

Creating one's own reality is easier when one isn't being sabotaged by reality. Seeing "reality" in the eyes of close family day after day must be a very hard psychological force to fight. Maybe Patsy is, or John is afraid Patsy is, getting close to cracking and spilling. Or maybe the pressure is just too unbearable.

The psychological pressure of close family members who "know" the truth may have driven the Ramseys to run and hide from those people, and thereby hide from the truth.

 

Britt

I think you're on to something!

As regards Burke, I came to a conclusion on the way home from work tonite.

Pulling Burke out of school like that, for any reason, is irresponsible.

But then, too, so is killing one's daughter.

I think this latest move by John and Patsy Ramsey proves it's all about them and what's best for them. If the kids get in the way, it's a problem that needs to be fixed.

Fortunately for Burke, he wasn't as great a "problem" as JonBenet.

Of course, being under the microscope, perhaps the Ramseys had no choice in how they fixed this latest "problem." To fix him like they fixed JonBenet would cause problems for them, so they did the next best thing. Ruined his high school career, took him away from his friends and family, and banished him to an alternative school out in Michigan.

Perhaps the Ramseys could chalk this up to lessons learned.

 

Hey Frankie!!!

I ain't no wuss!

Someone forgot to tell you that on my way inside to put my bathing suit on, I was abruptly stopped in my tracks and told to move the plants and furniture closer to the house because a severe storm -- with huge hailstones and deadly lightening -- was on the way. :rain:

BTW, glad to see you finally found us. Welcome! :hiya:

 

Perhaps,

there has been a problem with Burke after all. I can remember way back at the beginning of all of this there were soem stories about Burke. I don't recall of them now but it was his responses to the detectives more than anything else that gave one pause! He was inappropriate in his responses. Remember his comment about the watch? After being asked aobut his sister? Anyway, I was wondering if perhaps Burke got into some trouble in school and to solve that problem they took him out of school. That would make sense. The problem goes away very quietly by them leaving the area. Burke is getting to be the age that peers are everything and parents not so much. Maybe peer pressure caused him to do something like strike out or misbehave somehow. Just a thought

This just occured to me now. Do you think there has been a money issue involved with this move? Could that prestigious school and it's high tuition have caused some money worries on the the Rammers? They were behind in the tuition, asked to produce the money and couldn't and so they yank the kid out of school for a public school in the only other place they have residency.....then it will help with the college tuition by being a resident there. Just a thought! They couldn't just let Burke go to a public school in Atlanta because that would cause too many questions about finance. They would be too embarressed to let anyone know they couldn't afford the money for that school. So yank him out in the middle of the school term and move away to protect them selves from any gossip about either the money or some problem Burke is having.

 

Stewart Long phoned Steve Thomas

Ginja,

On page 156 PB Steve Thomas "JonBenét"

Steve talks about Stewart Long's unexpected phone call, breaking his silence and John Ramsey's story about the time JonBenét's body was found.

In a telephone interview, Stewart recounted for Steve about him arriving at the Ramsey home with Melinda and her brother John Andrew shortly after 1:00 pm. They were unaware
of anything else other than JonBenét had been kidnapped.

Long said that John climbed into a van with him and John Andrew. They were both crying and John Ramsey described how he had discovered the body around eleven o"clock that morning.

Steve asks Stewart if he was assuming that was Mountain Time or Eastern Time. He replied he was assuming that was Mountain Time.

 

Wow, Zoomama!!

I like BOTH your reasons explaining the Burke dilemma, but the finance one is a real whopper..AND plausible!!

I remember a while back seeing a picture of the new abode in MI and thought it was a joke. But after reading your finance scenario, perhaps the picture wasn't a joke afterall.

There hasn't been much action in this case via Lin Wood lately, either. Maybe he's pulled back some until his clients can catch up on their bill.

 

Thanks Elle!

For pulling that cite. So I'm not going crazy afterall!

Again, if I remember correctly, when Thomas later tries to get Long to 'validate' his statements, Long refuses.

 

The answer is obvious!

They moved to Michigan to get away from jameson and get closer to her code-six wing-nut replacement.

RR

 

I don't think the money is a problem. They moved all that wealth offshore along time ago in preparation for an hasty departure if it becomes necessary.
Burke may have been uprooted again in prep for that also. Who knows MI to Canada to? She has wigs & dark glasses. Where are there passports? JMHO

 

IMO

I wasn't always a schoolteacher, but I have many years experience of teaching seniors so I think I am pretty well placed to comment on how they tick.

It is extremely rare for parents to withdraw a senior during a school year or even in the final two years of schooling (excluding pupils who leave school early of their own choice). I have seen situations where parents HAVE to move because of work etc and they will go out of their way to make arrangements for the child to stay and complete their schooling. For example, some kids might stay with friends or relatives but I have seen MANY situations where the father may move on ahead and the mother remains locally with the child until he/she completes school.

On the rare occasion that a child IS uprooted during the final crucial years of schooling, there is always because it is the lesser of two evils. There is nothing in between. Examples are - that the child has been expelled from their previous school, or that the child has been horribly bullied to a point where life was utterly miserable and affecting school work anyway. These are the two main reasons.

I like teenagers or I wouldn't have stuck teaching for so long, but adolescents are extremely ruthless and peer-driven and they can be horrid. Kids who are 'different' are rarely included fully and bullies will continue to bully regardless of any school policy. They just find different ways of doing it. I am tough on bullies, I can't stand it. My son was bullied and I know the sheer misery that it causes. Kids who are bullied deal with it in different ways too. Some of them become bullies themselves.

Now, regarding Burke's situation:-

1. He is the son of "America's most hated couple"
2. There has been speculation about his possible involvement in his sister's death and this includes rumours about sexplay
3. He has potentially won millions of dollars from lawsuits
4. Others

Any of the above on its own would single Burke out and make him a target for the bullies. No matter if the school assembled all pupils and warned them to "be nice" to Burke. There will always be a bunch of kids who push the limits and defy school rules. He may be excluded from group or he may be taunted and what happens next depends on how he handles it. A tough kid might gain respect in other ways - by being the best at sports for example or by beating the bullies at their own game and thumping one or all of them. Burke wasn't best at sports. His school displayed the 'best at' lists on their website and Burke's name was never there when I looked. Beating the bullies carries its own risks. The person who does this will find themselves with a kudos to maintain and it will always be challenged. This can lead that person down a very slippery road indeed. The victim who becomes the bully can often end up being the one to be expelled! I have also witnessed a situation where the victim taunted the bullies (knowing that the bullies were on a final warning) with the words "I can say what I like to you, but if you say anything to me you're out".

Which leads me to Christian Schools. I know about these despite being a non-religious person. I have studied them as part of my degree in Education, but a few years ago, I was offered a senior post in a Diocesan school and after researching it thoroughly and spending a couple of days there to check it out, I turned it down because I felt that I wasn't the right person for the job - spiritually speaking. The school has a strong Christian ethos which permeates every part of school life. I could easily have done the job and been passive in this, but I felt that ideally, I should be proactive and I couldn't do this without being a complete sham. The Head is a minister and he wanted me to take the job anyway - feeling that my passive views on religion weren't a threat, but I simply couldn't - such was the regard that I had for their standards. Christian schools have a strictly non-bullying ethos and certainly in the UK, they are highly over-subscribed and so places are greatly valued by parents. As such, the schools have an enormous parental backing for their policies.

If the Ramseys have moved Burke to a Christian school during his final school years, then it would suggest to me that he has been bullied at the Lovett OR that he has been expelled (or "withdrawn by parents" after a meeting with Senior Management). I'd guess the former.

Burke is also at an age where his peers will have developed a more adult curiosity about him. Burke is a mystery kid - he was in that house when his sister was murdered. Is he keeping any secrets? How does he really feel about the way his parents handled things?

As a result of the lawsuits, Burke may have loadsamoney - target for spongers and drug dealers. If he has been excluded by his peers, then he may embrace a friendly face - ANY friendly face.

IMO, the Ramseys did not only ruin their own reputations by their apparent lack of co-operation, they also placed Burke in a very precarious position where he will have to spend the rest of his life defending them and himself.