When I first looked into the case in March of 2000, over three years after the death of JonBenet, given the abundance and clarity of the evidence, I found an ongoing “investigation†rather shocking. I was soon to learn about the mindsets against the evidence to the effect of ever-expanding fallacy. This was my cue to walk away. However, recalling seeing the Ramseys on TV, they were talking to me. I considered their story as a personal insult. I just couldn’t abide leaving them with the illusion that I was believing their lies; hence, my involvement to this day. I was particularly galled when the photos of the “garrote†and “wrist ties†were posted on the Internet with the request to look for these “special knots.†John and Patsy knew they were deliberately lying. Others that went along with it were and are just gullible fools. To this days, these fools are still rattling and prattling on and on about the “garrote and “knots.†They accomplish nothing except exposing their ignorance while pretending knowledge. At http://www.troop7.org/Knots/ you will find the names and photos of 40 different knots. None of them match the “knots†at the crime scene. Reason? These 40 knots are functional with specific design for a specific purpose in respect of the physics required for a predictable performance. As for the “knots†as the crime scene, well, read on and you will see why no “match†has been found. From ignorance imagined to be knowledge, the scope and type of theories are like something out of the twilight zone. What is most amazing, in a disgusting and discouraging way, is the near total disregard of the physics of the situation by nearly all. The simple truth told by the physics is buried under an avalanche of idiotic hype propagated and promoted by LE as well as the media. To imagine knowing what happened without understanding the physics is a claim of knowing while discarding the means to know. The illusions about the crime scene are an open sesame to unlimited errors and an infinite ghost chase. I have often referred to the situation as a fifteen minute case. It took that long due to the necessity of reading the autopsy report. Photos are like a speed dial to conclusions. Please look at the photo located at: http://www.acandyrose.com/garrote5.jpg This is a photo of evidence removed from the body of JonBenet. What do you see? What does it tell you? What do know about the physics involved? What is the extent of your knowledge concerning cords, knots, loops, ties and that sort of thing? If you don’t have knowledge in this area, how do you propose to understand the evidence? This requisite doesn’t seem to bother most as one absurd theory after another makes the rounds in total disregard of the truth revealed by the physics. Think “CSI†as I relate what I see as surface image and what I see via the physics. I see two loops connected by a flat-looking cord several inches long. I observe that one loop is much larger than the other. I observe that the two loops also show a drastically different type of tie. The larger loop appears to be fixed with single or double loop wrap around and somewhat flattened at the junction. The smaller loop incorporates a wrap around of a different sort as well as including a half bow in the tie. A most telling feature is the different sizes of loops. If the small loop is a general representation of the size of JonBenet’s wrists, the large loop of a much greater circumference, could only be hung upon the wrist and not bind at all. Is this not simple, clear and irrefutable evidence? Ergo, ANY theory that incorporates the notion of JonBenet’s wrists being bound rests upon a lie and is necessarily false. Much more is revealed. If the intent was not to bind the wrists, what was the intent? Are the differences observed and noted the consequence of intent, or accidental? If intent, for what purpose? If accidental, what happened? Once again, physics reveals the answer. Look closely at the knot at the larger loop. Notice the single or double wrap around and the flat-like cord compressed at the junction. (The photo angle leaves me unsure of one or two wraps, but the physics are the same either way.) If the second loop is made before the first loop comes down to the wrist, pulling the leads will cause the loops to meet and lock long before the loop every reaches the wrist. It the leads are pulled at a upward V angle, the lock will happen more quickly than pulling flat across the wrist plane. Considering the size of the loop, it appears to be a V pull. Let’s repeat for clarity and emphasis. Observe how the cord around itself creating the large loop compresses upon itself. The photo shows this clearly. Suppose you did a double loop knot, then pulled on each side of it. What do you think would happen? (What did happen?) As you pull both sides, the double loop knot slips down and compresses upon the main cord. The harder you pull, the more it compresses and locks against any further motion. Once the double loop knot was cast and the ends pulled, it’s all over. Control over loop size ends. It is never going to go down and compress the wrist. Worse yet, when this small cord clamps down on itself in such a knot, you are not going to get it loose except with a sharp pointed tool and picking at the turns. To add to the lock situation, this particular cord is not round. It tends toward flat, which means compression creates flanges on each side of the compression point further preventing slip. As you can see the second knot with bow is drastically different from the first, yet incorporates the compression factor with an “alternative.†If appearance is as seems in this two dimensional photo, pulling on the cord going toward the large loop will result in the bow collapse undoing the “wrist tieâ€. If the short cord is pulled, it will simply compress upon the section of the bow where it touches the “wrist tieâ€. It goes nowhere. It does not tighten the “wrist tie.†Even though smaller, and tied differently from the larger loop, it is non functional as well. By non functional, I mean the loop is fixed in the typing and cannot be compressed upon the wrist by pulling the leads. From the initial look at the photo, as reference, I have in my mind the proper way to bind wrists, either together or separately. Immediately, it is obvious that this person is not educated in this science at all. As a bit of speculation trying to explain the two types of knots, I come up with this: The person made the first try resulting in the lock and large loop that never reached the wrist as intended. Not knowing how to correct the situation, the large loop was just left the way it was. However, in an effort to avoid making the same mistake twice, the person tried another approach to the wrist tie on the other wrist. If was different in form, but didn’t work either. (No you will not find either of these “ties†in any knot book. ) All in all, this crime scene photo reveals a person attempting to create a visual of JonBenet being restrained, being bound at the wrists. The abysmal failure to create this scene tells me loud and clear that this person had no idea of how to create a convincing appearance of binding. When one “wrist tie†is loose and the other falls off, ignorance of subject matter is the inevitable logical conclusion. The foregoing reveals the actual evidence. It reveals that when a person with no knowledge of the form and physics attempts something like this, it tells of a desperate attempt to hide the truth. This is what fits the evidence, and vise versa. In view of the circumstance, the notion of a “fifteen minute case†seems very far fetched and totally unbelievable. Once again, it’s all a matter of understanding the physics. On the day after watching the Ramseys interviewed on TV, I went online to take a look. The first thing I read was the autopsy report. Please look at the relevant photo located at http://www.acandyrose.com/garrote4.jpg This is a photo of the cord removed from around JonBenet’s neck. What do you see? There is a double loop knot, a short lead with frazzled end and another lead going off the page. The cord has been cut and marked. What does this reveal? The photo is best understood in correlation with reading the autopsy report. Come along with me as I retrace my thinking. Perhaps, you will see that a “fifteen minute case†is not out of line at all. What is the usual common denominator of a lasso, snare, or weapon designed for strangulation? A noose that can be varied in diameter quickly and with force. Right? “Wrapped around the neck with a double knot in the midline of the posterior neck is a length of white cord similar to that described as being tied around the right wrist.†(Autopsy report) What is a double knot? Do you know what a double knot is? Is Dr. Meyer talking about a hand over hand knot with two throws? If so, it locks, so no noose action. Is he talking about the cord looped over itself to create a loop around the neck, then looped twice to create a double knot to hold it? If so, this double knot, actually a double loop knot, if formed and left loosely, will fly apart with any pressure from the main cord. If the leads are pulled and it ties tightly, it compresses upon the main cord severely restricting movement; in some cases, stopping it all together; especially small soft cord even if round, and worse if not round. “Extending from the knot on the posterior aspect of the neck are two tails of the knot, one measuring 4 inches in length and having a frayed end, and the other measuring 17 inches in length with the end tied in multiple loops around a length of a round tan-brown wooden stick which measures 4.5 inches in length.†(Ibid) What’s this all about? “multiple loops around?†What purpose did more that one loop serve? Why so far away? “tan-brown wooden stickâ€, a handle? What for? If it’s a locked tie, what is the attached stick for? To drag the body? Doesn’t compute as functional. “Blonde hair is entwined in the knot on the posterior aspect of the neck as well as in the cord wrapped around the wooden stick.â€(ibid) If the stick was to be pulled to tighten the noose, why try to tie so close in the first place? Why tie on the person at all? Why not a loop made, THEN put over the head? With this knot, pulling the handle did not and could not reduce the diameter of the cord around the neck. A “garrote†without the capacity for a garroting action is not much of a garrote is it; say, none at all except for surface appearance to the uninformed? “A deep ligature furrow encircles the entire neck.“ (Ibid) How did this happen? Even with a genuine variable size noose, pulling the handle will exert most of the pressure 180 degrees from the handle, not circumferential pressure. Furthermore, when let go, the pressure will release. “This ligature cord is cut on the right side of the neck and removed.†(ibid) Why cut it? Why not just loosen it and slip it over her head? Because if was knot locked and wouldn’t slip; which is the same reason the cord was circumferentially embedded during post mortem swelling. Had there been a free moving noose, it would have moved away as the swelling took place. The circumferential embedding instead of proving that JonBenet was viciously strangled to death proves exact the opposite. It had to be knot locked for this to happen and if knot locked, the noose would not reduce to effect circumferential strangulation. This is checkmate, but don’t expect the RST to understand it. There was nothing about the scene that Dr. Meyer described that even remotely resembled an authentic strangulation any more than the (non) “wrist ties†were “bondage.†The construction and the physics of the construction were all wrong. Literally every aspect of the scene was fatally flawed. Show vs reality equals attempt to deceive. How long does it take to read this part of the autopsy report? In just a few minutes, the physics brought out the truth. I had no doubt Dr. Meyer was describing a staged crime scene. This was even before confirming via the “wrist ties†and other evidence. Physics, physics, physics. Unlike the Ramseys, physics never lie. The ever present mark of this staged crime scene is panic-driven mental chaos with said mind in isolation. There is little to no grasp of the actual reality of the situation. Ramsey advocates evidence a similar mentality. The non wrist ties and the locked knot is just a couple things the RST does not factor into their equations. If not so tragic, it would be amusing to watch them chasing their tails speculating about how the handle was used. It never occurs to then that the handle was not used. It was simply a useless ad on because the “garrote maker†thought a handle was needed, though having no idea why. The unusual $118,000 “ransom amount†appeared in the note not because of peso conversion, nor to point to John. It was there simply because it was in the confused mind of the writer who was so mentally isolated and in chaos that it was not seen as unusual and suspicious. What kind of mind leaves a “wrist tying†mess as described herein and expect it to be accepted? What fools have and do accept it? The mental isolation and mental chaos underlies all the oddities and discrepancies in the staged crime scene, including the admonition in the note to be rested for tomorrow. The long and short of it is that the physics tell the truth. JamNut and the rest of the RST can prattle on and on with ridiculous theories until doomsday. What they will never do is try to validate their theories by physical demonstration. To make this point in a rather melodramatic way, I volunteer as “test dummy.†I’m sure there are many of the RST that would like to strangle me to death. OK, here’s their chance. Here’s my invitation: Duplicate the “garrote†seen in the photo, including the type of cord with any kind of handle. If you can by pulling the handle reduce the loop size and circumferentially strangle me to death, you have gone a long way toward exonerating the Ramseys. On the other hand, if you don’t succeed, you shut up and the Ramseys go to jail. Deal? Any questions?
Ok, I'm with you on the wrist ties being simple staging, no bruising on the wrists backing up your conclusion as well that whoever tied the wrist knots had no knowledge of knots in particular, or even a cursory understanding of how the knots tied would prove the wrist "binding" was nothing more than staging by someone unfamiliar with knots altogether: Oh, eureka. I think I finally get what you've so patiently tried to explain: John wouldn't be this incompetent, being a guy who has navy training, is a fisherman, flies and ties down his own plane, sails his own boats with competency in knotting being key. It had to be someone with no competency tying the wrist knots. I have to run, so haven't gotten to the garrote part of your post. I'll be back!
EasyWriter~ That was a brilliant post. One day....Science will prove the Ramseys guilty as HELL. I personally think that Ramseys contacted a lawyer/friend in the wee hours and were told to contaminate the crime scene by inviting over anyone they could think of. Of course....we'll never know because their cell phone logs were erased. *isn't that convient???* The whole thing was staged to look like something it wasn't. We know they did it...but why? Prior molestation? If it was an accident ...why not call an ambulance? Therein lies our answer.
“That was a brilliant post.†(Aurora) Thanks for the compliment, but it was actually pretty routine stuff; at least, in the part of the country from which I hail. Where I grew up, just about anybody would have recognized the “garrote scene†as phony. Isn’t it a bit ironic that any “illiterate hillbilly†who would happened to come along would know more about the crime scene at a glance than all the highly educated “experts†know in over nine years. “One day....Science will prove the Ramseys guilty as HELL.†(ibid) They are already proven guilty a thousand times over. However, when LE can’t even define the word, evidence, and allows the Ramseys to run the show, is it any wonder there has been no prosecution? “I personally think that Ramseys contacted a lawyer/friend in the wee hours and were told to contaminate the crime scene by inviting over anyone they could think of. Of course....we'll never know because their cell phone logs were erased. *isn't that convient???* The whole thing was staged to look like something it wasn't.†(Ibid) I can’t say if they contacted a lawyer\friend, but as far as deliberate contamination goes, I think you give credit for smarts that didn’t exist. Sure, contamination did happen, but accidentally and not to any degree to distort the main evidence. The staging is still highly visible, and so is the Ramsey connection to it. “ We know they did it...but why? Prior molestation? If it was an accident ...why not call an ambulance? Therein lies our answer.†(Ibid) Prior molestation? Possible, but I doubt it. Accident? I have no doubt it was an accident; probably during a Patsy\JonBenet confrontation. A panic-driven inept, ad hoc staging with materials at hand reads no premeditation and no preparation. Why not call an ambulance? Most likely parental participation in the accident coupled with the conclusion that JonBenet was dead followed by the decision to try to sever culpable connection by the staged crime scene. Getting back to the concept, evidence, and Physics Never Lie, but some folks do nothing but lie, let’s look at some actual evidence and the contrast with what is called evidence by Lou Smit. You have seen a photo of the “wrist ties†and my explanation of then. Lou Smit’s version differs considerably: "Just the way that the ligature on her hands was constructed, again is a fantasy in the mind of this killer. This wasn't just tied on her wrist, with little granny knots on both sides, and a rope tied to her. The way that this was constructed was to make two loops with a tether about 15 inches in between. The loops were then placed over the hands of JonBenet, with a slipknot, and tightened to give the appearance of bondage." (Smit) This is another Smit “blue light†special;, meaning, just another Ramsey-serving lie. Contrary to Loony Louie’s aberration, there were no loops placed over the hands and tightened with slip knots. The loops were tied around so loosely that one fell off while the other was removed without untying or cutting. Meyer reports one wrist ligature, meaning the other had fallen off prior to his examination. The wrists were not bound at all. This example is typical of “EVIDENCE ACCORDING TO LOU SMIT.†Over and over again, Smit reveals himself as a blathering idiot. His followers do no less.
Even an accident can have a publicly damaging and brutal invasion into the social status of the family as they are probed and verbally strip-searched. It is much cleaner if the family members can invent a scenario from the start which shifts the blame away from themselves, and can be neither proven nor disproven due to the intentional contamination of the evidence and of the crime scene. After all, it's all about "them".
All about them. You'd be amazed at how often people will try to lie when the truth would be much easier. Every muzzle flash means one more monster gone--The Punisher
Perfect title for this thread EasyWriter. You wrote: Where I come from it's called horse sense. Little
Hello all, I'm from Germany and this is my first post on this forum. I'm fairly new to the case and also post on the Websleuths JonBenet forum where there is currently a vivid discussion going on about the knots, ligatures and the garotte. As for me, I know nothing about knots and loops. My limited knowledge about knots runs along the line of tying shoelaces or tying a clothesline between two trees when camping out, lol. Therefore I had no way of knowing whether the scenarios outlined by posters over there were of any merit. When I recently discovered Delmar England's work, I was very impressed. And when I learned that he is also a poster over here, I registered at once. I scanned through the forum and I'm very impressed by the other posters here too. You have done a lot of work on the case; bear with me if I as a newbie ask many questions to which you know the answer already. I want to learn as much as I can about the case and have the feeling that this is the right place. Everyone has their theory about what happened. I have a theory too, but what I don't want to do is disregard or bend certain facts if they don't fit my theory. Every theory has to stand scrutiny when it comes to facts. So in the course of researching the case, posters' theories may change, and mine may change too. I read through Easywriter's analysis of the cord around the wrists, and even to me as a total dork when it comes to loops and knots it has now become clear that the bigger wrist ligature could not have been tightly around her wrist at all. So this is obviously just another of the many things which point to a (poorly done) staging.
Rashomon, I have to be very honest here, and let you know I have already heard about you from "Little" who was very impressed with your posts, so it's nice to see you here. The posters here are all very nice and friendly. Delmar has a great discussion going on with Koldkase right now about the knots on the garrote. Maybe you could join in (?). Elle
Wecome to FFJ, Rashomon. It's good to have you here. I hope you will share your theory of the case with us when you feel ready.
