JonBenet Ramsey autopsy photos - CAUTION GRAPHIC!

Discussion in 'Evidence Files: Ramsey murder case' started by koldkase, Oct 20, 2009.

  1. koldkase

    koldkase FFJ Senior Member

    About that paintbrush which was broken at the paint tray in the basement, just outside the cellar room where the body was later found:

    I've done some mixing and matching, re-sizing and cropping of the photos we have of the ligature paintbrush "handle," around which the cord was tied, and the bristle end of the paintbrush which was found still in the paint tray. This is a crude demonstration--sorry for that, but I wanted to see how that brush end fit on the handle as I've had problems imagining how someone broke it so readily that night. The autopsy report stated it was jagged.

    Here's an example of a general type of paintbrush with the various parts labeled, though I don't know exactly what kind was used in the murder because I can't see the brush end very well:

    http://painting.about.com/od/artsupplies/ig/Intro-to-Art-Paint-Brushes/Brush-Parts.htm

    [​IMG]

    Looking at the following pictures, I may have found a clue: the paintbrush was broken at the ferrule--the silver part where the wood is attached to the bristles. That would be the weakest part and it does appear that this is exactly where the handle was broken from the brush end. See what you think comparing photos at the bottom of this post.

    These of the "handle" are not exactly to scale, but the original autopsy photos had a cm rule which I measured to try to enlarge the crops so that they're fairly accurate--a little larger actually, but close enough for my purpose. Using the medical examiner's ruler in the pictures, the broken handle was approx. 13 cm, as best as I could approximate the measure with my ruler.

    *The top photo is of the paintbrush "handle" with the wrapped cord turned so that the "neatly cut" end of the cord is hidden (see posts above/earlier on this thread to reference the cord end). Notice the jagged end to the right of this section of the handle--that's where it appears the broken end of the brush was snapped. Now look at the center photo of the brush end and imagine turning it over to fit into the shape of the rough break, like a three dimensional puzzle.

    *The middle photo is of that broken brush end, with the silver ferrule between the bristles and the wood. If I could roll it over, it appears that it would fit onto the jagged end of the "garrote" or ligature handle in the photo above it. Remember the larger diameter on the right end of the handle would have been attached to the ferrule, with the narrowing end on the left tapering off in diameter to a point--the missing end of the handle.

    *The last photo is of the brush handle flipped on the other side, the one showing the end of the cord cut neatly (see above). If you notice the slight diagonal of the right end, it appears to me to fit the small protrusion of jagged wood right above the ferrule.

    I'm using a bit of imagination, of course, as I don't have a 3-dimensional computer program to animate this for us. But I'm sure LE was able to do this with the real items of evidence, anyway, so it's not important here except to answer some questions I've long had: it would have been much easier to break the paintbrush where the ferrule meets the wood handle. So now I can see how it was done, even if someone had to use a heel to snap it.

    Now look at the end on the left--that's rather neatly done, isn't it? That end would have less diameter, as paintbrushes often taper on that end, so it would have been easier to break, as well, though I have to say I'm not sure a 10 year old boy could have done it. Not unless whittling was involved, and it doesn't appear to be quite so splintered as the other end at the ferrule, but so far I can't tell.
     

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  2. koldkase

    koldkase FFJ Senior Member

    Edit: The photo I use here of the paintbrush handle/wood apparently was flipped at some point--like a mirror image sort of, same details but backwards. I might have done this inadvertently at some point, or maybe it was aired that way on the program from which it was captured. Comparing photos today I realized this, so I went back and made corrections to my composite. Sorry for any confusion this has caused; I think it's right now.

    One more group of comparisons to clarify, hopefully: these are from the photo of the ligature handle on the rug in the home before the body was removed. I rotated the handle picture from the original screen capture I was working with to maintain the same direction as the above grouping. I notice the handle wood is actually rolled over a little bit from the other photos I've used, as well--see how the cord is jutting out at the knot? Imagine rolling the barrel of the broken ferrule/brush over about 180 degrees (estimate) to match it up with the broken section on the right of the wood "handle." (If that makes any sense...I'm truly out of my league here, clearly.)

    I've also used the same paint tray photo crop of the brush end of the broken paintbrush for comparison as well:
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: May 1, 2012
  3. koldkase

    koldkase FFJ Senior Member

    Unless the Charity for Computer Program Dunces shows up soon, this is the best I can do. I wanted to lay the broken ferrule/brush end section over the handle broken end, but no luck. I did flip the ferrule end and line it up for a very general visual comparison. (Yes, I'm a detail freak.) Hope this helps.
     

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  4. cynic

    cynic Member

    I've done the overlay but with the low res pics it's difficult to pick out what pixels belong to what. If it's not what you had in mind, feel free to delete it.
    [​IMG]
     
  5. koldkase

    koldkase FFJ Senior Member

    That's exactly what I was trying to do, cynic, but you've used the wrong "side" of the brush: you've got the right "end" but you need to "roll it over"--see the pictures in #30.

    It's hard working in 2 dimensions when the objects are 3-dimensional. If you look at post #33, you'll the shape of the broken ferrule end after I flipped the photo--to simulate "rolling" it over as you'd have to if you were actually holding the pieces and wanted to match them. It should fit right into the jagged end I have in that same picture--it's the other side of the brush from the one you used.

    It is hard to work with these photos, as the resolution is bad. If you go to page one of this thread, you can see the ones I used to start. You might be able to get better resolution than I can with my old computer.

    I was hoping you'd come along with your graphics, though. Passive-aggressive of me? :rotfl:
     
  6. cynic

    cynic Member

    I believe this is the correct match.
    Here is a basic overlay:
    [​IMG]

    Here is a somewhat enhanced overlay:
    [​IMG]
     
  7. koldkase

    koldkase FFJ Senior Member

    Um...almost, but let's see if you can lay the top section of the broken paintbrush in this photo over the bottom one. I mean...if you don't mind.... :whipit:

    [​IMG]
     
  8. cynic

    cynic Member



    [​IMG]
     
  9. koldkase

    koldkase FFJ Senior Member

    THANK YOU!! PERFECT!

    At least, it looks like a match to me...?
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 5, 2012
  10. koldkase

    koldkase FFJ Senior Member

    The "end result" was I wanted to see how these pieces fit together because I had trouble with imagining how they were broken. I guess my final question was could a woman do it? Could a 10 year old boy? Could an average size man? Of course I still have to basically guess, but it's a more informed guess now. I think the ferrule is the weak point of a paintbrush--this is where the wood of the handle is connected to the bristles of the brush, with a thin metal wrap-around between them to link both. Of course glue is used, but I can now see that with a little leverage applied--like stepping on it--even a small adult could make the ragged break with relative ease.

    So it was just a matter of fitting the parts of the two pieces as they were, like puzzle pieces. I know it's all very muddy, and some splinters/shards were left on the carpet, etc., but the pieces appear to me to fit generally as Cynic put them together in that last composite.

    I feel like I'm frustrating you. It may be nothing anyone else finds worth bothering with. I just hate having questions I can't get answered, so I go on these little tangents at times: I feel like the last pieces fit close enough.

    In fact, looking at the end with the bristles lined up with the wood handle, it appears bent to me, even flattened and twisted, maybe like you said by closing a door on it. I know that's no surprise. It just helps me to understand what it took to do this:

    [​IMG]

    Let's flip it again as if it were laid on the floor and stepped upon:
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: May 7, 2012
  11. koldkase

    koldkase FFJ Senior Member

    For discussion, I've enlarged the "red heart" photos of the palm to focus on the little bumps there. It's very unusual to get bumps on the palm. Patsy stated in her 1998 DA interview with Haney and DeMuth that she used fingernail polish to remove marker ink from JB's skin. Did someone try to remove this marker ink that way? The Ramseys both said they had never seen these marks on JB's hand before she was found murdered.
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     

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    Last edited: May 18, 2012
  12. koldkase

    koldkase FFJ Senior Member

    A comparison of the bruising and marks from the ligature on the neck to the position of the cord and knot at autopsy:
     

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  13. questfortrue

    questfortrue Member

    Photos from Investigator Files

    Recent photos published in October 2016 of JonBenet's long-johns, Bloomies and Barbie nightgown. These were obtained by the Daily Camera Newspaper.

    pantiesandevidencebag.jpg


    longjohns.jpg
     
  14. questfortrue

    questfortrue Member

    This was identified by Nedra and Patsy as JonBenet's favorite Barbie nightgown. It was found in the wine cellar bunched up against her white blanket.

    Barbienightie.jpg
     
  15. questfortrue

    questfortrue Member

    New photos have surfaced from the program Overkill: The Murder of JonBenét. The show was created from past footage and photos from Schiller’s archives. These photos were obviously shot soon after the police arrived at the home, as one of the photos shows her body covered in a blanket which had been placed on her by JR.

    JBonrug1breelz.jpg

    JBonrug3breelz.jpg

    JBonrug2breelz.jpg
     
  16. cottonstar

    cottonstar Member

    New Long Johns info

    For historical and investigative purpose, the urine-stained long johns that JBR was found in were, JE Morgan Arctex Boys, s6-8 long johns.
     

    Attached Files:

  17. questfortrue

    questfortrue Member

    cottonstar likes this.
  18. questfortrue

    questfortrue Member

    Back view showing lividity. Beyond unspeakable.


    backenlarged2c.jpg
     
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