Weapon used on JonBenet's skull: golf club or flashlight?

I don't remember seeing this photo before ...

... so if it's an old one, my apologies.

The photo is no big deal except we have evidence, once more, of John's fixation with golfing and a view of his golf bag - probably the one he was so obsessed about obtaining immediately after JonBenet's murder.

In view of our recent discussions, I noticed the uncovered golf putter (circled in red) amongst the irons and woods. The end of that club where it joins the shaft could do some damage to a six-year-old's skull, especially if it were swung from above by an angry boy who was almost 10 and, at the very least, a foot taller.

 

You omitted this part: On the right cerebral hemisphere underlying the previously mentioned linear skull fracture is an extensive linear area of purple contusion extending from the right frontal area, posteriorly along the lateral aspect of the parietal region and into the occipital area. This area of contusion measures 8 inches in length with a width of up to 1.75 inches.

The diameter of a shaft of a golf club is not 1.75 inches.






















While Spitz assures us that the Maglite was capable of producing the injury to JonBenet’s skull, I’m not so sure.
Dr. Werner Spitz, the forensic pathologist, even ran macabre tests to see if the heavy flashlight could have inflicted the kind of massive skull fracture that was found on JonBenét. To do so, a child’s cadaver was obtained so he could strike the skull with a similar flashlight and examine the resulting injury pattern. He said the results were consistent, that the damage could have been caused by the flashlight—but it could also have been caused by other things.
JonBenet: Inside the Ramsey Murder Investigation, Steve Thomas, page 267

The first problem is the shape of the depressed skull fracture. It is a rectangular/ovoid shape while a flashlight would generally leave a crescent shaped depression if struck on an angle.
I do recognize that a depression doesn’t always slavishly follow the shape of the object responsible because of density irregularities in the skull, but there should be some degree of similarity and there is none there that I can see.
The second problem is the long linear fracture extending down to the frontal area of the skull.
If the blow was struck as depicted by Spitz, I find it difficult to imagine how the linear fracture would have occurred given the direction of the force. Perhaps if it followed a suture line it would be somewhat understandable, but it does not.
The final problem that I have is that while the force required to cause the fracture using the Maglite is conceivable in the hands of Burke, it is at the outer limit of his ability, IMO.
It would be considerably more likely in the hands of an adult.
The one advantage the Maglite would have over the golf club would be that the Maglite would be less likely to lacerate the scalp because of the rubberized edge.

By contrast:
The socket and heel region of the golf club will leave a rectangular impression.
The direction of force and possible interaction with the shaft of the golf club would more readily produce the long linear fracture found in the skull of JonBenet.
The force required to cause the fracture is well within the physical ability of Burke if he swung a golf club as a weapon, IMO.

The other potential object that is sometimes discussed is a baseball bat.
I don’t think this is as likely as either of the above, because of the large surface area that would probably make contact with the skull, thereby producing either a linear fracture or a significantly larger depressed fracture than what is seen in the JonBenet case.

With respect to a PDI scenario involving a violent push or perhaps a swing of Jonbenet into a rounded edge as opposed to JonBenet being stationary and struck by an object, the speed necessary to produce a fracture would be approximately 8 feet per second. What is uncertain is whether enough velocity is there to produce a depressed fracture rather than the more probable linear fracture. It can’t be ruled out, though, IMO.[/QUOTE]