Right, which is basically saying;
If it were both it would have read "cause of death is asphyxiation and associated craniocerebral trauma". The key word there is "and". This, of course, assumes that the coroner was up to all these grammatical subtleties. Given no blood she must have been strangled first. That probably rules accident out completely.
But if you're right, then it seems to me, and I'm just thinking aloud, that she was indeed kidnapped, removed from the home, probably before 10 p.m., murdered and returned to the basement of her home. This would suggest someone had a key to the house (too much ballyhoo with the basement window). The reason I say all this is because I think the later you push her death into the night the more problems you'll see with the forensics evidence regarding putrefaction and rigor.
But I still wonder about the pineapple in her system? She couldn't have been asleep by 9:30 when they got home as Patsy claimed.
Your thoughts?
I think she was fed pineapple by the kidnapper(s). Patsy denied feeding her anything. Possibly she snuck down and rummaged it out of the fridge herself.
I think the kidnapper(s) were in the house when they came home, hiding and having already written the ransom note while waiting.
I think the kidnapper (or one of them) knew or knew of the Ramseys, had researched and chosen them for reasons not necesarily obvious to most. It may have been about ransom or perhaps the kidnapper(s) had rationalized it to themselves as a ransom kidnapping, but could not control their perverse desires. Perhaps the ransom was intended to be a ruse and never a seriously intended ransom note.
One thing for sure, the ransom note created quite a diversion and a lot bunny trails as investigators concentrated on it.