Posted on 08/19/2006 9:22:16 AM PDT by beaversmom
HAMILTON, Ala. - Tara Estes was almost breathless with excitement because she thought one of the more mysterious elements of the JonBenet Ramsey ransom note finally had been revealed.
She climbed the steps to Jeff Brown's rickety porch, brushed aside an orange wasp and sat down on a dirty ice cooler.
"Shall be the conqueror," she said Friday afternoon to a couple of quizzical looks. "S.B.T.C."
Ah, yes. The ransom note that asked John Ramsey to turn over $118,000 for the safe return of 6-year-old JonBenet has been analyzed over and over for nearly a decade.
The long, rambling ransom note ends with the word, "Victory!" and then "S.B.T.C" below it.
But no one knows what the initials mean.
Estes had just gotten off the phone with a friend in South Carolina who was a classmate of John Mark Karr, the man who has said he killed JonBenet on Dec. 26, 1996.
The friend had her yearbook from the early 1980s, and in it Karr signed a lengthy missive filled with the usual teenage angst.
Teresa Alligood had been watching the arrest this week of Karr on television in South Carolina and decided to do a little Googling with her yearbook near the computer. She stumbled on the page Karr had signed and stared at the message.
Alligood then tracked down the ransom note on the Internet and saw "S.B.T.C" at the bottom. She looked back at the yearbook and saw one of the last parts Karr had written:
"Sometimes, so blurred by my own eyes, I've seen the best things come and go simultaneously; Though deep in the future, maybe I shall be the conquerer (sic) and live in multiple peace."
Alligood said she called her family immediately. She also called Fox News and the Boulder district attorney's office Wednesday to alert them. The next day, she talked at length with a Boulder investigator. He assured her they were taking it seriously. However, they hadn't requested her yearbook yet.
Boulder County officials could not be reached for comment Friday.
Estes said the revelation was enough to convince her that Karr did what he said he did. But sitting on Brown's porch, childhood friend Gary Spear had a tougher time reconciling that idea.
Spear, nicknamed "Wolfman," leaned back in his chair and said he couldn't imagine Karr doing anything like that. Back then, he said, Karr was interested in his music - even having a sound studio inside the home where he lived with his grandmother.
Spear said that Karr was smart, generous and easy to get along with - especially because he had the only red DeLorean sports car around. He painted it.
"Nobody had a DeLorean," he said. "But he said he was going to get one after seeing Back to the Future. And damn if he didn't."
Brown, also a high school friend, thought it was a stretch to think that Karr could have killed JonBenet. Brown said Karr was friendly, funny and had instant popularity when he got the sports car.
So neither seemed to be enthralled with the "S.B.T.C" explanation - although in deference to Estes, Brown appeared interested in the theory.
For almost 10 years, there have been theories on what those initials meant. Some said it was "Saved by the Cross," a reference to the Ramsey's Christian faith. Others have suggested it references the Subic Bay Training Center where Ramsey served at the U.S. Naval base in the Philippines.
But on the porch, on this hot, muggy Friday, Alligood's theory was new. Fresh. And after two days of speculation - something people here seemed weary of - it was something to talk about.
I think Walsh's son was kidnapped in Florida. It's really sad because the mother was a couple of isles over looking at a lamp, and the boy was in the toy department with some other kids. A security guard came over and made the little boys leave the store! Why she didn't take to them to an office and call for parents is beyond me. Anyhow, the Walsh boy was made to go outside, and this killer was driving by and saw the opportunity.
I get the sense this slogan could have been used in a comic book or something of that nature and was a phrase known to those who read that material. It would be hard to track down there were so many comics or maybe it was a line from a cult film.
Just got here, so haven't read the thread yet, but wanted to comment on something ...
" ... and live in multiple peace." ..."
All the media quotes end there, but the whole thing reads:
" ... multiple peace ANGELICY FOREVERMORE .....,, philosophy of a DREAMER."
It was continued onto the bottom of the next page, under the Rollins Farm Supply ad. OK, back to read now. Sorry if that was already covered here.
I obviously can't spell. Scarf. The scarf that John Ramsey recently bought JonBonet that she liked so well.
The family wanted the scarf in the coffin, along with a stuffed bear, a cross, and she was wearing a tiari. I hope I spelled tiari correctly.
Perhaps the only thing he will be charged with is leaving the country while on parole, or under indictment for child porn, or something similar -- in the State of California.
Most likely Karr has made up all of this stuff about JonBonet. Boy, this case is baffling.
what is ANGELICY?
Don't know - it's a made-up word. It sounds like he was trying to say a word like "democracy" or "theocracy" to describe the state of being an angel.
I also saw some teens using it like "angelic" + "-y" as in "acting all angelic-y."
Anybody's guess!
She didn't like the scarf all that well - it was bought after she died.
Karr might be one of those who give initials TWO MEANINGS. I did it when I was young but it was for memorization purposes...kinda like the sine, cosine, tan ditty.
From the note, lets say SBTC means what we perceive from the yearbook-"Shall Be The Conqueror".
Bring it more up to date...to the Fall of 1996. Karr went to Bevill State Community College from November to February. Lets look at the possibility: Student, Bevill, Teacher, College...or maybe....Student, Bevill, Teacher, Conquer.
I have to go back and look. But there's a familiarity with this pattern and the Unabomber who I believe was caught just before this. And Karr wrote a book...same pattern as the Unabomber?....Karr's manifest??
And it was the Unabomber's brother who recognized a "phrase" from their youth while reading the manifest. I thimnk that's to come.
That is very likely. I think the charges in California were what the Tai authorities were holding him for until U.S. officials picked him up.
I would think they need more than a questionable confession that any nerd with internet access can debunk if they're going to charge him. I don't think the Ramseys did this. But unless the DA has more than she's letting on, and she may, this case ain't look'n too good.
Interesting eh? ;)
I had heard the Walsh story many times, but saw a much aired TV Biography of John Walsh a year or so ago, and they talked about that horrible day. I started crying when they said the mother was looking around the store and mall in a panic and knew right away that something was seriously wrong. What a terrible feeling when they are out of sight just for a minute--I can only imagine the fear she felt after searching the whole store and mall. Of course the mom was not to blame, but I can see how you would blame yourself. If only... If only I had kept him with me. If only I had left 15 minutes earlier or later. If only I had stayed at home. It's must be the worst thing to have a child of any age die in any manner but a little boy and to die like that--it's too horrible to think about.
It is too horrible. It would be so hard not to think of all the things that, if done differently, would have prevented the tragedy. The security guard kind of urkes me, but I think I read that she was only seventeen. I imagine they have a better procedure for dealing with unattended children now. You don't send 6 year olds outside to wait for their parents. This was 1981 though.
JBR Thread Links Roundup
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1686829/posts
There is something else "disturbing in that yearbook".
"Thanks for caring, (unlike your loving sister) when I felt the worst."
What's in parenthesis was hardly necessary. Was he hoping that Theresa's sister would read what he wrote? So very sarcastic. I hope the sister is still around.
I was alluding to the fact that the JBR killer could have used SBTC as
'Saved by the Cross' not that it necessarily was JMK.
I remember at the beginning of this case, the speculation was that it stood for Subic Bay Training Center, a military facility that John Ramsey was familiar with.
It could be something totally different, though I must admit the Shall Be The Conqueror is very intriguing.
I was on another thread or forum where someone had suggested something along the lines of Search Basement Tiny Closet, or Search Basement The Closet.
It is definitely one of those things that have been speculated upon, with Ramseys Didits believing that it is "Saved By The Cross". I had never heard that acronym before this case, but apparently some Christians use it. I am a Christian, and I also asked my Christian friends, and none of them had heard that one before, either. I guess we are not up with all the acronyms out there. Maybe it is more common in different denominations.
OK, Shelayne, perhaps if you read the article before you posted, instead of just responding to pings, you might have seen the Subic Bay Training Center mention right in there.
As Emily Lutella would say, "Nevermind."
**slinks away, sheepishly**
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