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Evidence in JonBenet's Slaying Case Appears to Discount an Intruder
Associated Press ^ | August 23, 2002 | Katherine Vogt

Posted on 08/23/2002 2:05:38 PM PDT by gcruse

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1 posted on 08/23/2002 2:05:38 PM PDT by gcruse
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To: gcruse
While no one has been charged, police have said the parents have not been cleared.

Why does this strike me as falling in the category of "Duh!"? Mama was jealous of beautiful daughter who may or may not have been "boinked" by daddy. Can you say "dysfunctional family", boys and girls?

2 posted on 08/23/2002 2:09:19 PM PDT by BillaryBeGone
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To: BillaryBeGone
Frankly, I've always thought that Patsy Ramsey (perhaps with the help or under the cover of her spouse John who must have been in abject denial mode) was "good for it."

I doubt if we will ever know what really happened that night or who murdered that poor child. The only thing that I am sure of is that God will be the final judge.

3 posted on 08/23/2002 2:41:09 PM PDT by demnomo
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To: Joe 6-pack
Ping. The never-ending story...
4 posted on 08/23/2002 2:42:39 PM PDT by demnomo
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To: gcruse
ransom note demanding $118,000

Patsy used John's bonus figure.

Ding ding ding:

We have a pair of winners.

Someone awaken the fine Boulder police from their five and two-thirds year nap.

5 posted on 08/23/2002 2:52:17 PM PDT by PhilDragoo
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To: BillaryBeGone
I dunno...

Ramsey, Smart, Short

...All young, beautiful, blonde, I wouldn't make any assumptions. You could be right, or we could have a another serial murderer on the loose.
6 posted on 08/23/2002 2:58:15 PM PDT by Maelstrom
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To: PhilDragoo
Didn't they also think the ransom note was mom's handwriting?
7 posted on 08/23/2002 2:58:50 PM PDT by gcruse
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To: PhilDragoo
The parents are innocent of this horrendous sexual homicide.
8 posted on 08/23/2002 3:01:01 PM PDT by MAWG
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To: gcruse

Any parent that would think it's normal to dress up a SIX YEAR OLD CHILD like this is seriously warped. Seriously!

9 posted on 08/23/2002 3:01:43 PM PDT by isthisnickcool
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To: gcruse
No, it was determined that there was little similarity in Patsys' writing and the ransom note.
10 posted on 08/23/2002 3:03:13 PM PDT by MAWG
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To: MAWG
 
  Did Jon Benet's Mother Write Ransom Note?
  A Handwriting Analyst Believes She Did

                                 BOULDER, Co., Posted 1:23 p.m. September 26, 1998
                                 -- A handwriting analyst believes Patsy Ramsey wrote
                                 the ransom note left by the person who killed Jon Benet
                                 Ramsey.

                                 NewsChannel5 reports unidentified law enforcement
                                 sources are saying Donald Foster of Vassar College is
                                 basing his analysis on the punctuation and indention
                                 styles used in the note.
______________________________________________________________
                      From an article last updated February 20, 2002
 

                The police quickly eliminated John Ramsey as author of the ransom note,
                but after a series of handwriting samples from Patsy Ramsey (five
                altogether), the police refused to eliminate her as the possible author of
                the note. Early on, Boulder authorities first declared that Boulder
                residents needn’t worry about a killer being on the loose, and finally said
                publicly that the Ramseys were "under an umbrella of suspicion." By that
                summer, Hunter sought the help of the nation's foremost linguistics expert,
                Don Foster, a Vassar College professor. Hunter sent Foster a copy of the
                ransom note and writing samples from various suspects. Det. Thomas
                wrote that Foster told him that Hunter "was particularly interested in Santa
                Bill [McReynolds] and his wife, Janet McReynolds, and when the
                professor reported, 'They didn't write that ransom note,' Hunter seemed to
                lose interest." Thomas said that after studying all the writing samples that
                Foster told him "I believe I am going to conclude the ransom note was the
                work of a single individual: Patsy Ramsey."

                Foster explained to Thomas that his textual analysis work is based on
                "much more than one letter looking like another. Even the slightest things,
                such as the use of periods or the space before the start of a paragraph,
                could create a distinctive linguistic fingerprint."

                "We can't falsify who we are," Foster told Thomas. "Sentence structure,
                word usage, and identifying features can be a signature."

                In March of 1998, Foster traveled to Boulder for a special briefing to the
                Boulder police investigators and representatives of the D.A.'s office on
                his findings. By now he was convinced he knew who the author was. "In
                my opinion, it is not possible that any individual except Patsy Ramsey
                wrote the ransom note," adding that she had been unassisted in writing it.

                In his book, Thomas recounts what Foster told the investigators:

                     "He explained that language is infinitely diverse and that no
                     two people use it in quite the same way. They do not have the
                     same vocabulary, use identical spelling and punctuation,
                     construct sentences in the same manner, read the same
                     books, or express the same beliefs and ideas. Ingrained and
                     unconscious habits are virtually impossible to conceal, even it
                     a writer tries to disguise his identity, he said. 'Individuals are
                     prisoners of their own language.

                     "Foster dissected the ransom note, explained that the
                     wording contained intelligent and sometimes clever usage of
                     language, and said the text suggested someone who was
                     trying to deceive.

                     "The documents he studied from Patsy Ramsey, in his
                     opinion, formed 'a precise and unequivocal match' with the
                     ransom note. He read a list of 'unique matches' with the note
                     that included such things as her penchant for inventing private
                     acronyms, spelling habits, indentation, alliterative phrasing,
                     metaphors, grammar, vocabulary, frequent use of exclamation
                     points, and even the format of her handwriting on the page."
 

11 posted on 08/23/2002 3:18:40 PM PDT by gcruse
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To: gcruse
Ooops. Article updated February 20, 2001. Not 2002.
12 posted on 08/23/2002 3:20:08 PM PDT by gcruse
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To: gcruse
The F.B.I. later determined that there was no match in the writing of Patsy Ramsey and the ransom note, critics notwithstanding. Both parents also passed an exhaustive polygraph grilling. It is tempting to blame the parents in this case but, the evidence just isn't there. Even John Douglas himself, after interviewing John Ramsey at length, said that John Ramsey was innocent. And, you can blame Patsy all you want but she did not sexually assault her daughter. Somebody, however, did.
13 posted on 08/23/2002 3:25:42 PM PDT by MAWG
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To: MAWG
How do you know? Were you an eyewitness to the crime? Someone in the Ramsey family probably murdered this child. Most likely, it was one of her parents, but possibly her brother. It is rather apparent from the police behavior that they are not dismissing the Ramseys as suspects. Plus, the strange ransom note in which the amount demanded matches Mr. Ramsey's bonus makes no sense. What saved the Ramseys was the incompetence of the Boulder PD. Had the Ramseys lived in a metropolitan area with an experienced crime scene investigation unit, this case would have been solved long ago.
14 posted on 08/23/2002 3:38:24 PM PDT by CdMGuy
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To: gcruse; Orual; aculeus; general_re
Ingrained and unconscious habits are virtually impossible to conceal, even it a writer tries to disguise his identity, he said. ‘Individuals are prisoners of their own language.’

IMHO, quite true. Interesting post.

15 posted on 08/23/2002 3:40:44 PM PDT by dighton
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To: isthisnickcool
What really got me is that they replaced her teeth. Clothes can be taken off after the show is over, but teeth--why, damnme, that's too bad!
16 posted on 08/23/2002 3:50:58 PM PDT by proxy_user
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To: demnomo
I still subscribe to the theory that the parents were, "marketing," her to certain members of the social elite with a predilection for little girls...

...what was meant to be an adult-child experience got a little rough and out of hand.

'Tis just speculation, and nothing more; however, I think the theory is generally the, "best fit," for the circumstances and facts as they've been reported.

17 posted on 08/23/2002 3:58:39 PM PDT by Joe 6-pack
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To: Joe 6-pack
I still subscribe to the theory that the parents were, "marketing," her to certain members of the social elite with a predilection for little girls...

I think it is very possible that the Ramsey's did not kill JonBenet, but they know who did and for some strange reason they need to protect this person in order to keep from implicating themselves in some way.

Imagine this scenario:

Patsy Ramsey, stage mother extraordinare, lives vicariously through her daughter. She was once a beauty queen, and spares no expense to see that her daughter becomes one as well. Trouble is, there's a "pageant pervert" hanging around all of the pageants, but he is there in an official capacity waiting for the right moment to present itself. Patsy gets to know the guy, and he plays right into her own fantasies of her daughter's beauty and abilities. How flattered Patsy is that he can see what she sees in JonBenet! They become friends. In fact, they become more than friends. He begins an affair with Patsy in an effort to get close to JonBenet. Maybe she even gives him a key to the house. Then, when the moment is right, the pervert strikes the target that he wanted all along -- JonBenet. He gets what he wants and kills the child. Patsy realizes who the killer/rapist is, but protects him (hence the note) because outing him will let the world know what she has been up to. Not that she would be charged with the murder, but the truth would bring about a divorce and she doesn't want to risk losing her extravagant lifestyle.

After all, how many times do you hear stories of girls that are molested by stepfathers, but the child's mother doesn't do anything about it and stays with the guy, either because she doesn't want to be alone or doesn't want a change in lifestyle?

18 posted on 08/23/2002 4:35:36 PM PDT by RedWhiteBlue
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To: CdMGuy
" How do you know? Were you an eyewitness to the crime?"

O.K. you got me. Damn you're good, you super sleuth you. I confess. I did it. Come and arrest me. I give up.

19 posted on 08/23/2002 4:57:30 PM PDT by MAWG
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To: CdMGuy
How do you know? Were you an eyewitness to the crime?

Actually the same could be asked of you

20 posted on 08/23/2002 5:25:30 PM PDT by Kaslin
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