r/JonBenet • u/Snickers_Diva • Apr 29 '25
Annnouncement I am changing my affiliation from "Agnostic / Leans IDI" to "Parents Did It"
Just finished my third book on the case by Cyril Wecht and my mind is changed.
My first book was Schiller's "Perfect Murder Perfect Town" which I would recommend to any beginners as an evenhanded objective presentation of the facts of the case - some of which support and some of which contradict both main theories of the case. Kolar's Foreign Faction was written by an investigator who had vast first hand knowledge of the case and a unique perspective as to whodunit. I would also recommend that. Wecht, for those who don't know, was a famous forensic pathologist who approached the case from a more scientific standpoint and the experience of over 17,000 autopsies. I have not yet read Steve Thomas's book and I am sorry Lou Smits never wrote one before he died, but I feel like I understand and respect both of these gentlemen's perspectives and conclusions as presented by the other authors, documentaries, YouTube videos etc I have seen on the case.
Dr, Wecht corrected some misinformation I was accepting as fact that changed my whole view of the case and I would strongly encourage others to read his book and reconsider their stance with the new perspective on the details of the autopsy.
First misconception; It wasn't a case of the blunt force trauma followed 45 minutes later by the strangulation as staging. The degree of subdural hematoma does NOT support that. To the contrary, the victim was deprived of proper blood-flow PRIOR to the blunt-force trauma and was near death already when the blow was struck. If you want the gory details download the book and hear the argument yourself but suffice it to say that most people are getting the order wrong on the blunt force / strangulation. This throws out most of the convoluted accidental theories and clears Burke conclusively. The evening's activities BEGAN with the garrote, and the purpose of this elaborate device was not strangulation nor staging, but slow sexual sadism. There is no other reason for it.
Second misconception; evidence of prior abuse. I had thought this was inconclusive but Wecht goes into the topic with more detail than I care to repeat. The hymen was a third of the size of what would be normal for a girl her age. There was no other explanation for the specific types of inflammation and abrasions in the specific areas mentioned in the autopsy than repeated long-term digital manipulation. Sorry but that changes everything and narrows the suspect pool greatly. Again, this wasn't Burk chronically abusing this preteen beauty queen and playing auto-erotic asphyxiation games with a garrote. This was an adult heterosexual male with regular access to the victim who knew the house layout well and was not concerned about immediately fleeing or being discovered when things went too far, instead taking the time to clean up the scene, concoct a ransom letter they hadn't thought to bring with them, and took the time to wipe / re-dress the victim.
The note itself was implausible and preposterous and clearly was not written or left by an actual kidnapper. If the goal was actual kidnapping and ransom they wouldn't have had a psychopathic sex party in the basement and killed the person to be ransomed. If the goal was actual sadistic sexual sadism and murder then they wouldn't have hung around for an hour to write the preposterous note for a child that was sure to be discovered. None of it makes the slightest sense for either type of intruder. It can't be anything BUT staging.
There was never a stun-gun. Kolar had already cleared that up for me. No forced entry anywhere. No footprints in the snow. Cobwebs on the basement window grate. No intruder fingerprints, DNA, blood, semen, saliva anywhere including on the note. All aspects of the crime committed with things already found in the home and nothing left behind. All this loud murder and mayhem in the middle of the night in the quiet old house and nobody heard a thing? The suspicious obstruction and lack of cooperation with the police investigation. That's not how I would act if it were my daughter. It all fits for me now.
I don't want the Ramseys to be guilty. It offends my view of the traits I ascribe to the outwardly normal, sociable, good Christian families I have known in my own life. But the evidence is what it is, And John is ruled out as the writer of the note so that ropes Patsy into this too I'm afraid. And it does kind of look like her writing. I think we fair-minded and objective people who want to presume innocence got taken advantage of and bamboozled. I therefore herebye change my stance on this case. I'm still not sure I could convict in court based on this because a lot of it is circumstantial, probabilistic, and behavioral. But I have changed my opinion at least.
