Tonight was the first of two episodes of the docu-series that re-investigates the JonBenét Ramsey murder of December, 1996.
Retired FBI special agent/profiler Jim Clemente (credited with identifying the Unibomber, Ted Kaczynski), Laura Richards, a former New Scotland Yard criminal behavioral analyst and several heavy hitters—forensic pathologist Dr. Werner Spitz, forensic scientist, Dr. Henry Lee (the OJ Simpson blood spatter expert) and James Kolar, the former chief investigator for the District Attorney in Boulder looked at the evidence with fresh eyes.
First, the 911 call was analyzed. Patsy thought she had hung up the phone, but the dispatcher was still listening and the call was still being recorded. The linguist, Jim Clemente, recognized the voices in the room as John Ramsey, who said, “We’re not talking to you,” Patsy, who said, “What did you do?” “Help me, Jesus,” and Burke, who was supposedly “asleep” saying, “What did you find?” The dispatcher was never interviewed by anyone and has been waiting for 20 years to tell her side of the story!
Second, was the analysis of the rambling ransom note. It starts out with “listen carefully” when it should say something like “read” this carefully. 76% of the note is extraneous and could have been distilled down to five or six lines. It is portrayed as a “sales job.” The writer is really trying to “sell” a kidnapping, even though the 10:00am ransom demand phone call never came.
It was determined, the writer is educated, English is their first language, is aged at 30+ years old, and there are maternal references in the letter; so, it is most likely a female. There were two practice notes written, before one was finalized, on a pad of paper from the house, using a pen from the house and then returned to the exact places where they are usually kept. When the note was rewritten by detectives, it took over 21 minutes just to copy and write the note. That did not take into consideration the time it would have taken to compose the note. The bizarre part is that the note was written in the house instead of written before arriving to commit the crime. That doesn’t make any sense.
On the morning of the murder, and after the investigating detectives arrived, John was told the plan was to search the entire house “from top to bottom.” However, John takes one of his friends with him to the basement and almost immediately finds JonBenét’s body. He then carries her upstairs, ignoring the importance of preserving a crime scene, and lays her on the floor upstairs. She is again moved to the living room floor to get her out of a high-traffic area. Now the crime scene has been severely contaminated.
Very few people were ever interviewed after the murder, and in fact were told by the Ramsey’s attorney not to speak to the police. Jim Clemente requested an interview with the Ramsey’s best friends who had never been interviewed. They had been invited to the Ramsey house while they waited for the police to arrive, so were privy to everything that transpired in the house that morning. The friends agreed to talk “off” camera. An ex-gardener and former friend were both interviewed and gave interesting incites. Both said that Burke was quiet and stand-offish, even prior to the murder.
After examining the autopsy report and photographs, Dr. Werner Spitz said the death was caused by a blow to the head inflicted by the flashlight that was on the kitchen counter. The wound was a perfect match to the flashlight. Strangulation by garrote was not necessary because she was already brain dead due to concussion impact. It was just an attempted distraction. Since the flashlight was very heavy, the blow could easily have come from an adult or child.
Thirdly, it took 120 days before the Ramseys spoke publicly about their daughter. Their interview tape was analyzed. Both of them denied having killed her; and now, Patsy was indicating she was unsure whether there was actually an attempted kidnapping. She shakes her head back and forth while trying to figure out what to say. John interjects “yes” and then she began to nod her head up and down.
By the end of the second episode, the investigators are planning to name who they think wrote the ransom note and who was the murderer.
To be continued…
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