Tag Archives: Murder

ROBERT “WILLY” PICKTON — THE PIG-FARMING SERIAL KILLER

From the early 1990s until his arrest in 2002, Robert William Pickton (aka Willy) murdered—to his admission—49 women who he lured from the notorious Downtown East Side of Vancouver, British Columbia, to his pig farm in suburban Port Coquitlam. Willy Pickton’s modus operandi (MO) was to handcuff and rape the women, then shoot or strangle them to death. To dispose of the bodies, he’d butcher them in the same slaughterhouse or abattoir he processed his hogs in, then he fed the severed remains to his live pigs.

The Pickton Case, as it’s well known in Canada, wasn’t just about criminal sensationalism—something as grotesque as feeding human being parts to hungry animals. It’s a sad story of wasted human lives and a misguided mess made by human investigators. Fortunately, some good came from the Pickton Case and the parallel BC Missing Women Investigation / Missing Women Commission of Inquiry. That was better communicative cooperation between police jurisdictions and more efficient file management in missing persons cases.

Before looking at the Pickton Case outcome, let’s review who Willy Pickton was, how he managed to remain criminally active so long, and how he came to now serving the rest of his life in a maximum-security penitentiary.

Robert William Pickton was born on October 24, 1949. He’s now 72. His parents owned the Port Coquitlam pig farm and raised Willy on it, along with his brother, David, and his sister, Linda. Willy Pickton was a reserved boy who dropped out of school at fourteen and remained working the farm after his abusive parents passed on.

Court records show him to be of average intelligence but with a psychological perversion shaped by “Mommy issues”. He was very attached to his mother, regardless of her neglect of him. One notable point in young Pickton’s life was a recorded incident where, as a teen, Willy Pickton bought a calf with his own money and became very enthralled with it.

One day, he returned home to find the calf missing. He asked his mother where the calf was. She told him to go look in the slaughterhouse. He did.

There was his dead, bled, gutted, and skinned pet hanging from a meat hook.

Besides operating a pork processing plant on the farm, Willy and David Pickton ran a side business called “Piggy’s Palace”. They’d registered it as a tax-free, not-for-profit service club that leased the property to community events. Under the surface, it was a free-for-all, illegal booze-can that catered to wild parties filled with underworld characters.

Piggy’s Palace was part of the allure for the Downtown East Side of Vancouver subculture. This drug and disease-infested, civic fester was riddled with addicts and unstables who congregated in a bubble of immediacy and anonymity. These people lived for the moment, not for the day, and were perfect targets for the pig-farming predator.

Pickton would prowl the place—generally boundaried through East Hastings with Powell Street on the north and East Pender on the south. This is right in the heart of Vancouver’s industrial waterfront. It’s only a stone’s throw from the business hub of Downtown Vancouver proper and the uber-wealth of the West End.

Willy Pickton didn’t stand out in the Downtown East Side. He fit right in. At least 49 women thought so as they accepted a ride in his beater truck back to the farm with promises of drugs and cash and fun and an escape from the streets. A permanent escape, as it happened.

A pattern developed in the Downtown East Side. A disproportionate number of women were reported missing. They were all in similar demographics—vulnerable women who lived at-risk due to many societal issues—drug and alcohol addictions, mental illness, homelessness, victims of domestic violence, poverty, poor health, lack of education and skills, unemployable as well as being sex workers and common criminals.

The Downtown East Side law enforcement jurisdiction is owned by the Vancouver Police Department. The VPD noticed their increase in missing women reports and cautiously dealt with the matter by appointing one officer as a missing persons coordinator. Here’s where internal and external politics favored Willy Pickton.

No one in power wanted to say the “SK-Word”—Serial Killer. This would have let an uncorkable genie out of the bottle, and no one in power wanted the workload, budget drain, and social stigma/media pressure of having a serial killer running amuck in the streets of Vancouver.

So, what do good cops do in the face of bad stuff? Downplay it. Better yet, pass it off to another jurisdiction like the Coquitlam Detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police—the RCMP or the Mounties.

Canadian policing structure in BC’s Lower Mainland region is rather convoluted, and this led to why Willy Pickton was hard to identify. Even harder to catch. Especially when competing jurisdictions weren’t playing for the same team.

The RCMP is Canada’s national police force They’re much like the United States FBI where they have federal responsibilities unless called or contracted by state / provincial / municipal (Muni) / civic authorities for help. Vancouver Police Department is its own LE agency, much like NYPD is or how Seattle PD operates independently of the multi-level support services like the DEA, BATF, CIA, ICE, DHLS, and a host of others.

British Columbia’s Greater Vancouver Area (GVA or the Lower Mainland) is a hodgepodge concoction of Mountie and Muni jurisdictions. The Munis have Vancouver, West Vancouver, Delta, Abbotsford, New Westminster, and Port Moody. The Mounties have Burnaby, Surrey, Richmond, North Vancouver, Coquitlam, Langley, Maple Ridge, and Mission. Not to mention Vancouver International Airport (YVR, which is a city of its own) and another sub-city, the University of British Columbia.

Greater Vancouver’s policing is a complex and wide-spread overlay. Vancouver’s Lower Mainland—the Fraser River Valley—population is over 3 million contained in 14,000 square miles for an average density of 214 people per square mile (PSM). That wildly ranges from 25,000 people PSM in Vancouver’s West End to practically zero on the watershed’s mountainsides.

British Columbia’s Lower Mainland has 6 municipal departments and 10 RCMP detachments. In 2002, the Munis and the Mounties had no common communication channel. Independently, they did their own thing.

The cities of Vancouver and Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam are close, distance wise. They’re 16 miles apart, as the crow flies, but Port Coquitlam is about an hour’s easterly drive in Vancouver traffic terms. Women were disappearing in Vancouver, but no bodies were being found. Vancouver women were dying in Port Coquitlam (PoCo), and their bodies weren’t being found either.

The missing persons coordinator at VPD was vigilant in her work. She knew what was going on in the Downtown East Side. But she had no idea what was going down in PoCo. Her list—a computerized spreadsheet of missing person names, dates of disappearances, and personal items associated with each woman—was detailed and available to any LE officer with access to the Canadian Police Information Center (CPIC).

The break came on February 5, 2002, when the RCMP in PoCo got informant information that something crazy was going on at the Pickton pig farm. They executed a search warrant and found items linked to several missing women the VPD coordinator listed on CPIC.

They also found human body parts including detached heads and limbs in Pickton’s freezer. In other places were severed dried skulls. They’d been Saw-zalled in half with mummified hands and feet bound inside.

The Pickton Case became a forensic first. The CSI team spent months processing dried and fresh pig manure looking for microscopic DNA profiles of Pickton’s victims. These women were:

Sereena Abotsway
Mona Lee Wilson
Andrea Joesbury
Brenda Ann Wolfe
Marnie Lee Frey
Georgina Faith Papin
Jacqueline Michelle McDonell
Dianne Rosemary Rock
Heather Kathleen Bottenly
Jennifer Lynn Furminnger
Helen May Hallmark
Patricia Rose Johnson
Heather Choinook
Tanya Holyk
Sherry Irving
Inga Monique Hall
Tiffany Drew
Sarah de Vries
Cynthia Feliks
Angela Rebecca Jardine
Diana Melnick
Debra Lynne Jones
Wendy Crawford
Kerry Koski
Andrea Fay Borthaven
Cara Louise Ellis
Mary Ann Clark
Yvonne Marie Boen
Dawn Teresa Crey

These 29 women are known Pickton victims identified through DNA. There are 13 other human female DNA profiles recovered—mired in pig shit—that haven’t been profiled to once-living women. That’s a victim count of 42. It’s 7 less than Willy Pickton confessed to killing and feeding to his pigs.

—–—

Hindsight is usually in focus. It’s been 20 years since the Pickton investigation. Learning is not just about what went wrong and improving. It’s about changing systems like communication between the Mounties and the Munis.

I was retired by the time the Pickton Case exploded. But I was a Mountie product who worked with first-rate Munis in serious crime investigations, and I have to say a murder cop is a murder cop—no matter what badge you’re wearing. We all wanted the same thing. Solve a case through admissible evidence. Bring closure to the families. And work the best we could through systematic differences.

No one in the Pickton Case investigation deliberately derailed the train. Far from it. The VPD missing persons coordinator saw the SK-Word pattern and reported it upline. Upline responded with, “Where are the bodies?” The coordinator said, “I don’t know. I just know this isn’t right and more women are going to disappear unless we dig into this.” Upline came back with, “Okay. Keep an eye, but don’t say anything to the media. We don’t need the SK-shit.”

———

Pickton was charged with a total of 27 counts of first-degree murder. First degree, in Canada, requires the prosecution prove Pickton acted in a planned and deliberate manner on each count. If the planning point isn’t proven, but the intentional killings are still established, then the charges fall to second-degree which allows the convict an earlier parole eligibility to a mandatory life sentence, regardless of first or second.

The trial judge severed the charges into two groups. Group A were 6 women whose evidence was materially stronger than the other 21 in Group B. The trial went ahead dealing with Group A. Group B was set aside pending the first trial’s outcome. (Note: The Group B trial never proceeded.)

A jury convicted Robert William Pickton of 6 counts of second-degree murder. How 12 jurors could think a pattern of murders was not planned but still deliberate, I can’t fathom. But whether first or second, planned or deliberate, or how many counts, is a mute legal point. Canada doesn’t have the death penalty, so Willy Pickton is going to spend the rest of his natural life in prison. There is no way this guy will ever get parole, although the law allows him to apply after 25 years of incarceration.

In the aftermath of conviction, the Pickton Case led to a lawyer-fest of appeals and inquiries. Some were cash grabs. Some were feel-goods. And some led to necessary improvements in legal and investigation procedures.

Interjurisdictional cooperation and communication were the big ones. It wasn’t just a Muni vs. Mountie thing. Munis weren’t talking to other Munis, and Mounties weren’t talking to other Mounties. In fact, the entire Vancouver Lower Mainland cop shops were acting alone. Automatously, you could say, and this was the result of years—decades—of independent police department growth in overlapping Lower Mainland communities.

Retired BC Supreme Court Justice Wallace Oppal headed the Missing Women’s Commission of Inquiry. Wally Oppal, or Stone Wally as he’s known by the police and the media, was the right man for this job. He was a highly experienced trial judge who went on to be the Attorney General of British Columbia. His 2012 report on the matter ran 1,448 pages and came back with 63 recommendations. The number 1 item, rightfully so, was amalgamating all Lower Mainland police jurisdictions—Mountie and Muni—into one regional police force.

Ten years later, this hasn’t happened. And it shows no sign of happening given the City of Surrey, the fastest growing Lower Mainland area, is forming its own police force and getting rid of the RCMP.

However, one major intercommunication and cooperation change did occur, and it was for the better. That was forming the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) that makes  secondments of select detectives from each department—Muni and Mountie—and has the team take over homicide cases throughout the Lower Mainland. Except for the Vancouver Police Department who still do their own thing.

The Pickton Case was a tragedy of mass proportions. It wasn’t just a fact of police failure to communicate or cooperate. It was a sad situation where a marginalized segment of vulnerable women were victimized by an unchecked demon. Here are some quotes from the Oppal report:

“The police investigation into the missing and murdered women were blatant failures.”

“The critical police failings were manifest in recurring patterns that went unchecked and uncorrected over many years.”

“The underlying causes of these failures were themselves complex and multi-faceted.”

“Those causes include discrimination, a lack of leadership, outdated police procedures and approaches, and a fragmented policing structure in the Greater Vancouver region.”

“While I condemn the police investigations, I also find society at large should bear some responsibility for the women’s tragic lives.”

“I have found that the missing and murdered women were forsaken twice. Once by society at large and again by the police.”

“This was a tragedy of epic proportions.”

Outside of the trial and commission of inquiry, the Vancouver Police Department did an extensive internal review. Honorably, they owned the problem and vowed to change procedures in missing persons cases. Deputy Chief Doug LePard, who headed the probe, had this to say at a public news conference:

 “I wish from the bottom of my heart that we would have caught him sooner. I wish that, the several agencies involved, that we could have done better in so many ways. I wish that all the mistakes that were made, we could undo. And I wish that more lives would have been saved. So, on my behalf and behalf of the Vancouver Police Department and all the men and women that worked on this investigation, I would say to the families how sorry we all are for your losses and sorry because we did not catch this monster sooner.”

OTZI THE ICEMAN – THAWING A 5,000-YEAR-OLD HOMICIDE COLD CASE

In 1991, the mummified body of a 5,000-year-old murder victim uncovered itself in melting ice at a rock-gully crime scene high in the Italian Otzal Alps. Named Otzi, the approximately 45-year-old and his possessions were incredibly preserved. His skin, hair, bones, and organs were cryopreserved in time, allowing archeological researchers a phenomenal insight into human life in the Copper Age.

Otzi’s thawing corpse also gave modern forensic science an unprecipitated opportunity to investigate and, positively, determine how Otzi the Iceman was killed.

On a sunny September day, two hikers traversed a mountain pass at the 3210 meter (10,530 foot) level and saw a brown, leathery shape protruding from the ice amidst running melt-water. They closely examined, finding a human body they thought might be a mountaineering accident victim.

They reported to Austrian police who attended the following day, quickly realizing this was an ancient archeological site. A scientific team assembled and, over a three-day period, the remains were extracted and taken to the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Innsbruck.

Such an incredibly valuable find soon led to a jurisdictional argument between the Austrian and Italian governments and an immediate border survey. It found Otzi lay ninety-two meters inside Italian territory. Italy gained legal possession of the body and artifacts, however in the interests of science and history, everything was kept at Innsbruck until a proper, climate-controlled facility was built at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy, where the Otzi The Iceman now rests.

Many, many questions arose. Who was he? Where did he come from? How long ago did he live? And, of course, what caused his death? Natural? Accidental? Suicide? Homicide?

Technological  advances over the past thirty+ years answered many questions surrounding Otzi’s life and death and surely the next thirty+  will answer more. This, so far, is what science knows about the Iceman.

Hikers found Otzi lying face down with outstretched arms in a protected, rock depression near the Finail peak watershed at the top of the Tisenjoch pass which connected two forested valleys. The trench measured 40 meters (125 foot) long, between 5 and 8 meters (18–26 foot) wide, and  averaged 3 meters (16 feet) deep. For millennia, this area was covered by glaciers which, by the end of the twentieth century, had receded.

Four separate scientific institutes conducted C-14 radiocarbon dating on Otzi, equivocally agreeing he came from between 3350 and 3100 BC — more than 5,000 years ago. This was the oldest-known preserved human being; far older than the Egyptian and Inca mummifications or the corpses found pickled in peat bogs.

Something exceptionally unique about Otzi was that he was a “wet” mummy—an almost unheard of process for a cadaver of this age where humidity was preserved in his cells, unlike the intentional dehydration processes used in Egypt and Peru. As well, Otzi was perfectly intact and not dissected or embalmed by a funeral ritual. His entire body achieved a state of elasticity and, although shrunken, remained as in the day he died including vital clues stored in his digestive tract.

Researchers felt Otzi must have been preserved through a chain of coincidences. It was evident that no damage had been done by predators, scavengers, or insects so it was obvious that the body was covered by snow and/or ice immediately after death. Secondly, the gully lay perpendicular to the main ice flow, allowing the grinding action of the glacier to pass overtop. Thirdly, exposure to air and sunlight was only a brief period before being found by the hikers.

It was vital Otzi remain frozen to avoid an irreversible decomposition and remain intact to preserve his historical significance. This gave researchers limited ability to examine the cadaver as would be done in a conventional autopsy.

A thorough external exam was done in 1991 along with Xray radiography images. Notable was a cut to the back of the right hand which showed early signs of healing as well as breaks to the left ribcage, which had healed, and breaks to the right ribs which were fresh at the time of death. A depression in the skull was thought to be caused by the weight of ice compression and analysis of the only remaining fingernail found that the Beau-Reil Lines, which are like rings on a tree trunk, showed significant stress to his immune system in three periods—16, 13, and 8 weeks before death.

Other factors told of Otzi’s failing health, understandable for a 45-year-old in the Copper Age who’d then be considered elderly. He suffered from tooth decay, gum disease, and worn joints. What shocked the researchers were the amounts, designs, and placement of tattoos on Otzi’s body. There were 61 separate markings, all made by incisions and insertion of charcoal—not ink as has  been used by other cultures for centuries. The locations were consistent with known acupuncture points as practiced for pain relief starting with the Chinese two thousand years after Otzi’s existence and it seemed these markings were therapeutic, rather than symbolic.

Despite examination by many leading experts, no exact cause of Otzi’s demise was determined and it was speculated this old man may have fallen, injured himself, then succumbed to the elements. That was until new technology was developed.

One of the great challenges was to examine Otzi endoscopically—that is to look internally at his organs. Special high-precision titanium instruments were invented—steel probes that were inserted through tiny incisions in the back. Using computerized navigational aids the tools were guided to the exact spots were evidentiary samples could be taken. This was recorded with a hi-definition camera and an entire 3-D map of the mummy’s thorax and abdomen was made.

Lung and digestive tract contents told a time-of-year travel story through the presence of thirty different pollens which entered his body by the food he ate, the water he drank, and the air he breathed.

Most pollens were from trees and indicated that he ingested them during a bloom in the late spring or early summer. The locations and digested states of different pollens in different sections of the stomach and intestines showed Otzi had made a climb from the valley floor to the pass where he died within a twenty-four hour period. Pollens in the lower half of the tract were identified to low elevation trees and pollens in the upper area were from higher elevation species.

So, it was known that Otzi had left the populated valley and headed for high country where he met his death. Speculation rose that he might have been fleeing some danger.

This theory strengthened in 2001 when new Xrays identified a small, flint arrow head in Otzi’s left shoulder which had been missed ten years earlier. A close examination of Otzi’s back revealed a two-centimeter slash and established the path of the arrow which indicated he’d been shot from a rear and lower position.

In 2005, Otzi was put through a high-resolution, multi-slice CT scanning machine which enlightened the arrow wound. Clearly, the arrowhead had caused a one-centimeter gash in Otzi’s left subclavian artery which is the main circulatory pipeline that carries fresh oxygenated blood from the heart to the left arm. Such a serious tear would have caused massive internal bleeding and rapid death—probably within two minutes.

The CT scan showed something else. There was significant bleeding at the base of the brain which corresponded to the depression in Otzi’s skull. He’d suffered a serious head injury right at the time of death.

With the cause of death now certain to be from a violent act of homicide, the prime question centered on the circumstances of how all this went down. Researchers felt the answer may lay in the Iceman’s possessions.

Among the artifacts found on and around Otzi’s body were a copper ax, a flint dagger, a quiver with twelve blank arrow shafts and two completed arrow shafts with stone heads. There was also winter clothing and supplies to support wilderness survival.

This speaks to motive, for if robbery was behind Otzi’s murder, it’s certain that the perpetrator(s) would have made off with these valuables. Glaringly missing was the shaft of the fatal arrow, especially in light of Otzi’s quiver arrows being perfectly preserved.

Egarter Vigl, a leading archeological expert on the Iceman, believes that the assailant tried to pull out the arrow to destroy evidence, only to snap off the arrowhead inside. Vigl was quoted in the archeology magazine Germani, “telltale markings in the construction of prehistoric arrows could be used to identify the archer much in the way modern ballistic can link a bullet to a gun. The killer yanked out the arrow to cover his tracks. For similar motives, the attacker did not run off with any precious artifacts that remained at the scene, especially the distinctive copper-bladed ax; the appearance of such a remarkable object in the possession of a villager would automatically implicate its owner of the crime.”

I’d have to agree with Mr. Vigl and I’d like to add an observation of my own.

In the hundreds and hundreds of dead bodies I’ve examined as a cop and a coroner, I’ve never seen a cadaver with its arms outstretched in a hyperextended position like how Otzi the Iceman was found. This is absolutely unnatural and shrieks to me that someone placed the arms in that position after death.

I think it’s safe to speculate on what might have happened and here’s what Otzi’s crime scene evidence suggests to me.

The day before Otzi’s death, he was in a physical altercation down at the village on the valley floor where he suffered the cut hand and possibly the broken right ribs. This caused him to pack up and flee, climbing to the elevated pass where he was overcome by his attacker(s) and shot with the arrow from behind and below. This wound would have put Otzi into hemorrhagic shock and he would have quickly collapsed and internally bled out. Following his collapse, the murder(s) went up and caved-in the back of Otzi’s head to finish him off.

I don’t believe this happened in the gully. I’ve looked at the scene photos and can’t envision how Otzi could have been shot from below in that tight gully, which is what the forensic evidence clearly shows on arrow’s track through the body—even if Otzi were bending over.

No, I suspect Otzi was shot elsewhere, dragged by the arms, dumped in the gully with all his possessions, and then covered with ice and/or snow to hide the evidence.

After 5,000 years, the answers to “By who?” and “For what reason?” are unlikely to be known, despite futuristic technology, and the murder of Otzi the Iceman will always remain a really cold case.

*   *   *

For a fascinating look at the whole Otzi stories, including the exceptional photos, visit the official website www.Iceman.it at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy.

WHO REALLY MURDERED JONBENET RAMSEY?

On December 26, 1996, the beaten and strangled body of six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey was found hidden in the basement of her Boulder, Colorado home. Immediately, police and media suspicion focused on her wealthy parents, John Bennet Ramsey and Patricia (Patsy) Ramsey, as being responsible. Now—twenty-five years later—the child beauty queen’s cold case has little new to offer except for the stupid suggestion that JonBenet never really died and that she’s actually the pop-star, Katy Perry.

Setting crazy conspiracy theories aside, the fact remains that someone viciously slaughtered JonBenet. The little girl became a cultural obsession, and the person or persons guilty of JonBenet’s murder were never prosecuted. Was it a lack of viable suspects? Lack of admissible evidence? A homicide investigation mishandled right from the start? Or was it failure to properly decipher the murder mystery’s most important clue—the ransom note?

Here’s a look at what the case facts tell us about who really murdered JonBenet Ramsey.

Patsy Ramsey claimed to have come downstairs to the kitchen at five o’clock on Boxing Day morning and found a two-and-a-half page, hand-written ransom note on the landing of their secondary staircase. The author directed the letter at John Ramsey and claimed to represent a group of individuals from a foreign faction who were “in possession” of JonBenet. The note demanded a ransom of $118,000 be paid in certain bills or JonBenet would die.

Boulder Police recorded Patsy Ramsey’s report being phoned in at 5:51 am. Two patrol officers attended and took basic information but did not treat the Ramsey house as a crime scene. It was not secured, nor searched, and an unrecorded number of people had access to the residence until early afternoon when a detective took over and asked a family friend to assist John Ramsey to search the house for “anything unusual”.

The recorded events are confusing but it’s said John Ramsey located JonBenet’s dead body in a far corner of a basement wine cellar, covered with her bedroom blanket. She had a ligature cord around her neck, her hands were bound above her head, and her mouth was sealed with duct tape. John Ramsey apparently removed the tape and carried the body up to the living room where it was laid in front of the Christmas tree. The police were called back and the case began being treated as a homicide.

A forensic crime scene examination identified several points of unsecured ingress to the house but no sign of forced entry nor anything to clearly suggest an unauthorized intruder had been present.

Prominent was the ligature or cord around JonBenet’s neck that was tied to a wooden handle, described as a “garrote”. It was physically matched to a broken paint brush handle in Patsy’s art room which was in the basement, near the wine cellar. Similar pieces of cord were also found in the home. As well, the pad which the note-paper originated from was located on the main floor, as was the pen used to write it.

The Ramsey parents were not formally interviewed, no statements were taken, and continuity of the note—being a prime piece of evidence—as well as its forensic treatment was questionably handled.

The pathologist attended the residence at 6 pm and did a cursory examination of JonBenet’s body before removing her to the morgue. She was dressed in a white nightie and white panties with white tights overtop. The panties and tights were soaked in urine. Postmortem changes were advanced with rigor mortis already passing and early decomposition presenting.

Though the stages of mortis are not precise science for conclusively identifying the time of death, the body’s physical condition suggested that JonBenet had been dead for a considerable time, estimated between 10 pm the previous evening and no later than 5:51 am when the police report was received.

In pathologist John E. Meyer’s words — “Far closer to 10 pm than to 5 am.”

JonBenet’s autopsy determined her cause of death as “asphyxia by strangulation associated with craniocerebral trauma” and the medical diagnosis was:

I. Ligature strangulation

  1. Circumferential ligature with associated ligature furrow of neck
  2. Abrasions and petechial hemorrhages, neck
  3. Petechial hemorrhages, conjunctival surfaces of eyes and skin of face

II. Craniocerebral injuries

  1. Scalp contusion
  2. Linear comminuted fracture of right skull
  3. Linear pattern of contusions of right cerebral hemisphere
  4. Subarachnoid and subdural hemorrhage
  5. Small contusions, tips of temporal lobes

II. Abrasion of right cheek

III. Abrasion/contusion, posterior right shoulder

IV. Abrasions of lower left back and posterior left lower leg

V. Abrasion and vascular congestion of vaginal mucosa

VI. Ligature of right wrist

VII. Toxicology

  1. Blood ethanol – none detected
  2. Blood drug screen – no drugs detected

From reading this, it’s clear JonBenet received a massive blow to the upper right of her head from contact with a blunt object, approximately an hour or more before death. This is supported by the contusion (bruise, not a laceration or cut) to her scalp, the linear fractures to her skull, and the subdural (underlying) hemorrhaging (bleeding) in her brain. This cannot occur after death and the known pathology established a considerable time period elapsed between when the blow was administered and when the cardiovascular system stopped functioning. The pathologist opinioned that JonBenet was alive but unconscious for an hour, possibly an hour-and-a-half, before she was strangled.

It’s also clear that ligature asphyxia (strangling with the cord) was her death’s triggering mechanism and this is corroborated by the presence of petechial hemorrhages (tiny bloodspots) in her eyes and on her face. This is a classic symptom of mechanical strangulation and is peculiar to the airway being violently interrupted.

The presence of various abrasions and contusions are evident of physical violence being inflicted on JonBenet prior to death, as is the violation of her vaginal area. Her cheek abrasion is consistent with a slap to the face, her shoulder and legs marks are consistent with her still-alive body being roughly handled as if dragged, but caution must be taken in interpreting her vaginal injury as being consistent with sexual assault.

There was no presence of semen, however some blood spotting was noted in her underwear. Later forensic examination would identify a foreign pubic hair on her blanket and an unknown DNA sample (not semen) on her underwear that was consistent with a male contributor.

The police and district attorney’s investigation focused on the improbability that a total stranger would break into the home, severely wound JonBenet, then kill her at least an hour later after packing her body from an upper bedroom and down two floors to the basement of a house in which three others were present—all the while hanging around to write a lengthy note.

From the start, Patsy Ramsey’s behavior was suspect—as was her husband’s. Though there was no suggestion of previous child abuse in the home, it was well known Patsy Ramsey selfishly promoted her daughter like a trophy doll who she desperately wanted to shine in fame and fortune.

As police and media attention centered on the Ramseys, they limited their contact with investigators and quickly “lawyered-up” until a controlled, counter-offensive in the media could be established.

The evidence against the Ramseys was examined by a grand jury empaneled during a ten-month period in 1998. The jury returned an indictment against John and Patsy Ramsey on charges of child abuse resulting in JonBenet’s death but was quashed by the district attorney who felt there was no reasonable likelihood of conviction. The grand jury’s findings were sealed and only released to the public in 2013, seven years after Patsy Ramsay’s death from cancer.

To this day, the smoking gun in JonBenet’s homicide is the alleged ransom note.

If the note is legitimate, then it’s a kidnapping that went sideways. If it’s fraudulent, it’s a murder staged to look like a kidnapping. Regardless, there’s no doubt the note’s author is responsible for killing JonBenet and it’s within the note where the killer reveals their true identity.

Let’s look at it:

The note needs to be examined in three ways.

First—was there any forensic evidence present to physically identify the author? I can’t imagine it not being fingerprinted nor examined for DNA, however I can’t find any internet reference one way or the other and existing photos don’t show the normal discoloration associated with chemically checking for fingerprints on paper.

Second—what do forensic handwriting analysists say about the writer? A number of document examiners have analyzed the note and have eliminated John Ramsey as well as fifty-three other subjects as the author. But, they cannot rule Patsy Ramsay out as penning it. To be fair, no one conclusively states she was the writer but all agree the author intentionally attempted to disguise themselves.

Third—what does the science of statement analysis tell us? It’s here where the killer’s identity is revealed.

Let’s look at the note in detail:

Mr. Ramsey,

Listen carefully! We are a group of individuals that represent a small foreign faction. We don respect your bussiness but not the country that it serves. At this time we have your daughter in our posession. She is safe and unharmed and if you want her to see 1997, you must follow our instructions to the letter.

You will withdraw $118,000.00 from your account. $100,000 will be in $100 bills and the remaining $18,000 in $20 bills. Make sure that you bring an adequate size attache to the bank. When you get home you will put the money in a brown paper bag. I will call you between 8 and 10 am tomorrow to instruct you on delivery. The delivery will be exhausting so I advise you to be rested. If we monitor you getting the money early, we might call you early to arrange an earlier delivery of the money and hence a earlierdelivery pick-up of your daughter.

Any deviation of my instructions will result in the immediate execution of your daughter. You will also be denied her remains for proper burial. The two gentlemen watching over your daughter do not particularly like you so I advise you not to provoke them. Speaking to anyone about your situation, such as Police, F.B.I., etc., will result in your daughter being beheaded. If we catch you talking to a stray dog, she dies. If you alert bank authorities, she dies. If the money is in any way marked or tampered with, she dies. You will be scanned for electronic devices and if any are found, she dies. You can try to deceive us but be warned that we are familiar with Law enforcement countermeasures and tactics. You stand a 99% chance of killing your daughter if you try to out smart us. Follow our instructions and you stand a 100% chance of getting her back.

You and your family are under constant scrutiny as well as the authorities. Don’t try to grow a brain John. You are not the only fat cat around so don’t think that killing will be difficult. Don’t underestimate us John. Use that good southern common sense of yours.

It is up to you now John!

Victory!

S.B.T.C

The first thing that comes to my mind when reading the note is that it’s nonsense. It’s complete and utter bullshit and here’s why:

A. It’s very long with a lot of unnecessary, redundant information. It’s written on three pieces of paper which took a considerable amount of time to compose. True ransom notes are exceptionally rare and all are short and to the point: “We have your daughter! We will kill her if you don’t give us X-amount of money by __!. Wait for instructions!! DO NOT call the police or she dies!!!”

B. The writer introduces themself as representing a “group of individuals from a small foreign faction“. Foreign? Faction? Who calls themselves a foreign faction?

C. Patsy had been up an hour before calling police.

D. The writer states to not respect Ramsey’s business, but not his country then changes the message by striking out “don’t” to reflect a friendlier tone.

E. The asking sum of $118,000.00 is a bizarre number. Some examiners equate it to a similar salary bonus amount John Ramsey recently collected but how would a foreigner know if it’s even in his bank account never mind how much?

F. Calling “tomorrow between 8 and 10 am” indicates the note was written before midnight on December 25th.

G. “The delivery will be exhausting so I advise you to be well rested” indicates someone thinking about a lack of sleep before the event is exposed.

H. “And hence” is a unique phrase that’s rarely used except in very formal correspondence or in biblical phrases.

I. There are obvious misspellings in common words like “possession” and “business” while more easily erred words such as “adequate”, “attache (with the accent)”, “deceive”, “deviation”, and “scrutiny”. Otherwise, the writer uses proper punctuation, grammar, and sentence structure which indicates an attempt at disguise by a person with a fair degree of education.

J. The use of exclamation points in only the opening and closing is not realistic of a desperate person’s threat. You’d expect emphasis being put on the instructions to get money and threats to retaliate.

K. “Beheaded” and “stray dog” indicate a feint towards some sort of middle-eastern ethnic decoy.

L. “Proper burial” is indicative of someone who knew what JonBenet’s final disposal would be. Burial was the accepted practice in the Ramsays’ religious faith, rather than cremation.

M. The phrase “two gentlemen watching over” stands right out. “Gentlemen” being a term used in a ransom note? Totally unrealistic. And “watching over” is another term like “and hence” where it doesn’t remotely resemble normal speech, rather it reflects a biblical overtone where “God watches over”.

N. “I advise you not to provoke them” and “I advise you to be rested” are passive statements and reflect a feminine touch.

O. Four times the writer uses the phrase “she dies.” If JonBenet was still alive when the note was written, the author would likely use the term “she will die”. This indicates the writer knew JonBenet was already dead.

P. The note’s address changes from “Mr. Ramsey” being used once to “John” being repeated three times. This is far too familiar for an unknown kidnapper and strongly indicates the writer knew John Ramsey personally.

Q. The closing terms “Victory!” and “S.B.T.C” appear cryptic and of some personal, religious significance to the writer.

A principle behind the science of statement analysis is that truthful people rarely use synonyms. They remain consistent in language whereas deceitful people change language and weave in synonyms to distract. Another principle is that people expose their psychological profile in their writing.

So what does the JonBenet Ramsay note say about the author?

It’s clearly a deceitful attempt to distort the facts, using unrealistic, bizarre, and unbelievable demands to shift attention from the reality of the situation. It’s apparently written by a woman of higher education, with a religious background, familiar with John Ramsey, who can’t bear to bring JonBenet’s name into the equation, yet cryptically reveals a personal message.

It’s written in characters that can’t be eliminated from Patsy Ramsey’s known handwriting and it was written with a Sharpie pen and foolscap paper found in her home—the home in which JonBenet was murdered and who’s body was stashed on the cold basement floor.

Patsy Ramsey denied culpability until her death but denials are cheaper than a thrift store suit. A look at her psychological profile is telling.

Patsy Ramsay was a beauty queen, herself—crowned Miss West Virginia in 1977. She graduated from university with a B.A. in journalism and was a devout member of the Episcopalian church and a wealthy socialite in her community. Perversely, she flaunted an air of modest integrity while flogging every chance to sexually exploit her six-year-old daughter in front of every pageant and camera she could find.

Patsy Ramsey was an educated, articulate, and calculating woman. She was also very religious.

It’s in the Bible where the key to the ransom note’s lock is hidden.

A. The terms “watching over” and “and hence” are consistent with a religious mindset and they are known to be used in the Ramsey family Christmas message which Patsy wrote the year after JonBenet’s death.

B. The numeric figure “118” is highly revealing and it fits with a notable Bible passage recognized by the Episcopalian faith. It’s found in Corinthians 1:18.

C. “For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

D. Significant are the note’s closings—“Victory!” and “S.B.T.C”. Victory is well established as a Christian slogan which refers to Christ’s triumph by rising from the dead and symbolizing the triumph of good over evil and the forgiveness and everlasting salvation of a soul from sin. “S.B.T.C” is the well-known acronym for “Saved By The Cross.”

E. The “Victory” reference is also revealed in 1 Corinthians 15:51-57.

F. “Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable must be put on the imperishable, and this mortal must be put on immortality… then will come about the saying that is written “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY. O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

In my opinion, there’s a convincing case made that Patsy Ramsay was the author of the ransom note and, therefore, the person who really murdered JonBenet.

It’s also likely that John Ramsey had some knowledge and was covering up for his wife. He’d already had a previous daughter die—now a second—and he couldn’t bear to lose the rest of the family. Only he will know.

But this still leaves the question of why Patsy Ramsey killed her daughter? What were the horrific circumstances that led to such a senseless, barbaric crime?

I think the best theory is offered by Steve Thomas who is the original Boulder detective who investigated the case and wrote the book JonBenet—Inside The Ramsey Murder Investigation.

Detective Thomas postulates that Patsy and John Ramsey returned to their home around 10 pm Christmas Day after a social event. Patsy checked on JonBenet and found she’d been bed-wetting again. At the time, Patsy was already on emotional overload—about to pop a breaker. She was under severe psychological stress with heavy socialite commitments, seasonal depression, struggling to face her fortieth birthday, keeping the perfect face, and… who knows what all else.

With temper stretched, Patsy severely admonished JonBenet for the urinary mess and likely did an aggressive wiping simulation on her daughter’s crotch, accounting for the “abrasion and vascular congestion of vaginal mucosa”. This escalated to a violent event where JonBenet’s head was smashed into a hard, blunt surface such as a doorframe or piece of furniture which rendered her unconscious with a potentially lethal brain injury.

Possibly thinking JonBenet was dead and probably panicking, Patsy went into damage control which may have involved John Ramsey at this point. It’s inconceivable to think he didn’t know or at least suspect something.

Somewhere during the next hour to an hour-and-a-half, JonBenet was finished off with a garrote fashioned from available materials, her body was moved, and the stage was set to simulate a ritualistic killing. A plan was then devised to deceive the authorities by way of a concocted ransom note which contained a cryptic justification with some hope of divine reconciliation.

But what’s really evident to me—why I truly believe both Patricia and John Ramsey were culpable in JonBenet’s murder—is the date on the inscription they jointly approved for the headstone on their daughter’s grave.

They knew she was dead before midnight.