Profiling JonBenét Ramsey

Profiling JonBenét Ramsey's Murder BY Gregg McCrary share Comments

The Single-Scene Profile

JonBen�t Ramsey

Many people believe that in order to be accurate or helpful, behavioral profiling of criminal incidents requires more than a single crime scene, but that's not necessarily true. Obviously, the more behavior one has to work with, the more material there is for deriving an interpretation and for having one's interpretations confirmed, but a single crime scene can yield just as much information about an offender as a series. Thus, the murder of JonBen�t Ramsey, apparently a one-time incident, can be profiled in a way similar to how we view multiple crimes linked to a single offender. In any crime, we have just as much behavioral evidence to work with as the offender leaves behind, and in this case, there was quite a lot. With such incidents, we consider the time of day the crime occurred, the type of crime it was, the type of weapon used, whether it was high risk for the victim or high risk for the perpetrator, how it was accomplished, and whether there was evidence of mental illness or fantasy rituals. In addition, the offender might have left trace evidence behind or taken items away, any of which can help us to judge his or her comfort level with that type of crime, and his or her degree of criminal sophistication. In addition, we can take an educated guess about the offender's motivation, his or her experience with other types of crimes, and his or her possible level of education and type of work, was well as age and race. Some of these items are trickier than others, so we're always careful to alert the local law enforcement who use a profile not to exclude suspects based on criteria about which we're less certain. While we're at a disadvantage with a single-scene incident, because it's difficult to examine such aspects as escalation, the amount of time that has passed between crimes, and whether there's a

clear preference or signature that transfers from one incident to the next, we can nevertheless make a useful list from items that we discover at the scene. The story on Crime Library has laid out the facts and subsequent events, so we'll describe only those items about the crime and the victim that we need for a profile. �

The Crime Scene It was the day after Christmas, December 26, 1996, at 5:52 in the morning, when JonBen�t's mother, Patricia "Patsy" Ramsey, placed a 911 call. Her daughter had been kidnapped, she shouted, and there was a ransom note. In response to questions, she read part of the note and tried to make out who it was from. She insisted she needed help immediately.

Patricia "Patsy" Ramsey

The Boulder police sent over Officer Rick French to the scene at 755 15 th Street shortly after 6:00 A.M Patsy Ramsey met him at the door. She was clearly upset, although her husband, John, seemed calmer and more in control. They had another child in the home, nine-year-old Burke, who was still in bed.

JonBen�t Ramsey with Brother Burke

According to Patsy, she had gone into JonBen�t's second-floor bedroom to wake her and prepare her for a planned trip and found her bed empty. Patsy went down a back staircase to the first floor, and on a lower step she found a three-page note, written in black felt-tip pen on white, lined legal paper and laid out with the pages alongside one another. She picked them up and started to read them, realizing at once it was a note about JonBen�t. Directed to her husband, "Mr. Ramsey," the note demanded certain conditions, including that he not call the police and that he prepare to pay $118,000. Then a patrol supervisor, Paul Reichenbach, arrived, as did four of the Ramseys' friends. The Whites had seen them the night before in their own home, for a Christmas dinner.

John Ramsey

A crime-scene evidence team was called in and a trace put on the phone line for incoming calls. Reichenbach walked through the house, looking in each room. There were no signs of forced entry, although one friend, Fleet White, went on his own into the basement and did a cursory inspection; he noticed a broken window. John Ramsey said that he'd broken it a few months before when he'd

forgotten his key and had not yet fixed it. More people arrived, including a minister, and Burke was removed to another location.

Basement Window

Crime Scene (cont.) From the moment the police arrived, the crime scene was compromised because the house was not secured. The note had been moved and the Ramseys' friends had been allowed to walk around freely. No scent dog from the K-9 unit was utilized, and several different people touched crucial pieces of evidence.

Outside the Ramsey Home

John Ramsey called his attorney to discuss the ransom money. The deadline for the kidnappers' call came and went without any communication. No one seemed to know quite what to do. During questioning, Patsy seemed to be confused as to whether she had gone to JonBen�t's room first or found the note first. By noon, most of the official personnel had left, except for one detective, Linda Arndt, but seven civilians were in the home. No one had yet really searched the house, so the detective directed John Ramsey to take a friend with him to do so, to see if they could find something that had belonged to the missing child. At 1:00 P.M., he and another man began to go through the house. They started in the basement, spotting a suitcase near the broken window and wondering if an intruder had put it there.

Suitase Found in Basement

Around 1:20, Ramsey opened the door of a dark room, the so-called wine cellar, and discovered his daughter's body on the floor. She lay on her back, her arms bound over her head with a cord, another cord wrapped around her neck, and her torso wrapped in a white blanket. A piece of black duct tape was over her mouth. Although she was dressed, close by lay her favorite pink nightgown.

Blanket in which body was wrapped.

John Ramsey immediately ripped off the duct tape, removed the blanket, and tried to take off the binding. Then he carried the body of his daughter upstairs. The dead child was laid out and covered with a blanket. She was in a full state of rigor mortis, although there was no expert around to give a proper assessment of its progress. Because of the holiday, the coroner, Dr. John Meyer, did not arrive for over six hours. At 8:00 that evening, he examined the body and had it moved to the morgue.

The Autopsy

Dr. John Meyer MD

On the morning of December 27, Meyer found chunks of pineapple in JonBen�t's upper digestive tract. During the autopsy, Meyer was unable to definitively establish the time of death. He removed a ligature from her right wrist and from around her neck, tightened with the help of a short stick. An abrasion was on her right cheek, and another on the left side of her neck, and others on the right shoulder and left lower leg. A ligature bruise was on her right wrist. There were also dotted pattern injuries to her cheek and torso. A spot of blood was inside her panties and around her vagina. There were petechial hemorrhages on her eyelids, lungs, and neck. In addition, there was a large hemorrhage on the right side of her skull, over an eight-inch fracture and a bruising of the brain.

Garrote used to Strangle JonBen�t.

The cause of death was determined to be asphyxiation by strangulation, and there had been trauma to the vaginal tissues. She had also suffered blunt force trauma to the head, after strangulation.

Items of Evidence Physical evidence in this case consisted of: 

the ransom note and practice note

First Page of Ransom Note

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a bowl of pineapple in kitchen, with Patsy's and Burke's fingerprints two tablets of lined white paper from in the house, with a page of "practice" writing Sharpie pens that proved to have been used in the writing of the note and practice note, placed back where they belonged in a kitchen container handwriting exemplars from John and Patsy Ramsey duct tape and bindings from the victim a blanket used on victim and nightgown the wooden stick used on the garrote, broken off Patsy's paintbrush set in the basement, near the wine cellar JonBen�t's clothing, including the shirt she'd worn to bed, found in her bathroom, and the shirt she had worn that evening put back on her the broken basement window a scuff mark on the basement wall below the broken window the suitcase placed beneath the broken window an open cabinet near the victim's room with a package of diapers pulled out the room where the body was discovered the autopsy results injuries to the victim foreign DNA under the victim's fingernails and in her underwear boot print not matching any family member's footware in wine cellar golf club found in the yard, with a blond hair on it

Other Items Found 

Other items specific to behavioral analysis include:

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The incident occurred at night and on a holiday The incident occurred in the victim's home The victim had been covered with a blanket The victim had been sexually violated The victim was both strangled and bludgeoned, with the bludgeoning occurring afterward An unused nightgown lay near the victim's body The victim was last seen in her second-floor bedroom in a large, four-story house The other three members of the family had reported hearing nothing The stick used for the garrote had been grabbed from a nearby box, not brought to the scene Knowledge that the window was broken (if that was the point of access) because it was covered by a grate No sign of forced entry (even at this broken window), no footprints in melting snow outside Pattern injuries on the body resembling those from a stun gun

Injuries on the body resembling those of a stun gun.

       

The wine cellar is a difficult room to find so, familiarity with house layout Seemingly disguised printing for the ransom note Practice note, and possibly the start of a second practice note Language of the ransom note Practicing and writing the note inside the home, with materials found there Leaving a note although victim is dead and left inside home to be found Statements given by the parents/the 911 call Behavior of the parents during investigation immediate representation by attorneys, the decision to first search the basement, the father's ability to see a child's body in the dark when another searcher had not, the removal of a number of items from JonBenet's room and clothing from the home

The Ransom Note The ransom note became one of the most crucial pieces of evidence. It proved to have been written on a tablet in the Ramsey home, with a pen from inside the home that was replaced back in its container, with evidence of making a few false starts. Those pages were found on the tablet that Patsy normally used. The note said: Mr. Ramsey,

"Listen Carefully! We are a group of individuals that represent a small foreign faction. We dorespect 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 earlier delivery 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 outsmart 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"

Victimology The Ramseys had moved from Georgia to Boulder, Colorado, five years earlier, after JonBen�t was one year old, moving into a large brick house in a quiet area. It was a four-story Tudor style house, approximately 5,000 square feet, with their additions. There were two staircases to the second floor (the closest to JonBen�t's room was a spiral staircase), and the master bedroom was on the third floor, while JonBen�t's had been on the second. There was no intercom system. The home had recently been part of an open house tour in the area to benefit a charity, and the Ramseys employed housekeepers.

JonBen�t Ramsey

JonBen�t was home-schooled and attended a church pre-school. She traveled widely, spending summers in Michigan where she participated in a variety of sports. Her mother dyed her dirty blond hair platinum for her participation in beauty pageants. She started these when she was four, with Little Miss America. She quickly won a local title, and she was reportedly a free spirit as well, with an extensive vocabulary for a child. Her mother bought expensive lessons for her to improve on stage, but not a specific trainer, and JonBen�t appeared to throw herself into doing her best. She enjoyed the costumes and was described as a "natural." Her mother said she loved the shows and begged to be allowed to do them. It was a Southern tradition, teaching young girl's poise, confidence, and manners.

Patsy & John Ramsey

Patsy Ramsey, 39, had long kept a bedroom next to JonBen�t's, as she suffered through chemotherapy for ovarian cancer, but by the time of the incident had returned to the master bedroom upstairs. Patsy had been involved in the world of beauty pageants herself, as had her sister, both of them winning state titles and competing for the Miss America title. She was the second wife of John Ramsey, 53, and they'd been married 16 years. With him, she had two children.

Victimology (cont.)

Patsy & John Ramsey

John Ramsey was a successful and wealthy CEO, running a computer distribution company. A pilot and former military man, he was controlled and stoic throughout the investigation. He did not make much effort that officers observed to hold and reassure his wife. In fact, they made little eye contact and often remained in separate rooms. He retained a lawyer, at his attorney's suggestion, as soon as the police asked for an interview at the station. He'd already experienced the loss of a twenty-twoyear-old daughter in an auto accident in 1992, and was the father of two other adult children, who'd been away from the house at the time. The neighborhood and town where the Ramseys lived was an affluent, low-crime area, populated by luxury homes and estates. John Ramsey had not even bothered to fix the window he'd broken to get into the house when he'd forgotten his key. During Christmas day, before the murder occurred, the family spent the morning opening gifts. They were also packing in preparation to fly to their vacation home in Michigan before going to Florida. They went to a friend's house for dinner, leaving there around 8:30 in the evening. They made two stops along the way home, to drop off gifts at other friends' homes, arriving in their own home around 9:00. JonBen�t fell asleep in the car and was carried to bed. Patsy prepared her and tucked her in, and at no time did JonBen�t awaken. The parents went to bed and reportedly heard nothing during the night. They retired late and were going to rise early to leave on a private plane.

Profile The first two stages of a criminal investigation are to determine whether or not a crime or crimes have been committed and if so, accurately determine what the crime(s) are. In this case, the initial appearance was that of a kidnapping for ransom, but there was a seismic shift a few hours into the investigation, when the victim's body was recovered in the house from which she had allegedly been abducted.

JonBen�t Ramsey

The process of criminal investigative analysis involves analyzing all of the physical and behavioral evidence, including all of the choices an offender makes before, during and after a crime. In a homicide, these choices include selecting a victim, choosing the method and manner of death, deciding what, if anything, to do with the body and whether or not to "stage" the crime. Staging occurs when an offender alters the crime and/or crime scene to obfuscate his involvement by presenting false motive(s) to mislead investigators. Of all of the choices that an offender makes, arguably some of the most important are choosing to do things that are otherwise unnecessary. Apparently unnecessary choices are as important to analyze as they are necessary to a particular offender, and thus may help distinguish him from other potential suspects. Every meaningful crime analysis begins with victimology a study of the victim. The purpose of victimology is to accurately place an individual on a risk continuum from low to moderate to high, based on an analysis of the individual's lifestyle and the situational and contextual variables present at the time of the crime.

Profile (cont.)

JonBen�t Ramsey

JonBenet was a 6-year-old female at home with her parents and older brother, Burke, in an affluent neighborhood, allegedly asleep in her bed. This environment put her at a very low risk for encountering a violence-prone stranger. The single variable that increased her potential risk for encountering a violence-prone stranger was her participation in beauty pageants, which increased

her visibility and brought her into contact with many strangers. She stood out as she won awards and charmed audiences. Among the awards were the Colorado State All-Star Kids Pageant at age 4, the division title in America's Royale Tiny Miss contest at age 5 and Colorado's Little Miss Christmas award on December 17, 1996, just eight days before her murder. It is possible that these public exposures may have drawn the unwanted attention of a child molester attending the pageants. It's the sort of place a child molester might go to scope out children. However, most child molesters are known to their victims and, instead of resorting to violence, they prefer using attention, affection and gifts to "seduce" a child over time. There do exist stranger-based child molesters who abduct and rape children, but they are far less common. They typically snatch quickly and then transport the child to an area that they perceive to be safe for them to molest and/or murder the child. Any stranger entering the Ramsey home with the intent of doing harm would be at an elevated risk for detection, and the longer one spent inside the home, the greater the risk.

The Crime Scene: Discussion and Analysis The offender wrote a 3-page ransom note demanding $118,000 for the safe return of JonBen�t. The note was unusual not only for its length, but for a number of other issues. It was written inside the Ramsey home using a pad of paper and a pen from the home. The offender also had apparently started writing a "practice" ransom note on that same pad with that same pen. Most demand notes are written in advance in an area controlled by the offender, not at the site of the kidnapping, as this one was. The opening paragraph included the misspellings of the words "business" and "possession" as "bussiness" and "posession" respectively. Everything else is spelled correctly, including the relatively difficult words "attach�," "countermeasures" and "deviation." The author also stated that he, she, or they represented "a small foreign faction," but no faction is foreign to itself and would be unlikely to refer to itself with this adjective. Secondly, most kidnappers, even single offenders, prefer to project themselves as being large, powerful, and ominous in order to intimidate their targeted victims. In this case, the writer characterized the group as small. The writer also stated that Mr. Ramsey would be "...scanned for electronic devices..." This implies a face-to-face meeting between John Ramsey and the abductors. Real kidnappers typically avoid that type of high-risk situation, insisting on a "dead drop," not a meet.

Sindey Reso, Kidknapping Victim

The author projected a deferential tone toward John Ramsey and his business, referring to him initially as Mr. Ramsey and deliberately stating that he respected John Ramsey's business, "...but not the country it serves," as though Ramsey's business were a patriotic endeavor. Later in the note, the author dropped the formality and addressed him more familiarly as "John." Also of note is the demand for $118,000. This is an odd and paltry sum as ransom demands go. Such demands are typically for large round sums of money. For example, the kidnappers of Sidney Reso, president of Exxon International, demanded $18,000,000 for his safe return. Much has been written about the coincidence of the $118,000 demanded by the "kidnappers" being the same amount as John Ramsey's bonus that year.

Discussion and Analysis (cont.) Once finished concocting the demand note, the offender allegedly placed it on the back spiral staircase of the Ramsey home. Assuming the offender's goal was to have the note discovered so that the Ramseys could meet his financial demand, placing it on the back spiral staircase seems illogical unless one knew that the Ramseys routinely used that back staircase. Then the placement makes perfect sense. While we know that the note was written in the Ramsey residence, there is an issue of when the offender wrote it. If the offender wrote the note before the murder, then a financially motivated abduction has to be considered as a distinct possibility. If it were written after the murder, then the note clearly would be an element of staging, i.e. a false motive to misdirect the investigation. Arguably, the most incongruous and potentially revealing decision that the offender made was to leave both the note and JonBen�t's body inside the Ramseys' house. Any chance for obtaining the ransom money hinged on the offender being able to credibly guarantee JonBen�t's safety. Once her body was discovered, which it inevitably would be, no ransom would be paid and the note would be nothing other than potential physical evidence linking the author to the murder, as well as a behavioral clue that suggested an attempt to stage JonBen�t's murder as a kidnapping.

Wine Cellar in which JonBen�t's Body was Found

Where and how the offender chose to leave JonBen�t's body is significant. He could remove it from the house, thereby increasing the chance that his demand for money would be met. But the offender chose to leave the body in the house, and not just anywhere in the house. He chose to conceal it in an obscure room in the basement that the Ramseys referred to as a wine cellar, a windowless brick room inside the boiler room. The police were unable to find this room when they searched the house during the day. The chances of a stranger, unfamiliar with the house, being able to find this room inside another in the dead of night are remote. But even as he supposedly selected such a room, he then laid the body on the floor instead of further concealing it in a corner or behind something, so it appears that he was ambivalent about wanting it found. This might suggest a staged kidnapping, placing the body where it would not be found quickly but would nevertheless be found before it had decomposed too much.

Discussion and Analysis (cont)

Gregg McCrary, former FBI Profiler and Author

It is important to note not only where the offender left the body but also how he left it. The offender wrapped JonBen�t's body in a white blanket "papoose style" or, as John Ramsey stated, "...as if somebody were tucking her in..." and her favorite pink nightgown was laid next to the body. Further, Linda Haufman-Pugh, the Ramseys' housekeeper, believed the white blanket and possibly the pink nightgown had been in a washer or dryer that was built into a cabinet. It is difficult to imagine that a stranger would know which nightgown was JonBen�t's favorite and then spend time rummaging

through the house in the dead of night looking for it so they could leave it next to the body. The careful wrapping of the body also suggests caring and concern for the victim. Collectively, these behaviors exhibited by the offender suggest a pre-existing relationship with the victim. The duct tape found over JonBen�t's mouth could be interpreted as an attempt to silence her during an abduction. If that were true then, in all probability, the offender would have forced her from the house immediately; however, we know that this did not happen. The binding tied around her right wrist was so loose it easily slipped off. The duct tape, like the cord, are best considered additional elements of staging, designed to mislead investigators into thinking that there was an attempted abduction. The offender spent a significant amount of time inside the Ramsey house writing the note, committing the murder with items from the house, engaging in post mortem activity with the body, placing it in a hidden room, wrapping it in a white blanket from the house, and placing a pink nightgown next to the body. Not only did the police not discover JonBen�t's body during their search, they never even located the room within the room in which the body was placed.

Discussion and Analysis (cont)

JonBen�t's Ramsey

Around 1:00 P.M. that afternoon, the detective in charge suggested that John Ramsey and his friend Fleet White look around the house. John proceeded directly for the white door at the far end of the basement that went into the boiler room, leading to the room where the body was placed. Fleet White had checked that door earlier and found nothing, as it was too dark. Reportedly, when John Ramsey opened the door, he began screaming. He picked up the body and carried it upstairs, thereby disrupting and contaminating the body and body recovery site. Once upstairs, the body was further contaminated when the detective moved it and as Patsy Ramsey fell across it, increasing the potential for hair and fiber transfer. A sweatshirt had also been laid over JonBen�t's feet and further damaged the evidence collection process. Of interest is that JonBen�t was still dressed in the clothing she had worn the day before, as was Patsy.

The autopsy determined that the cause of death was asphyxia by strangulation, associated with craniocerebral trauma. She had been strangled with a sophisticated garrote that used part of a broken paintbrush from Patsy Ramsey's paintbrush collection. Fragmented pieces of pineapple were found in the small intestine. Based on the condition of the recovered pineapple, experts estimated that JonBen�t had eaten within hours of her death. The parents denied that JonBen�t had any pineapple when she was home and apparently none was served at the party they had attended earlier that evening. However, crime scene photographs taken the day the body was recovered show a bowl with pineapple in it next to a glass with a tea-bag in the kitchen. Patsy Ramsey's fingerprints were found on the bowl and Burke's fingerprints were recovered from the bowl and the glass. No DNA testing was done on any of these items.

Discussion and Analysis (conclusion) The autopsy further revealed no sexual assault, yet there was minor vaginal trauma. This would suggest a sexual motive for the crime, just as the demand note suggested a financial motive. Sexual assault seemed an unlikely motive as (1) she was not sexually assaulted, and (2) strangers who do so typically abduct the child to a place where it is safe for the offender to assault the child. It is so uncommon to attempt to sexually assault a child in her residence, with her parents and brother nearby, as to be improbable.

JonBen�t's Ramsey's Grave

Equivocal evidence include weak traces of male DNA in JonBen�t's panties and disputed stun gun marks. The DNA found contained only 10 of 13 markers used for identification and was not from blood or semen. Therefore it may have come from any male who handled the items, or coughed or sneezed around them. DNA detection is now so discriminating that it can be found virtually anywhere. It is possible to find unknown DNA on brand new clothing, including underwear. This unknown male DNA profile is currently in the FBI CODIS system where it is checked weekly against all new existing DNA samples. Over ten years later, it has yet to be matched to anyone. It could well be artifact.

Whether some marks found on JonBen�t's body are consistent with the use of a stun gun is another equivocal issue upon which experts disagree. Certainly it would be unusual for a parent to use a stun gun and might suggest a stranger. Yet a stranger who was so unsure of his ability to control a six-year-old girl that he had to bring a stun gun is unlikely to be engaged in constructing elaborate devices such as the garrote used in this case. Other items that suggested a stranger early in the investigation, such as an unidentified finger- and boot print, have been resolved. The print belonged to a distant family member and it turned out that Burke did own a type of boot that was consistent with the impression in the basement.

John Mark Karr

Ten years after the homicide, investigators focused on a 41-year-old school teacher living in Bangkok named John Mark Karr. When this happened, Karr admitted to the media, "I was with JonBen�t when she died" and "I am so very sorry for what happened to JonBen�t. It's very important for me that everyone knows that I love her very much, that her death was unintentional, that it was an accident." He was lying.

Polly Klaas

No doubt Karr was obsessed with JonBen�t's murder, as he had been with the abduction, rape and murder of Polly Klass in Petaluma, California, where he once lived. Karr wrote to Richard Allen Davis, her killer. In 2002, he was arrested for the possession of child pornography and fled overseas. He e-mailed Michael Tracey in Boulder, who made several documentaries regarding the Ramsey Case. Karr told Dr. Tracey, among other things, that he was a child killer who was wanted in four states for child abuse and child murder. He told others that he was writing a book about men who kill children. He appears to romanticize violence against children and admittedly aspires to be the "most wanted killer in history." He may have fantasized about murdering JonBen�t, but he did not do it. What Karr accomplished was being forever connected to her murder. He is probably well pleased.

Richard Allen Davis

In conclusion, the totality of the evidence is more consistent with an offender known to JonBen�t — one who was comfortable in and familiar with the layout of the house — than it is with a stranger.