Below is a quote from Signature Killers by Robert D. Keppel, Ph.D. PB, pg: 103, concerning a ligature strangulation case that is a good example of why I believe the offender in the Ramsey case did not fly into a murderous rage in the basement, but stayed calm and controlled throughout.

Police entered the home of Debbie Dudley Davis and found her murdered on the bed with a black sock around her neck. Tied into the sock ligature was a length of vacuum cleaner pipe:

"Dr. David Wieking, the chief medical examiner of Richmond, determined that the cause of Davis' death was ligature strangulation which had been applied with 'very extreme pressure.' The ligature, when tightened down and 'twisted two or three times' with the vacuum cleaner pipe, had cut 'into the larnyx, the voice box, and the muscles on the side of the neck.'"

Now, this kind of damage was done with a sock. Can you imagine what would have happened on a small child with a 1/4" cord with that much pressure applied? As horrible as the Ramsey crime is, the autopsy report reflects that there wasn't any hemorraghing in the neck muscles, the skin was not cut into, much less the muscles, voice box, and larnyx. The strangulation appears to be controlled.

The head blow was one, powerful, precise, and controlled blow, not repeated blows as if the offender lost control.