<BR>RANSOM NOTE<P>Smit's argument: The author is a vicious, brutal person. The note was written before -- not after --<BR>the killing and is written in a calm, deliberate manner. <P>Violent references: The letter makes frequent allusions to death and violence. It threatens<BR>"immediate execution" of JonBenet. The family is threatened with being denied her remains for burial. There are four consecutive<BR>threats ending with "she dies." <P>Timing: There's a reference to calling between 8 and 10 "tomorrow morning." To Smit, this suggests the letter was written<BR>before midnight, before JonBenet's killing. <P>Face value: Smit believes the letter should be considered at face value. It's appears to be a kidnapping and ransom letter.<BR>"Don't try to change it from a kidnapping and ransom just to fit any particular idea you have." In addition, the letter mentions two<BR>"gentlemen" watching over JonBenet. Smit says the possibility of two people involved shouldn't be dismissed. <P>Language and state of mind: The letter begins: "Mr. Ramsey, listen carefully, we are a small foreign faction. We respect your<BR>business, but not the country it serves." Smit said, "Picture a mother and father writing that right after they've mutilated their<BR>daughter." Smit also cites the phrase that says the letter-writer is aware of law enforcement "countermeasures and tactics." Smit<BR>can't picture Patsy using such words. <P>Familiar references: The letter incorporates references some interpret as information only the<BR>Ramseys should know. One is the ransom amount -- $118,000 -- which was the net amount of<BR>John Ramsey's most recent bonus. Smit agrees the $118,000 may have meaning, but not only for<BR>the Ramseys. For example, earlier that year a disgruntled former employee of Ramsey's company<BR>claimed it owed him close to $118,000. Three other employees of Ramsey's company knew the<BR>amount of Ramsey's bonus. And two employees owed the firm $18,000. Smit also believes it's<BR>significant the writer asked for $100,000 in $100 bills and the remaining $18,000 in $20 bills.<BR>Maybe this person wanted to bank $100,000 and spend $18,000, he said. Also, just as it's<BR>questionable why an intruder would use the $118,000 figure, it's equally questionable why Patsy<BR>Ramsey, if trying to stage a murder, would use it. Why not a round figure? Smit asks. The letter is<BR>signed using the acronym SBTC. Police wondered if that was a reference to Subic Bay, a training<BR>center where John Ramsey spent time during his naval career, though no one in the Navy apparently<BR>used that acronym to describe the place. Smit doesn't know what the acronym means but is aware<BR>of other places where its use has appeared, including a sign at a protest demonstration with SBTC<BR>spelled out vertically. Horizontally, it reads: Stop/Bombing/Third world/Countries. <P>References to popular movies: Language in the ransom note reflects that in several popular<BR>movies. The movie Ransom was playing in Boulder during December 1996, the month of JonBenet's<BR>death. It is the story of a child taken hostage for money. In addition, Smit said, there are references<BR>in the ransom note that echo lines in similar movies, such as Dirty Harry, Speed, Nick of Time and<BR>Ruthless People. The Ramseys didn't have such movies in their home, and hadn't seen those<BR>movies, Smit said. <P>BPD: Police and a police-hired expert in use of language, Don Foster, said the $118,000 has<BR>two other possible connections to the Ramseys. The Ramseys' home computer showed a net<BR>liabilities figure of $1,118,000 and Patsy referred to Psalm 118 in some of her writings. They point<BR>out that the ransom note and a Ramsey Christmas letter both used the phrase "and hence," and that<BR>SBTC could be the first four letters of four verses in the Bible, if the verses were read in reverse<BR>order. Police said John Ramsey's Bible was found opened at Psalms 35 and 36, which contain the<BR>verses.