This may seem strange, but I've always considered the blow to the head to be a mercy blow.

I'm assuming that it came last. It certainly wasn't necessary to kill the child. Unless he wanted to kill her twice.

I can't imagine a much worse death than strangulation. If that were happening to me, I'd consider being knocked out a sick favor.

I feel very strongly that JonBenet's killer was incapable of mercy.

My best guess is the following or a similar sequence, based on inference and what seem to be the facts known:
-that JonBenet regained consciousness when the garotte was slightly loosened once again,
-she screamed (hello Melanie) with all her might and the pent-up air in her lungs,
-the killer struck her hard on the head in a panic to silence her,
-the killer then quickly pulled the garotte very, very tight,
-then he tossed her body down in the windowless room, folding the white blanket over her, but incompletely,
-he closed the door and latched it,
-he carried the baseball bat with him up the stairs from the basement to attack or kill other family members in case the scream was heard by someone in the house,
-ran out the door on the North side,
-then possibly paused for an instant to see if any lights came on in the house or neighboring houses,
-then tossed the metal bat aside, causing the metal-on-concrete sound heard by Luther Stanton,
-then ...

IF the marks above and below the ligature (still in place at autopsy) were from JonBenét's nails scratching her own neck while she fought to remove the strangling, painful cord, it would seem to me that at least for SOME part of the strangulation activity, she was conscious. There are indications that the cord may have been relaxed and then tightened again. If that is true, then she may have struggled with the cord at the first tightening, received the hit to the head, went unconscious for the final tightening.

For the head blow, then, to be considered a 'mercy blow', I'd have to ask "when" was mercy excercised? It certainly wasn't during the sexual assault, nor during some part of the strangulation.

But, you have a good point ... WHEN and WHY was the head blow executed?

Consider the dna. We all wonder what substance(s) provided the dna, but of all the suggestions made, no one has ever seriously thought it was the intruder's tears.

One look at the deeply embedded ligature and the word 'mercy' is simply out of place.

I do not know if it was 'one mighty yank' of the paintbrush handle but I would tend to doubt that it was. I would think instead that it was repeated relaxation and tightening of the cord over a prolonged period of time. You don't do that and then deliver some sort of 'coup d'grace'.

>it would seem to me that at least for SOME part of the
>strangulation activity, she was conscious.
Probably for most of it. I think she bled so little mainly because there was very little blood left in the brain.

>WHEN and WHY was the head blow executed?
At the very end and solely to make doubly sure.
Sort of like plunging the knife AND twisting it!

There is also the very real possibility the ligature was only tightened one time. The red-brown large abrasion on JonBenet's neck was most likely caused by the ligature riding up the neck--thus--causinh the second ligature impression.

Rainsong

I disagree - - there are two very distinct lines going around her neck - evidence the garotte was tightened, loosened, rode up and was tightened again.

Maybe the blow to the head was for the mercy of the killer, not JonBenet.

Most of you seem to think he hit her with an object. I feel that he may have slammed her head against the concrete as he was strangling her.*(

>Most of you seem to think he hit her with an object. I feel
>that he may have slammed her head against the concrete as he
>was strangling her.*(

Perhaps if he grabbed her by the ankles and swung her with all his might into the concrete. This is a high velocity injury...like being dropped on the head from several stories high or an automobile accident.

Ligatures riding up the throats of victims happen all the time. Sure, loosening and tightening of a ligature around her neck fits a profile of a 'sadistic' killer, but I don't think this killer fits that category. In terms of choice of victim, yes, but not in the actual kill.

Rainsong

Everything seems to indicate that something caused the perp to lash out--if not a scream, then JBR's struggling. There's been other crimes where there's been strangulation, and a blow to the head---the blow to the head being the final act of violence...even a pedophile in Switzerland I believe that inserted foreign objects---he claimed it was because something the child did angered him. Based on what we know about the crime scene, the first part of the kidnapping was accomplished, but things seem to have unravelled in the basement.

I just can't imagine what type of person could do this type of brutality. In the end, the violence was directed at JBR---I don't think JR was even in the perp's mind at that point.

Maikai posted:

"...I just can't imagine what type of person could do this type
of brutality. In the end, the violence was directed at
JBR---..."

Well said, Maikai. I think you have expressed what is so true for many of us - not being able to imagine what type of person could do this type of brutality.

>Ligatures riding up the throats of victims happen all the
>time. Sure, loosening and tightening of a ligature around
>her neck fits a profile of a 'sadistic' killer, but I don't
>think this killer fits that category. In terms of choice of
>victim, yes, but not in the actual kill.

>Rainsong

I don't have a theory on the dynamics of the strangulation, but I certainly agree with you that this crime does not fit a pattern of a sexual sadist.

Concerning 'slammed into concrete': I do not think that is correct. The blow seems too forceful for mere slamming.

Concerning: 'slow' or 'fast': I would agree that there is insufficient evidence to be certain, however, given the brutality and cowardice as well as considering the 'fun' involving the note, I feel it is proper to conclude that the most probable choice is 'slow'. Real slow!

As to 'imagining' what was done: that precisely is what he wants to happen. In the wee hours of the morning, even to this day, even when it is involuntary, he wants the Ramseys to imagine what was done.

I just can't understand why someone would take all that time to write the note, in the way it was written, just to fly into a rage and kill the victim and then take the time to place her in the windowless room.

I think DonBradley made a good point awhile back when he said the garotte was a planned element from the start, but the offender didn't want to be caught with it if he were discovered earlier in the crime. If that is so, it would explain what appears to be a sudden impulse in the basement. We know there was debris from the window well in the windowless room, so it looks to me like the offender passed right by that paintbrush tote before the Ramseys even came home that night.

I honestly do not believe the blow to the head was a mercy blow. I think it was meant to be a killing blow. Making doubly sure she was dead. Even if the head blow came first, that means he would have taken the time to construct and use his garotte. The offender really seems to have wanted this little girl dead. Did he want her dead just at that moment, or from the start? I don't know, but in the note there was considerable talk of killing her...beheading her.

I see no signs of panic in this crime. Even if there was a scream, JonBenet would have been outside the windowless room when it occurred, yet the offender went ahead and grabbed her up, blanket and all and deposited her in the room anyway? He didn't just throw her in there, either. He placed her in the room.

I think it is premeditated murder, calmly and deliberately carried out. No remorse. None at all.

then the murder was unintended, and you have to look at what set off the murderous rage. I can't believe the perp was cool, calm, and collected. I think there was a lot of adrenalin going through his body when he actually succeeded in getting JBR from her bed. If he was a substance abuser, it could explain his bravado initially, and his impulsive rage in the basement. I tend to think the garotte initially was a leash, and used for control---and the perp thought he could forcefully try to reason with JBR, and she wasn't going to cooperate. Add to this, a poorly planned abduction----once he got JBR he had to figure out a way to get her out of the house---and I think the crime was a result of a kidnapping gone bad by an amateur, with a history of violent behavior, and drug abuse, that underestimated a little 6 year old girl's strength in struggling with the abductor, and it set off a murderous rage.

LAST EDITED ON Jan-31-04 AT 05:19 PM (EST)
 
>then the murder was unintended, and you have to look at what
>set off the murderous rage.

There really isn't anything in the way of defensive wounds on the body. No sign of a violent struggle. It looks like she was under control the whole time. I don't doubt the offender's adrenaline was running high, but it appears to be more excitement than fear. Whatever rage he may have been feeling seems controlled. He didn't lose it and beat her repeatedly. It's possible, but it seems unlikely the offender would be arguing and trying to reason with his victim on the end of a leash in the basement. If he were jerking her around by a leash, it seems there would be more marks on her body than there were.

I have a hard time accepting the note left behind as a legitimate ransom note. I think it reflects the state of mind of the offender as being someone who is taunting, planning to murder, looking for a victory, and considers the whole thing as exciting and daring.

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.

"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."

Yes, and if this had been a sadistic killer, I would expect to see extensive damage to the underlying neck tissue, more than one blow to the head, bruising and abrasions over the body, possibly disembowling, or even--as the note threatened--decapitation.

As an example, two sexual sadists worth mentioning are Bittaker and Norris. These two ex-cons met in prison and joined forces upon parole. They outfitted a van with leather straps, screwdrivers, pliers, wire coathangers and other instruments of torture. Pliers were used to twist and nip at the breasts, coathangers were used to violate their victims vaginas and at least one victim had a screwdriver thrust through her ear. In order to relive their fantasy come true, they tape recorded the cries and screams of their victims.

Make no mistake, there is nothing gentle about the killing of JonBenet, but her death is a far cry from what a sadist would have inflicted.

Rainsong

LAST EDITED ON Feb-01-04 AT 10:42 AM (EST)
 
I am convinced, and always have been, that the blow to the head was a mercy blow, just as the blow to the head was made to human sacrifice victims in Celtic ancient times. When human sacrifices were burned in the regular ceremonies to their Gods, they were knocked out with a rock, then put in wicker baskets, and then put on a roaring fire.

"Archeological records reveal a number of sacrificial deaths, such as "Triple-deaths". In Triple deaths the victim was drowned, stoned, and impaled on a spear simultaneously; another form was to be blugeoned, garroted and drowned. "
http://www.tylwythteg.com/tylwythteg/sacrifice.html

JonBenet's death mimics the Lindow Man death, which was on display at the University of Texas at the time, where Bill McReynolds had once taught. Notice the date and place of this post:
http://www.utexas.edu/courses/wilson/ant304/projects/projects97/dentep/boglindow.htm

Lindow Man had been hit on the head and garrotted, also stabbed and then his body dropped into the pond, where it lay preserved for nearly 2000 years.
http://www.mummytombs.com/mummylocator/featured/lindowman.htm
"First, he had been hit twice on the crown of his head with a blunt object, probably an ax; he had also been struck once at the base of his skull. Second, he had been strangled. Around Lindow Man's neck was a small rope that had been twisted tightly, closing off his windpipe and breaking two of his neck vertebrae. Finally, scientists found a gash at the throat, which may indicate that his throat was cut, though some scientists think that the wound occurred naturally after his death. If indeed his throat was cut, it was probably done to drain his body of blood."

Notice that he was hit on the head twice. Perhaps the first blow was not as effective as hoped and he was still conscious after it. Or perhaps this was a routine which gave "double mercy" to make absolutely certain that he would not experience the pain of the stabbing, garrote, and drowning.

The purpose of the sacrifices was, as explained in the first URL above, "thus showing a belief that one sacrificed would give way for another to be saved. " I believe the person to be saved was the one who was the "close friend" who was fearful that JonBenet would report molestation, as evidenced by the unproven "rumor".

Therefore the contention in the first URL above:
"Witches and Druids today perform no such sacrifices as was referred to by Caesar and not only do we not believe in sacrifice, we do not advocate the killing of any living being unless in self defense or for sustenance of life. " is true to some degree but not totally.

edit to add:

The only places that the Romans did not "purge" the Celts was in Ireland and Wales. McR is Irish.
There is a large contingent of "pagan" churches in Boulder:
http://www.witchvox.com/vn/hm/usco.html
I only post that to show my point that Celtic witchcraft is alive and well in Colorado, but actually it is nationwide, and Colorado is simply one place where it is well established. I do not know if the McReynolds were secretly involved in any such church. In fact, they were purportedly attending the Unity Church of Boulder:
http://www.fostercross.org/common/frame.php?ID=3634
which has no clear link to paganism.

Make no mistake, there is nothing gentle about the killing of JonBenet, but her death is a far cry from what a sadist would have inflicted.

Not even a sadist just "starting out"? I would think there might be a broad range of sadistic behavior. The extreme end might be the severe behaviors you've suggested. Since there was no need for all the 'extras' in the killing of JonBenét (stun gun, hand-tying, head blow AND strangulation as opposed to just one or the other), I cannot help but think we might be looking at the early stages of a sadist at work.