I got an email from DocG inviting me to post his response to the National Enquirer's story on Patsy's handwriting.

Here it is - - thanks,Doc

Part 1

Tight fisted DocG actually went to the supermarket today and plumped down three bucks for a copy of the National Enquirer. Lightning did not strike. The Heavens did not open. The Rapture remained on hold. (What ails the Universe, anyhow?)

Since DocG's favorite hobby is tearing the "experts" to shreds, he simply could not resist getting his sweaty hands on this particular issue, which screams: "Patsy's Writing Is An Exact Match." (Note absence of exclamation point!) Fun fun fun. And so: rubbing his hands together with glee, he proceeded to find the following juicy tidbits:

On p. 70. "Expert" Ted Widmer says "The word 'carefully' in the first line of the left-hand sample is an exact match for the word 'carefully' in the first line of the ransom note. You can practically superimpose one over the other." Well, shades of Lou Smit! Flipping back to p. 67, DocG finds both "carefully"'s blown way up, one beneath the other -- and -- Lo and Behold: They look NOTHING like one another at all. The "c" in the note is pointed at the left, Patsy's is rounded; the "a" in the note is "manuscript a," while Patsy's lacks that little "hat" at the top; Patsy's "r" is totally illegible (she was printing with her left hand after all) while the "r" in the note is clearly defined; Patsy's "e" consists of two strokes, the "e" on the RN was made with one; the upper part of Patsy's "e" is open and horizontal with a straight line in the center, while the upper part of the RN "e" is closed, tilted up to the right and fully rounded; the top of Patsy's "f" is straight, while that of the RN is rounded; the "u" in the note is rounded but Patsy's "u" is squared; one of Patsy's "l"s is, very roughly, similar to the RN "l," but the other is totally different; the two angles in Patsy's "y" are practically the same size, while the angles of the RN "y" are very different in size.

Widmer found some other "matches," with the words "that", "faction" and "letter." Here again any similarities between any of the letters involved are purely coincidental. I do see a rough match between Patsy's "f" and the RN "f." And the "l"s are roughly similar. That's it. Every other "match" is a huge strrrrrrrrrrrrrrretch.

Back on P. 70, we see two "100%"s. According to "expert" Widmer, "They are perfect little circles that match." But when you actually LOOK at them, they aren't even close. Patsy's zeros are shaky and one abuts the other (again, she was printing left handed). Her diagonal line is also shaky. The top zero of the percentage figure is closed -- and certainly NOT a perfect circle. Her "1" is back slanted. The zeros of the RN are not shaky, are clearly separated and the zeros of the percentage symbol are both clear, clean and open. The diagonal line is perfectly straight -- AND the "1" is horizontal -- no back slant.

What's most annoying about what Widmer has to say is that there is NO MENTION of the sort of things an expert might notice that some ordinary person would not. He simply asserts that certain words or letters are "a match," as though that were obvious. It is NOT. If you don't believe me, then, hey, why don't YOU plump down three bucks and look for yourselves, folks.