It was at some juncture after 1:00 p.m. that my legs were screaming surrender and we had just off-loaded at the top of Lift 9. The sky was robin-egg-blue with not a cloud in sight, and I snapped several covert photographs of Elowski and his companions before slipping my Minox camera into my parka.
I drew a deep breath and took in the scenery around me. Mission accomplished. The Ramseys possibly had been located in Boulder, and I had survived a day of dodging moguls on the slopes. The snow-covered peaks of the La Sal Mountain Range were visible in the distance, and I took a moment to contemplate the serenity of the view. It seemed that I really could gaze into the distance forever.
I may have been able to see over 100 miles and beyond from the top of the world that day, but that spectacular view didn’t reveal what the future was to hold for me or even hint at the fact that my involvement in the JonBenét Ramsey homicide investigation was far from over.
It never occurred to me that I had just handled my first lead in the case and that one day, in the distant future, I would become a lead investigator in what was to become one of the most bizarre murder investigations this country has ever witnessed.
Pen and Ink Sketch – a fictional rendition of the Ramsey Home as viewed through the basement Train Room window well, by Daniel C. Pauley
Chapter Two
Foreign Faction
The following series of events are proposed as a new theory of the crime, based upon evidence that will be addressed in the latter parts of this work:
John Ramsey was a millionaire executive whose company conducted business overseas and had offices in Amsterdam and Mexico City. Boulder papers reported that sales had topped the billion dollar mark for his company not long before the Christmas Holidays of 1996. At some juncture one of John’s business deals made someone very angry, and they decided to take their revenge by plotting to kidnap his daughter and hold her for ransom.
The Ramsey household had been busy in the days leading up to the holidays in December 1996. JonBenét had appeared in a Boulder parade, participated in a modeling event at a Denver shopping mall, and the family attended a handful of holiday parties while planning a second Christmas in Michigan, to be followed by a cruise on Disney’s Big Red Boat to celebrate Patsy’s birthday.
Patsy loved Christmas and had decorated extensively, opening her home to hundreds of people in previous years during the Holiday Parade of Homes. This was a special time of year, and the kidnappers sought to take advantage of the celebratory nature of the season. They intended that John Ramsey would pay for his transgressions.
The kidnappers had been loosely monitoring the patterns of the family in the days leading up to the holidays and set up an observation point of the Ramsey household not long after the fall of darkness on Christmas Eve. A non-descript van had been parked in the alley across the street behind the Barnhill residence, and the kidnappers would soon discover that the resident of this home was a family friend and neighbor who shared custody of the Ramsey’s pet dog, Jacques.
Later that evening, long after the Ramsey children were presumed to be in bed, the overhead garage door of the Barnhill residence slowly rose, and the garage lights dimly illuminated the side of the panel van parked less than 50 feet away. The team of kidnappers in the van peered through the side window and observed an elderly gentleman pull a sheet from a bicycle leaning against a wall in the garage. As he rolled up the cloth, he gazed in the direction of the van and seemed to be looking directly through the window from which he was being observed.
A mouse of a dog pranced around the feet of the old man and then stepped slowly to the edge of the garage. It growled and chirped several barking sounds in the direction of the kidnapper’s van. Turning in tight circles several times, it continued to chirp at the van.
A few moments later John Ramsey emerged from the darkness by the side of the house and greeted the elderly man. They exchanged a few muffled pleasantries, and the kidnappers took a sigh of relief as the attention of the elderly man was now diverted elsewhere. The watchdog lost interest in the van as well, and the kidnappers watched with interest as the two men bent and inspected the shiny new bicycle, reminiscing about their first experiences of riding a two-wheeler. Ramsey then departed, wheeling the bike by his side through the dark alley. He didn’t give the van a second look as he headed back toward his home.
The garage door slowly closed, and the van was again cloaked in a blanket of darkness. The lights in the Barnhill residence immediately went out, and it was not long thereafter that the lights in the Ramsey home were extinguished.
John Ramsey’s visit to the house located directly next to their observation post was unsettling, and the team of kidnappers debated moving to another location. But they had thoroughly scouted the entire neighborhood and come to the realization that, from this vantage point, they could watch the front of Ramsey home with ease and didn’t have to risk the exposure of sitting right out on the street to do so. They ultimately decided to stay in place and settled in for a long night.
The lights in Burke’s second floor bedroom were the first to burn early on Christmas morning, and it wasn’t long before the kidnappers were able to observe movement in the living room of the home. Lights from the Christmas tree were plainly visible from the van, and gentle light cascaded from the living room windows to the darkened front lawn. Christmas was underway, and through a set of binoculars, the kidnappers felt as though they had a front row seat as they watched the kids begin to unwrap their presents.
The light of dawn slowly emerged, and several hours later JonBenét was out riding the new bike Santa had left for her that morning. They observed her movements over the course of the day and the comings and goings of other kids in the neighborhood.
A mobile team in a white compact vehicle drove through the neighborhood periodically, watching for the opportunity to snatch their target from the street with what was hoped to be a minimum of fuss. Another team circled the neighborhood blocks, primarily keeping an eye on the back alley entrance of the Ramsey home.
For some reason the kidnappers kept missing their chance as JonBenét was always in the company of another little girl when near the street in front of the house. Despite their desire to quickly seize the target of their objective, they considered it critical that there be no witnesses to this affair.
One of the teams, watching the alley at the rear of the residence, had seen John Ramsey drive away late that morning and a loose tail followed him to the Jefferson County Airport. He was observed to be packing some things into his plane, and it seemed apparent that the family was soon to be on the move. They radioed this information to the teams still at the house, but were told that there were too many witnesses about. The kidnappers had not seen an opportunity to seize JonBenét while alone.
Ramsey eventually led his surveillance teams back to the house, and the kidnappers pondered their next move. Should they storm the house and take JonBenét by force? Pretty risky in broad daylight they concluded. Perhaps they should wait until after dark and then try that tactic. It was clear that time was running out and that something had to be done before the Ramsey family flew away to an unknown destination.
Then an opportunity presented itself when the family packed up a few gifts and left in the family car. A loose tail followed them a short distance to the White residence where it was apparent that yet another holiday dinner party was underway. The Ramseys had left their home at approximately 5:00 p.m. on the evening of December 25, 1996, and this gave the kidnappers the opening they needed.
Darkness would soon fall, and the kidnappers moved up to the rear of the home under cover of the winter night. Entering the fenced backyard, they quickly moved to an interior corner of the house toward a ground-level window grate that was obscured from the view of neighbors. Quickly lifting the grate, the first team crawled into the basement of the house.
They had done their homework and used the same window that John Ramsey had broken earlier that summer when he was forced to b
reak into his home after forgetting his keys. Now all they had to do was patiently await the return of the family.
The kidnappers began their exploration of the premises and became acquainted with the floor plans that had only been viewed as one-dimensional on an acquired set of blueprints up to that point in time.
One of the kidnappers, a female, rummaged through kitchen drawers and came upon Patsy’s address book, removing a large black metal flashlight in the process. Setting the flashlight upon the counter she leafed through the book. Perfect!
She next found Patsy’s notepad and pen in the kitchen and began to fashion an extensive ransom note, attempting to duplicate Patsy’s style of handwriting from the address book at her side. The Ramseys had to know why JonBenét was being taken, and the note was used to explain a tale of vengeance and extortion.
The other intruder continued his exploration of the home, and at one point, sat on the floor of the hallway directly outside the doorway to JonBenét’s bedroom. From there, he fantasized about the events that would take place that evening. He eventually settled into the living room, doodling on a newspaper and magazine as he tried to kill time, another “odd clue” left behind by the intruders according to statements later released by the Ramsey family.
The minutes passed interminably, and the two-way radio eventually crackled inside the dark home. The Ramseys were leaving the White residence. After a couple quick stops to deliver late Christmas gifts, the surveillance team confirmed it: The Ramsey family was headed back toward their home, and their patience had paid off. No outbound flights appeared to be scheduled for that evening.
The Ramseys later told police investigators that they arrived home a little before 10:00 p.m. All appeared to have been as it was when they left earlier in the day. Doors were locked, and there were no visible signs of a forced entry to the house, but John Ramsey had no reason to inspect the basement before retiring that night.
JonBenét was sound asleep in the backseat of the car after having endured a long day of presents, playing, and partying. John carried her directly upstairs and laid her on her bed. Switching on the bedside lamp, he left her in her clothing for Patsy to finish the task of getting her prepped for bed. He reported that he briefly played with Burke before taking a Melatonin tablet and turning in for the night. He was going to co-pilot the flight that was scheduled to leave Jefferson County Airport at 7:00 a.m. the next morning, and he needed some sleep.
Patsy stated that JonBenét went to bed in a red sweater and white sweat-pant type long johns. After tucking in her daughter, she went to the 3rd floor and stayed up to finish some last minute packing for the Disney cruise. She eventually climbed into bed next to a sleeping husband and set the alarm for 5:30 a.m.
Huddled in the dark labyrinth of the basement, the kidnappers listened intently as the house above them eventually became quiet. Perhaps 30 minutes had passed since the last human sound had been heard, and it was now time to execute their plan. A quickly whispered radio transmission was sent to their fellow conspirators outside. They needed another team to join the two kidnappers already concealed in the home. Two observers were to remain outside, one across the street in the van and another watching the rear alley of the home.
Not wanting to risk setting off a burglar alarm by using a ground floor door, the second team made their way carefully through the window grate and into the basement Train Room to join their partners. One of the men handed another a roll of polymer cord that was to be used in restraining JonBenét. They each checked their weapons and began to move toward the stairs.
Another whispered radio transmission to the spotter outside in the van: “We’re moving. Let us know if you see any police cars on the street or if there are any transmissions on the scanner.”
Moving up from the basement, one team moved to the forward grand staircase and slowly began their ascent. One of the men stopped at the second floor landing and moved slightly down the hall to view the doorway of Burke’s bedroom. The door was partially closed and all was quiet at that level of the house. He peered down the dark hallway through the playroom that he knew led to JonBenét’s bedroom.
A thumb’s up signal sent the second man further up the grand staircase to the 3rd floor landing outside John and Patsy’s bedroom. The floor was dark, and the sounds of the sleeping couple emitted lightly from the bedroom doorway. He stood motionless for a few moments to monitor any movement or signs of compromise. Hearing nothing, he stepped back to the head of the stairs and silently keyed his microphone.
The first team inside the house, comprised of a man and woman, heard the radio clicks signifying that the second and third floors of the house were secured. They then carefully ascended the narrow spiral staircase that accessed the back of the home by the kitchen. This led to the hallway outside JonBenét‘s second-floor bedroom and was at the opposite side of the home from the other occupied bedrooms.
The female, a stun gun in hand, gently pushed through the bedroom door and observed a small sleeping form on the bed. Followed by her male companion, they stepped closer in the dark and saw that JonBenét was on her stomach. Intending to take no chances of alerting the rest of the household to their activities, the female reached out to the right rear back of JonBenét and activated the stun gun. This electrical charge rendered her unconscious and incapable of fighting off her attackers. A piece of duct tape was quickly placed over her mouth to further aid in silencing their captive.
The male quickly applied a stretch of nylon cord to each of JonBenét’s wrists. Strangely, the wrists were not bound tightly to one another, and the length of cord between her hands measured approximately sixteen (16”) inches. Investigators would later wonder why the restraints had been applied in such an unusual fashion.
They quickly stripped a blanket from the bed, wrapped their little hostage into it and prepared to leave, but not before remaking the bed and turning down the covers. Thanks to the stun gun, there was no sign of a struggle in the bedroom. It looked like JonBenét had either flipped back her covers and climbed out of bed, or they had been in that condition awaiting her to turn in for the night.
Moving in the darkness with the child wrapped in the blanket was a challenge and especially so when it came time to navigate the tight circular stairway at the back of the house. The kidnappers couldn’t risk traveling to the other stairway for fear of awakening the other people in the residence, so one of JonBenét’s kidnappers was forced to carry her down the narrow confines of the metal stair way. One arm holding her close to his chest, the male kidnapper gripped the circular hand rail and slowly descended to the kitchen.
At some point during this process, JonBenét began to regain consciousness and began to protest. Frightened at being manhandled down the stairs, with a stranger’s hand across her mouth, JonBenét reached up instinctively with her right hand and scratched her male abductor. According to her grandmother, JonBenét would likely have vigorously fought any attacker, and it may be surmised that she began to kick and scream when she realized what was happening.
The female kidnapper attempted to intervene at the bottom of the stairs, and JonBenét was able to graze her with her left hand in the struggle to free herself. As she continued to struggle, JonBenét scratched herself as well.
In an attempt to calm JonBenét, the female released her from the confines of the blanket. But this was only on the condition that she be quiet and stop struggling. Perhaps there was a threat to use the stun gun again. Secluded in the far end of the house in the kitchen, the female further coaxed JonBenét’s cooperation with a bowl of freshly cut pineapple. Nodding her consent to cooperate, the female kidnapper then removed the piece of duct tape from JonBenét’s mouth, and they moved to the dining room table.
Another of the men joined the team in the kitchen and crouched over the counter, reviewing the ransom note with the aid of Ramsey’s flashlight. The 4th member in the house remained in the forward staircase, monitoring any movement of sleeping members.
Th
e best laid plans sometimes go awry, and JonBenét was not to be fooled by these trespassers. She took one nibble of pineapple, swallowed, and then screamed at the top of her lungs. She slid from the chair and made a dash for the back hallway.
Successful in dodging the male-female team in the dining room, she sprinted through the kitchen. It was at that juncture that it can be presumed that events really began to unravel. In a bid to quickly silence JonBenét, one of the male kidnappers got a hand on her, and he too was scratched with her fingernails. Panicking as she was squirming loose of his grasp, the kidnapper struck out with the flashlight in his hand. The blow fractured the right side of her skull, and she immediately fell to the floor unconscious.
The injury to her brain was serious, and for all intents and purposes, she gave the appearance of being dead. But that eventually was determined not to be the case. Her heart continued to beat for what was estimated by pathologists to be another ninety (90) minutes, slowly filling her cranium with blood. Due to the lethality of the blow to her head, however, it is unlikely that she ever regained consciousness.
It may be presumed that the kidnappers argued and disagreed on their next course of action. They easily could have carried JonBenét from the house by exiting a rear ground floor doorway and escaped into the night. In that case, they would have retained possession of the object of their kidnapping and still had room to negotiate the delivery of their ransom. The family would have had no way of knowing that their daughter was seriously injured and nearly dead.
Yet for some reason, JonBenét was instead carried downstairs to the basement and subjected to the tortures of a pedophile. One of the male suspects was determined to carry through his team’s vengeance, ransom money be damned, and remained in the home as his partners departed to resume their surveillance of the neighborhood from their outside posts. This was the act of the deranged “baby-killer” to whom Patsy would refer during her CNN interview on January 1, 1997.
Foreign Faction: Who Really Kidnapped JonBenet? Page 2