Prepare for major thread derail.
That is one thought, but it wasn't like this was a professional hit style garrote wire. It was literally a string tied with a basic knot to a broken paint brush. Something a 9 year old in Boy Scouts could have fashioned without much trouble, although I think it much more likely that the father saw what likely appeared to be a fatal head injury and finished her off. Although I think it's still possible that Burke did it.
Burke had known behavioral issues leading up to Jonbenet's death, and a few of the episodes reportedly involved violence and aggression toward his sister including hitting her with a golf club over the head. And if you've ever seen interviews of him, you'd recognize that there is something clearly off about him.
The things we know to be fact that night. There was no signs of forced entry. The ransom note was written on the mother's stationary and there was a rough draft made before landing on the final ransom note. The ransom request was the exact amount of the father's most recent bonus. While the blunt head trauma was not reported to be the cause of death, it potentially could have been fatal. She had a comminuted skull fracture with underlying subdural hematoma. She likely would have been unconscious. This wasn't some minor head injury. The body was found in their basement behind a locked door that police initially ignored due to being latched shut which would make it impossible for an intruder to have gone through. The father was the one to find Jonbenet's body and then immediately grabbed her and rushed her upstairs contaminating the scene. They also found pineapple in her stomach and a bowl of uneaten pineapple with a spoon in it sitting on the kitchen table. A neighbor that gave a witness report stated they heard a scream around midnight and lights on in the kitchen. The mother would later claim Burke slept through the night and never woke up during all the commotion; however, you can hear him in the background on the initial 911 call. Enhanced audio demonstrated the following conversation:
Father: "We're not speaking to you"
Mother: "Help me Jesus. Help me Jesus."
Unidentified young male: "Well what did you find?"
The parents would later change their claim that Burke was asleep the whole night.
Handwriting analysis points towards the ransom letter likely being written by the mother.
The intruder theory is absurd and there is no point even discussing it as no one breaking into a house and kidnapping someone is going to sit down and write a 2 page ransom letter after first penning a rough draft while they are still inside the house.
The only two viable options are one or both of the parents did it or Burke did it. Investigators and the DA knew that going in on the Burke theory without definitive evidence would be a fool's errand as you can imagine how that would play out in the press that they were blaming the 9 year old brother rather than the parents whom the actually had evidence of tampering with the scene. The parents actions make a lot more sense when you consider their actions as protective of their son rather than for themselves.
The things in my mind that lead me towards the Burke conclusion is why lie that Burke was asleep? Also, Burke already had a known history of violence towards his sister and had hit her over the head once before leading to an ER visit, although I believe the mother had explained this away as an accident. His knife was also found in the basement which likely was used to fashion the garrote. Jonbenet had marks on her body that match the train tracks from his train set.
Ultimately it comes down to whether you believe it more likely that a spouse would come to the defense of their spouse that murdered their child or that two parents would come to the defense of their son and only remaining child after he murdered their daughter.
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