The Murder of Jonbenet Ramsey – Forensic Pathology

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Murder Scene
Autopsy Results
Discussion of the Murder of JonBenet Ramsey
Assessment of the Discussion and Conclusions
References

Introduction

The case of murder of JonBenet Ramsey is one of most mysterious episodes in the American criminology, and this report is the attempt to bring some light to the case based on the mistakes made by the police in the murder scene, handling the body and searching for evidence, etc. Forensic pathology will be used for data analysis in this report. According to DiMaio & DiMaio (2001), “forensic pathology is a branch of medicine that applies the principles and knowledge of the medical sciences to problems in the field of law” (p. 1).

Accordingly, this report will resort to help of this science to consider the medicolegal details of the notorious and still unsolved case of the murder of JonBenet Ramsey. The paper will start by examining the murder scene, proceed to the body autopsy, its results, and assessment of the opinions of famous criminologists, and will come to the conclusions on the case.

Murder Scene

Body Found at the Murder Scene

The murder of JonBenet Ramsey is one of the most mysterious cases in the modern criminology, and to the great extent this fact is conditioned by the improper handling of the murder scene and the body in the first hours after police arrival. The six-year old girl was allegedly kidnapped according to her mother, Patsy Ramsey, who found a ransom note on the stairs of their house. However, when police arrived following the parents, John and Patsy’s, call, the investigation taken through the house resulted in the body of the girl being found in the basement.

Nevertheless, the police failed to provide the degree of security for the murder scene at that moment that was necessary to protect the possible evidence in the location and facilitate the further investigation. As Bardley & Bellamy (2009) argue, that the police “did not conduct a proper search of the house, the area was not sealed off and friends were allowed to walk in and out at their leisure. No moves were made to protect any forensic evidence” (Bardley & Bellamy, 2009). Further on, before the police and pathologists could examine the location and the body in it, the body was relocated to the living room where, according to Meyer (1996), the first expertise was carried out (p. 2).

Evidence Retrieved from the Scene Examination

According to Bardley & Bellamy (2009) such a careless handling of the murder scene might be one of the causes of the fact that the case is still unsolved. The murder scene usually presents great interest for the investigators as not only the body location and circumstances can be examined, but also the evidence about the potential murderer might be retrieved, including footsteps, hair samples, etc (Dix, 2001, p. 123). Under the given murder scene conditions, all the police managed to find, together with John Ramsey, JonBenet’s father, was the body of the girl covered with a white blanket. There were no obvious traces of anybody intruding into the house, or basement, and committing the murder (Bardley & Bellamy, 2009).

After the pathologist Dr. John E. Meyer, arrived at the Ramseys’ house at 8 PM on December 26, 1996, he managed to examine the body and found out that several abrasions could be observed on the body; the cord was tied around the girl’s neck and the her right wrist (Meyer, 1996, p. 2). The pathologist failed to identify the cause of the death at once and set the date of autopsy to be December 27, 2009.

Autopsy Results

Wounds Examination

The autopsy carried out by Dr. John E. Meyer presented the following results. As the major part of the autopsy dealt with the wounds’ examination, the pathologist found several injuries ranging from a “rust colored abrasion” observed below the right ear and 1mm petechial hemorrhages on the cheeks and neck to the deep ligature furrows observed on the neck and the right wrist where the cords were tied.

Finally, the autopsy went into the detailed skull examination and reported the extensive hemorrhage observed along the temporoparietal area up to the occipital area, and a skull fracture that spread from the right occipital to the posteroparietal areas of the skull. Brain was also examined and several hemorrhages were observed in it together with “disrupted blood vessels of the cortex” (Meyer, 1996, p. 7, p. 9). Based on these considerations, the autopsy is concluded by the final diagnosis that includes ligature strangulation, craniocerebral injuries, and numerous abrasions and hemorrhages observed all over the body.

Other Details

Apart from examining the wounds and injuries observed on the body, the process of autopsy focused on other details including the external examination of the body and potential internal injuries and death factors. During the autopsy Dr. John E. Meyer managed to find out the following details. The external examination allowed the pathologist to observe no defect as the hair, eyes, and teeth of the victim were in perfect conditions; the development of the basic internal organs like liver, heart, lungs, etc. was in order (Meyer, 1996, pp. 3 – 4).

There were the pieces of long underwear on the body, and urine stains could be observed on both long underwear and short white pants found below. In addition, the autopsy revealed the finding of the small dried blood spots near the labia majora and vagina of the victim (Meyer, 1996, pp. 2 – 4). As a result, strangulation was identified as the mechanism of death, defined by DiMaio & DiMaio (2001) as “physiological derangement produced by the cause of death that results in death” (p. 3), while the cause of death was identified as “asphyxia by strangulation associated with craniocerebral trauma” (Meyer, 1996, p. 1).

Discussion of the Murder of JonBenet Ramsey

Views by Dr. John E. Meyer

Thus, on the basis of the above considerations and the data of the autopsy of JonBenet Ramsey, the famous pathologists expressed their own views about the possible causes of death as well as the accompanying circumstances of it. For example, the Coroner of Boulder, the city where the murder took place in 1996, Dr. John E. Meyer, who actually carried out the primary autopsy of the victim, expressed his view on the murder in the very autopsy report where strangulation and asphyxia are called the causes of death together with craniocerebral trauma (Meyer, 1996, p. 1).

However, besides the conclusions of report, Dr. John E. Meyer also expressed assumptions about possible rape of the victim before she was killed. He based his assumptions on the findings of the autopsy he had carried out after finding the body and specifically on the samples of blood found in the genitals’ area of the victim (Meyer, 1996, p. 2).

Dr. Henry Lee’s Opinion

The opinion expressed by Dr. Henry Lee, one of the most famous criminologists to work with the case since 1996, is completely opposite to the one by Meyer in its firmness and focus. Thus, Dr. Henry Lee, as Bardley & Bellamy (2009) argue, keeps to the point of view that the murder of the six-year old girl in the city of Boulder, Colorado, might have been the result of “what started as an accident” (Bardley & Bellamy, 2009). Thus, Dr. Henry Lee avoids any assumptions of accusations of John and Patsy Ramsey in this case and even allows the possibiloity of the murder case to be the result of the misinterpretation of the evidence and improper handling of the location where the body was found. Dr. Henry Lee is also confident about his belief that the case can be solved under the circumstances of additional evidence found and DNA analysis of the blood samples found on the body carried out.

Cyril Wecht’s Criticism

The opinion of another famous criminologist and pathologist, Cyril Wecht, is focused on the organizational matters of the investigation process. In more detail, Dr. Wecht is firm in his idea that the main reason why the murder case is still unsolved is the fact that the police failed to properly protect, or at least somehow protect, the murder scene, and it was possible for the unknown people as well as for the relatives of the Ramsey’s family to come and leave the murder location any time they wanted (Wecht, 2000).

For example, as Wecht (2000) notices, “Mrs. Ramsey’s sister walked into the house and left with a couple of suitcases full of material. No one at the scene knew who she was!” Thus, Wecht (2000) assumes that even if the murder scene had any evidence pointing to the murderer it might be either intentionally or occasionally removed or damaged by the numerous, mainly not involved, visitors of the Ramseys’ house on December 26, 1996.

Assessment of the Discussion and Conclusions

Validity

However, the validity of the arguments presented above cannot be doubted because all the three reputable scholars, Dr. John E. Meyer, Dr. Henry Lee, and Dr. Cyril Wecht, base their assumptions of forensic findings and rational thinking. For instance, Dr. John E. Meyer expresses the concern about the possible rape of the victim before her death, and this assumption is supported by the autopsy findings in which blood samples were found on the victim’s genitals and the body was covered with numerous abrasions (Meyer, 1996, p. 4).

The argument by Dr. Henry Lee can also be called valid as far as his considerations are based on the potential incompleteness of the investigation process that never seriously considered the possibility of either an accident or involvement of JonBenet’s brother Bourke in the case (Bardley & Bellamy, 2009). Finally, the security concerns expressed by Dr. Cyril Wecht are also valid as they touch once again upon the phenomena that all people involved in the case investigation knew and failed to prevent.

Forensic Evidence

Apart from critical thinking, the validity of the opinions discussed above can be proved by the forensic evidence obtained in the course of investigation. The first, and foremost, is the importance of the autopsy report prepared by Dr. John E. Meyer, whose findings are discussed above in this report. Based on these autopsy results, Dr. John E. Meyer was completely entitled to suppose that rape or some other kind of sexual assault was taken at the victim prior to or after her death. It is a strong piece of forensic evidence when the blood sample of another person is found on the victim’s body, and this piece of evidence supports Dr. John E. Meyer’s assumption and its validity.

Dr. Henry Lee’s point of view is also rather credible as the forensic evidence about the cords tied around the victim’s neck and her right wrist might be interpreted as the consequence of a kind of a childish game JonBenet and her brother Bourke might have played. Interpreting the ideas by Dr. Henry Lee, it might seem reasonable to consider the version according to which the death of the six-year old girl was the result of the game going beyond the children’s control and leading to the girl’s death. Finally, what Dr. Cyril Wecht talks about is the improper organization of the investigation.

It is the fact admitted by the Boulder police and described by the numerous journalists that highlighted the investigation, that the murder scene was unprotected for several hours after the body had been found. This, according to Wecht (2000) might have helped the actual killer, or anyone else whom this might have concerned, to eliminate the evidence from the murder scene or any other person unintentionally contaminate the location destroying all the pieces of evidence.

Drawing from all the above presented considerations, autopsy findings, investigation results, and scholarly opinions on the case, it might be stated that the murder of JonBenet Ramsey is still in need of further investigation. Moreover, to be successful such an investigation should take into consideration all the versions of murder and other concerns expressed by the famous criminologists and pathologists.

References

Bardley, M. & Bellamy, P. (2009). Murder of JonBenét Ramsey. Web.

DiMaio, V. & DiMaio, D. (2001). Forensic Pathology (2nd ed.). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

Dix, J. (2001). Pathology for death investigators. Columbia, MO: Academic Information Systems.

Meyer, J. (1996). JonBenet Ramsey autopsy report, pp. 1 – 9. Smoking Gun. Web.

Wecht, C. (2000). JonBenet Ramsey Crime Scene Security Criticized by Pathologist Cyril Wecht on… Web.

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