JONBENET RAMSEY AND MADELEINE MCCANN - it's a class thing

 

UDATE  04.03.16 

I see the rabid McCann 'pros' are equally rabid in their support of the parents of Jonbenet Ramsey.  BB1, in full pillar of the community righteous mode claims I am accusing cancer victimS of killing their children, making it plural for extra impact.  She is completely ignoring the fact that Steve Thomas and the other officers were completely vindicated by the revelation that the Grand Jury voted to indict the Ramseys. 

But worse, in her defence of the cancer victim (singular) Patsy, she is also completely disregarding the fate of the murder victim, the 6 year old Jonbenet, a little girl who's short life was horrifically ended by the cancer victim.  She prefers to believe the myth of the intruder in the Jonbenet case, just as she prefers the myth of the abductor in the case of Madeleine.  Because in her world, nice successful people like the Ramseys and the McCanns should be above suspicion.  And the only reason people suspect them is because they are jealous of their success. 

Unfortunately, that primitive, Amish mentality permeates every level of society and includes celebrity television presenters, newspaper columnists, supposed criminologists and even high ranking police chiefs.  They simply cannot get past the fact that people who do not fit the 'usual suspect' criteria are capable of committing heinous crimes.  They prefer to believe in the bogeyman, because, heck, that's what they were taught when they were 5, and it kinda works. 

We have to accept that people like BB1 are incapable of thinking outside the box, because they form part of the masses soothed by the gospel like words of those in authority and those they look up to for care and guidance.  They accept that those 'above them' on the evolutionary scale know what's best for them and they are happy to pass responsibility for their lives onto someone else.  There is no point in trying to get through to these people, they have a mental block the size of China's Wall and you could chip away until Doomsday without making a dent.

Others however, face the very real danger of looking like absolute eejits, those high ranking policemen who aligned themselves so closely to the former suspects, those expert criminologists who said the parents couldn't have done it, and who have put forward their own detailed theories on how Madeleine disappeared and the lying expert who said they were 100% truthful.  And what of those major charities?  Where is the morality in using a non missing child to front their campaigns, when real missing children could really use their help.    

As has been said many times, if the McCanns had been unemployed Council house dwellers, this crime would have been solved 8+ years ago, because no-one would have protested at the parents coming under scrutiny and huge questions would have been asked as to why they needed a multimillion pound fund. 

This dominant ideology that the well educated and the well heeled are incapable of law breaking, protected the Ramseys and protects the McCanns.  Whilst it is mostly harmless in dimwits like BB1, it is petrifying in those responsible for upholding and administering justice.  What I admire mostly in Goncalo Amaral and the PJ, is the level to which they are educated - far higher it would appear than the 'you're nicked' old thieftaker mentality of their UK counterparts.  Goncalo Amaral for example, has an indepth knowledge of human behaviour, ably demonstrated in his book The Truth of the Lie and the dignified way in which he has faced his accusers. 

What we may be seeing, at the moment, is the saving of lots of beacon red faces. A lot of people are going to look very silly, and a lot of people are going to look far more than silly, they are going to look downright corrupt.  The huge errors made in Whitehall may eventually result in a secretary or a filing clerk getting their marching orders.  The lawyers can simply say, that's what they do, morality has no place in litigation fees.  The police agencies and the secret services however, should be squirming.  Especially all those who rushed out to PDL to assist the British citizens who were being interrogated by the Portuguese police.  Those particular red faces should glow for miles, because they included seasoned, high ranking coppers who were hoodwinked by a group of doctors who considered them, their intellectual inferiors.  And if someone lies to you, and you believe them, that's exactly what they think.  

I think we are all still here 9 years on, because those blinded by their own little Englander, middle class prejudices are too embarrassed to admit they got it so wrong.  The Portuguese police were far from the untrained, third world fascist thugs the UK media portrayed them as.  The McCanns were not being brutalised by vicious, uniformed interrogators, they were, quite rightly, being asked perfectly reasonable questions about their daughter's disappearance.  The worse Kate could say about the Portuguese police, was that they were shabbily dressed (understandable, they were sleeping in the office), they were smoking and they didn't offer herself and her husband light refreshments.  

We can debate the differences between UK and Portuguese culture ad infinitum, but in my opinion it was the 'little Englander' approach that fucked it all up. The UK tabloids carried sensational front pages of tired and hungry officers from the PJ taking lunch breaks with wine.  Shock, horror, how dare they, Maddie is still missing, the headlines screamed, completely disregarding the fact that those officers were working 24/7 to find the missing English child, and many didn't go to their own homes for days.  

The Portuguese police, like the British police, is made up of Officers who are parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts etc.  That is human beings who empathise with the plight of a vulnerable child.  They, more than any of us, want to discover what happened to the victim.  For the majority of them, it is why they joined the police in the first place.  They want to 'protect'.  Those who accuse the Portuguese police are not taking into account, that the PJ and their families actually lived in the danger zone.  Why on earth would they leave a child predator on the loose?

But this is a 'class' rant.  The world I think is mostly bemused by the old British class system, in fact they have created class systems of their own, loosely based on the ideals of the Domesday book - though the US I believe, still claims to be a meritocracy.  But in favour of the US, they are not afraid to challenge wrong doers at or near the top of their own hierarchy.  There are no taboos, their fearless reporters will ask the great and the good outright, 'did you do it'. 

The UK less so.  Probably because it still hangs onto those outdated libel laws that make London the capital for get rich quick chancers and vexatious litigants.  The McCanns of course are pushing for stricter libel laws, and if I'm reading them correctly, prison for those journalists who dare to say anything nasty about them.  They have placed themselves at the top of the Mail readers and outraged middle classes pile, by turning themselves into eternal victims of irresponsible free speech.  The libel laws that exist in this country have protected the suspects in the case of missing Madeleine McCann for almost 9 years, if ever a case were needed to illustrate how harmful these restrictive UK laws have been, then it is this one. 



_________________________________________________


The tragic case of Jonbenet Ramsey has far more in common with the disappearance of Madeleine McCann than the heartbreaking case of little April Jones.  In the mother of April Jones, we saw real pain and we empathised.  We understood her agony because she couldn't hide it, that is, she reacted as we knew we would if it happened to us.  

The mothers of Jonbenet and Madeleine however, are entirely different.  They both seem devoid of that gut wrenching 'I would lay down my life for my child' maternal instinct that grips the rest of us when our newborn is first placed in our arms.  The fact that both their daughters disappeared in highly suspicious circumstances, (Jonbenet was discovered dead soon after) and their ferocious self preservation instincts link them further.

Both married Alpha males - sound hunter gatherers who would provide the lifestyle they desired.  But it's not all about the women, Gerry has much in common with John Ramsey - when being interviewed they both take 'control' - theirs' is the voice of authority, they take the higher ground by patronising those they consider beneath (almost everyone, maybe not Paxman).  When it is a female presenter, I suspect they have to fight back the paternal urge to pat them on the heads. Both struggle to be likeable, it's not in their nature.  

But the similarities between the Ramseys and the McCanns, don't stop there.  Kate, like Patsy, was approaching her 40th birthday and also frazzled.  Patsy was preparing for a flight the next morning that she didn't want to go on.  Kate was struggling to cope with 3 toddlers and a macho husband who appeared to do little of his share.  He distanced himself from his family on the bus journey, and swore in front of all the mothers and kids as he growled that he wasn't there to enjoy himself.  It wasn't exactly an auspicious start to the holiday. 

The strange behaviour of the Ramseys set off alarm bells with the first officers on the scene.  Ditto, the McCanns.  This strange behaviour included inviting over all their friends, relatives, the pastor etc, while they waited for the arrival of a full police task force.  Like Apartment 5A, the crimescene was not sealed off, trashed some might say, but in any event key evidence was lost or tampered with.   

The Ramseys, like the McCanns, immediately called lawyers and set in motion a campaign to establish their innocence, they had wealth and connections, and they used them.  They also stopped co-operating with the police and set up their own investigations that always concluded Jonbenet was murdered by an intruder.  30 years on, no-one has ever been charged.

The Jonbenet case like Madeleine case, had hundreds, if not thousands of armchair detectives and conspiracy theorists working their socks off to find answers that would incriminate their enemies and people they don't like, and a section of the moral majority who believe that deviant sex lies at the heart of all society's ills.  Child pornography and paedophile rings forming the basis of their whacky claims. Happily, they have a very limited audience, most who are still here are appalled at the injustice shown to these children and the murky cover ups behind them. 

I have long believed that Patsy Ramsey murdered her daughter.  There is no doubt in my mind that she wrote the 'ransom note' found at the scene.  When the police arrived, she was still wearing the same clothes and makeup - she hadn't been to bed.  How do I know this?  Because Jonbenet, like Madeleine had an 'Avenger' too.  Steve Thomas was the Boulder police detective who never gave up on the victim, just as Goncalo Amaral has never given up on Madeleine.  He too fell out with his superiors, wrote a book and was sued by the parents. 

Steve Thomas was 'Guided by a police axiom that "murders are usually what they seem"'* he reaches a conclusion that is based on logic, understanding of the circumstances and evidence and one that is devoid of paedophile rings, child pornography, swingers or prowlers.  It is remarkable in its' simplicity, it explains in terms that could not be plainer, the most likely series of events that led to Jonebenet's death and the discovery of her body in the basement. 

For those who study human behaviour and the fine art of lying, I urge you to watch this video I have only just discovered on Youtube.  It is a recording of the evidence given to the Grand Jury in 1999, that led to their decision to indict the Ramseys.  A decision that was overturned by the District Attorney Alex Hunter because he felt there wasn't enough evidence to get a conviction. If they had prosecuted and lost, they would not get the opportunity again.  As it transpired, the Ramseys were never prosecuted.

In October 2013, Steve Thomas, Jonbenet's Avenger, was vindicated as details of the 1999's Grand Jury's findings were released (see link below).  This short 33 minute documentary is a little gem for those of us looking at the Madeleine case from a psychological perspective, the interviews with the Ramseys are very intensive, they give much away!  Patsy is wearing a small crucifix at her throat, and robes she may have pinched from passing Archbishop. John Ramsey is the angry Patriarch defending his wife and family, not even bothering to disguise the contempt he has for those who question him.  A chilling trait shared by you know who. 

I don't know what has become of Steve Thomas, but I hope that life is treating him well.  Like Goncalo Amaral, he never forgot the victim of the crime he was investigating and he wouldn't kowtow to the intruder myth that was being sold by the massive Ramsey publicity machine.  He would not be gagged, just as Goncalo will not be gagged. 

I am glad that nearly 30 years later Steve Thomas was finally vindicated, but I am sad for little Jonbenet and even for all those who had to live with the cover up for the rest of their lives.  And I am sad that wealth and power enables some people to get away with the most heinous of crimes and indeed, profit from them.  They would prefer to smother and silence the good policemen and women who speak out, rather than disrupt the paradigm. 

The officers working for Operation Grange already have their futures mapped out for them on that whiteboard.  This case could make or break careers and it is highly unlikely that 30 lemmings existed amongst Scotland Yard's finest, officers willing to sacrifice their futures to protect two, not very likeable, doctors from the midlands.  Operation Grange are dealing with extremely litigious former suspects, and who may still have someone in the thick of it with the ability to pull strings.  The officer in charge of the original investigation is desperately trying to hang on to his few remaining possessions before they are seized by the grieving parents.  

It is my feeling that Operation Grange face the same predicament as that faced by Alex Hunter.  Perhaps they do not feel confident that they have enough evidence to get a conviction, and given the huge legal resources the McCanns have at their fingertips (as did the Ramseys), do they dare try?  Team McCann have had 9 years and the 'best' legal minds available to prepare their Defence, all they have to do is create a reasonable doubt in the minds of the jury, and they walk.  

But I am not making excuses for Operation Grange because I am hoarse from shouting 'Behind You!'.  In the words of Steve Thomas 'murders are usually what they seem', so what is the hold up? 

  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yl5Ll3sLFs8  Killer revealed 'Who killed Jonbenet Ramsey

* http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/10/us/jonbenet-s-mother-was-killer-detective-says.html

Steve Thomas :   http://www.amazon.co.uk/JonBenet-Inside-Ramsey-Murder-Investigation/dp/1250054796