CASKU FBI profiler Roger Depue Patsy Ramsey fits profile of ransom note author vs the power of Daubert Side of the Forensics

A top former FBI profiler says Patricia Ramsey fits the profile of the person who wrote the ransom note in the JonBenet Ramsey murder case.

Dr. Roger Depue, who headed the FBI unit in charge of profiling, was asked at one point to examine the kidnap note and the circumstances surrounding it by Dr. Bertram Brown, a psychiatrist called in by Alex Hunter, then the district attorney in Boulder, Colo.

While Depue would not take a position on who killed the 6-year-old girl, he said the way the note was written fits the profile of JonBenet's mother, Patricia Ramsey. He gave his opinion before charges were dropped against John Mark Karr.

Depue, who wrote "Between Good and Evil: A Master Profiler's Hunt for Society's Most Violent Predators" with Susan Schindehette, said that on its face, the kidnap note makes no sense.

"It demands a ransom for the return of JonBenet, but she was already dead," Depue said. "Since her body was in the house, a kidnapper would have had to realize that she would be found before any ransom was paid. The note appears to be an effort to obfuscate why she died."

Depue said the note was apparently written on a pad of yellow paper found in the house. It was written with a black felt tip pen also found in the house.

The fact that the note was two and a half pages long "suggests that the killer was not hurrying out of fear of being caught, as one might expect," Depue said. "To kill a child and then write a note of that length suggests that either the killer was so bold that he was mentally deranged or that he was a member of the family and had no reason to be concerned. The killer even had the time to start a previous draft and discard it."

On the other hand, there is the possibility that the writer was in the house before the Ramseys came home and if so, had time to write a kidnap ransom note and practice writing the note before the crime.

The note's demand that the Ramseys withdraw $118,000.00 from their account is significant, Depue said. That amount was John Ramsey's bonus that year.

"The use of the figure shows that the writer knew Ramsey and his finances," Depue said. "Moreover, the sum is ridiculously low. Given John Ramsey's wealth, a legitimate kidnapper would have demanded at least $1 million for the return of his daughter. Even more interesting, the demand that John withdraw the money from his account suggests that the writer knew that he had that much money in a single account. Perhaps the bonus had just been deposited and not yet disbursed to investment accounts."

The note demands $100,000 in $100 bills, with the remaining $18,000 in $20 bills.

"The delivery will be exhausting so I advise you to be rested," the note says. Depue called that an unusual instruction.

"The statement sounds caring, motherly," he said. "That fits in with the relatively small amount of money demanded. The writer only wants John Ramsey's bonus, something he can part with easily.

The note warns that if the instructions are not carried out precisely, "You will also be denied her remains for proper burial." Depue said. "In my opinion, proper burial is of more concern to a female than to a male," Depue said.

"The two gentlemen watching over your daughter do not particularly like you so I advise you not to provoke them," the note says. The idea of "gentlemen watching over" has a feminine tone, Depue said. "Watching over" is also a caring concept, he said.

"Follow our instructions and you stand a 100 percent chance of getting her back," the note said. "You and your family are under constant scrtiny [sic] as well as the authorities. Don't try to grow a brain John."

The phrase "don't try to grow a brain John" is familiar usage that "makes it clear that the writer knows John Ramsey intimately enough to chide him," Depue said.

"Don't underestimate us, John," the note says. "Use that good Southern common sense of yours."

That phrase is complimentary and suggests the writer is from the south, Depue said. Patsy Ramsey was born in West Virginia.

So, Depue said, "The writer knows he is from the south and again refers to him as ‘John.' This person knows John pretty damn well."

In Depue's opinion, "The writer is a well-educated, middle-age female. The writer used the term ‘fat cat,' suggesting that the person is middle age. ‘Fat cat' is a term used in the 1960s and 1970s. The writer," Depue said, "is a close relative, friend, or business associate, in that order."

Depue said that conclusion and the circumstances surrounding the note fit the profile of Patricia Ramsey.

source http://www.newsmax.com/Pre-2008/Ransom-Note-Fits-Profile/2006/08/28/id/687388/

Whether the theory or technique employed by the expert is generally accepted in the scientific community;
Whether it has been subjected to peer review and publication;
Whether it can be and has been tested;
Whether the known or potential rate of error is acceptable; and
Whether the research was conducted independent of the particular litigation or dependent on an intention to provide the proposed testimony.[4]

Although criminal profiling is quite popular and is often used as a tool in criminal investigations, it lacks empirical evidence to support its use. In a review by Eastwood et al. (2006), existing research on the validity of criminal profiling was analyzed, to determine whether this technique can be counted on to aid in criminal investigations.

One of the studies that was noted in the review was by Pinizzotto and Finkel (1990), and involved asking different groups of people, including actual profilers, university students, police detectives, and clinical psychologists, to create a profile based on details about a particular crime. The results showed that the trained criminal profilers did not do any better than the other groups in creating an accurate profile which could predict who the culprit was. Similar results were obtained in another study, which assessed police officers, psychologists, students, psychics, and profilers on their ability to create a predictive profile. Again, results showed that profilers were not significantly better at creating a profile than any of the other groups.[24]

Expertise in Psychological Profiling
A Comparative Assessment
Show all authors
RICHARD N. KOCSIS, HARVEY J. IRWIN, ANDREW F. HAYES, ...
Abstract

There has been little empirical study of the abilities contributing to proficient performance in psychological profiling. The authors sought to address this issue by comparing the accuracy of psychological profiles for a closed murder case generated by groups differing primarily in characteristics posited to underlie the profiling process. In addition to a sample of professional profilers, the study recruited groups of police officers, psychologists, university students, and self-declared psychics. Another group of participants compiled a generic profile of murderers without knowledge of the specific case given to other groups. Despite the small size of the sample of profilers, there were indications that this group had a set of profiling skills superior to the individual skills represented by the other expertise groups. In addition, the performance of psychologists was better in some respects than that of police and psychics, suggesting that an educated insight into human behavior might be relatively pertinent to psychological profiling. On the other hand, it would seem that psychics relied on nothing more than the social stereotype of a murderer in their production of the offender's profile.
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One of the studies that was noted in the review was by Pinizzotto and Finkel (1990), and involved asking different groups of people, including actual profilers, university students, police detectives, and clinical psychologists, to create a profile based on details about a particular crime. The results showed that the trained criminal profilers did not do any better than the other groups in creating an accurate profile which could predict who the culprit was.

Whether the theory or technique employed by the expert is generally accepted in the scientific community;
Whether it has been subjected to peer review and publication;
Whether it can be and has been tested;
Whether the known or potential rate of error is acceptable; and
Whether the research was conducted independent of the particular litigation or dependent on an intention to provide the proposed testimony.[4]

A top former FBI profiler says Patricia Ramsey fits the profile of the person who wrote the ransom note in the JonBenet Ramsey murder case.

Dr. Roger Depue, who headed the FBI unit in charge of profiling, was asked at one point to examine the kidnap note and the circumstances surrounding it by Dr. Bertram Brown, a psychiatrist called in by Alex Hunter, then the district attorney in Boulder, Colo.

While Depue would not take a position on who killed the 6-year-old girl, he said the way the note was written fits the profile of JonBenet's mother, Patricia Ramsey. He gave his opinion before charges were dropped against John Mark Karr.

In Depue's opinion, "The writer is a well-educated, middle-age female. The writer used the term ‘fat cat,' suggesting that the person is middle age. ‘Fat cat' is a term used in the 1960s and 1970s. The writer," Depue said, "is a close relative, friend, or business associate, in that order."