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The Psychology of JonBenet Ramsey - (Chap 4 - Parents Did It)

🕑 Added 2025-10-13 11:00:28 +0000 UTC

Comments

Andrea

Humberto you did it very well. 🎉🌷☀️❤️ I was very engaged. Thank you so much!

Angelina

Thank you Humberto, I love the way you relay the information, very upbeat, but also serious, and with a sprinkle of humour! Great job

Ayadejha Salyers

Great job, Berto! Agreed this is a fun format change!

Breasha Acquah

Great job Berto! For a suggestion for future deep dives, I would love for you to do the Psychology of Alex Murdaugh. That story is fascinating.

Lauren King

I love this format. I think Berto does a great job. I recall Patsy’s friend, a mother to another girl in the pageants maybe, told the story of Burke hitting his sister with the golf club and her view was that he was jealous. Maybe Im misremembering. It seems really unremarkable that on older sibling would be jealous of a younger sibling for getting SO MUCH ATTENTION. It seems really unremarkable for parents to not understand that dynamic or do a good job mitigating it. But I don’t think the poop has to be a flag of psychopathy for it to be a piece of evidence that the little boy may have done it. I also recall on one of those specials that the pineapple was Burke’s favorite and he was constantly complaining about her touching his things. Very common. His mom makes him the pineapple. Little sister sneaks some. Little boy is mad. Picks up something and hits her. Not unusual. I’ve seen kids do that a ton of times. Maybe this particular time, he picked up a heavy enough object and he was strong enough and he meant to hit her not kill her and he’s a child and doesn’t understand life and death and consequences. The parents concoct a ridiculous plan but because they aren’t thinking clearly. Because they’re rich and they have great legal advice and the fact that they both love their son and think they are protecting their family they never break all these years. Looked at through that lens, it’s really mundane. And to me it is Occam’s razor. Nobody has to be a psychopath or a predator and as far as we know, no one went on to murder anyone else. Burke doesnt even have to be a bad kid or a weird kid. He is weird in those interviews but there are a million reasons for that. Namely that his little sister died when he was young and his parents were in the limelight and probably caused some significant emotional distress and probable abandonment from their distractions. Now, the history of sexual abuse is bad. But maybe she was being abused by someone it doesn’t mean that same person killed her. That might have been two separate problems this little girl had. And that’s unfortunately common as well. Unfortunately I don’t think this case would be talked about today if they weren’t rich. We have these ideas that rich people don’t have mundane family dynamics that can lead to tragedy. But they’re just human.

April McDermott

Just a thought. A lot of us, when our friends are in trouble will go and try to help. So it seems normal that they’d be over there cleaning the house. Like “what can I do to help? Can I cook lunch?” Right? But if the Ramseys have help, their friends probably do too. Rich people don’t help like that. They give business cards of good lawyers. They don’t clean. They have people for that. And while they may have just been wanting the tea….its also super sus that the whole freaking neighborhood is over there cleaning up the scene of the crime while the child is dead in the house. The neighborhood who doesn’t even clean their own houses? Sure.

Susan C Lester

I am grateful that both sides of every observation is being presented as that is why this case is so strange. These are a few more points I think are important. 1. After the blow to the head, JonBenet was unconscious but alive. For all the parents knew, she could have had a concussion and recovered. I find it inconceivable that a parent would assume she was dead and then strangle her with a rope. 2. According to Paula Woodward, leaked info from the DAs office says an analysis by the police showed there were grapes, cherries, and pineapple in Jonbenet’s small intestine. This could have been fruit cocktail she ate at the party. The autopsy clearly proves she was not struck on the head and instantly killed. 3. The handwriting samples of Chris Wolf and Gary Olivia also look like the ransom note. 4. Patsy wore a favorite outfit of a red Christmas sweater and velvet pants for 2 to 3 hours at dinner the night before. They were planning to fly on their private plane to meet John’s other children that morning. I don’t think it is odd she would wear the same clothes. 5. Once JonBenet’s body was found, the police told them they had to leave the house until the investigation was over - maybe days to weeks. They couldn’t take anything. They were also fearful they were in danger from the murderer. John says he was calling to have his pilot fly them to their family in Atlanta where they would have support and be safe.

Rebecca Baskett

Does anyone else think the police are being unprofessional? They are hounding this family on talk shows. It’s not even like it’s a case where there was overwhelming evidence in any direction and the prosecutors flubbed it. I do understand that the courts probably can’t control it after the cop retires. However, I’m sick of being told stupid stuff is unprofessional like a teacher having a day at the beach and people do this!

EtM

I was 16 when this happened and it started my obsession with true crime. Usually I don’t like unsolved cases (like the Zodiac killer), because they’re just frustrating. This was particularly fascinating right from the very beginning. One thing that always bothers me is when the victim’s beauty is mentioned. It implies that the death is somehow more tragic, than someone who isn’t attractive.

EtM

FBI profilers firmly believe that BDI. They teach entire linguistic forensic corses based on the ransom note. I was convinced, until I saw equally compelling evidence that IDI, now I’m torn. I put zero weight on Burke identifying his voice. Every time I hear my voice in a video, I don’t recognize it and it sounds different, lol. Also, not sure why Dr Honda isn’t recognizing the significance of the pineapple? There are tons of things that are easy to forget (especially when you’re frantic), that’s not one of them.

juliana reider

I really appreciate Dr H really thinking of this from every angle and trying to avoid any assumptions. Also I’m loving this series, thank you ‘Berto!

Madeline Moore

Would like to point out that Patsy claimed when she got home from the party she hung her clothes over the side of the bathtub because she intended to wear the same outfit the next day and put them back on that morning (they were going out of state to spend Christmas with John's older children so presumably nobody would know she was re-wearing the same outfit)

Julia Smith

Next deep dive suggestion: The Psychology of Bat Boy!

Julia Smith

Great job, Berto! I liked the way you presented the information and the way you two rif off one another. Like Kirk I didn't have cable for a good part of the 90s, but I do remember seeing Jonbenet's picture on the tabloid covers for years. I think people sometimes lost sight of the fact that at the end of the day, a real little girl was at the center of this.

Lauren Desormeau

I’ll never forget telling a coworker how the new documentary came out on Netflix last year and she said something along the lines of well everyone knows the son did it, duh! And I was very taken aback.

Diana Gibson

Thank you Berto!! These topics can be tough to listen to, but I really appreciate the way you organize and present information, both to Dr. Kirk and to us!

Jade Shepherd

“I still wet the bed. Just for fun 🤷🏻‍♀️” best podcast ever 😂🥰

Mariana

Good job Berto! I think if you circle back you should show Dr. Honda the clip of Burke interview when he says what he thinks happen. Would love to get Dr. Honda opinion.

Molly Cules

I remember Bat Boy! Weekly World News was always in the aisle at the grocery store checkout lane right next to Reader’s Digest, the Channel Guide, and of course the unforgettable and highly-prized Soap Opera Digest.

Courtney

I’m firmly in the BDI camp. I recommend reading Ashley Ray’s summary, just Google “why the JonBenet case still feels like a mystery” and it should pop up!

Geekyt4

Good job Berto!!! 👏🏼

Selena G

Thank you Berto for your research and presentation🙌

Penny Davis

Weekly World News was the one with Batboy. It was wacky faux-news comedy for kids. I used to love Batboy!!! It was sold next to the tabloid rags though, so I see the confusion.

Elke

Thank you Berto! You're really doing a good job! :) Yes I do think there is not enough to blame somebody at this point it seems. I would guess somebody external. The note makes it a bit weird but, like Kirk said, a lot of weird things are there in every scenario when you're looking at pieces. That doesn't point necessarily towards guilt. I hope they uploaded the dna below the nails in a database and hopefully we can match in the future somebody when they do something similar or is likely to have done it.