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Ramsey Trapped by His Own Words

"GLOBE", March 11, 1997. Reprinted with permission. Copyright Globe Communications Corp. 1997. Not to be reproduced without written consent of Globe Communications Corp.

Language Analysis Reveals...
Words from John Ramsey's own mouth damn him as the molester and murderer of his adorable little daughter JonBenet, says a top expert.

Avinoam Sapir, who teaches FBI agents how to detect criminals from the words they speak, has analyzed the Jan. 1 interview John, 53, and Patsy Ramsey, 40, gave to CNN in Atlanta just six days after JonBenet's cruel killing.

He told GLOBE that the Boulder businessman's choice of words show he is an abuser and knows who killed his daughter.

"The two major points that tell you most likely that John Ramsey did it are: Number one, he doesn't want to know what happened or who did it," says Sapir.

"Number two is switching from the word 'child' when JonBenet is alive in his mind to the word 'daughter' only when she's dead. This fits the profile of a child abuser."

Sapir pointed to the CNN interview, where Patsy said: "..if anyone knows anything, please, please help us. For the safety of all of the children.. we have to find out who did this."

And Ramsey said: "Because we've got to go on. And this, we can't go on until we know why. There is no answer as to why our daughter died."

Explains Sapir: "There is a major difference between the two parents. The mother said WHO and the father said WHY. The father doesn't need to know who did it - because he already knows. Why does he need to know 'why?' Well many people would like to be able to explain or know why they did harmful or bad things even though there's no doubt they have done them."

Ramsey reveals he's an abuser by the way he avoids referring to JonBenet as his "daughter," says Sapir, a criminologist and psychologist and head of the Laboratory for Scientific Interrogation in Phoenix.

"Generally, abusive parents cannot use the proper title for a child because they cannot admit to themselves they would abuse their own 'son' or 'daughter.'

"The only two places this father uses the term are when he said, 'there is no answer to why our daughter died,' and 'we wanted to get our daughter buried.'

"Both times are when she's already dead. However, when he refers to JonBenet being alive, he says 'child.'"

Private Investigator and speech analysis expert Roy K. Dudley also finds Ramsey's statement about the police investigation into JonBenet's death revealing.

Ramsey said: "If we don't have the full resources of all the law enforcement community on this case, I'm going to be very upset."

Says Dudley: "If he truly wants all of law enforcement resources used, why are the Ramseys handicapping investigators by not providing evidence, and why are they not clearing themselves by submitting to a formal police interview or polygraph?

"Why are search warrants necessary for their homes in Boulder and Michigan? These actions don't fit in with this very definite statement."

Dudley told GLOBE he, too, found it disturbing in the interview how few times Ramsey referred to JonBenet as his "daughter".