bestnote

The Ramsey Ransom note

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The Text
Mr. Ramsey,
    Listen carefully! We are a group of individuals that represent a small foreign faction. We respect your bussiness but not the country that it serves. At this time we have your daughter in our posession. She is safe and unharmed and if you want her to see 1997, you must follow our instructions to the letter.
    You will withdraw $118,000 from your account. $100,000 will be in $100 bills and the remaining $18,000 in $20 bills. Make sure that you bring an adequate size attache to the bank. When you get home you will put the money in a brown paper bag. I will call you between 8 and 10 a.m. tomorrow to instruct you on delivery. The delivery will be exhausting so I advise you to be rested. If we monitor you getting the money early, we might call you early to arrange an earlier delivery of the money and hence an earlier pickup of your daughter.
    Any deviation of my instructions will result in the immediate execution of your daughter. You will also be denied her remains for proper burial. The two gentlemen watching over your daughter do not particularly like you so I advise you not to provoke them. Speaking to anyone about your situation such as police, F.B.I., etc., will result in your daughter being beheaded. If we catch you talking to a stray dog, she dies. If you alert bank authorities, she dies. If the money is in any way marked or tampered with, she dies. You will be scanned for electronic devices and if any are found, she dies. You can try to deceive us, but be warned we are familiar with law enforcement countermeasures and tactics. You stand a 99% chance of killing your daughter if you try to outsmart us. Follow our instructions and you stand a 100% chance of getting her back. You and your family are under constant scrutiny, as well as the authorities. Don't try to grow a brain, John. You are not the only fat cat around so don't think that killing will be difficult. Don't underestimate us, John. Use that good, southern common sense of yours. It's up to you now, John!
Victory! S.B.T.C

The Note Pad
The Pad belonged to the Ramseys. It was kept on the table in the rear hall.
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(missing page info from Thomas?)
Pages 1-12 were missing.
      Pages 13-16 were filled with lists and notes and doodles
      Pages 17-25 were missing - apparently not found in the house
      Page 26 contained the words "Mr. and Mrs. I" and had some ink on it, apparently bleedthrough from
      whatever had been written on page 25.
      Pages 27, 28 and 29 have been positively identified as the pages the ransom note were written on
      No one has said if page 30 had any "bleedthrough" on it or if any other pages were missing.
      When John was asked for handwriting samples from both himself and Patsy, he gave them the pads
      from the hall.
There were no fingerprints found on the pad - just one print and that belonged to the CBI examiner.

The Handwriting
What the Experts said
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Chet Ubowski, CBI: There is evidence that indicates the ransom note may have been written by Patsy. But the evidence falls short of that necessary to support a definitive conclusion.
Leonard Speckin, private forensic document analyst: "When I compare the handwriting habits of Patsy Ramsey with those in the . . . note, there exists agreement to the extent that some of her individual letter formations and letter combinations do appear in the ransom note. When this agreement is weighed against the number, type and consistency of the differences present, I am unable to identify Patsy Ramsey as the author of the . . . note with any degree of certainty. I am, however, unable to eliminate her as the author."
Edwin F. Alford Jr., private document examiner: "Examination of the questioned handwriting and comparison with the handwriting specimens submitted has failed to provide a basis for identifying Patricia Ramsey as the writer of the letter."
Lloyd Cunningham, Ramsey-hired expert: He cannot identify or eliminate Patsy Ramsey as the author of the ransom note. He spent 20 hours examining the samples and documents and found that there were no significant individual characteristics but many significant differences between Patsy's writing and the note.
Richard Dusak, document analyst for the Secret Service: His study concluded that there was no evidence that Patsy wrote the note.
Howard Rile, Ramsey-hired expert: His opinion is between "probably not" and "elimination" of Patsy Ramsey as the author of the ransom note. He believes that the writer could be identified if earlier writing samples were found.
Larry Ziegler, expert hired by Darnay Hoffman - in an email to jameson - " It was determined and is still determined by myself that Patsy Ramsey is the writer of the ransom note."   (He later removed himself from the case.)
I only have the depositions from the following experts and will take their answers from their depositions.
Cina Wong, expert hired by Darnay Hoffman - from her deposition:
Question by Lin Wood: "Well, do you feel that you have eliminated all reasonable doubt about whether Patsy Ramsey wrote the ransom note?
Answer by Cina Wong: In this case, I highly believe she wrote the note.
Q. And please answer my question.
A. I am sorry.
Q. Do you feel that you have eliminated all reasonable doubt?
A. With the people, the possibilities of who could be involved in this case with the three handwriting samples that were given to me and enormous -- the enormous similarities that Patsy Ramsey's handwriting and the note, yes, I believe she is the writer.
Gideon Epstein, expert hired by Darnay Hoffman - from his deposition
Q. What is your degree of certainty yourself as you sit here today that Patsy Ramsey wrote the note?
A. I am absolutely certain that she wrote the note.

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Linguistic Analysis
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Was done by Vassar Professor Don Foster but he was, as Steve Thomas put it, "consigned to the DA's junk pile" when his "work" was challenged.
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For more details, visit my Foster Page.

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POSSIBLE LINKS TO MOVIES AND OTHER TRUE CRIME
Lines in the ransom note were similar to lines in certain movies and true crime notes.
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Dirty Harry - "If you talk to anyone, I don't care if it's a Pekingese pissing against a lamppost, the girl dies."
Ransom note - "If we catch you talking to a stray dog, she dies."
Speed - "Do not attempt to grow a brain."
Ransom note - "Don't try to grow a brain, John."
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From the kidnapping and murder of Bobby Franks by Leopold and Loeb - first, compare ransom notes...
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         The Leopold and Loeb Ransom Note
         Dear Sir:
         As you no doubt know by this time, your son has been kidnapped. Allow us to assure you that he is at present well and safe. You need fear no physical harm for him, provided you line up carefully to the following instructions and to such others as you will receive by furture comminications. Should you, however, disobey any of our instructions, even slightly, his death will be the penalty.
         1. For obvious reasons make absolutely no attempt to communicate with either police authorities or any private agency. Should you already have communicated with the police, allow them to continue their investigations, but do not mention this letter.
         2. Secure before noon today $10,000. this money must be composed entirely of old bills of the following denominations: $2000 in $20 bills, $8000 in $50 bills. the money must be old. Any attempt to include new or marked bills will render the entire venture futile.
         3. The money should be place in a large cigar box, or if this is impossible, in a heavy cardboard box, securely closed and wrapped in white paper. The wrapping paper should be sealed at all openings with sealing wax.
         4. Have the money with you, prepared as directed above, and remain at home after one o'clock. See that the telephone is not in use.
         You will receive a further communication instructing you as to your final course.
         As a final word of warning, this is an extremely commercial proposition and we are prepared to put our threat into execution should we have reasonable grounds to believe that you have committed an infraction of the above instructions.
         However, should you carefully follow out our instructions to the letter, we can assure you that you son will be safely returned to you within six hours of our receipt of the money.
         Yours truly,
         George Johnson
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Now with the comparison - quotes from the Ramsey ransom note are in bold - - and the statements are not in order...
         Dear Sir:
         Mr. Ramsey,
         As you no doubt know by this time, your son has been kidnapped. Allow us to assure you that he is at present well and safe. You need fear no physical harm for him, provided you line up carefully to the following instructions and to such others as you will receive by furture comminications.
         At this time we have your daughter in our posession. She is safe and unharmed and if you want her to see 1997, you must follow our instructions to the letter.
         Should you, however, disobey any of our instructions, even slightly, his death will be the penalty.
         Any deviation of my instructions will result in the immediate execution of your daughter.
         1. For obvious reasons make absolutely no attempt to communicate with either police authorities or any private agency. Should you already have communicated with the police, allow them to continue their investigations, but do not mention this letter.
         Speaking to anyone about your situation such as Police, F.B.I., etc., will result in your daughter being beheaded.
         2. Secure before noon today $10,000. this money must be composed entirely of old bills of the following denominations: $2000 in $20 bills, $8000 in $50 bills. the money must be old. Any attempt to include new or marked bills will render the entire venture futile.
         You will withdraw $118,000 from your account. $100,000 will be in $100 bills and the remaining $18,000 in $20 bills. If the money is in any way marked or tampered with, she dies.
         3. The money should be place in a large cigar box, or if this is impossible, in a heavy cardboard box, securely closed and wrapped in white paper. The wrapping paper should be sealed at all openings with sealing wax.
         Make sure that you bring an adequate size attache to the bank. When you get home you will put the money in a brown paper bag.
         4. Have the money with you, prepared as directed above, and remain at home after one o'clock. See that the telephone is not in use. I will call you between 8 and 10 a.m. tomorrow to instruct you on delivery.
         You will receive a further communication instructing you as to your final course. The delivery will be exhausting so I advise you to be rested.
         As a final word of warning, this is an extremely commercial proposition and we are prepared to put our threat into execution should we have reasonable grounds to believe that you have committed an infraction of the above instructions.
         You stand a 99% chance of killing your daughter if you try to outsmart us. ...don't think that killing will be difficult. Don't underestimate us...
         However, should you carefully follow out our instructions to the letter, we can assure you that you son will be safely returned to you within six hours of our receipt of the money.
         Follow our instructions and you stand a 100% chance of getting her back.
         Yours truly,
         George Johnson
         Victory!
         S.B.T.C

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      The next sentence is from the confession of Nathan Leopold - - they had the father moving from here to there to get their messages - - as happened in the later movie, Dirty Harry. Just look at the sentences - - run on sentences concerning the delivery of the money and both use a certain phrase...
Our original plan had included a relay which was to send Mr. Franks to a"Help Keep the City Clean" box at the corner of Vincennes and Pershing but we had difficulty in making the envelope stick as we intended, and hence decided to eliminate this relay.
If we monitor you getting the money early, we might call you early to arrange an earlier delivery of the money and hence an earlier pickup of your daughter.

ANOTHER TRUE CRIME
In the early morning hours of January 7, 1946, 6-year-old Suzanne Degnan was kidnapped from her Chicago home and a ransom note was found on the bedroom floor. Before nightfall, police discovered her dismembered body parts in the sewers of her north side neighborhood. The autopsy later revealed that the child had been strangled.
The front of the ransom note:
Get $20,000 Ready + Waite for Word. Do Not Notify
FBI or Police. Bills in 5's and 10's.
Back of the note:
BURN THIS FOR HER SAFETY