On the "enhanced" call

[jameson245]

2000 November 14
About.Com Crime Chat
with former Detective Steve Thomas


crimeADM: "Did you hear the 911 tape personally; and if so, once and for all, was Burke on it?"

stevethomas: "I heard the 911 tape. repeatedly, as did the other detectives. the consensus was unanimous, as supported by the enhancement -- there is a 3rd voice on the tape, appears to be Burke (unless there was someone else present who has never been identified...)"

crimeADM: "A follow-up to the 911 question: Many people swear they heard the tape on one talk-show or another. Is there any possibility that this happened?"

stevethomas: "as far as i know, the only people who heard the tape were involved in the investigation -- da's office people, bpd personnel, engineers who enhanced it. if someone is out on the talk shows saying they heard it, who is this/these person(s)?"

My comment: - Does that make any sense at all?  The other detectives unanimously heard the third voice on the tape - - UNENHANCED - - and that later that was supported by the "enhanced" version.  But we have all heard the "enhanced" tape and most of us can't make it out without a script in front of us and even then only if we hold our pee and dim the lights and squint hard.  (And then, if they change the script, THAT is what we hear!)

[jameson245]

911 tape disputes Ramseys' story
Burke's voice is audible, contrary to parents' statement that he was in bed asleep when mom called

By KEVIN McCULLEN
Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer
August 21, 1998
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BOULDER, Colo. -- Burke Ramsey was awake and asking questions as his mother phoned police to report the disappearance of his 6-year-old sister, JonBenet, officials familiar with the murder investigation said Thursday.

A digitally enhanced tape recording of Patsy Ramsey's early morning 911 call -- which includes Burke's voice, according to the officials -- appears to contradict statements by the Ramseys that Burke was asleep in bed at the time.

Patsy Ramsey didn't hang up the telephone after placing the 911 call at 5:51 a.m. on Dec. 26, 1996, allowing a few moments of conversation between the family to be recorded, the sources said.

Boulder police, who have never publicly released the 911 recording, took the tape to a California laboratory for a sound enhancement in April 1997.

John Ramsey and Burke Ramsey, then 10, can be heard on the tape, according to the officials.

The sources described this sequence:

Patsy Ramsey cries and screams, "Help me, Jesus, help me, Jesus," after setting the telephone down, apparently believing she had disconnected the call.

Another voice -- identified as Burke Ramsey's -- is heard in the background. John Ramsey says to him, "We weren't speaking to you."

Burke Ramsey replies, "But what did you find?"

Boulder police and the Boulder District Attorney's office would not comment Thursday.

But an attorney for John Ramsey blasted what he called the "vicious leak" of the 911 tape's contents. Hal Haddon said whoever revealed the information is guilty of "criminal misconduct" and should be indicted.

"This vicious leak is one more example of the pattern of official misconduct which has characterized this investigation for the past 19 months," he said in a written statement.

"Police sources leak what they claim is critical evidence and spin it against the Ramseys. The Ramseys are helpless to reply because they do not have access to the evidence.

"The situation is a disgrace to the criminal justice system, which appears powerless to prevent it."

The Ramseys insisted Burke Ramsey was asleep when Patsy Ramsey found the ransom note demanding $118,000 for JonBenet's return and when she dialed 911 to report her daughter missing, according to the officials familiar with the investigation.

The couple made that statement soon after their daughter's death, and again in July during 20 hours of separate interviews with investigators from the Boulder County District Attorney's office, according to the sources.

Police listed the enhanced 911 tape as one of the reasons to take the case to a grand jury during a two-day presentation of evidence in early June to District Attorney Alex Hunter and his assembled experts.

John and Patsy Ramsey have steadfastly denied involvement in their daughter's death. But Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner has said they continue under an "umbrella of suspicion."

Burke Ramsey was interviewed in Atlanta in July. Beckner had said police considered him an important witness in the case.

Attorneys not connected to the case had different perspectives on what the tape means.

"It's significant because if this contradicts the statements of John and Patsy and Burke Ramsey, you can reasonably conclude that there was a reason for them to mislead law enforcement officers," said Craig Silverman, a former Denver prosecutor now in private practice.

"It explains the 'umbrella of suspicion' that we've been hearing about, but it doesn't advance our knowledge as to what person did what," he said.

Defense attorney Scott Robinson questioned whether such a tape recording would be admissible in court. He said there is not a lot of case law on such a situation.

Even assuming the tape is valid, Robinson said he quickly could think of six or seven scenarios that would explain the snippet of dialog, with interpretations ranging "from the sinister to the sad and sympathetic."

Hunter's office will not disclose the starting date or location for the Boulder grand jury. But sources said the 16-member grand jury would be convened sometime after Labor Day.

(Kevin McCullen writes for Rocky Mountain News in Denver. Staff writer John Ensslin contributed to this report.)
AP-NY-08-20-98 2314EDT

[jameson245]

When unnamed sources (Steve Thomas and friends) told people that the 911 tape included Burke's voice, the online lynch mob flocked to accept that as truth. Why_Nut was one of the BORG and posted that I was wrong to continue supporting the Ramseys.
I had just appeared on 48 Hours to expose Vassar Professor Donald Foster as a fraud - and the BORG was unhappy with me. Called me a liar, said I had "tricked" Foster, whatever. This was my response to one of Why_nut's post.


1999-04-13: Webbsleuths Community Forum,
Thread titled, "Another Foster thread"

8. "Why_nut"
Posted by jameson on 21:19:20 4/13/99

I watched all the news shows report on the 911 tape. They never played the tape and not one reporter I saw said he or she heard them. They just were reporting on what they heard from unknown sources. Newsweek said the tapes were mud and the conversation was not there. Again, no one said they listened to the tapes themselves.

You want to believe the tabloid story that Geraldo and Boyles were reporting on? You certainly have the right to do that. Just as I have the right to say I believe it is just another tabloid trash story.

CBS did verify that I had the e-mails and letters - you can call the people at 48 Hours - perhaps they will verify that for you. The FAX was shown on TV - they took the quote "solved this Colorado crime" out of it.

Again, you don't want to believe those things exist, fine. I feel no need to share those things with you. In fact I have a good reason NOT to make those things public at this time.

[jameson245]

Why_nut's response:

12. "Jameson"
Posted by why_nut on 05:29:22 4/14/99

"You want to believe the tabloid story that Geraldo and Boyles were reporting on? You certainly have the right to do that. Just as I have the right to say I believe it is just another tabloid trash story."
....................................................................................................
For the record, my sources for the veracity of the story come from the Rocky Mountain News, the Denver Post, and the Daily Camera. I put particular credence in the fact that John C. Ensslin of the RMN, while noting that the story originated with the National Equirer, independently confirmed the story. It is reasonable to believe that Ensslin did this by contacting people at Aerospace Corporation, the company where the enhancement was done. Since David Wright of the Enquirer said that no money was paid to the two technicians spoken to from the company, it is reasonable to believe that Ensslin, and the "several other media outlets" he cited, also independently confirmed the story with those technicians. In addition, I cannot ignore Christopher Anderson's (of the Daily Camera) notation in his article that, while the Ramsey attorneys were furious about the leak, they did not deny the story of the tape's contents. This would have been easy to do if there was reason to, given the attorneys' access to the Ramseys, who were in the perfect position to deny the contents of the tape since they were ON the tape.


(My note - the Ramseys had told their story - Burke was upstairs in his bed, they believed he was asleep until John and Fleet woke him up around 7 am. BORG just never listened.)

[jameson245]

http://autos.rockymountainnews.com/extra...ape1.shtml
Taped copy of 911 call given to Ramsey family
Brother of JonBenet is heard on recording when parents said he was asleep, report says
News Staff

Patsy and John Ramsey have been given a copy of a 911 tape that apparently contradicts some of their statements to police, Newsweek is reporting in its June 7 issue.

The tape was made Dec. 26, 1996 -- the morning that the Ramseys' daughter, JonBenet, was reported missing. She was found dead hours later in the basement of the family's Boulder home.

The Ramseys told police that their son Burke was asleep when Patsy Ramsey called 911 at 5:52 a.m. that morning.

But his voice can be heard on the tape, according to published reports.

Burke Ramsey was called before the Boulder grand jury, which has been investigating JonBenet's murder since last fall.

Shortly before Burke Ramsey's testimony, a judge ordered Boulder District Attorney Alex Hunter to turn over a copy of the tape to the Ramseys, Newsweek reported.

In Colorado, a person testifying before a grand jury is allowed to see any "prior statement" he or she made.

May 30, 1999


(My note - It had been published in a tabloid and again on the Internet, several times on different forums - - that did not make it true. We have ll heard the tapes now - - the enhanced tapes - - there is no third voice to be found.)

[jameson245]

2000-11-14: About.Com Chat with Steve Thomas - Nov 2000

from aboutcrime.com chat:

crimeADM: "Did you hear the 911 tape personally; and if so, once and for all, was Burke on it?"

stevethomas: "I heard the 911 tape. repeatedly, as did the other detectives. the consensus was unanimous, as supported by the enhancement -- there is a 3rd voice on the tape, appears to be Burke (unless there was someone else present who has never been identified...)"

crimeADM: "A follow-up to the 911 question: Many people swear they heard the tape on one talk-show or another. Is there any possibility that this happened?"

stevethomas: "as far as i know, the only people who heard the tape were involved in the investigation -- da's office people, bpd personnel, engineers who enhanced it. if someone is out on the talk shows saying they heard it, who is this/these person(s)?"

[jameson245]

2001-11-26: Webbsleuths Forum
Thread, "the 911 tape was NOT heard!"

4 . "Bailey38's post"
Posted by jameson on Nov-26-01 at 10:35 PM (EST)

"From: BAILEY38
I couldn't find the 911 thread to put this one...However I did get a letter from Burrelle's Transcript about the video..Please note it says in NO way it DID NOT air, just that they can not send THAT video out. Here's part of the letter...I also sent BJ a copy of it, just in case anyone questioned my honesty..(hey, it doesn't hurt to have back-up and have to prove yourself! *l*) I had sent too much money, so they sent it back, and I will send the amount for the transcripts tomorrow...Here you all go:

Dear Sir/Madam:

We recieved your request for a videotape. Please be advised that Burrelle's does not provide the videotape of the program that you requested. Only typewritten transcript is available.

Enclosed is your form of payment along with your correspondence.

Burrelle's Transcripts
P.O. Box 7
Livingston, NJ 07039

Thank you for your inquiry.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jameson's response:

We have the transcripts - Geraldo and others read what "unnamed sources" told him was on the tape
- the tape was not played.

[jameson245]

From a BORG forum:



Niner
Posts: 38
Member since: 10/9/02 -
From: Auburn, California Geraldo 911 Tapes

I thought I'd start this new thread on the Geraldo 911 tapes that I said I would be able to get - they are ON their way!!

There were two shows (I'm told) that covered the 911 tapes. One ws hosted by Marcia Clark and the other by Geraldo. One was Friday 8-21-98 (Marcia) and the other Gerald 8-25-98.

(from my source that's sending me the tape): they NEVER played the tape. Geraldo mentioned that he was reporting what was stated and the magazine that first reported the existence of the enhanced 911 tapes. It was the National Enquirer. One of the guests on his show questioned the source but Geraldo said it was a better source than the Washington Post.

I believe he's going to be sending me the actually tapes he received from the Geraldo show - I have NO idea how to put that on the net... does anyone have any suggestions for that - or I can copy his and mail this on to one of you... or I can transcribe 'what' I hear on the tapes - OK - any suggestions?? [&:]"))

Date: 11/2/02 - 7:20:23 PM

[jameson245]

RiverSelah
Posts: 95
Member since: 10/4/02 -
From: Somewhere under the hole in the Ozone.
RE: Geraldo 911 Tapes

I'll be the first one to tell you that I swore up and down that I heard those tapes on Geraldo. I was determined to prove it, so I called my cousin who works for the company that produces Geraldo. Guess what she says? The tapes never aired, what I heard was a dummy tape. A dummy tape, according to her, is a renactment.

So, I was wrong. The tapes did not air on Geraldo."))

Date: 11/2/02 - 7:44:04 PM

[jameson245]

But the BORG still insisted.

From: Maeven (IMMAEVEN) Jul-18 11:38 pm
I HEARD the enhanced version on Geraldo. I was so angry that I hadn't turned on my VCR and captured that particular show.

The next AM, the BPD threatened suit that GR had basically stolen evidence, and that all references to said voice clip must be erased. I went to the transcript site, and both the tape and the transcript had the entire episode taken out.

I am STILL kicking that one. When they showed that night in reruns, they said NOTHING except the evidence was stolen, and as an ongoing case, it was held evidence, and not for public consumption.

Whatta CROCK!!



From: KOLDKASE2 1:07 am
To: Maeven

Well, thank you Maeven! I've been fighting tooth and nail at WS because most just can't get it that it was played on Geraldo and that I heard it.

Then Candy comes on with a transcript of a Fox show Geraldo did last week talking about the tape like he never heard of it. I sent him an email telling him just what a SNAKE he is and that he's lost any integrity I've gave him credit for having.

I still will not budge. I heard the enhanced tape on Geraldo and that's a fact. I wasn't online back then and didn't tape any of the things I saw on the case, as it was just me interested in it around my friends and family. Plus, I had no way of knowing that it would never be solved and I'd be here all these years later.... Who knew?

But I completely missed the part about the threats to Geraldo. I just watched the one show, then went to bed. I finally figured out when I came online and people acted like I was nutz for saying I heard it, and when I couldn't find any reference to it anywhere, that must be what happened.