Perfect Murder, Perfect Town - Lawrence Schiller [307]
The fifth element was the stain on JonBenét’s underpants containing mixed (foreign) DNA. The first component was JonBenét’s. Testing showed that the second or—possibly, third—component did not seem to match either parent or any relative, friend, playmate, or acquaintance whose DNA sample had been taken. How could the foreign DNA have gotten onto the underpants? It was possible that it belonged to the person—as yet unknown—who had killed JonBenét. It was also possible, however, that it came from a known person who had not given DNA samples and did not want to reveal that he or she had had contact with JonBenét in a manner that left DNA on her underpants. Such a person could be someone who had helped wipe JonBenét while she was on the toilet. The person might have been afraid that no truthful and innocent explanation would satisfy those who were eager to find a murderer.
The sixth element—in Lou Smit’s opinion only—was the possible use of a stun gun on JonBenét. The autopsy photos seemed to show marks consistent with those left by such a device, and the marks were fresh enough to have been caused during the murder. So little support had been given to this theory, however, that nobody had tried to have JonBenét’s body exhumed for the necessary testing of the skin tissue.
The seventh was the ransom note. Did Patsy write the note was a question that handwriting experts were battling over. None could say for sure. Even more mystifying, the ransom note itself showed no fingerprints or signs of handling, creasing, or damage. Patsy said she saw the three sheets of paper comprising the note spread across the entire width of a step as she descended the spiral staircase. She said she stepped over the three pages before turning around to read their contents. The pages showed no indication that they had been stepped on. This seemed plausible until the police recreated the scenario Patsy described. The detectives found it was impossible, while descending this spiral staircase, to skip any of the steps without losing one’s balance and almost falling forward.
Not on the list but equally puzzling were the questions about the duct tape and the cord. The cord had a frayed end and had been cut, but it couldn’t be determined how recently. The tape had been ripped from a roll. How recently that had taken place was also unknown. Why were all the other leftovers from the crime—such as the stick used in the “garrote,” the Sharpie pen used to write the ransom note, and the writing pad—left behind and not the roll of tape and the remainder of the cord? Only the killer knew the answer to that question.
GORDON MURDER TRIAL OPENS
DAVID GORDON CHARGED WITH MARCH
SHOOTING DEATH OF LIVE-IN GIRLFRIEND
For the first time since 1992, a defendant is scheduled to enter a Boulder courtroom today and stand trial on a charge of murder.
Compared to a trio of unsolved Boulder slayings—the Sid Wells, Susannah Chase and JonBenét Ramsey homicides—the [Angela] Foulks murder has received little attention and relatively few headlines in the eight months since the 44-year-old woman was killed [by her boyfriend].
In that time, Gordon had quietly wended his way through Boulder District Court without making a deal with prosecutors.
Foulks had cocaine in her system at the time of her death, according to Boulder County Coroner John Meyer’s autopsy report. “Cocaine is at the bottom of this,” Gordon reportedly told detectives after his arrest.
—Matt Sebastian
Daily Camera, December 7, 1998
Four days later, a jury convicted David Gordon of first-degree murder. In Colorado a first-degree murder conviction carries a mandatory