Perfect Murder, Perfect Town - Lawrence Schiller [49]
The most sensitive potential problem facing the police was the fax that Detective Arndt had sent to the Ramseys’ attorney. It was sure to leak and to embarrass not only the police but Hunter’s office as well. Bill Wise, who could hardly disguise his contempt for the Boulder PD, told Eller that Arndt’s fax was an even dumber mistake than trying to withhold JonBenét’s body. And by the way, Wise added, he understood that the press might already have wind of it.
“If you keep talking like that, we’ll kick you guys out of the case,” Eller replied furiously. Wise thought Eller was behaving like a kid threatening to take his bat and ball and go home.
Wise then suggested a way to cope with the “Arndt problem.” He proposed telling selected members of the media that a list of “housekeeping” questions had been submitted to the Ramseys via their attorneys, as an interim measure until formal interviews could be conducted—such questions as “When is milk delivered to your house?” “How many times has Federal Express delivered a package?” “When was the handyman last at your home?” These were, of course, all fabrications, including the date when the police had submitted the questions. The press was sure to gobble it up, but Wise was troubled. He had never before deliberately misinformed the press.
That same afternoon, Pat Korten, the Ramseys’ press representative, met with John and Patsy at the Fernies’ home. Korten’s job was to take the pressure off the lawyers so that they could concentrate on lawyering; he would deal with the media.
The Ramseys told Korten they wanted to release several nonpageant photos of JonBenét so the public could see her as she really had been—a sweet, normal kid, not much different from any other little girl her age. Korten told them that given a choice, all the media—newspapers, magazines, and TV—would use a pageant photograph. It was simply too late to manage JonBenét’s image. Korten pointed out that all the TV networks and tabloid shows had representatives in town. He told the couple that their daughter’s murder was sure to become the next media circus after the OJ business.
Korten then asked whether John and Patsy planned to attend church the next day. By now he knew that they were enthusiastic and regular attendees of St. John’s. He also knew that their presence or absence would make news. His first suggestion was that Patsy and John stay home, but Patsy wanted to go to church to thank her friends for supporting her. Korten said he would see to it that their appearance didn’t get out of control.
Later that afternoon, Korten called the major media outlets and asked what their intentions were for covering the services. Almost all of them said that if the Ramseys attended church, they would be there. Many journalists felt the call was an invitation.
Korten then visited Rev. Hoverstock and offered to help keep the press under control. He said he would do what he’d done hundreds if not thousands of times in his career: he would tell the press, “You’re here to get a picture. I’m here to see that everything is done in a way that doesn’t cause embarrassment or turn this into a zoo. Let’s work together.”
Korten arranged with Hoverstock to have the entire congregation leave the church by the front door, which opened onto the street, not the side door, which was usually used. That way the press would get their pictures and the integrity of the service would be preserved.
On Sunday, January 5, I attended church, and again I was late. I parked in the back and walked around the building. There, standing out by the side, was Jim Barbee, a parishioner. He gave me