A Personal view of the Internet Subculture Surrounding the JonBenet Ramsey Murder case

Internet Subculture and the JonBenet Ramsey Murder Case

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	.	Linda Arndt vs City of Boulder AND Mark Beckner AND Tom Koby	.

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May 19, 1998 Former Boulder detective Linda Arndt vs. the City of Boulder Former police chief Tom Koby, and Boulder police chief Mark Beckner Lawsuit filed May 19, 1998 and thrown out of court June 11, 2001

Former Detective Linda Arndt May 14, 1997 Ramsey Case Drops Arndt March 18, 1999 Arndt Quits Boulder PD May 19, 1998 Complaint Filed Sept 13, 1999 Arndt on Good Morning America May 29, 2001 Trial Begins June 12, 2001 Suit Dismissed		May 19, 1998, former Boulder Detective Linda Arndt vs. the City of Boulder, former police chief Tom Koby, and Boulder police chief Mark Beckner Linda Arndt was one of the first detectives on the scene December 26, 1996, and she claims she was unfairly gagged, while the department refused to correct false information and damaging statements made about her in the media. Trial began May 28, 2001 through June 12, 2001 (11days). First Amendment suit against the Police Department dismissed by federal judge William F. Downes two weeks into a jury trial. A ruling for Arndt would "automatically place primacy on the reputations of individual officers at the expense of the integrity of the investigation itself," Downes said. "The ramifications of such a decision would be profound." Linda Arndt said she'll appeal the decision. ADDITIONAL LINKS: September 16, 1997 Vanity Fair Article May 28, 1998 to March 21, 2001 Court Docket March 8, 2000 Arndt Deposition Notes (from Jameson) May 28, 2001 Colfax Trial Report		Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner Former Police Chief Tom Koby The City of Boulder

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Linda Arndt News and Trial Coverage
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.	1997-05-14 (N) Two detectives dropped from Ramsey case "Officials dropped Detective Linda Arndt - the first detective to arrive at the murder scene Dec. 26 - as well as Detective Melissa Hickman from the case."	.	.	.TXT File
.	1998-05-19 (T) Linda Arndt vs City of Boulder, Becker, Koby	.	.	.
.	1998-05-28 (T) Linda Arndt vs City of Boulder Court Docket	NO Graphics	.PDF File	.TXT File
.	1999-03-19 (N) Linda Arndt, quits Boulder PD on Thursday "The first detective on the scene the day 6-year-old JonBenét Ramsey's body was found resigned from the Boulder Police Department on Thursday — eight years, to the day, after becoming a detective. Linda Arndt, who sued the city and former Chief Tom Koby after being pulled off the murder investigation, will leave the department April 1, Deputy Chief Jim Hughes said."	.	.	.TXT File
.	1999-09-13 (N) Arndt names the person she believes killed child "Ten o'clock comes and goes and there's no acknowledgment within the house from anyone that the deadline imposed by the author of the ransom note has come and gone," Linda Arndt told ABC's "Good Morning America," according an ABC statement issued Sunday. The interview with Arndt, which will air over five days beginning Monday, is the first time she has spoken publicly about the case. "It became hell. It became hell," she said, ABC executive producer Shelley Ross said Sunday. "And I called 911 and gave my radio number and said, 'The kidnapping has turned into a murder.'"	.	.	.TXT File
.	1999-09-13 (T) Linda Arndt on Good Morning America (Monday) "Arndt says she arrived at the police station within 1/2 hour where she requested immediate FBI backup and a department-wide alert. It was 8:10am when Arndt and another detective, Fred Paterson, arrived at the Ramsey house. They were met by two patrol officers who had already searched the house" "(VO) Arndt says that by 10:35am every police officer was gone and she was on her own. She says she looked for ways to manage the escalating tensions. She asked John Ramsey and his friends to examine the ransom note for clues. Arndt: I got feedback from most everybody except John Ramsey." "(VO) Arndt says she suggested that John Ramsey and Fleet White search the house; an instruction for which she would later be strongly criticized. She said she told them to... Arndt: ...check the house, top to bottom. Look for anything that might belong to JonBenét that is in a place where you don't, shouldn't, where it shouldn't be. Even if it's a, a box, box of matches, anything. Leave it and come see me." "Arndt: I heard a noise, then I heard, I heard (him?) softly run to the phone in the den and he was crouched and I saw him dial 3 numbers, hang up the phone, yell 'we need an ambulance,' and then he ran back towards the front of the house. And I see John Ramsey carrying JonBenét up the last three steps from the basement. And, um, and my mind exploded. I mean it literally, I saw black with thousands of lights. And everything that I had noted that morning that stuck out, instantly made sense. (pause, sigh) And JonBenét was clearly dead. And she's been dead for a while. I knelt next to her and I leaned down to her face. And John leaned down opposite me, and um, his face was just inches from mine...(pause, breath) and we had, um, a nonverbal exchange that I will never forget. And he asked if she was dead. And I said yes, she's dead. And I told him to go back to the room and to dial 911. And as we looked at each other, I remember, and I wore a shoulder holster; tucking my gun right next to me and consciously counting I've got 18 bullets." Vargus: Why did you do that? Arndt: 'Cause I didn't know if we'd all be alive if people showed up. Vargus: What do you mean? Arndt: I decided that everything made sense in that instance. And, um, I knew what happened. I mean that's, I knew what happened to her. Vargus: Do you think your fear was well-founded? Arndt: You bet I do. There's no doubt in my mind. Vargus: To this day? Arndt: Never wavered	NO Graphics	.	.TXT File
.	1999-09-14 (T) Linda Arndt on Good Morning America (Tuesday) "Vargas: When you turned and you saw John Ramsey carrying JonBenét up the basement steps, how was he carrying her? Arndt: (pause) Um, away and up from his body Vargas: Like this? Arndt: Like this (holding out hands) with her lower body here (holds hand horizontally at her neck area) and her head above, yes Vargas: You said it was apparent, even from that distance away, that she was dead Arndt: There was no doubt. Vargas: How did you know? Arndt: She had rigor mortis. Her arms were rigid right above her head with no support." Arndt: "I took JonBenét. I moved her from the hallway to the, um, the living room. I carried her just with the, the forearms. And I was cognizant that she was my sole responsibility, and the preservation of her was my responsibility. And was careful how I carried her, out of this pathway of heavy traffic. And I put her in the living room. She looked like she was sleeping. John Ramsey came back and he says, "can we please, could you please cover her body?" And as he's saying it, he's already put the blanket on top of her." Arndt: "John was next to JonBenét and, he did, uh, I guess his good-bye. And, uh, I heard, a wail, just a guttural, moan, aching wail from the back area. And, it was, uh, probably one of the most pitiful things I've heard and anguished. And I saw the rest of the people; Patsy and the pastor and the four friends, come from the den towards the living room. And, there's just so much, there's so much pain. (long pause) And tears, and noise" Arndt: Ah, it became hell. It became hell. JonBenét was brought up at about five minutes after 1:00, and, um, at ten after, nobody had shown up. And I called 911. And I said, I gave them my radio number. I said the kidnapping has turned into a murder. Arndt: Still nobody had shown up 5 minutes after I had made that first 911 call. And I looked out the window to the street and I saw an ambulance slowly drive by. And I thought I am in the twilight zone	NO Graphics	.	.TXT File
.	1999-09-15 (T) Linda Arndt on Good Morning America (Wed) "Arndt: I hadn't seen savagery done to a child, or even an adult, until, uh, the doctor peeled back her scalp and, uh, saw that horrific, uh, fracture to her head. It was the length of her head. (Voice Over) It was 8 ½ inches long. Arndt: The doctor hadn't seen an injury like that. The doctor couldn't believe what was done to her body. Her, her head, uh, the depth of that ligature around her neck. It was so deep that twice that cord had been wrapped around her neck, and uh, and it looked like it was only one loose time around. And, um, she had trauma to her vagina, vagina. Vargus: What kind of trauma? Arndt: It would be trauma that would be consistent with injuries seen in sexual assault cases. Vargus: Recently? Arndt: What was seen was not a first-time injury." Vargus: After the autopsy was completed, this was the day after, the 27th, did you go back to talk with the Ramseys that day? Arndt: At about 9:30 at night we were told that they were unavailable due to (long pause) ...one person had been drinking and the other person had been medicated Vargus: It was clear it was a homicide. And you and everybody else on the scene at least suspected that there might be involvement by the parents. At that point, why weren't the Ramsey's separated and taken in for questioning at the police station? Arndt: That's a good question. That wasn't my decision to make. I was relieved of my responsibilities when the supervisor showed on scene. (VO) Arndt also explains that because she carried JonBenét's body, her clothing became evidence. She was ordered to go home and change. And she is quick to point out that an FBI agent, her supervisor, and ten other officers remained. And they did not force the Ramseys to go to the police station, either. In fact, it was not until much later that day that the Ramseys would be asked for a formal interview."	NO Graphics	.	.TXT File
.	1999-09-16 (T) Linda Arndt on Good Morning America (Thursday) "Vargus: When John Ramsey put the blanket on JonBenét's body you had to know that that was going to contaminate evidence. Arndt: JonBenét's body was in and of itself a crime scene. Would it be nice if John hadn't found JonBenét. Absolutely. And would it be nice if he hadn't put a blanket. Yeah it would be great. It would be nice if there were other people to help control and keep people away. That would have been wonderful. But that's not the circumstances that I had available that day" Arndt: Well I have compassion that I bring to work. And compassion is not the same as empathy. Just simple courtesy towards people in this case went out the window. Just was gone. Vargus: Should there be courtesy when people are murder suspects? Arndt: Absolutely. I should show you respect. Does that mean I'm bonding with you? No. You want someone to talk with you. You establish trust, you, uh, you show sincerity. And you can't fake it cause people know when you're, when you're insincere. Vargus: Did you give the Ramseys a Xerox copy of the ransom note? Arndt: On January 5th I gave a Xerox copy to Patsy Ramsey's attorney. Vargus: Why? Arndt: The attorneys for the Ramseys, respective attorneys, had asked for copies of the ransom note. And that request I had bumped up to the supervisor making the decisions.	NO Graphics	.	.TXT File
.	1999-09-17 (T) Linda Arndt on Good Morning America (Friday) "(VO) Nearly three years after the death of JonBenét Ramsey the case remains unsolved. But Linda Arndt says she is sure who the killer is. Arndt: I know who kill JonBenét. There's no doubt in my mind who killed JonBenét. And until, while this investigation is still ongoing, I don't think it's appropriate I say the name out loud."	NO Graphics	.	.TXT File
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.	2001-05-29 (T) Linda Arndt Trial Notes for Tuesday by "J.T. Colfax" "The courtroom is ugly, wood-panalled, and cramped with drawing boards etc. Linda Arndt did not appear to be winking and blinking. Somber atmospere on BOTH sides. Monsewer Beckner sat next to Monsewer KOBY, and I never saw them exchange a word tho there was a LONG time b4 the judge got here. The tables were placed in such a way so that Arndt had her back to bec/koby. Beckner is a PEN-SUCKER, whereas Koby sits and writes."	No Graphics	.PDF File	.TXT File
.	2001-05-30 (N) Daily Times-Call: 'Jury selection starts slowly "The first 14 potential jurors — seated in the jury box after being selected randomly — were asked if they held negative feelings about the Boulder Police Department. Eight of them answered yes."	.	.	.TXT File
.	2001-05-30 (N) DENVER: 'Detective in Court, Says Was Muzzled' "In opening statements, Arndt's lawyer, Judith Biggs, told the 8-member jury that a "gag order" put on investigators prevented Arndt from countering news accounts that Biggs said were "flat out not true." "Those reports included stories that Arndt refused to allow FBI agents to enter the Ramsey home and failed to secure other evidence, including a flashlight that could have been used as the murder weapon."	.	.	.TXT File
New	2001-05-31 (T) Larry Mason Testimony at Linda Arndt Trial (Thanks to Candy at Cybersleuths)	No Graphics	.PDF File	.TXT File
.	2001-05-31 (T) Linda Arndt Trial Notes for Thurs by "J.T. Colfax" "monsewer SGT. MASON was on les stand and doing his damndest to say the right things for madamwozzle Arndt's side. One reporter was heard to say this is "a reporter's dream trial." One thing at issue was a FEB 6th 1997 Longmont "Daily Times" article, (the Longmont Times Call). Team Arndt wanted this IN, other side wanted it OUT. and it stayed out. les Judge also didn't like the fact that the copy of the article came off les internet." "At one point Ms Arndt's attorney brought a bit of snickering to those in the cheap seats by referring to the "JOHN RAMSEY BENET MURDER CASE." Oh, yes, that was fun." "Did Monsewer KOBY say some version of "HELLO CHARLIE" to Monsewer Brennan out in les hall, why SURE he did. Did Monsewer Beckner suck on his pen today?... NOPEY NOPE NO. It was his index finger, and sometimes that finger AND the one next to it." "I should also point out that there was ONE reporter there, name unknown to me, who did go antsy like when I walked in, and tried to whisper to all and sundry, " Jt colfax is here." I mean, he tried A LOT to do that. Other than that he settled in for a lot of reading Les News de la Rocky Mountains even whilst his JOB paraded on before him. i guess he's just THAT good."	No Graphics	.PDF File	.TXT File
New	2001-05-31 (T) Linda Arndt Trial Notes for Thursday by "Reporter" "Halaby kept refering to LA's attoneys' newspapers articles as"well, it looks like they just got this from the internet." Like that was somehow tainted. Hard fighting to get those into discussion. Judge won't let articles into evidence. Peter Boyles is the big bad boy, by all accounts it seems." "Carol Mckinley and Paula Woddward made an appearance and I introduced myself to both. Frank Coffman was there again and I spoke with him. I do not follow all the personality blow ups on these forums, so someone needs to remind me of what hoopla he has been involved in. He seems to be very hard of hearing. When I talked to him, he just changes the subject. I am clearly not a "person". So far, Carol, Frank and others all say...."I don't read on the internet", a claim I find hard to swallow."	No Graphics	.PDF File	.TXT File
New	2001-05-31 (T) Linda Arndt Trial Notes for Thursday by "Toadload" "Apparently the plaintiff had wanted to introduce 96 items of evidence, but the defense had objected to all 96 items. This caused confusion about "the foundation" for the evidence and it pissed the judge off, because it was wasting a lot of court time. He told the councils for each side to get together and work it out over the noon hour because he wasn't going to sit there and listen to foundation arguments for days on end." "The clerk: She announces the entrance of the jury and we all stand. Like JT, I want to shout out, "open your hymnals to page 338." "One of the themes of the trial seems to be that Kolbe had issued an extreme gag order on the entire department. Only he, Eller, or Leslie Ahomes was allowed to speak to the media. Apparently the gag order was so severe, the police didn't even want to talk to one another. So it ended up that the right hand didn't know what the left had was doing and was afraid to ask." "Apparently there was a meeting scheduled between Eller, Arndt, and French; but Eller made Arndt and French wait outside his office until either the Peter Boyles show or Mike Rosen show was over. Then the meeting was not cordial and was of less duration than the wait outside for the radio show to come to an end."	No Graphics	.PDF File	.TXT File
.	2001-05-31 (N) Denver Post: 'Arndt lawyer: Police failed to defend "Detective Arndt spoke with (Ramsey friend) Fleet White, who told about his daughter missing one day only to be found hiding in a crawl space," Biggs said. "She asked White and John Ramsey to search the house but not to touch anything. "They immediately went into the basement. John Ramsey came up carrying the body. He placed it in the hallway, a high-traffic area." "Biggs said Arndt told Ramsey to call 911, that the case now was a murder. Arndt then carried the body into the living room. Before she could stop him, John Ramsey pulled a throw off a chair and covered the body, Biggs said. Despite warnings from Arndt not to touch the body, Patsy Ramsey lay on top of the body, Biggs said. A friend put a sweatshirt over the girl's feet."	.	.	.TXT File
.	2001-05-31 (N) Daily Camera: 'Attorney: Arndt suit 'frivolous''	.	.	.TXT File
.	2001-05-31 (N) RMN: 'Ramsey detective's defamation case begins'	.	.	.TXT File
New	2001-06-01 (T) Linda Arndt Trial Notes for Friday by "Reporter" "Halaby gets in a lot about Linda's mistakes during his cross. He then goes into the Fleet White and John Ramsey search for things out of place in house. The official police report was entered into evidence, in part. Only the jury can see it and then it is sealed again. No copies to be made. Reference was made that Linda's report did not indicate the part about "Don't touch anything and report back if you find anything" "Still lots of reporters but few stay all day. More talk to me now. Not much, but I sit closer and join in some. Met someone helping JT Colfax with his reports. Please JT, if you show up next week, introduce yourself. I will be the fidgety one eating Extra Cheddar Goldfish on the sly." "Frank Coffman still won't tell who he is attending the trial for. Yes, I think that people consider following this case on the internet sort of like admitting, "yeah, I buy all my underwear at garage sales." Or something like that."	No Graphics	.PDF File	.TXT File
New	2001-06-01 (T) Linda Arndt Trial Notes for Friday by "Toadload" "The last witness of the day was Expert police procedure witness, VanBlaircome. Basically he showed that the faults at the crime scene were not or could not have been Arndt's fault because she was not the first officer on the scene. Two other officers had searched the house prior to Arndt even getting there, and had failed to find the body. Actually Arndt's only true responsibility was to set up the wire tap equipment to capture the alleged ransom instructions phone call." "He also pointed out that as far as contaminating the body, it didn't make too much difference because this case is not a forensic case, but a behavioral evidence case. At some point he stated that as far as he knew, and he was very familiar with the case, the parents really are the only serious suspects. Because of that any DNA associated with the parents would be more or less meaningless under many circumstances." "Yes, I met her. "Reporter" is her Internet name. By the way Coffman was there the entire day and snapped a picture of Kolbe walking into the court house. (He was there yesterday too; we just didn't recognize him.) Later Kolbe patted "MM" on the back."	No Graphics	.PDF File	.TXT File
.	2001-06-01 (N) Daily Camera: 'Sergeant defends Arndt at trial'	.	.	.TXT File
New	2001-06-04 (T) Linda Arndt Trial Notes for Monday by "Reporter" "From 10:30 on , all day then, the witness was Van Blaricom mostly being cross examined. Lots of jockeying to get in a chart or time line which shows who and when people were cleared of suspected wrong-doing in the case. Trying to show that LA was never cleared or supported." "The afternoon session was fun. Halaby and Blaricom squaring off time after time. Each really knows how to testify and they proviked each other no end. He insists that moving the body by Linda is much ado about nothing. "The media present today were Charlie Brennan, Owen Good (Rocky Mountain News), Frank Coffman and Raj Chohan (or however you spell that, from CBS in Denver). Linda wore a black skirt and a grey top, most everyone in the courtroom dressed somberly I think because of Chris’s death."	No Graphics	.PDF File	.TXT File
New	2001-06-05 (T) Linda Arndt Trial Notes for Tuesday by "Reporter" "*New tidbit I had not heard before. Linda was not debriefed by the BPD, standard after bing so pivotal in the early hours, and to this day has not been debriefed. Will be interesting to see the opposition on this." "There is some crappola out of the hearing of the jury about a prior therapist whose records were stolen. No resolution on that." "Linda got on the stand about 2 pm. Born and raised in Minnesota, dad was a cop and mayor, sounds like the salt of the earth family. Many are in attendance at the trial for her. They went through her training, education and many awards. Interesting question: Was there internal politics in the department at that time (March 1997). Answer: There CERTAINLY was! She says she has not (to this day) been debriefed about what happened to me on December 26." "LA ate at Dot’s Diner with Chief Koby on April 8, 1997. At that time the media bashing of her had not begun. 2 key witnesses had contacted LA and said they were worried that a tabloid was going to name them as suspects. She warned Koby about this and wanted to protect the witnesses from being harassed by the media." "Cmdr Eller told LA that it was the history of the BPD to deny a problem and look for a scapegoat and warned her that things would get worse. Eller told her, on the very night of Dec 26 that she might be in danger, to vary her route home. She was a key witness and the murderer might not want her to testify. "Then there was a lot of testimony about Peter Boyles and how damaging he and Chuck Green were to her reputation. A tape was played of LA calling Koby and asking him to back her up. May 22 Koby saw her at a health club and told her the Boyles tapes were being collected and he and Union Rep would decide if they should sue Boyles. No one ever got back to her about that. Boyles was making statements that she had sent the FBI away and didn’t collect the flashlight. Both are untrue. "*New item: several time the words "unclothed body of JonBenet" have been used. Is it possible that she had less on? Why are they using those words?" "Did she give the Ramseys a sample of the ransom note. Yes, it was requested and AUTHORIZED BY ELLER, but was given AFTER the Ramseys had given samples of handwriting." "In talking about a letter from The Globe News Department, the judge said, Is this for real?? Does the Globe HAVE a news department? That was funny."	No Graphics	.PDF File	.TXT File
New	2001-06-05 (T) Linda Arndt Trial Notes for Tuesday by "Toadload" "At some point before lunch the plaintiff wanted to show an abridged video tape of a Boulder city council meeting. Hagglemax objected of course and insisted that we watch the entire meeting, not just the important parts." "So they played the tape. All in all it didn't look that great for Kolbe because various City Council members were questioning Kolbe's lack of progress on many different police issues. His responses to the city council members actually cracked me up, not because they were humorous. He went through a list of various crimes and cases one of which included a riot. He felt his problems would be abated if there were a lull in crime in Boulder. That's what cracked me up. It was like wishing for the "magic fairy" just after you have run an ice pick through the evaporator of your refrigerator and hear the gas leaking out."	No Graphics	.PDF File	.TXT File
.	2001-06-05 (N) DC: 'Judge doesn't see seven-figure award' "Former police detective Linda Arndt shouldn't expect a million-dollar award in her suit against the Boulder Police Department, a judge told lawyers before the trial began. As Arndt's First Amendment lawsuit against the city entered the third day of testimony Monday, a transcript of a May 14 meeting between lawyers for both sides with U.S. District Judge William F. Downes became available." "I don't see this as a seven-figure case," Downes said. "If Ms. Arndt does, I think her expectations are bloated. On the other hand, as I'm sure Mr. (Theodore) Halaby has already candidly assessed his own clients, this situation wasn't dealt with as well as it could have been and it creates this problem. "You want your day in court, you're going to get it," Downes said later. "Somebody is not going to like the result and, frankly, I think both sides aren't going to like the result."	.	.	.TXT File
.	2001-06-05 (N) RMN: Preserving scene not detective's duty'	.	.	.TXT File
New	2001-06-06 (T) Linda Arndt Trial Notes for Wed. by "Reporter" "Regarding the Vanity Fair article in September 1997 she clarified what she meant yesterday by ‘deep throat’. Eller showed her an advance copy and she asked Eller if there would be an internal investigation regarding leaks. Cmdr Eller said he had tried three times to determine leaks and said a few sympathizing comments about the heat LA had been taking in this case." "Regarding ABC news interview (GMA),only portions of the interview were broadcast. She was not compensated. She had mixed feelings about finally speaking out. She finally had a chance to say what happened. Even though she spoke and gave interviews, and was no longer under an official gag order, She was aware of the Grand Jury. In order not to interfere with GJ, she was very careful about what she said. At the time of the interview she was not aware she had PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder)." "By the end of the week of the interview it became clear that she had spoken too late. The damage was done and people had made up their mind. She pursued more than 30 job opportunities Boulder, Metro area, whole state. Finally unskilled labor. Did not get return phone calls. Has been living off liquidated retirement funds. Job at CU only lasted 5 months. Job at BPD had lasted 11 years. Estimtaes lost wages and benefits at $200,000." "Halaby goes line by line through the letter. Tough, tough session requiring following icredible word gymnastics. He took Linda through the obtaining of Patsy’s handwriting sample at Pete Hofstrom’s house. She was given a half hour to get over there and was given a single sheet of paper with the guidelines on how to obtain the sample. Halaby told some story about another detective and how Linda had happily gone back to headquarters to get a Xerox copy of the note to give to Pat Burke. Linda denies this whole story. That is a lie, That is a lie, That is a lie she kept answering."	No Graphics	.PDF File	.TXT File
New	2001-06-06 (T) Linda Arndt Trial Notes for Wed. by "Toadload" "I had a chance to visit with Frank Coffman out in the hall. He looked very spiffy in a handsome western style white shirt. I complemented him on his nice appearance. He chatted a bit and I told him how I have been critical of the way the BDP handled the communications with the public from the beginning." "The afternoon session was devoted to the cross examination of Arndt. She is a very good witness. She is very careful and deliberate with her answers. She is very well spoken and has a good choice of words. I noticed that all the women on the jury were on the edge of their seats and they didn't look all that happy. Here is poor Linda who has already been worked over by the BPD and the media, and he's tearing her down again."	No Graphics	.PDF File	.TXT File
New	2001-06-07 (T) Linda Arndt Trial Notes for Thursday by "Reporter" "To begin: The cross examination continues. The police report is brought out and referred to. Probably from some secure place. Halaby tries to make a point that Linda didn’t ask enough for help up the chain of command. Portrays her as not trying. She is trying to say she asked for help and was ignored." "She testified to calls and notes which frightened her. Did you ever tape anyone without their knowledge? Yes. (So "lots of tapes exist of meetings, phone conversations, voice mail and broadcasts) She denies saying "John Ramsey is mind-fucking me". She kept notes of that meeting but denies reviewing tape for this testimony." "LA said in a meeting that John Ramsey has a good idea I think he killed his daughter. Her report was released to Ramsey legal team without her knowledge or approval or knowledge or approval of the BPD Ramsey Investigative Team. Koby told her it would be highly unlikely that JR would harm her. Halaaby uses the term Mind Fucker about 8 times and enjoys saying it (It seems). You were never physically threatened? No She felt, and reported, that JR would use mental techniques or people close to me to frighten or threaten her. She said she was keeping her immediate supervisor Sgt Wickham apprised of her work but that her reports were not being passed upwards. "I didn’t feel Sgt Wickham was being straight with me/" "I was being excluded from the Investigation Team" "Now for a very exciting part. During the depositions it was learned that she had notes of the January 4 obtaining of Patsy’s exemplars which have never been turned into an official report. LA was not able to complete her report of January 4. Notes of that day were kept at a safe place, according to Linda. She tries not to tell, but is finally ordered by the judge to tell. A friend’s house. These notes were not provided to the BPD were they? No There were three reasons. 1. Sgt Mason turned over his notes when he was removed from the case and the notes disappeared. 2. Since Sgt Wickham did not ask for them I planned to use them to complete my reports. 3. I didn’t trust members of the Investigation Team or supervisors of the BPD to handle these notes properly. Until she left April 1, 1999, they were kept in a locked drawer of her desk at work. These were NOT secret notes. She had openly used them during meetings of the Ramsy investigation team and they all knew she had them. The judge clears up that these notes have now been turned over to the police. "Good" he says." Now the questioning is very long on how ‘she didn’t have time". Not when you were on leave? ‘Not to this day" Something is definitely going on here. The courtroom is so quiet you could hear a pin drop on the carpet. No one hardly breathes. "In removing these notes without having written your report (of January 4) you did not inform anyone in the BPD about these notes? She sealed them and have them to a friend. "Why were they sealed?" They were important to the Ramsey investigation. Halaby has copies of these notes but demands that the originals be turned over to him tomorrow. Someting is very important here. Jury is impassive. There was a lengthy part about which days of her investigation had generated an official report. By my reckoning, there are some missing day, among them Jan 4. Cmnd Eller wanted her to get in more and more timely reports." "They now go line by line through the Vanity Fair article. Bardach was contacting LA's family and friends so Linda called her at her hotel and arranged to go there. She went there and called from lobby. She told Bardach that if she wanted to know anything ask her, and leave her family and friends alone. Bardach cam down and the two of them spoke in the hotel restaurant. LA told her that except for the fact that LA WAS at the Ramseys on Dec 26, she had her facts about Linda wrong. Linda doesn't remember which facts exactly Bardach told her would be in the article. Halaby now goes over it line by line and is impeaching Linda by showing that some most of what was said about Linda was true in part." "Examples: Place body by Christmas tree. No, it was closest to the piano. Patsy collapsed on JB. No, she put her body on lower part of JB, over the blanket which covered her body. Some other things she said were inaccurate, but did not specify exactly how. There WAS a prayer, She dis not continue a relation with Patsy, although she spoke to Barbara Fernie."	No Graphics	.PDF File	.TXT File
.	2001-06-07 (N) DailyCamera: 'Arndt denies ransom note incident' "Halaby asked Arndt about a session on Jan. 4, 1997, in which Patsy Ramsey gave a handwriting sample at the home of Peter Hofstrom, then Boulder County chief trial deputy district attorney. In that session, Arndt read from the ransom note — found in the Ramsey home — as Patsy Ramsey wrote down the words. "I read the whole note," Arndt told Halaby. Halaby said that when the session concluded, Ramsey's attorney "laughed and said, 'Aren't you going to give us a copy of the ransom note?'" He said Arndt replied, "Follow me to headquarters and we'll make you a copy." "That didn't happen," Arndt retorted. Halaby said on the way to police headquarters, another officer riding with Arndt told her it would be a mistake to provide the note to the attorney. "That is a lie," Arndt responded. In a letter to then Police Chief Tom Koby in October 1997, Arndt's attorney asked Koby to correct numerous false allegations in the news media, including allegations that she provided the note to the Ramseys. "For example, we presume that you know without doubt that Linda was not the source of the Ramseys' or their representatives' acquisition of the ransom note," the letter read." Arndt said the letter should have said that she provided the note with authorization from her superiors in the department."	.	.	.TXT File
New	2001-06-11 (T) Linda Arndt Trial Notes for Monday by "Reporter" "Linda resumed the stand for the rest of her cross examination by Halaby. He played the tape of the anonymous calls made to Linda soon after December 26 which she had testified wee digitally disguised and had frightened her. They WERE bizarre calls and I could see that LA did not like hearing them. The purpose of this seemed to be to impeach LA about whether they were digitally disguised." "Linda said she had no RELATIONSHIP with the Ramseys. They had requested her to be present during the handwriting gathering because they trusted her. There was a time in April when they sent flowers to her? Linda said yes, she had received publicity for a Victim's Advocacy award and the Whites, Fernies and Ramseys had all sent flowers or notes to her. And you saw that the notes were put into your file, right? I had ALL acknowledgments in my career put in my file. These were a few complimentary notes out of a large group of notes." "Now they move to the personal meeting she had with Patsy Ramsey. Yes, at Barbara Fernie's with other people present. They then go to the fact that she met with Barbara Fernie once a week and took walks with her. She later believed BF was stalking her. She said that BF expressed concern over Patsy's mental and physical well-being and with the OK of Pat Burke (Patsy's attorney) she met with Patsy, Barbara F and Nedra. The ground rules were, no talking about the criminal case, meeting was to be one hour and all present were to remain present. LA met with BF in the first place after being directed to try to learn about Patsy from her friends as they could have no contact with Patsy because of the lawyers they hired." "We now learn the story of why she did not do a report on getting Patsy's handwriting exemplar Jan 4, 1997. She completed an evidence report and a property report, carefully documenting the chain of custody. Her verbal report was given to Eller to be given to CBI. She gave a complete verbal report the same day. She had to prioritize the writing of reports. The most important was the one on Dec 26 where she was the only one who could give an accurate report. She let the Jan 4 one slide because she were 2 other officers present. She shared all information with the team. She historically did reports when a case was over. On this case the supervisors wanted ongoing reports. At the team meetings there was supposed to be someone there taking notes of new information. All the BPD (and indeed most police officers) struggle to do all the paperwork required.)" "Why did she not catch up while on medical leave? She had to turn in her car keys, any ofice keys, was not to check her voice mail have no duties whatsoever. The notes were at the station and she had no access to them. Did anyone ever ask you for the Jan 4 report? No. How long was your December 26 report? 19-20 pages. It took her three days to dictate and proof it.Why did you take your notes with you? When Sgt Mason was removed from the team his keys and other things were taken from him. This wasn't done when I was removed from the case. When I left the case I was afraid of having the notes turn up missing or altered. So I took them with me. When Sgt Mason wanted to refresh his memory using his notes prior to the Grand Jury, the BPD couldn't find them and they remain missing to this day." "Comander Eller authorized giving the ransom note to Ramsy team. Something was said about how she writes reports. She said that she writes them about what she OBSERVED at that moment in time, as a witness. (Actually police reports become witness reports, I think) Anyway, she wrote in her report that John left the house to get the mail and later learned that there was a mail slot in the door." "OK, on to Beckner:There were 14 people in the courtroom as BEckner began by describing his training and 23 years in police work, all of it with the BPD. Testimony that leaks were a real problem. They even worried abut telephone bugs and boom mikes. Never had seen such intense publicity. Enumerated all the agencies who had some of the confidentail information on case, implying the leaks could come from anywhere. Have you ever been able to prove a source of leaks in within the department? No Beckner said that the informatin contained in Vanity Fair is very accurate and made him realize she had accurate confidential sources."	No Graphics	.PDF File	.TXT File
.	2001-06-11 (N) Daily Camera: 'Trial puts Ramsey case in jeopardy' "Ramsey lawyer L. Lin Wood said it on a CNN talk show Tuesday. And several legal experts agreed late last week. The ongoing civil trial of former police Detective Linda Arndt versus the city of Boulder could severely damage any future criminal prosecution in the homicide of JonBenét Ramsey." "Thus far, Arndt has said she didn't file police reports on all her activities as one of the lead detectives on the case, including failing to file a report on the first handwriting sample taken from Patsy Ramsey, JonBenét's mother. She also said she took her investigation notes with her when she left the Police Department, including notes about the handwriting sample. The judge in the case ordered her to turn the notes over to Halaby." "If the prosecution did call her, the defense probably would use testimony from the civil trial to discredit Arndt and others in the department. Wood, the lawyer for John and Patsy Ramsey, reportedly has ordered complete transcripts of the Arndt trial, which is expected to last through Wednesday."	.	.	.TXT File
.	2001-06-11 (N) Daily Camera: 'Jurors see first reports from case' "Ramsey lawyer L. Lin Wood said it on a CNN talk show Tuesday. And several legal experts agreed late last week. The ongoing civil trial of former police Detective Linda Arndt versus the city of Boulder could severely damage any future criminal prosecution in the homicide of JonBenét Ramsey." "Thus far, Arndt has said she didn't file police reports on all her activities as one of the lead detectives on the case, including failing to file a report on the first handwriting sample taken from Patsy Ramsey, JonBenét's mother. She also said she took her investigation notes with her when she left the Police Department, including notes about the handwriting sample. The judge in the case ordered her to turn the notes over to Halaby." "If the prosecution did call her, the defense probably would use testimony from the civil trial to discredit Arndt and others in the department. Wood, the lawyer for John and Patsy Ramsey, reportedly has ordered complete transcripts of the Arndt trial, which is expected to last through Wednesday."	.	.	.TXT File
New	2001-06-12 (T) Linda Arndt Trial Notes for Tuesday by "Reporter" "10:30 am Case Dismissed. At the opening of the court day, the judge ruled on the defense motion to dismiss and did, indeed, dismiss Linda's case. I hadn't the heart to watch the media interviews and left it to the "real" journalists to do the interviews."	No Graphics	.PDF File	.TXT File
.	2001-06-12 (N) Denver: "Ramsey Detective Case Thrown Out" "U.S. District Judge William Downes ruled Tuesday morning that Linda Arndt (pictured, left) failed to prove that the chiefs violated her First Amendment rights by preventing her from commenting on allegations that she bungled the investigation." "From the beginning, we believed it to be an ill-conceived lawsuit that was neither in the interest of Linda Arndt, the Boulder Police Department or the serious ongoing criminal investigation into the murder of JonBenet Ramsey," Halaby said after the trial ended." "Arndt said Tuesday that her lawsuit had at least brought out some hidden truths about the Ramsey investigation. "The whole point was to inform the public where they had not been informed before, and now my faith continues to be in the public," she said. "People who are unwilling and unable to see the facts as they are the first time around -- and now the second time around can't see things as they are -- then I can't make you see them," she said. "Jones said that he plans to appeal Tuesday's ruling, which came eight days after the trial began. Because the lawsuit was dismissed, Arndt said that she may write a book to make sure that her side of the story is fully told."	.	.	.TXT File

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