"Tracey's Answers"
Posted by jameson on Aug-12-99 at 05:31 PM (EST)

I NEED TO MAKE ONE POINT BEFORE ADDRESSING THESE QUESTIONS AND THAT IS THAT THERE WILL BE SOME THAT I WILL FEEL THAT I CANNOT ANSWER. THAT MAY BE BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER OR THAT IT GETS ME TOO CLOSE TO BEING A SLEUTH OR IT BETRAYS CONFIDENCES. IT DOES NOT MEAN THAT I DON'T THINK THAT QUESTION IS UNANSWERABLE OR IS GOING NOWHERE. NOR DOES IT MEAN THAT I'M BEING RUDE.


THE QUESTIONS (so far)

"from Mikie: .... about professor McReynolds assigning pornography to his students. Is that something that is considered simply a normal aspect of journalism which needs to be studied by all journalism students to a certain degree, or was that something unusual that occurred?"

IF BILL DID ASSIGN PORN TO HIS STUDENTS - AND I KNOW THAT THIS IS WIDELY ASSUMED - IT WOULD BE A BIT UNUSUAL, BUT NOT WIDELY SO. IN FACT THE STUDY OF PORN WITHIN CULTURAL STUDIES PROGRAMMES IS A GROWTH AREA, IF YOU CATCH MY DRIFT. TO BE HONEST THOUGH I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE ASSIGNMENTS WERE, AND I'M SURE THAT THEY DID NO HARM TO GENTLE INNOCENT MINDS.

"from Jarbo9 - What about the controversial 911 call? Was Burke there? The Ramseys have been accused of lying about it."

MY UNDERSTANDING OF THIS IS THAT THE NOTION THAT THERE IS A KIND OF CD QUALITY SOUND TO BURKE'S VOICE IS NONSENSE. IT'S BEEN DESCRIBED AS LIKE LISTENING TO A CHIPMUNK, AND THAT IF YOU WANT TO HEAR HIS VOICE THEN MAYBE YOU CAN. PERSONALLY I'VE ALWAYS DOUBTED THE STORY. RAMSEY HAS BEEN CONSISTENT IN DENYING THAT BURKE WAS UP. IF HE BELEIVED THAT HE'D BEEN FOUND OUT IN A LIE THERE WOULD NOT BE MUCH POINT IN CONTINUING IT SINCE IT WOULD ONLY MAKE HIM LOOK WORSE. ALSO WE KNOW ABSOLUTELY THAT BURKE WAS BACK IN BED AT ABOUT 7AM (I THINK) BECAUSE FLEET WHITE HAS SAID SO SINCE HE WENT TO BURKE'S ROOM WITH JOHN RAMSEY TO WAKE HIM UP.

"from the needle - Michael Tracey, one early event that turned many people against the Ramseys, which the media played for all it's worth, was the fact that Fleet White and John Ramsey had a falling out which resulted in them no longer speaking.Many now assume that "if Fleet was his best friend, was there when the body was found, and now will not speak to John Ramsey, then that must mean he believes his former best friend caused or has covered up his own childs death."

"Can you provide any insight into that situation? Did the Ramseys ever discuss that episode in the original footage of your documentary?"

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE MEANING OF THE ARGUMENT BETWEEN JR AND FW WAS. PRESUMABLY THERE ARE ALL KINDS OF EXPLANATIONS THAT MIGHT BE HAD. IT IS HOWEVER A GOOD EXAMPLE OF SOMETHING THAT IS SPUN IN A CERTAIN WAY IN ORDER TO PUT THE WORST POSSIBLE LIGHT ON THE INCIDENT IE. TO ATTACK THE RAMSEYS. I CAN'T COMMENT ON THOSE PARTS OF THE INTERVIEW THAT HAVEN'T AIRED.

"from Tmic - What ended up on the cutting room floor from the documentary that you believe should have been left uncut."

LOTS OF SYNC. I CAN'T BE SPECIFIC, BUT I WILL SAY THAT THERE IS A REMARKABLE PIECE OF FOOTAGE ABOUT WHICH WE AGONISED BUT IN THE END DECIDED NOT TO USE AND WILL NOT UNTIL THERE HAS BEEN CLOSURE OF SOME KIND.

"from maikai
1. Was it fairly common knowledge that McReynold's daughter was kidnapped on l2/26?

ABSOLUTELY NOT

"2. Was Janet's play talked about in classes? Was her play fairly common knowledge in Boulder?"

NOONE - REPEAT NOONE - KNEW ABOUT JANET'S PLAY UNTIL DAN GLICK AND CHARLIE BRENNAN UNEARTHED IT BY ACCIDENT.

"3. Is David McReynold's (head of a socialist party in NYC) any relation to Bill McReynolds? David was a fairly well-known protestor in the 60's. Arrested in DC. FBI also has a file on him. David McReynold's showed up in a search of U of Colorado on some links."

DON'T KNOW

"4. Did Chris Wolf know Bill McReynolds? Was he a student?"

CAN'T COMMENT

"5. Did the McReynolds have any enemies?"

DON'T WE ALL.

"from violet -
1. Michael, did you know Janet McReynolds personally before JonBenet's murder?"

YES BUT NOT ESPECIALLY WELL. I KNEW BILL REASONABLY WELL

"2. Why have we never seen a photo or interview with Jill McReynolds? Does he know where she lives, does she have a journalism degree, what about her marital status, relationship with parents, and alibi for Dec. 25, which Schiller doesn't include?"

A VERY INTERESTING QUESTION.

"3. Does Michael Tracy have any access to Janet McReynold's movie reviews either through microfiche at the public library or from the Boulder newspaper that she worked at? If so, has anyone collected these and analyzed her writing style or her critiques of techno-crime movies?

I DON'T. I DON'T KNOW IF ANYONE HAS LOOKED AT THEM SYSTEMATICALLY.

"4. Did the Ramseys privately name their number one suspect to you?"

CAN'T COMMENT

"from mBm - I know the McReynolds were on the Ramsey's suspect list. Can you tell us their reasonS for including them?"

I THINK THE IDEA OF THE RAMSEYS HAVING A SUSPECT LIST IS WAY OVERSTATED. THE REASONS BILL BECAME A SUSPECT WERE SEVERAL AND DID NOT NECESSARILY ORIGINATE WITH THE RAMSEYS.

"Bears & pineapples" - from LovelyPigeon
Do you know if the Santa bear is an important clue to the Ramsey investigation and if it was determined how & why the bear was on JonBenet's bed?"

I WILL BRIEFLY STEP OUTSIDE OF MY SELF-IMPOSED LIMITS ON WHAT I'L SAY ABOUT THE INVESTIGATION. THE SANTA BEAR IS, IN MY VIEW, VERY SIGNIFICANT, PARTLY BECAUSE, AS FAR AS I KNOW, NOONE KNOWS WHERE IT CAME FROM OR WHAT ITS MEANING WAS EXCEPT, IN ALL LIKELIHOOD, THE KILLER. IT CLEARLY MEANS SOMETHING, ALMOST IN A TAUNTING MANNER. THERE IS AN EXTREMELY INTERESTING, EVEN STRANGE, STORY CONNECTED TO THE BEAR THAT WILL PROBABLY EMERGE AT SOME POINT BUT NOT NOW.

"Were the contents of the small intestine saved as evidence?"

DON'T KNOW, PRESUMABLY.

"Are the Ramseys puzzled over the autopsy finding of fruit or vegetable material, and when JonBenet last ate?"

CAN'T COMMENT

"Did Patsy ever indicate that she did not pick up the note? Did Patsy ever say she never read the entire note?"

CAN'T COMMENT

"Why was the note on the floor after the Ramseys called 911?"

CAN'T COMMENT

"Do you know the exact condition of JonBenet's bed when Patsy first saw it that morning and if it was altered at all before police crime scene photos were made?"

CAN'T COMMENT

"Did you interview Randy Simons, and if so, what were your impressions of him?"

WE DIDN'T, BUT IF WE ARE ABLE TO DO RAMSEY 2 THEN WE WOULD LIKE TO.

"from Charmeleon
Were you able to talk with Burke, and, if so, did he indicate how thehorrible tabloid stories may have affected him?"

WE DID NOT INTERVIEW BURKE.

"Were you able to talk with the Whites, and, if so, what did they have to say?"

THE WHITES WOULD NOT BE INTERVIEWED.

"Did the Ramseys indicate any suspicion regarding Fleet White?"

CAN'T COMMENT