Summary: The Jonbenet Ramsey Case

In addition to analysing the handwriting on the ransom note, forensic document examiners can also analyse the characteristics of both the paper and writing tool used to construct the note. Paper can be identified by what it is made of, paper or cotton are the common sources (James, Nordby, & Bell, 2014, p. 468). There are also variations that can be seen in sizing, fillers, and coating that are added during paper production (James, Nordby, & Bell, 2014, p. 468). Companies all use different chemicals in their manufacturing process to make their product unique from others. The shading and colour can vary between products from companies, as well as the texture, and therefore, we can use these characteristics to narrow down a source of origin (James, Nordby, & Bell, 2014, p. 469). These characteristics do not limit evidence to a very narrow domain, but that is why they are called class characteristics. Class characteristics are defined as a unique feature on an item that belongs to a group of items (James, Nordby, & Bell, 2014, p. 566). While these are important to the initial classification of evidence they cannot point to an individual source of evidence. Individual characteristics are what make matching a piece of evidence to a source more possible. …show more content…
A detective lost track of John Ramsey for over an hour in which time he would have plenty of time to roam around and potentially alter, or contaminate important forensic evidence (Thomas, & Davis, 2011, p. 28). Additionally, when John Ramsey found the body he removed her from the basement, carried her upstairs, covered her in a blanket, caressed her hair and held her (Thomas, & Davis, 2011, p. 30, 31). All of these actions were very damaging to the forensic aspect of the investigation. The note, however, is still full of telling