The Psychology of JonBenet Ramsey - (Chap 4 - Parents Did It)
Added 2025-10-13 11:00:28 +0000 UTCDr Kirk Honda and Humberto Castaneda dive deep into the JonBenet Ramsey story.
00:00 Did the Ramseys do it?
04:03 Did Patsy do it?
43:31 Additional autopsy details
51:43 Did John do it?
1:02:52 Did Burke do it?
1:24:09 Where Dr. Kirk stands now
1:34:23 Interviews with Burke
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October 13, 2025
The Psychology In Seattle Podcast ®
Trigger Warning: This episode may include topics such as assault, trauma, and discrimination. If necessary, listeners are encouraged to refrain from listening and care for their safety and well-being.
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Comments
Humberto you did it very well. 🎉🌷☀️❤️ I was very engaged. Thank you so much!
Andrea
2025-11-09 19:47:49 +0000 UTCThank you Humberto, I love the way you relay the information, very upbeat, but also serious, and with a sprinkle of humour! Great job
Angelina
2025-10-21 22:26:01 +0000 UTCGreat job, Berto! Agreed this is a fun format change!
Ayadejha Salyers
2025-10-14 19:49:04 +0000 UTCGreat job Berto! For a suggestion for future deep dives, I would love for you to do the Psychology of Alex Murdaugh. That story is fascinating.
Breasha Acquah
2025-10-14 07:29:18 +0000 UTCI love this format. I think Berto does a great job. I recall Patsy’s friend, a mother to another girl in the pageants maybe, told the story of Burke hitting his sister with the golf club and her view was that he was jealous. Maybe Im misremembering. It seems really unremarkable that on older sibling would be jealous of a younger sibling for getting SO MUCH ATTENTION. It seems really unremarkable for parents to not understand that dynamic or do a good job mitigating it. But I don’t think the poop has to be a flag of psychopathy for it to be a piece of evidence that the little boy may have done it. I also recall on one of those specials that the pineapple was Burke’s favorite and he was constantly complaining about her touching his things. Very common. His mom makes him the pineapple. Little sister sneaks some. Little boy is mad. Picks up something and hits her. Not unusual. I’ve seen kids do that a ton of times. Maybe this particular time, he picked up a heavy enough object and he was strong enough and he meant to hit her not kill her and he’s a child and doesn’t understand life and death and consequences. The parents concoct a ridiculous plan but because they aren’t thinking clearly. Because they’re rich and they have great legal advice and the fact that they both love their son and think they are protecting their family they never break all these years. Looked at through that lens, it’s really mundane. And to me it is Occam’s razor. Nobody has to be a psychopath or a predator and as far as we know, no one went on to murder anyone else. Burke doesnt even have to be a bad kid or a weird kid. He is weird in those interviews but there are a million reasons for that. Namely that his little sister died when he was young and his parents were in the limelight and probably caused some significant emotional distress and probable abandonment from their distractions. Now, the history of sexual abuse is bad. But maybe she was being abused by someone it doesn’t mean that same person killed her. That might have been two separate problems this little girl had. And that’s unfortunately common as well. Unfortunately I don’t think this case would be talked about today if they weren’t rich. We have these ideas that rich people don’t have mundane family dynamics that can lead to tragedy. But they’re just human.
Lauren King
2025-10-14 04:00:36 +0000 UTCJust a thought. A lot of us, when our friends are in trouble will go and try to help. So it seems normal that they’d be over there cleaning the house. Like “what can I do to help? Can I cook lunch?” Right? But if the Ramseys have help, their friends probably do too. Rich people don’t help like that. They give business cards of good lawyers. They don’t clean. They have people for that. And while they may have just been wanting the tea….its also super sus that the whole freaking neighborhood is over there cleaning up the scene of the crime while the child is dead in the house. The neighborhood who doesn’t even clean their own houses? Sure.
April McDermott
2025-10-14 02:45:21 +0000 UTCI am grateful that both sides of every observation is being presented as that is why this case is so strange. These are a few more points I think are important. 1. After the blow to the head, JonBenet was unconscious but alive. For all the parents knew, she could have had a concussion and recovered. I find it inconceivable that a parent would assume she was dead and then strangle her with a rope. 2. According to Paula Woodward, leaked info from the DAs office says an analysis by the police showed there were grapes, cherries, and pineapple in Jonbenet’s small intestine. This could have been fruit cocktail she ate at the party. The autopsy clearly proves she was not struck on the head and instantly killed. 3. The handwriting samples of Chris Wolf and Gary Olivia also look like the ransom note. 4. Patsy wore a favorite outfit of a red Christmas sweater and velvet pants for 2 to 3 hours at dinner the night before. They were planning to fly on their private plane to meet John’s other children that morning. I don’t think it is odd she would wear the same clothes. 5. Once JonBenet’s body was found, the police told them they had to leave the house until the investigation was over - maybe days to weeks. They couldn’t take anything. They were also fearful they were in danger from the murderer. John says he was calling to have his pilot fly them to their family in Atlanta where they would have support and be safe.
Susan C Lester
2025-10-14 02:33:13 +0000 UTCDoes anyone else think the police are being unprofessional? They are hounding this family on talk shows. It’s not even like it’s a case where there was overwhelming evidence in any direction and the prosecutors flubbed it. I do understand that the courts probably can’t control it after the cop retires. However, I’m sick of being told stupid stuff is unprofessional like a teacher having a day at the beach and people do this!
Rebecca Baskett
2025-10-13 23:43:37 +0000 UTCI was 16 when this happened and it started my obsession with true crime. Usually I don’t like unsolved cases (like the Zodiac killer), because they’re just frustrating. This was particularly fascinating right from the very beginning. One thing that always bothers me is when the victim’s beauty is mentioned. It implies that the death is somehow more tragic, than someone who isn’t attractive.
EtM
2025-10-13 22:25:39 +0000 UTCFBI profilers firmly believe that BDI. They teach entire linguistic forensic corses based on the ransom note. I was convinced, until I saw equally compelling evidence that IDI, now I’m torn. I put zero weight on Burke identifying his voice. Every time I hear my voice in a video, I don’t recognize it and it sounds different, lol. Also, not sure why Dr Honda isn’t recognizing the significance of the pineapple? There are tons of things that are easy to forget (especially when you’re frantic), that’s not one of them.
EtM
2025-10-13 22:15:20 +0000 UTCI really appreciate Dr H really thinking of this from every angle and trying to avoid any assumptions. Also I’m loving this series, thank you ‘Berto!
juliana reider
2025-10-13 21:47:15 +0000 UTCWould like to point out that Patsy claimed when she got home from the party she hung her clothes over the side of the bathtub because she intended to wear the same outfit the next day and put them back on that morning (they were going out of state to spend Christmas with John's older children so presumably nobody would know she was re-wearing the same outfit)
Madeline Moore
2025-10-13 19:31:17 +0000 UTCNext deep dive suggestion: The Psychology of Bat Boy!
Julia Smith
2025-10-13 19:26:36 +0000 UTCGreat job, Berto! I liked the way you presented the information and the way you two rif off one another. Like Kirk I didn't have cable for a good part of the 90s, but I do remember seeing Jonbenet's picture on the tabloid covers for years. I think people sometimes lost sight of the fact that at the end of the day, a real little girl was at the center of this.
Julia Smith
2025-10-13 19:25:43 +0000 UTCI’ll never forget telling a coworker how the new documentary came out on Netflix last year and she said something along the lines of well everyone knows the son did it, duh! And I was very taken aback.
Lauren Desormeau
2025-10-13 19:07:07 +0000 UTCThank you Berto!! These topics can be tough to listen to, but I really appreciate the way you organize and present information, both to Dr. Kirk and to us!
Diana Gibson
2025-10-13 18:27:23 +0000 UTC“I still wet the bed. Just for fun 🤷🏻♀️” best podcast ever 😂🥰
Jade Shepherd
2025-10-13 17:51:14 +0000 UTCGood job Berto! I think if you circle back you should show Dr. Honda the clip of Burke interview when he says what he thinks happen. Would love to get Dr. Honda opinion.
Mariana
2025-10-13 17:50:53 +0000 UTCI remember Bat Boy! Weekly World News was always in the aisle at the grocery store checkout lane right next to Reader’s Digest, the Channel Guide, and of course the unforgettable and highly-prized Soap Opera Digest.
Molly Cules
2025-10-13 17:50:45 +0000 UTCI’m firmly in the BDI camp. I recommend reading Ashley Ray’s summary, just Google “why the JonBenet case still feels like a mystery” and it should pop up!
Courtney
2025-10-13 17:23:14 +0000 UTCGood job Berto!!! 👏🏼
Geekyt4
2025-10-13 16:01:02 +0000 UTCThank you Berto for your research and presentation🙌
Selena G
2025-10-13 15:10:58 +0000 UTCWeekly World News was the one with Batboy. It was wacky faux-news comedy for kids. I used to love Batboy!!! It was sold next to the tabloid rags though, so I see the confusion.
Penny Davis
2025-10-13 14:58:09 +0000 UTCThank you Berto! You're really doing a good job! :) Yes I do think there is not enough to blame somebody at this point it seems. I would guess somebody external. The note makes it a bit weird but, like Kirk said, a lot of weird things are there in every scenario when you're looking at pieces. That doesn't point necessarily towards guilt. I hope they uploaded the dna below the nails in a database and hopefully we can match in the future somebody when they do something similar or is likely to have done it.
Elke
2025-10-13 14:30:32 +0000 UTC
